whats the minimum taps to feed a 2X8?

[markct]

it looks like i may have the opportunity to purchase a 2 by 8 evaporator for a reasonable price. this is bigger than i had ever realy considered going, but after looking over our property, theres alot of trees that could be easily gravity tubed towards the town road, which would make collection doable in the mud season. but i dont know if i should realy consider this evaporator or not, it would take it from the hobby thing to a bit of a slight money making venture i hope, but at the same time i dont wanna lay out a huge amount of cash in taps and tubing, tanks etc just to be able to run the thing. could it be fed off 150 taps in the begining, and add some in the next years to come

[sapman]

I think 150 taps would be an OK start, ideally probably looking to 250-300 in the future. I imagine you should get 50gph or so on that rig, so on a good day you may only boil 3-5 hours, which would be kinda nice! You are just left with a lot of sweet in the pans for how many taps you have.

Tim

[325abn]

I think 150 - 400 would be about right for a 2X8.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

One a stock 2x8 with a 5' flue pan, you are probably looking at 35 to 40 gph max and possibly a little higher with a 6' flue pan. You would be fine with 150 taps.

[markct]

thanks guys, yea i could do 150 ok, and boiling short times isnt a big deal cause i work a fulltime job, so usualy my afternoon boiling dont start till 3 or 4 pm

[tuckermtn]

we started this year with 225 +/- taps on our 2.5 X 8. seems to be ok to get going, then we will probably top out at 330-350 taps- nice to know we could expand if needed. We do 50 gph average, but can get up to 60-65 gph without much effort.

I think you would be fine on 150 taps...might have a wait a little in the begining to get enough to sweeten the pans, but other than that, its all good...

[cncaboose]

We ran 180 taps on a 3x8 last year and it was great. Like you I have to work for aliving so having the bigger evaporator keeps the late nights to a minimum. We still boiled til midnight once and past 11 a couple of other times. It sounds to me like it would be just right for you.

[markct]

thanks cncaboose, yea it sounds like it would work well that way, i try to keep the late nights down since i gota be in to work at 6 am, but im out by 3 or 4 so i get an early start to boiling, and i figure with tubing my collection time would be pretty minimal