Milk Tank

[mapleman3]

I put a deposit on a 310 gal ss sunset milk tank today , rectangular with round bottom, compressor and agitator, anybody ever use the agitator for sap when running the compressor when cooling the sap?

[syrupmaker]

Jimmer....the agitator was to keep the cream from seperating in the milk.Hopefully your sap wont have cream to seperate.Not sure if it would help with sap or not.Just another motor using electric i would think.

Rick

[mapleman3]

Thats what I figured,I will probably disconnect it for the mean time, but if I ever sell it It can be put back to use as a legal milk tank, theres no paint on the outside, it's in perfect shape. like it was just put in the milkhouse. I will build a small shed off the side of the sugarhouse for that one and the other ss tank I already have.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Jim,

Just curious what you paid for your tank. My dealer has 4 or 5 and I may get one in a couple of months. He wants $ 275 for a 400 gallon stainless.

[syrupmaker]

Brandon....at that price grab all you can get! They usually get 75 cents to a dollar a gallon for them depending on shape,covers and general condition.

Rick

Buy them soon! Scrap steel prices are skyrocketing as well as regular steel. I heard they doubled since last fall.

[mapleman3]

$300 for a 310 gal I paid.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Jim,

That sounds like a good price because mine will probably not have the compressor. In time I would like to get a cooling system on mine as it would help prolong the storage life of the sap a lot.

[FMWARREN]

Jim If you get the agitator spinning fast enough ,you can call it a pre evaporator,or maybe the best thing is to leave off less power used.FM

[Fred Henderson]

I used to work on and install Sunset tanks and the agitator is not to keep the cream from seperating. It is for stir the product so it all cools evenly.

[mapleman3]

Ok I was going to build a sap house for the 2 stainless tanks, but now after seeing Maplekings setup(his 400+gal milk tank is in the air and gravity feeds the evap). his is Higher than I want to do, I figure 5' to the bottom of the legs. that way I still have head pressure. The question is I'm thinking of building the stand either with 4 Lolly Columns set in concrete about 3ft in the ground and I will weld cross bars on top for the tank.... or set 4 6x6 pressure treated posts set the same way and lag in 2x8's around the top again for the tank stand.... the question is which will last longer in the concrete in the ground, it will both cost aprox. the same to build.

[themapleking]

Jim,
My 3" galv. steel pipes are 3 ft deep with just gravel packed around. I wouldn't use concrete with wood because water will get down betwwen the concrete and wood, rotton it much faster.
Just pack gravel around the steel posts or wood. After all they are going to be 3 ft deep.
P.T. wood last 10-12 yr in the ground, good galv. pipe 20+ yrs
All so if your going to get a hood with a pre heater. That will add about 16 in. to 2 ft more in hight to the feed pipe for the evap.

[mapleman3]

Good point Joe.. things that we have to remember.. thats what makes this board so good... Thanks again

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Jim,

Ditto on the concrete. Really rots wood fast. If you have a place where not a lot of water will get on the support posts or there is no standing water, you could use the 4x4 treated post and probablyget 25 or 30 years out of them. :D

Brandon

[forester1]

Lot's of good ideas here but I'll defend concrete. I'm no expert but concrete is like magic. Mix cement , sand, gravel and a little water and a while later you got a rock in the shape you want. I went down 4 feet to frost line with 6 holes and filled them with concrete and put a 1 foot form on top of the columns. I put in about 5 foot rebar. At the top I put in a anchor bolt. This is in the shape of a J and stuck up in the center a couple inches. Then I put a layer of gasket that you use between block and wood like when building a garage. You can buy it by the foot at lumber yards. Then I drilled a hole in the bottom center of my peeled hemlock posts and set them upright on the J bolt. The wood is separated from the concrete and a foot off the ground. I then put 3 crossways hemlock each on 2 posts the short way 5 foot and then three across the long way 9 foot on top of the five footers. All spiked down with 10 inch spikes. All hemlock was 8 to 12 inches diameter. I flattened the three long ones on the top and nailed cedar decking across 5 foot. So the platform is 5 foot by 9 foot. I got room at the top to stand and clean the tank plus put a roof and frame(2x4's and fiberglass panels) around the tank. The cedar decking was $90 but all the rest was less than $100 since the logs and gravel came from my own land. The decking and roof over the tank keeps most of the water off the wood structure. I also washed the wood with a bleach solution, let dry, and put waterseal on it. It sounds kind of complicated but I think it will last a long time, especially if I keep applying waterseal annually. Unfortunately I don't own a digital camera.

[mapleman3]

The compressor section is coming out awesome, looking brandy new, I'll post pics soon of the progress... in the meantime taking in all your ideas.. keep em comming guys thanks

[mapleman3]

I just posted a few pics of the compressor on my personal gallery click on my profile below then click on the pic you want to look at.. I like this new addition ... works great!!! way to go Maple Guys

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Jim,

It looks awesome. I am convinced you can make anything look brand new again or should I say brandy new! :D :D

Just kidding! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[mapleman3]

Thanks Brandon
hopefully it will run like " brandy" new. , change the oil,some nitrogen run through it , fill er up with new R-12 referigerant and zoom zoom hopefully it wasn't all for nutin!!!. I figured I have the time why not rebuild it!!