Gettin sap out of a remote location

[Bruce J Stuart]

I need to get sap out of a holding tank that is 200 yards down a slight grade. I was told I could pump it uphill with a transfer pump but was wondering also about the excess sap in the line. The snow is too deep for a 4 wheeler at least in early season. Maybe a snowmobile?

[adk1]

elevation difference is needed to figure out the head pressure.

[madmapler]

I need to get sap out of a holding tank that is 200 yards down a slight grade.? How much are you talking about?

[Bruce J Stuart]

It is a 275 gallon tank with about 250 taps running into it

[maple flats]

How much elevation change? Generally most just let the sap in the line flow back into the tank, to be pumped next time. If left in the line you have a freezing issue.

[madmapler]

I would pump it. Transferring that much sap via sled sounds like a lot of time and energy for that amount of sap. Do you use a sight level? You can guess your elevation difference pretty close with it.

[Bruce J Stuart]

It drops maybe 20 feet over 200 yards. Thanks for the response

[maplehick]

We pump 1200ft with 50 ft of rise freezing can be a pita in the early season but we don't tear up the woods with the tractor or the 4 wheeler we normaly don't have snow for a sled.

[morningstarfarm]

A transfer pump will work fine...don't put a check valve in the line...let her drain back out...and drain the pump nightly...
You can run 10-3 wire that far to run the pump on 220 without losing too many amps...

[gmcooper]

I used to pump 2 locations up hill about 30-35' elevation with a portable gas powered pump. Worked fairly well but as said keep the line drained. For the first year I drained the line into 2 5 gallon pails and lugged it up the hill(10-20% grade) to the truck. After that I just ran it back to the tank except for the very end of the season I ran it on the ground.

[SeanD]

How much sap does a foot of 1" pipe hold? Ten feet? Twenty? Ballpark is fine.

Sean

[wiam]

I get 1 foot holds 0.040799904592075 gallon

[Super Sapper]

200 feet of 3/4" line would hold about 4.6 gallons.

[SeanD]

Wow, it's a lot less than I thought. Thanks.

[Bruce L]

Sean, we have a similar situation, pump the sap around 250 + feet, maybe uphill 16 feet, get yourself one of those cheaper plastic ball valves just after your pump. We turn ours off after pumping, if it isn't too cold we will pump again during the day, relieves back pressure against your pump. When we are done we pull the pump and drain it, then run the hose back into the tank and open the valve to drain the line for the night. It doesn't take long to drain with gravity helping it back down, as long as you have no major dips or sags it shouldn't be an issue.

[nace]

run two lines to the tank and seal it. one vacuum one pressure and it wont have to be high pressure or vacuum. the pressure, just a couple of pounds, will push the sap and assist the vacuum. kinda like a siphon, once it gets started it will suck it dry.

[Timberwolf]

It is a 275 gallon tank with about 250 taps running into it

Have you had that many taps running into that size tank before? I ask because I question whether your tank is large enough for a heavy run, are you able to check your tank at least a couple times a day?