Shurflo/diaphragm Pumps

[Mr. Red Maple]

Hey guys I was just wondering what is the max number of taps you would put on a shurflo pump. I have seen the other threads but would love to hear from some people that have used diaphragm pumps. How did your season go? How many taps did you put on it? How much sap did you get? The Shurflo pumps are very affordable for the smaller producer. I have a Shurflo 4008. I know a lot of people have used the 4048, does anyone else have a 4008. I am just a bit nervous with the number of taps i put on the pump. Any input on diaphragm pumps would be much appreciated.

[RIVERWINDS]

I run a 4048 pump with 105 taps....900 ft of 1" mainline. I have no more than 4 trees on a lateral and most laterals are 50-70 ft in length. I run a needle width under 25" vacuum at the end of the mainline. This year I am going to experiment with a sap ladder system and see how that fares so I don't have to tap some trees standing on a step ladder.

One important key is to keep ice/debris out of the pump so use the inline filter provided or buy one if not provided. And keep an extra diaphragm kit on hand at all times.

The problem I see with these pumps are the inlets are only 1/2" or so in size, maybe smaller than that on the ID, so at peak runs I do lose some vacuum as the pump is overwhelmed with the sap. Kind of like it's backing up and losing vacuum because it's too much sap. I'm increasing this mainline to about 120 taps this year and a little nervous about the tap count after witnessing that particular issue last year. But I guess some vacuum at peak flow rates is still better than no vacuum. Everybody's situation is different so it might work for you to have more, but that's my $.02.

[eustis22]

Does it matter if you mount the pump vertically or horizontally?

[CharlieR]

Greg,

I have a similar situation for some new trees i'm tapping this year, I have to cross an access road at some point to be able to run it back to one storage tank. I was wondering if a sap ladder would work with a shurflo. I was thinking of putting another pump at the end of the line rather than a ladder, but hoping to save on the cost of a second pump (and having to power it!). How high do you think your ladder will be?

Charlie

[rhwells2003]

I have 350 taps on 1500' of 1" mainline and I bought a 12V shurflow 4008 last year. I had two marine style deep cell batteries that I kept rotating out. I never put a vac gauge on it but I kept track of the amount of sap I got per taps I had on pipe line, and kept track of the amount of sap I got from 8 buckets I had around the house. I got the exact same amount from my buckets that I did from my pipe line. So basically the pump never did anything for me. I think these little diaphragm pumps might be productive with 150 taps or less, but anything more then that and its becoming more then these little pumps can handle. I just don't think they have the cfm's to handle anything bigger.

[mountainvan]

I use a 4008 on 100 taps on the flat and was pulling 12" of vacuum. On my Sasquatch line, tapped 12' up with 3/16 tubing and then a straight drop to the mainline, I was pulling 26" of vacuum. I basically doubled my sapflow over past years relying just on the trees.