Looking Ahead To 2014

[wnybassman]

Any changes, improvements or modifications to your current way of doing things?

A big change for me will be running gravity tubing for most of my 32 taps. I am a bit concerned I won't get the sap yield I am used to on buckets, but it is what it is I guess. Also, about half my taps are just over my property line on my neighbors property (with permission of course). He is a larger local farmer and gave me the impression a couple years ago he was not crazy about the looks of tubing in woods. I am not sure I will be able to put those taps on tubing, but my tank will be in a spot that I could use it as a dumping station instead of hauling buckets all the way up the hill. If I am allowed to run tubing on his, I will be able to easily pick up another 6 or 8 trees to hopefully offset the tubing/buckets difference.

One improvement I have to make is getting the rear section of my pan boiling better. Two ways to accomplish this I think. First, I need a better preheat system. My front 2/3rds of the pan evaporates so well I am having to drizzle raw sap in pretty quick and it just kills the boil in my rear section. Second thing I have to do is modify the firebox to it ramps the flames better before heading out the chimney. I watching it last night and the flames are directed downward a touch the last 6 to 8 inches before exiting. Only so much I can do with a block arch, but I may be able to put a baffle in there somewhere to direct flames up closer to the rear without reducing draft.


What are your plans for the future?

[sg5054]

Ive got a few things on the to do list.
Hood,
preheater,
raise the height of the arch
add another section of chimney to the top of the stack to get the stray sparks a bit higher
raise the sap tank to set up a gravity feed and insulate it.
Find a trailer so I don't have to drive the atv up into the truck bed.
a flat filter arrangement. Tired of screwing around with cones.
set up my coffee urn. just got one for $200, all copper jacketed exterior and sst interior. a beautiful machine. 48 cups. same model in all sst currently sells for $6K on the internet.
cut firewood to 12" and split small. scrounge wood wood wherever I can.
move wood piles so I can drive right up to the sap tank.
Devise a pump out system to transfer from collection tanks/ barrels to sap tank.
Set up a bottom drain for the sap tank. Currently about 2 - 3 inches off the bottom with a pick up tube.
220v line out to the shack.
Caulk the gaps in the walls of the shack with oakum. it was a bit drafty at times and cold even with the evap running.

Just a couple of things to do. should get it all done by ...say... February 2014

[PerryW]

Why would you think you would get less sap from tubing than buckets?

I guess the only reason i can think of where tubing would run poorer than bucket is if you have a situation where the trees are in the sun and the line passes through a shady area. In this situation, the trees will start running and the line will still be frozen up

[wnybassman]

Last night it was fairly calm out to start and I was getting a little smoke out of my "door" of the block arch. I decided to open the door half way and place and old fan blowing in the door to help draft a little. When I did that HOLY CRAP! did the fire go nuts. Flames everywhere and the quantity of steam seemed to increase in an instant.

Moral of the story is..........I might have to play with some air ideas for next year, as well as sealing up the door area better.

[68bird]

Moveing up from the Half-Pint to a 2 x 6. Need to get that listed in the classifieds. Need to pour a pad for it.Also need to finish closeing in the suga' house. Gonna try to get about 300 more taps. I have about 150 now.

[Noseguard76]

Might hit the 3 gallon mark for my fist year off of the kitchen stove. First purchase will be a new kitchen range (was going to replace the old one anyway so this final sap boiling duty was a good way to end it's useful life). For 2014 I am going to move my operation outside and am thinking of purchasing a 1/2 pint. If so then I'll need to build a pavilion or other structure to put it in. That will involve getting a building permit (incredible isn't it, tax man kills the joy of all endeavors). I have no desire to get into the selling end of things, would just keep family and friends supplied with syrup. Then again, there is a lot to be said of taking things slowly. Perhaps purchase a 2 by 3 pan from a fabricator once I figure out the mysteries of the best gauge to go with with. Any recommendations on gauge size, 18, 20 or 22? I could then go the cinder block arch route and see how that works. I have a pop up tent for temporary shelter. I have a logging road that goes along the foot of the hill. there are many old maples along an old fence line that have barbed wire embedded in them. They are already compromised for timber value and have relatively big crowns as they spent there early years growing at the edge of a field. The situation lends itself nicely to a gravity set up to a central storage tank. Was wondering, do sap lines get left up all year or are they removed every year for cleaning and storage. Seems like they would need to be cleaned somehow. Bottom line is my site have great potential and i am enjoying making syrup. The overgrown field has 8 to 10 inch pole size hard maple and white ash that needs to be thinned so I have lots of easily accessible firewood. Definitely going to purchase some pre-filters as the 5 micron bag filter that I am using gets clogged up too quickly with my bigger finish runs. Anyway, thanks for helping me dream and for all of the support.

