small gravity system with 35 trees on 1/2 inch mainline

[lastwoodsman]

I setup a basic gravity system just to try it this year to see how it would work. In my opinion it worked very well. Sure beats picking up the extra 35 bags. It was giving me around 25 gallons in 24 hours this spring and again did not have to pick up the bags.
For you beginners trying to figure this out I thought this would help you.

http://youtu.be/eNFOC4iYt-A

Woodsman

[Springfield Acer]

lastwoodsman;
I am looking to try my first tubing set up as I cannot keep up with anymore buckets. What pitches did you try to maintain? Did you run each 5/16 straight to the mainline or do you run multiple taps on 5/16 side mains? I've read that one can run 25 taps on 5/16 under gravity and you gain some natural vacuum which leads me to think that I should run as much of it at 5/16 as possible. What type of tubing did you use? Did you use wire on the 5/16 also?

[lastwoodsman]

I ran CDL 5/16 as laterals to the 1/2 inch mainline that was on high tensile wire. I put as many trees as I could on on each lateral for me that was around 2 to 8. You can put as many as you like to increase the natural vacuum.

This week-end I am running a one roll of 5/16 CDL semi ridgid as a mainline (no wire just weave around the trees) (easier) and T into it keeping as many trees as I can on the laterals. I am hoping to pick up another 50 -60 trees.
I currently doing 150 bags and that is all I can handle with boiling by myself. Need more on vacuum and gravity.

Woodsman

[SDdave]

Lastwoodsman: I really liked that video, it's a good tutorial vid.

I got one question though. Obviously you are currently putting up new or cleaned mainline. But how does one wash out or clean the tubing each year?

I have been eyeing up a couple of farms that have silvers in their windbreaks, but South Dakota is a very flat place. What's a minimum fall over say 100'?

Hope the offseason is treating everyone well,
SDdave

[Dennis H.]

To take full advantage of natural vac you will need drop in elevation.
You want the tubing full of sap and all the weight pull on the trees.
You can have a god setup on level ground with very little drop by you will need a very tight tubing so that there is no sags in it at all.

[lastwoodsman]

In 400 feet I figure I am dropping about 20 feet. As far as cleaning, after reading thread after thread I just made sure the lines were drained well. There certainly are a lot of schools of thought. Even after flushing most say you still get mold buildup and many do it both ways, flushing and just draining the system and leaving it.
I wlll put on new spiles each year. After this past year I felt the amount of bacteria buildup on the spiles would be equal to several normal years. My 5/16 metal spiles on bags --many actually closed up with snot laden bacteria. Never ever saw that before. I could not even blow through them! What a year! At least I could soak those in a bleach soultion to sterilze.

[SDdave]

I understand better know, thanks Lastwoodsman and Dennis.

SDdave

[lpakiz]

SD Dave,
I have 200 taps (on vacuum) and I have 1 foot of fall in 100 feet of run on a 600 foot line. I need to have the wire very tight, use fence posts at least every 25 feet if there isn't a tree to attach to, and needed a laser transit to get the grade perfect. Not much room for error, but it can be done.