Maple Syrup Sap Bag Holder

 Big time winter storm hitting us right now so I guess there will be an extra post this week!
Here's how to make cheap maple syrup sap bag holders. I used 2 inch PVC pipe. I bought a ten foot length and cut each piece 5 7/8 inches long to get 20 pieces from the ten foot length of pipe after allowing for the saw cut. 1 1/2 inches from one end of each piece I cut two notches on opposite sides of the pipe. These notches are two saw blade widths wide and just through the wall of the pipe. I used a stop block to keep them  a consistent distance from the end of the piece but just eyeballed them for width. Next I flip the piece end for end and drilled a one inch hole about a inch from the other end of the pipe. All these measuremets are approximate and are not critical. I would have used a smaller drill for the hole but that was all I could find that was about right. You just want it big enough to go over your taps. Leave enough material above the hole to support the weight of the sap bag when it is full.

The bag is held on the holder with a zip tie pulled tight into the notches. You could use a twine I suppose but zip ties are fast and easy if you have them. Of course for these to work your tap has to have some sort of end that will catch the edge of the hole. We will use plastic line taps for these since they have a end that will hold the bag on. If my taps wouldn't work that way I would drill a second hole higher up to hang them from a nail. My finger is where your tap would be.

Here is another view of the notches. I started out with a single saw cut but it was to narrow for the bag and zip tie to pull into it and hold the bag on. Put a second notch on the opposite sides of the pipe.