Vacuum pump options

[PerryFamily]

Looking for some options for small vacuum setup

550' of 3/4" main
200 taps on 5/16
Lapierre hobby releaser
Needs to be run off a small Honda generator 1500-2500 watts
Obviously would like vac as high as possible
Hard to justify spending huge money for just 200 taps

Thanks in advance

[Mike's Sugar Shack]

You can get a gast 1550 for cheap on ebay. I have 2 one I run on 300 taps and another I run on 500 taps. One is a lubricatedand it is on the 300 taps and I can get 21 inches with it. The other one isn't lubricated and I got 19 inches with that one on 500.

[lpakiz]

I am using a Surge SP-11 (piston pump) powered by a 3 1/2 HP Tecumseh, at 1000 RPM or less. Last year, I consistantly hit 27 inches, on several different gauges.
Harbor Freight has a 79 CC engine that I'm going to use this year. $100+-
This does involve intensive leak patrol on my 200 taps.

[Mike's Sugar Shack]

You will like that 79cc motor I used one on one of my gast pumps.Just need to add a bigger fuel tank to it.

[lpakiz]

10-4 on the bigger tank. I soldered a 1/8 coupling to the side of an old steel gas can, 2.5 gallon size. I have a hook on the wall that holds the can about head high, and connected the can to the carb with 5 feet of 1/4 rubber hose. It would run 22 hours on a tank full. You need to make sure the carb has a traditional needle and seat/float system to do this. Most Briggs have the tank mounted under the carb, so they don't work for external tanks.

[WESTMAPLES]

i use 2 gast 1023 dry vane vac pumps they are coupled to 42 gal air tank and a 1 1/2 dry line which work amazing for vac storage most others say its not enough CFM from the pump and because i run bender washer/releasers ( which have a built in leak so they break vac to cycle ) ive fine tuned both my systems so they hold 25-26 inches and the gauge barely moves during cycling i get great tap hole numbers the pumps are inexpensive to buy from ebay and the guy that sells them has every services part you could need and next day shipping i run both setups off extention cords with no issues it would work with your generator and get you started with small money with up to 26 inches of vac depending on how tight your tubing system is good luck

[unc23win]

Gast pumps are great as said before you can get them on Ebay brand new for a pretty good price. If you want any information on them you can find just about everything on the Gast website. Some of the Gast pumps have a more dramatic curve for vacuum as it is related to CFMs. Meaning the number of CFMS drops off as the desired vacuum increases, but the nice thing is you can see that on the site if you look up the pump you want. For example a 1065 is 7.3 CFM but for 25" it is 2 CFM so 200 taps not 700 taps. They are a great option for buying a new less expensive pump.

[Tweegs]

Check out the Kinney KC-5 or KC-8 pumps, which are 5 and 8 CFM respectively.
(they are the same pump, the KC-8 uses a larger diameter sheave to spin it faster for higher CFM)


These are 2 stage rotary piston pumps and pull max cfm at high vac.
27” in the woods comes pretty easy with 2,000’ of main and 250-ish taps.
The amount of CFM makes small leaks less of an issue.

I found mine on e-bay for around $400.

I use a 0.75 HP motor to turn mine but have run it with 0.5 hp.
Either motor will run easily with a 2500W generator.

[maple flats]

10-4 on the bigger tank. I soldered a 1/8 coupling to the side of an old steel gas can, 2.5 gallon size. I have a hook on the wall that holds the can about head high, and connected the can to the carb with 5 feet of 1/4 rubber hose. It would run 22 hours on a tank full. You need to make sure the carb has a traditional needle and seat/float system to do this. Most Briggs have the tank mounted under the carb, so they don't work for external tanks.
Try this tank: http://www.surpluscenter.com/Engines/Engine-Accessories/Fuel-Tanks-Caps/4-5-GALLON-RED-FUEL-TANK-W-FUEL-SHUTOFF-VALVE-28-1836-R.axd
I use them on both of my 6.5 hp engines and they work great. I build a wooden stand adjacent to the engine and feed thru a gas line. On my Hondas, I remove the original 5 qt. tank and then run the rubber or whatever gas line to the carb. This will only work if that engine has a feul line between the tank and the carb.

[rhwells2003]

Has anyone used one of the Bosworth Co guzzler style pumps? Or has any experience with them?
http://thebosworthco.com/appprod.php?Item=731&s=0

I have 400 taps and don't really want to spend $800 on a releaser, and another $600-800 on a pump.

I bought one of the 12V Shurflow pumps last year and kept track of my yearly sap yield. ended up getting the exact same amount of sap/tap as my 8 buckets I had around the house +/- 5gal/tap so I take it the 400 taps was too much for the shurflow so looking to upgrade.

[PerryFamily]

Quick update/question

I ended up going with a diaphragm guzzler type of pump
I used 12" of 1-1/2 PVC on the inlet, cut that in half and put a stainless steel screen between the two and sealed with a fernco.

I tapped and started at 3"
Went on a leak finding mission and got it up to 10"
I know there's leaks but boy I'm having a hard time finding them

Any tips or tricks to finding leaks with essentially zero cfm of air moving??

[heus]

Ive had great luck with Gast 3040 dry vane pumps. I have three or four now, that Ive bought cheap through ebay. Lots of cfm and run 24/7 at 25" with a box fan to help cool them. I have almost 900 taps on one now. These are 30-40 cfm. I run a 2 hp air compressor pump from tsc to power it.

[maple flats]

Has anyone used one of the Bosworth Co guzzler style pumps? Or has any experience with them?
http://thebosworthco.com/appprod.php?Item=731&s=0

I have 400 taps and don't really want to spend $800 on a releaser, and another $600-800 on a pump.

I bought one of the 12V Shurflow pumps last year and kept track of my yearly sap yield. ended up getting the exact same amount of sap/tap as my 8 buckets I had around the house +/- 5gal/tap so I take it the 400 taps was too much for the shurflow so looking to upgrade.
I have read that If you check carefully, Bosworth is the manufacturer of most of the guzzler type pumps, others just have them built by Bosworth with their own private label on them.

[GeneralStark]

Quick update/question

I ended up going with a diaphragm guzzler type of pump
I used 12" of 1-1/2 PVC on the inlet, cut that in half and put a stainless steel screen between the two and sealed with a fernco.

I tapped and started at 3"
Went on a leak finding mission and got it up to 10"
I know there's leaks but boy I'm having a hard time finding them

Any tips or tricks to finding leaks with essentially zero cfm of air moving??

You really have to be able to valve off and isolate different areas to more easily find leaks with a guzzler. This will all depend on your mainline setup. If you have multiple lines put a valve in each and then go section by section. If you have only one line, consider putting some valves in it.