July Journal

[mapleman3]

Can you believe it, It's already July!! Well after 6 pages on the june journal it seems everyone has been busy. Hard to believe over half the year has gone by! Thanks to everyone who has been sending in photos for the Website, I love seeing all the different setups, if you want pics replaced or added let me know and I'll keep things updated.
As far as Maple stuff at my place, nothing going on, NO MONEY!! Vacations are taking all that. I will start in the fall with the roofing and tubing.

Anybody have big Vacation plans??

Jim

[Al]

Going to New York for the 4th. Mike came up for a visit and we talked about a few things. Looks like I'm going to put up about a 140 taps boil with 20 sell the rest,, going to New York later to get 2 free 275 gallon tanks(not being optomistic or anything :D ),cut down several more trees, and finally this month start on my sugar shack. :D
Have a great summer. :D

[syrupmaker]

:P Hope to be visiting with as many of you as possible over the next few months. :lol: Not much going on at are shack either. Not sure how much will get done ,just spent all my $$$$$$$$$$$ on a newer truck 8) now we can really cruise the campgrounds in style.OH YEA :)

[michaelh05478]

Syrupmaker, How far are you from Batavia(sp) NY???? My wife has kin there......

[themapleking]

I think summer is here after 7" rain in may and 5" rain in june. I'm working on hanging main line over two creeks got one done. That ended up being 50 ft high and 300 ft long, the second one's a little smaller. I pick up my new one piece hood with preheater this month and I'm getting my new vacuum pump and more tubing too. I hope to be all done with the tubing by august. Than I have a list for august.

[jmattice]

I'm working on installing another 200 taps on pipeline that will run directly to the saphouse. Will start the saphouse addition in the next 2 weeks. I also plan on extending 2 other pipelines. Hope to be around 500 taps for next year. That should break in the new 3x8!!
John

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I started firebricking my new 2x8 this evening and it is going well. I am leaving tommorrow to visit family until Sat, but should be back at it soon. I am trying to get as much done as I can before Jim(mapleman) comes down to visit in just over a week. I have got my concrete poured, roof jack, stack and stack cover installed and am getting close to finished. I still have to build a stand for my new 320 gallon ss tank and install about 200 taps on pipeline, and then I should be about done for the year and I will be soooooooo glad.

It is exciting to see how everyone is progressing so much and I will be posting more pics on my website soon of the new evaporator!! :D :D

Hope everyone continues to have a good summer and I sure am going to miss meeting a lot of you at Rick's place in a couple of weeks! :cry: :cry:

Brandon

[syrupmaker]

michael05478, Batavia is about 1.0 hrs from my house.Stop in Batavia that weekend and visit and you could always leave at her relations. ooopppps i didn't type that did I

[mapleman3]

Hope everyone had a good 4th... I was at a party at my sister in laws just 5 miles from my house, took a walk on their 4 acres of land that slopes slightly upward from their barn.... I think I can get at least 50 or more taps on pipeline back there. maybe collect every couple days.
Mike, I may be above 300 taps this year ... maybe I'll go for the 92 gals you made last season with the 2x6 8O :lol:
what the heck .. the more I get on pipeline the easier it will make life!!!

Jim

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Jim,

At the rate you are finding taps, I don't think you will have any problem making a lot of syrup. Heck, you might even find so many you have to quit your job to make syrup. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Just be careful you don't find so many taps that you have to find a new wife, now that would be bad :( :( :( :( Just kidding! :D :D :D

Brandon

[mapleman3]

No problem there... she want's some syrup for work friends too!!! plus she want's to set up a field trip for her school kids... so I may have a bus coming in this year 8O

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Sounds like a ton of extra business because you know all the kids will be busting at home that night telling there parents about everything. You could give them all a brochure and a sample and who knows?? Word of mouth is the best advertisement because those people are the easiest to please! :) :)

Brandon

[Al]

Wow Jim, just keep visiting family and you'll be up grading again. One of the guys I know has school bus's come in. He shows them how to tap a tree, gives tastes and sugar on snow when possible. One thing I like is he put up some of that yellow police tape to keep any stragglers from getting to the evaporator.
Take care

[mapleman3]

No upgrading for me Al... I'll just keep making things more efficient as time goes on. add a blower , Hood vacuum... but stay the same size. gotta keep it fun!!! How are the plans for the shack coming along?
Jim

[Al]

Plans for the sugar house are coming along fine. Start date in August. Having a family sugar house raising. :D With all the Chiefs going to be here I'll proberly be the only indian. :lol:
Take care

[mapleman3]

If your still working on things this fall I will try to stop in. I will be making a trip up to possibly pick up a tank from Mike and do some relative visiting again.

