question for those who pumps sap a long distance

[michiganfarmer2]

I know this has been covered before, but I cant find it. what size tubing? what kind of tubing? How much pressure? what kind of pump? Im going to have 1500 taps in my woods next year. My woods is abuot 2000 feet away from my sap house. Does your tubing freeze during the winter? I have about 30 feet of rise above the tank that the releaser dumps into. I have a 5 horse honda powered triple diahragm. WIll that pump it that high and that far?

[Sunday Rock Maple]

We have 1,400 taps on 25" of vacuum on a dual Bernard that then pumps with a sump into an 800 gallon tank. A couple times a day we pump the tank out and up 18' grade over 1,400 feet to the shanty using a 3/4hp 230 volt pump on a 1" black plastic line. I would like to replace this with a 1 and 1/4" line as it now takes about an hour to pump the tank and that has to be done twice a day. Other than that it works well.

[Russell Lampron]

I'm pumping my sap 1600' with about a 30' rise with a Red Lion 2" pump from TSC. I used to use a Honda WX 10 1" pump. Both are gas powered. I'm not sure what your Honda is.

I am using 1" black plastic water pipe that is good for potable water and 100psi. I drain it back when I am done and make sure that it is above freezing when I pump the tank. It will freeze in the line before it gets to the sugar house if I don't. One of the upgrades planned is to increase the size of the pipe to 1.5" to speed up the process.

[sugartree310]

I pump 1800' and about 100' in elevation . I use 3/4' pipe, thinking about changing that to 1' in the future. I run a 1 1/2 HP goulds 5 stage water pump and a 4000 watt generator. We have 3000 taps and this moves the sap to the Sugarhouse at about 300 gallons a hour. Drain it back every night also.

[michiganfarmer2]

I really really appreciate all the replies. Once my kids are grown and gone, Im gonna need to be able to run this operation all on my own. Driving to the woods to pick up sap takes time away from the sap house that I dont want to spend. My honda is a 5.5 horse power gas engine with a 3 diaphragm pump hooked to it. SOme syrup makers around here use them for vacuum pumps.

[maple flats]

I use a small 1" 4 cycle pump to move sap 800', but after it goes over the top of the tank it is about a 12' drop to the road. After my first pumping I leave the suction in the tank and don't drain the 1" B&S plastic pump. Sap freezes in the line but it doesn't hurt the pump. When the line thaws I hook a 1.5" 4 cycle to the line and suction it and pump into my truck. It takes 35 minutes to fill 285 gal this way and it takes 30 minutes if I walk in and run the 1" pump. I usually only walk in to fuel the vac pump and walk lines, if I'm just loading I stay at the truck and read while the 35 minutes passes. I never tried running the pump at the road with an empty transfer line. My line is 1" but I plan to remove that to use for another main and I'll install a combination of 1.25 and 1.5 that I had left after installing my wet/dry lines. I'll use the 1.25 from the tank and then increase to the 1.5 so I have less chance of slush plugging at the reducing coupler. I also use SS insert fittings (Lapierre, from The Maple Guys) which have almost no shoulder to hang up in ice or slush conditions.

[OneLegJohn]

If you do it, do it right. I buried my vac line, electric line, and a 1" transfer line all at once. I'm going 1000' feet with about 75ft of head. The pump house has a 220V 1hp goulds pump with a double extractor. I use a small electric heater during the season and blow the lines out before and after the season. The pump is on a float switch and pumps up every 200 gallons. It takes about 20-30 minutes I've never really timed it. The best part: I pump through a water meter with a dry contact every 10 gallons. It sends a signal that emails me on my phone every time I get 100 gallons. It is great to know how well the sap is running in real time. You can kind of gauge your storage space.

[michiganfarmer2]

If you do it, do it right. I buried my vac line, electric line, and a 1" transfer line all at once. I'm going 1000' feet with about 75ft of head. .I woudl love to do exactly that, but my priority for spending money is in other places right now. What size wire did you bury for electricity, what voltage, what are you powering in the woods, and do you get much voltage drop?