Most Taps w/o an RO

[Dave Y]

I have always wondered if I am crazy or if there are other folks with large tap count and have no RO. I have 3000 on high vacuum and boil on a 4x14 Force 5. Anyone have more and no RO?

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I'm running 750 on a 2x8 without RO. Some would think that is crazy and maybe 1,000 next year.

[NTBugtraq]

Dave, isn't it based on fuel and labour costs? Fuel from your blown over tree and too many children offering free help and who would ever think RO is a profitable idea??

Cheers,
Russ

[Dave Y]

while free labor and free wood is a consideration , the need for sleep comes into play also.

[twin6]

Two towns over from us there was, for many years, a family that had 2 evaporators handling 5,000 buckets.

[Russell Lampron]

There is a producer in town that had 5000 taps and no RO. He was talked into buying his first one 3 years ago and now has a brand new one that will do 2400 gallons per hour and is up to 11000 taps now. He is very happy with it but his oil man isn't happy that he isn't filling his oil tank every day now.

I am up to 800 taps now and have had an RO since 2005. I was the second and at the time the smallest producer in town to have one. I knew right off that I had made the right decision and I won't boil without one now! It sure is fun drawing off 6 or 7 gallons of syrup in an hour with a 2x6 evaporator.

[Gary R]

Dave I think you are crazy! Reading between the lines I think you are thinking:) Just think of how many more taps you could have without having to stand in front the evaporator many hours a day. Next thing you know you'll get an auto draw off and free up much more time!

[Father & Son]

Small producer or large producer (tap count) doesn't matter. Taking a 10 hour boil to 2 hours is the reason for me. Fuel savings is another post!

Jim

[Dave Y]

You guys are missing the point of the post. I want to know who has the most taps w/o an RO. Although I do appreciate you comments.

[twin6]

The family I mentioned with 5,000 had no R.O. (but a lot of wood and helpers).

[I Luv Stainless]

I boil 500 taps on vacuum (22" hg.) on a homemade 3.5' x 7' flat pan evaporator. Because of my day job, I could no longer manage 'all-nighters' in the saphouse during the week. To reduce boiling time I could spend $ 7,000 for new raised/drop flu commercial pans or $5000 for a small 50 gph. R.O. unit. I chose R.O. It took me MONTHS to plumb, wire and develop a good tank setup for the new R.O. There was also a steep learning curve on how to properly operate the unit.

However...... I would not go without R.O. again!

Pros: It has cut my time boiling in half, cut my firewood demand in half (more time for hiking in the summer!), it has improved (lightened) my syrup grade (it moves through my flat pans quicker) and I now have permate to clean with.

Cons: sticker shock $5000 is a lot of money, setup/installation time, Had to buy another tank to hold concentrate, worrying about another piece of apparatus that cannot freeze in the saphouse (I built an insulated box with a lightbulb heater).

I hesitated for a few years before i bought a vacuum system... no regrets, I should have done it years earlier.

I feel the same way about R.O.

[motowbrowne]

I think Danny (dschulz) is about the same size as you Dave. I think he might be between 3-4k taps but he buys sap too. He cooks on a cdl intense-o-fire 4x14 with an auto draw-off.

[ennismaple]

Wheelers near us had about 17,000 taps a few years ago when they finally got an RO. Before that they were running 3 evaporators in series. I guess $100+ oil can make you re-consider! I believe they now run a 5 or 6 membrane machine.

[brookledge]

Many years ago near me there was a producer near me that had at least 20K taps and probably more. He had two 6X18 side by side. One of them was raised up so that sap coming out of it would run into the lower one. The lower one would always be used and the higher one only when he had a lot of sap. The higher one was all flue pans if i remember correctly.
Anyways that was 30 yrs ago and r's where not what they are today
Keith

[Scribner's Mountain Maple]

I don't win, but I rank. I'm doing 2300 with no RO. burned 12 cord in the past week. Needless to say I am going tomorrow to look at an RO.

The time and the wood consumption are insane. For example, I just woke up from boiling last night.

[bowtie]

What is your GPh rate? If you can manage it why buy an ro? I only tap 300 buckets but only have a 2x4 evap.! Next year more taps and bigger evap, but will never use ro , nothing against them but it defeats the reason I make syrup, like the old fashioned feel of buckets and wood fired evap.

[ennismaple]

I don't win, but I rank. I'm doing 2300 with no RO. burned 12 cord in the past week. Needless to say I am going tomorrow to look at an RO.

The time and the wood consumption are insane. For example, I just woke up from boiling last night.

Scribner - You'll never regret buying an RO. We were over 3,000 taps when we got ours and my father loved the RO the first season because it cut his boiling time in half. With our RO concentrating to 8%(ish) and the high efficiency evaporator we often get 80+ gallons of syrup per cord of wood. I don't mind splitting wood and feeding the firebox but it does get old quickly!

[Russell Lampron]

What is your GPh rate? If you can manage it why buy an ro? I only tap 300 buckets but only have a 2x4 evap.! Next year more taps and bigger evap, but will never use ro , nothing against them but it defeats the reason I make syrup, like the old fashioned feel of buckets and wood fired evap.

Don't say never! There are a lot of producers out there with RO's now that said they would never buy one. None of the producers that I know of that have them have ever said "I wish I had never bought an RO".