Last year at this time I would have agreed with Westford Sugarworks, but I tried 3 lines last year using a pump to help the flow and then this year I tried 4 more lines, pulling sap from below the mainline. Their flow was more than I would have predicted, but not as much as if I'd had some help from gravity vacuum. What I did, on my longest run which is 550' long, is I put 30 taps on the line, which started 6' lower than the mainline. The best part (to my thinking) was watching the end towards the mainline. The taps were across a driveway from the mainline. As the line got to a tree adjacent to the driveway, I used an end of line hook, which normally goes around the tree and hooks back to itself, then a tap it attached with a "drop" to that fitting. I rather than having a tap there added enough tubing to climb the tree to a limb about 14' off the ground (a climb of about 10' because the line started at about 4' off the ground) Then it goes over the driveway to another tree limb and then slopes down at about 30-35 degrees to the mainline. The line then connected to my mainline which has 26-27" vacuum. That was all done using 3/16 tubing and with 5/16 drops from the tap to the lateral line (the 3/16 from tree to tree). While I have no measurements, and I'm just going by the movement of sap/gas bubbles/sap etc. that I see in the tubing, it worked extremely well and at far less cost than more conventional methods would have cost.
Thus, I say use 3/16 tubing to go from tree to tree, with 5/16 taps and drops (with 5/16 drops there is far less sap pulled back into the tree as the tree freezes compared to 3/16 drops. (A drop is the tubing with a tap on one end and a tee to join it to the lateral (the line from tree to tree). Put 20-30 taps per lateral. In your case I suggest no mainline, just more runs of the 3/16 lateral.. Then build a manifold to be at the pump with all of the laterals entering just before the pump. Also, run a bypass line from your collection tank, also in 3/16 to connect to the same manifold. This line will keep the diaphragm wet, on a diaphragm pump it works far better when the diaphragm is kept wet. After the pump run a 1/21" or 3/4" line to take thew sap to the tank.
The pump can be 12V or 115V, but be careful running extension cords a long ways, you may starve the pump for power which is not good for any motor.
A diaphragm pump if sized right and if leaks are fixed regularly can give you somewhere between 20" and up to 25" of vacuum. The high end of that requires you to check for leaks everyday and fix the leaks. If you don't stay on top of the leaks you might be lucky to get maybe 15" of vacuum if that.
Dave Klish, I recently ordered a 2x6 wood fired evaporator from A&A Sheet Metal which I will be converting to oil fired
Now have solar, 2x6 finish pan, 5 bank 7x7 filter press, large water jacketed bottler, and tankless water heater.
Recently bought another Gingerich RO, this one was a 125, but a second membrane was added thus is a 250, like I had.
After running a 2x3, a 2x6, 3x8 tapping from 79 taps up to 1320 all woodfired, now I'm going to a 2x6 oil fired and a 200-425 taps.
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Originally Posted by Daveg
