SmellsLikeSyrup NH 2020

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

I hope everyone had a great "off season", now that the Patriots are eliminated its time to focus on maple season!

Over the past few weeks I have laid out 3000ft of new tubing. That went more smoothly than I expected. I am adding about 60 new trees this season, about 100 new taps. this should bring me somewhere near 350 or so taps.

This past weekend I took my single 4x40 NextGen RO and converted it to a 2 canister system. Hoping to now eliminate having to do 2 passes with my sap. I don't really know what to expect with it but with a 3/4HP motor and the Procon I'm hoping to be closer to 8% after 1 pass. I never seemed to have a problem with removing water with the system but my passes never really gave me the higher sugar percentages I was expecting. 2 new Dow filters should help with that. I have a few more things to finish with the RO such as the permeate lines being connected with a T and the line in my 1st canister needs to get a brass 3 inch riser so it can be tightened properly. Other than that, its good to go!

Some pix attached.

-Scott
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[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Well ran 55 gallons of sap I collected the other day from my red and silver maples out behind my house and found that the 3/4HP motor and 265gph Procon pump really arent sufficient to run through 2 membranes. So I did some more research and I have ordered a Goulds 7GBS pump that will push from 7-10GPM as opposed to the 3.5GPM i was getting with the Procon. It also has 500ft of head pressure so it will easily make the shot from my house to my head tank about 150ft behind my house. Hopefully it all goes to plan!

Tomorrow I will finish tapping the rest of my trees. The weather looks like its going to stay in the ranges we are all looking for, that gets me tapping about 14 days earlier than I had planned. All good though, all of the runs are connected to Shurflo pumps. While im not getting "High" vacuum I am getting some. I couldnt quite figure out why my 1st setup when tested showed me 22Hg in the house with water flowing through it. I would plug the hole with my finger and the gauge would shoot up to over 20, but connected to my 5/16" line in my woods im only getting 10Hg. I checked and checked when the line was flowing good earlier this week. I cant see any obvious leaks. Going to check again over the weekend to see what its doing when the flow is good again. Ive never used the vacuum gauges so not sure if what I am seeing is normal or not. Last year i ran 3 setups with no gauges, this year I wanted more information about how they are running. Time will tell.

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[Johnston Maple]

I've been wanting to do the shurflo pump set up
That looks good do you have some sort of battery charger set up or just keep switching them out?

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

I have 6 deep Cycle batteries and I switch them out, I know Its crazy and those **** things are heavy, but it works for me....at least until I get too old to lift them. :-)

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Been so busy I havent had time to update my thread.

Season has been going great for me so far. I had a few hiccups as I learn my new equipment and figure out the best way to run my ShurFlo pumps but overall I am very please with how everything has gone.

My RO - Overall I cant really complain about this at all. I take 275 gallons and can run my RO for 2 hours and I am left with about 75 gallons of Concentrate. That gets me close to 6% that I will then boil. On the evaporator thats done in under 2 hours. I really was expecting the system to be a bit faster than that, but once I have it running I cant complain as it allows me time to do other things around the house or in the shack.

Shurflo - My 3 main bushes have been really productive for me. I have 225 taps and I am up near 4000 gallons of sap on the season. The Shurflo setup behind my house has NOT been good for me. I still cant figure out why. Its got 150 taps on it with mostly silvers and Reds and I am lucky if its collected 300 gallons for me. My vacuum will run from 4-18HG, it keeps going up and down. I have some lines the sap just sits and others it seems to flow fine. Yesterday I found some squirrel bites and I fixed them but still my flows are not what I would expect. This was supposed to be bonus sap for me as I normally dont tap these trees because they had always been slow for me before. I was hoping the Pump setup would improve things, but no luck. Will try again next year as its about over for me.

Sap - I have collected more than ever before. Really happy, and the efficiency of the RO and evaporator have made the season a breeze. If I would just stop tinkering and let things work as they are supposed to I wouldn't be so tired.

Maple Weekend - I cant see any way possible I will have any sap for the weekend. With the temps this week I cant imagine I am going to get much more sap after today and tomorrow. I have a buddy in Weare that says I can get sap from him for Maple Weekend, but who knows if he will even have any. Crazy weather!!!

-Scott