tubing or buckets?

[whitetail farms]

i have a slope behind my house where ive started to make a sugar bush and im not sure if i want to run lines or just use buckets it will probably only hold 75 taps at most and if i use tubing it would all be on gravity sense i need to buy and evaporator still and cant afford a vacuum right now,so i think the tubing would work except im not sure how to move the sap from the holding tank up to the sugar house sense its would be at the bottom of my field behind my Christmas tree plantation so i cant drive a truck back there and idk if my garden tractor is strong enough to pull a wagon with a 100 gallon tank on it,but if i was to use tubing would i need to get all those tool they use to connect the drop lines and every thing?......thanks nick

[motowbrowne]

Sounds like either method will have pros and cons, as always. With tubing you don't have to collect from every tree every day, but with tubing it sounds like you might end up with some of your sap further down the hill than necessary. Tubing would probably be cheaper to install, though. No, you don't need to buy the tubing tool for setting up a small system like that. You will need the right tees and spouts, but connecting them can be accomplished easily by dipping the tubing in hot water for 2-10 seconds before sliding it over the barbs. Obviously that would be less convenient if you're doing 3000 taps, but is fine for small guys like us.

[spencer11]

i would do the tubing, and you could even buy a small pump. thats what im doing, there is one for like $150 at northerntool and then just hook up black plastic pipe and run it to your sugar house. as for a tool you dont need one but i just bought a 1 handed tool and then welded on another pair of vice grips on the other side like the ones that came on the tool, and now i have a 1 and 2 handed tool in just 1 tool.

spencer

[whitetail farms]

okay thanks guys i think ill do the tubing but if i got a pump would i let gravity take it to a tank and pump from the tank to the sugar house or have it pumped right into a tank at my sugar house

[spencer11]

thats what i plan on doing with my vac system

spencer

[maple flats]

How far from where the tank will end up to the sugarhouse? How much lift will be needed to push the sap up there? These 2 questions will aid in helping you get help on what will be needed. With a 3/4" transfer line you can move lots of sap. If the elevation you need to push is not too great you can even use a 12V pump and run it off the garden tractor battery. If you need more push you might need a gas pump. Some fairly inexpensive ones are available if you check Ebay, or Harbor Freight or Northern Equipment or likely other sources. The name brands cost more and work better but you can "get away" with a cheaper import if that is all your budget can swing.

[whitetail farms]

well if i had a pump i could just use an electric one and run an extension cord from my sugar house cause it would only be like 150 feet away and the elevation wouldn't be to bad but i wanted to but a tank on a shelf on the back of my sugar house like 6 feet off the ground...and if i put 75 taps on tubing how big of a tank would i need at the bottom of the hill,thanks nick

[morningstarfarm]

a 275 gal tote tank would be plenty..and would probably give you a day or two buffer just in case...

[SevenCreeksSap]

I had just less than 100 taps going into a 275 tote and it didnt fill up. my trees are smallish though. most under 16" dia.
Also look for threads here about making a one handed tool. it really helps and I made one for about 12 bucks.

[whitetail farms]

okay well i was think a 100 gallon tank in the sugar bush pumping it into like a 300 gallon tank at the sugar house,but will this pump be okay to use, http://www.harborfreight.com/portable-utility-pump-65836.html

[whitetail farms]

and good i just suspend another sap line from the pump to the sugar house

[maplekid]

why not run your mainline straight to the sugarhouse? maybe i didnt read your post right.(**** dislexia! lol) but with a good slope in the woods and a 2% slope down to the tank you might be able to have it run into a tank positioned at the sugarhouse. 150' really isnt too far.

[whitetail farms]

because my sugar house is not at the bottom of the slope its 150 feet the other way back up another small hill

[maple flats]

That depends on what the longest interval between pumpings might be. On the minimum you want 2 gal/tap x # taps. That is bare minimum. I try to have 4 gal/tap at the bottom of the hill. If you will never go more than 12 hrs in great sap flow times you can get away with the 2 gal. At the sugarhouse think worse case scenerio, What if you can't boil for 2 days, what about 3 days, what are your operator backup options?
I try to have 3-4 gal/tap at the woods and a like amount at the sugarhouse. I use an RO and my wife, grandson, and 2 good friends are available as back up. I never have sap over 24 hrs since I got the RO, before that sometimes I got 4 days behind before selling sap I could not process. Now I have 1100 taps and my storage is 1850 in woods, can add if needed, 1150 SS tanks at sugarhouse, + 6 @ 275 gal totes, + truck tanks totaling 475 gal.
Basically the reality is you never have too much storage. The cheapest to add are the 275 gal +/- caged totes (also called IBC's [Intermediate Bulk Containers]). These run anywhere from free to $50-$75-$100-$125 depending on source. Just be careful of what WAS in them. Make sure it was a food item, one you can clean out easily and be absolutely sure no one used it after the first use for anything that could be bad.

[adk1]

I was in the same boat when I started this hobby. I first was going to use sap sacks and run a few lines and dump stations. Let me tell you something right now though, I would have kicked my own *** if I had done this. I ran a mainline and laterals instead and am so glad that I did. Unless you can drive to each tree and dump the buckets easliy and have alot of help, 75 buckets is alot for one person if you also have to boil. Guess this depends on your work schedule but now way would it have worked for me.



i have a slope behind my house where ive started to make a sugar bush and im not sure if i want to run lines or just use buckets it will probably only hold 75 taps at most and if i use tubing it would all be on gravity sense i need to buy and evaporator still and cant afford a vacuum right now,so i think the tubing would work except im not sure how to move the sap from the holding tank up to the sugar house sense its would be at the bottom of my field behind my Christmas tree plantation so i cant drive a truck back there and idk if my garden tractor is strong enough to pull a wagon with a 100 gallon tank on it,but if i was to use tubing would i need to get all those tool they use to connect the drop lines and every thing?......thanks nick