Hydrovac

[ennismaple]

Does anyone here use or have experience with a gas powered Hydrovac? We're looking to buy a 13HP Hydrovac to provide vacuum for a new bush but I have a few questions:

What is the fuel consumption rate? Dominion & Grimm claims it'll run for 4 hours on a tank of gas but couldn't tell me how big the tank was. How many gallons of fuel can I expect it to burn in a 12 hour day?

How well does the O.J. style pump work? How much head can it overcome? We're attacted to the Hydrovac because we like the idea of pumping the sap automatically to another location where we can gather the sap easier.

Any other comments or experiences would be greatly appreciated before we spend a lot of $$$ on the unit.

Thanks.

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

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[lmathews]

Iknow a person that runs that size and he lets his run 24/7 except for maintenance.He burns app.12 gal/day.Also he pushes his sap 25 feet up and then it goes accros a section of river 200+feet.Hope this helps.

[Fred Henderson]

Is a Hydrovac a sap pump and a vac pump combined?

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

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[ennismaple]

Should be one in a Leader(or did have them a few years ago), D&G catalog that will show the answer.

I have the Canadian version of the D&G catalog but it doesn't have any technical specs. 12 gallons of fuel per 24 hours sounds reasonable.

Fred - The Hydrovac is a vacuum pump with a transfer pump that runs off of the gas motor as well.

[Fred Henderson]

I have the Canadian version of the D&G catalog but it doesn't have any technical specs. 12 gallons of fuel per 24 hours sounds reasonable.

Fred - The Hydrovac is a vacuum pump with a transfer pump that runs off of the gas motor as well.

The name Hydrovac implied that but I had to ask. There is a D&G dealer near here that must use something like that. When I was at his SH last year he told his wife that the sap was come in very slow and that he was going down in the woods and shut everything off.

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

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[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

BINGO-

Decided i might find a shorter way to the answer and i did

[Fred Henderson]

They don't give you any spec's on them in their catalogs-It took me more time to type out my last post to look in a certain catalogs as to what the hydrovac's were about then rather give a simple answer to fred/Wanted him to look for the answer.

I looked through my files kinda quickly and only found the information flyer on the "sap-vac" which was another style of Vac pump that pulled vacuum through the head and pushed the sap to where you needed it.

I still think i have the paper somewhere?? If i don't then it went to the dump/Well i should say hole on the farm=My mother sold the farm back in 95' and i had about 2 pick-up trucks full fishing,hunting and maple information stuff-I was living in an apartment and had to get the stuff out of the house so in came a back hoe and dug a hole the size of a dump truck and in went all the stuff we didn't want to mess with-Drives me nuts to think of all the good information that went in there/so now i only have most of the supply catalogs back to 95' and such.

Seems as though you could get the information in a Fax from the D&G in canada??


I would have glady looked for the answer if I would have had the D&G catalog. Remind me not to ask you anymore questions. I thought that we were all here to help one another. If you know something and you don't tell anyone then you will always know something.

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

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[Fred Henderson]

No I do not run vac and probably never will unless a younger person comes into this with me. I may be older than most of you but I am never too old to learn. I always said that the dumbest question is the one never asked. That is why I asked. Please don't feel that because something is Hi-Tec that only a few will understand it. I worked for the dairy industry many years ago and installed a worked on vac pumps that most of you guys have not even dream about yet. Take a farm where they milk cows 24/7, they don't run just one pump but many. The vac has to be right and the cfm's have to be perfect.

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

So what kind of pumps should i be dreaming about??

[lmathews]

I think the vac pumps that were implied to be dreaming about are the antiques that are out there.I have 4 diff. pumps that are all ages the oldest is from pine tree milking co. I can not find any info on this pump and have been told it is from the early 30's.This pump is a double piston pump made by sandwich man.co. out of PA.It pulls 27" of vac.I also have 2 deleval magnetics that are 50+ years old.I also have a surge alamo 50+that I will be trying this year.It is from the 60's. I have been using these pumps for 3 years now running 22" of vac on them.I believe Fred was meaning that most of todays generation being younger we do not know about the older equipment that is outdated and never seen.

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

I got an oldie-

[802maple]

some of those older piston pumps were the most dependable pump out there, especially for the 1000 tap operations, When i first had vacuum on 800 taps I had a surge piston pump and it would just keep on going like the eveready bunny

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

I can imagine. Got a couple.

[lmathews]

Do you all use the pumps or do they just sit idle?

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

Spare/Never know when i'll need one.