Jim

[Parker]

Well, just got the computer hooked back up. Last week I got my buddies 4x12 moved to my house and we gave him a hand picking up his new (to Him) 5 x 14. We had 9 people helping move the arch and it was still heavy. It being 90 when we were doing it did not help. Now I just have to build a sugar house, put out 600 taps on pipeline, and work up 12 cords of wood..... :? 8O 8O

[forester1]

Parker, Were the bricks still in the arches? Had to be heavy. I had 7 others helping move my 4x12 into the sugarhouse. We tried to take the flue pan still new in the crate through the narrow man door and couldn't all squeeze through. Luckily one guy was strong as an ox and held one end while the others went around to the other door.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Since this is the July journal, the month is more than half over and the cat seems to have gotten everyone's tongue, I thought I would give an update on my progress. I was able to finish firebricking my evaporator and installed the stack and pans. I have also installing a simple pulley system for my cupola and am working on a few other small items. I still have to build a support stand for my stainless feed tank, and I will be nearly done with everything inside.

Hopefully within the next week or two I can start running the remainder of the tubing that I need to run. I have around 150 to 200 more taps to pipeline together while the weather is still nice and warm.

I look forward to hearing how everyone else is progressing! :D :D :D

Brandon

[Parker]

No, we took the bricks and sand out of the arches befor we moved them otherwise we would not have been able to budge them. The 4 x 12 was not bad but man o man that 5x 14 arch was haevy. The hard part was getting it into bobs sugar house. We had to roll it on its side to get it through the door and as you know with this equipment it is FRAGILE..., so everyone had to pick, drop, and turn in one fluid motion. But it was a lot of fun. I would like to figure out how to post the pictures I took of the opperation. I have a scanner, any Ideas??? good luck,

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Parker,

You could go onto Yahoo and get a user id and post a ton of pictures. It is free! Check out my web link. It is listed at the bottom of this message.

Brandon

[mapleman3]

AHHHH I missed the trader....
Brandons got a great setup. some class a equipment, the new leader arch is very impressive!!! huge firebox.

Parker, just send me them and I'll give you a section on my site. my email and site are also at the bottom here.
Jim

[mapleman3]

Well July is almost gone and I haven't done "squat" in the woods or on the shack... hopefully next month will be better for time and $$. After going to ricks party and seeing so may there with ATV's I wish I could get one :cry: that won't be for many years....I guess I will still collect with the pickup truck.
jim

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Jim,

The good thing for you in collecting is all your trees are pipelined together or roadside trees, so an atv wouldn't help much in collecting. Before you know it, a few years and all the kids will be gone and you will have lots of extra $$$$$$$$$ :D, so enjoy the kids while you can and the atv when your old! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Brandon

[mapleman3]

shoot, ya saw through my theory :? well then I better get some more tree's deep in the woods beyond reach of the pipeline :twisted: :wink:

[Parker]

Just got back from getting the last items out of the sugar house in Henniker, 2 BIG stainless tanks. Got a buddy to come over with a 40 ton crane and pick them over the building, hope the photos come out, Ill send em to Mapleman. The one I am keeping is 14' log and 8' thru Apparently in a former life someone left the vacume on too long and colapsed it but they say it did not leak for them and it holds 2500 or so gals!! I think I am going to build a building around it, just too ugly for the yard.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Parker,

You could cut the tank in 3 or 4 pieces and weld sides on it and make 3 or 4 other sugaring people happy! :lol: :lol: :lol:

It is really nice that you were able to get such a large tank. If you could figure out some type of refrigeration system for it in the future, your sap would keep for days! :lol:

Can't wait to see the pics!

Brandon

[mapleman3]

Last day of July... I'm Vacationed out... I don't think I could do any more camping this month :wink: just got back from a 4 day scout camping trip, boy they don't give you ANY free time to steal a nap!!! and we were 10 minutes walk from our camp to the chow hall and activities!!! thats a long way when your hungry!! hope everyones vacations are going well, august will be here before we know it..(in about 16 hours).

Jim