Branch line coming off steep bank

[pdr]

Because of property boundary constraints, I need to run a 250 tap, 3/4" branch down a 45% sloped, 150' wide bank - elevation change about 40'. It'll join 4% sloped, 1"/1.25" wet/dry lines at the bottom (about 1200' from the releaser). I've read everything I can find, but am still confused about how to proceed. Do I somehow Zig-zag it all the way down? Run it straight down into some kind large manifold? Some kind of reverse sap ladder / holding tank scenario? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

[500592]

Ok so do you need to tap the hillside or run your line down it?

[pdr]

Just run the 3/4" down the slope. All the nearby tappable trees are on the top or close to the mainline at the bottom.

[500592]

Ok then just run it straight and I think that if you run it straight you will have more natural vacuum

[pdr]

Thanks for your input 500592, but everything I've read says to keep the slope on the mainline and branches (conductor and mainlines) in the 3% -5% range to avoid turbulence, loss of vacuum, etc. Thus, simply running my 3/4" straight down the 45% embankment without some kind of mediation doesn't make sense. Has anybody else had to deal with bringing a mainline down a steep, narrow slope?

[maple flats]

Would it be possible to run on a contour and rise just 5%, then run the laterals as steep as you can? How long top to bottom is this hill? At 45% and 40' rise it should be close to the 100' total. I would even run a little farther on 5/16 to avoid the turbulance in the 3/4".At 45 degrees and 40' total rise my math says you have only 56' up the hill, is this close? If yes, run at 3-5% on the bottom and run the lateral straight up, with 5 taps per. Then connect to the wet/dry.

[Thad Blaisdell]

If you are concerned at all run 1" pipe. Not a huge cost difference and that would take care of any turbulance issue I would think. 250 taps will run at best 500 gallons of sap in 24 hours..... that is only 20 gallons per hour.... that is only 5 gallons in 15 minutes. This is best case. This is not a lot of fluid for a 1" line or even a 3/4.

[pdr]

My fault for not making the layout clear. The 250 taps are on several acres on a plateau directly above the steep bank. All laterals will feed into a 2% sloped, 3/4" mainline which I want to connect to the 1"/1.25 wet/dry line at the bottom of the bank. My problem is, there is no practical access to this plateau other than this steep, narrow bank. The plateau is the backside of a neighbor's property. Just hoping to find a way of getting the sap from top to bottom without messing up the flow/vacuum. Maybe it just can't be done.

[3rdgen.maple]

pdr I am in the process of installing the exact same scenario you describe. Mainline runs throught a creek bottom and then there is one spot where there is a plataue that I will run a branch line to to get the taps up there. I questioned this setup as well and the general consensus was mantain the 5% slope as long as possible then go down the grade to the main. Well like you I decided that all this is going to do is cause turbulance and with the sap coming of that branch line on a good run I think it will restrict the vac on the taps on the main above that. So with all that in mind the only thing I have come up with is to zig and zag back and forth and maintain the 5% slope gradually down the hill as much as I possible can. Lucky for me its a pretty short drop of the higher ground. Not sure if this will cause more turbulance or not but I dont want sap filling up the main at the junction and lose my vac. If you want to wait I year I will let you know how it works out lol.

[OldManMaple]

My mainline runs down along a power line ROW for over 500' at about a 25% pitch. At the bottom it makes a 90 deg. turn. I have 4 3/4" lats running with the contour of the hill coming in along the way.The line at the bottom has about a 3% pitch for 500' to the pump houseI installed blue line as it is in the open (sun) so I can also see the sap flow. The line is 1" till about half way up where it goes to 3/4". I have over 300 taps on this line and saw some turbulence at the bottom but never enough to block vac. Even though its less than perfect I still maintained 26" at the end of the line. The only other way I could have done it was to run each 3/4" lat across the row for 200' in the open and replace it each time the guy in the excavator comes through with the flail mower and makes plastic mulch and shrapnel out of my lines. The plan was to add a dry line at least at the bottom of the run where its flat but it works now without it. I would run !" if you can. The worst part is leak checking, its easier to walk the 5% lines by far

[bigtreemaple]

If you are worried about the sharp slope causing turbulance and blocking vac transfer why not run a branch off the dry line at the bottom up to the top od the steep slope and then join it to the 3/4" main at that point? That way the vac transfers through the dry line to the top of the slope and if there is some turbulance at the bottom no big deal.

[adk1]

How does everyone figure out their % slope? IS that sight level that Leader sells a must have or can you eyeball?

[mountainvan]

I have several very steep sections going into almost flat wet/dry. vac at the bottom 20", vac 3/4 mile up the mountain 22". 500 taps on 2 3/4" mains up the mountain into 1" wet/dry.

[adk1]

good luck!