Cheap vacuum system? Like lunchbox

[Mr. Red Maple]

I plan on tapping 100-150 trees on tubing next year and need to put it on vacuum. This will be my first year with tubing. Now I would like to know the cheapest system for a small producer like me. I also Have very little slope so gravity is out of the question. I have heard of the lunch box system and I think it would work quite well. I just want to know if there is a cheaper solution to the lunch box system and a compressor or if there is another system like it that you guys know of. I am new to this and I am not to sharp on the terms of the extractor, pump, and releaser. Thanks to whoever can help me!

[softmaple]

I got the lunchbox on a whim this year and it was the best whim I had in mapling. I had 22 taps on 14 trees and got 1000 gallons of sap. last year I got around 500 gallons. the price is high for someone that does not want to spend any money but cheap if you look at a releaser and vacuum system from a maple manufacturer. I looked long and hard for a solution and this lunchbox is it for me. the trees that were tapped were full crown Norway maples.

[Bricklayer]

I am in a similar situation also. I've been looking for a way to use vacuum on my flat sugarbush and get my sap back to the shack without many collection points. I am going to buy a lunchbox. It's a perfect unit for a small producer/ hobbiest to use. Dean is great and if you pm him he will answer any questions you have.

[Ed R]

If you have power and a compressor the lunch box will work. I asked if a small battery powered compressor would work in another thread and Dean indicated it wouldn't, so I'm going to use a shurflo pump on a deep cell battery instead. They run about 65-70 bucks on ebay and amazon.