anyone tried the maple guru auto drawoff?

[markct]

it looks like a nice product and the price is tempting me but would like to hear some feedback before i throw down that much money!


http://mapleguru.com

[jasonl6]

Price seems really good, other brands are 2-3 times that much. I would be interested in hearing as well.

http://www.thebbqguru.com/product_images/r/Maple_gur_hompage_pic1__09333_zoom.jpg

Jason

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

no high temp level alarm or low level sap alarm like the others, otherwise its eally cool, the gate valve only opens as far as you want it to. So its not like a 3/4 draw wide open for how ever long, you can have it trickle out or dump.

[Brent]

I thought the draw off world had tried the solenoid valve approach and gave up on them years ago.
The price seems too good to be true which to me means ...........

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

I thought the draw off world had tried the solenoid valve approach and gave up on them years ago.
The price seems too good to be true which to me means ...........
it could mean what your saying or the other manufacturers are bending every one over the table and giving it to them.

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

it could mean what your saying or the other manufacturers are bending every one over the table and giving it to them.

this is where the LIKE button would come in handy

[Teuchtar]

OK, Mr Guru, get yourself a booth at the Verona show, and show us your stuff !

[jasonl6]

If i get can the rest of my stuff that i need ordered and paid for this year then i will test the waters for everyone on this. If you see it forsale on the classifieds next season it worked great and i upgraded :lol:

[markct]

the lack of a low level alarm doesnt concern me so much as i already have that setup in my rear float box with an alarm, the high temp would be nice, but i cant see spending way more just to have that feature, and im not using oil so cant set it up to shutdown anyhow like your would with oil on a marcland setup. i like that they went to a stainless valve, original ones had a brass valve.

[HHM-07]

could you use this on a 2x4 with drop flue rear pan??

Dick

[jasonl6]

Sure could, you can use this with flat pans. It just measures the temp of the syrup and opens a valve, when the temp falls back down it closes the valve.

Jason

[boondocker]

That looks like a nice little rig. I have never used a auto draw-off, but i think im gonna order one. I sure as heck am not gonna spend $1500.00 on one, but for that short of money i think i will try it.

[meadster02]

does any one have any feed back on this draw off

[heus]

I'm also very interested in hearing how people make out with this thing in the coming season. Do the other more expensive drawoffs have something besides a solenoid valve?

[ClarkFarmMapleSyrup]

saw this last night, did a search and found out some stuff and was wondering, would it be stupid to use this on a 2x3? The site says it is able to be used on any evaporator. It would be nice to have, and then when I expand, it can be transferred to something bigger.
P.S. Therre is a series of videos of someone using the device on youtube.
Thanks for letting me know if I am to far advanced for a small rig.

[wiam]

Not trying to be rude, but I do not see alot of value putting auto draw on a half pint.

[ClarkFarmMapleSyrup]

Thats kind of what I was thiking to Wiam but i just wanted to see if anybody would see any real benifit in this. It would help, but finishing in a half pint is not that easy anyway. You run a risk of burning a pan, or not being able to finish it there anyway.
Thanks for feedback.

[gmcooper]

I'll let you guys know how it works this spring as I got one in Verona.

[Brent]

saw this last night, did a search and found out some stuff and was wondering, would it be stupid to use this on a 2x3? The site says it is able to be used on any evaporator. It would be nice to have, and then when I expand, it can be transferred to something bigger.
P.S. Therre is a series of videos of someone using the device on youtube.
Thanks for letting me know if I am to far advanced for a small rig.

I think the answer is ... it depends.
If you're on your own and you have to fetch the firewood, go to the bush to collect the sap, feed the dog, talk to visitors etc etc, then you may find an auto draw off really lowers your blood pressure.

This unit certainly is the best price around. Reliability is unknown. If it jams open and drains the pan while you're doing something else and you notice the smoke coming off the pan as well as out the stack ... let's not go there.

[Greenwich Maple Man]

could you use this on a 2x4 with drop flue rear pan??

Dick
I think a auto draw is nice. I'm sure I would enjoy having one. However what happens when you have syrup in the center of your pan? I know it dosn't happen alot but it does happen. My biggest problem with a auto is that the probe is in one spot and one spot only. I think you still need to watch everything very close.

[jmayerl]

Definatly keep us updated. If I get one it wouldn't be until early march. Did they have special pricing for the show?
I'll let you guys know how it works this spring as I got one in Verona.

[gmcooper]

jmayerl they were selling for $350 at show and last night web site was still $350. I know DJ said they would be changing the site back to $399 when they got home but any orders that came in off website at $350 would be honored before they updated.

Just checked and website was still at $350 as of 7:15 am

[Greenwich Maple Man]

jmayerl they were selling for $350 at show and last night web site was still $350. I know DJ said they would be changing the site back to $399 when they got home but any orders that came in off website at $350 would be honored before they updated.

Just checked and website was still at $350 as of 7:15 am

What is the website ?

[batsofbedlam]

I talked with these folks in Michigan at the NAMSC/IMSI meetings. It looks like a nice product.
www.mapleguru.com

[markct]

Was a bit disapointed to see they upped there price, i had been debating about one for a couple months now, had finaly convinced myself it would be worth having since now i have ro this year and will be drawing off a good bit more syrup, head to the website and the price is up to 399 now, realy not sure what to do thats alot of coin to throw down on a new to the market item, keep thinking of the old cholete drawoffs and what junk they ended up being!

[500592]

I to was thinking of getting one but for even cheaper I could build one

[chandler37]

Ok so I bought it; installed it on a 2X6 raised flue. I made a mistake of snugging/ tighting down the compression nut before I check how far the probe was into the pan. The nut was now set on the probe and is hard to move to readjust to a new length.
Started a run, I am use to jugding my product by looks, I bring my syrup to a close finish and then hydro it in a finish pan later. After several draws I became comfortable with the draw off time. That is the valve would open just about when I thought I would have opened it. My son that is more tech. inclined came along and tweek the settings and had it drawing off quit well. One other thing we learned when we later checked the pan when it was empty was that the probe should have been adjusted and checked for height off the floor of the pan; one run we noticed that the probe was a inch or more off the bottom and we where getting a false reading and then a late draw. Again my own falt, If Maple Guru gets some feed back from the comsumer world, maybe they will add more info in the instructions.
It was a pxxx poor season here; only three days of boiling and very poor production. Not much time to realy study the unit; we where getting confortable with turning our back on the evaporator more and more for longer periods of time. But still I dont care what you pay I won't wonder to far form the pan. I found that my product was more consistantly closer to what I like to remove.
I would buy it again, hope next season to work with it some more

[500592]

Finally some feedback I have seen some people mention they have one just no real feedback thanks.

[gmcooper]

I used my Maple Guru auto draw all season. It worked well. I didn't trust it for the first couple days and constantly kept checking with hydrometer. It did really work and I finally got comfortabe with it. I still would not leave any brand unattended as you never know what might happen. The only issues I had was the temp reading was always a little high. Maybe 1-2 degrees, not a big deal as i always check the first few draws with hydometer to be sure. The valve will gum up some times if it was real cold after shutting down between boils. The guy at Marcland's booth told me to be aware that could happen with thier units as well. Yes some better instructions would be nice. Overall I am happy with the unit and would buy another one. Is it any better than a Marcland? Probably no. Is it comperable to a Marcand? I think so.
Mark

[500592]

Thanks for the feedback