Connecting 275 Gallon Totes Together

[West Sumner Sugar]

With our new vacuum system this year we are for sure going to be overflowing a single 275 tote. Has anyone come up with a good way so that once one tank fills, it spills into the next, then to the next. We have 4 totes firmly mounted on cribbing so they are all next to eachother and even.

[treehugger89]

You could use Banjo fittings to get over to pipe and then use T’s, nipples and quick connectors to tie all the tanks together into one big tank.

[cjf12]

I have 3 all in line with a 2" pvc manifold. Simply tees off at each valve and ties in. I put a ball valve at the end so I can shut off the manifold but keep totes open to fill evenly. One suggestion would be to build one up higher than the next if you have to pump out of them. Once they get so low they suck air and the last bit is tough to get. By having one higher than the next you can shut just that tote off as it emptys and wait for the next one.

[Russell Lampron]

I have two totes plumbed together with PVC at the drain valves. I have one tank an inch higher than the other and the pipe runs slightly downhill before it goes into the sugar house. The sections of pipe are connected together with Fernco sleeves so that they can easily be taken apart if they are frozen. The permeate goes into the top of the first tank and both fill evenly when the valves at the bottom are both open.

[West Sumner Sugar]

Seems like everyone is connecting using the valves on the bottom. Biggest concern is things freezing up since these will be in the woods for 5 days unattended. Some years we battle freeze ups some years its not an issue.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

We drilled a hole near the tops of our totes and connected them with 1" copper tubing and fittings with seals against the tanks.

[wiam]

Google “uniseal” I use them everywhere. Between cage tanks. Work very well adding ports to releaser so also.

[bmbmkr]

I have two totes plumbed together with PVC at the drain valves. I have one tank an inch higher than the other and the pipe runs slightly downhill before it goes into the sugar house. The sections of pipe are connected together with Fernco sleeves so that they can easily be taken apart if they are frozen. The permeate goes into the top of the first tank and both fill evenly when the valves at the bottom are both open.

I had 4 275 totes connected under my rain gutter. 4 tanks, side by side, 4 valves facing front, 2" pvc tee'd at each valve, connected to the valve with fernco's with a common pipe running the length of the 4 tanks. I had a water hose valve on the end of the tee at the end tank. When I got it all done and we got a heavy rain, I wanted to see how long it would take my roof to fill 1100 gallons. I had the first tank valve shut, and the other three open. When the first got full, I opened the valve. As expected, the other three tanks started filling, however, the end tank filled faster than the middle two. I thought that was pretty cool that the velocity of the water caused it to pass up the first two tees. A couple years later I start putting up maple tubing, and all these tee's.....

[Maplewalnut]

That bottom valve is a lot more forgiving than PVC. I have seen cage tanks almost freeze solid with no issues to the bottom valve once it thaws.Keep in mind there is some 'flex' in the container itself should it freeze. Another trick is to leave the top cap loose and not threaded on, the expansion from freezing will spill out the top first. PVC on the other hand is more of an issue with freezing and if you connect with various pvc T's and elbows make sure to use ferncos or quick connects so you can take it off to thaw. Drain valve at the end is a good idea also but sooner or later you will forget to drain it. That's where its nice to just take off and bring inside to thaw.

[sugarsand]

We have six 330gal totes in two rows. All connected at the top, in and out separately, 1st tank fills then the next, this way on a short run we dont have sap spread out in all six totes.

[tgormley358]

We drilled a hole near the tops of our totes and connected them with 1" copper tubing and fittings with seals against the tanks.

Hey Maine woods, would you be willing to share a photo of your setup for connecting tanks ? I’m not plumbing savvy and not sure what kind of seals to use or how they install . I assume they’re food grade.

Many thanks.

Tom of MA
135 taps on gravity 5/16 in Harvard MA

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Hey Maine woods, would you be willing to share a photo of your setup for connecting tanks ? I’m not plumbing savvy and not sure what kind of seals to use or how they install . I assume they’re food grade.

Many thanks.

Tom of MA
135 taps on gravity 5/16 in Harvard MA

I'll see if my buddy has some pics but he's out of town until the weekend and he's the plumber who knows the part names. I think it was the plastic bulkhead tank fittings (just smaller than the bottom of the tanks) attached to the holes in the totes with the pipe connected between. He must have had some sort of fitting coming off the bulkhead fittings to connect the copper tubing.

[TomorrowRiverMapler]

Tom, Sorry I don't have any pictures either but like others I did this to two totes and installed a 1" bulkhead fitting on the back side very close to the top of each tote. Then I put in a male camlock into each bulkhead and made a hose with female camlocks using 90 degree fittings into the hose. I have the totes set up to be about 1/2" difference in height to have a little slope on the hose. I do have a steel bar zip-tied to the outside of the 1" suction hose to keep it from sagging however freezing should not be an issue as the hose drains empty when the sap stops running out of the first tote. If I had to do it again I would do this on the valve side for ease of unhooking while pumping out if you want to tip the tote a little. Mainline tubing should work too and maintain the stiffness.
Brent