how best to measure sap collected?

[Zamkev]

Hoping to learn from a few folks how best to measure, or keep track of, the amount of sap collected and boiled. In previous yrs I did my best to keep a tally of 5 gallon buckets that I poured into my main storage tank, but inevitably lost count.

Any tips or systems that work for you?

Thanks.

[PerryW]

When I started sugaring, I tried to keep track of sap reading the graduations of my 425 gal. pickup tank just before draining the load. But I would invariably forget to write down a load and never could do it. Then I realized: Why bother? SO now I just tally my syrup for each year on the sugarhouse wall and forget about the sap.

[SDdave]

I am definetly a micro-sugarer, but I count the 5 gallon buckets and religously record it in a little pocket notebook. Then when I am boiling I transfer the data, amt collected, air temp (high and low), wind speed and direction, etc. Works for me anyway.

SDdave

[Paddymountain]

I gather into 55 gallon drums on my truck,and pump into my head tank. 1 inch equals 1.7 gallons in a 55 gallon drum. just keep a yardstick there, measure
inch's multiply by 1.7 and write it down.!

[maple maniac65]

digital water meter works for me

[Zamkev]

Thanks for these thoughts/suggestions.

Anyone else do anything different?

[Indiana-Jones]

I calibrated my head tank, the one that I fill and then gravity feed to the evaporator. I made a site glass tube showing gallons in the tank. My tank holds 60 gallons. When we get down to ten on the site glass we turn on the pump and add 50 gallons. Record the gallons and the time, when we are done I can figure gallons per hour pretty quick.

My storage tank is a 300 gallon stock tank. It is 24 inches tall, so we can guess each inch is 12.5 gallons.

But. all I really worry about is what goes into the head tank.

[bees1st]

you can calculate gallons, one gallon equals 231 cubic inches. is your tank a rectangle? length x width x height all in inches divided by 231 = gallons . a cylinder ? lenth x 3.14 x the radius x the radius divided by 231 = gallons