Water Tote for sap collection

[Upland]

Hey Folks, wondering if people have much experience using what we call water totes for sap storage, basically those industrial plastic cubes with metal frames around them. Obviously have to make sure it was only water used in it before but are they hard to clean out at the end of a season.
Thanks,
Teddy

[Michael Greer]

Heck, folks have used EVERYTHING to collect sap, and with all kinds of results. The main problem with many of these containers is the difficulty with keeping them clear.A bit of sap and a bit of sun makes an evil mess and can inoculate your pristine sap with sugar-gobbling yeasts before you even get it back to the sugar house. A pressure washer helps, but a tank that can be easily cleaned is better....microbes are really small. I have one of those mushroom-shaped "truck tanks" and it is my biggest misery.

[tcross]

i use one of those cage totes for my feed tank to the evaporator. it works fine. I do clean it out after each boil or two. I cut a large hole in the top of mine so I can clean it much easier! I used it for storage before I got a stainless tank. they work... not as easy to use as stainless, but the sure do work! just clean it as often as you can.

[n8hutch]

Heck, folks have used EVERYTHING to collect sap, and with all kinds of results. The main problem with many of these containers is the difficulty with keeping them clear.A bit of sap and a bit of sun makes an evil mess and can inoculate your pristine sap with sugar-gobbling yeasts before you even get it back to the sugar house. A pressure washer helps, but a tank that can be easily cleaned is better....microbes are really small. I have one of those mushroom-shaped "truck tanks" and it is my biggest misery.

I couldn't agree with this more, I Have 5 Totes at different locations, 3 of them I cut the tops off to make them easy to clean. Try to keep them in the shade if you can.

[Cpausch]

We use 300 gallon water tanks. They do start to smell if you don't wash them right away after the season but besides that you will need a good sized truck to haul it.

[Cpausch]

instead of cutting the tops off we have a pressure washer with an extention that makes an angle at the tip of it so we can get around it and on top of it easier

[RileySugarbush]

We used the pressure washer with an extension, but it didn't work as well as we liked. It's hard to beat physically wiping down the surface with some peroxide. We cut the whole top off and cover it with a sheet of 1/4" polycarbonate plastic that fits down inside the cage. Now we can hop inside and clean it really well. It sits outside in the shade of the north side of our sugarhouse and gets covered off season.

[Upland]

Thanks fellas, ya figured i would build a little shack for just to keep the sun off it.

[Father & Son]

I clean mine with a mop and a bleach solution after the season. Just mop and roll from side to side to side. Followed by a long rinse.

[jimmygarison]

Hi everyone,We use 300 gallon water tanks. They do start to smell if you don't wash them right away after the season but besides that you will need a good sized truck to haul it. A bit of sap and a bit of sun makes an evil mess and can inoculate your pristine sap with sugar-gobbling yeasts before you even get it back to the sugar house.