Customer Reviews for RESCUE 50 Gal. Solid Brown Flat Back Whiskey Rain Barrel with Integrated Planter and Diverter System

Wanted a rain barrel with a flat back and more of a rustic look to it. Love the added spot for plants on top. Make sure you buy or build a platform in order to get it off the ground so gravity can help with water pressure. Ours is about 10-12" above the ground and never had an issue with pressure filling up water cans. We have black gutters so we also purchased a separate black diverter kit with a clean out.

Love this product! Most of the work I put in for this project was making the level ground to install this on. It rained .4 inch yesterday and the barrel is full!! Already used 6 gallons of it for my veggie patch :-) Plan to plant some flowers on it.

seems OK. A huge problem is once it filled up the barrel bulged. it can't hold it's own weight in water.

Looks very nice, but I have a few issues. As others noted, the flat back bulges when it fills up. Not a bg deal, except it might be an issue if placing it against a wall. When my barrel is full the hose port at the bottom appears to have a slow leak....it looks like it is where the port mates to the barrel, rather than where the hose screws to the port. Finally, the diverted has a limited capacity. The first two rains after installing the barrel were downpours, and the diverted was overflowing. This cause some flooding on the ground behind my barrel. It would be nice to have a higher volume diverted that can handle the full capacity of my 2”x3” downspout

My wife picked the barrel; and I had to install it. Overall we love the look of the barrel , so much that we got two of them. My wife picked it over others because it would go better with our house; which has cedar siding. The barrel is not without three flaws, which may or may not be deal breakers. First off, the diverter kit wouldn’t work with our gutters because it requires you to remove your gutter from the downspout bracket. Because our gutters are riveted to its brackets, this is pretty much impossible without a lot of work. So tossed the converter kit and got a converter kit from EarthMinded LLC. This kit is much simpler to install; just one cut with a hole saw (which is included) and your done. As compared to two cuts and removing and re-installing your gutter. Second flaw it the hardware. This is the only barrel that didn’t come with a spigot; it just came with a hose and shutoff valve. I added a spigot so I can easily use a watering can. Third flaw, and maybe the worst flaw, is that when the barrel is filled with water the back of the barrel bulges. My water barrels are not much more then half full and they both have bulges. Will see how big the bulges get when completely filled. It’s an ok barrel; but it probably works best if it sits right against your house so the back of the barrel won’t bulge. For cedar siding this isn’t an option since I want the siding to breath. If I had brick, this wouldn’t be a problem. The stiff plastic hose of the supplied converter kit works best if the barrel is right next to the rain gutter. Because my barrel sits a bit off of the house, my converter hose has to be shaped more like an ‘S’; which is harder to do with stiff plastic. As a general note, it’s always best to elevate your barrel. This improves the water flow out of the barrel. So, unless can’t do without the looks of this barrel, you might be better off with a barrel from EarthMinded; simply because of the converter kit.

Works fine for now but it immediately formed a large bulge on the back side when it filled for the first time. Not sure how long it will hold the water as that adds stress to the barrel.

So far the barrel doesn't leak water at the bottom faucet. My only comment will be that the top when it rains it keeps water and the hole on the back is too small for the water to be released. But other than that I can recommend the barrel for the purpose it was designed to.

Love it! Looking forward to my garden being plentiful this year. The plants love rain water so much better than city water. Thank you!

Installed two, one on ground level atop flat pavers, one on a raised platform of large brick pavers. Both work flawlessly, add an element of height to my garden as well. They were very easy to install, and have already begun saving me money on my water bill. I would NOT recommend you get the Platforms that are suggested to be purchased with the unit, as the Platforms are pre-fabricated and do not fit the barrel correctly, and there is not way to make them fit and keep it level.

Barrel was easy to install, looks great and has already begun saving me money. I also ordered the recommended Barrel Platform, which did not fit the Barrel at all, and was thereby completely unusable. Promptly returned the stand to the store.

