shurflo pump with 5/16 or 3/16 vac line with 3/4 wet line and 12-14 laterals w/65 tap

[Jolly Acres Farm]

I have a small remote sugar bush with 65-70 tapable Sugar Maples on it. I am wondering if a 12 volt shurflo pump would be effective enough for acceptable vacuum in about 300 feet of 3/4 mainline with 12-14 lateral with 5 taps each for a total of 65-70 taps. Also would it be more effective for my small set up to use 3/16 or 5/16 lines for the laterals. My main line would have about 2-3 degree slope. My laterals would have a 1-3 degree slope. I know a Maple pump would be ideal but for my small operation it is not cost effective. I would appreciate any knowledge or experience anyone has with this type of set up. Also has anyone used any type of temperature sensor to turn the pump on this type of set up and if so what one and where can I find it.





2015- First year sugaring- 25 taps on buckets late start
22 Sugar and 3 Silver Maples
Averaged 3.1% Sap and made 4.75 gallons of syrup and about one pound of maple sugar.
One understand wife that now says "when you said you needed another hobby I should have ran, oh luck me"
Needless to say I'm ADDICTED

[Moser's Maple]

here's a short video i did on our 45-50 tap setup with 1 inch mainline this past season. this more than triple our yield per collection versus gravity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIHKxcNAJTg

[Wanabe1972]

I would do it I have 16 taps right outside my sugar shack on 5/16 that i would get 10 to 20 gallons a day on depending on the run. I put the pump on it this year and pulled close to 30 some days. My pump was and aquatec 5800 but its the same as a shurflo.

[Super Sapper]

I had 2 setups in a woods with 90 some taps on each. I have about a 400 foot main on each 3/4 inch main and they handled it pretty good. I have the 2088 shurflo pumps and can get at least 3 days on a charge from a deep cycle marine battery. I also used a 12 temp. controller (look up on ebay). On days when everything ran I got at least twice as much sap per tap as the bags in the same woods and also got sap on days the bags did not run. I have to do a better job on eliminating leaks as I only ran 15 to 20 inches when it ran.

[Jolly Acres Farm]

here's a short video i did on our 45-50 tap setup with 1 inch mainline this past season. this more than triple our yield per collection versus gravity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIHKxcNAJTg

Thanks for sharing your video.

[Jolly Acres Farm]

I would do it I have 16 taps right outside my sugar shack on 5/16 that i would get 10 to 20 gallons a day on depending on the run. I put the pump on it this year and pulled close to 30 some days. My pump was and aquatec 5800 but its the same as a shurflo.

Are you running all 16 taps on one 5/16 line?

[Jolly Acres Farm]

I had 2 setups in a woods with 90 some taps on each. I have about a 400 foot main on each 3/4 inch main and they handled it pretty good. I have the 2088 shurflo pumps and can get at least 3 days on a charge from a deep cycle marine battery. I also used a 12 temp. controller (look up on ebay). On days when everything ran I got at least twice as much sap per tap as the bags in the same woods and also got sap on days the bags did not run. I have to do a better job on eliminating leaks as I only ran 15 to 20 inches when it ran.

Thanks for the information. Your setup sounds like the same type that I want to set up. Do you have any pictures of your setup that you would be willing to share?

[Wanabe1972]

Are you running all 16 taps on one 5/16 line?

Yes I run them all on one 5/16 line. I know this isn't ideal but this is a seasonal line in my backyard and would require way to much work to run any mainline.

[bcarpenter]

We also tripled our sap collection this past season by adding a Shurflo Pump, well worth the effort after reading Moser's and other posts.

here's a short video i did on our 45-50 tap setup with 1 inch mainline this past season. this more than triple our yield per collection versus gravity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIHKxcNAJTg

[RIVERWINDS]

Thanks for the information. Your setup sounds like the same type that I want to set up. Do you have any pictures of your setup that you would be willing to share?

I have nearly 900' of 1" mainline with 101 taps on one 4048 Shurflo. Ran just under 25" vacuum last season.

Here's a set up I just made for a guy that wanted one like mine. I made a enclosure for the temp controller and mounted it all on a piece of aluminum for the guy. I also added Minn Kota quick disconnects for easy battery changes.

IMG_1750[1].jpg