TrentonMaple
01-14-2015, 12:43 PM
So this is my first year with tubing. I will have about 100 taps on 3/16 and 5/16 tubing that will be collected via 2 mainlines that converge on a center collection tank.
For the collection tank, I have a 275gal IBC on a pallet at the base of my steeply sloped sugarbush. I will then need to pump the sap back up and over the hill to my sugarhouse. It is about a 50ft. elevation change back up the hill. 275gal is a lot of sap for my little outfit; only on the heaviest few days could I need that capacity. Then again, my yield may increase with tubing, esp the 3/16th.
Does anyone have opinions as to the pros and cons of IBCs as collection tanks? Versus a galvanized or polyethylene stock tank? I will need to buy several fittings for the IBC to be able to drop the sap into the top from the mainline, and then to pump it out the bottom. Also, the IBC is tall, and therefore that required me to raise my mainlines to about 5' high to get them to empty into the top, which then means on my lowest maples I have to tap them rather high off the ground. I was thinking with the stock tank, it would be lower, allowing me to make more slope in my mainline, and I could use a simple 90 elbow to connect the mainline to pour into the top (rather than buying a threaded cap for the IBC). Also I could pump out sap easier without buying a buttress connector for the bottom valve on the IBC.
It seems like the IBCs work better as sap storage up at the sugarhouse rather then out in the woods. Anybody have any experiences or opinions?
For the collection tank, I have a 275gal IBC on a pallet at the base of my steeply sloped sugarbush. I will then need to pump the sap back up and over the hill to my sugarhouse. It is about a 50ft. elevation change back up the hill. 275gal is a lot of sap for my little outfit; only on the heaviest few days could I need that capacity. Then again, my yield may increase with tubing, esp the 3/16th.
Does anyone have opinions as to the pros and cons of IBCs as collection tanks? Versus a galvanized or polyethylene stock tank? I will need to buy several fittings for the IBC to be able to drop the sap into the top from the mainline, and then to pump it out the bottom. Also, the IBC is tall, and therefore that required me to raise my mainlines to about 5' high to get them to empty into the top, which then means on my lowest maples I have to tap them rather high off the ground. I was thinking with the stock tank, it would be lower, allowing me to make more slope in my mainline, and I could use a simple 90 elbow to connect the mainline to pour into the top (rather than buying a threaded cap for the IBC). Also I could pump out sap easier without buying a buttress connector for the bottom valve on the IBC.
It seems like the IBCs work better as sap storage up at the sugarhouse rather then out in the woods. Anybody have any experiences or opinions?