Kegs for sale, good or bad idea?

[hitthewall79]

So on the magical place called "craigslist" there was a guy who is giving away outdated 15 gallon kegs, they look pretty rough, but I don't keg yet, so don't know if they would even be usuable... if it helps for these 3 outdated kegs, he wants $30 for all 3 of them, and he said he was willing to go lower just to get rid of them, pics are of the kegs in question

 

[W0GWT]

Looks pretty sketchy to me.
I'd pass.


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[bleme]

Those look like the kind guys turn into gas tanks. I haven't seen anyone use them for brewing yet.

 

[northcal]

I have two for brewing. The bung holes were welded shut and the tops cut off.

I use one for HLT and one for BK.

 

[Cathedral]

I have two for brewing. The bung holes were welded shut and the tops cut off.

I use one for HLT and one for BK.

About the only thing they would be good for, and pretty sweet looking if they were polished.

As for kegging with them, OP, I would pass. I don't even know if you could use them for kegging unless you welded out the bungs and had adapters for QDs attached.

 

[day_trippr]

Not that I advocate purchasing that collection (especially by a non-kegger) but they're clearly some style of Sanke, probably sporting gas-tight bungs, and with a lot of love could likely be rehabilitated for kegging. No welding required...

Cheers!

 

[JuanMoore]

They're Hoff Stevens aka twin probe style kegs. A bit of a pain compared to other keg styles, but should work fine if you can find couplers and the figure 8 o-rings for them. The price is right, but I'd still try to source the couplers before spending any money on them. New Hoff Stevens couplers are stupid expensive, and used ones are starting to get hard to find.

Edit: Just checked e-bay for the couplers, and there's a few listed for <$20 ea.

 

[DrunkleJon]

A few questions first.

How large of batches do you normally make? You will burn through a heck of a lot of gas carbonating/dispensing from them if you only do 5 gallon batches. I also would probably reccomend that for starting with kegging that you go with sankey or ball/pinlock kegs. They are a more standard configuration and easier to clean. You could otherwise convert them to brewkettles or fermenters. If the bungs are removable they could make some sweet looking (sideways) fermenters for 10-13 gallon batches though cleaning could be a real PITA. They may make some decent keggles too. $30 aint too bad for all that stainless, they look to be in decent shape (no telling about the coupler part though).