Collection tank, transfer tank and feed tank idea

[Woodsrover]

I'm planning out my tank system for my new hobby sugar operation. Plans are to start with 50 taps with room to expand to 75 in one small area and the possibility of more in different parts of my woods.

I'm on a fairly good pitch and will run 3 - 3/16 tubes into a central collection spot. There is more elevation below my collection spot as well. I'm planning on feeding all three tubes into a 350 gallon stationary plastic tank I just found locally. From this tank I will gravity-feed two 75-gallon tanks to carry via tractor up to the sugar shack when I plan to boil. from theses two 75s I will pump up to a 30-gallon holding tank in the rafters of the sugar shack that will gravity feed to the warming pan on the evaporator.

Is it ok to feed a central collection tank all season and just draw off sap when I boil? I know sap can go bad and during peak-flow I probably won't empty this collection tank every week but draw the majority off of it and keep adding to it. Will this work or should I be trying to empty this tank at least every week?

Picture of the 350-gallon tank I found. It has a drain valve on the bottom. I'll take the casters off the bottom and set it on a few concrete blocks.

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[Thompson's Tree Farm]

try to empty the tank every day! Wash the collection tank when it is empty. Emptying once a week will lead to sap spoilage.

[Woodsrover]

try to empty the tank every day! Wash the collection tank when it is empty. Emptying once a week will lead to sap spoilage.

So what do the people that only boil on weekends do? I may be able to get away and boil one or two nights a week for a few hours but for sure not every night. I can't be the only weekend-warrior out here.

I do have a good-sized spring fed pond upstream from where I plan on collecting. Maybe I can use that water to keep the sap cool somehow? I'm sure that time of year its coming out of the overflow at below 40 degrees.

[Woodsrover]

Thinking about my pond uphill from my planned collection site: Its about 150 uphill and 25' below grade. What if I got 300 feet of 1/2 mainline and siphoned water from the pond (very cold) and ran it down to my collection tank and coiled 50-75 feet of mainline tube inside my collection barrel before spilling it on the ground downhill from the tank? The flow should keep it from freezing (?) and with the pond about 40 degrees wouldn't that buy me a few extra days in the tank?

[Brian]

Think of milk, Treat the sap as you would milk that you would want to drink and you will be fine. Clean and cold or boil it fast!! Don't let it get to warm or it will spoil.
Good luck.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

At the Leader RO presentation last spring they said that 2% sap spoils in 48 hours and 8% in 6 hours. I don't remember them stating any temperatures though.

[Woodsrover]

At the Leader RO presentation last spring they said that 2% sap spoils in 48 hours and 8% in 6 hours. I don't remember them stating any temperatures though.

So how do weekend boilers do it?

[BreezyHill]

So how do weekend boilers do it?

Some of tanks packed with snow, north side tanks, I knew one that used an old mik tank to cool his sap until he could boil it.

We use a working dairy tank as the evap head tank. Plan to put in a larger tank for next season since the cooler quit last season.

Like Brian said...keep it cold or boil it fast.

[psparr]

I have a tote tank as my collection container in a hollow under a pine tree.
I tap a little early and hope for the best. I also dump any unused sap at the end of the weekend and rinse the tote well. I've lost a little sap to spoilage. Especially toward the end of the season.

[billyinvt]

When I've had to store sap, I've used snow. Lots of it. I've put all the sap into five gallon buckets and buried them. I've put my storage tank in a kiddie pool and filled that with snow. In your case, I'd gather up a bunch of snow from the woods, pile it up around the tank, and throw a light colored tarp over it.

[Todd Postill]

i also collect all week and boil on the weekends i have a 200 gal. stainless milk tank that i store in my garage out of the sunlight i use frozen milk jugs or 2 liter bottles with caps on just let them float around.change them as needed.works good for me.

[CTSap4Maple]

I pack snow around my storage tanks as well. I also fill large tupperware containers with sap, freeze them, pop out the sap blocks and float them in the tanks on warm days before I can boil.

[RC Maple]

I do the majority of my boiling on the weekend but will boil 1-3 additional nights per week as needed. My sap is stored in 30-40 gal containers on the North side of my sugarhouse. I use 2,3, or 4 of them as needed. With several containers instead of one, I can boil the oldest sap first and move to the next one. After each one is empty I wash the container with water and bleach. When the temps do not get below freezing and the days get warmer I use milk jugs with water frozen in them as big ice cubes to keep the sap cold. Usually there is only snow around here for the first part of the season to help pack around anything. I do like that I pull sap from the top of my containers - no frozen valves to deal with.

[maple flats]

I boil every day I have sap to boil. While I don't always finish it every day, I don't let sap get more than 1 day old, then I concentrate as needed and finish all concentrate every day.
The answer on weekenders is that they sometimes either toss sap or boil old sap. It will still give you syrup, just less and much darker syrup.

[Woodsrover]

I picked up this big tank today as well as two 75-gallon plastic barrels and two 25-gallon plastic barrels. They're beautiful. Got everything for $300 and they're all brand new. That big tank is huge...With the stand its over 5' tall and close to 5' in diameter. Will mount it to skids and leave it down in the woods as the main collection tank. With only 50 taps to start its surely more than I need but think of it as room for expansion. Will draw off of and carry up to the shack with the 75-gallon barrels. Not sure what I'll do with the smaller barrels but I couldn't pass them up at the price. Might use them to tap a few trees on different parts of the property. Thinking now I bought too small of an evaporator and have yet to light a fire under this one..... :lol:

I'm still thinking of using cold pond water to keep my sap cool between boils. If I can gravity-feed 40 degree water down to and through my sap, either with a coil or feeding a 20-gallon barrel that floats in the large tank I think I'll be pretty good. Should be simple to do and I'm on the north/northwest-side of the hill, in the woods so it won't be subject to a lot of direct light either.

[Big_Eddy]

I have 2 100gal (collection) tanks and a 200 gal (storage) tank. I'm on buckets and collect into the 100 gal tanks (on trailer) and then pump into the 200 gal tank that is in the sugar shed. My 200 gal tank is elevated, so no separate head tank.

I don't boil every day, but I have the flexibility to boil when needed.

Early in the season I don't worry too much about it, but as the temperatures rise, I try to keep sap separate. When I return from collecting each day, if I have sap left in the large tank, I'll just park the small tank full until the large one is emptied, then rinse it out before I pump the fresh into the main tank.

If it's cold out, but expected to warm up, we collect the ice blocks as well as the sap, and the ice goes into the collection tank. Then after we pump it out, we just leave it outside with the valve open for the ice to melt and the water to drain. If it's cold and expected to stay cold, the ice is discarded in the woods.

If I get behind - the oldest sap is dumped and the freshest sap is boiled first.

I like the flexibility of having more than 1 tank. It allows me to segregate the sap by age. That way I'm not contaminating the newest sap.

My tanks are rinsed out every time they are emptied. (Okay - I'll be honest - there are times early in the spring when they just get the sniff test, but once it's warm enough to use the hose, they get rinsed out daily)