Quote Originally Posted by Galena View Post
Mike, what kind of lids are you using? The metal ones have a gap in them so they fit around the spigot, but if you're using plastic lids,I think they cover the whole surface area and the spigot too. Just don't know if you want the lids flipped up, you'll get bark and bugs and possibly critters in there too. Tales of squirrels found drowned in sap pails are common. (And if that ever does happen...dump that sap and give the pail a really good cleaning before putting it back into use.)

And don't worry I'm in the same boat as you, only my smallest trees, the bush maples, are doing any real work, the big trees are still pretty froze up.
Hi Galena, we have a mix of metal and plastic - but 90% of them are plastic. Everything gets filtered twice - before the boil - but you're right - don't want any dead animals lol. Getting a decent run out of the swampy/smaller trees today as well. The ones in the dense bush still froze solid. I also tapped a couple farther back with hose for the first time just to try it. Seems to work OK. Ran three trees into a 5 gallon pail. Seems like you would have to watch the lines being tripped over and/or the pail tipping over as the snow melts.