Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

[wsugar]

Sap ran a little yesterday. The warm weather felt good. I guess I will end up with a ice block in the tank to keep the new sap cool.I got some vacuum leaks fixed and did some Tuning on the system. Looking for the big one next week

[VT_K9]

We are slowly cathing up. We plumbed the 1" mainline into the releaser. Ran 2 wires for lateral mains to catch a few extra trees this year. Also to put the Y in before tying up the pump and vaccuum lines to the mainline wire. We are going to wire the vaccuum on Sunday and start tapping. Next week is looking pretty good.

Mike

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

think sap ran in Ryans head when he was dreaming HHEHEHEHE,
buying a new vac pump today, tap out. Ordered my new motor and pump for new ro. Went with a 3 phase 2HP with VFD and 600 GPH pump, hope to be here mid week. also ordered new steam hood for syrup pan the hoping the fab company put a rush on it. get arch together this weekend.

[wsugar]

think sap ran in Ryans head when he was dreaming HHEHEHEHE,
buying a new vac pump today, tap out. Ordered my new motor and pump for new ro. Went with a 3 phase 2HP with VFD and 600 GPH pump, hope to be here mid week. also ordered new steam hood for syrup pan the hoping the fab company put a rush on it. get arch together this weekend.

Your not to far away come look in the tank!!!!
What are you doing with the old vacuum pump???

[GeneralStark]

Flats - You're gonna like using the VFD. I have two in my operation now and am very impressed with their usefulness. And, you won't have as large of an electric bill...

Got caught up on some homestead chores yesterday, built a new tank cover for a new stainless tank and plumbed in a meter for buying sap. I have a little more plumbing to do inside on ro, and then it is just a few connections at the tanks outside. Hoping to rinse the ro the next time it goes above freezing. Going to get back on tapping today and will likely be done some time this weekend. Still have some more laterals to re-install, and some repairs, so the tapping is going slow.

[sapmaple]

Hey do you think if I replace my 5hp flood with a VFD 7.5hp that I would save on Kw use or would it just be a wash Thinking I need more cfm on the amout of taps on this pump

It looks like the whole country is going to start the season together from west VA to MI to Vt and maybe even north of the border
not sure that's ever happened before , should be interesting

[maplwrks]

Hey Kevin!
I would ask Mike L in Orwell. He went from a 10 hp pump to a 10hp with a VFD. He might be able to give you more insight as to his savings.

I think you may well be correct with the entire maple world starting at the same time.

[GeneralStark]

Hard to say of you would use less kw with a larger pump and vfd. Generally the major savings with a vfd comes with the fact you can turn the pump down and not run wide open 24/7. You can either manually turn the pump down or couple the vfd with a transducer to automatically control the pump speed. If you are maxed out for cfms, there probably wont be much savings but if your pump is over-sized a bit and system is tight there is no need to run the pump full speed, so the vfd can tune it. I'm generally running my pump at 45-50 hz, so there is a pretty good savings.

If anyone is shopping for a new pump and vfd, or some new lighting it is worth looking at Efficiency VT's rebates:

https://www.efficiencyvermont.com/Fo...ipment/Rebates

I believe you have to have a pump at 5hp or higher to get the rebate.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

We are close to starting our season in WV as you are, the only problem is that it was 0 last, 16 tonight and no more freezing for next 10 days on Weather.com or rest of the month on Accuweather. We normally start here around Feb 1st to 10th and we made little in February, but only about 12% of crop. Normally best 2 weeks here are last week of February and 1st week of March or first 2 weeks of March. We went from February 11th until into March without any sap. Hope you guys don't endure same thing looks like we are going to get. Not sure we will get over 50 to 60 percent of crop if it is right. Look at forecast several times @ day and every time it gets worse. Coldest February I think on record here. Season usually over here around March 21st and we are at about 24% of full crop.

[sapmaple]

I feel your pain WestVirginiamapler Last year we had the coldest March I can ever remember Our biggest production weeks are usually 3rd and 4th week of March but we made very little But the first 12 days of April were Awesome and we made up a lot of ground Wish you the best for similar results!
Its those extended periods of no freezing nights when I REALLY LOVE vacuum pumps The flow slows down at night almost stopping then when sun comes up temps go up the flow picks back up Not sure 3/16 tubing will do that for you but I don't have any to compare