cleaning buckets

[Greenthumb]

in the past I have only used tap water to clean each bucket. How "clean" do others get with there sap buckets?

[VA maple guy]

Greenthumb, I scrub my buckets with a brush and about a 5% solution of clorox. I rinse and dry them real good befor i store them.
Gerry

[cheesegenie]

I heat up water on my propane finishing burner, use a bit of chlorinated
milk tank cleaner, brush with a dollar store kitchen brush I think, has
a round brissel bottom and sponge sides, rinse in clean hot water,and
like Gerry said, stack apart and dry well. Next spring you are ready to go.
I might look into a real bucket brush and hook up to my cordless drill.

[maple flats]

I run water thru the evap and make a small fire in the arch. Then I draw hot water into plastic bins that serve as wash tubs, first is hot, next is rinse. Put a little clorox in and wash, rinse. As a wash gets to need changing, I rotate, put clorox into rinse which becomes my wash, rinse out the old wash tub and put a pail or 2 of hot water in for a new rinse. I have used a scotch bright pad but want to find a brush. Works OK for now., stack upside down to drain dry, then stand upright to drain the bottom lip and then after completely dry i put them in 30 gal trash bags to keep clean, before next season I just rinse again, dry and hang them.

[Sugarmaker]

GT,
We use 1-1/2 cups of Clorox in about 15 gallons of hot tap water. A bucket washer and a bucket brush cut down some of the work. We then rinse in vat no 2 and final rinse with a spry from a hose with fresh hot water. I think there are some pictures of our grandson Mike and I washing buckets the first year (2001) in the garage. We also stack these in pyramid fashion to let them dry and then stack in 20 count for storage till spring.
Regards,
Chris

[sapman]

One of the best things I ever did was buy a used bucket washer. That was the year I increased to about 650-700 buckets. I've never used bleach at all. Just as hot water I can get from the bottom of the water heater. I used to rinse them after the brushing in the washer, but have since given that up in the interest of time. They seem to come quite clean, as I often feel the inside for any leftover slime, and I make as much light syrup as ever.

I do 25 to a stack, and keep undercover.

Tim

[Fred Henderson]

I built my bucket washer and use dishwasher soap (keeps from sudsing) and one rinse. In doing 300+ the water will get changed 3 times.

[rschoo]

Do you guys with bucket washers have any pics of them? I would like to see your set up. Thanks
Bob

[Fred Henderson]

I can get a pic of mine but I don't have a clue as to how to post them in here. I used a plastic barrel so as not to have it rust and made it for my heigth.

[Banjo]

What I did was link to PhotoBucket. You can get a free account there, upload the pics, and then have it automatically create the forum code that you can cut and paste into your message. You can put the pics in directly, or have it create clickable thumbnails, which is kinda neat and better for those of us that still suffer with dial-up.

As for bucket washing ... I'm going to give my plastic pails back to my wife, who'll run them through the commercial dishwasher they have at her work :D :D :D . As my grandfather used to say ... "it's a poor job that has no perks".

cheers, Andrew

PS. Happy to expand on photobucket by post or PM if it helps.

[Fred Henderson]

This web site should have its own way to upload pic's like some of the other sites do. Does anyone realize how much info could be exchanged with pic's. We should have the opition to just click on browser which would take us to our desk top, pick the pic we want and attach it.

[Sugarmaker]

Fred,
Nice Idea about loading the pictures! I sure am not very skilled in this either.
rschoo,
I do have some pictures on my web site. I used a double stainless steel sink from my dads milk house. a slow turning motor from a bulk milk tank, and a bucket brush.
Regards,
Chris

[mountainvan]

I put my buckets in a 100 gal tank with bleach water for and then blast them with the pressure washer. they lay nice sideways on my sawbuck. my son and I did 200+ in about an hour. in my opinion getting them before the slime dries makes it much easier to get clean.

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

post edited

[Fred Henderson]

Clean tubing!!!!!!!!!!! what a laugh most of the big producers around here do not clean it. They just pull the taps and plug them and when they tap the next year they will let a little run on the ground then put the pipe into the holding tank.

[rschoo]

Boy Chris that sure is a nice sugar house.

