season

[sapaddict]

Will it will end this weekend with warm weather?

[mapleman3]

I may be done after tomorrow... I'm burnt out anyway 8O

[brookledge]

Looks like 1-2 more days then big warm up. 65-70 will really raise havic with bacteria. Still might make a little more commercial after that though.
For me its not over until there is no more.
Keith

[mapleman3]

I've been boiling every day and night since march 6th.. tired and a cold set in... and still boiling till midnight tonight.. will see how it goes sap wise for the next few days.. but the warm weather is coming and I want to ride the motorcycle tonight not the sap truck 8) hoping to end around 85 gals...

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

No, no, no, you can't quit until you get to 100 gallons if you have to go find more taps, more taps, more taps............. :P :P

[mapleman3]

nope.. I'm about done... I miss hanging with the family.. oh and sleep I miss that 8O I set my goal for 100, I'll be close after the next few days but I have alot of house and yard and kid stuff to get started on.... plus the warm weather will tell me so anyway 8O

[PrimitiveOperation]

It's done!!!

Made 18.75 gallons, which is a new record for us. Got the big clean up to do, but I think I'll get some fishing in before it gets too involved.

The ironic thing is we picked up a 2x4 lightening over the weekend. No more primitive operation!! :idea: :cry: 8)

Now I gotta wait till next year to fire it!!!!!! Wish it were February already.

[Ed K]

My sap is starting to get cloudy, I'll boil all day tomorrow then it done. If I get any more sap it go with BIL to William's in Deerfield.

[mapleman3]

Well it's official I'm done here in Belchertown... collected 120 gals of clear sap, started the evap and somehow it got away from me at first drawoff, didn't notice the syrup being made in the middle section till I smelled the burning syrup... OH CRAP... off with the burner, layed on the floats.. still MUD.. scorched the pan , not sure how bad... Called it quits..I figure for 1 more day of pidly amount of sap I'm not going to work my A$# off trying to clean it up tonight...including the appx 2 gallons of very C grade syrup that came out of it I'm at 82 gallons... much more than the 67 last year , I made an unusual amount of light and almost no dark.. I've had a great 3.5 weeks...Happy and tired... mostly Happy 8)

Now it's time to Ride 8)

[hard maple]

jim
I must have jinxed you..remember sat nite I asked you if you ever had a problem with syrup in the middle two channels?! You said not since you switched to oil. Well at least it didn't happen at the beginning of the season. One of the reasons why I chose a cross flow, since I'll be burning wood.

[Parker]

I dont know anyone that runs cross flow pans,,,it seems like when you start you evaporator instead of wanting to make syrup in the middle (like my parrell flow pan) they would want to make syrup tords the flue pan? where it is the hottest when you start?? I am curious about that,,dosent seem like it would get hot enough above the doors (where you draw off with crossflow pans?) to pull all the sugar to the front,,just wondering...

[sweetwoodmaple]

Parker - first year with a cross flow rig. Old one was reversible.

You are somewhat correct, but tend to make syrup in the 2nd channel fron the front (have 4 channels total). Basically, I have two front pans, each are 33" wide and 16" long.

It takes me about 1 hour to start drawing off syrup, even if I put very sweet in the front and plug up until the whole rig is boiling and the float is working. When I draw off, it is about 1-2 gallons each time.

So, i'm using up about 2/3 rds of the first two partitions' volume. Not too bad, but temp goes up 1/2 degree in the middle of the draw, which means syrup in the 2nd partition is slightly more dense. I can tell the other pan with the 3rd and 4th partition close to the flue pan are not as dense.

This problem was worse on my reversible flow, but I cannot reverse on this rig, which is a pain when niter starts building up. Good way for the evap manuf to save $$ on fittings. Are the revolution pans are the best way to go?

[mapleman3]

I was hoping for an Uneventful season as far as boiling goes.. almost flawless.. lots of light syrup, no problems at all burner/pump/boiling wise... then on the last day .. WAMMO.. Oh well the pans are full to the tops with sap for a month or 2 now.. we'll let mother nature clean the pans... lots of plans for next year :D

[hard maple]

the ideal spot to draw off would be the coolest part of the syrup pan. There are a couple different ways to reverse the flow on a cross flow pan. First, if it's a single pan unit just plug it and rotate the pan 180 degrees. If it has multiple pans, switch pan one with pan two. or have a spare pan on hand to rotate in. With the spare pan you're protected in an emergency, plus it would be a lot cheaper than buying a complete reverse flow pan.

