shthpnz73
01-21-2016, 12:53 PM
I posted this in the wrong thread and can't move it or delete it so I am creating a new post where it belongs, hopefully an admin will delete this, sorry.
Hi All, longtime follower first time poster...
I have looked all over this forum for a situation similar to mine and have not found one.
I used a Shurflo 2088 last year on 60 taps all on 5/16 tubing through a manifold. Loved the results I got over gravity so this year I decided to go crazy and expand my setup. I put in 1000 foot of 3/4 mainline with two 400 foot 1/2 inch lateral mains which gives me the ability to put in about 250 taps. To accomplish the expansion I need to install two 6 foot ladders, with as currently designed, a third lift being accomplished with a pump for a total lift of 18 feet. The problem I have is I am just doing this as a hobby and giving all the syrup to friends and family so I have a limited budget to get my system running. I know I do not have enough vacuum power with the little Shurflo so I have 2 design ideas and am looking for input.
My first idea was to install a second Shurflo in parallel through a manifold to the mainline supplying vacuum to the two lifts, and subsequently pumping up the third lift. I ran power out to the woods about 300 feet where I am getting about 7 amps which is not enough to run both pumps at full power but should still be better than one pump. This is where the pump was last year in a heated box on a temp controller. Is this a viable idea considering the size of the expanded system?
The second idea was to install a Gast 523, or 1023 in my barn which is heated and run a 5/16 dry line past the single pump in the woods and hook it up to the mainline through a series of saddles, 3 maybe?, to supply vacuum to the remainder of the system. I would then use the wet line to the Shurflo as my "releaser" and as the pump for the third lift. I know there would be competing vacuum between the dry line and the mainline but am thinking because of the increased diameter of the mainline the Sap would still flow through that line to the pump rather than up the saddles to the dry line as the mainline is on a 2% grade and the Shurflo would still be pulling vacuum on that line directly. I would also put a saddle from the dry line to the wet line after the pump so if there was residual sap collected up the dry line it would drop then, as well as a moisture trap in the barn at the vacuum pump location.
I can get a used 523 for $125 or a used 1023 for $300 but I can't afford a releaser so I am stuck. I was all gung ho to expand but now I am in a bind and trying to find a way to get this done for the season or I will have to revert to only what I tapped last year. I also considered a Guzzler, which is a little expensive for me right now, but looking through this forum I am very concerned it wouldn't perform well with the ladders I need to install.
Please beat up my ideas as much as you can, I am very new to this vacuum thing and don't really know what I am doing. Thanks.
Hi All, longtime follower first time poster...
I have looked all over this forum for a situation similar to mine and have not found one.
I used a Shurflo 2088 last year on 60 taps all on 5/16 tubing through a manifold. Loved the results I got over gravity so this year I decided to go crazy and expand my setup. I put in 1000 foot of 3/4 mainline with two 400 foot 1/2 inch lateral mains which gives me the ability to put in about 250 taps. To accomplish the expansion I need to install two 6 foot ladders, with as currently designed, a third lift being accomplished with a pump for a total lift of 18 feet. The problem I have is I am just doing this as a hobby and giving all the syrup to friends and family so I have a limited budget to get my system running. I know I do not have enough vacuum power with the little Shurflo so I have 2 design ideas and am looking for input.
My first idea was to install a second Shurflo in parallel through a manifold to the mainline supplying vacuum to the two lifts, and subsequently pumping up the third lift. I ran power out to the woods about 300 feet where I am getting about 7 amps which is not enough to run both pumps at full power but should still be better than one pump. This is where the pump was last year in a heated box on a temp controller. Is this a viable idea considering the size of the expanded system?
The second idea was to install a Gast 523, or 1023 in my barn which is heated and run a 5/16 dry line past the single pump in the woods and hook it up to the mainline through a series of saddles, 3 maybe?, to supply vacuum to the remainder of the system. I would then use the wet line to the Shurflo as my "releaser" and as the pump for the third lift. I know there would be competing vacuum between the dry line and the mainline but am thinking because of the increased diameter of the mainline the Sap would still flow through that line to the pump rather than up the saddles to the dry line as the mainline is on a 2% grade and the Shurflo would still be pulling vacuum on that line directly. I would also put a saddle from the dry line to the wet line after the pump so if there was residual sap collected up the dry line it would drop then, as well as a moisture trap in the barn at the vacuum pump location.
I can get a used 523 for $125 or a used 1023 for $300 but I can't afford a releaser so I am stuck. I was all gung ho to expand but now I am in a bind and trying to find a way to get this done for the season or I will have to revert to only what I tapped last year. I also considered a Guzzler, which is a little expensive for me right now, but looking through this forum I am very concerned it wouldn't perform well with the ladders I need to install.
Please beat up my ideas as much as you can, I am very new to this vacuum thing and don't really know what I am doing. Thanks.