Sap tank heigth

[PATheron]

Now that Im using my ro id like to lower the heigth of my main sap tanks. That would give me more drop into them for my main lines. With the ro can I set my tanks right at the same level as my ro? Does the ro take the raw sap into the bottom of the ro. Do I need much drop from the outlet of the tanks to the ro? Theron

[Dave Y]

Theron,
Am I following you correctly? you bought an RO? What did you do? get scared?

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I was wanting to see how many all night marathons he could do, not much to look forward to now.

[royalmaple]

I was really pushing for him not to buy one, only to be the devil's advocate.

"no you don't need an RO, you can do it". I think when he wanted me to outline a typical day for him it really hit home, when he was left with about 3 hours of sleep, but could be adjusted only less depending on the run. Next day I get PM, guess what I just ordered.

You bugger!! So we can't sit back and laugh. I told him he needed to earn his wings first before he could just hit the easy button. That's no fair.

The low pressure pump will be on the bottom of the RO, so that is your feed pipe inlet. It would be nice to have the tank somewhat higher than the inlet just for draining purposes and no sap left in the line, but you don't need to be several feet higher or anything like that.

[PATheron]

DaveY- Yes, I ordered it. I know I have a problem but admitting it is the first step to recovery they say. I had to make a deal with the devel, devels name is Sarah. No more stuff for a while for me. I got to thinking about all that boiling and decided to get it. Thing is I figured on running one with this evap from the start and decided the price is only going to go up so I figured get it bought now and have the use of it and buckle down and after a while Ill have it paid for and then Ill be glad I got it. I told Matt I may currently hold the record for the most money invested per taphole in maple syruping history. Hey, gotta be known for something. Havin fun, someones gotta keep this economy going. Sorry to disapoint you guys I know you were looking foreward to seeing how long Id hold up. Have a happy, Theron

[Dave Y]

Man Theron,
I figured you would at least hold out for a couple of days. I didnt expect you to buckle under before the first sap hit the pan. Oh well. I guess you guys can sit back and laugh when I am MIA from the trader for two months.

[PATheron]

DaveY- I wont be laughing at all. This is how Ive always made syup before. I have a homeade evap I put up outside. I can boil a 55 gal drum of sap in a whole evening/night. I usually run 100 to 150 taps. Usually make 25-30 gals syrup. What I do is just run the evap around the clock. Stay up till 10pm maybe and go to bed get up every two hours and go out and stuff as much wood as possable in it fill the pan go back to bed repeat. Night after night after night. Thats how Ive been making syrup for last 20 years. Usually when I quit the trees are still running like heck. I just walk up to the nearest one and kick it and start swearing at it screaming stop running you $@&^$@ tree! Thats how I usually do business. Looking for a little easier time this year. Theron

[Russell Lampron]

Dave Y, It looks like you could use an RO too. How many gallons per hour are you getting with your evaporator? Brandon could use one too but he likes to cut wood and boil all weekend.

Theron, The sap tank outlet should be about level with the bottom of the RO or a little higher. It will make it easier to prime the feed pump and to drain the line when the tank is empty. Mine is actually a little lower and works fine.

Russ

[Dave Y]

Russ,
I average 100gph and have gotten 120. Im not ready for an RO . I plan on making that my last big purchase. After my vacuum and 6x16 w/steamaway!

[maplwrks]

Skip the 6x16, buy an R/O and vacumm and go at it!!

[802maple]

Yeah I agree with Mike, Why would you want to pay nearly twice as much for a evaporator and steam away as you would for a R.O. that you would get more production out of? Also unless you already have a large sugarhouse you would have to build a new one just for that beast. Just wondering?

[Dave Y]

I dont have a large sugarhouse but I am concidering building a new one in my new bush in a couple of years. Im like Brandon, I like cutting wood and boiling!
It will take a while for me to warm up to an RO. Just like it did the computor or automatic transmission. I figure i will get as big as I can stand be fore the ro. That is if I dont die first!

[802maple]

I understand I won't buy a automatic yet either. That is what makes the world go around.

[ennismaple]

It will take a while for me to warm up to an RO. Just like it did the computor or automatic transmission. I figure i will get as big as I can stand be fore the ro. That is if I dont die first!

That's what we thought too. The first day you turn a 22 hour boil into 8 hours from startup to cleanup and you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner!

Theron - Check with your manufacturer but I'd guess that as long as there's enough head to prime the pump you'll be OK.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I don't even consider an RO even though I think they are great due to cost and other factors. I am hundreds of miles south of nearly all of you and trying to get supplies is a headache and my dealer is 4 hours north. I don't have heat in the sugarhouse at this point and I still have a lot to pay for before I would even consider one.

[sapman]

Theron,

I know I must have missed some posts, but what kind of evaporator have you got for next season?

Tim

[PATheron]

Sapman- I have a 3 by 10 raised flue I bought from maple pro. It fits real nice in my sugar house and Im going to use the ro with it. I havent worried about suping it up yet becouse im not running many taps really with having the ro too. I think its going to work real nice. My main objective is too learn what im doing good this year. I bought a bigger ro than was necessary but I might put more taps in down the road and this ro can be added to so im figuring I shouldnt have to buy another one ever hopefully. The 300 gph wasnt that much less and that cant be changed. I think its going to be a good combo. I could of gotten a larger evap and not got the ro but I just cant come up with enough time to do that much wood. Its just not really an option for me I dont think. The only way I can make quite a bit of syrup I think is the ro option due to time limitations. Theron

[Mike]

You'll love the RO .........I went from 2 gals of syrup an HR to 15-17 an hr.....

