sap pump?

[JimW]

At our school we collect sap in 5 gallon jugs, and since the year we are going from 15 taps to 40-50 taps we were thinking of using a 45 gallon drum for sap storage outside our little sugarhouse.

I know the simplest would be to have the 45 gal. drum up on a platform with a ladder so we could dump the smaller jugs into it and the have a hose going into the sugarhouse and use gravity to "pump" the sap in.

But being a school activity we need to minimize ladder climbing, especially ladder climbing in the winter carrying heavy jugs.

So I was thinking about keeping the 45 gal. drum on the ground and inserting a submersible pump into the drum and pump the sap into the house? Does this sound okay? I am sure there are "special" sap pumps? But our budget is very small (almost nothing), so I was wondering if I could use a pump that is designed for ornamental ponds? With summer over they are on sale. Do you think this is possible? or would it contaminate the sap?

Thanks

JimW

[murferd]

We use a sump pump to move our sap from bottom tank to our top tank which supplies the evaporator.Works great,easy to handle & can take inside to keep from freezing.

[Jim Brown]

JimW. I don't see any reason you could not use a pond pump. as long as it was new when you started. They do not pump much volume but you will not have much at a time any way. We use a sump pump(with a float switch) also to pump the sap from the releaser to the storage tank. When the releaser trips, the pump comes on and pumps sap to the tank. When the tub is empty the pump shuts off till the next cycle.
Hope this helps
Jim

[royalmaple]

Jim-

Cheap and simple, go to any big chain store and pick up a bildge pump, if you want to be really fancy buy the attachment for a float valve, mount to a piece of stainless steel (you don't have to but helps keep it on the bottom of the barrel). Hook it up and put it in the bottom of one of your five gallon barrels, then attach a longer hose to the end. I think they are 3/4 ID tubes, might be 5/8ID. Then run up to your holding tank and let the holding tank gravity flow to the evaporator. I think you'll have better luck with gravity flow to the evaporator, and pump to fill up the tank.

I can't remember if I have a pic loaded on my pictures link of my set up from last year, but basic idea I had going and worked well. I just got a 55 gallon drum, that had two bungs on the end, attached the fill tube to the top, and piping to the evaporator on the bottom. 1 important point, vent the drum if you are using a sealed set up like mine. Otherwise don't worry about it if you are using something else.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Matt,

Where's all the pics of the new stuff?? :D

[royalmaple]

There coming. I've been wicked busy.

Doing the fryeburg fair all next week, this week was planning / gearing up, starting tomorrow for the next 10 days is the real deal. Got to set up my site tomorrow in the pouring rain. Anyone planning to attend the fair, come by and look me up. I'll be the guy that has all the diecast cars.

Hopefully when I get back I'll have all my rough boards ready for me to pick up. THen just set some forms pour my slab, and start the project.

I got some pictures ready to upload but my **** main computer has a virus and I can't do much and really don't have the time now to mess with that thing, but as soon as I come home and sleep for a few days, should be pretty exciting stuff happening.

[brookledge]

Matt
Are you in one of the buildings or are you in a seperated location?
I'll be there Sat. through Monday
Keith

[JimW]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think the bilge pump will be my choice.

Jim

[davey]

this is a free computer cleanup site I know of that works great. It was put together by a computer professor at Rochester Institute of technology. If you follow the directions it will really do a nice job of cleaning your computer. I run it about once a month.
http://securitytango.com/blog.php

[royalmaple]

I set up my site today at the fair. I'm right behind the kettle korn "ma's & Pa's", and across from beal street bbq. 10x20 White Car port.

Just chocking down some grub now and headed back out to load up some more inventory to bring up tomorrow.

Come on over and say hi Keith, anyone else too if you are in town.

[Russell Lampron]

JimW,

I used a 1/4hp submersable pump in the past, it was 110v so it could be plugged into a wall outlet and had a garden hose adapter. Bilge pumps are 12v so you will need a battery or other 12v supply and they run a 1-1/8" hose. They are available at Home Depot and other hardware stores and aren't very expensive.

Russ

[brookledge]

Another thing that can be done with a bidlge pump if you don't have alot of room for a head tank is you can put up a small tank say 20 -30 gallon and constantly feed it with the bildge pump and have a return line taking the excess back to the storage tank.
My neighbor has a 3.5X10 and that is how he feeds his evaporator
Keith

[White Barn Farm]

I have a sump pump that I use when I don't want to break out the gas pump(not much sap). I pump from my gathering tank to my 30 gallon equalizing tank as often as I need to rather than pump up to my bigger storage tank. Works good and I use the same pump to pump my condensate to my wash sink when I pump to the big tank. Lots of uses for the little water dragon.

[maplehound]

I use an irigation pump to pump my sap to the gravity feed tank. But what ever pump you use I recomend pumpimg it to the bottom of your feed tank. If you fill it to the top the sap will foam and often overflow before the tank is even close to being full. By pumping up from the bottom it won't foam and you can rig a float to keep it full when it comes down. One hint though is be sure to put in a check valve between the pump and the tank or it will gravity flow back to the holding tank.

[brookledge]

In my neck of the woods I let the line from my outside storage tank to my head tank drain back every time so that it doesn't freeze. I like the idea of pumping in the bottom but in my case it would freeze if I had a check valve.
Keith

[maplehound]

I put a garden hose fitting at the bottom of my check valve. Then when I am done I take the hose off and hang it to drain and put a stick up into the check valve so it drains as well.