Low spots.

[Tweegs]

OK Gents,
Been out the past couple of days marking trees and trying to determine runs for tubing.
Also been reading through previous posts looking for a solution to a particular problem, I didn’t find one, but maybe I didn’t look deep enough so I’ll bore y’all with a question sure to have been asked before. :lol:

I have about 20 taps in a low area that I want to get on tube. Because it is low, this area usually holds a good amount of snow melt making slogging buckets out of there a real PITA. This area is almost like a soup bowl with higher elevations all around. The lowest point around the rim that I can get to with the tractor is about 3-5 feet higher than where most of the taps are.

Now I could just tap a little higher on the trees, or I could dig out an area to get the collection drum a little lower, or a combo of both. Of course, there’s always that option I haven’t thought of yet.

Thought I would run it past y’all, let you give it a think.

I guess the yearning question needing to be answered is: How much drop from tube start to collection tank do I need?

This will be the first year on tube for me, help a rookie out won’t ya?

Thanks,
Mark

[red maples]

from my past inquiries and reading what was reccomended (cause I'm a rookie too.) was a 4% slope (4 feet rise for every 100ft run) but can be as low as .5 % as long the line is very tight and perfectly straight. and may have to a bit larger in diameter depending how many taps are on that line so it can handle the sap at a slower rate of flow. According to the North american maple book it doesn't matter where you tap the tree you will still get the same results. one thing to remember is there will hopefully be some ice pack there when you tap those trees so you won't need a latter. As far as making the collection vessel lower I read some where that it is more trouble than what its worth and gets frozen in the ground hard to clean out what ever. you could also try for a more shallower collection container.

Hope this helps... its always good to ask here everyone is very helpful even if the question has Been asked a million times.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Try to tap the farthest trees a little higher and get the collection container as low as possible. I think 5% grade is recommended for all lateral lines. I have pump lines installed at the majority of my locations. A pump line is as follows: I have mainline wire ran with a 1" black water line wire tied to it and a quick coupling on each end, male fitting on the pump end and female fitting on the tank end. I pull the tractor up to the tank end and quick connect my 25' pump hose to it and into the tractor tanks and on the other end, I quick connect it to the pump. The quick connects northern tools sells are about the best I have found for quality. I run the pump end sometimes straight up in the air 10 to 15 feet and then slope it down to the tractor so it fully drains. On one of my larger areas, it is aprox 20' of lift up to the tractor, so it is uphill slope all the way. It is about 50 to 60 feet of black 1" mainline, so I carry a 5 gallon bucket down the hill and when I am done pumping, I let it empty back down the hill into the 5 gallon bucket and it fills it about 2/3 full.

Just a note, if the end of the hose inside the tank is submersed in the liquid inside the tank, it will siphon it all back down until liquid level drops below the hose end.

Another note, a piece of all thread bends nice and makes a nice "U" shaped hook for hoses so it hooks into whatever you want it to and stays there. I use them on a couple of my hoses and a few wraps of electrical tape and it works great. I usually bend one side of it longer than the other side.

[brookledge]

Since you don't have vacuum that is out of the question so that leaves a few options. Fist of all you could run those trees to the lowest point and then pump it out of a barrel up hill and out. Or you could do as you were saying, tap high. You wouldn't be the first one to tap with a ladder. Or also as you said bury the tank. I personally would not lower the tank too much since it will make it difficult to wash it and drain it if it is down in a hole.
Keith

[ennismaple]

20 taps using a ladder is no big deal, neither is making the lateral lines close to flat. You won't get the maximum amount of sap from those taps but it's better than not tapping them at all!

[Tweegs]

Should have been clearer. I wasn’t going to dig a pit to put the collection tank in, was going to use the bucket on the tractor to grade down and level off the back side a bit leaving a berm to hold the water in that low area, figured the main line might skim the top of the berm, maybe a foot or two off the deck.

The biggest problem I see here is creating another low spot for the melt off to collect. I’m all clay out here, and even though the tractor is a 4X4 that clay will muck up the tires enough so that I’ll just sit there and spin. With my luck I’d sink her to the hubs too.

Last year there was about a foot of water/ice when I went to tap, had to wear the waders to pull the taps, it was a little over knee deep.

It’s hard to get a true picture of what’s going on from text, a 2D picture isn’t going to help much neither. Given the suggestions, it sounds like the most feasible approach is to tap high enough on the far trees to get the grade, and pump it out using the system Brandon suggests. Probably going to need a ladder for half of the trees, but at least that will keep the tractor on the high ground.

Good, good, thanks for the input!