looking for info on the wet line dryline vacum concept

[Maple Restoration]

Hi Every one Mike here just wondering if any one has or is use sing the wet line dry line concept for their vacuum system and if you have any input on this any info would be great. We had a brief intro to this by Leader at our Maple information day last month.

[maplecrest]

been using wet dry for about ten years, the best part is you dont miss a drop if the wet line is froze, till it thaws out. you get vac out there where you need it. and makes a big difference on those low volume days. sap tends to run longer during freeze ups. vac leaks will make your sap freeze faster at the location of the leaks. i tight system is key

[Maple Restoration]

Thanks Jeff I'm looking at setting up vacuum, all my maple's are on a hill side, the drop is 10' for every 100', longest run down is 400' all flowing to the shack I was wondering if this would be the best vacuum setup for me or stick to the standard booster setup?

[brookledge]

Mike, how far away from your releaser would you be going? If you only have 400 feet of mainline you would not need a wet/dry system. Or is the 400' you talk about like branch mains?
Anyways a dry line on top of the wet line is done to help transfer the vacuum out to the farther reaches of the sugar bush. One thing that I recomend to people is to see what you are getting for vacuum transfer with just a wet line. Take a vacuum gauge and put a piece of rubber hose on it so that you can pull a tap and slide the hose over it, see what you have for vacuum if it is low then you need to take steps to imprive it whether it be adding a dry line or upsizing wet line or shortening the laterals etc.
Bottom line why add expense to add dry line if you don't need it.
I'm in tyhe process of finishing a new mainline that is about 2400 feet away from my releaser. I have a dry line that goes out 2000 feet with 3 seperate locations where the two tie together (boosters).
You definately have a good slope so that will help to transfer your vacuum.
Keith

[maplecrest]

mike what size is your main line on your 100 taps?. how many taps do you want to run on vac?here is some sizeing to think about. wet, vac over liquid i have 300 taps on a 1 inch, 400 max. 150 to 200 on a 3/4 inch line. for wet dry, 600 taps on a 1 inch with boosters every 1000 feet. 300 on a 3/4 inch line boosters every 1000 feet.a booster hooks the wet and dry togather for more air or if wet is froze the sap can go up the booster and come down the dry line until the wet thaws out. very handy for higher sap yeild. and a vac gauge at the top and valves thru the system to help detect leaks will help.when you slowly shut a valve and air is shooting thru you have a leak.or if you look at a lt line and sap is shooting thru you have a leak. you could put a pump on your system you have now and find the leaks you now have, and get by this year.

[Maple Restoration]

Thanks Keith and Jeff very informative, my current run is 378’ of ¾” with an even 30’ drop with a total of 100 tap, my longest string of tapes is a total of 8 on a run I’m currently using it as gravity feed but I know vacuum is the way to go. I’m just trying to find the most cost effective way to go about this. And I did not know if the wet/dry system would be over kill or not. Since I am still fairly new at this and have lots to learn, I would rather spend the money wisely.

[ennismaple]

No need for wet/dry with your setup. You've got better than 2% average slope on your mainline, only 100 taps on a 3/4" line and a total length much less than the recommended 1000'. When you put vacuum on that mainline you'll be amazed at how much sap you get per tap!!!

[Maple Restoration]

Thanks every one you have given me lost to think about and thanks for clearing things up for me. Well off to the shack to do some maintenance and clean up after mother natures dumping last knight, have a great day all back later.

[brookledge]

Mike
You answered the question. You have no where the amount of taps to be needing a dry line nor the distance. A good guide for you would be to get the newest edition of the maple syrup manual that would help you alot with setting up pipeline.
Keith

[Maple Restoration]

Thanks Keith the Manual sound great all see if I can find one in my neck of the woods, up to this point it’s been hit or miss trying out new things. But it sure fun learning mistakes and all. I’m glad I found this site you guy’s have been great. Thanks for the advice.