Using 5 gallon gas cans for sap collection - good idea?

[Kilroy]

April fools! 😀

[Run Forest Run!]

Hey Kilroy, I'm betting you'll get a lot of 'mileage' out of this thread. ;)

[maple flats]

Bad idea for at least 2 reasons, likely more. 1st is that gas cans are not molded from food grade plastic and the use a toxic mold release. 2nd- It will look bad for the maple industry. You want to do everything as if your consumer is watching you but will not ask questions about what you are doing. They will either just go to a different supplier or they may just buy "the fake stuff". Even if you don't sell any, you still don't want to give maple a bad name. If you do sell, it is illegal to collect sap in anything that is not food grade.

[Kilroy]

Karen,
My maple syrup is the only kind around that has an octane rating on the bottle 😁

[beaglebriar]

Old motor oil jugs work just as good and are cheaper. I prefer the 5 quart so I don't have to collect as often. A quick rinse with some brake cleaner gets most of the oil out. Any residual will double as defoamer.

[saphound]

:lol: @ beaglebriar :lol:
Serious question tho..any issues with using 5 gal plastic frying oil jugs? Friend of mine that owns a bar throws out 1 a week. I have 3 of them, haven't needed to use them yet but you would think they must be food grade. Plastic seems just like that of a milk jug.

[sugarsand]

Oh great, now used oil jug and gas can prices will skyrocket.:lol:

sugarsand

[maple flats]

I think the frying oil jugs might be OK if cleaned out well before use, but only if the oil was not peanut oil. It seems that lots of people are allergic to peanuts and even a trace can cause big issues. There might be other oils with similar issues. Find out what kind of oil it was and research using that as a defoamer. If it is approved as a defoamer the cleaned jug should have no issues.

[saphound]

It's probably not peanut oil because he sells food to the public, but I'll ask what kind of oil was in it. No label on the jugs.

[1arch]

Good one!
I sent my boys out to collect sap and combine into a five gallon pail. Hey did exactly that::D
However the pail they selected was originally used for driveway blacktop sealer:o
Small loss for a good training opportunity.

[Cedar Eater]

:lol: @ beaglebriar :lol:
Serious question tho..any issues with using 5 gal plastic frying oil jugs? Friend of mine that owns a bar throws out 1 a week. I have 3 of them, haven't needed to use them yet but you would think they must be food grade. Plastic seems just like that of a milk jug.

Yes. I assume you're talking about what are called cubies (http://www.greasology.org/images/backlog.jpg). Oil weighs less than water. The jugs are not designed to hold the full weight of five gallons of water. They will wear out sooner if you move them around full of water. Also, the box helps keep them from getting overstressed by the liquid inside, but the boxes won't hold up to weather. Duct tape or wrapping them in plastic bags can help with that. As long as you don't put more than 3-4 gallons of sap in the cubies, they will last a while, but I definitely wouldn't expect them to last for multiple seasons. Other than that, they are fine. Use hot water to degrease them. The oil should float right out.

[Jebediah]

I was once on a farm where a grass fire (lightning) started in a nearby field. As we got in the truck to go try putting it out, I was given some 5-gal gas cans and told they contained water and to put them on the fire. Needless to say, I checked that each actually contained water, not gas, before getting near the fire. They did contain water. But can you imagine how wrong that could have gone? I hate to be a whiner, but gas cans shouldn't be used for anything but gas.

[saphound]

Yes. I assume you're talking about what are called cubies (http://www.greasology.org/images/backlog.jpg). Oil weighs less than water. The jugs are not designed to hold the full weight of five gallons of water. They will wear out sooner if you move them around full of water. Also, the box helps keep them from getting overstressed by the liquid inside, but the boxes won't hold up to weather. Duct tape or wrapping them in plastic bags can help with that. As long as you don't put more than 3-4 gallons of sap in the cubies, they will last a while, but I definitely wouldn't expect them to last for multiple seasons. Other than that, they are fine. Use hot water to degrease them. The oil should float right out.

Yup, that's them. Looks like the box says clear vegetable frying oil. Thanks for the pic and tips, Cedar.

[busyretired]

First post for me. First timer too. Used 9 fry oil plastic jugs from church fish fry. Quick rinse only then in the woods. No foaming for me. Canola oil food grade for sure. Tough getting ice out.

[saphound]

Yeah I imagine getting ice out would be a pain. I was thinking more as a back up plan for storage than at the tree.