Composting Head: Plus or Minus on resale

[foojin]

I think composting heads are wonderful, but we would NOT buy your boat. We would not even come look at it if we knew it had a composting head.

My wife has talked with enough women who live/cruise on boats with composting heads (and hate them) that she is determined we are not going to get one at their current technology. Not sure, but I think it has something to do with living around rotting poop.

I know when to push for something, and when not.

[jag39]

Composting head would be an absolute plus for me. I just scrapped my storage tank and head for a new C-Head, and will never go back to the mechanical contraption. Composting head doesn't plug up and break down. Simple, simple, simple.

[Scout 30]

Faced with another rebuild of our head as well as needing a new holding tank & hoses the C-Head was a simple choice. I've left the through hulls & seacocks in case a future owner wants to change back but we never will.

[alaskaflyfish]

My boat came with a port a potty. THAT is a net negative if you ask me! I now have a composting head and am happy with it.

[jheldatksuedu]

I'm in the process of building one right now. I'm at the beginning of the month or so long shitty test phase of the custom drum that I built. I did some work for friends on a big house boat, they had and extra Sun Mar excel they gave to me for my work, and also an extra top for one with the name plate on it. The excel is too big for the heads in my boat, a 45ft ketch, so I am making a slightly smaller version, using a 14.5 inch diameter drum instead of 19 inch. I'll use the extra top slightly modified so it will look and work just like the excel but have slightly smaller capacity. Sun Mar makes smaller composters, but they wouldn't fit much better, the sloping hull at the back is the problem that I am designing around. It's not really too big, the standard excel shape just doesn't fit well. I figure emptying a bucket full of garden soil once or twice a month is much easier then finding a place to pump out a tank. Plus there is much less chance of something going wrong and you get much more space below the floor for storage or another water tank">fresh water tank It's a win, win, win. (I can't understand why I can't edit the fresh water tank, I tried three time, it keeps getting worse, I can add this)

[Mango51]

I don't see how a head will determine the perschase of a boat. You find the boat of your dream in perfect condition for the right price. Oh No it has composite head. RUN RUN.
It's awfull!! You like it you keep you don't you sell it and buy two conventional heads. Do what ever makes you happy.

[nautical62]

If I was buying a light weight trailer sailor for short cruises on inland waters, I might consider a good composting head to be a positive.

If I was looking at an ocean cruising boat, I'd consider it a negative. I much prefer to simply open a seacock to discharge waste than haul it up and pitch it overboard manually. (Whether partially composted or not) Also, while many fuel docks don't offer pump outs, even fewer accept partially composted head waste.

Either way, I figure it's unlikely the existing head condition will function as I wish and I'll probably be upgrading the system, so it's not likely to have a huge impact on my purchasing decision.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Mango51

I don't see how a head will determine the perschase of a boat. You find the boat of your dream in perfect condition for the right price. Oh No it has composite head. RUN RUN.
It's awfull!! You like it you keep you don't you sell it and buy two conventional heads. Do what ever makes you happy.

It's difficult to go back after the previous owner ditched the holding tanks etc. It would be much simpler to buy a boat with marine heads installed.

[uncle stinkybob]

I can't see many people passing on a boat because it has the normal traditional flush type head. I can see a great many people passing on a composting head because they may be unfamiliar with them and/or don't want to deal with crap buckets and piss tanks.

[alctel]

Composting heads are fantastic (I have one and would never switch to a traditional marine head) but I can see it being a negative on selling price - people who don't have them seem to hate them (see above thread for examples)

If you are going to sell soon, leave it as it is.

[Mango51]

I guess I over looked different design and layouts of other boats. My boat came with no holding tanks. When I installed
Them I placed them in a place were it was easy to service or replace them. I assumed all holding tank had easy access.

[leftbrainstuff]

Had dinner with a liveaboard neighbour last night. He is quite happy with his composting head. His relatively new purchase came with two heads. One traditional and one composting. It was not a purchase issue. Sails, dive compressor, electronics, etc were far more important.

I've only heard good stories about composting heads in the last few years. Maybe a dozen examples. Both require preventative maintenance. Corrective maintenance is probably less for a composting head.

Suspect they'll become commonplace for cruisers. The high end charter market probably expects pushbutton and someone else can deal with it after the charter is over.

[captlloyd]

Originally Posted by foojin

I think composting heads are wonderful, but we would NOT buy your boat. We would not even come look at it if we knew it had a composting head.

My wife has talked with enough women who live/cruise on boats with composting heads (and hate them) that she is determined we are not going to get one at their current technology. Not sure, but I think it has something to do with living around rotting poop.

I know when to push for something, and when not.

How about living with liquidized rotting poop? I guess the girls think that is OK, especially when it's time to change a leaking hose. Women!

[Scout 30]

Originally Posted by captlloyd

How about living with liquidized rotting poop? I guess the girls think that is OK, especially when it's time to change a leaking hose. Women!

My thoughts exactly. A bucket of dirt is disgusting but 50 gallons of raw sewage sloshing about is a beautiful thing.

[jcdexter]

Our Brewer 12.8 had two conventional heads when we bought her we replaced one with an Airhead composting toilet and we loved it. It saved our bacon on one cruise to the Bahamas when the remaining conventional head and hoses completely plugged up with salt, etc. had we kept the boat I would have replaced the remaining conventional head.

I'd not remove the holding tank if I were you. The solid part of the Airhead only needs emptying every 60 uses. The urine portion, however, needs emptying every two or three days. Geoff at Airhead installed a hose nipple in the urine tank, I installed a manual foot pump, and I pumped the urine into the old holding tank which rarely needed pumping.

We never had to go to a pump out station and we were completely legal.