The guzzler

[PACMAN]

Well,I havent been on since 4/14. As my lap top decided to die. I just got one for christmass. I had a wonderfull season due to the guzzler I got, The sap flow was awsome. I ended up with 137 gal of syrup off of 450 taps. I have more confidence in this little pump for this coming season.We are going to add another 50 taps this year and see what happens? Going to order 6 diaframs for it soon. I know it doubled my production last season. I also played with it and would shut it off and see how the sap flow was without it and it would only run half as much.Call me crazy but I would get a coffee and sit and watch the little pump work. Last season sure was fun,Lets hope that this year will be as good.I would like to hear from others who have a guzzler and find out how yours worked for you.

[adk1]

I have been considering one for a few seasons now and haven't pulled the trigger yet. Been real interested though. Thanks for your updated post.

[TRAILGUY]

just got my got 4 extra diaphragms and a set of valves, it is the 501 set up for maple from bosworth. waiting on a 250 ro from rays which i got a grant for. tubing all redone lots of new things to work out this year. is there a inline screen or is it easyer to wait till warms up then start pump? I set up with two lines at tank one with pump and one with out. wife is home all day so can start pump when warm.

[spud]

How much does a Guzzler cost and where do you buy them? What kind of vacuum do you get? I have a friend of mine with about 600 taps behind his house and he is thinking about setting it up for fun. Do you need a releaser with a Guzzler? My friend is an older man living on SS and he is trying to set up for cheap. Thanks

Spud

[spud]

I just looked up the Guzzler pump and they seem pretty neat. They rate them for 8.3 GPM so that could be a problem if you had 500 taps i would think. No releaser is needed so there is a big savings alone. So two cage tanks hooked together with a Guzzler on top of one is really all you need. This would be way less then $1000.00 dollars. Do the seals go out often? I see some of you are stocking up on parts. What are the potential problems? Thank you.

Spud

[adk1]

Allot of places but least expensive is go directly thru bosworth pumps who makes the actual pump. No released needed and yes you should have a cv ahead of the pump and maybe even something to catch debris. Cost of pump around 500 bucks or so I believe. It is actually a sap puller

[nas]

Pacman, how many taps are you running on the guzzler, and how high is the vacuum?

Nick

[PACMAN]

I had a good season last year because of that little pump. In 9 hours we got 1300 gal of sap and the next day 400 gal. We always had sap to boil every day threw the whole month of April. I Never put a vac gauge in so I dont know what the vac was.I have 450 now and we are going to put another 50 in this year.

[adk1]

no vac gauge? How would you know if you are getting everything you could out of it? How would you find leaks?

[PACMAN]

I check for leaks every other day. I can here them if something is leaking.As far as getting the most out of it,I made double the amount of syrup I made last year so i think it works good enough.Besides,it isnt a dual line system with bosters that you can shut off to find leaks on that one run. If i put a gauge in I will still have to check them all anyway. Plan on ussing the guzzler for 2 more years then going with a duel line system and try to get 3000 taps in. The guzzler is a good unit to help me make more syrup and save to buy materials for the new system.

[spud]

It sounds like it is a nice little unit to have. According to the specks it will go to 22 Inches of vacuum with 1.1 CFM. Pacman I think your doing very good production with your Guzzler. When you switch over to a wet/dry system you will be closer to .4-.5 GPT in syrup. The important thing is to have fun and enjoy your syrup. Sounds like your doing that.

Spud

[Moser's Maple]

I just looked up the Guzzler pump and they seem pretty neat. They rate them for 8.3 GPM so that could be a problem if you had 500 taps i would think. No releaser is needed so there is a big savings alone. So two cage tanks hooked together with a Guzzler on top of one is really all you need. This would be way less then $1000.00 dollars. Do the seals go out often? I see some of you are stocking up on parts. What are the potential problems? Thank you.

Spud
ice is the enemy with the guzzlers. you want some sort of inline screen infront of the pump so you don't rip you diaphrams. if you do get ice, it can tear a diaphram and this is why many guys keep extra ones on hand. ideally if a hard freeze is coming you keep it going as long as you dare to, then you pull the pump so you don't get ice build up in it. some also mount the pump on a slight slope so when it's not running gravity will drain the pump. hope this helps

[TRAILGUY]

what kind of inline screens are there?

[spud]

ice is the enemy with the guzzlers. you want some sort of inline screen infront of the pump so you don't rip you diaphrams. if you do get ice, it can tear a diaphram and this is why many guys keep extra ones on hand. ideally if a hard freeze is coming you keep it going as long as you dare to, then you pull the pump so you don't get ice build up in it. some also mount the pump on a slight slope so when it's not running gravity will drain the pump. hope this helps

Thank you. You just answered my question.

Spud

[PACMAN]

Ice is not the only enemy to the diaframs, They will wear out after 40 hours or so. I kept track as best I could last year, but this year i will have an hour meter on my generator. When I did change it last year I noticed a big diferance in the sap flow.

