RO or vaccum

[wrushton]

This will be my 2nd year I built a new building, ran all new line and taped 500 tree this year , well my first year didn't go well taped 300 all on pipe couldn't get them tight , also couldn't get my strain tight it was phone line ( very large and heavy) my question is what should be next RO system or vaccum or many be just add more taps

[mapleack]

So long as you can keep up boiling, vacuum for sure. You'll get twice the sap with the same number of taps.

[spud]

If you don't have sap you don't need an RO. If you don't have high vacuum then you are only making 40% of what you could make with high vacuum. The money is made in the woods so do everything you can to get as much sap per tap hole. The RO will come in time.

Spud

[NH Maplemaker]

I think spud is right on the money! If you're not getting it ,you can't RO it.

[red maples]

Agreed for this year get your woods straightened out and invest in good vacuum and releaser. and get your main lines tight and everything straightened out and just split an extra 10 cords of wood and boil like crazy. then add the RO later. that's what I did / am doing. Like the other's said if you don't have sap you can't RO.

[BreezyHill]

How large of an evaporator do you have and how many hours to boil in a day? If you are at or near your maximum evap rate for a day the addition of 40% or more sap will force you to: spend more time boiling, dump sap, sell bulk sap, and or possible make lower quality product. If you are at or near 55% of your daily boil rate it would behoove you to invest in an RO to increase the quality of your product, reduce your boiling time, and if there is any funds left you could invest in more taps. Then next year, invest in the vacuum system when you are able to handle the added sap flow that a vacuum system will provide.

Now, if you can line up a person to buy all excess sap you produce, then I would suggest Vacuum system first, as there is now reason to spend 18 hours a day boiling for 4 weeks. The dumping of sap is rather painful after you have invested in gathering the commodity and cant turn it to finished product fast enough to stay ahead of the bacteria.

Ben

[unc23win]

Go with the Vacuum and get more sap. Having too much sap is the one dilema that I would welcome. Not only that you will be able to better assess what size of an RO you need rather than buy a small RO use it one season then need a bigger one depending on your room for expansion. Personally I would rather boil more hours and make more $ than spend more $ up front and try to recover my investment while staying on gravity.

[wrushton]

Thanks everone for your help ( in changing my mind) I was thinking of adding more taps then a pump I see most of you think pump them add more taps an RO.
The reason I ask this question a friend has a sugar wood over 20 plus years they are only taping 450 no vaccum system last year they installed a RO I ask him . This is what he told me less then half the time boiling. less wood and lots of clean water to us. On the upside he had to buy a bigger power system, and now he cant keep up with ro boiling.In away this make sense
I live a hour away from my camp with no power or running .

I am going to try to sum this up more sap = more toys , RO = more home time with the wife.

[maple flats]

I was in that situation just 3 seasons ago. I added vacuum and more taps. I had to sell sap, but I sold it and got 1/2 the syrup back as payment. In the process I was able to figure what size RO I needed.
Then if you have no power at the sugarhouse, I highly recommend a Ray Gingerich gas powered RO. I got one 2 seasons ago and it worked extremely well, my wife says it is the best investment we ever made. I used it (a 250 GPH) as gas powered for 2 seasons, I have now run grid power (and 6.32 KW of net metered solar at my sugarhouse) so I converted the gas to electric for next season. While the gas worked very well, the quiet should be nicer.

[Four D Acre Farms]

Consider the sap pullers that Glen Goodrich has ( can be run according to him on deep cycle batteries) alot less expensive that normal vacuum and releaser and for the number of taps you are talking about might be a great fit.(they claim it will handle 400 taps and up to 500. I ran one last year made a huge increase (paid for itself in one year) on 250 taps. adding two more this year, If you can find someone else to bring you sap plus your own you might consider that ro as well. unless you have no job and lots of time to boil and gather wood or fuel!! I have gone with the ro, and one sap puller last year. i was able to rent the ro but cut time and labor close to in half.