Tubing on Flat land

[rob1640]

I'm in the process of planning my new tubing system and looking for some advice. Last year I had 157 taps on a very basic tubing system (it was my first year). I soon found out that transporting sap through a low area with the tractor is not ideal. So this year I have bought a SP 22 vacuum pump and will be installing a 500' mainline to a better location for the sap tank. There will be 3-4 branch mainline coming off the new mainline with 300-400 taps next year.

I have only about 1' of fall to the tank on this new mainline, so I will have to lift the sap at some point. I have been told that a 1% slope on the mainline will work fine as long as the line is tight and large enough, so I have been working my planning based on 1%. I have been planning to put a sap laddar near the tank to lift the sap about 6' to the releaser. Will this work well or are there better ways to do this?

I have considered other ideas:

Keeping the new mainline high so the no lift is needed at the tank and using sap laddars on the branch mainlines.

Using more than on sap laddar on the new mainline and adding more slope.

Any suggestions?

Rob

[mountainvan]

That will work fine, I have two areas just like that. You will lose a little vacuum after the ladder, about 2" in my experience.

[Ridgeland Farm]

Well I am not as experienced as other guys on here but Ive been working this fall with someone who has a lot of experience and I have learned so much from him. How far is it from your tank out to the first 3/4in line? And how much height do you have at that spot? Deff. the more you can stay away from ladders the better. But it sounds like you might not have a choice. The only other thing I was thinking is if you have enough height out at your last 3/4in line before your tank to put your releaser there then you could just pump the sap from there back to the sugar house. Other than that it sounds like you have figured out the only other option. The other thing I was told is that digging your mainlines out from snow is not fun! So the more height the better. To a certain degree! Good luck