wondering what type of compensation people have given to have their sap processed from an RO. lets say i bring him 500gal of 1.5% sap and he runs it up to 10 % i think his unit is a 600 gph.
thanks ed
wondering what type of compensation people have given to have their sap processed from an RO. lets say i bring him 500gal of 1.5% sap and he runs it up to 10 % i think his unit is a 600 gph.
thanks ed
2 x 6 small bros raised flue
preheater and hood
200 taps on gravity
200 taps on vac
16 x 12 sugarhouse
New Holland tc40 (sap gatherer)
http://s679.photobucket.com/albums/v...3.jpg&newest=1
I would say the easiest way is to do it on percentage. I like the barter system especially between neighbors one hand washes the other. Granted an RO is a piece of machinery in the farming world most would charge a by the hour or gallon rate or a percentage. Some neighbors might run it through for no charge knowing they may need something in return someday of course there is a big difference between 500 and 5,000 gallons.
I say let him keep the purified water, and your even!
I have a 600gph CDL, and I typically offer 3 options.
1 is the trade, I keep half the syrup, and give you half the syrup. If you want concentrate, I can give the equivelant in concentrated sap. So 500 gallons of 1.5% would make 8.6 gallons of syrup. If concentrated to 10%, that would 8.7 to 1, sap to syrup ratio, so I would hand you 8.7 x 4.3 (your share of the syrup), or 37 .4 gal of Concentrate. I wouldn't provide a discount for not running it through the evaporator, because it would be a bit of a pain in the butt to do this
The second option is simply charge you for it. My syrup making is a business, so just helping out doesn't make sense for me. I will help with the firewood, the kids, the dog, but this is my business, and I have big overhead costs for this stuff.
As greedy as it sounds, I figure me owning, maintaining and running the syrup making equipment is $160 per hour. (If curious, I can explain how I got that number. It is based on what the syrup is worth if I run your sap and I get half the product. Basically in this situation, 8.6 gallons of syrup per hr, I would keep 4.3, which is worth about $160 bulk)
So if you want me to run 1.5% (500 gal) to get to 10% (75 gal), first pass takes it to 4.5% and 500 gal becomes 125 gal in 1 hr, running it for another 10 min would get it to 10%, or 75 gal.
1.17 hrs x $160=$187
Guess what? Lots of people bring me sap. Most take option 3, a check (1/2 the value of the syrup made), some take the syrup, no one has ever taken concentrate and handed me a check. Can't blame 'em!
One other note. I would most likely not be able to give you your own concentrate back. Odds are if you have sap, I am running thousands of gallons myself that day. Odds are your sap gets mixed in with mine.
Jeff Emerson
www.emersonsmaplehill.com
3x12 Leader with over air, custom piggyback, 600gph CDL RO
2500 on 25" vacuum
350 4 wheeler, 500 snowmobile, and 1950's Ford 600 tractor, Husqvarna! (261, 372xpBigBore, 562xp), Stihl MS193 for in tree work
I would agree with Jeff and add that most RO's are sized to the operation and would need extra tanks and plumbing to do this
William
950 taps
3 X 12 Thor pans on a Brian Arch
CDL 600 expandable