Stopping and starting the flow with 3/16 tubing - Weekend boiler

[Woodsrover]

So I'm going to boil again this year for the first time in about 30 years. Getting very excited. With an 11-hour work day during the week my boiling will be regulated to Friday night and all day Saturday and Sunday. I'm worried about keeping sap fresh for that period of time and have been thinking about different options. I planned on 40 or so taps (though I have room for more) on two or three 3/16 tube all collecting at a 350 gallon central gathering tank at the bottom of the hill. From there I'll pump it into 70-gallon barrels and bring them up in the back of my UTV or on a trailer behind the tractor if the snow is deep.

With my small evaporator I can probably boil 250 gallons in a weekend.

The latest idea I came up with is instead of collecting sap all week and worrying about spoilage I would put a plug in the ends of the three tubes where they drain into the collection tank, wash out the tank and just let the trees keep their sap for the first few days of the week. Come Wednesday I'd pull the plugs, flush the lines with sap and start collecting. The longest I would have to keep sap is three days before I'd start boiling.

Is that a crazy idea? Does anyone do this? I can tap more than the 40 if you don't think I'd collect 250 gallons off 40-50 taps in 3-4 days. I can easily grab 50 or 60 taps and let them flow as they will, plugging and unplugging to get my 250 gallons for the week.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!

[maple flats]

Sure is a new thought indeed.

[Chicopee Sap Shack]

I would run the lines on the ground before plugging them and having sap sit in the lines and tap holes. Dr. Tim would be the expert here though


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[n8hutch]

Why not just dump the old sap if you can't boil it & just boil your freshest sap, every hour your sap sits around especially if it's not cold cold you are loosing some sugar content. Therefore your boiling more to get less.

[lpakiz]

Is there someone nearby who could use some weekday sap?

[BlueberryHill]

My concern would be if there are some warm weekdays and your sap stuck in the lines spoils and now your lines have accelerated bacteria growth. And then when the trees freeze overnight and suck some spoiled sap back in. This could close up your tap holes early. I would just run it on the ground as opposed to plugging the lines. I could be wrong, but that is my impression.

Like lpakiz said... maybe there is someone fairly local that would want your sap that you can't handle during the week if you get overwhelmed. Usually it's easy to find someone that will do a 50/50 split or something similar if you supply the sap.

If we ever get any snow and you save it all in a big pile, you can use the big snowpile to store your full sap drums to keep them nice and cold. You can easily store sap a few days in a snowbank with no issues.

[DrTimPerkins]

I would run the lines on the ground before plugging them and having sap sit in the lines and tap holes.

This would be the most appropriate approach. Plugging the lines would not stop all the sap coming from the tree, might allow fittings to pop off, and wouldn't stop microbes from spoiling the sap in the line. I'd actually let it collect in the tank and assess it's quality when you get there. If it is still good, boil it. If not, dump it.

[Woodsrover]

Thanks for all the replies. Just collecting it and assessing when it comes time to boil seems like the best option.

I have a few retired friends...What I need to do is talk them into boiling during the week for me!

Thanks again.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

You can freeze large chunks of sap into ice and throw several of those into sap each day. The aluminum sap buckets with smaller bottom work great for that as it will seperate from ice within a minute or so of throwing into the sap.

[BreezyHill]

I would put the sap in a large surface area tank. Skim off the ice during the week and the sap left will be higher sugar content.

Friends to help boil is a great idea also.

[lpakiz]

Depending on natural refrigeration is great early in the season. The last few weeks---ain't happening.
Sell or trade that sap. Letting it spoil or worse, running it on the ground, would be Plan Z.

[Starting Small]

I am in Northern CT as well. if you are close to East Windsor I may be interested in buying it from you. Keep me in mind or PM me what town you live in.
-Dave