Sap Filters

[Dennis H.]

I was looking at getting one of those bag style sap filters, the ones that use the round adapter head.

Does anyone use these and how well do they work. Are they even worth the cost and headache.

What size bag, micron rating, do you use?

I found that MSC has bags and adapters they look to be the same I saw else where but cost a lot less.

[hard maple]

I use those milk socks from your local farm store. They cost about 5 cents each. After they get clogged just throw away. The size I got is 3" by 23 3/8"
I took a couple of 1 1/2 pvc tees, the filter slides over the tee (make your own design and number of filters) attach the filter with a hose clamp.

[ennismaple]

We use them to filter the sap coming out of the gathering tank. They work well but need to be washed every day to keep them from getting gunky.

[SeanD]

Maple Digest had an really good article/study on filtering sap a couple of issues ago. I don't have it right in front of me so I can't reference the conclusions specifically, but it had some interesting info on the effectiveness of the different ways of filtering yeasts and bacteria from sap vs. cost, etc. I do remember that the diatemaceous earth filters ranked really high, but they do have a high up front cost.

If I can find it, I'll pass on more of the info if you are interested.

Sean