[sweetwoodmaple]

Yes, I think I'm going to get a spare pan next year.

The issue is...you have to at least partially shut down to switch pans. To me, that defeats the whole purpose. I'm estimating that my evaporator would take a couple hours to shut down enough to switch pans, then start back up again. I work a day job with only evenings to boil, so I might as well just quit and start again tomorrow.

I am torn in the whole situation, I like the way the cross flow works and think it may make more consistent syrup. But, I want a way to reverse without shutting down. Otherwise, my 3 x 10 has to be shut down every 500 gallons or so if you don't want to slow down to baby the front pan to keep it from boiling over.

[hard maple]

good point brian, aside from switching to oil, the other solution is to change pans before you fire up.

[mapleman3]

There is no way , even with having a smaller rig would I be "switching Pans" Time is costly when your boiling.. and I don't mean costly $$ wise.. I mean SLEEP wise.. I much rather reverse by valves!! I would pay for a reversing pan for sure if I was in that situation.... hopefully my pan is ok :?

[saphead]

Speaking of syrup pans, the other day we made 170 gallons without switching sides! Sugar sand (niter) is a non-issue this year,put all of it through one set of papers in the press,very unusual. Parker,you may want to try firing really hard just on the draw-off side for the first 1/2 to3/4 hour, usually helps keep the syrup in the draw-off section.Had to take the night off,I'm so tired I'd be a hazard to myself. Fired last night with maple boards that powder post beetles had got to,talk about hot,blue flame in the rig and hot rivets on my overalls!

[mapleman3]

I don't feel so bad now ... I was feeling guilty driving by my buckets yesterday and not collecting, but with the very warm weather here now and the orchestra of peepers last night... I know the season is over for this year.... 8)

[sweetwoodmaple]

Yes, I've pulled my buckets off the trees and see some drips still, but the sap is turning buddy.

Still have to get used to the season being over. :cry:

Actually, since I purchased the equipment in late November, my sugaring season started then and has never let up. I do need a break, I guess.

[Russell Lampron]

Jim my former son in law did the same thing to mine (burnt the front pan bad) a couple of years ago. Your pan may be warped now but that doesn't seem to affect the way it boils. If letting the sap sit in it and vinigar doesn't clean the burnt stuff off the pan cleaner acid works real well. I don't like to let the sap soak in my pans, the mold and sour sap smell are hard to get rid of.

Sweetwoodmaple the season never ends around my place. The boiling and making syrup does but the cleaning and canning take up a quite a bit of time not to mention the tubing maintainance and wood cutting etc.

Russ

[sweetwoodmaple]

It never really ends here either, but I've been at Flank speed since November. Would like some half throttle running for a while, if you know what I mean.

Looking forward to the Hatteras beach house in late May. Some fishing and relaxing are in order.

[brookledge]

I have seen a setup where it required two very strong men to lift the pans off and attempt to rotate the pans with the fire still going or atleast burning at a low rate. After seeing that I said I never want to do that. I boil by myself and do not ever want to rely on getting help to lift the pans all the time. I like my revolution pans
Keith

[hard maple]

A burnt pan does not effect the way it boils it only effects the depth. used to be 3/4" get use to 1 3/4" reverse flow is a vermont thing, look to the north, who uses a reverse flow in canada????big ole fat goose egg!!! I'd rather rotate my pans than burn them any day.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

They can keep the cross flow pans north of the border. I like a reverse flow pan and a cross flow would be an aggrevation in my opinion and a danger trying to reverse by myself. :? You can burn up any pan if you let it get too much sugarsand in it.

[hard maple]

brandon
is that how mapleman burnt his pan, from a build up of sugarsand?

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Not sure. :?

[mapleman3]

probably a number of reasons why... maybe some sugar sand, but mostly that when I switched sides, more syup was at the drawoff box that I put the float in for that boiling session, and when I fired up, I was doing a bunch of other things at the same time... heating up the canner, dumping the gathering tank into the bulk tank.. eating supper...moving about the sugarhouse getting ready for the nights worth of boiling... I was watching the temp at the drawoff but I should have drawn some to check the next section in.. which I do sometimes but not this time...all I can say is I was tired and not paying enough attention... so the smell of burning syrup wafted across my nostrils :? :oops:

[hard maple]

yikes!!!! all I can say is when a pan burns it is a terrible thing. No matter what kind it is.