Amount of sap storage.

[18mile]

How much sap storage so most operation feel they need? The assumption here is that sap is processed within 24 hrs. Gallon of storage per tap?

[TapTapTap]

Here is data from last season, although I don't know about exactly 24 hours, it was likely longer:

I filled my 3,000 gal tank last year on 1,150 taps (2.6 gal/tap).

Using that math you should have an 8,000 gallon tank.

[Mead Maple]

I think it's important to note whether or not vacuum is being used. As I can see in your signature that you are, I would plan on a minimum of 2 gallons of sap per day. Like Ken eluded to, 2.5-2.6 is definitely not uncommon. Hence why the old traditional buckets had the capacity that they did, because on those "heavy run" days the sap would be at the brim but as many of us have seen, you can even have buckets overflowing even on a 24-hour gathering schedule.

[bill m]

Almost all of my taps are on gravity and I plan for 2 gallons per tap storage capacity. If I was on high vacuum I would double that just to be safe.

[TapTapTap]

I'm increasing tap count this year from the 1150 last year to around 1750 for this season, and on the same tank storage. I went from a comfortable storage capacity to a more aggressive approach. I expect to run an occasional preboil RO cycle to squeeze the raw sap down to make room. I also have a woods tank under my mechanical releaser for some extra, plus my 2000 gal permeate tank. Bottom line is more effort, coordination, and plumbing.

BTW - I'm on high vacuum.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Minimum 2x tap count for a bulk tank at the shack. Might need more depending on what you have for storage in the woods.

[Ultimatetreehugger]

I have 5770 gallons on 3300 taps. I am slowly working on increasing my storage because I am at the mercy of my buyers capacity as well.

[maple flats]

On my current 400 taps, I have 3 sap tanks, a 415, a 545 and a 300, if I run towards full, I also have 4 IBC totes at 275 ea, cleaned and ready to use. Part of my excess is because I also accept sap on shares and I keep that separate from my sap. When I take in sap, it is often 275 gal at a time. That producer boils his own on the rest he may have. I also process daily as soon as I have enough sap, so I'm reducing my stored sap by about 250 gal/hr.
Even with all of that I've had all of my 3 SS tanks full at the same time, but I've never needed the IBC totes since I could boil all day.

[Sugarmaker]

About 2 gallons per tap on gravity systems maybe more on vacuum.
Regards,
Chris

[JoeJ]

When I expanded in 2014 and added a remote woods with 2,100 more taps, I ordered a sap tank that gave me 1.8 gal per tap storage, 3859 gal. I should have gone bigger for that once a season sap flood. In 2016,I had finished emptying the 3859 gal sap tank at about 4:00PM. When I went to haul out sap the next morning at 6:00 AM, just 14 hours later, the tank was overflowing. 1.8 gal per tap in 14 hours. Plus there was no way to figure how much sap spilled onto the floor. Two days later the tank filled overnight again and overflowed. After that, if the sap is gushing out of the trees late in the after noon, I solved the over flow problem by hauling one or two 700 gal tank loads back the 4.8 miles to the sugar house when I am done boiling at 10:00 or 11:00 PM. Hindsight is always great. If had known this in 2014, I could have gone to either a 5789 gal tank with 2.75 gpt for an extra $1843.00 or a 4824 gal tank with 2.3 gpt for another $924.00. The extra cost to now have the correct size tank would not have been that bad considering I put $67,000. into the new woods clearing, tubing, labor, bigger RO, vacuum, a 3,859 tank and 3-725 gal tanks at the sugar house and all the other associated costs. Go bigger than 2 gal per tap storage.

Joe

[TapTapTap]

.......When I went to haul out sap the next morning at 6:00 AM, just 14 hours later, the tank was overflowing. 1.8 gal per tap in 14 hours. ................

Thanks for stressing your point Joe. With my expansion I'll potentially be at an occasional critical storage situation. My plan is to replumb my permeate tank as an overflow for my 3,000 gallon raw sap tank giving me 5,000 gallons at the sugarhouse. Sharing your experience has motivated me to get that done before the season starts. Now all I need to do is to remember to set the valves right at every process.
Ken

[18mile]

Thanks for the thoughts everyone. I am currently undersized in storage and will be upgrading for next year. I am getting by with 1.5 gallon/tap but have had some close calls. Also added a few hundred more taps. Hope to make it through the season.

[GeneralStark]

I don't think there is a hard and fast rule as there are many factors that would help to determine ideal storage. I got by for several seasons with about 1.5 gpt but I was often overflowing on overnight runs. My region of Vt is prone to very dramatic rapid thaws in the winter and it is not unusual to see 2gpt in 24 hours.

I now have 2gpt in my primary bulk tank and 1gpt in my concentrate tank which my main tank overflows into. My work and home lives are such that having the extra storage is key. But, I know of several large operations in the area that have less than 1 gpt of storage and rely on their ro machines to keep up with the sap, but they also have crews of folks dedicated to keeping things running 24/7.

[ecp]

I agree with GeneralStark this topic is very dependent on the operation you have and how you want to run things. About 5 years ago we were running at about 1/4 of a gallon storage per tap, and never spilled a drop of sap. There were heavy run days where the RO didn't shut off for 40 hours straight (that was undersized too :)). During these runs my wife would have to be pumping sap every 5 minutes from one tank to the RO feed tank, and you don't go to sleep (couple weekends of that and you begin to pray from a deep freeze). O by the way those are the days that every family member you have want to show up and talk haha. Finally we purchase 9000 gallons more of storage which got us to 1 gallon per taps. The advantage there is that we could spend more time maintain vacuum of better production. In maintaining better vacuum that seems a little undersized now, but for a hobby it works. The plan is to get a better sized RO next so that we can get those tanks empty and sleep at night. In the end going with bigger tanks would have been a better call I think just to remove some stress and get sleep, but it is really up to what you want for production and sleep during a short season.

[DrTimPerkins]

Yes, General Stark brings up a good point. A lot depends upon how you manage your operation.

For our main bush at UVM PMRC, we have 2.5 gal of primary storage, and another gal of additional (can be either used for permeate or for sap) if necessary. There are several times when we've come in with the tank just about to spill over the top. Typically this happens when a good sap flow starts very late in the afternoon or early evening and it runs all night. None of us live at PMRC. We do have both cameras and Smartrek sensors, so we can keep a good eye on it. Occasionally, if the concentrate bulk tank is full, we will ROed sap back into the sap tank to reduce the volume. Since we RO to 35 Brix, it reduces the volume tremendously.

In our other site we have a bit more room, but it too has come close a couple of times.

At our third (not yet online) site, we should have plenty of space for a year or two (keeping 1,100 taps of red maple and sugar maple sap separate in 2,500 gal tanks), but eventually we will pump from site 2 above across the road, then pump it all up the hill to the sugarhouse. By that point we hope to have 2 10,000 gal CDL silo tanks at the sugarhouse. The pumpline was installed this summer along with the mainline installs for the 1,1000 new taps.

So I expect over the next 2-3 years we will have a bunch of 500-1,000 gal tanks for sale, and maybe a couple of 3,000 gal tanks.

[TapTapTap]

In my experience in life, business, and sugaring - extensive unnecessary effort to overcome failures in one area almost always spills over into other areas.

What makes sense: A storage plan with base capacity for a typical run, that includes built in flexibility and contingency options.

What doesn't make sense: A storage plan with base capacity significantly below typical runs which depends upon luck and frequent modes of crisis operations.

Ken