sap ladders

[maple flats]

I have a question as I plan adding vac, hopefully next year. I understand that sap ladders have a limit, (20'?) but can you, with the right vac pump, have more than 1 set of lines and use the same pump and get the same limit on each. I have lines going in multiple directions from the sugarhouse, can 1 vac pump service all with each having sap ladders? The max lift on each would be in the 15' range and all are in that same range and at the same elevation.

[royalmaple]

Yes, I am doing just that here at the house. Not as high, but multiple ladders on one pump.

[lmathews]

All you have to do is make sure your cfm's are enough.It is recamended 1 cfm/100 taps.Also I have 2 sap ladders picking 15' over the road on 1 pump.

[mountainvan]

I'm putting in sap ladders soon. 60 taps on a 6 way star, two stars 120 taps/ 3 stars 360, etc. Sound right. Also spacing between stars, 1 or 2 feet?

[maplecrest]

i have 7 sap ladders in use. 6 of them work great. but do not have more than 100 taps on each one of them. i have one with 150 taps that i have to fiddle with all the time. this year i am going to try air injection. i got one from a milk pipeline wash unit. that is the same as maple dealers have. if that does not work i am thinking about leaders lift system. that works great but a little pricey at 600 dollars. you figure a line to ten taps. i use the blue 4 way on the top line and the stars on the bottom line, with the star turned down. and put a little slit in one lat line on the bottom star to create turbulance to draw the sap up the ladder

[ibby458]

I have a couple places where I could use the sap ladders to go over roads, but I can also go around those sections during sugar season, then take apart the mainline and coil it out of the way for the rest of the year. Which would be better?

[maplecrest]

if you can drive around those araes, i would go with the quick connects and cheep comealongs to pull back togather than a ladder. you will have better vac transfer and more sap

[ibby458]

Thanks! I was thinking the same way, but had no real experience to draw on. A quick connect and come-along on the wire is EXACTLY what I had in mind. The come-along would also tension the line for me each spring.