Don’t laugh at it, but I made a frame out of the free available wood I had, and it holds the pail really well. I made five of them and may make five more, it does not take long.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0fd7...8sg77qDYHT8Zsg

As mentioned I will use a combo of frames, rope and maybe rope and bungee cords, to secure the pails.

Most of the pails are so buried, I can’t really experiment with securing them, but by the 19th, a good portion of the snow will be gone.

I have silicone baking mitts (2 pairs) to pick up the hot pans, but the welding gloves are a good idea, I will try and pick some up in town tomorrow.

My trees are either on Canadian Shield area or on sand. It’s interesting to see that some trees were really starting to flow and others, not a drop. The ones that were not a drop, were in very deep snow.

Although I was using two bungee cords to hold down the top pot of the vacuum filter, I thought it would be better to have the over centre clamps that 4walls had to secure the pot securely and level. I bought the clamps and the bolts and nuts and I purchased drill bits that I was told would drill through stainless steel. Because of my last stainless steel drilling failure I started drilling with great trepidation. I thought if it starts getting a bite on the steel and drilling well, I would do it. However the new bit was barely drilling into the steel and I stopped. This will now be a summer job, and I will live this season with the bungee cords securing the pot.