Bucket Question

[hanson]

This will be my first year tapping Maple trees. I have the 7/16 ss spiles with hooks. I'm going to be using 5 gallon buckets (thats what was free) My plan was to drill a hole up near the top for the spile to go through. Do I need the hooks on my spiles?? Is there a better way to do this??

[Haynes Forest Products]

I wouldnt fill the entire bucket its to heavey for the spile. I have seen peaople hang the bucket from wire that does around the tree and is put thru a hole in the collar of the bucket in the thick part then it wont rip out. If you make a loose fitting wire that allow you to dump the sap and rehang. It will stay tight with the weight of the sap.

[softmaple]

put the 5gallon pail on the ground with bricks on it to hold it in place and get plastic spiles and tube each bucket it to the ground. then you might not have to collect everyday and worry about the wind as much.

[maple marc]

I found that the 7/16" spile can support a full 5 gallon bucket with no problem. Drill a hole near the lid. No need for the hooks. You can push the lid on lightly to keep debris out. I have migrated to all 5/16" spiles now, with very good results.

The only problem is buckets in a windy area. I tried the plastic tubing drop to the bucket on the ground with bricks on top. Didn't really like that setup, as dealing with the tubing the next year was a pain--cleaning and ensuring the tap hole was drilled at the correct height. My solution is to make a "belt" that goes around the tree and the bucket: use some twine and a length of inner tube rubber to make a stretchy belt. Much better than tubing for me.

[Tweegs]

put the 5gallon pail on the ground with bricks on it to hold it in place and get plastic spiles and tube each bucket it to the ground. then you might not have to collect everyday and worry about the wind as much.

This is exactly what I did, minus the bricks. I figure the weight of the sap will hold the bucket in place. Used the tap bit to punch a hole in the lid, perfect size for the tube. Should help keep the ants down some too.

[musicfreak46290]

Using 5-gallons isn't a bad idea. We used them for a short time. We eventually broke down and bought lightly used buckets from a dealer in Michigan. But sometimes you can get cheap sap buckets at an auction or flea market. Just make sure you look at them first. Some people will leave good/semi-good buckets on top of a stack and the rest will be rotted, rusted, or just unable to use.

[mfchef54]

Jeremy thanks for the tip. I used a 3/4" to run tubing into buckets on the ground. Worked like a charm.

[Haynes Forest Products]

In my past life of using any thing that would hold liquid I used buckets and I drilled a smaller hole than the 5/16 and pushed it into the hole like others have said. I got tired of the tops blowing off and I hated to pry the lids off so I took a nice sharp utility blade and cut all but 3 small areas of the outer snap coller off so you could with one hand unsnap the lid. Put a x with a sharpie on the top so you can see the tabs. Is you get good at cutting only the locking part of the outer coller you still end up with a rain proof lid that wont blow away or piss you off.

[MapleME]

Just a follow up to this- I have a few trees on a steep hill that cant hold a bucket/tubing combo on the ground- So I have 15 traditional metal taps with hooks and I just drilled a small hole for the tap hook and tried it. Seemed to hold the 5 gallon bucket no problem. Sound ok?

[buck3m]

Almost all of my buckets are from bakeries. I use a hole saw and drill a 1 3/4" hole, plenty big enough for spouts with hooks to fit through (because I already had lots of them, the last batch of spouts I bought are hookless.) The hole is well below the top with at least two of the "rings" above the hole. I snap the covers down tight [on reflection, I only snap down the back of the cover so I can remove ice and look inside if necessary] and pour the sap out the hole. I think that setup works pretty slick. If you use this method I highly recommend trying it on a bucket or two before drilling all the holes.

[MapleME]

I would really try to skip the whole hook idea, and drill a big enough hole in the bucket for the whole tap to fit through, then there will be a lip on the pail that hangs on the tab made on the spout. The hook will just mess you up. A metal 7/16" tap will hold a full 5 gal pail of sap, just dont rock it around and beat on it all the time. Speedbor bits work well for the hole in the pail, but give yourself some wiggling room, trust me. Its go time sap here this weekend, boil on Monday I bet.

Lobsta, how big a hole do you drill?

[MapleME]

and just a follow up- I speed-bored a 1.25 inch hole in the side of one of these buckets- only problem is the rigid rim I have is about and inch down, so the hole is about 2" below the lip. Looks like my 5 gallon buckets just became 4 by loosing those 2 inches. Maybe the hook hole would work ok?

[buck3m]

Buck,
Sounds great, but something to try, instead of snapping lids down, set them on there and just flip the bucket handle up, and it will "lock" it on there !!...

I've used the "handle-lock" method at times, too, and it usually works very well and it's a good suggestion. Some of my buckets don't have handles, however, and with certain others the handle is too wide. I corrected my post, above. After thinking about it, I only snap the back of the cover down for easier access. I figured that out after dealing with a lot of ice.

[Jeffery G.]

Instead of drilling holes in plastic pails, I melt them. The location that I wanted for the hole was on top of a rib on the pail. I heated a 3/4 copper coupling with a torch, ( held with pliers ) , and melted nice clean holes right through the plastic. They hang just fine on a Grimm or Soule style spout without a hook.

[Palmyra Maple 1]

I want to thank you all for sharing your valuable experience. This is my first of many years, I hope, for making maple syrup. I read Back Yard Sugarin' and as I use alot of distilled water by the gallon for my sleep apnea, I decided to tap twenty trees. I lost alot of sap as the containers were overflowing everyday when I got home from work. This all started because my in-laws gave me a 'Tap My Trees' kit for Christmas. In the kit there are three 5 gallon buckets with lids made by Embee Plastics. I emailed Embee to see how much they charge but they told me I need to contact the Tap MY Trees people. After reading everything you all wrote I've decided that I'm just going to make my own collection buckets. So far this year I've made a little over three gallons of dark maple syrup on the arch I fashioned out of a 55 gallon drum. I wish I started doing this years ago! Thanks again for sharing your experience.
Bill

[Father & Son]

Try your local grocery store bakery. They have icing buckets they will either give away or sell.

Jim