[Moser's Maple]

what kind of inline screens are there?
i've seen some use these
http://www.banjocorp.com/liquid-handling/line-strainers
or something like this
http://www.grainger.com/category/inline-strainers/filtration/plumbing/ecatalog/N-a7g#nav=%2Fcategory%2Finline-strainers%2Ffiltration%2Fplumbing%2Fecatalog%2FN-a7gZ1z12py2Z1z0ye4i%3FfromViewAll%3Dtrue
probably the best idea I have saw was actually at the CDL open house. they used a 6x18 or 6x24 can't remember which horizontal booster before the pump with the internal screen. the lines came in the side as they would on any manioild, and the diaphram pump was drawing off the bottom of it. was a more expensive set up for sure, but really neat, and would give you more capacity for those slushy mornings

[bcr767]

Is anyone using these pumps on batteries, or is everyone using them on hard wired electricity. If you are using them on batteries how long do the batteries last.

[lakeview maple]

bcr767 I have a Guzzler that is 12 volt , I would hook it up on my way to work at 615am and unhook when I got home at 1130pm and it would still be pumping , I use a good deep cycle and I use 2 batteries , 1 on a good charger and 1 in use . I only u hooked when it was going to freeze at night so I wouldn't get ice in the diaphragm and tear it.

[adk1]

I guess I do not understand how u can be sure when it is gonna freeze and when it isn't. I am thinking that the majority of nights during the sugarin season for me get below freezing until the very last week when I am thinking that each time I boil will be my last. There is no way I would be able to turn the pump on at 7am when I leave for work, all my laterals are frozen then

[PACMAN]

I just un hook the pump and bring it in the sugar house at night. I use banjo fittings on the pump and I have a section of pipe that hooks in where the pump was so I just let the system gravity feed until I hook the pump back up the next day

[lakeview maple]

Pacman I have the same set up , I use quick connect fittings and have a piece of pipe made up , so when I unhook the pump I just hook up the pipe, as far as the laterals being frozen in the morning , thats why I have a filter before the pump to block the ice from the mainline, as the pump runs it will draw in the sap but the filter blocks any ice. The great thing about the Guzzler is you can run them dry without harming them.

[DrTimPerkins]

You can also set these style of pumps (diaphragm pumps) up at a slight angle so that sap will drain completely out (or nearly so) and prevent ice from forming inside the diaphragm and damaging it. Doesn't take much of a tear/hole to reduce the pump efficiency to a huge degree.

[unc23win]

I think that using a booster with a screen like Jake mentioned and setting the pump up at angle like Dr. Perkins mentioned are excellent methods of preventive maintenance for the Guzzler. They seem like an excellent option for smaller set ups and you sure can buy a lot of extra parts or a back up pump for that matter for the price of a releaser.

[Four D Acre Farms]

We have been using these pumps last two season hard wired in. Love them great flow days they help where they really stand out is on the marginal gravity flow days. They take those days and make them a great day. I have had as much as 100 gal more sap on 350 taps over gravity alone on marginal days. I have one pump hard wired to my woods over 1000 ft behind sugar house on a switch I can turn on and off depending on temp. The cost saving on these pumps and that I use in different locations I am looking into a monitoring system to watch for diaphragm failures while at work. Nothing worse than getting home to find out you lost a diaphragm an hour after you start a pump and you lost a days worth of flow. We were running a bigger generator to run 2 pumps found it was more costly to buy gas and time to run out and start and shutdown than 1200 feet of USB cable and a switch and out let box and being able to control it from the house.

[PACMAN]

I use a 2000 wat Honda generator to run my pump. It will run 14 hours on one gal. of gas,so it costs less to run. The Diaphram will only last 40 or so hours,so a change is inevitable.My pump is also on a down hill angle I figure about 4 deg. or so to the tanks.

[pls009]

I recently purchased the 12volt Guzzler. Has anyone purchased or used a thermostat that will enable them to start and stop the pump? If so - can you tell me where you purchased it and if it worked? I set mine up with a slope like PACMAN and also have a strainer but am trying to figure out if there is a way to help from eating diaphragms. It should gravity feed if my battery runs out before I can make it back after work but am thinking that it would be nice to able to make it start and stop when the weather changes before I can get there.

[Tom_saw]

bcr767 I have a Guzzler that is 12 volt , I would hook it up on my way to work at 615am and unhook when I got home at 1130pm and it would still be pumping , I use a good deep cycle and I use 2 batteries , 1 on a good charger and 1 in use . I only u hooked when it was going to freeze at night so I wouldn't get ice in the diaphragm and tear it.

What model pump setup are you running ? I have the 110 volt model and run it off of a small generator . If a 12 volt model will run all day on one battery that sounds even better. I was really impressed with the performance of this pump .

[northmaple]

Greetings: I also have looked at the idea of getting a diaphragm pump also. I recently put on 300 more taps and do not have any electric access. Does anyone know of or heard of someone going solar in the woods? I do not think it would take much to run one. Thanks.