[Sugarmaker]

rschoo,
Thanks for the compliment on the sugarhouse. We have helped others make syrup for many years and when I decided to build a sugarhouse for ourselves we tried to plan out the building to work for syrup but also could be a garage if we got out of the sugaring habit. (Not sure that will happen soon).

I have a lot of new pictures that we need to get on the site from our Maple open house. Just not enough hours in the day.
Just got in from going through 8 hives for the first time this year. That takes some time to check for brood, tear down the hive and clean the bottom boards. Only one sting which is pretty good considering how I riled up that hives.
Regards,
Chris

[markcasper]

Fred, You think thats bad! I know of several producers in my vicinity that don't even pull the taps out of the trees at the end! They just drill a new hole next spring and change the spile from the old hole to the new hole. I think this is just wrong and why do the food inspectors not get a bit more educated and start putting the clamps down on this sort of thing?

I know of one producer a few miles from me who made only 310 gallons from 3000 taps. I heard that he thought this was a big improvement from past years. I have did this enough years to know that if the tubing doesn't get flushed, theres all kinds of crap and fungal growth that will plug up at the fittings. Top yields and washing of tubing go hand in hand. Don't wash your tubing and your on your way to diminishing yields. Mark

[Fred Henderson]

Mark, I only have 22 taps on tubing on road side trees that stays up year around. This is the first year for them so what I did was take a pump up garden sparyer with a 5% solution of chlorix and water and put some into each tap before capping them and let it run out the end of the line, them capped that.

[maple flats]

I hope the sprayer never had pesticides in it, even a little residue would ruin the tubing for use in maple ever again. It would need to be a new dedicated sprayer.

[Fred Henderson]

You hit the nail right on the head it is a brand new sprayer use only for water. One time Years ago when I first got started I did not have enough clearence around my stack and ended up with a small fire. For the rest of that season I would a few times a day spray it with water.

[cheesegenie]

Fred ,or anyone that has made a bucket washer. I just picked up an old
agitator off a bulk tank and would like to make a washer. I will buy a brush that goes on a shaft. Any ideas, I'm sure after you made it there's
always things you would have done different.Safety is a concern;getting
caught in it or electrical shock?

[Fred Henderson]

AS for a shock, just be sure that it is plugged into a GFI outlet. As for getting caught in it just be careful.

[Sugarmaker]

cheesegenie,
Take a look at the bucket washer that I made It uses a single speed agitator from a bulk tank. I never though about getting caught in it. I does have some power and not sure or the force. It does a nice job of washing buckets but may be considered a little slow. I have several pictures on the web site. I did have to custom build a shaft to match the motor and also fit he brush. I like this unit because it turns slow and does not splash water all over the place. I used a equipment bearing to hold the shaft going through the end of the vat.
What would I do different???? Maybe a two speed motor would be a little faster? That's about it. Three tubs would be nice to rinse in. But I hose the buckets for the second rinse so that the water is fresh. My washer doubles as the sink for the sugarhouse also.
Good luck.

Chris

[HanginAround]

Sry to jump away from your washer for a minute, but for anyone washing galvanized cans... we always put mineral oil in the rinse water. It floats on the water but coats the can as you take it out to help prevent rusting. Then dry in the warm sun before stacking.

[ibby458]

It is easier to wash buckets before the sap dries too hard, but it's a lot more pleasant to wait til a warm sunny day and do it outdoors. THe sun dries the pyramid stacks a lot faster, too.

Like Fred, we used dish washer detergent, and some bleach. My wife washes them in a borrowed bucket washer, while I rinse in a seperate tub and stack them.

[cheesegenie]

Chris, I looked at your pic and I also have a milkhouse sink I could use,
just like that. The motor could be easily mounted with three bolts. My
agitator motor is 220volts, is yours? Thank you ,and all for the input.

[Sugarmaker]

Cheesegenie,
Never thought about the motor being 220. I just wired it and plugged it in to 110. I am not a electrician. but the guys that I got it from never mentioned 220 volt. I made three rods to mount the motor to the frame. It has worked well for 5 years. I do try to wash the buckets within 2-3 weeks of the end of the season.

good luck,
Chris