[PATheron]

Mike- I think Im going to love it too once I learn what im doing. Just so much less work. You guys are going to have to help me get through the first year with some questions but ive got my buddy Richard here local to help me. Just like anything else just have to work hard and learn what im doing and then itll be easy. My biggest advantage to the way Ive always done it in the past is I wont have to gather so Basically I can devote all my time to learning what im doing boiling. Thatll help me a ton. Once I get everything down in the shed it should be easy. Ive got quite a bit of sap storage now so I think what ill do is before I boil each day ill take a quick walk through my woods and check for leaks then Ill start roing. Then start boiling, I should be able to get a good routine going and then Ill have it. I want that tube tight at all times. After all this monkeying around I want full use of that vac pump. Parker told me to boil whatever comes out of that tube till its suckin air so thats what im doing. Theron

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Theron,

Might want to tap tap 30 to 40 percent of your trees a few days early and this will help you get the hang of things and the bugs worked out. It wouldn't be too good to have 2,000 gallon of sap on the first run and have bugs to work out. Not trying to scare you, it just part of sugaring.

[PATheron]

Brandon- That may be a pretty good idea. I think im going to do some serious prep work. I was thinking next month Ill do a test boil and get the hang of the evap. It wont be exactly the same but i can run water from elevated tank and run evap adjust floats etc. maybe run it for a few hours. Plus itll clean it. Richard guys are going to train me on the ro so that should get me started on that. I think im going to have Matt train me on the press so that should get me started on that. I know, I bit off a lot didnt I? Ill tell you what 2000 gals of sap does sound pretty crazy but that does look like a lot of trees I ran tube to. Hey, God hates a coward they say. Theron

[Breezy Lane Sugarworks]

After that 2000 gallons has recirculated through the ro, you'll wish you had more tapped!! :-) Your set-up sounds and looks pretty well done. I doubt that you'll have too many bugs to worry about.

[PATheron]

Thanks for the compliment Ryan. I think ill be fine. Ill just be sure ive done as much to prepare as I can and then give her heck. Im giving this a hundred percent of my attention and usually when you do that things work out. Theron

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Ryan,

I agree he probably won't have too many bugs, but everything he has isnew to him and all different from what he has been used to. Either way, we are pulling for him!!!

[royalmaple]

Theron-

You'll be nestled right in the warm boosum of the trader. Everyone on here will keep good care of you and tuck you in. Nothing to worry about, we won't let bad things happen to you. The teet of knowledge & wisdom is only a keystroke away.

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

PATHERON

your set-up looks pretty good and well layed out. i think things will go smooth for you. maybe a kink or 2 but nothing serious

RICH

[802maple]

PATheron- a good friend of mine says that problems are what makes surgaring so much fun, just trying to solve them. Incentive is what he calls it.

[PATheron]

Guys- You guys have encountered every problem there is with this stuff. I go through the previous posts and its like reading a real life encyclopedia. Ill be fine. The main thing I need to eliminate is stupid potential problems which are ones that are created through lack of planning and I dont think Ill have many of them. I think things will run smooth once I get goin. Just not having to go up in the woods for that sap is huge. That tubing is one heck of an invention. The labor that saves is unreal. Theron

[maplecrest]

the evolution of tubing came with the loss of the family farm. to me tubing is a lot of year around work, upkeep ect. my father and for fathers biggest nightmare was breaking the sugar roads in the woods all winter to get the sap sleds thru.hang buckets and gather while my grand father stood at the sugar house door yelling more sap.with the whole family there to help. well in my instance that is gone. there is no way i can gather buckets and boil and get everything else done on this farm. and tubing came into play. with much missunderstanding from the arm chair operators of the farm. as was the vac system,filterpress, oil fired arch, all s.steel tanks,heated sugar house and the r/o. if my grand father walked in my sugar house today and saw my draw off tank and i told him i draw off in one draw what he made all day. i do not know what he would think. when he was in a nursing home and i went to tubing and told him my future plans he looked at me and said what are you going to do with all that sap!! and my reply to him was i was going to boil it.but gone are the days were he put up 500 buckets and made 500 gallons of syrup in april.

[802maple]

I have to agree with Maplecrest as we had a family farm, then all of a sudden I was the only family left sugaring. We use to have 3500 buckets and it was alot of work during April, but after the buckets were down and the spouts were pulled we didn't have alot to do other than cut wood for the next year until Mid March came around. To have a really good system there is alot more labor year round, and also touring your lines everyday thru the season,then with buckets. It does look like you have your act together and I am sure that everything will go just fine.

[Mike]

Hey Breezy...........Do you know a guy by the name of Buzz who lives in bristol?

[Breezy Lane Sugarworks]

??? do you have a last name. I can't really think of any.

[hard maple]

Maplecrest, 802
That's neat to hear some of that maple history. Sometimes I wish I was sugaring a 100 years ago.
One thing that's nice about a small operation (few hundred taps) with all buckets, is the family can get the job done and still give that attention to detail for cleaning the tanks ,buckets, and staying a year or two ahead on sugarwood.
These simple things I believe are related to quality and quanity of syrup produced.

[Mike]

Breezy, Not sure of his last name, He works for IBM......Likes to Bass fish.....

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

100 years ago though that was likely about all you had to do that time of year besides maybe calving or lambing. Most were not working a full time job elsewhere, so a big bucket operation wasn't that big of a deal.

[802maple]

I know the Buzz you speak of, he graduated a year behind me at Mt. Abraham and we even played a few sports together namely softball in the Bristol league. I am pretty sure it is him, the next time you see him ask if he knows Jerry (aka Beanie)Masterson. Tell him to be easy on the stories because I have a few myself.