Food-grade Paint for Sap Bucket Repair? - FarmingForumSite.com

Sugar Mountain · #1 02-25-2009, 08:17 AM

Yes, we're old-school and still using buckets. Of the roughly 350 we have, about 100 need repair in some way. Does anyone have experience with repairing pitted or rusty buckets with paint? Is there a "safe", food-grade paint that you can use without tainting the sap?

LBradley · #2 03-02-2009, 06:45 PM

Buckets...good for you! I have copied your question and sent it to a contact I met while I was on a Maple tour. Hope to have an answer for you soon. Being in Northern VT you should be getting ready to tap those trees mid March? I hope this years Maple season is good to you.

LBradley · #3 03-03-2009, 12:58 PM

I emailed your question to Robert Hansen, his response is: To my knowledge there really isn’t. I would suggest that you just buy new buckets. Buckets that are that old likely are best to be replaced and not repaired. They won’t look the same but I believe it would be better for the sap to be in a new bucket rather than an old repaired one!

Robert S. Hansen, D.F.
Extension Educator - Forest Resources/Maple Products
Penn State Cooperative Extension

Best of luck to you! Let us know what you do and how your Maple season turns out.

Sugar Mountain · #4 03-04-2009, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LBradley

I emailed your question to Robert Hansen, his response is: To my knowledge there really isn’t. I would suggest that you just buy new buckets. Buckets that are that old likely are best to be replaced and not repaired. They won’t look the same but I believe it would be better for the sap to be in a new bucket rather than an old repaired one!

Robert S. Hansen, D.F.
Extension Educator - Forest Resources/Maple Products
Penn State Cooperative Extension

Best of luck to you! Let us know what you do and how your Maple season turns out.

Thanks Lisa!

UncleBuck · #5 03-05-2009, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sugar Mountain

Yes, we're old-school and still using buckets. Of the roughly 350 we have, about 100 need repair in some way. Does anyone have experience with repairing pitted or rusty buckets with paint? Is there a "safe", food-grade paint that you can use without tainting the sap?

When my kids were young we tapped about a dozen + trees for home use, using metal buckets. I used plumbers solder and a torch to repair the occassional leaking bucket. The kids grew up and I got older, we stopped before the buckets ever pitted, the few that showed signs of rust , since it was such a small number, were replaced.

Buck