Drain-To-Waste for Hurt Shoulder

I've been growing with rocks in five gallon buckets for almost twenty years. A couple of years ago, I switched from DWC to ebb-n-gro. I can't be happier with the results. Three foot tall White Russians that yield six ounces are a staple in my garden. I recently screwed up my shoulder lugging rocks to the garbage bin. This injury is making me think about switching to a less labor intensive hydro set-up. Two questions. Thanks in advance for the replies.

1) Would you say going coco is overall less labor intensive and requires you to not lug so much heavy stuff around?

2) If I do drain-to-waste, I want to avoid using big trays. I was thinking about just filling my my monster ebb-n-gro buckets with coco and use a shop-vac to periodically suck the waste out of the bottom buckets. Thoughts?

Hey Osburn,
Just found you're thread...
Coco and Blumat system is the way to go... doesnt get any easier labor wise...
Research and you will be convinced...
When dialed in, there can be no runoff that a simple pot saucer wont contain

Cheers Jimmy.

I'm running a real simple ebb n flo grow trays. Similar to these http://www.botanicare.com/Grow-Trays-P99C7.aspx or these http://www.hydroponics.net/i/132239
I plant in large 8" net pots with coco chips and growstones. For plumbing all I need is a reservoir, small low pressure pump and some bulhead fittings. Its similar to running rockwool slabs, without the bad properties of rockwool. The media is really light, reusable, and eventually recycled in the garden. By using the large net pots I can move the plants around until they are setup for flowering and need to be scrogged.