Tying together 55 gal drums

[dsaw]

I use only 3/16 running to 55 gal drums. I can only check my place on weekends, so when good runs occurred, I had some overflowing drums. The obvious solutions seems to be to add a 2nd drum connected through a bulkhead connection at the top of the drum. I'm just wondering if someone has a better solution or lessons learend?

[Russell Lampron]

If you can use 275 gallon totes instead of 55 gallon drums. If you have to connect two 55's together doing it near the top would be the way to go. You could do it with stainless barbed fittings and a piece of mainline. The stainless fittings should cut their own threads as you screw them into the side of the drum. The plastic drums are kind of thin so don't over tighten them.

[full moon maple]

I just use a piece of tubing with a tight hole drilled towards the top of the barrels, just make sure the barrel that fills first is higher then the 2nd barrel. Works great.

[Chickenman]

I guy I know uses 3 drums side by side, His lines all go into the first one that is the highest, has a U shaped piece of pvc going from drum 1 to drum 2. 2 foot leg in drum 1 and a short piece into drum 2. same set up from drum 2 to drum 3. seems to work as I see sap in all three drums when he pumps them out into his tank on a trailer.

[buckeye gold]

It will work. I done something similar many times, but not with sap. I used bulkhead fittings and PVC pipe, but you could use soft tubing in a bulkhead fitting if you siliconed it in. I used to have three different barrels in three locations. That got old so i got a 275 gal. tank and run all my 3/16th into a mainline, then to the tank at one location. It was one of the best things I have done.

[SeanD]

Overflow barrels do work - as mentioned. I lay mine on their sides and use the bungs. If your barrels have bungs, one of them has a 3/4" threaded knock-out that you can use for a 3/4" threaded barb and a piece of mainline.

I like that idea, Full Moon. I have a few vertical, top-lidded barrels that I could probably put into service using just a drilled hole and a piece of tubing. Glad to hear that works. Simple.