what collection method works best

[syrupdreamer]

hello all, wondering what method people have used for collection, and how you attach them to the tap. Also have read some info on homemade sack holders made of pvc, anyone know of this or have a few photos? I will have 300 taps this year so i am looking for ideas. Thanks

[Bucket Head]

It all depends on where your tapping. Where are the tree's? What are you gathering with- truck, tractor, ATV, horses? I've never used the sacks so I can't offer any info on them or their holders. We use some tubing and the rest are galvanized buckets. We tap all roadside and front yard type tree's, none in the woods. So we drive around and gather with a pick-up truck. A cheap and easy way to tap is go get some used plastic bakery pails. We used a plastic spile and a three foot piece of tubing and ran it into a hole in the bucket lid. A brick or rock weighted the lid/bucket down and the set-up was weather and bug proof. We did it this way for years. Yes, on really windy days some of the buckets got loose, but then some of the galv. ones I use now do too. It can't be helped. Actually, I never went with the sacks because of the wind. I figured if they were empty all they would do is flap and scrape back and forth on the tree. I suppose if they were in the woods and somewhat protected from wind they would be alright, but alongside a windy roadside or open yard, I'm not sure. I'm sure others here will chime in and share what worked well for them.

Steve

[Rhino]

Sap Saks and holders work good for us in our flat areas where we don't have lines. We put out 1000 of them. If the forecast is for wind, we leave a pint of sap or so in the bags to hold them down. Drawbacks are buying bags every season, labor/time putting them on and takeing them off, hauling them to a landfill, Also if we don't have much help it does take alot of time to collect them all. They still are nice to use though. The next best way we came up with is the 18 gal. rubbermade totes that sit right next to our trails. 18-20 taps on lines that run right into them. Sometimes on sale you can get them for under $9.00 for a pack of 3. If a person has nice trails through all of their woods and buys 100 totes, thats close to 2000 taps worth of sap collection. On light runs, we can pick up the tote and dump it out, but if its full, we just use a 5 gal. bucket to empty it until a person can lift the tote. Collection goes fast, even when i'm by myself. Drawbacks are another item to wash. Nice thing also is they stack up so they don't take much room to store........Was plowing driveways today, got 4 inches yesterday but forecast is for 10 to maybe 18 inches tonight and Saturday. Looks like the forecast for tapping might be snowshoes if it keeps on.

[Slatebelt*Pa*Tapper]

We use 1 gallon milk jugs and have been since starting a few years ago. just cut a hold in the vary top just below the cap and hang right onto the 5/16 taps,, however one must keep them empty so the sap doesn't freeze in them esp over night. we try to empty right before dark and always keep lots and lots of extra jugs handy encase accidental freezes over night. then we recycle them after the season is over.
we never stop saving/collecting the jugs its a year round savings of the jugs.

we have access to around 200+ tree's we can tap, but normally only tap about 125 of them. would like to go with vacuum someday as we are basically all flat land here if it would even work and or be worth it.

[concord maple]

Has anyone noticed a decrease in sap output using a 2-3' drop into a 5-gallon bucket with a 5/16" tap hole compared to a traditional 5/16" tap with a bucket hanging from it?

[heus]

Has anyone noticed a decrease in sap output using a 2-3' drop into a 5-gallon bucket with a 5/16" tap hole compared to a traditional 5/16" tap with a bucket hanging from it?

Don't know why but last year I got more sap from my drops into 5 gal buckets than with my galvanized pails.

[Bucket Head]

The spile/tube/bucket method is somewhat like a closed tubing system. It is a cleaner set-up and allows less air and bacteria in so it does not dry out as quick. The bucket and tube system is the way to go if your going to have a fair number of taps out. We too used the plastic milk jugs the first year, but on good runs the sap overflowed them quickly. The following year we went with the bakery pails. It was disappointing to get to the trees and see the trunk and ground all wet with lost sap from the limited capacity of the milk jugs. The jugs would be fine if your just doing trees in your yard and could watch them. You could empty them when needed. Ours were up the road a ways so it just was'nt practical for us.

Steve

[BoarsNest]

Last year was my first year, so I read a lot of posts on this site and talked to several people. I decided to go with the 2-3 ft tubing and 5 gallon buckets. I'm an hour from my property and can't get there everyday to empty the buckets. Last year was really poor weather and I only had a couple of buckets that were full when I went to empty them. I think the frequency of how often you can empty your buckets really will help determine the type of bag or buckets you use.

[Goggleeye]

It was disappointing to get to the trees and see the trunk and ground all wet with lost sap from the limited capacity of the milk jugs. Steve

Heard that. Last year I had way too much loss on my milk jugs. It works if that's all you've got, but I'm going to all tubing this year, either into 55 gallon drums where I've got 8-10+ trees close, or into 5 gallon buckets for the singles and small clusters.

[Slatebelt*Pa*Tapper]

only ever lost some sap on one tree, but I'm home 24-7-365 and can take a quick walk around the property when need be.

dogs and or the chickens love going for walks to check jugs, esp when the moths are out..chickens love the extra treats..lol..

i have the tree's down and know which ones are my big runners and which are the stingy ones..

[maple connection]

I used some of the pvc bagholder. They worked well for the price. I used a 7/16 to 5/16 spile reducer for my spile these work great and you can't go wrong @ $.10 each. You can see a picture of them on craiglist. Under Wisconsin, Wausau. Farm & Garden Maple Supplies.