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Getting Molasses out of 55 gallon drums


bluegrasstafari

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I'm trying to get molasses out of 55 gallon drums. Yesterday I tried pumping it out (broke 2 hand pumps) and tried siphoning it out. Neither of these things worked at all. Today I'm heating up the molasses to make it less viscous. Any other tips or tricks to get the molasses out of the drums short of punching a hole in the bottom and putting it down the drain because working with molasses is terrible?

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Haven't worked with the drums before but it seems to me I've seen folks lift the drum up on it's side, drain valve toward the bottom and then put a little compressed air into the breather port on the top of the drum lid. That would assume there are two ports on the drum lid, one larger than the other. be careful to only put enough air to establish and maintain flow, you don't want to put the spurs to the drum and blow the lid or seam. again, never done it but ought to work. good luck

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short of punching a hole in the bottom and putting it down the drain because working with molasses is terrible?

Hahaha, that was great.

I don't know how you transfer your molasses, but we pick up the drums on their side with a forklift by bringing the arms of the forklift very close together, then we just open up the bottom and top spout and let it all pour out. Once its done pouring just spray the inside with a hose of hot hot water, and rinse it all in. Last 6 drums have been completely emptied with this "process"

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  • 2 weeks later...

If your flow from the "tip the barrel" method doesn't match your patience, go to Target and get a good, old-fashioned electric blanket. Wrap the blanket around the drum, bungee it in place for a few hours on "medium" and then tip it.

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