Sap bags arrived...

[maplefrank]

We picked up our sap bags yesterday ... This year we got the 5 gallon one.. $.65 apiece..

[adk1]

where did you get them from

[Outdoorsman0490]

I bought 250 from Anderson maple. Have had one full of water hanging from PVC holder in basement for several days. No leaks

[maplefrank]

A local guy orders them. These are the wine or soda bags. He order about 15000

[adk1]

I mean 150 right?

[maplefrank]

I mean 150 right?

No, he bought 15000.... A lot the sugar makers around here are using them now ..

[adk1]

thats allot of taps to dump!

[Big_Eddy]

Curious
Why sap bags instead of buckets?
What are the advantages?
I've seen them but never thought much about them. I would think that they would freeze and there would be no way to get anything out of them, and no room to get anything more into them - but I know nothing about them.

[jmayerl]

No, he bought 15000.... A lot the sugar makers around here are using them now ..
I hung 1200 bags last year and know of a few others by me with many more. Shoulda seen the look on the recycling truck guys face last year when he pick them up in May, wish I had a camera.

[adk1]

Curious
Why sap bags instead of buckets?
What are the advantages?
I've seen them but never thought much about them. I would think that they would freeze and there would be no way to get anything out of them, and no room to get anything more into them - but I know nothing about them.

I use the sacks too. a few advantages and some disadvantages. Advantages are they are recyclable/disposable. they also do not need to be cleaned due to that. They dont take up hardly any room. very easy to dump too and if you ahve to buy the whole shooting match, are way cheaper than buckets to purchase...disadvantages....squirrels chew on the bag and make a hole...wind blows them off the spout...tought to dump with ice in bag..

[maplefrank]

The one we use are clear plastic, you cut the corner of the bag and just turn them on the spout to dump. They thaw faster than plastic pails.

[Rhino]

We also use the clear bags, My brother is picking up 1700 today so we can pick a weekend in January to put them on the holders. (1000 metal/700 drain tile holders). We have bought these from a guy for the past 4 seasons who has his own sealer and he uses a much thicker ply plastic for the bags. And like people said earlier, no washing buckets.

[MN-SAPPER]

Rhino what are the drain tile holders you mentioned above? A piece of drain tile with a bag zip tied to it?. I'm currently on 100 buckets a and the cleanup is a nightmare!! Thanks

[Rhino]

If you are not familier with drain tile (tubes/plastic pipe) It is just ribbed plastic pipeing that is very strong that people bury around thier house foundations to try to get the water away. It comes in diff. diameters, and has narrow slits between the ribs to allow water to flow into the pipe. We use the 3". I was able to pick up a bunch that wasn't needed and made 700 holders in no time. The one nice thing is, because they are deep ribbed already, and also have alot of ribs, you don't have to cut a slot like you would pvc for the zip tie to grab, also, it isn't critical to make sure what rib you get the zip tie to settle into, just so it's beneath your drilled hole, also, the ribs are alot deeper then you would want to cut into the pvc holders, so that makes the zip tie really have alot of holding power. also, you can just cut 6 inch long pieces with a hand saw quick. I drilled a 1/14 hole in the sides which was the longest step in making them up, but that step still went fairly easy. I use 14" long zip ties. Now a few draw backs to them.......They are super lite, (but still very strong) which in a way is great to haul a large amount to put on the taps, but we found out that on a windy day, they like to "fly" off the taps. We ended up buying 700 clothes pins to put on the tap (smart spout type) to stop that issue. This year i drilled a hole straight through 700 plastic tree saver spouts, so that we will tap those taps in, with the barbed end up, so we won't have that problem again with the added "hook" effect of that barb sticking straight up. At first we would leave 2 inches of sap in the bags for added weight but who wants to do that? The next draw back that may or may not be a draw back is that they are black, that makes you think they might heat up the tap which would speed up bacteria growth but we never seen any less sap between them or our metal holders. The tap itself is still shaded behind the drain tile so i think it's a non issue. I never looked into finding what would work for covers for them but if you go this route that added weight would also help alot that you could use any tap you would like with them.

[MN-SAPPER]

Thanks rhino yep kinda know what drain tile is though never seen it up close. Also thanks for the detailed description, tile is not readily available to me so I will see what my options are but none the less a great idea!!

[lpakiz]

MNSapper,
I think you can find 3 or 4 inch drain tile in Fleet or Menards. Quite reasonably priced, too. Or a cement contractor who would have cut-offs and other odds and ends.

[maple island farms]

Lowe's sells it in 10 foot chunks.

[MN-SAPPER]

Ok awesome thanks all for your input I will check into it!!!