My plan

[Wannabe]

Do you have any other syrup makers in your area that would buy your excess sap if you get some bigger runs than you can keep up with?

[Swingpure]

Do you have any other syrup makers in your area that would buy your excess sap if you get some bigger runs than you can keep up with?

Might be an option, I have no idea how much you would sell a gallon of sap for.

[Wannabe]

https://blog.uvm.edu/farmvia/?p=1378

Last year I think it was $0.13(U.S.) a point.

If you find someone who buys sap it could get you out of some extra long boils, and make a little money to boot, to offset a little of your costs.

[DrTimPerkins]

The price for selling sap depends on a lot of things, and isn't always as simple as you might think. The main thing comes down to whether or not there is one or more people in the area willing to buy your sap. If so, a simple calculation can be found at: https://mapleresearch.org/pub/m0216sapprices/ or a more detailed calculation and calculator at: https://www.uvm.edu/extension/agricu...dd/sap-pricing

[Swingpure]

Last night just before going to bed, I resolved my pump set up. I have four collection 55 gallon barrels in three locations. I will put three fully charged AGM deep cycle batteries in battery boxes at each location. I think even in the cold, each battery could last the whole sap season without getting recharged. Even so, they are all within an extension cord away of getting recharged.

My pump will be mounted on a board, with an on/off switch on the board and alligator clips at the ends of the wire to connect to the batteries. I will pump into five gallon pails. Two of the three locations it will mean no or a short distance to carry the pails to my ATV trailer, the third location will be a longer carry, but manageable.

[aamyotte]

Have you bought the batteries already?

If not, since you mention that the batteries are within extension cord distance it would be quite a bit less expensive to omit the batteries and use a 120v to 12v DC converter. They are approx. $40 on Amazon. Using this method, you could install the converter in a waterproof box and have the extension cord power the converter. Then you can run low voltage wiring to each pump from the converter to a switch at the pump. Then just flick on the switch and you're pumping.

This way you know you have power and don't need to worry about recharging the batteries. It also eliminates the costs and maintenance associated with using batteries.

[DRoseum]

Or use a guzzler 400-h diaphragm hand pump. They are awesome and you can just move from barrel to barrel with it. They get 7 - 10 gpm with 5 - 7 strokes per gallon. Very easy/nice to use.

[Swingpure]

Have you bought the batteries already?

If not, since you mention that the batteries are within extension cord distance it would be quite a bit less expensive to omit the batteries and use a 120v to 12v DC converter. They are approx. $40 on Amazon. Using this method, you could install the converter in a waterproof box and have the extension cord power the converter. Then you can run low voltage wiring to each pump from the converter to a switch at the pump. Then just flick on the switch and you're pumping.

This way you know you have power and don't need to worry about recharging the batteries. It also eliminates the costs and maintenance associated with using batteries.

Thanks for the tip, I already have the batteries and they are very good, long lasting batteries. It would surprise me if they need to be recharged. I fish with my trolling motor on my boat with them for days on a single charge.

Thanks though.

[Swingpure]

Or use a guzzler 400-h diaphragm hand pump. They are awesome and you can just move from barrel to barrel with it. They get 7 - 10 gpm with 5 - 7 strokes per gallon. Very easy/nice to use.

That is a nice looking hand pump. I have a person that can get a bit of a deal,on a Shurflo 4138 pump and maybe able to get a better deal on another suitable pump. If that falls through, I will consider this hand pump.

Thanks

[Swingpure]

I spoke to a local sugar maker and he told me that in 2020, the sap started running on February 23rd. I went and I looked at the weather records for that time and you could see why it started to run then, it would have run for a few days then stopped for a few days and then ran really well all of March and into April.

I looked back at my photographs during that time period. The first photo was taken on February 23rd, 2020, looking down our lake.

I plow all of the snow from my parking areas into a 15’ deep ravine, making a snow bridge to the other side. In the second picture taken March 2, 2020, I am touching a tree on the far bank of the ravine. I can also see the snow on the shed roofs. I was hoping for an early start to the sap season, but now I am thinking the more typical first or second week of March is not looking too bad.

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