Sap Ladder

[Deermaple]

Looking for info on two-pipe sap ladders. Also, input on which method works best for you, stars vs two-pipe ladder systems?
Any pictures would be great of the pipe ladder system. Thanks

[tuckermtn]

stars are good for lower tap numbers, like 50-60 or less. Two pipe easier to build in my opinion. if you do two pipe try and use maple tubing that is see through so you can monitor if its working well. sorry, no pictures here...

[BreezyHill]

Stars work best for me. We have a section that has 7 ladders to lift sap 112' plus on single ladder. 98169817

This is a 18' ladder that has about 200 taps on it. #3 in the series. I added the 1" line in an effort to get better flow thru the ladder. That did not work the way I wanted. I will be adding about50 feet to the line to see if that makes a difference. Large lines for my system at 28+" do not work well. The small lines on stars work better but I do get some back flow if one line gets running to fast and it shots across the star and runs the alternate line backwards. Full pic is ladder #2 This one works very well and had an additional 75 taps on another star added to the right of the tree. It is a much shorter ladder on about 10' and runs supper fast.
I will be running two trials this coming season to get better flow in the large lines. The bubble speeds the flow upward but in the large lines it elongates and allows sap to flow around...thus it loses carry capacity/efficiency of carry.

I inject micro bubble on some ladders to speed the ladder up. I have plenty of cfm transfer to handle the air.


I have to use black lines near the brook to keep the icing issue at bay. Above the brook I use blue to monitor the flow and bubble status. Black risers are nearly pointless due to the sap will only freeze in the lower few feet.

5/16 will thaw way faster than will the 1" line so every ladder has at least on 6 way star for a quick thaw and vac transfer in the early am. Ice jams will travel up the ladder but when impacting the elbow on top they stop the flow for a long while. Hour plus. The stars will run about 20 minutes longer than the 1" for the same reason.

I tried a sweeping radius at the top and it failed...added a flapper check and it did not stop the back wash of sap when the bubble loses carry capacity upon hitting the angle. Considered trying a 1"to a 1.25" transition at the top to see if that would reduce the impact and allow the sap to carry on better, but ran out of time. Plan to try that this season.

Our operation has had ladders since around 1977. They work well and save me from hauling sap. All trees run to the sugar house. No tanks on the road side. They do require checking to make sure they are running well. Large sawdust chips, saddle spirals or plugs, will cause head aches in the star lines. Some locations I have the risers tied together and in others they are lose. Where the brook settles the cold they are lose to thaw faster and above the brook and warmer longer they are lose to stay warmer longer and thaw in the sun faster.

In the sun and out of the wind is a big key. Most are on the south side of trees but three are on east, to use the tree as a wind block. Remember the tree will be a heat store so keep them close to the tree.

Vac transfer is not a major issue. On the end of the 7 ladder run I have 25-26" and the run is about 1800' in total.

Tallest ladder is 18', shortest is 10'. I only use them if it is necessary. They will produce with in 90% of those not on ladders. The reduction is from the added thaw time and quicker freeze time. On a good season we average .5 gallons per tape on the entire system. Last season we were just over .27 g/ tap with most of the production coming off the laddered lines. Cold wind was a killer for our higher parts of the bush. The area protected from the wind would run great and the other areas would trickle or not even run at all.

I plan to add a dry line to the majority of the ladder system to increase the production and to get better vac levels to the far end. We will be adding another 700 taps to the series for next season so I need to get the 1" risers working. I sell CDL supplies and will be trying their dry line setup in one spot to see if it will work well. Not a fan of dumping sap on the ground so I don't use the tank with the flapper valve to dump sap at end of each day. A small tank at each ladder on the other hand to catch the sap could make that setup work for me.

Let me know if you want more pics.

Ben

[unc23win]

stars are good for lower tap numbers, like 50-60 or less. Two pipe easier to build in my opinion. if you do two pipe try and use maple tubing that is see through so you can monitor if its working well. sorry, no pictures here...

What size tubing do you use for your dual line? For instance I am wondering does it work better with smaller like 3/4" rather than 1"?