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RE:IBCQuote

Services · S-08

Custom
fabrication.

A tote is a steel frame, a plastic vessel and a pallet. Taken apart and reassembled differently, it becomes a manifolded dosing bank, a heated holding tank, an open trough or a 1,200-pound parts rack — for a fraction of what the purpose-built equivalent costs.

Short answer

We fabricate from reclaimed totes: open-top conversions, cut-down troughs, hatch cut-ins, multi-tote manifolds with isolation valves, dip tubes and sight gauges, insulation jackets, band heaters and welded skids. Lead time 2 – 4 weeks. We do not build pressure vessels.
  • All cut edges rolled or capped
  • Cage retained for structure on every cut-down
  • Thermostatically controlled heating only
  • Food-grade donor units available where needed

Scope a build

Quote · buy · sell · ship

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What we build

Six categories

  • Cut-downs and open tops

    Full open-top conversions, half-height troughs, and partial cut-ins for ladles and augers. Cage retained, edges rolled, drain bung fitted. The most-requested job in the bay.

  • Manifolded banks

    Two to six totes linked with a common header, isolation valves per unit and a single discharge. For dosing systems and anywhere you need buffer volume without a tank.

  • Heating and insulation

    Reflective or closed-cell jackets, thermostatically controlled band heaters, and heat-traced discharge lines for product that gels below ambient.

  • Dip tubes and gauges

    Bottom-draw dip tubes for pump suction, sight-glass gauges on the side rail, and float switches for level control. Retrofit to any standard 6-inch lid.

  • Stands and skids

    Welded stands for gravity feed, forkliftable skids for multi-tote assemblies, and spill-containment bases. Rated and stamped with the load we tested to.

  • Cage-only builds

    Shelving, parts racks, dunnage frames and planter structures. A cage with welded shelves takes 1,200 lb and costs a third of a bought rack.

Hard limits

Four things we will not fabricate

Stated plainly, because being talked into one of these is how people get hurt.

  • Pressure vessels

    A composite IBC is an atmospheric vessel. Its bottle is blow-moulded with a variable wall and its cage is not a pressure retaining structure. No wall thickness, liner or bracing makes it safe to pressurise, and we will not quote it.

  • Vacuum service on an unrated bin

    Pulling vacuum on an atmospheric vessel collapses it. If you need vacuum transfer you need a rated stainless bin, and we will quote you one of those instead.

  • Uncontrolled heating

    A band heater without thermostatic control will soften HDPE and deform the bottle within a shift. We fit controllers, always, and we will not supply a heater without one.

  • Potable builds from non-food donors

    If the finished item holds drinking water or touches edible produce, the donor tote must be food grade with a documented history. No exceptions, and no "it will be fine after a wash".

What to send us

  1. 01What the finished item has to do — the job, not the dimensions
  2. 02The liquid or material, and its temperature range
  3. 03How it gets moved: forklift, pallet jack, crane, or never
  4. 04Where it lives: indoors, outdoors, sanitary floor, jobsite
  5. 05Any clearance constraints at the destination
  6. 06Quantity — one-offs and runs of fifty are priced very differently

A description of the job beats a drawing. We have talked a lot of people out of expensive builds into cheaper ones that worked better.

Indicative pricing

What fabrication costs

Plus the donor tote, which is usually the cheap part. Quantity moves these substantially.

BuildLabour + partsLead time
Open-top conversion, edges rolled$95 – $1655 – 8 days
Cut-down trough with drain$120 – $2105 – 8 days
Hatch cut-in with hinged cover$140 – $2407 – 10 days
Dip tube + sight gauge retrofit$180 – $3207 – 10 days
Two-tote manifold with isolation valves$420 – $6802 – 3 weeks
Six-tote manifolded bank on a skid$1,900 – $3,4003 – 4 weeks
Insulation jacket, reflective$210 – $3902 weeks
Band heater with controller$340 – $6202 – 3 weeks
Welded gravity stand, 2 totes$380 – $6402 weeks
Cage rack with three welded shelves$160 – $2801 week

Questions

Fabrication questions

What can you fabricate from an IBC tote?

