anyone hanging 5 gal buckets on hooked taps?

[tresmastiffs]

hey guys
appealing to the collective wisdom of maple trader for some advice. trying to add taps this coming season and after upgrading my evaporator and filter tank this year...no money left for more buckets. have a source of free food grade 5 gallon buckets but have lots of hooked bucket taps and don't want to mess around with tubing drops/new taps. anyone have any experience with using 5 gallon buckets on the 5/16 blue hooked plastic taps (which is what i have)? if so, any opinions on where to place hole, drill vs burn etc? many thanks for your time. cheers
frank

[Super Sapper]

I am assuming that you have used taps. With that even though you said that you did not want to mess with new taps and drops, that is the route I would go. At $.14 per tap you will more than make up for it in additional sap as that is what you seem to want with your upgrades. If not I am sure some on here will have some advice on hanging the buckets. Just remember that the fever only gets worse over time.

[MISugarDaddy]

I tried that this past season on one bucket and it worked okay. My bucket had a lid in which I used a wood spade bit to drill an inch and a half hole and then I drilled a hole in the side for the hook, again using a 3/4" spade bit. To get my holes located in the right spots, I drilled a hole in a 2X4 that I had in a vise and drove the spile in the hole so I could simulate hanging the bucket on the tree. The hole in the lid did not seem to cause any problem with insects or rain/snow fall.
Another inexpensive option is to use the standard black plastic 5/16" spiles to hang your buckets on. That allows you to not have to drill/cut a hole in the lid. This past year we had 100 buckets that way and it worked okay also. I just drilled a 1" hole in the side of the bucket and then using a utility knife, I cut a notch out for the spout, which was about 1/4" wide and 1" long. I cut it at a slight angle from the bottom of the drilled hole so the bucket wouldn't fall off the tree. This required me to tip the bucket slightly to remove it, but it wasn't a problem and didn't cause any sap to spill out. Either way will work for you.

[maple flats]

My big question is "how much weight can a plastic bucket tap support?" If you drill the hole near the top you are asking the tap to hold over 40#, that sounds high. Some metal sap buckets were 4 gal, but they were made to be held by metal taps. The extra gal weighs over 8# more. Since I don't know your sugar % the weight can't be given, but water is 8#/gal, then you need to add for the dissolved sugar, plus the bucket weight too. I'd think that would be too much for plastic. Remember, plastic will deform if pushed in the same direction for long enough, this deformation may cause the bucket full of sap to fall on the ground. Murphey's Law will make it spill most of the contents most of the time.

[Jebediah]

I would say whatever you do, don't burn. Several years ago I burned holes in white bakery buckets. The holes came out fine, but it was a toxic-fume nightmare. Learned my lesson and switched to spade bit on drill. Works fine (wear eye protection), faster, and no fumes.

[SDdave]

Dave,

Murphey's Law is a female dog that we all can't avoid. But here is a lesser known Law that I call Dave's Law...If at first you don't succeed destroy all evidence showing that you've tried.



I had about about 20 5/16" blue plastic taps with 5 gallon buckets hanging from them. All in all they held up ok. I had a problem with a handful of them pushing out during hard freezes at night. And those that popped out would fail with full weight. The others that didn't pop out held the full weight. I am still not convinced these taps are ideal for this application and will be using seasonal spouts with drop lines next season.

SDdave

[Cabin]

hey guys
appealing to the collective wisdom of maple trader for some advice. trying to add taps this coming season and after upgrading my evaporator and filter tank this year...no money left for more buckets. have a source of free food grade 5 gallon buckets but have lots of hooked bucket taps and don't want to mess around with tubing drops/new taps. anyone have any experience with using 5 gallon buckets on the 5/16 blue hooked plastic taps (which is what i have)? if so, any opinions on where to place hole, drill vs burn etc? many thanks for your time. cheers
frank

I use buckets with drop lines. I drill one or two holes on the side near the handles so it is easier to pour the sap into my carrying bucket. Trade syrup for marshmallow topping buckets at the local ice cream stand. If the weight is a concern maybe you can tap low and place the buckets on the ground if you can?

[motowbrowne]

We hang 5 gallon buckets on metal taps every year. Probably a hundred of them at least. We hang some on plastic taps, but 7/16 tubing style with no hooks. We just hang the bucket handle on the lip of the tap.

If the 5/16 have hooks, you'll be fine. We try not to let them get full, and I recommend you do the same. I say go drill a hole in an oak or poplar and hang one and fill it with water. If it busts the bucket or tap, drill a hole on the side of the bucket so that if it gets half or 2/3 full it leaks out, rather than getting overfull and breaking.