metal cage tanks??

[bowtie]

ok i know alot of people use these tanks to store sap, usually 250-300 gallons, but are safe to use. i need some cheap storage, i just purchased a 210 gallon pick-up water to use to transport sap from where i tap to my house where i boil, i was looking at these cage tanks because they are everywhere and cheap, but i do not want to use them if they are not safe. i will be selling syrup this year and want to follow any and all regs, i will be purchasing a 250 ss tank soon for feeding my evaporator, but wanted another tank for back up or in case of a big run. i see some of them are "listed" as water or sap safe by the seller but was looking for feedback from actual maple guys. thanks

[MISugarDaddy]

If you purchase a caged tank that is food grade and has been used for that purpose only, you should be able to clean out any leftover residue from the food product and have a nice tank for storage. That is what I did and the tank works great.

[maple flats]

Yes, get them from the source, just food items were in them and make it a food item that would clean out well. I recently bought 2, 1 had canola oil, the other had pure vanilla extract. Canola is an alternate defoamer and one of the subtle flavors in maple syrup is vanilla. I cleaned both well, just water by putting a sprinkler in them and opened the valve. Then I ran the sprinkler for 4 hrs on each tank. If even a tiny residue of either got thru the cleaning, it should not cause any ill effect. If you get one someone had after the original user beware.
By the way, parts are available from a company called Basco. Look up IBC's (intermediate bulk containers). They have most parts to rebuild an IBC such as valves, valve packing, caps (in several styles) and they even have replacement tanks so you could remove a bad one and insert a new tank. I'll bet the shipping on that is high!