275 gallon totes.

[jiminpa]

what do you look for when buying used ones? these had cooking oil in them, will it leach into the sap? I figure i'll have to clean them out good, and tips on what to use? thanks!

[Mead Maple]

Jim,
I bought a bunch of IBC totes as I use the frames to stack firewood into. I can then move wood into my basement with the tractor via a small overhead door.
Question was, what do I do with all these bladders. I put the word out and people were being them way cheaper than a conventional storage tank. Trouble they were running into was cleaning. These had a one time use at a baby formula factory holding organic fattening product. Extremely greasy and oily. A friend bought one and had no luck cleaning the tank. He brought it to me at work where I was able to use our hot pressure washer with water upwards of 212 or hotter degrees. We also used some mild plain bleach in the mix and after a solid half hour and a cold rinse with the garden hose, they came out spotless and orderless.
I used one myself this year and used the same method. Absolutely no residual issues whatsoever. Sap was crystal clear with no taste issues either.
Key here that I want to reiterate is the fact of how long I spent cleaning these to bring them to what I call new. The water being at boiling with the bleach was able to cut through and residual material left in the tank. I have a supplier so will be buying more of these for next year to set up my lines. This year we collected buckets and use the tote as a sledge. Hope this helps!

Was able to find spigot set up at the hardware store that I used to make a draw system to go right into my preheater pan.

Set it up on pallets to gravity feed.

In the back of my truck in the garage kept the sap in a cold area out of the sun.

Final rinsing out. Note- when full these tanks have a ton of pressure behind the main valve!


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[Mead Maple]

Also forgot the great use they are as firewood crates to move with a tractor or skid steer!




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[maple flats]

Too late, you have already been bit!

[Mead Maple]

Too late, you have already been bit!

That is the understatement of the century flats. My wife being the first to point it out!


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[jiminpa]

thanks folks! I found some that had wine in them.. will have to try this cleaning out!

[Woody77]

I cut a larger flap in the top of my toats so I can get in and clean if I need to that helps a ton.

[Zucker Lager]

thanks folks! I found some that had wine in them.. will have to try this cleaning out!

I use HDPE 55 gallon drums for sap storage that had wine in them I now know that the "white wine" barrels clean out and the smell goes away but the "red wine" barrels hang on to that smell one barrel I have still has it after 4 years trying everything to clean it including a complete fill with bleach / water and soak for almost a week. JFYI Jay

[UB29]

Mead,
Do you remember where you got the reducing fitting at the tank outlet? I just bought a couple of Mauser totes with what looks like some kind of spin tight threads on the valve outlet. Definitely not IPS or NPT threads.
Thanks, Bill

[buckeye gold]

I use HDPE 55 gallon drums for sap storage that had wine in them I now know that the "white wine" barrels clean out and the smell goes away but the "red wine" barrels hang on to that smell

I have found the same thing. The smell never leaves, i open them and look now. I used one for overflow and I never noticed anything different about my syrup in those batches. I done the same thing with bleach with the same results. There can't be much residue from the wine. Just goes to show there is nothing like new barrels. I only use barrels for temporary holding of overflow. The sap is seldom in them for more than a couple hours, as I boil that off first then start working my tote, that was bought new.