Urban Hillbilly
03-07-2013, 08:13 PM
I put in some of my taps over a week ago and got a good run and then it all froze up. Collected tonight and was shy of a gallon a tap. Drilled a few this evening and it flowed like crazy. I have 50 taps in total and it looks like I should be knee deep in sap for the balance of the 10 day forecast.
The good news is I boiled last week on my new homemade gas fired 2x6 (two 2x3s) evaporator. I stepped it from a a dual turkey fryer with two 40 quart stock pots. The last season I boiled my cost for propane was $50/gallon of finished syrup, seriously. I had a HVAC company install a 1 1/2 inch valve directly off my gas meter and it feeds a million BTUs of burners beneath the pan (literally, not figuratively, though I don't run it full throttle). Boiled down a gallon and used about 700 cubic feet of natural gas at 75 cents/100. Much better and faster and I'm sure I can do better.
Moved into a new house in a higher end gated community (my sugarbush is my own yard and the school down the way) and I'm sure the neighbors are wondering about the new hillbilly on the street. I just hope they don't mistake the billowing steam for smoke and call the fire department.
Started by hanging 5 paint cans to have fun with the kids and made a quart. Shooting for 10 gallons of liquid gold this season. I now have a real scoop & skimmer, hydrometer & cup, new multiple barrel sap storage system, filter system, fancy syrup bottles with labels... What's happening? I wake up every morning and put on a suit a tie and go to an office. Tell me it stops. Please!
The good news is I boiled last week on my new homemade gas fired 2x6 (two 2x3s) evaporator. I stepped it from a a dual turkey fryer with two 40 quart stock pots. The last season I boiled my cost for propane was $50/gallon of finished syrup, seriously. I had a HVAC company install a 1 1/2 inch valve directly off my gas meter and it feeds a million BTUs of burners beneath the pan (literally, not figuratively, though I don't run it full throttle). Boiled down a gallon and used about 700 cubic feet of natural gas at 75 cents/100. Much better and faster and I'm sure I can do better.
Moved into a new house in a higher end gated community (my sugarbush is my own yard and the school down the way) and I'm sure the neighbors are wondering about the new hillbilly on the street. I just hope they don't mistake the billowing steam for smoke and call the fire department.
Started by hanging 5 paint cans to have fun with the kids and made a quart. Shooting for 10 gallons of liquid gold this season. I now have a real scoop & skimmer, hydrometer & cup, new multiple barrel sap storage system, filter system, fancy syrup bottles with labels... What's happening? I wake up every morning and put on a suit a tie and go to an office. Tell me it stops. Please!