Trailer Hitch Collection/ Collecting Roadside Maples

[Milton]

Hi all,

I am just getting started in this hobby. I am contemplating tapping some roadside maples using drop tubes to 5 gallon buckets next year. I may also put 20-30 taps up behind my house if I get permission. I have a pickup to collect with but the payload is only 1400 lbs so I am limited there. I only need to haul 100 or so gallons at a time.

Has anyone come up with a trailer hitch collector that would keep the tank low enough that you could pour into without having to get in the bed?

I suppose another option would be a trailer, but I do not wish to buy one at this time.

Any other advice or ideas for picking up roadside sap would be appreciated - even if it is with larger amounts. Thanks, Milton.

[Cedar Eater]

I've never seen a Hitch Hauler that can handle more than 500 lbs. 100 gallons is more than 800 lbs. You might have to pump from a 55 gallon barrel on a Hitch Hauler to a 55 gallon barrel or something larger in the bed.

[Milton]

A few 55 gallon drums would probably suit my needs. What is the best way to get the sap up into the bed 5-10 gallons at a time.

[Cedar Eater]

If you put a hitch hauler on your trailer hitch, you would have a lower vessel to pour buckets into. Maybe use a 30 gallon barrel for that. Then I would pump that into the bed with a 12 VDC pump like a Shurflo 4008 or something larger if speed was important.

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

If you find an easy way please message me, I have 250 that I collect all by hand, 1 5 gallon bucket at a time. I load 9 5 gallon buckets onto my tailgate before I climb up and dump into my collection tank in the truck.



A few 55 gallon drums would probably suit my needs. What is the best way to get the sap up into the bed 5-10 gallons at a time.

[Cedar Eater]

This is what I mean by a hitch hauler. They are available from Walmart, Cabelas, and numerous other places.

16085

If you strap a barrel sideways on them, cut a hole in the barrel big enough to slide a 5 gallon bucket into as far as the ridge around 3/4 of the way up, cut a big hole in the bottom of the bucket and glue it into the barrel, then it will be like pouring from one bucket into another. When the barrel is full enough, turn on a pump that pumps it up into another barrel in the bed. At most, you will need a short step stool to step up high enough to dump the bucket into the barrel.

[Super Sapper]

You can lay a 55 on the side and cut in a hole to fit a pail in but do not glue it in as you will not be able to clean it. You can also just cut down a barrel and strap it on and dump directly into it and use a bilge pump to pump into your tank. I would put the cut off barrel in the back of the truck when traveling down the road though.

[motowbrowne]

This is what I mean by a hitch hauler. They are available from Walmart, Cabelas, and numerous other places.

16085

If you strap a barrel sideways on them, cut a hole in the barrel big enough to slide a 5 gallon bucket into as far as the ridge around 3/4 of the way up, cut a big hole in the bottom of the bucket and glue it into the barrel, then it will be like pouring from one bucket into another. When the barrel is full enough, turn on a pump that pumps it up into another barrel in the bed. At most, you will need a short step stool to step up high enough to dump the bucket into the barrel.

That sounds pretty slick to me. Those Shurflo pumps can run dry too, plus you could wire it right into your trailer plug. When you start collecting just turn on the pump and let it suck sap from your dump tank on the hitch up to the larger tank or barrel in the bed.

[ash10383]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170316/6256b4e439cd925f4b3e907010296671.jpg this is a setup I use in my gator. I have a 110 gallon tank that was to tall to dump in. So I took a 5 gallon bucket with a bulkhead fitting in the bottom to a 12 volt pump into the bottom of the tank. Works really good because I put a inline strainer before the pump. When it's time to empty the tank I unhook the hoses turn the pump around and pump it into my overhead storage tank. My 5 year old sits on the bench to turn the pump switch on and off.

You could put the bucket on the tail gate and pump into the tank. Just need a valve on the line or when you shut the pump off and the level in the tank is higher than the bucket it will want to start back flowing to the bucket.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[Sugarmaker]

I may be able to find some of the other pictures too?
This is a shot of the pump (RULE bildge) to pump from the collection containers to the pump in the bottom of the cutt off plastic drum Which has a pump to go up into the tank on the truck.
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee170/Sugarmaker/Dump%20and%20pump/Remotepump4.jpg

This is one of the collection containers with 20+ taps running into it.
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee170/Sugarmaker/Dump%20and%20pump/Sapintoteandremotepump-1.jpg

Truck, tank and dumping station.
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee170/Sugarmaker/making%20syrup%20Feb-2013/CIMG2671.jpg


I designed it to do as you are thinking. Walk up to it and dump in sap from buckets. Then have it pumped up on to the truck as suggested in other posts. There is a RULE in the bottom of the two piece dumping station.
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

couple more:

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee170/Sugarmaker/making%20syrup%20Feb-2013/CIMG2652.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee170/Sugarmaker/making%20syrup%20Feb-2013/CIMG2650.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee170/Sugarmaker/making%20syrup%20Feb-2013/CIMG2649.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[pipewhiner]

16086
This is what I built. With a couple valve twists, it'll also empty the truck tote

[maple flats]

The last 2 years I had some buckets I used a barrel cut in half and a 1" gas powered pump. My buckets were all in one yard, I had 99 buckets there. I pulled into the driveway, set the half barrel on the ground and went collecting the farthest away buckets first and dumped them into the barrel. When the barrel was about full, I started the pump and while it pumped at just above idle I collected and dumped closer buckets. When it ran dry, I shut off the pump and again collected the farther away buckets. I repeated this cycle 3 or 4 times until finished. When done, I set the pump and the barrel in the back of my truck and went to pump some tanks I had until the tank on the truck was full. Then I went to the sugarhouse and pumped the sap into a larger tank there and went to collect more if I had not finished. My first truck tank was a 125 and later I got a 165. Those were before I had a 3/4 ton truck.

[Bucket Head]

I do it very similar to how Chris does it. I use a Rule pump also- suggested to me by Chris way back when!
Works flawlessly. The Rule is a great pump- have used the same pump for years without issue, and will pump waaay quicker than a Shurflo or the like.
Steve

[Milton]

Awesome replies everyone just the type of info I was looking for.

[backyard sugaring]

We use two 30 gallon drums on our cargo carrier. We cut a hole the size of a 5 gallon bucket and use the gamma covers from HD. I put hooks on the top of the barrel and strap them onto the carrier. The nice thing with using the top of a 5 gallon bucket is you use a 5 gallon strainer and no debris gets into your drums. Lee

[Cedar Eater]

Just stumbled across these while looking for something else. RV water tanks with 12 VDC pumps and cheaper shipping.

http://www.classacustoms.com/Tank-12-Volt-Pump-Combo_c87.htm

They look like sturdy tanks.

[Trapper2]

Pretty sure you guys just enjoy building stuff!
Don't we all! LOL