Design for 100-150 taps with little slope

[parsissn]

I have 100-150 taps on bags now. I would like to move to tubing so I can get a centralized collection point since I work solo. I have a maximum of 10 feet of fall from the highest tap to the lowest point in the woods. The trees are spread out along the the full distance of the fall. The maple stand runs more across the slope than up and down it however. Given all that, I'm thinking a gravity vacuum will likely not work well. The low collection point is about 600 feet (and a little up hill) from my sugar shack so running electric isn't really ideal but a battery powered vacuum (diaphragm?) Pump could be an option.

What would you all recommend in terms of a tubing setup? What other details should I be considering?

[LMP Maple]

hard for me to really envision what you have going on exactly but I would say one is you don't need a lot of slope particularly with the vacuum 2% will do it. If I could start all over again I would start out with a 3/4 inch or 1 inch mainline and run lines from that. I would go 5/16 off the mainline if you have the pitch again you don't need much with the vacuum.
Many factors, do you own the land etc. I run all 3/16 now probably switch it all out for 5/16 with a mainline which is what I should have done in the beginning. If you have any sugarmakers in your area check out their operations and see how they are running lines you will learn a lot and they all love to show off there operations. You will love the tubing regardless of how you set it up. I started on buckets and tubing besides the r/o was the best thing I ever added.

[darkmachine]

over 600 feet 10 feet of drop...2% slope is 2 foot drop every 100 feet, if you use a ladder at the highest portion of your bush and tap high you might be able to get it. My sugar bush is very flat as well some of my mainline is closer to 1% but I use a traditional vacuum pump I am under 500 taps.

Like LMP Maple says 1" all the way, it's way more forgiving, keep your mainline tight, use #9 wire (wish i had done that, all my new will be #9 instead of #12). A retired diary vacuum pump would allow you to get a sap ladder half way and give you two slopes that are better, a diaphragm pump i have no experience with.

[Col_CCC]

a double guzzler moves two ladders we have now. But yes stay with 1" mains. We use DSD Stars for the manifolds and they seem to work well. I would use the #9, but also finger pulls with the princess come alongs at the ends to tighten the main itself. They dont always want to follow the wire

[MarquisVII]

The maple stand runs more across the slope than up and down it however.

This begs the case for a mainline, which I don't have personal experience with. But this year I'm running 95 taps on 4 lines of 5/16 with 1-2% slope at best. Probably makes "real" producers who "strive for 5" cringe, but it works with 4008 Shurflo pulling 25" at the manifold. I'm sure I would get slightly better yield with a mainline, but with my with my layout I would still need to have 150' long, overloaded laterals, so it doesn't really make sense for me. Oh, I also have a make-shift sap ladder on one line this year. About 6' vertical. 26 trees before the lift, and another 7 between ladder and pump. The 26 get tee'd into 2 vertical 5/16 ladder legs, then tee'd back into one 5/16 at the top and then on to the other 7 trees. I'm actually surprised how well it works, with this leg always pulling hard. Maybe having that leg overloaded with 33 taps actually helps in this scenario?!

Worst part about 5/16 is managing sags. After a few freeze/thaw cycles I need to splice out a foot or two of tubing to taut things up between a few sections with 40-50ft between trees. I'm guessing your layout is a little more dense and, if needed, would allow you to do this with side ties. Just be aware that sags in 5/16 can really knock down your vac levels.

I say all this to let you know that you have ideal and less-than-ideal options, but I think you will find success either way. Tubing has made my life soooo much easier - and I only used to do 12 taps into buckets! The best part is if you keep the vac system tight, you will more than double your yield as compared to bags.

[Vtmbz]

I use flotec g80 beverage pumps. They run on compressed air, which is cheap to supply over long distances compared to electricity. In one place I run air in 5/16 sap line 500 feet over a hill,and down into two pumps which act as boosters to a gravity system, returning the sap collected back over the same hill, about 50 feet up and back down.

[BAP]

I use flotec g80 beverage pumps. They run on compressed air, which is cheap to supply over long distances compared to electricity. In one place I run air in 5/16 sap line 500 feet over a hill,and down into two pumps which act as boosters to a gravity system, returning the sap collected back over the same hill, about 50 feet up and back down.

Are you able to create vacuum with those pumps? How much can you get?

[Vtmbz]

Typically about 18” at the pump. Each pump handles about 75 taps at 60 psi. So it’s a 3/16 gravity system with a diaphragm pump booster. The lift over the hill to the sugarhouse is the most useful part. The downside is the pumps should be protected from freezing. I use a 20 watt seedling heat mat but in some places just pulling the pump would work. Hauling sap is not something I enjoy doing or have time for. Never haul sap!