New, old sugar shack.

[daileytapper]

Our big project for the 2013 season is the rehab of the old sugar shack used by my wife's family 90+ years ago. We are also thinning out the sugar bush and starting to run sap lines this year. We are having a blast and most of all, the wife is loving it too! Who knew!?! Check out the pictures, click the link below. More pictures will be posted as more work is done, and believe me, there is LOTS more to do. Sugar season will be here before we know it! :D

[noreast maple]

Good luck on your venture. I always like seeing old sugar houses and how they did it before us. try and set some of the pieces aside for the next genneration if your not going to use , youll be glad you did when you are telling them about thier great grandparents . Good luck.

[daileytapper]

Definitely, noreast maple. We are fixing it up to how they had it when they used it for boiling. We want to keep the old school feel to it so hopefully when we build a new shack to sell out of, we will have this one open for the public during the maple weekends. ;) We are currently working on buidling a wood shed on the side so I can start filling it up for this year! This year is going to be a blast!

[noreast maple]

Open to public would be great, and im sure youwill have a blast sharring stories about the good ol days and dreams of what is to come .Have lots of fun and good luck .

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

great pictures, looks like you have already made a lot of progress on it congrats. I have a lot of windshield time in my job and I see a lot of old sugar houses and try to imagine what it was like, love history.

[daileytapper]

I have posted new pictures of our progress. The wood shed is coming along and we have been putting in limestone to improve the floor. Still a lot to get done, but just watching the slideshow, you can see how far we really have come. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

[Turtlecreek]

This is too weird! My family has a camp just down the road, on Dry run Road just past Hanchets! I have seen that for years and when I started sugaring I had my dad ask about the shack when he was up paying the taxes one day. I was at the cabin the the other week and saw that you were cleaning up around there.

Ill have to stop by my next time up there is I see steam rising.

Steve Leauber

[daileytapper]

Oh, all right. That's pretty neat. Yea, we decided it would be fun to fix up the old shack and get it back into shape. Sure has come along way. Just picked up my stove pipe plate today so now I can get the stack put up. Moved the woodstove to the shack for finishing, reinforced the shack roof and almost completed with sap lines. I will add pictures ASAP for you all. Feel free to stop by when you're up Steve and good luck with your season.

[daileytapper]

Just posted more pics! Recently we have gotten all the sap lines up and ready to tap. We put the smoke stacks up and did our test boils on the arch and the finishing stove. We are planning to tap on Friday, only 3 more days! Weather seems to be heading into some favorable conditions and we are ready to get the season started. I will continue to add more photo's of our adventure. Enjoy!

[daileytapper]

We had our first boil on Feb. 16th! We started at 2:00 PM with between 50 and 60 gallons of sap. We were all done, back in the house with just under a gallon of syrup in jars by 11:00 PM. A 9 hour run compared to last year, for less syrup, seemed like warp speed! One of our neighbors, who also makes syrup, stopped in when he saw the steam to check out the operation. Also had Turtlecreek stop in for a nice visit. Here's a couple pics of our boil and I also put a few more on our album below. Let the frenzy begin!

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[mapleack]

Looking good! Hope you have a great season!

[happy thoughts]

Nice! Happy to see you are rebuilding old family traditions and passing them on :)

I've been sharing your pics with hubby since we have an old tractor shed that looks similar to your sugar house. He's become inspired because of them. Here's hoping we'll be under cover in a couple of years. Good luck this season and enjoy your new old shack!

[Woodpecker Lodge & Maple]

Great story of family history. After all, isn't maple sugaring more fun with when the family is involved.

[daileytapper]

Great story of family history. After all, isn't maple sugaring more fun with when the family is involved.

It sure is, even if the kids are just running around in the bush playing in the snow :) The day we were tapping, my niece sat at the bottom of the line with it stuck in her mouth catching the first pressure release of sap! The gleam in their eyes watching the steam rise, resembles the same sight of christmas morning.

[daileytapper]

Nice! Happy to see you are rebuilding old family traditions and passing them on :)

I've been sharing your pics with hubby since we have an old tractor shed that looks similar to your sugar house. He's become inspired because of them. Here's hoping we'll be under cover in a couple of years. Good luck this season and enjoy your new old shack!

I'm happy that we can be an inspiration to others with just our little ole set up. This just goes to show that no matter what you start with, it can be what you want it to be with a little elbow grease and heart. Good luck in your transformation adventure and be sure to post pics if you do! Have a good season. :)

[MapleLady]

Thanks for sharing the pictures of your old sugar shack! Is that old-style evaporator built into the ground? What kind of pans were on top?

[daileytapper]

Thanks for sharing the pictures of your old sugar shack! Is that old-style evaporator built into the ground? What kind of pans were on top?

Yes, it sure is built into the ground. It was built with huge rocks on the sides and it is dirt in the bottom. The pan they used was a 2.5ft x 8ft flat batch pan. In fact it is the same pan we are using this year. The pan is around 80 years old and still in great shape. :)