Keeping Track of Buckets

[snag96]

Until this year I have just used tubing. This year I am putting out traditional buckets also. After tapping and putting the buckets out I looked back into the woods and saw a sea of buckets. My question is, how do you keep track of what buckets you have already emptied? Anybody use any tricks to keep track?

[morningstarfarm]

start at one end and work to the other.. I leave the last cover off when I go to dump buckets...just my .02;)

[KenWP]

Hanyes would probbably tell you that if they have no sap in them they are empty. My trees are spread all over so not to hard to work from one end to the other.

[BryanEx]

snag96 ... I think once you've done it a few times you will quickly become familiar with the pattern or path to follow. I started out by tying orange landscape tape around each tree so I could see it from any direction but after a week or two I just knew where I was going from tree to tree.

[adk1]

I think you should add ribbon on a few trees in the sapbush in question, almost like a dividing line. this will give you some form of reference

[wnybassman]

I use the clear aluminum buckets

[Dennis H.]

After walking the "route" a few times you I pick out things near by when I to go back with full buckets of sap, like a downed pine or the Y'ed oak.

But like the rest once you do it a few times you sort of learn a route and how many trees you can empty before heading back to the sap hauler to empty the sap.

[Typical8]

how do you keep track of what buckets you have already emptied? Anybody use any tricks to keep track?

I have heard dilling another hole in bucket on opposite side, then painting one side a color. let's say you paint one side red so the red side in on the outside. When you empty that bucket hang it up so red is facing the tree. When you can't see anymore red you got them all.

Or just watch the tracks in the snow.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Well Kenny my boy The buckets I have came painted with a red band on one half and Green On the other. They have 2 holes so you start with all reds out from the tree and and after you empty you put it to green. As you walk thru the woods you either see reds or greens. Now they have the same ones in Canada BUT they have one hole in the bottom and the big one on the top....................ASK Ken he will tell you the rest:)

[3rdgen.maple]

So let me get this right Haynes. You have a sugarbush, you have buckets with 2 different paint colors on opposite sides. You go collect and turn the bucket around and put back on the tap. So what happens when you are looking north into your sugarbush and you cant see the paint mark on the buckets on the south side of the tree and the west or heck the east side. So does that mean you have to walk all the way around your sugarbush to make sure you got all the buckets emptied:D.Wouldnt it just be alot easier to walk in one direction and empty the buckets ahead of you and if you turn around and see any buckets you know they are already empty. This way you wouldnt have to walk all over the place once you emptied every bucket. Man you Wisconsin dudes make everything complicated dont you lol

[Southtowns27]

I use the clear aluminum buckets
:lol: I need to pick up some of those

[dschultz]

I use 5 gallon pails with a hole drilled in them to hang on the tap.When we gather we put the handle up one day down the next, you can see from quite a distance if you gathered it or not

[buck3m]

I use 5 gallon pails with a hole drilled in them to hang on the tap.When we gather we put the handle up one day down the next, you can see from quite a distance if you gathered it or not

That's exactly what I was just going to suggest.

[KenWP]

Those buckets we have with the holes top an bottom work well.They never over flow and are easy to empty.Production is not all that good for some reason as we don't get very good sap runs since we started using them .