Sap sak questions

[Low budget maple]

Hello folks. I am pondering purchasing sap sak. Looking for some pros and cons if anybody has some input. Any wood be greatly appriciated. Merry Xmas to all !!! Boil on !! I hope Santa brings me sumpting shinny and stainless

[KenWP]

Your going to get lots of pros and cons. They really let you know if they are full from a distance since they are bags. They also are knowen to wear holes in the bag against the tree from the wind. If they are cheap enough they probbably are worth trying out. No place close by me sells them around here.

[tapper]

I have quite a few of them. They work great in wooded areas but are a waste of time and sap on roadside trees where they are more vulnerable to the wind. If you want some let me know.

[bison1973]

I like them. No washing buckets. They keep out snow and rain.

[PARKER MAPLE]

Im Also Pondering Them, How Much Would One Set Up Be. Sac, Holder And Tap??

[dschultz]

Im Also Pondering Them, How Much Would One Set Up Be. Sac, Holder And Tap??

Where I get my supply's the holder is $3.50,sac is .25 and the spout is $1.95.
And if you have squirrels they like to climb on the bags and put pin holes in them from their claws

[RileySugarbush]

That's all we use and we like them just fine!

[sapman]

I think I used 100 of them a couple years ago. I felt they were worth getting, given the price of buckets. But as said, wind is really tough on them. One good thing, the holes in the holder are big enough to use the CDL stainless spouts with. Just drill your hole straight in, not angled. Sugarbush Supplies in MI was my best bet for purchasing saks and holders, even with shipping.

Tim

[johnallin]

We like the bags alot, it is easy to pour into the collection tank - kind of like a built-in funnel. Cost was a factor and storing bag holders takes up less room than buckets for sure.

I do keep some Gorilla Tape on hand to patch up small holes when they appear, normally from me not holding them high enough whilst walking through the briar patches. Still a good idea to keep a few spares on hand though...

[Rhino]

Besides our pipeline systems, we put out 1000 bags. The sap seems to keep well in them. Used to get blue colored ones but last year switched to clear. Found a person who custom makes them and he uses a thicker plastic then the blue sap sacs. They are not rodent proof but last year we never had a hole from the wind blowing them against the tree or from brush. Had him make me 32 inch long ones also for my pipeline networks, they hold around 5 gallons, only drawback is a little heavy to take off the tap. Have a buddy who makes holders from pvc pipe, cant remember if he uses 3" or 2 and a half inch pvc but he cuts the pvc pieces around 4 inches long and he drills a hole in the side .(really, any kind of tap made works with these, even plastic pipeline taps that the barbs are broke off). He then uses a hose clamp to secure the bag to the pvc under the drilled hole. I had my doubts about the holding power but after i put my finger in the hole,and he started pulling on the bag, I realized my finger would of snapped off long before the bag would of slipped. I forget what the price per each would be but it was alot less then bag holders. other benefits are storage, a 50 gal. barrel will hold alot of them. He uses a rechargeable drill to fasten the hose clamps. Takes about the same time as bag holders once you get the hang of it. Another option is rubber maid totes with covers. Sometimes on sale you can find 18 gallon totes with covers for $3.80 each, We use alot of them for pipeline networks also, around 15-20 taps to each one,and we made sure they were next to the logging trails for easy collecting. The 140 sap sac holders that we use with the custom made 32" bags have 3-4 taps running to each one,and they also are right off the trail. Nice thing about these are they are usually all worth collecting instead of running to each bag that only has a half gallon in.

[Brent]

We use a mixture of bags and buckets and pipeline

I would switch totally to bags if it were not for my wife who likes the traditional buckets. She, at least in part likes to show visitors to the bush, all three methods of collecting and people do seem to relate to the buckets and then get curious about the bags and pipeline as the tour progresses.

In 3 seasons I think we had maybe 5 to 10 develope leaks. Acceptable failure rate out of 100 bags. I think those failures were largely caused by carelessness when pulling a heavy bag off the tree and snagging it on a sharp bit of bark. If you hang them on the lee side of the tree, they stay on better in a big blow, but it is a minor issue. The weather patterns generally have the big blows bringing in a cold front that stops the flow, at least in our area, and you don't lose much when they blow off when it's really cold.

