Plastic tote life

[ronr]

I bought some food grade totes, the 275 gallon or so size plastic cubes with the metal cage, last year and have been storing them outside.

Some plastics are degraded by UV light I was wondering how these have held up for people who have stored these things outside for some time. Maybe I should put them inside or cover them in the off season?

[holey_bucket]

We use them for our horse farm operation. They work well. For a time. The ones we have, the ones you typically see - are translucent. They will get very brittle after a year or two stored outside. If you treat it like an egg, it will survive. But the BEST thing to do is throw something over top of them that will take the UV beating instead, therefore prolonging the life of the tote. For our farm and our purpose, we don't really care if they are food grade, we just get a new one when it wears out. But for my maple syrup next season I will be covering or storing the food grade ones indoors. I think they are definitely worth it.

Good luck!

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I have 2 of the plastic leg tanks and one is 9 years old and other is 5 years old and not least bit brittle but only time they go outside is when they are on the tractor to collect sap or to get washed at least once or twice a week during the season. The sugarhouse stays dark year aorund except when I am working in it with the lights on and they sit on a dry concrete floor. They will last many years if you can keep them inside as much as possible.