I bought two of these rain barrels to catch runoff from my newly constructed garage roof. My neighbor complained that the new garage was diverting too much water into his yard whenever we had heavy rainfall, so the motivation for this purchase was to reduce the amount of water coming out of the downspout and diverting as much as possible into the barrels. I installed both barrels on the back side of my garage about a month ago and we've since had several good rains. They seem to be performing as expected and I'm happy with my purchase. When they fill up, I wait a day or two and let the water out slowly. The installation went well, except that the universal diverters don't work if your downspouts are snugly attached to their walls. I had to uninstall both downspouts and then reinstall them with about a 1-1/2" space behind to get these diverters to fit. The only other complaint that I have is that there is no way to know how full the barrels are, other than giving them a nudge and judging by their weight. I wish there was a peek hole or some kind of dipstick or something. I want to make sure that there is a good amount of water in them to weigh them down (fearing a good hard wind might knock them over), but not so much that they overfill. I can probably rig something up. All in all, four stars for the barrel. I'm happy with my purchase.

I LOVE IT! Was easy to install, 15 minutes, and so beautiful. A little shorter than I expected but it is still great. Filled it up on the first big rain storm. I will be ordering some more soon.

Showed up unfinished disappointed with the lack of quality control.

This unit is actually quite nice in appearance. It comes complete with everything you need for the installation and usage. Installation was quite simple and took about 30 minutes. Read the instructions carefully and you will have no problems. Unfortunately it has not rained a lot since it was installed so I cannot comment on the efficiency of the gathering/diverter that installs into a down-spout. However, I did test it with simply spraying the roof with a garden hose and yes indeed it worked. Overall we are very pleased and would highly recommend!!! PS: Please note in the picture that I added a 90 degree brass elbow to the water outlet so we could move the storage of the hose to the side of the unit.

This rain barrel was easy to install, and very attractive. It fills well, but drains only when the hose is placed downhill. Prospective customers would be well-advised to purchase the stand that the rain barrel sits up on, which is sold separately.

This is our second rain barrel, our first was purchased through a fundraiser and has a Rain Reserve diverter system. We paid (a lot) less for this rain barrel. Pros: the flat back, so you can have it much closer to your house, the colored resin will last longer than the painted one we already have, the painted resin looks like wood until you get right next to it, the built-in flower planter, and the attachable hose to water with. Cons:the diverter system, which was much harder to install. The plastic tubing they give you is not at all flexible and kinks easily, it's hard to funnel from the downspout to the rain barrel and I'm not sure that it will collect water as well as the flexible hose that came with my other barrel. We hopefully solved the kinking issue by using a cut garden hose at both the intake and outtake attachments, with their tubing inserted into the hose. This might be a good barrel for first-timers. Not sure how well it will collect rainwater as it has not rained since we installed it.

Received the product and it was as advertised (shocker I know). Like the look and like the planter box that makes up the top of the barrel for dual usage. Being in socal I am still waiting for the rain to see if it works as advertised. I haven't yet made it to the top of the house with a house to test it myself. So far so good though. Added the base for better water flow out of the barrel based on other reviews

Quite easy to install in existing downspout. We attached a drip hose to our garden area and this keeps the soil moist. We installed it on a flat driveway and if you are looking for more water pressure you might want to elevate on blocks. This certainly is beneficial for my plants as it captures rain water with no chemicals and it certainly saves on our water bill.

Was easy to install. (I laid some stone for a base and to raise it about 8" so I could drain the barrel easily). It looks very nice and is easy to use

The installation was super easy. Love the flat side it fits in a tight spot. It's a bonus to be able to grow peppermint on top of the barrel.