Try a few, I think you'll like them

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Rubbermaid also has 31 gallon containers that don't cost much more and work great for small runs of tubing.

[lightsteve]

I use some sacks and they have worked nicely. Can be a little fussy about how they are hung on the holder, if not done right they will fall off when full of sap. Also have had some issues with leaking if the sap gets frozen. My biggest problem with them is probably the disposable nature of the bags, they don't last all that long and end up going to the dump.

Getting the heavier bags is definitely a good idea.

Steve

[Dave Lister]

How many seasons on average will they last if washed out and left to dry come April? I just hate the idea of single use plastic items that end up going to the incenerator or landfill after a year or two.

[Brent]

Never tried to wash and re-use.

What we do (did ) on trees that have sharp bits of bark sticking out is just knock off the points and the sacks don't get damaged, especially when they get real full or frozen and are more suseptable to punctures.

Might try washing some this year

[RileySugarbush]

We tried washing them reusing them at first. It is a real pain. The big advantage over buckets is not washing them at the end of the year. Now we use them for only one season each.

[ericjeeper]

If you get a sack with a hole in it.. replace with a new sack and poke the old one over the tap to protect the bag from the sharp spot on the tree. I kept getting a leaker a few years ago, finally discovered an old piece of barbed wire poking out of the tree.. Hammered it down. good to go now.

[ryan marquette]

I use a little of everything.
Pros:
Bags are easy to handle (don't have to carry covers & pails in the woods), easy to see whats in them from a distance,when a little sap in them easy to empty(dump them without ever taking them off the spout), no struggling to take pails apart, no washing pails. Don't get me wrong there are some cons I still like to use some pails. I'll sleep on the cons.

[hanson]

Here are some of our homemade sap bag holders. They are made out of a piece pvc the bags are fastened on with strapping tape. The taps we use are the plastic ones for tubing. we leave on corner opened and pour out of that. I know the commercial ones are better but these are a heck of a lot cheaper! As the photo shows these bags are full! The one advantage besides being cheaper is you can use the whole bag. You don't have to fold it over.

[KenWP]

What kind of bags are they. They look like they are real full and all on the same tree. I wouldn't mind bags in one place I tap as it's a pain hauling all that crap way out in the woods.

[dschultz]

hanson,
Can you go into more detail how you make them,and show a more close up picture of them.
I'd like to put out some bags,but don't want to pay the price they want for the holders.
Thank's Danny

[3rdgen.maple]

I used some bags one year made from my food saver vacuum sealer. Just sealed the top and bottom cut a wedge out of the top corner and took a solder iron and melted a hole to hang off a tubing tap. Cut a 2 inch peice of tubing and stuck that into another small hole. I think I still have a few hanging around the sugarhouse. Might have to use some again this year.

[heus]

][/QUOTE]hanson,
Can you go into more detail how you make them,and show a more close up picture of them.
I'd like to put out some bags,but don't want to pay the price they want for the holders.
Thank's Danny


Yeah, I would like to see one up close. Especially a side view of the PVC. What exacly do you mean by "strapping tape?"

[hanson]

I'll try to take pictures of them and post. I'll explain how to make it here.
First you want to buy your bags because some are wider than others.
Take your bag measurment and lay it out on your 2" pvc (if bags are 14" wide mark every 14" but also every 7") Drill a hole (3/4" should be fine) on your 7" mark make sure your holes are in a straight line! The holes will rest on your tap. once all your holes are drilled you will need to rip your piece of pvc on a table saw you are going to cut down the middle of your holes. Then you will cut your pieces to length. Or you can cut them to legth and then rip them whatever is easiest for you. I hope I haven't lost you yet :-) Tape the bags on with strapping tape the stuff used for packaging. When you tape the bags you want to have part of the tape on each piece of the bag and then part sticking to the pvc. It is kind of a pain in the butt to tape the bags on. Don't use duct tape. I'll post close up pictures -a picture says a thousand words. The one thing about this set up is if it is really windy sometimes the wind spins the bag off the tree. We left one corner open so the sap can come out faster. When you go to put your tap through just cut a little slit in the bag.

