sap collection/transfer ideas for 150-200 taps on buckets

[tresmastiffs]

hey guys
new to the forum and first post so forgive me if this has been discussed before. i am one of those crazy folks who are tapping in seacoast massachusetts. i am hoping to have close to 175-200 taps this current season. The problem is that they are all on buckets as I am tapping 7-8 different properties that I do not own with most be in somewhat residential areas. Most folks ok with buckets but not ok with tubing. My issue is that up to this point i have been collecting with 5 gallon buckets into 2-3 55 gallon drums in the back of the truck. This makes for alot of walking back and forth into people's yards to collect and wastes alot of time. I am trying to come up with solutions to make things more efficient and less wear and tear on me. Given that these properties are up to several miles away from each other driving my tractor with a tank on it is too slow to move between properties. I do not own a ATV or snowmobile nor could use these given the residential area I am tapping in. Only things I could come up with are 1) so sort of sled that I could pull that would allow me to collect more than 10 gallons at a time to minimize back and forth to the truck or 2) use a transfer pump with 100ft of hose and station a barrel within this range to collect into and then pump to the truck.however, by the time i drain hose, coil hose etc to move to next property...is this any more efficient. I would greatly appreciate any thoughts, advice, experiences etc. cheers
frank

[brookledge]

sounds like your options are limited. Many years ago before I went to pipeline I had some road side and some trees that were accesable by truck. I had a gas powered 3/4"rotary gear pump( the same type used on filter presses only bigger) with 50 feet of suction. with someone driving the truck and one walking along you can just stick the suction into each bucket without even taking it off the tree. Down side is that you arelimited to the length of the suction hose and getting it tangled up. Up side if your trees are close, it is one of the fastest ways to collect.
Another option is to make a small dump tank that mounts to the bumper or reciever hitch. Then you either have a small gas powered pump or a 12 volt bilge pump that pumps it into you tank on the truck. This ceretainly prevents having to climb up the truck everytime to poor into the tank.
Finally for that amount of taps I'd get a single tank instead of 2 or 3 55 gal drums. A 275 plastic cage tank can be picked up for 100 to 125. then you could pump into it as you went along and it would be big enough to collect once daily.
Keith

[brookledge]

Just noticed that you can get a cage tank for 75 in the clasified section and it is in Salem Ma not to far from you
Keith

[NhShaun]

I have a similar dilemma on my hands as well. The sled idea will make things a little easier for sure, but might get a little tipsy once loaded up. I thought of making one with a couple pairs of old Skis, a wooden frame and some rope. But also throwing around the idea of a 12v pump with a hose to collect from my 25-55 gallon tanks at the end of my lines. The hose rolling will be a serious issue in your case, as well as the problems when it gets below freezing and you are trying to pump liquid haha. I have seen those pull behind sleds for snowmobiles/atvs that might work pretty well, as long as there is snow on the ground. If not, one of those beefed up garden wagons with big tires would come in handy. If you go with the pump route, try and aim for a self priming pump. Good luck.

[MISugarDaddy]

We used a sled to collect sap from buckets our first three years and it worked great. I built it using two pair of old downhill skis that attached to a box that I built to hold 6 five gallon buckets. Because it was the width of two pails, it was not prone to tipping over. Because our trees are located half a mile from our sugarhouse, we used a snowmobile to pull it, but it worked great and pulled very easy. If you want a picture of it, PM me so I have your email and I can email you a picture of it to give you some ideas.

[Birddog]

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/08/28/fa4ae726dd63a04c2f018e78c3bc3c11.jpg I used an ice fishing sled with bungy cords to keep the jugs in place. Worked pretty well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NhShaun]

Nice! I'm going to start looking for a sled like this. Luckily i already have a bunch of those blue jugs, they work great.

[tresmastiffs]

Thanks guys for the replies. really appreciate the advice.

brookledge: thanks for the info on the 275gallon tank...going to grab 2 tomorrow...one for the truck and one for the back of the sugarhouse

birddog: thanks for the picture...great idea and may copy you

[tresmastiffs]

Birddog: how much sap can you haul comfortably with your sled setup (assuming ground is relatively flat)? do you find its enough to make up for the time spent filling and emptying the containers? thanks:)

[handtapper]

Those totes for sale come from Ed @ tropical products they are once used, clean, in new condition perfect cages the valves are usually ball. Best priced/quality tanks on craigslist. He has tons of them. His 55 gallon drums are a fair price 20$ and again as new clean. You won't be disappointed

[SeanD]

I've bought drums from All American Recycling in Leominster. The are single-use with vegetable oil. I got the ones that had canola. Avoid containers with oils that are known allergens like soy or peanut - even if they are cleaned out.

The 275g totes in Leominster are $50, but they are empty only. You have to do the cleaning out. Let me know how clean the totes you get are. It might be worth the extra driving distance and money for me on the front end to save it on the back (literally).

Sean

[maplestudent]

those sleds are great. I used one last fall to haul oak logs out of the woods. I'd cut them to the length of the sled, put 2 on the bottom and one on top (for the larger diameter logs I had, could stack more of smaller diameter), tie them down, and it slid great on the freshly fallen leaves. Saved a lot of trips back and forth in the woods.

[Ski Bum]

These sleds work great. We purchased one from Cabela's 54" long 25" wide and 10" deep. Bolted a piece of plywood to the top and cut 6 holes for 5 gal buckets. If used with atv or such, a 50 gal tank from Tractor Supply fits inside. We use human power so 30 gal is about max for us. Good luck.

[Birddog]

Birddog: how much sap can you haul comfortably with your sled setup (assuming ground is relatively flat)? do you find its enough to make up for the time spent filling and emptying the containers? thanks:)For me about 30 gallons at a time is about as much as I try to pull. In areas where there is rough or uneven ground, I'll drop jugs as they get filled and then double back and pick them up on the way out. The jugs are easy enough to handle so it works well. For people with large numbers of taps in one area I'm sure there are better ways, but this works good for me.

[NhShaun]

These sleds work great. We purchased one from Cabela's 54" long 25" wide and 10" deep. Bolted a piece of plywood to the top and cut 6 holes for 5 gal buckets. If used with atv or such, a 50 gal tank from Tractor Supply fits inside. We use human power so 30 gal is about max for us. Good luck. I thought the sled idea alone was good enough, this makes it even more stable for transport! Good idea!