We thought about getting a rain diverter for years and finally came across this whiskey barrel with planter and included diverter system which was exactly what we wanted. The barrel is large and has a flat back, planter area on top with built in drain (to the outside of the barrel). The diverter system is very straightforward, just cut your downspout and insert the diverter and screw it in with the supplied screws.. Drill a hole on the side or rear of the barrel and insert the supplied supply hose. Make sure to install the diverter relatively level to the inlet hole you drill on the barrel. Too much of a down angle will not perform well. The product even comes with a very short outlet hose complete with a mini on/off valve. Since its a standard size hose you can extend it with a long hose as needed but remember that this system is gravity fed so don't expect to use an extremely long hose effectively. Product was a little pricey but well worth it in the end.

These rain barrels are amazing!they are strong,look real and are easy to install and link together.My favorite part is the planter on the top.I an growing herbs,onions,basil, and peas!Watching them fill up when it rains is exciting especially in drought stricken southern California.They are a wonreful addition to any garden

The barrel has authentic wood grain planking, I threw some paint on the strapping to give it some contrast. Looks very nice and comes with everything you need to both attach it to a downspout, and spigot/hose assembly. Easy to install and the planter cavity on top includes a drain for the plant (potted or soil). Very pleased with the quality, accessories, ease of installation, and versatility of the unit. The rain diverter is both ingenious and simple, easily capturing even the slightest rain. I actually bought two of these, for the side and back yard.

I only wish I had bought a bigger one. 50 gallons fills up quickly. I have mine attached to a downspout from a 10x12 garage only, and it fills up after one or two good rainstorms. But the barrel was easy to install, even for a klutz like me. And I love the look. A barrel is more aesthetically pleasing than the giant industrial barrels my neighbors have. Also, since I have installed this barrel, in a month, it has satisfied all of my lawn and garden watering needs without once needing to turn on the hose.

Easy to install and put in place. First rain hit and it worked great. Captured alot of water and the attached spigot hose worked well with filling up my watering can!

This is a great looking rain barrel that conveniently captures downspout drain water and redirects for use in the garden or yard. The install required a few tools and some cutting, but was fairly simple. Once hooked up, it did a great job at redirecting water from one of our downspouts.

I have been shopping for and comparing rain barrels for over a year, so I was excited to finally make a purchase and get started with installation. If you can use a level and a drill and cut a downspout, you can install this rain barrel. We purchased two, and needed to place both of them on bare ground. We leveled the soil surface (the most time consuming part of the whole process), and then created a base with four concrete step stones. Installation would be REALLY quick on a surface that didn't need preparation, such as a patio. I am a big fan of the flat back design. It allows you to get maximum water capacity without an oversized footprint, and I just think it blends in with the house exterior better. The integrated planter offers another opportunity to make the barrel blend in with its surroundings. If I lived in the Southwest, I would definitely plant it with a cactus garden. Since I live in the woods, I opted to dig up some ferns and other native plants, and I'm very pleased with the results. The planting area is greater on this unit than it is on some of the other models I looked at because the downspout doesn't come straight down into the top of the barrel. I like the fact that it came with a short hose and a valve, rather than having a spigot at the base. Spigots do look nice, but they're not very practical when they're that low to the ground. I would prefer a brown diverter rather than a white one, but I suppose most people do have white downspouts, and it's simple to fix with a little spray paint. We got some rain the night after we installed the rain barrels and everything appears to be working just as it should. It is so nice to fill my watering can just a few steps away from my flowers rather than having to lug it around from the other side of the house! I am very pleased with this product and would definitely recommend it to others!

Product was shipped in timely manner, well packaged and well constructed. I know it’s not rocket surgery but, follow the directions, as you want to make sure you measure and mount the down spout converter correctly, in right direction of water flow. Also, I highly recommend mounting this on top of landscaping bricks, or something else to get it off the ground to aid with water flowing from hose. Maybe this is a known requirement with rain barrels, this is my first so, didn’t think about it until after installation, too late now, down spout is already cut, don’t make the same mistake. The planter up top is a hit with the wife but, I think you miss out on a lot of water. If you place a rain barrel in front of the house, this might be more curb appealing. In the back yard, I’ll try the simple top feed barrels to collect more water.

Other than not knowing the fill level, love it.