tubing on flat ground?

[seandicare]

well i decided to check out my new bush this week. i had already marked out the trees i am planning on tapping this year by the roadside. that should be all i will be able to handle this year and maybe next.

i walked further back and found some more maples, but it's a good walk back in from the road. so the years that i get alot of snow, it could be a bear collecting tree to tree. what surprised me, in that stretch it is all pretty much flat ground. (kinda weird seeing how i am in the foothills of the Adirondacks.) maybe a 5ft difference in 200yrds, and sloping away from the road, of course.

i was thinking of running tubing on these trees in later years into a collection tank in the area, then running a pump from that tank up to the road.

my question would be, how well would tubing work on this kind of setup with no vac pump? and would 3/16 be any advantage to 5/16 seeing it is all pretty flat?

[Balsam Hills]

You would want to set your lines (both lateral and main) at a minimum of a 2% gradient but preferably 5% or more. That equates to a 2' to 5'+ drop per 100' of tubing. Ideally you want to work with the lay of the land. To accomplish this on flat ground, you will have to set the end of the mainline furthest from the collection tank higher than the end that empties into your tank. A little measuring and simple math should make it doable. You may also consider setting your collection tank in the middle of your sugarbush and pump from there to the road. That way you can shorten your mainlines so you won't have to set your lateral lines way over your head at the points furthest from the tank.

[BreezyHill]

Prior to our going vacuum back in the 1970's we had several mains on 1% slope.

Now with vac I only have two mains that are that flat all others are at 2%.

1% is 12" in 100 feet. Sap will flow nicely with this much slope. You can go online to get the exact flow rates of water in different size mainlines at different slopes.

When my dad got out of the Navy after WWII he went into the soil conservation service and did many years of drainage and spring devolvement for water livestock. We have a spring development that is on 1% grade over 990' long and if flows great. 1.25" line can keep up with 100 thirsty cattle on a hot summer day.

There is a point of to much slope and you get turbulence in you lines.

Good Luck!

Ben

[DrTimPerkins]

... would 3/16 be any advantage to 5/16 seeing it is all pretty flat?

3/16" tubing should NOT be used in low slope installations.

[rayi]

Sounds like by bush. I have the tanks in the middle and I dug a pit to put the collection tank in. I also tap high in the last trees on my lateral

[seandicare]

3/16" tubing should NOT be used in low slope installations.

just curious, what is the reason 3/16 should NOT be used?

[maple flats]

With 3/16 on flat ground the sap will not flow well, it will be restricted. 5/16 is much better for that. Now, if you had a nice slope the 3/16 is the way to go because it can generate vacuum with the gravity on the sap in the line. The greater the slope the better it is. A big difference is that in 3/16 the sap does not pass the "air" in the line, but 5/16 does.

[MT Pockets Producer]

I am not questioning your judgement on the slope but things can be deceiving in the woods. We just strung some fairly flat woods that Dad,Brother and I all thought had lots of slope in a certain direction and where the lowest point was for the releaser and tank. We were all amazed when we broke out the transit and realized that our eye was way off. It was actually to our benefit because we were able to put the releaser and tank closer to the trailhead away from a wet muddy area. Might be worth a quick look if have or know anyone with a transit. May be more slope there than you think. You will still have to deal with pumping towards the road but it certainly can be done.