[wildlifewarrior]

Good Morning,
Can a guzzler do a lift of about 8 feet?I know some people will say use the puller as a pusher as well but thats not ideal when we would have to lug the battery into the woods. Also do ladders need to be directly above and below the outlet and inlet star fittings?
Thanks
Mike

[bcr767]

What style diaphragms is everyone using in there guzzler pumps. There are the Buna N, or the Silicone to choose from.

[Marc Duclos]

NO The guzzler is a transfer pump set up at the lowest depression on a site. They have be known to pull up a foot after down hill running sap has had a head of steam.

[Marc Duclos]

The black one

[PACMAN]

I have the white ones that came with the pump from Bosworth.

[NTBugtraq]

NO The guzzler is a transfer pump set up at the lowest depression on a site. They have be known to pull up a foot after down hill running sap has had a head of steam.

Wait, you saying the guzzler won't lift over a ladder?...and, you related to Gord from Beaverton?

[Maple guy]

just got my got 4 extra diaphragms and a set of valves, it is the 501 set up for maple from bosworth. waiting on a 250 ro from rays which i got a grant for. tubing all redone lots of new things to work out this year. is there a inline screen or is it easyer to wait till warms up then start pump? I set up with two lines at tank one with pump and one with out. wife is home all day so can start pump when warm.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you get the grant for the RO TRAILGUY? iv been looking for a grant quite awhile now but i can't seem to find one.

Thanks in advance!

[jerzeemaple]

I think Usda NRCS farm bill has something under EQIP for energy efficiency, for Financial assistance on RO and energy efficiency things related to maple syrup production. Not sure what the criteria is to qualify, might need a few years records of fuel consumption (cords of wood, gallons of oil, etc...)

[TRAILGUY]

nrcs and it helped to be a vet only vet and had a pool of money for vets only. they have numbers only need #of tap and things like that

[NTBugtraq]

So I went ahead and purchased the Guzzler from my CDL rep. I actually bought a setup they had at a show (with a new pump), so it included the check valves, strainer, and a 6" x 18" vacuum booster tank with gauge. I had thought that I could test the setup with a piece of plugged pipe representing the bush, but it turns out unless there is sap the vacuum won't achieve much (I got up to 13.5" with 300' of 1" mainline plugged). As I add my laterals, the number is going down (I'm down to 11" with 70 taps, but no sap yet). I am told this is to be expected (vacuum going down with more taps but no sap)?? I have been over 37F each day and well below each night for the last 3 days (since the pump was connected). I put it in a pump cabinet with a 100W light bulb, so its been 37-38F in there constantly (show avoid the ice problems).

Thoughts?

[pls009]

Will my Guzzler sap drain thru if my battery runs out? I have slope but wondered what might happen if I don't get there to change the battery right away on a good flow day. I realize there is some sort of valve inside to help hold vacuum but not sure what would happen. If anyone has experience with this, please let me know. Thanks! Paul

[adk1]

Will my Guzzler sap drain thru if my battery runs out? I have slope but wondered what might happen if I don't get there to change the battery right away on a good flow day. I realize there is some sort of valve inside to help hold vacuum but not sure what would happen. If anyone has experience with this, please let me know. Thanks! Pauli have been wondering the same thing. Keep it tilted toward the tank

[donniet22]

yes the sap will run through the body if the pump is not running, I don't start mine until the sap is flowing through it so I dont waste a diaphragm

[NTBugtraq]

yes the sap will run through the body if the pump is not running, I don't start mine until the sap is flowing through it so I dont waste a diaphragm

So, firstly, my first diaphragm died today, after ~ 100 hours of operation. The fail was a vertical cut ~ 1" long, strange since its not in a part that would apparently be fatigued. Since that was the boot that came with the new pump, I wonder if it wasn't damaged in installation (at the factory). I ran it dry, wet, but never with any ice reaching it (there was an ice filter and a 100w bulb to prevent ice.)

While I was replacing the diaphragm, sap still flowed through the body of the pump, so definitely it will let sap through when its off.

Finally, part of the point of any vacuum is to get sap at times that gravity might not give you sap. To wait till sap is flowing before turning on the pump, is, imo, losing some of the value of the guzzler. I'd love to hear from anyone who has a thermostatically controlled electrical outlet that you can set to whatever temperature you want. I have thermo cubes, but for the pump's purpose I'd like it to come on when the temp gets to 30F, to allow the vacuum to be up to speed by the time the temp gets to 33-34F. That would get me sap I might otherwise not get. If vacuum is not expanding the range of temperatures to get sap, what is its point?

[Camp]

Any updates on how the season turned out running one of these? I am looking at getting one of these for next season and wondering if it would work on my set up?

2000' of mainline up to my bush which will have 350 taps (200 this year on gravity)

I was looking at the 12v option and running a deep cell which I could turn on in the am and shut off in the pm

I'm really hoping that this will work, the added sap would be awesome. Thoughts?

[adk1]

They work but any leak will reduce the vac much more than a vac with a released etc. be prepared to spend more time walking lines and fixing leaks

[wrushton]

I just got one of these pumps and was hoping to hook it up to a 12 volt windshield motor no sure if it will handle it due to the pressure ( when I put my hand in front of the inlet its hard to pump)