Pump House Setup and Temperature

[northloopmaple]

I just had my woods redone for high vacuum with 1175 taps on a wet/dry system. It was 800 on 3/16 gravity. I have an 8x10 pump house which is going to house the Busch R5 pump, electric extractor, etc. I have a 700 gallon covered milk tank outside the pump house, and a 230 gallon round bottom inside the pump house. My plan was to fill the 230 gallon tank from the releaser, and either pump it out to the larger tank, or use an overflow if I have the right height for that. The guy who did the pipeline work told me that the pump house would be too warm to store sap in the 230 gallon tank. As you can see, I need the capacity of the 230 and even that won't be enough. So the question is: Will it be too warm in there with the pump running to use the 230 tank as intermediate storage? I have a 680 round bottom too, and he recommended I use that and the 700, both outside. I know I don't have enough capacity by rule of thumb, but I am asking if the inside tank is a bad idea. He did mention I might be able to pump it to the sugarhouse - which is 1500 feet away and probably a 100 foot rise in elevation Thoughts?

[maple flats]

If leaving the 230 in the pump hose, I suggest you make a transfer line from the bottom of it to the bottom of the outside tank. Then if you have valves, leave both open. just let gravity move the sap. Does your pump house have a vent you can open and close? look into an automatic control for the vent utilizing a temperature control, such as greenhouses would use. Set the vent to open at 35 or 36F and to close at 30.
Will you be available to tend the levels on good flow days? If not, also plumb in the 680 too, also outside. On a good flow day 2 gal/tap is very likely, and finding the tanks overflowing is a tough cookie to swallow.
Another option is to set up an automatic pump on a float switch, that will pump the sap up to the sugarhouse into another tank that's big enough to hold it.
This can be a good problem to have and the best part is that you are ahead of the game, setting up what you need.
Happy boiling!

[JoeJ]

I run a Busch R5 pump on 2,400 taps and that pump puts out a lot of heat. I would suggest dividing the 8 x 10 into a vacuum/releaser room and a tank room. Put the exterior door in the R5 room so you can leave the door open when running. I think that the R5 Busch needs to be heated to 50-55 degrees for a cold start. I always heated my small vacuum / releaser room to about 50 degrees. The R5 still works great after 11 years.

Also, the Busch R5 vacuum pumps do not like to run at vacuum levels less than 18 inches without blowing out the oil. You might want to consider buying your vacuum oil from New Boston Pump in Salem NH. New Boston sells the R530 oil that the pump requires for around $50.00 a gallon instead or maple dealer quarts for $30.00

[Brian]

Get a bigger tank!! do it right the first time, saves money and time. Sell the other tanks and buy a bigger one. Travel around and look at some pump houses and see what other sugar makers did. If you are over this way youcan check out mine. Get an electric releaser to pump into the tank too. Good Luck!!

[ecp]

Every bush runs a little different. If you have a job and cannot be there all the time Brian and Dave are correct you do not have enough storage to make it through a day. The 230-gallon tank will work if you have an external pump on floats, but you will run into days that are close to freezing that will be a problem. Your best bet is larger tanks and getting the vacuum in another room or building.

[northloopmaple]

If leaving the 230 in the pump hose, I suggest you make a transfer line from the bottom of it to the bottom of the outside tank. Then if you have valves, leave both open. just let gravity move the sap. Does your pump house have a vent you can open and close? look into an automatic control for the vent utilizing a temperature control, such as greenhouses would use. Set the vent to open at 35 or 36F and to close at 30.
Will you be available to tend the levels on good flow days? If not, also plumb in the 680 too, also outside. On a good flow day 2 gal/tap is very likely, and finding the tanks overflowing is a tough cookie to swallow.
Another option is to set up an automatic pump on a float switch, that will pump the sap up to the sugarhouse into another tank that's big enough to hold it.
This can be a good problem to have and the best part is that you are ahead of the game, setting up what you need.
Happy boiling!

Thank you. Good info. I guess you're right that it's a good problem to have. Originally I was designing for about 800 taps but it turned out to be 1175. I have been stressing over this for months now. And the comment that it's a good problem to have makes me feel a little better! The consensus here is that I don't have enough storage. So I will figure it out!

[maple flats]

Be on an active look out for dairies that have recently sold the herd. That's where you will get the best prices generally, once a dealer gets in the middle the price climbs fast. You can't blame the dealer, they need to make a profit or they'll soon be out of business, but if you cut out a dealer you can reap the reward. It may involve you getting a large tank out of a small opening and you need to bebuild the wall, or hire it done, but you will generally come out ahead. Any if you end up with a tank/compressor combo that still work, you might have struck gold. That would open a few options, two come to mind right off, sell that tank for much more than you have into it, or move the tank to near your sugarhouse and hook up the refrigeration, then use it to store concentrate. There certainly more options, all of which are good. If you sellthe working tank you could buy a much larger tank for outside the heated space. I think dividing the room into 2 spaces is a great idea, and insulate that wall.
Good luck and happy hunting for a tank!