CommanderCody wrote:

Anyone have any experience with the rain-barrels found on Home
Depot's webpage?
Designed to look like a big sandstone rock ... 40 gal capacity

Rain barrels are insanely expensive for the plastic they're made of.

A 45 to 55 gallon plastic garbage can (Rubbermaid brute) will cost you
$50 to $70 (which is still insane) and give you more capacity).

Many places sell new and used plastic barrels that were used in various
industries, particularly the food industry. Barrels that were used for
vegetable oils, syrups, etc.

Example:

http://www.classifiedads.com/items_f...-ad1240527.htm

Check Ebay and Kijiji for anyone selling that stuff closer to where you
are.