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View Full Version : Any non-electric pump ideas?



WNYHobbyMapler
04-06-2015, 06:01 AM
We are starting to convert our 100 tap sugarbush over to lines in order to access some trees that are unreachable otherwise. We are hoping to reach 500 taps. With that amount comes a need to gather it since we are boiling far away from the woods.

I was hoping you all could share some insight on the best ways to gather from a poly collection tank in the woods to a trailer on a tractor without electricity. I was thinking about a PTO pump or a trash pump but it would need to pump up approx 50' in elevation and preferably approx 200' from the tank to the trailer as the tank is located in the lowest point of the woods and is difficult to access by tractor without getting bogged down.

Michael Greer
04-06-2015, 06:49 AM
The old timers would have skipped this whole conversation by building the sugarhouse down there at the bottom. I've seem some old setups that relied on gravity for every task except lifting the fork to their lips.
I have a little electric pump to lift from the holding tank to the head tank, and it annoys me to do so every time, but that's what it's like for flat-landers.

VT_K9
04-06-2015, 07:32 PM
We pump about 70 feet in elevation and 730 feet in distance. We used the Honda pump select you can download from their site to choose a pump. We went with 1 1/2" black pipe and used the WH15 pump. We are getting 25+ gallons a minute or so. The pump select estimated 23-27 depending on the number we entered. Also this pump/pipe combo was the most efficent for cost and results. We pump for 10 minutes and fill a 230 gallon tank and the pipe. The pipe alone holds about 70 gallons. It uses very little fuel too.

Mike