Sap Transfer Pump Question

[michigansugarman]

I will be using a feed tank for the first time this year and will need to pump the sap to it from the storage tanks. I have a small operation so I use six or so 30 gallon plastic trash cans to store my sap. I will have to pump the sap 8 to 10 feet high and maybe 10-15 feet in horizontal distance. I am debating whether to get a small submersible sump pump and just move it from can to can to transfer the sap or whether to get a non-submersible transfer type pump and just move the intake hose from can to can. It seems to me that most of the non-submersible pumps I have looked at require some priming. That seems like a disadvantage. Does anyone have any thoughts or even recommendations as to specific pumps? Thanks!

[Haynes Forest Products]

Go to Home Depot and buy the cheap sump pump without the float switch and as you said just go from tank to tank you dont have to unplug the pump if you just go from one tank to another. You can use a check valve if your worried about spilling sap but remember to drain if you leave it out in the cold.
You can also look at small pond pumps the dont have switches. On my transfer tank pump I have it wired into a outlet that has a cheap twist type timer on it so you cant walk away and run all your sap on the ground ( never saw that happen but I have heard of it happening)...............YEA RIGHT. It does piss you off to find that you just ran all the sap from the bulk tank all over the top of the evaporator and floor and its running out the door. I have never seen that happen I just heard of it. Home Depot or Granger has timers and pumps.

[royalmaple]

I use to run a sump pump and in the head tank I wired in a normally closed float switch, specialty item but worth the 30 or so bucks.

Then run the power to an outlet which will be convient to the sump pump's location. I actually had the float energize an outlet on the wall so it was cleaner than an extension cord. Plug the sump pump into the outlet and bingo your pumping when the head tank gets empty.

Also run pvc pipe up to the head tank and have a hose connection at the end. That way you can thread on a hose to the pvc and to the sump pump and it will give you flexibility to go from can to can when you empty them.

Been there done that.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I have a Beckett Sump pump and it is around $ 40 at Home Dept and Jim(mapleman3) has the same pump. No oil or anything inside it to leak into the sap and it has pumped 20,000+ gallons of sap with it and never a problem.

[Haynes Forest Products]

ROYALM I like the auto fill idea but the problem I and others might have is we might not want to fill the tank without planning. I will admit that there are times that the head tank goes dry and your running around turning the pump on only to find out the bulk tank is dry and the sap hauler is sitting full and ready to transfer and it will all take time to get to the evaporator. Dang how did it all get so complicated........OH thats right I made it that way never mind.

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

HFP- That is where you need to design your system with all the "Bells and Whistles" A ringer ding ding.

[royalmaple]

I'll have to send you the $150.00 electrical diagram for the head tank auto fill sump pump thingy dingy.

Power went to a light switch first... off=no chance of pump coming on, on well it was up to the float. out from switch to the float. Then from the float I went across the sugar house to an outlet, which was only energized from the float. So if I was done for the night, I shut the lights off and the power to the sump pump with the light switch. Then if I wanted to I could just unplug the sump pump from the outlet and no matter what I could never get that pump to run when it was unplugged.

Ta da.

But one major thing you will have to change is you need a sugar house first. I don't think you will have the same results in a cook house.

:-)

[Haynes Forest Products]

OK ROYAL ill edit and call it the sugar shack ..........sorry

[mapleteen54]

alot of them pumps that say they need priming really dont they will pick the sap up most of the time on there own i use a small honda 4 stroke pump it 1" in diamiiter and the pump never comes of idle when im pumping it takes me about 5mins to pump 200 gallons

[Russell Lampron]

We are dealing with a food product here. Which sounds like a better place to purchase a quality product to a customer? A house, a shack or a shed?

My RO pumps the sap directly out of my bulk tank and then into my feed tank so I don't have the transfer problem anymore. When the RO shuts off I have about an hour of boiling left and can see the level in my feed tank with a sight tube. Pre RO days I used a 1/3 hp submersible pump to transfer sap from tank to tank.