Hobby reaser--what's the verdict

[lew]

I searched several threads about the hobby releasers (good for up to 500 taps?) but wasn''t quite sure what the verdict is. Have the problems definitely been cleared up, and are they reliable?

[red maples]

well...I have used mine for 2 years now. little quirks here and there. 500 taps I don't know about that...275 works good, don't know if I would go the whole 500 on a kick *** run with 275 the thing can dump every 3-5 minutes it only holds a little over a gallon of sap....all moving parts must be flushed with warm water everyday or it will stick. watch for freezeups when the temp drops its good for a sap back up when the flap feezes shut. other than that it works OK.

[Daryl]

What is a good way to prevent freeze ups? I try to keep a heater on the flap area. It is in a unheated building.
Daryl

[lew]

Thanks Red Maples. Now is the hobby releaser the same as the single mechanical? I'm thinking not because the single mechanical in the Leader catalog is 1000 and I hear you guys talking about 600 for the hobby. If they are different, is the mechanical single any more dependable than the hobby?

[Brent]

What is a good way to prevent freeze ups? I try to keep a heater on the flap area. It is in a unheated building.
Daryl

Drain it every night, you got to wash it anyway .... or move your operation to Miami

[Greenwich Maple Man]

What is a good way to prevent freeze ups? I try to keep a heater on the flap area. It is in a unheated building.
Daryl

Daryl ,

I'm new to this sight but saw your question and thought I would give my two cents. I have a single verticle that has at least 500 taps maybe more(not quite sure ) on it. It worked trouble free for me this past year. However, it was releasing on good runs alomst every 8 to 10 sec. Need to go to a bigger one but am very pleased thus far. I shut it down when it froze and had no problems throughout the season. Hope this helps.

[red maples]

yes shut down when it freezes up but I had the 90* elbow that is between the canister and the manifold freeze up and back up sap. that never happened before although it was windy and the temp dropped really fast so the trees were still running pretty good when it happened...thats what moisture traps are for!!

but they all freeze up at night when I shut down I make sure there is no sap in the canister it takes too long for it thaw in the morning!!!

[treefinder]

i ran one this year and it screwed me a couple of times, but any of them can do that. the only down fall was right at 32 it would suck enough air out of the plunger that it would build up and freeze.i had about 300 on mine ,but when i cleaned my line out i started at the top with a 300 gal tote and hooked right to my main line and started the vacuum and that thing dumped like crazy and never skipped a beat! so i would say they would handle alot more. only one thing i forgot to tell you is they only seem to work on high vacuum i ran 22" but if i had leaks and it was at 18 or lower it didn't seam to dump and then seal back up to start vac again.

[Greenwich Maple Man]

yes shut down when it freezes up but I had the 90* elbow that is between the canister and the manifold freeze up and back up sap. that never happened before although it was windy and the temp dropped really fast so the trees were still running pretty good when it happened...thats what moisture traps are for!!

but they all freeze up at night when I shut down I make sure there is no sap in the canister it takes too long for it thaw in the morning!!!

Agreed 100%. Shut it down with a freeze. If you do that they should run without any problems.