1. What Specific Pump you are using
- Shutflo 4008. Wired to kick on when it warms up, shut off when it freezes with those handy little 12v controllers. Mounted in a plastic tote with controllers that also run fans to move air through when it's warm and turn on a light bulb when it's cold. On cold nights it stays right around 34 degrees in the tote.
2. Number of taps
- 43. mostly silvers. A few norways. 1.25" PVC (clear) manifold. Seven 5/16 lines run into the manifold. Valves for each line for easier diagnostics.
3. If you have a recirc line to pump
- Yes. This is a love/hate. It's a necessity. I'm pancake flat here so I need it to really get things moving and get decent vac/sap, but it's a great way to warm up the sap too much. The silvers really need vac and will shut down when the temperature starts to drop each day unless vac is pulling hard, then we keep getting sap until things freeze up. Probably more than tripled sap production compared to buckets on these trees. Really thinking about building a chilled "room" for my IBC tote with a cool-bot and window A/C to eliminate the warming sap problem.
4. Typical vacuum level you can maintain
- 22-26" with recirc and sap running well. 10" with no recirc (and then it doesn't pull in much sap at all).
42.82N
2015 - Small operation. 25 buckets. One excited 5 year old and one 35 year old that feels 5 again.
2016 - One year older. New Homemade 2x4 Arch, Smoky Lake Pan and looking at 52 maples, 17 box elders and 2 walnut trees.
2017 - Shurflo 4008 hooked to 42 stingy silver maples and a few Norways. A couple buckets on sugars and Norways. 10 box elders.
2018 - ...a few more taps.
2019 - ...more taps on 3/16 gravity. This spiral is heading downward in a hurry.
2020 - 4x400 RO - RB20 (uh-oh!)