Built SAP ladders this year...they work!

[syrupbythesea]

First time I ever built or used sap ladders. The largest is 16' tall on the final stage heading to the tank room at the sugar house. Works great and I have video from last week on my face book. Can't believe I did not try this sooner and save on tanks and collection. All 300+ taps in this sugar bush now come right to the tank room in the sugar house. In the past, I had two tanks and two sap suckers out in the bush that had to be pumped up to the sugar house.

Now just need to thaw out again...

[TerryEspo]

I would love to see your sap ladder video. Any way of posting it here for us to view the video?

Thanks.

Terry

[syrupbythesea]

Here is a link to the facebook... it's too big of a file to download.
https://www.facebook.com/chris.olsen.5876060
Here is a pic on the largest ladder...
13008

hope these attachments work...

chris

[syrupbythesea]

https://www.facebook.com/chris.olsen.5876060/videos/429784460548217/

https://www.facebook.com/chris.olsen.5876060/videos/429784460548217/

[wobbletop]

You need to open up the permissions on those facebook entries.

[TerryEspo]

Cant open facebook page,,,,,cant see the videos !!

Terry

[BreezyHill]

First time I ever built or used sap ladders. The largest is 16' tall on the final stage heading to the tank room at the sugar house. Works great and I have video from last week on my face book. Can't believe I did not try this sooner and save on tanks and collection. All 300+ taps in this sugar bush now come right to the tank room in the sugar house. In the past, I had two tanks and two sap suckers out in the bush that had to be pumped up to the sugar house.

Now just need to thaw out again...

Glad to hear of your success. All the sap in the sugar house and no pumps is a great feeling isn't it.

Welcome to the club!

Ben

[syrupbythesea]

Trying to figure out how to do that... will try to upload the sap ladder videos to my website and share links from there...might be simpler for me. Too much time in woods and not on computers :-)

[syrupbythesea]

It's mesmerizing to watch the sap move up Ben. So fun. Every maple is within tapping range in the sugar bush with vacuum!

[maple flats]

I've had 3 sap ladders each at 2 bushes for a few years, I like them. This is my first year tapping my woods around my sugarhouse in several years because I had no vacuum there (rather small potential). Being the smallest I set the larger ones up first and then had no vacuum pump for the sugarhouse. I now bought a BB4 pump and an Ed Sobles releaser and moisture trap. For this year I've got 4 ladders, plan to add 2-3 more for next year to pick up more taps. This land is quite flat, and what slopes I have go the wrong way. I used to collect from 7 tanks for only 180 taps. When done I could have about 250-300 taps, getting 98% of the sugars of tapable size, then adding some reds and even some silvers. So far all the Reds and silvers are on laterals separate from the sugars, so I can remove those laterals when the buds break and keep going on the sugars. While the bud break difference varies year to year, I often can run sugars 1-2 weeks later than the reds and silvers.
Being able to bring the sap all to the sugarhouse is a huge plus.

[lakeview maple]

I built the first ones this year as well, its a flat piece at the bottom of one of my sugarbushes. I used MT and old threads to figure it out and I use my Guzzler pump. Its pulling 17 inches but there moving the sap to the road and that's all that matters. Great information resource here at Maple Trader.

[BreezyHill]

It's mesmerizing to watch the sap move up Ben. So fun. Every maple is within tapping range in the sugar bush with vacuum!

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This is the first thing people see when they walk in my sugar house. Kids could could not careless about anything but to watch the sap come in the lines from different parts of the bush and into the glass releaser. Some love the 18" glass ladder. Kids will stand there for hours and never move an inch. I think the most impressive is when lines are thawing and it changes from the dry line which is the 1.5 inch glass line to the manifold for each wet line. One will flow then another and another. and some times you will get a bunch of sap rush in and the releaser will be running nearly steady to keep up with all the lines flooding in at one time. Best idea I ever had. We will be putting videos up on the new farm site when it is done.

[lpakiz]

Ben, is that just a 1 1\2 inch SS pump under your glass jar?
And it has enough "pull" to get sap out from the jar under vacuum?
How much vacuum does it have to overcome?

[syrupbythesea]

Wow....Breezy hill that is a great pic. I'm mesmerized just looking at the pic.

[BreezyHill]

13025
She runs right around 29 if theres no leaks on a good season. Had several drops pull off and it was a chore to keep her to 27.

13026

This is a standard delaval centrifugal pump. On the exit is a rubber flapper that seals so no air comes back in. theres no line to the top it is all factory. No issues in 2 seasons. Sometimes my contactor in the SS universal elec box on the wall will stick on for a split second to long and the jar will drain 100% but it don't care. The sap goes to the bottom and the air to the jar except for a little in the pump but it will be pushed out with the sap. I have a SS pipe that goes to the ceiling to transfer to another SS tank that the RO batches on. That one usually is filled first and then the one under the releaser. 220 volt motor. 1740 I think direct drive. I have a 3ph that I was think of putting on a vfd.

It will keep your attention for hours. Totally awesome when sap starts to freeze and you can see the crystals in the jar.

[lpakiz]

OK thanks. I wanted to confirm, because there have been several guys who couldn't overcome the vac to expel sap. Is the "flapper" you mentioned part of the sanitary fitting gaskets with the built-in flapper?
I know what you mean about watching the sap come in. Also when it dumps (or pumps out).

[BreezyHill]

130381303713036Pump style...or more likely impeller style is a large factor in evacuation of a vacuum chamber by pump.

If you look at the impeller design over the years they have changed. The older ones look more like a trash pump or the old turbo veins and the newer impeller style are simply flat stock around a shaft coupler. You want as much sheer force against the flapper to over come the force of the vacuum.

Ounce you have opened the flapper it is easier to keep open. This is noticeable on a fuller jar than only dumping 2 gallons at a time. The time differential on dumping 2 gallons to 4 gallons is an increase of only 25-30% of the time. Takes about 4-5 seconds to do 2 gallons, only 6-7 to dump 3, and for takes 8-9 seconds.

This is another reason I am skeptical on a vfd for the pump motor. You would need to have a speed step up at 4 seconds of run time to full speed to over come a closed flapper error condition.

In the am when things thaw the jar gets full several times a minute with the wet lines and dry lines sending a flood of sap all at one time. I am hoping to track when the blue lines are thawing relative to a black line next to it. Last season there seemed to be little if any difference longer than two minutes; but this could be the affect that my cold brook bed is having on lines crossing it as all but one does. The one parallels the brook to the sugar house.

Still looking for a pic of the flapper valve for you. but found these gems