Noseguard

[Bruce L]

Shorten all the rest of the laterals,replace all of the stars with single entry saddles,move a building to hold another tank and install another releaser at another bush,finish running mainlines/tubing in the new bush,should be enough of a chore along with cutting wood,farming,driving school bus,and so on..............

[heus]

In no particular order:
1. Get an ro from Ray Gingerich (375 model)
2. Pour concrete floor in sugarhouse. Tired of stones.
3. No more buckets
4. 150-300 more on vacuum
5. Get a preheater from A&A
6. Run steam stacks through peak, instead of just dumping into cupola.
7. Work on driveway to sugarhouse. Tired of the long walk up the hill.
8. Possibly another addition
9. Cut firewood
10. Many, many odds and ends

[cadocter]

Well here goes(big breath), either build hood and preheater for my full pint or get a bigger evaporator, put a 10 foot addition out the back, open the back wall up, put in a door or two, put windows in, cut wood for this year and a few following years, install the new evaporator(maybe), find a bulk tank, install plumbing to gravity feed into the evaporator, build a head tank support, and the list goes on and on. Hopefully we get her all done.

[PerryW]

Shorten all the rest of the laterals,replace all of the stars with single entry saddles,move a building to hold another tank and install another releaser at another bush,finish running mainlines/tubing in the new bush,should be enough of a chore along with cutting wood,farming,driving school bus,and so on..............

Just curious why you are replacing the stars with single entry saddles? Am I making a mistake by continuing to use the stars?

[Tweegs]

1. The shack gets a kitchen added on and covered porch off the front.
2. Vacuum
3. Preheater
4. Maybe a small R.O.
5. Maybe AUF.
6. Neighbors trees will get a 5/16 take-down system, likely 2 or 3.
7. Install flashing for cupola doors.
8. Modify the steam hood over the syrup pan.
9. Gravel the approach to the sugar house.
10. Adding around 50 taps.

[unc23win]

PerryW

A lot of people are avoiding star fittings on vacuum trying to keep the taps per lateral line lower and reducing the amount of connections. Plus stars require you to splice the mainline and saddles don't.

[jrgagne99]

Since saddles don't splice the mainline, they create turbulence in the pipe. No turbulence=better vacuum transfer. The whole principle between the wet line / dry line setup.

[Oddmott]

Our plans are pretty simple... I think.

- Build a 15'x20' sugar shack. Open air boiling was fine for a couple seasons to just get 10 gallons or so... but it's time to get sheltered!

- Upgrade from "crappy" used evaporator (10gph) to an "okay" used evaporator (20gph) + a homemade arch to pre-heat sap & cook our sugaring feasts.

- Increase from 80 taps to 250

- Obtain an atv or utv to help with collection. On-foot and by-tractor collecting just isn't working out in our rugged, cramped bush

- Drop, cut and split the 200 or so dead & dried trees throughout our property for syrup firewood

- Source equipment to get to 1000 taps by 2016

[Bruce L]

Hi PerryW,what Bruce from Leader told me last year was easy to understand since we used to milk cows.When you have a star fitting,even if there are as little as two lines coming into it,if one line is leaking,especially leaking bad,there is a negative pressure on the opposing line,so you have no vacuum there.With the single entry saddles,if a line is leaking ,your other lines are not affected to nearly the same degree as long as your pump is large enough to compensate for the vacuum loss.

[PerryW]

Thanks Bruce for the explanation. I'm adding some mainlines and was always nervous about boring holes in my tubing so I planned on the using the star fittings. Still wrestling about whether I want to eventually go w/ vacuum but after a good season like this one, I really don't need any more sap.