Hillbilly sak holders.

[ericjeeper]

Ok I realize this has been beat to death.. but time to flog the dog some more. I have 50 or 60 store boughts. But I was reading on here, how some had used pvc. (seems rather labor intensive, and dangerous to cut the groove.) I also read where someone had used the 3 inch corrugated tile. Well I haven to have a partial roll of it laying around so I cut me a few pieces off the end. Used epoxy coated tie wire to tie on the bag. The first one I tried the bag slipped off. I tied it tighter and it held fine. I think I will be tying the wire tight while leaving maybe 1.5 inches of sack above the wire. Then fold the bag back down and give it a few wraps of food grade electrical tape to help secure it as well as keep the wire ends from poking anyone,as well as poking another bag while the rigs are tossed into a tub in preparation for taking to the woods.
I am still not sure how I will hang these, whether to try to cut a hole large enough to go over a tubing tap, or just hang them on a nail or screw under the tap.......This is the only downfall I see to using the corrugated tile.. It is not as tough as the pvc.
I might price out the 2 inch pv cand couplings. I could cut the couplings into 1/4 inch slivers on the miter box and glue them onto the PVC pipes and save the trouble of trying to route, or dado the actual pipe.. as that will be the finger getter part.

I am not afraid of power tools, I just respect em.. been a carpenter all my life.

[jmayerl]

I made 1200 pvc holders last year in 7 hours with 1 other guy helping. If you set up jigs the right way, there is no danger. Only had 1in 20 break during one of the different stages.

[spencer11]

i made a bunch last year, the way i do it isnt dangerous at all, just take a 2" piece of pvc, cut into 4" pieces, then take a 2" coupling, cut that into 4 pieces(about 3/4" long, and put if over the 4" piece of pvc and glue it on, i have completaly full sacs stay on these last year just using regular glue, not pvc cement. then just attach the sac with a zip tie, wire tie or whatever you call them

[ClarkFarmMapleSyrup]

Any body care to post pictures? I was thinking of making some, and wanted to see some pics of how it is done.
Thanks.

[Rhino]

I was one of the guys that used 3" drain tile. I made up close to 700 of them, How i did them is i used a hand saw to first cut them to length which was 6" long, Then I drilled a 1 1/4 hole not quite dead center so there was still plenty of tile left above the tap for good holding strength, Also, make a jig for this step to hold the 6" tile or you will break your wrist if the bit catches and spins the tile. To hold the bag on i use 14" zip ties and i also made a jig to hold the drain tile so that it is sticking out waste high faceing away from me so that i can have both hands to put bag on and zip tie on tight. I used a small piece of duct tape to hold the "folds" of the bag down also before i zip tied them. Zip ties force the bag into the corragated slot of the drain tile, the holding power is very strong. I also cut the remaining zip tie tails off. For storage of the drain tile holders, i use one of those 275 gallon cage totes that has the top cut off, I have it out of the cage also so i can handle it easier. I got the drain tile for $40.00 from a guy who wasn't going to use it. The zip ties i found a site online that i got 5000 of them for $150.00. Was super easy to cut and make these up.

[Noah's Ark]

I second ClarkFarm, can you guys post pictures of your diffirent ideas. I am a vissual guy and a picture is worth a thousand years. I am having a hard time figuring out how they look and attaching them to the tap. Thanks

[spencer11]

I'll try to post some pics later today

[maplesyrupstove]

60776076 I drill the small hole first, then the big hole for the tap.I put a saw cut then for the zip tie.Then I cut the pipe bard off the tap.I only have a few for people to look at. And I don't have sap bags to used. Darrell

[mustanger]

Hey Darrell, I sure appreciate the pictures. I'm sure others do too. Where do you get the bags for this setup? I've been using bags I get from an Amish friend. The bags he gets and sells have a fitting on them that you trim off and just hang the reinforced part that the fitting was on over the spout. I put washers on the spout to help hold the bag on. I clip one corner of the bag and when I empty it, all I have to do is rotate the bag around the spout and let it drain into a five gallon bucket. Bags hold about three gallon I believe.

David

[ericjeeper]

I get my bags from RMG Sugarbush. 25 cents a piece when I buy 250. I think they are a little bit more in less quantity.

