Plastic Totes

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Looking at Craigs list this AM. For anyone interested, there is an ad in the Catskill NY area for 275 gallon totes that had been used for mollases for $75 each. Pic showed a tractor trailer load.

[KenWP]

Wonder if they have been washed out a bit. I see those totes up here but never have heard a price on them . They must be worth something as places have them chained out front with for sale signs on them.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I just got one for watering trees that had sunflower oil in it. I paid $125.00 was nice shape I washed it out and will use it all year and put finished syrup in it next spring. Supplier also had the white 55 gallon drums $35 each that had vinagar in them..wonder how they clean out? Maybe I should transfer sap in the totes with the sunflower oil that way it comes with defoamer already in it.

[Maplewalnut]

This post probably won't be very popular but the biggest risk I see in the maple industry as a whole is that it is not consistently regulated.

State requirements vary widely and in some there is no enforcment what so ever. But we all know you are free to sell to commercial suppliers from any state, province or back yard with no quality testing. I disagree that maple syrup is not a food product and the simple fact that it is all natural works against us in this respect. No chemical additives to keep bacteria levels down or mask any breaches in quality like other foods have. The latest food recalls are gross failures not little hiccups and that is the only reason they have garnered attention.

In my opinion, we to as a industry are only one publicized case of bad syrup away from fedral regulation. Inspections would probably start with the packers but you can be assured the days of dropping off syrup at bascoms dock and receiving a credit that day would be over. There would need to be a whole battery of documentation and testing that incoming syrup meets specifications. These tests cost money and manpower to run and that cost would be passed onto the little guy at the dock and so on and so on

Mike

[red maples]

:o I was a chef for 22 years and food bourne illness rules and time vs temperature, sanitation etc. are tougher in some states than others but they the statistics of food poisoning are pretty scary. You really need to be careful of where and what your putting sap and syup through and in. Now with the risks of BPA in plastics and other polys the days of using trash cans as collection barrels I believe is over. In the restaurant industry it is manditory in the state of MA that someone on the premesis pass a food safety course. (serve safe) having a HACCP (hazard analysis critical control points) programs to monitor the flow through of food though wearhouse, distributors, and restaurants. this really won't be that much of a big deal for big guys they can absorb some of the fees which will directly effect the consumer. but for us little guys who do it as a hobby and make alittle extra cash on the side thats the one that it will hurt.

just my 5 cents. a little more than 2

[KenWP]

Are you guys maybe in the wrong thread.
Town I come from bought hundreds of the totes and put one beside every tree they planted so that the summer students just had to walk along and water each tree a bit everyday all summer long. I would use one for sap storage as it would hold two days worth at least when my trees really put out and weeks worth when they are lazy.

[red maples]

I was just agreeing and got carried away!!! it was probably for the $1000 reg. fee. thread.

[Maplewalnut]

Sorry guys, wrong thread.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I looked long and hard at getting totes that I felt were clean and had a trail. The tote I ended up with was very clean it had all the manf. labels on it and was used once for food oils and it was listed as organic sunflower oil. I would be unhappy if I saw someone putting sap in a tank that stored cement products or solvents.

[KenWP]

We get lots of those totes up here that had fruit juice in them. I just am never in the right place to buy one. Will they fit inside a Ranger by the way. I tried hauling sap in those rubber maid containers and it splashes way to much from the ends.

[syrupkid]

totes are only 4 feet wide so one should fit in a ranger

[C.Wilcox]

We get lots of those totes up here that had fruit juice in them. I just am never in the right place to buy one. Will they fit inside a Ranger by the way. I tried hauling sap in those rubber maid containers and it splashes way to much from the ends.

Ken-

Just saw one the other day in the back of Kubota's version of a UTV, but I wonder, were you talking about a Ford Ranger or a Polaris Ranger? Either way, it should work.

To stop sap or water from splashing in a container cut a piece of foam or wood just smaller than the container and let it float on top. Really helps cut down on the splashing.

[Brent]

we use five of the totes. Around here the maple dealer, who's summer business is tanks for farmers, sell them at $ 85. a pop.

The still have a bit of coke syrup in them and we had to wash them out many times and then put blowers in them to get rid of the vanilla. The work great. Seem to take a solid freeze without a problem.

I have not yet found a submersible heater that I can put inside. The ones at TSC are too big to go in the hole.

[lpakiz]

Yeah, I put a 275 tote in my Ford Ranger 4X4 With a hundred gallons of sap, the bumper was on the ground. With 275 gallons ???
Bottom line-get a trailer for the totes.
They sell em here for $45 that had dairy sanitizer in them--rinse real well with no smell left over. The Highway Department next county over (Taylor) gets yellow and white traffic paint in them and can't give the empties away. They said there's 50 or more out back--take all ya want. They clean up harder and I would never put food stuff in them, but for watering transplanted trees or a garden they would be great.

[KenWP]

They make a heater that is smaller thats for pails and such. Its maybe 5 inchs wide. The feed store here handles then. Dosn't take much to keep the sap from freezeing or water.

[Gerryfamily5]

I've never lost sight of the importance of food safety in my operation, but have seen alot of locals use scary items in their "food" production.I try to view it as any of the syrup I make could end up on my table,so would I eat or drink out of that bucket,or hose,tank etc.As far as those vinegar barrels go good luck Haynes, I have 20 year old pickle buckets I thought I could get the smell out of, tried everything:cry: Resorted to hauling water w/ them,to bad I had an endless supply.Sorry guys came in at the end and wanted to add my 2 cents to a couple of earlier post, should have read on first.Alot of them are used around here,but the cheapest I could find them was 100 bucks or more.I was going to use 3 hooked together for RO rise water.

[3rdgen.maple]

Hey Gerry My dad brought home 6 5gallon pickle buckets for what I don't know guess cause they were free he had to have them. Anyways when he got home he filled them with good old dirt put a board over it and flipped them upside down on the ground, he then pulled the board out. A few months later no smell. We use them for varios things. One I stole from him when he got it so I could fill it with the ash from the evaporator before I fired in the morning and that one does not stink anymore either. Never used them for sap though. My theory is if it is plastic It has too be food grade and new before I even think about using it for sap. The pickle smell is a perfect example how plastic can retain anything that was in it.

[MartinP]

Bought a 275 gal tote tonight at auction. Will pick up next Tuesday. Food grade plastic, do not know what was in it but says nothing hazardus. Only 40 bucks so if it doesn't work out for sap at least I can use it to haul water for the deer food plot.