[dschultz]

hanson
Why do you have to rip the pipe
And I take it you put the pvc inside the bag and then tape it
Thanks Danny

[KenWP]

What kind of bags are they. Also trying to figure out what the 3/4 inch hole does unless it's for a place to hang on the tap.

[ryan marquette]

I get my bags from Uline. Check out their website. They have many sizes & they are food grade.

[ronr]

Ryan, what size and thickness (mil) are you using from Uline?

[3rdgen.maple]

Roth's sell the sap sack holders for 3.50 cheapest I seen anywheres. If anybody is looking. I like Hanson's idea though. How well does the tape hold up in the weather? Why not ducktape?

[RileySugarbush]

We buy our sap sacks from Sugarbush Supplies in Michigan at .20 each for 250, .24 each for 50 . They are heavy wall and work great. Holders from them are $3.75

[hanson]

The hole is to hang the pvc on the tap otherwise it would never stay in place.
You rip it in half because if you left it solid the sap wouldnt drip down into the bag. And you get twice as many out of one piece of pvc. Duct tape doesnt hold up to the elements like the strapping tape. We never had any problems with the taps holding the bag or the tape giving way under all the weight. As you can see from the photo these bags were FULL and heavy. I'll try to get picts posted this weekend.

[dschultz]

hanson
I understand how to make them now,Thanks

[maplemaple2020]

well i have used sap sacs be froe and have had no problems with them they have a good holding pound to i live in ct and last season i went up to maine for a week vacation and i came back with bags overflowing and no leaks or pops i highly recomend them just make sure you get the right tap:D

[Grizz747]

What kind of tap do you use with this home made bag holder?

[adk1]

So you need to buy or make a sap sack holder. I see Leader has the sap sack for .45 cents each and the folder for $6.25..so for 47.00 would you just put the extra $ into buying an aluminum bucket and cover?? I guess I just dont get it

[markcasper]

I dont know how leader gets $6 plus for a bag holder.? That to me is highway robbery when you can buy new ones in Wisconsin for 3.50-3.75 each. I sold some of mine used ones a few years ago and felt guilty about asking $3 each.

Bags are $50/250. The ones made in Prescott, Wis are by far the best ones.

[adk1]

Can anyone tell me about how much these sacks hold and is it easy to get them off the tree and dump them into a 5 gallon bucket and then back on the tree?

[sapsucker78]

The ones I use hold a good 4 gallons. There are different sizes of bags depends where you get them. Sap sack holders are made to use with a hookless spile, my choice is the 5/16 leader ones they are also made in 7/16. With these spiles the holders are very easy to take off dump into 5 gallon pail and put back on.
If anyone is looking for these for next year let me know in a PM or email. I can get these holders for you for $3.25 each new plus shipping as long as I have some notice, bags are $50.00 for box of 250.

[ADKMAPLE]

Hey Sapsucker, for someone jsut starting out like I am, how can you not go the sap sack route? Imean, I am looking at 80 taps, to d o80 buckets with lids etc will cost me a fortune, for the sap sack and holder it is manageable. I guess i have no real alternative other than ordering 80 or so sap sack holders... PM me with the specifics.

[Brian Ledoux]

Hello,
Does anyone have a close up photo of what the home made sak sap holders look like? I mean the ones described by Hanson below taht are made from PVC. I am definitely liking the idea of not having to wash buckets again!

[Brian Ledoux]

nevermind the close up photos of the pvc sap sak holders. I re-read the post again and it makes perfect sense now. Can't wait to make them and see how they work! hoping they save some cleaning at end of year.

[khuberpt]

it seems like in the wind they are blowing off of the sack holder, any solutions? i was thinking of putting a screw to support it.

[dago9000]

leave some sap in them for weight,

[huntingken111]

I take light wire and wrap around spout closest to tree then around handle around bag holder and the under spile closest to tree then bend over spile. That way wind does not blow them off and when collecting just grab end of wire bend back a liitle pull sap holer off and empty. Put sap holderder back on and bend wire over spile again. Works on standard sap sacks and pvc holders

[Outdoorsman0490]

I have been putting about an inch of tube onto the tap, I have found that extra holds it in place