Open-top conversions, cut-down troughs and tubs, hatch cut-ins, multi-tote manifolds with isolation valves, dip tubes, sight gauges, insulation jackets, band heaters, welded stands and skids, and cage-only racks. What we will not build is anything that holds pressure — a composite IBC is an atmospheric vessel and modifying one into a pressure vessel is unsafe at any wall thickness.

Can you work to my drawing?

Yes. Send dimensions, the liquid, the temperature and how the finished item gets handled. If a drawing does not exist, a description of the job is usually better — we have talked a lot of people out of expensive builds into cheaper ones that work better.

Will a cut-down tote still be strong?

In the cage, yes — the cage carries the structural load and remains intact. We roll or cap every cut edge so nobody loses a forearm, and we leave enough bottle wall below the cut to retain shape. An uncaged cut-down tote, by contrast, is a floppy tub and we do not sell those.

What about heating and insulation?

Insulation jackets in reflective or closed-cell foam, and band heaters for viscous product. Band heaters on HDPE need thermostatic control and a wide band — a narrow uncontrolled heater will soften the wall and deform the bottle in one shift.

How long does fabrication take?

Two to four weeks depending on drawing complexity and material lead time. Simple cut-downs and hatch cut-ins are faster, often a week. Manifolded banks with valves and gauges take the full four.

Keep reading

Materials

What we can and cannot join

Fabrication on a composite IBC is constrained by what will bond to polyethylene, which is not much. Knowing the limits early saves a design iteration.

Joining and modification methods on HDPE
MethodWorks on HDPE?Use forLimits
Extrusion weldingYesPermanent joins, patches, bafflesNeeds matched resin; skilled operation
Hot-air weldingYesSmaller joins, capping stripsLower strength than extrusion
Mechanical fastening with bulkheadsYesFittings, gauges, dip tubesGasket compound must match the product
Adhesive bondingBarelyNon-structural trim onlyPolyethylene is a very poor bonding surface
Solvent weldingNo—HDPE is solvent resistant; this is why
Riveting through the wallNo—Creates a stress raiser and a leak path
Welding to the cageYes (steel)Stands, shelves, skids, bracketsRemove the bottle first; blast and re-coat

The practical consequence is that almost everything useful is either an extrusion weld on the plastic or steelwork on the cage. If a design depends on gluing something to polyethylene, it will fail, and it is better to find that out at the drawing stage.

Design review

The five questions we ask before quoting a build

These come up on every job, and having answers ready turns a two-week quote into a two-day one.

Design review checklist
QuestionWhy it mattersWhat a poor answer causes
What liquid or material, at what temperature?Decides resin suitability, gasket compound and whether HDPE is right at allA vessel that softens or permeates in service
Does it ever hold pressure or vacuum?Composite IBCs are atmospheric vessels onlyWe decline the job — this is a hard limit
How is it moved, and how often?Decides whether the cage stays, and the skid designA build that cannot be lifted once it is full
Where does it live — indoors, outdoors, sanitary floor?Decides donor grade, base type and UV protectionA unit that crazes in two seasons
Who operates it, and from what height?Decides working height, edge treatment and accessAn edge at forearm height with no capping

Short answer

The best fabrication briefs we receive are a paragraph about what the thing has to do. The worst are a dimensioned drawing of somebody else’s solution to a different problem.
  • Describe the job, not the dimensions
  • No pressure vessels, no vacuum service, no exceptions
  • Food-grade donor if anything edible is involved
  • Every cut edge gets rolled or capped

From the Yard Journal

Longer pieces from the people who run the wash line, the test bay and the trading desk.

Next move

Describe the job, not the drawing.

'Dose two chemicals into a line at a controlled rate with a day of buffer' tells us more than a dimensioned sketch, and usually leads somewhere cheaper than the thing you were about to specify.

Scope a build See standard builds