[Noah's Ark]

Thanks for the pictures, in my head I was picturing the PVC going horizontal to the ground and could not for the life of me figure out how to make it work.

[whalems]

do you put a cap on these to keep ran out? Or is it not much of a problem?

[spencer11]

you could if you want, i didnt last year and it wasnet a problem, a spray paint can cap fits over them perficaly

[maplesyrupstove]

The bags I used are 5 lbs Poly Bags,I only used 2 for people to see how they work.I like the ice cream containers better.Tip them backward to dump off water or snow,and then empty them.It only cost me for the tap the container are free for me. My real sap pails taps dry up by the end of the season and the pipe line taps in the container hold a drop of sap and don't dry up I find. Darrell60816082

[Rhino]

6089Drain tile sap sak holder picture.

[Rhino]

My teenage daughter had just enough time to tolerate teaching me how to post pics that i couldn't really type anymore in the picture message. That wasn't what you call quality time. Anyway, that 1 1/4 hole will let you use almost any tap out there, and it will hold good, except the clear smart spouts, which i was hopeing to use with these, but i did find out that the smart spouts will work great with our 1000 metal holders. I was also a bit concerned about the small slices in the side of the drain tile holders, My concern was that they would tear apart along the slices once there was weight from a full bag of sap, but there is way to much strength in it yet to do that. To take the bags off, you just take a pliers and grab the working part of the zip tie (zippy thingy), and give it a twist to snap it off. Like i said, very easy to make and with the deep corrugations in there already, thats one less step to do and the zip ties really sink deep in them, the bag will never slide out.

[sapsucker78]

If anyone is looking for the real sap sack holders for a good price here is a good source. There is a Amish guy form PA that sells them for I think $3.25 each and they are the best ones I have seen yet. You can call him most days at 724-475-1189. His name is Melvin. This is what they look like. They work awesome easy to put together, use, and take apart. You can change bags with no tools in the woods.
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[spencer11]

If anyone is looking for the real sap sack holders for a good price here is a good source. There is a Amish guy form PA that sells them for I think $3.25 each and they are the best ones I have seen yet. You can call him most days at 724-475-1189. His name is Melvin. This is what they look like. They work awesome easy to put together, use, and take apart. You can change bags with no tools in the woods.
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is there a place online to pay? or do you pay over the phone?

[sapsucker78]

You will have to call him and most likely send a check. He does not use internet and I dought even takes credit card but call him and see. He is good to work with though he will ship to you or you can pick them up. His home phone is 724 475 2571 shop phone is 724 475 1189 and cell phone is 724 992 2907.

[Ahnohta2]

For $5 you can make over 20 sap bag holders w/ PVC pipe. For $25 you can make over 100. We have gone to 5" vs 4" length for a lil more hang weight when bag is empty. We use spray paint caps or tomatoe sauce cans for covers. We also use 10" rebar tie wire and spinners to hold bags on to PVC groove.

[Super Sapper]

I used 20 and 24 ounce soda bottles cut in half to cover my holders. Pepsi is better than Coke because you can get 2 from each bottle, the Coke bottle is too narrow on the bottom half.

[lyford]

I know this is an older thread but anybody have an idea if i could use a paddle bit to the cut the 1 1/4 inch hole in the corrugated pipe?

[MN Jake]

I know this is an older thread but anybody have an idea if i could use a paddle bit to the cut the 1 1/4 inch hole in the corrugated pipe?
Not likely

[lyford]

any suggestions on what type of bit to use, thanks

[MN Jake]

Put a 2x4 in a vice and slide the pipe over it. A hole saw may work if you can get the center bit between the ridges and cut slow with the center bit drilling into the 2x4 to hold it steady. A paddle bit will just chew it up

[Super Sapper]

I use a 1 1/4" hole saw for the larger hole and a regular 7/16" bit for the smaller hole. As was said use a piece of wood in a vice that will slide inside the tube. Do not use too much force or you will crack the PVC.

[lyford]

thanks guys, gonna give it a shot saturday

[huntingken111]

85828583I made a bunch of pvc bag holders last year and worked great. I bought caps for pvc at home depot for $.25 each. I also had acces to brake and purchased some aluminum gutter material and made my own sap holder. Now I am switching to tubing hopefully this year and wife says I have sell all my sap holders Oh well maybe they will pay for new toy for sugaring.