Anchoring buckets on 5\16 drops

[Johnny Yooper]

Trapper2,

We use approx. 4' drops to buckets, in a former life they were cake frosting pails, 2+ gallon capacity; we dig the snow out at the base of the tree and place the buckets on the ground and then pack snow around them to keep the sap cold and the buckets from tipping over or blowing over due to winds. If little or no snow, then we do the rock trick or lean a heavy branch on the lid to help stabilize the bucket in place. Our woods is flat as a pancake so difficult to use tubing; we push the end of the drops through a matching hole in the bucket lid, no bark, no critters.

[Bucket Head]

Ditto on all of the above. We did plastic buckets with tubing into them for years and they worked great. No bugs, tree parts, animals or other in the sap. Rocks, bricks and in the open, very windy locations, a piece of broken cement block on the lids. That had a little more weight to it. And we drilled a slightly smaller hole than the 5/16 tube I.D. in the lid. That way we had to force the tube in, which kept the lid on the hose if the bucket did get away. That way we only had to locate the bucket, which was usually easy to spot. A lid covered by inches of wind blown snow, not so much... lol.

[Trapper2]

For what it's worth...I have found that a water bottle (the cheap crinkly type) inside the bucket provides enough weight to keep it on the ground during the "soft" winds, but for those high wind days a trusty string tied to the handle is the best!

SDdave

. I used parachute cord wrapped around the tree and hooked to the bucket the last 3 weeks of the season, seemed to work well.

[Trapper2]

Trapper2,

We use approx. 4' drops to buckets, in a former life they were cake frosting pails, 2+ gallon capacity; we dig the snow out at the base of the tree and place the buckets on the ground and then pack snow around them to keep the sap cold and the buckets from tipping over or blowing over due to winds. If little or no snow, then we do the rock trick or lean a heavy branch on the lid to help stabilize the bucket in place. Our woods is flat as a pancake so difficult to use tubing; we push the end of the drops through a matching hole in the bucket lid, no bark, no critters.

Yes I always pack snow around them also and then we had a big Thaw and the buckets either tipped over or blew over. Thanks.

[Johnny Yooper]

we're light on the snow here for this time of year; heading into spring I like to plow up a big snow bank near the sugar shack and cover it with a light colored tarp, I use that to surround the 275 gal tote tank to keep the sap cold until the weekend boils; I can usually keep a good supply of snow until mid April or so when the season ends; pretty cheap refrigeration, just hoping Mother Nature comes through by mid March with the white stuff, just not too much at a time