Please help get me into a used vacuum pump

[danno]

I have a deleval 75 and 76 but I don't run them over 18-19" as they get hot. I want to run 25-26". I'll have about 700 taps this year.

I have a neighbor who has run a surge sp 22 at 26" for many season 24/7 for days on end and makes about twice the syrup I do on a similar bush (half gallon/tap). I've been looking for SP 22's. Is that reasonable? I know I can find one for $200-$300 - but would spend more if I would be better off with a different pump. Would like to spend under a $1000, and preferably under $700. Have to save money for bigger tanks this year.

I have access to a creek for cool water, but not a heated room for the pump.

Any suggestions/leads?

[Haynes Forest Products]

how tight is your system? do you use a releaser? Why not go with a dry vane pump?

[Maplewalnut]

Danno-

SP-22 are great little pumps but if you want to get 25-26" routinely its probably not the pump for you. 21 or 22" definitely achievable. I ran 21" for a few days straight last season a couple times with no problems. Change oil routinely and keep it cool and your all set. Not sure if there is anything out there other than liquid ring pumps that will acheive what you are looking for.

See what others say

Mike

[maplecrest]

danno were you running oilreclaimers on those pumps? you can get 24 with reclaimers also if you ran a 5/16 line of water on the pump head would cool the pumps down.or go with liquid ring pumps or bit the bullet and get a new claw bush pump 28 is what they say it will do

[Haynes Forest Products]

Danno do you want to sell your pumps? I just got a nice 2HP motor with pullys. Im hankerin for another winter project

[danno]

I check the woods daily and keep the system tight - I lose maybe an inch of vacuum between my releaser and the end of my main line - oldest tubing is now about 5 years old, with half new since last year.

Any suggestions on pump manufacturers/models that I can keep a look out. The pumps I have are on loan from my bro-in-laws old dairy farm, and I 'll probably keep them as back ups.

[danno]

I know the old Delevals will pull mid 20's, I've had them up that high when the regulator froze closed. I am not currently running a reclaimer - but I recall threads on here on how to build your own - maybe I'll look into that.

[brookledge]

A good vacuum will pay for its self. I'm sure you know that but when you say your neighbor makes twice what you do and makes .5g/tap and you have 700 taps. Take your 700 taps and at .25(where you are) that is 175 gallons of syrup. Rough math 175 X $50=$8750
Make .5g per tap = 350X$50 =$17,500
you get the idea. If you are like me I have medium range vac and want to get into high vac but presently need to use the money I'm making for other things like paying for the RO.
Anyways I will get there some day
Keith

[red maples]

If you get a sp22 you should be able to pull pretty good levels of vac. with my little bb2 on 250 taps I can pull 23-25" on average with a 1 hp motor. on a good day it has pulled 28almost 29" thats end to end very tight system. it all depends on atmospheric pressure etc. and I can still put put my hand on it. but on warm days I still like to point a little fan on it. You won't don't need a reclaimer with a piston pump. I change oil every 6-7 days.

the reclaimer is easy to an build though. Use an old 5 gallon epoxy can fill it with steel wool, exaust goes into the top. and line coming out the bottom into the intake side(vac side). done easy!!!

[backyardsugarer]

I had a little sp 11 pulling 23"-25" on brand new tubing last year for about 600 taps. Never had a probelm with it but the pressure would drop some on warm days. Keepin the system tight is the key. I would also like to get into the upper 20's so if you figure something out for under $1,000 let me know. Thanks

Chris

[DrTimPerkins]

I would also like to get into the upper 20's so if you figure something out for under $1,000 let me know.

Keeping the system really tight is the best thing. It is pretty unlikely you'll pull 25"+ Hg for under $1,000 unless you find a real heck of a deal on a used continuous-duty two-stage pump. If you do, I think the entire maple world would like to know. Flood pumps and liquid ring pumps generally run far better (better vacuum) when kept cold.

Once you get above 25-26" Hg, you start to run into problems finding leaks. They are so tiny that it is very difficult to find them and fix them....as the vacuum pressure gets lower, the difficulty in finding/fixing leaks increases exponentially (you spend a lot more time going from 25-26" Hg than you did going from 15-18" vacuum). Similarly, to get a pump that'll go from mid-low 20s to mid-high 20's the price expands exponentially (you'll pay way more to go from 25-28" Hg than you will to go from 20-25" Hg).

On warm days, when the trees are generating more internal gases, your vacuum will naturally drop due to the greater volume of air (CFM) moving through the system, combined with the reduced efficiency of a warmer pump. Keeping a system running above 26" Hg is pretty much a full-time job. Also, there is often a fair difference in vacuum between what you read at the pump and what you find in the woods. What is going on in the woods is far more important than at the pump.

Having a well designed and installed system is also important. You want your lines to be the right size. Dual pipe systems are better. Short laterals with 5 or under taps/lateral. Other approaches to increase vacuum transfer to the tree will improve yield as well (more on that later). But again, these changes are not without cost, so you must always weigh the advantages (increased yield) against the disadvantages (cost, difficulty).