What size pump should I buy.

[spud]

I just set up the lower section of my woods with mainline and it looks like I will have about 1500 more taps. I need to pump this sap 350 feet up a hill that is around 30 foot in height. I'm looking for all suggestions. There is no power at the tank but my sugar house is 550 feet away. Any info would be great. Thanks.

Spud

[delivron]

In general you would use 10 CFM for every 1000 taps. My Question is what kind of pump are you considering to pump up hill with. Will it be a piston pump on vacuum or an electric pump be used to lift the sap up 30 plus feet. With vacuum the recommendation for lift is (Inches in vacuum *12)-60 = practical lift for a reverse slope releaser. Maximum piratical lift is 24. Yes you can use two revers slope releasers if required to achieve the full lift.

[spud]

What I meant was the 1500 taps is flowing into a holding tank. From there I have 350 feet to pump my sap and there is a 30 foot height difference. I do have power 550 away at my sugarhouse. If I can pump it 350 feet with a 30 foot lift then gravity will take it the rest of the way. What size pump should I buy? Should i go with gas or power? If I could do it cheap with power then i would prefer that. That way I could just hit a switch in the sugarhouse and not have to go down to the pump. I'm not trying to be lazy but I am a one man show for the most part. Thanks.

Spud

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

I'd run 1 ought wire and put in a submersible pump activated by a float switch. Neither distance or lift are all that much so I don't think that you will need too large of a pump. I have a friend who drills wells and installs pumps and I just go to him when I need to size a pump.

[Greenwich Maple Man]

What I meant was the 1500 taps is flowing into a holding tank. From there I have 350 feet to pump my sap and there is a 30 foot height difference. I do have power 550 away at my sugarhouse. If I can pump it 350 feet with a 30 foot lift then gravity will take it the rest of the way. What size pump should I buy? Should i go with gas or power? If I could do it cheap with power then i would prefer that. That way I could just hit a switch in the sugarhouse and not have to go down to the pump. I'm not trying to be lazy but I am a one man show for the most part. Thanks.

Spud A deepwel pump would work well and be electric.

[spud]

Thanks guy's

Spud

[Sunday Rock Maple]

We have a similar setup with 1,500 taps that pump back 1,400 feet up 18' grade. We use a 3/4hp gould electric (with #4awg alum) and it works well but we put in a 1" line and so it takes about 45 minutes to pump 700 gallons --- should've gone with 1 and 1/4" to get it quicker.

[GeneralStark]

Hey Spud, Do you lose electric much during the season where you are in Richford? Electric pumps will be a better option than gas in your situation. Are you using a 3000 gallon tank to collect from those 1500 taps? Using an electric submersible well pump on a float switch can be a nice option as it allows you to use a smaller tank and then just pump to your main holding tanks, but if the power goes out, you need another option, or at least a larger holding tank.

It seems like whatever you end up doing it would be good to have a backup system planned as well as relying on pumps to move sap can sometimes be problematic.

[spud]

Very seldom do we lose power so that should not be an issue. My concern with power is that this pump house is only going to be used for one season. I am in the process of buying the neighbor's 60 acres and when I do I plan to reroute some lines. I did not know if just a gas engine pump would work for now. If so what size? The lot I am buying has 3000 taps on it. I plan to have all my lines go to that lot and bypass my sugar house. The future goal is to build a new sugar house on the other lot and have all my sap run to it. When it's done I should have about 9000 taps all running to one location making it easy for me. My wife does not want me to spend a bunch of money on running electric. Although if I could do it for cheap I would prefer a electric pump with float. Does anyone know how much that would cost me? Thanks for the help.

Spud

[maple flats]

Yes, a 1" gas will work.While 1" or even 3/4" line will work, realize that the larger pipe will have less line friction and will pump faster. If you can swing it go 1.25" pipe. What is the elevation drop after the 30' hill rise? If it goes back down more than 30' you will only need to run the pump long enough to fill the lines and it will siphon after that and you can shut the engine off. If you do the flow will then be related to the total drop from start to finish. Make sure to drain any pump before the next freeze. I do this at one woods, but I am filling my haul tank. Then I use a pump to speed up flow at the truck. The only time I need to run the push pump is for the first haul of the day. After the last haul I drain the pumps.

[maple flats]

Correction, I got to thinking, siphon will not happen because siphoning is really the weight of the fall column pulling the rise column. Since any pull can never lift 30' this will not happen. However the pump will work easier after the lines are full because the same principle as siphoning will assist the pump if your drop is very much after the lift.