Never seen a tubing system like this.

[caseyssugarshack93]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e66NKNwbklM



Check this tubing system out, its pretty neat i think, anyone ever see anything like it? is there vacuum or it it gravity, it kinda looks like some kind of early tubing manifold where the lines come in for vac or just gravity,,

[red maples]

I don't see any vac but, but I have seen dips in line like that before. I have heard (not sure if it is true but it must be) its a way to thoroughly close off a line because there is always sap in the bottom of the dip, but there is also alot of air in the lines as you can see those air bubbles which you really don't see if your lines are closed?? right? Maybe they are old lines and they have stretched and just never been retightened? Maybe its gravity and its a way to raise the tubing back up slightly if you have a very long piece of tubing??? I don't know? its all about making syrup the old fashion way with wood right??

[caseyssugarshack93]

look at how long the drop line it probably 5 foot peice of tubing

[brookledge]

That tubing looked like US Maple. Green nylon. it stretches and stretches and the inside diameter gets smaller.
I agree there is no vacuum
Keith

[KenWP]

Hard for me to watch it here. Loads at about a minute a second. What pray tell are all the silver tubes on the wall in the sugar house and with out vacuum how do they get sap through the drops. With the belly they have in the drops they must be frozen 24-7 sometimes unless they have vacuum.Wish with utube you could load it and watch it. I could play the sound then and understand whats being said.

[220 maple]

Hey Guys
The tree releases sap and cardon dioxide, that could be the bubbles that are present in the tubing. Before I had vacuum I had one lateral line that had over ten taps on it, the line was closed system. the sap and bubbles marched steady any day that the trees ran.


Mark 220 Maple

[NH Maplemaker]

KenWP,those are not pipes, that is metal roofing to help keep the heat off the the wood walls of the shack!! Jim L.

[Russell Lampron]

I think that they have a sap sucker vacuum pump in the white tent that the lines go into and come back out of. The manifold that the 5/16" lines go into, the straight piece of pipe that stands vertical, looks just the one that I had with a sap sucker. I make tons of that red syrup right here in NH. It's not just a MI thing.

[maplekid]

it said that it gravity feeds ??? wonder if its just hardcore natural vaccum.

[halfast tapper]

That is just the old way of doing a tubing system. The idea was to put 40 to 60 taps on a 5/16 lateral line. The system is a closed system. When you have to many taps on a lateral line that is what it looks like. It worked, better than buckets , but was not that efficient. On days where the temp wasn't ideal it would not run cause it takes so long to unthaw.
The tubing is US maple Green. great in its time but just stretches to much. You could stretch a line tight and the next day have a 3 foot sag in it. You could stretch it so much that the inside diameter would actualy close off. They then came out with US maple green in a ribbed design. A little better but in the end same results over time. Nothing like 30p.

[TapME]

I had 30 taps on line this year and it ran just like the picture. Never did put a gauge at the top to test the natural vac, but did get 50 gallons on a good day and 25 on the bad ones and none when frozen. :-|