Peeper
02-21-2016, 10:13 PM
You'll wonder if it will hold up, and who hacked this thing together. Sure, it's ugly. Ok... it really is ugly.
This is how cheap I am. About 13 years ago I built a "Cedar Works" knock off clone for my 2 kids (who are now teenagers). I just couldn't justify nor afford the real deal at over 4 grand. Nor would I if I could. I'm just that cheap. So I took measurements from an existing real Cedar Works set that was on the down hill slide (contrary to their great claim as to how the cedar will last a long time, 13 -14 years is not a long time my friends) All wood will eventually rot, especially at the ground level.
Not gonna boil in the open this year (I've also taken a 2 year break with last year's record snowfall & hand surgery the previous year).
So staying true to the "cheap", I decided to make myself a shelter of sorts that I can dismantle and store under the porch in the off season. Being too lazy to dismantle our partially rotting "thing" when my brother was here to help in the summer and the bugs & heat were out, I got the idea to attack it in the warm rain of our odd January thaw. Say's he to himself looking at the dismantled mess the the ground with angled supports... "roof trusses"? Ahh, the title hit me in the head (as did the truss when I was putting it up without any help)... "from Swing Set to Sap Shack"
The following day, I spent the balmy (non rainy) January thaw day slapping this thing together after looking at a couple of pallet lean-to's on line. After it was through bolted together and standing erect (sort of), I slapped a couple of sheets of OSB (oriented strand board) on top and tar papered upward to help leak proof it at the seams. Good thing I did, because the day after that, January returned (after gathering 82 gallons of sap during the 1st good thaw, yes... by myself - my wife & kids are too busy with school and business is slow.), The snow storm hit just in time for the first boil. (see photo essay) Providential timing at it's best...
Yes it's crude, but effective!
1322113222132231322513224
When everyone's scared to tap early, I say "tap whenever you get a good 4-5 days of freeze/thaw and worry about the rest of the weather as it happens". You can always re-tap if your holes dry up, but mine haven't yet. Make syrup while the sun shines! May everyone's season be a weird weather wonder... isn't it always that way?
This is how cheap I am. About 13 years ago I built a "Cedar Works" knock off clone for my 2 kids (who are now teenagers). I just couldn't justify nor afford the real deal at over 4 grand. Nor would I if I could. I'm just that cheap. So I took measurements from an existing real Cedar Works set that was on the down hill slide (contrary to their great claim as to how the cedar will last a long time, 13 -14 years is not a long time my friends) All wood will eventually rot, especially at the ground level.
Not gonna boil in the open this year (I've also taken a 2 year break with last year's record snowfall & hand surgery the previous year).
So staying true to the "cheap", I decided to make myself a shelter of sorts that I can dismantle and store under the porch in the off season. Being too lazy to dismantle our partially rotting "thing" when my brother was here to help in the summer and the bugs & heat were out, I got the idea to attack it in the warm rain of our odd January thaw. Say's he to himself looking at the dismantled mess the the ground with angled supports... "roof trusses"? Ahh, the title hit me in the head (as did the truss when I was putting it up without any help)... "from Swing Set to Sap Shack"
The following day, I spent the balmy (non rainy) January thaw day slapping this thing together after looking at a couple of pallet lean-to's on line. After it was through bolted together and standing erect (sort of), I slapped a couple of sheets of OSB (oriented strand board) on top and tar papered upward to help leak proof it at the seams. Good thing I did, because the day after that, January returned (after gathering 82 gallons of sap during the 1st good thaw, yes... by myself - my wife & kids are too busy with school and business is slow.), The snow storm hit just in time for the first boil. (see photo essay) Providential timing at it's best...
Yes it's crude, but effective!
1322113222132231322513224
When everyone's scared to tap early, I say "tap whenever you get a good 4-5 days of freeze/thaw and worry about the rest of the weather as it happens". You can always re-tap if your holes dry up, but mine haven't yet. Make syrup while the sun shines! May everyone's season be a weird weather wonder... isn't it always that way?