using 5 gal buckets

[maplefarmer]

planning on using some 5 gal. buckets that are fed from 2 taps using a tee and running to bucket sitting on the ground. i would like to pre make some of these tubing setups could anyone give me the best lenghts of tubing that works best for this. i understand you don't want the tubing to reach the sap in the bucket correct? and maybe there are diff. situations but give me a general idea.

[twitch]

I used about three or four feet and drill the hole in the bucket cover so it is tight on the tube so you can adjust it and it will stay. I also slant the bucket alittle and put the hole in the cover on the high side to keep any water from getting in the hole.

[jmayerl]

i was gonna do the exact same thing. Why not put the hole on the side near the top and drill it with a slightly undersized bit. that way if you had to push it in hard it wouldn't matter if the line was a little long.

[ehafkey]

I use buckets on the ground and I drill a 5/16 hole at the top edge of the bucket. Then I slip the tubing through the hole and wrap a rubber band around the tube inside the bucket. This keeps the tube from falling out, keeps the rain water from running in and makes it easier to empty. I was drilling the hole slightly smaller but when I was emptying the buckets a tube would slip out then you have to take the time to force it back through the hole. Seems to work for me.

[PeddlerLakeSapper]

I believe mine were 2) at 18 inches, and 1) at 24 inches. The first year I tried to make all of mine at the tree. Last year just pre-made them all of the same. This worked great.

Drill a hole slightly smaller than your tubing to make it water tight. Set you bucket at a slight angle with the tubing on the high side.

[ADKMAPLE]

so are you drilling the hole under the actual rim of the bucket or are you drilling the hole in the lid.

[ehafkey]

I put mine about an inch down the side of the bucket.

[twitch]

so are you drilling the hole under the actual rim of the bucket or are you drilling the hole in the lid.
I put mine in the lid but putting it on the side would be a good deal to i would think.Well know that I think about it the buckets i was using were buckets for making wine there was already a hole in the top for the air trap.

[firetech]

Last year we set 165 5gal plastic buckets. With the hole in the lid we just pop the lid and swap out the bucket with an empty and go, on lighter runs we collect but it does'nt seem to take very long. A 5/16 drill bit that was retired from tapping is used to drill the lid, the tubing fits very tight and I don't believe we get much water in the sap. We also just snap down 1/3 to 1/2 of the lid to make it faster to collect also. I just can't see where tapping the bucket side can be effective in the speed of collection with always dealing with a limited distant of movement of the bucket/tubing and tap. My thoughts thanks

[PeddlerLakeSapper]

Put the hole in the lid.

[morningstarfarm]

I concur..I have about 100 buckets done like that..put the hole in the lid and just swap out buckets..no fuss no muss..just my .02:)

[adk1]

do you use the 5 gallon buckets you can buy in any hardware store?

[S Culver]

Do not buy the buckets first. try all the grocery stors first. Bloom,Kroger,Safeway,Giant,Martins, ETC. They all have a bakery side and are willing to give you buckets. ( Don't read the ingredients you will never buy a cake again, just wash) I go in about once a week and they give me 4-6 pastrey buckets 2-5 gal no problem. You can also dril a 1 1/4" hole in the side and hook over a 5/16" tree saver tap and your good to go. also for the smaller operation if you can find a dairy that sells to the public the gallon jugs they get are about .25-.30 cents each see if they can sell you them in bulk. They come in 48 count bags.

Cheers

[Rossell's Sugar Camp]

Only tap as many trees as you can boil off. Dont give yourself too much sap to boil off. Trust me. Youll go crazy.

[TF Maple]

I'm with the hole in the lid crowd. I forgot what size drill bit we used but the fit is very tight. When we take the cover off the pail, the tubing isn't slipping out at all. No water can get in but we set the pail so water runs to the other side of the cover away from the tube.
In the cover is nice because you can swap the pail if it is full and also swap it if it gets mold growing in it.

[BoarsNest]

I used a 7/16 drill and put the hole in the side of the buckets. The tube fit nice and tight. It worked very well and I didn't worry about any water sitting on the lids getting into the bucket.

[beetree]

Iv used 5 gal. buckets for years. It seems to me that any place you drill a hole in the lid, you end up letting rain water in. Another drawback to the plastic lid is its hard to get it off when you snap them on. And last but not least, when that lid is on top a bucket full of sap thats sitting in the warm afternoon sun, it tends to warm it up... Green house affect... Bacteria. My alternative is peaked aluminum lids I make from scrap coil stock. They vent the bucket,and snap on and off real easy.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I have 5 gallon buckets that have 4 snap areas on the lid and I snap down 2 of them and leave the other 2 unsnapped and stick the hose underneath the unsnapped side and it holds it nice and tight and put a rock, brick or half of cinderblock on the top of the bucket for weight to keep the buckets from getting blown over. Entire process takes few seconds.

[buck3m]

I basically do what S Culver does with 5 gallon buckets. I use a hole saw to drill an 1 1/4? or 1 1/2? inch hole (just enough to slip over our old spiles with the hooks on them) near a strategic spot maybe an inch+ below the top of the bucket. There's four snaps on the lids, we only snap the two on the opposite side from the hole. Sap can be poured out of the hole and/or lift the lid a little on that side to speed it up. Snapping the lid on only one side also allows us to reach in to get ice out if we need to, and keeps the cover from blowing away.

Our buckets are white. I think the white color and the larger spile hole and the gap on one side of the cover all helps keep them cool. The cover does a great job of keeping the rain, bark and snow out. We buy our buckets from the bakery for $1 a piece or so. For us it's a very good, inexpensive, very effective system. Beats the heck out of milk jugs or coffee cans if the sap is running hard!