Wednesday we didn’t have any sap, but the weather looked really good for Thursday so we waited to collect and got 245 gallons in the morning. The temperature was around 50, so the trees were running pretty well when we finished up around noon.
After that we decided to drive to Pittsboro and see what kind of shape the storage tank was in that the neighbors had offered us. We knew it was a large poly tank and that it was “laying out near the woods” but that was about it. We figured they would not have gone to a lot of effort to put it very far away from the shop, so we didn’t take much with us except some straps to hold it down and a tow strap in case we needed to roll it around.
After that we decided to drive to Pittsboro and see what kind of shape the storage tank was in that the neighbors had offered us. We knew it was a large poly tank and that it was “laying out near the woods” but that was about it. We figured they would not have gone to a lot of effort to put it very far away from the shop, so we didn’t take much with us except some straps to hold it down and a tow strap in case we needed to roll it around.
When we got near the shop where the tank was supposed to be it didn’t appear that there were any woods very near by, and Michael remarked that he had been there, but he didn’t remember any woods, either. When we pulled around to the back we could see that the woods were actually a couple of hundred yards away across a cornfield, and that the tank was indeed lying there. As Michael said later, it looked about the size of a roll of toilet paper. From long experience getting “free” stuff for sugaring we know that free stuff usually costs us something in sweat, skinned knuckles or slogging through mud, if not cash. At that point we weren’t too excited about getting the tank across the field, but decided to at least take a look.
As we walked across the field we debated if we could drive on it or not, eventually deciding that it was too soft. Unfortunately the stubble in the field was pretty tall, so that made walking harder, adding to the difficulty level of getting the tank back to the truck. As we got closer we could see that there was no lid, so we weren’t too optimistic about how clean the interior might be, or our prospects of getting it clean enough to use. When I got close to the tank Michael was a bit behind with the boys. I bent down to look inside, and about that time he asked if anything was living inside of it. As a matter of fact I could see a cat inside, hiding behind a milk jug. Fortunately it was alive, or I would have turned around and left right then.
We decided the inside wasn’t really that dirty, and that we could probably get it clean. Fortunately it wasn’t that heavy, and we were able to roll it out of the field without too much trouble. On the way back we talked about what might be the best way to clean it. Since it’s seven feet tall someone would have to get into it to reach everything.
When we got back we boiled for a while, at the same time working on a plug for the tank outlet. There was a threaded port installed in it, but no valve or shutoff so we installed a 2” pipe with a cap, along with cutting a cover out of galvanized metal. Later if we need to add a valve to the outlet we can still use it.
As we walked across the field we debated if we could drive on it or not, eventually deciding that it was too soft. Unfortunately the stubble in the field was pretty tall, so that made walking harder, adding to the difficulty level of getting the tank back to the truck. As we got closer we could see that there was no lid, so we weren’t too optimistic about how clean the interior might be, or our prospects of getting it clean enough to use. When I got close to the tank Michael was a bit behind with the boys. I bent down to look inside, and about that time he asked if anything was living inside of it. As a matter of fact I could see a cat inside, hiding behind a milk jug. Fortunately it was alive, or I would have turned around and left right then.
We decided the inside wasn’t really that dirty, and that we could probably get it clean. Fortunately it wasn’t that heavy, and we were able to roll it out of the field without too much trouble. On the way back we talked about what might be the best way to clean it. Since it’s seven feet tall someone would have to get into it to reach everything.
When we got back we boiled for a while, at the same time working on a plug for the tank outlet. There was a threaded port installed in it, but no valve or shutoff so we installed a 2” pipe with a cap, along with cutting a cover out of galvanized metal. Later if we need to add a valve to the outlet we can still use it.
No comments:
Post a Comment