5 gallon buckets

[jcr1709]

I need to hang most of my buckets since my sugar maples are on a slope and don't want to deal with keeping them level on the ground.

I originally collected alot of buckets we use in our restaurant that came with peeled potatoes in water. Pickle buckets are not good...always smell of vinegar/spices and I am sure that gets into the syrup when concentrated. They are heavy duty square, white, 4 gal. buckets with very tight fitting lids. I eventually got frustrated with them....they have ridges on their upper section that protrude out from the main bucket so it was very tricky to hang them on the spout, sometimes did not allow enough clearance. And, even with modifications, the lids were way too difficult to remove.

My solution is a little costly, but best for me since I plan on doing this a long time. I have 12 qt (3 gal) clear square lexan foodservice containers with high quality lids. I used a 1 1/4" hole saw to make a hole big enough to fit over my leader aluminum hookless 5/16" treesaver spouts. It hangs perfectly and the lids snap on tightly, but are easy to remove and replace even if very cold.

One of the best things is that since they are clear, I can see from the house or driving up the driveway if they are in need of dumping/storing. These buckets are sanitary, clean easily and stack compactly for storage.

I still use the square potato buckets for sap storage. this year we are blessed in that I can bury them in the huge snow banks left after digging out my boiling fireplace. Attached are a few photos from last years fun....my first year....although everybody said it was a bad year, I was still very happy with 3 gallons of finished syrup. This year will be better. I definitely don't mind all the leaf raking/mulching of the maple leaves since they give us so much pleasure with the syrup!