shurflo max taps

[Jpd1]

Hi there,

I had recieved my shurflo 4008 yesterday and I want to set up my 5/16 line on gravity (with no vacuum natural :-( )

I have 150 taps in 2 lines (5/16) and i think to seperate my two lines for 4 littles lines 35-40 taps by lignes and plug the 4 lines on my new shurflo?

Good idea? or it's better to keep only 2 lines?

JPD

[CampHamp]

Do you have slope? I'd look to have some mainline with that many taps.

[Jpd1]

Yes, I have 5-6-7% slope. My set up was good last year, sap go directly on my 250 gallons sap tank but no vacuum.

With 150 taps, i just made 3 gal produced and when i see your 58 gal with 115 taps, i said, Houston, i have a problem...

[CampHamp]

I was able to make 40 gal without vac on the same trees back in 2012. So, if you're making only 3 gal on 150 taps and others in your area are having a decent year then something is going wrong... Are your trees maple trees? :) I suspect it's because you're using 5/16 as your "main line" and maybe there's even some blockage or up-hill sections keeping it from flowing out full stream.

Putting a pump on that won't hurt and might even do the trick, but I doubt it. You probably want to think about getting to more like 15 x 5/16" lines instead of just 4 and running a section of 1/2" (or 3/4") mainline along your valley that they run into. It's not all that hard or expensive to put that in. The rule of thumb people use with vac is "strive for 5" taps per section of 5/16. I have a couple of 15-tap runs into my mainline and those feel a bit long for me because the vac will not propagate well through solid columns of sap...

[Jpd1]

Hi Jamie,

Last year was not a good year for the sugarbush in my region. The others in my area are having the same result with bucket (not gravity). Only two weeks for our sugar time.

I agree with your comment: maybe there's even some blockage or up-hill sections keeping it from flowing out full stream.

[Mel]

Yes, I have 5-6-7% slope. My set up was good last year, sap go directly on my 250 gallons sap tank but no vacuum.

With 150 taps, i just made 3 gal produced and when i see your 58 gal with 115 taps, i said, Houston, i have a problem...

Where are you in Canada? In this part of the country, there is no way we see that kind of production (58 in 115), and you'd go nuts looking for it. And this year ours was about the same as you mention you got - was a terrible year. It is just the area we live in, tree age, soils, and the climate. Our average historical yield is something more like 0.3 litres/tree.

Guess that doesn't answer your question though, sorry.

[Jpd1]

Québec, Canada.
.
In a normal year, i do 10-15 gal with 150 taps. (buckets)

[DaveB]

...

Putting a pump on that won't hurt and might even do the trick, but I doubt it. You probably want to think about getting to more like 15 x 5/16" lines instead of just 4 and running a section of 1/2" (or 3/4") mainline along your valley that they run into. It's not all that hard or expensive to put that in. The rule of thumb people use with vac is "strive for 5" taps per section of 5/16. I have a couple of 15-tap runs into my mainline and those feel a bit long for me because the vac will not propagate well through solid columns of sap...

I just re-did a section of my woods with about 150 taps that had lateral lines going to a mainline. I switched to having several runs of 5/16" tubing because for me it was easier to put up and manage. I have the lines all coming to one point and next year I plan on having them connect to a 1/2" mainline that will connect to my Shurflo. I would say that whatever the capacity is for the 1/2" line would be the capacity for the Shurflo.

One question that I have about vacuum transfer is doesn't a solid column of liquid have the same effect as creating a vacuum behind it? If a column is being pulled by vacuum down a line, doesn't it leave the same vacuum behind it?

[CampHamp]

One question that I have about vacuum transfer is doesn't a solid column of liquid have the same effect as creating a vacuum behind it? If a column is being pulled by vacuum down a line, doesn't it leave the same vacuum behind it?

If your goal is to maintain high vac at the tap, then having air over the column will send that force out like lightning up your network and maintain it during runs. If you've got to pull your liquid plunger (which gets huge when it is running best), then you're using all the pumps energy to move sap. Ultimately, I think that you are reducing and delaying the upstream benefit. Let gravity move your sap.