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Thread: Cleaning collection buckets

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Harvard, MA
    Posts
    240

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    Quote Originally Posted by berkshires View Post
    Likewise. I think cleanliness of buckets is the most important, not sterilization.

    GO
    The reason to sterilize in addition to cleaning is preventing mold which increases clean/prep time the following season. Without sterilizing I’ve found most buckets acquire serious mold that takes more than a simple rinse at the start of a new season.
    2022 is season 7
    2016: 20 taps on buckets, 4 gallons on a borrowed 2x3.
    2017: 32 taps on buckets, 8 gallons of syrup, on a "loaner" Lapierre 19x48.
    2018: 80 taps. First time tubing. New 10x12 sugar shack, Lapierre 2x5. Made 17 gallons
    2019: 100 taps. 22 gallons. Added a small RO 50 gph.
    2020: 145 taps, 30 gallons, sold half. Murphy cup is a great addition.
    2021: tapped Feb 23, 150 taps, 35 gallons.
    2022: 200 taps. I lost 50, added 100. Having fun but short season?

  2. #12
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Savoy, MA
    Posts
    490

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    Quote Originally Posted by tgormley358 View Post
    The reason to sterilize in addition to cleaning is preventing mold which increases clean/prep time the following season. Without sterilizing I’ve found most buckets acquire serious mold that takes more than a simple rinse at the start of a new season.
    I have never had mold in my buckets in the 20 years I've been doing this? I clean them...I let them dry in the sun...and I put them away for the season. I don't even clean them when I start the next year. Never had a problem.
    16x24 Timber Frame Sugar House
    Mason 2x4 Evaporator
    90 trees on buckets

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jul 2021
    Location
    Parry Sound Area, Ontario
    Posts
    1,345

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    Would you ever clean your buckets mid season? I read a couple posts on another thread, where in one case they compared sap to milk, where it spoils after 7 days and in another case in the larger collection barrels, they talked about pumping out all of the sap in the barrel, so that new sap is not intermixed with old sap going bad and filled with bacteria.

    Does the sap residue on the sides of the bucket go bad, or just the fact they are kept cold in the snowbank and are constantly refilled is good enough, so that you do not have to clean them mid season?

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
    Location
    Nashville, MI
    Posts
    939

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    I never had to clean mine until the end of the season.
    2004 - 2012 2x3 flat pan 25 to 60 taps
    2012 2x3 new divided pan w/draw off 55 taps
    2018 - didn't boil surgery - bought new evaporator
    2019 new SML 2x4 raised flue high output evap. 65 taps
    made 17 gal. syrup
    2020 - only put out 53 taps - made 16.25 ga.l syrup
    2021 - Didn't work out
    2022 - 25 taps on bags / 8 taps on 3/16's line - late start

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    Murrysville, Pennsylvania
    Posts
    475

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    If you collect and boil daily it won't be a problem unless there is a prolonged warm spell (fairly high temps for more than a day). However, gathering tanks/barrels will develop some slime in them over the course of the season and should be cleaned out (even of its with water and brushed a bit) every so often. These obviously get worse with warm spells too. Sap is like milk and if not kept cold it will spoil.
    D. Roseum
    www.roseummaple.com
    ~100 taps on 3/16 custom temp controlled vacuum; shurflo vacuum #2; custom nat gas evap with auto-drawoff and tank level gas shut-off controller; homemade RO #1; homemade RO #2; SL SS filter press
    2021: 27.1 gallons
    2022: 35 gallons

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