end of the main line

[Acer]

What's at the end of your mainline?

Have a hundred taps now, lots more in the future and not sure what to collect in.

Thanks,
Dean

[dano2840]

well ive got a 150-175 on one bush and a 300 gal
and 400 in the other bush w/ a 1000 gal,
hope that helps. you can usually find a tank from a nieghbor or farm, they usually have some thing kicking around

[Amber Gold]

PVC valve on both ends. Also the bottom needs an adapter to hook your line cleaning system, whether it's just pressurized water from your transfer pump, or a water/compressed air mixture.

[MapleBud]

I have a 400gal. poly. tank on 250 taps and when i get a all night and all day run its full. If your going to add more taps to the same line make sure you get something big enough to hold a big run

[dano2840]

the rule of thumb is 2-3 gal of storage per tap, but more is never bad

[brookledge]

Acer
I'm assuming you mean at the outlet as far as a tank.
Bottom line is expect a gallonof sap per tap per day.
First of all will you be able to pump it out each day, if not then you need to go larger. And you also said you are looking to expand in the future. So you need to decide how soon it will be as to whether you go larger now or wait.
As for the type there is really only two options plastic or stainless. You could consider galvanized but I'd shy away from it unless you already have one.
The tank needs to be clean and only have had food grade liquids in it previously.
There are many producers who have cage tanks that hold about 275 gal that can be found pretty reasonable
Keith

[Acer]

Was wondering what type tanks you are using, and where you get them.

Dean

[mapleman3]

Nothing... ;) but hopefully by the beginning of march, A full tank of sap daily!

I will have regular galvanized stock tanks... thats about all the budget allows this year. maybe in a couple years I will get Stainless Steel put there.

[caseyssugarshack93]

i use a galvanized 330 stock tank on my 227 tap bush nad going ot use a 1000 gal galvanized at my should be 600 tap bush

[caseyssugarshack93]

you can get tanks a tractor supply company

[Jim Brown]

We have two 425's and a 330. 350 taps on one 425 and 400 taps on another 425 and 300 on a 330. We have 40 buckets in my daughters yard we collect in a 55 gallon drum.

Jim

[jrthe3]

i use poly tanks and poly 55 gal drums

[Dave Y]

I have 3 stainless steel milk tanks. 1000gal ,500 gal, 400 gal. Try to avoid plastic if you can. It will grow bacteria very quickly and they are hard to clean. I have eleminated plastic except for transport tanks.

[Amber Gold]

Acer, missed the point of your thread...

I'll have up to 500 taps on vacuum and they'll be dumping into 275 gal cage tank with a 150 gal stock tank connected to it. I'd like to get more storage, but not sure if I'll be able to. Fortunately my wife stays home so I can send her down with the truck and pump the tank out during the day if needed while I'm at work. Hopefully she does on a frequent basis.

[PATheron]

Buy stainless if you can afford it. If you cant no prob buy the plastic totes, real cheap. Have storage for 1 gallon per tap if you can get rid of it that evening if you cant have storage for 2 gallons. Sometimes you get a gallon that day and once in a while you get another one that night. Theron

[Acer]

Stainless not in the budget this year.

Kind of threw this together at the last minute this year, and lots of things are not optimal. I am hoping that eventually there will be more tubing and less tanks, but its just not going to happen this year.
Any reason to not use these for sap storage and transport for a couple years?

http://www.water-storage-tank.com/Pelletpack-Tanks.html

Price is right at $44 for the liner and $75 for the box for a 260 gallon tank.

Think I will need 4 of them, one near the evaporator one in the sap transport vehicle, and one at the end of each mainline.

There will be totes for small groups of trees not tubed up yet as well.

Dean

[mountainvan]

Those tanks are pretty cool, but.. would they stand up to rough weather for a couple months and how easy would it be to clean to keep the sap better. I myself use 300 gal stock tanks, plumb them together and you have 600, 900 gal capacity. I can move them by myself too. I also have 100 gal plastic stock tanks.

[Amber Gold]

Try to look for cage tanks. I think I've seen them for under $100 and they're 250+ gal.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Just make sure that the cage tank you buy didnt start out as a chemical tank first. Had a guy tell me that the tank he had was a water tank. checked the code on it and it started out with Calcium Cloride and then was used for water

[Russell Lampron]

Look at the top cover on the cage tank. If it had chemicals in it the cover will be red. If it had products like fruit juice in it the cover will be black. Check to see if it has an odor from the original contents that may flavor your sap. If everything checks out a cage tank can be a good buy.

[caseyssugarshack93]

I got some cage tanks 75 bucks a peice 330gals had veg oil in them took some bleach and water to clean them. dont know if i should use them or not.

[Brent]

I don't see a word about FOOD GRADE on the Pellet Pack web site.

[Dave Y]

I says's that they are clean room certified and FDA (food and drug administration)
compliant. That would make them food grade.