Another decent run this weekend??

[HAHA I 1]

Forecast is looking good for a mini-run this weekend. We are at 91 taps now and are going to put out another dozen or so this weekend now that we have the buckets cleaned. So far we have gathered 500 gallons of sap and will end up with about 10 gallons of light amber syrup, with the latest 3 gallons being a bit darker. We are going to try using some bacon jugs for the first time this evening/tomorrow, so wish us luck!

The sugar shack is working great, but we will be extending it another 12ft this summer and adding a wood-shed as a lean-to off one side. I will also be working on either a flue pan or a larger 3'x8' evaporator (might sell the one I have). I will also come up with a better trailer for gathering sometime this summer. We are having such a good time with this!

[Mark72]

Mat I'm glad you are having good luck with this year so far. Right now I'm fighting the down side to sacks, Frozen sap dose not come out! I was at work when the temps dropped the other day. By the time I got home it was too late. I hope this weekend gets me back on track!

Mark

[ahowes]

Due to a time squeeze from my business schedule, I was unable to do a test burn with the new evaporator. We just got it finished last weekend.
When I fired it up, the boil rate was much better than I expected, but then problems arose. The top curled up like a banana and the pans became unlevel. I shimmed them up to level them, but I was losing a lot of heat out the now-open sides. I finished off the sap that the (lovely) wife gathered while I was out of town and ended up with 3 quarts.
My welding neighbor will be out of town this week, so there won't be any structural improvements made soon. It straightened back out when it cooled, so I'm going to try to stack concrete blocks on the front and back to hold it down. I don't know the strength of curling stainless, but will learn.

Moral of the story: Don't think that thick stainless in long runs will not curl with heat!

The remainder of the burn was more labor-intensive than I wanted due to the curl, but my boil rate remained way above last year's set-up. I made half of all of last year's production in one afternoon and evening.

[HAHA I 1]

Mark - how many taps do you have? Are they all on bags?

[the old guy]

Hey arnie

tough luck. I wish i could have made over to see your set up before you tried it out.

I too learned the hard way. If the heat escapes from beneath the pan and goes up the outside of the pan, the stainless will probably curl--the longer you boil the worse it will get. Try putting a ceramic gasket beneath the edges of the pan so very little heat can go up the side of the evaporator pan. You can also try putting a "fold" of the metal around the top edge of the pan. The next time you come over i'll show you my "first" evaporator pan--one side now has a "permanent wave".

The old guy

[HAHA I 1]

Yeah, my pan has a large 3/4" lip around the inside, so it stays nice and straight. I might be selling my current rig this summer if I can make my new one by then......

[Mark72]

Matt, I've got 100 taps out all on bags. there are more I can tap but I can't seem to get any more gathered by myself. I may tap more next week If I think I can get them gathered. Thought about doing half in rotation, that would solve my time problem.

Mark

[ahowes]

I ran my 25 taps during halftime of the game - got about 8 or 9 gallons. I've had to gather sap in the dark several times this year and have enjoyed it. The coyotes have greeted me a couple of times, but other than that it is pretty peaceful out there when it's just me, my headlamp, and my walker coonhound.

[HAHA I 1]

We went for a big walk in the woods today to check out a cave and there was some sap in the buckets, but we elected to hold off until tomorrow (after the run stops) to collect everything.