Casbohm Maple and Honey 2020 and beyond......

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
I have been considering starting a thread that is mostly about our sugaring operation and the folks who make syrup around us. This is an attempt to not clog up the Pennsylvania tapping thread. I tend to post a bunch of pictures and a lot of talk too.
We will see where this goes.
My view looking south from in front of the old King arch. In the bottom row are the samples from the 19 boils during the 2020 season.
https://i.imgur.com/nQDTUKj.jpg?1
Keep boiling!
Regards,
Chris

[heus]

Nice, Chris. I'll definitely follow it.

[Sugarmaker]

Jason,
Thanks. On the trader there is not a general section as per sugarhouse. As an example on the truck forum I chat in there are "Build threads that are truck specific".
Some additional pictures:
https://i.imgur.com/5VrwL6j.jpg?2

Do you know that if you write on a marshmallow with blue marker then eat it you get blue lips? Ask Cooper
https://i.imgur.com/8PMgpm5.jpg?1

Rhett and Cooper took advantage of the fire while cleaning the pans, to roast some mallows.
https://i.imgur.com/i1XijYS.jpg?1

Picked up another freezer for syrup storage. Thanks to friend Matt another sugarmaker near by:
https://i.imgur.com/3QSeqwF.jpg?1

Regards,
Chris

[DrTimPerkins]

In the bottom row are the samples from the 19 boils during the 2020 season.

Looks like a lot of light syrup this year Chris. Your grass is a lot greener than ours (which is covered by 4" of new snow).

[Sugarmaker]

Folks, Dr. Tim,
Yes spring seems to be here as we are now alternating between rain and drizzle then back to rain!:)
50% of the 2020 syrup was in the Golden Delicate category. We stopped making syrup at 183.5 gallons and 98 was light. If we would have boiled all the sap that we gathered and a little we missed the first and last runs we would have been close to 200 gallons. A good season for us.
Yesterday I began taking down the roadside tubing systems The "green" loop. I need to come up with improved tags as the magic marker, on the tags, gets faded out in the sun.
https://i.imgur.com/87wPx4K.jpg

About 10 of the short run tubing systems (200 taps ish) fill the truck:
https://i.imgur.com/kKPNTGO.jpg

Up into the sugarhouse rafters for storage till next spring:
https://i.imgur.com/vj5H4fY.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
I had the opportunity to visit Jim (Father and Son) for their last boil of the season.
Jim was enjoying running his rig which he calls the "Mutt" since it has several manufactures components used to make a custom one of a kind rig. I boils real well and the Amber to Dark, end of season syrup was very good!
He plans to do some additional tuning with the burner but was running a steady 50ish gallons of raw sap per hour on the 2 x 8. Since this year was a system test for Jim just boiling raw sap he will be ready for 2021 season. More sap, fire up the R.O. and more syrup too.
Very organized and well thought out draw off station on the right side of the rig. Unique single side draw with the ability to easily change syrup draw off position in the front pan.
https://i.imgur.com/ENxnhmK.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/xGFSdmI.jpg?2

Auto draw monitors the temps, alnog with a watchfull eye from the sugarmaker:
https://i.imgur.com/Qmplm16.jpg

Density checks:
https://i.imgur.com/JSK7n4K.jpg

Today we will pick up another third of the roadside tubing, Hoping granddaughter Marly is going to help.

Customers are calling for syrup, So folks need this product while locked down at home during this pandemic.
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Maybe should have stayed home but wanted to get this tubing home. Finished up this afternoon.
https://i.imgur.com/yQQhY4A.jpg

Checked on Kelly's bees. One of the 7 colonies is active;
https://i.imgur.com/hch2lvq.jpg

I think I seen just about as many cars on the road as usual during our lock down stay at home orders.
Regards,
Chris

[DougM]

Chris, we use a label maker & wrap the label around the tube, then go over the top of that with clear tape. It's lasted us pretty well and it's way more readable than our handwriting in that small of a space

[Sugarmaker]

Doug,
Excellent idea on the clear tape. I was doing everything except that. Thanks for the suggestion.

Today was warm enough to look at the bees. Well whats left of the bees. Only one of the 7 hives remains.
So I took the others apart and brought the remaining honey home. The bees that didnt make it had honey in the boxes. Not sure what happened.
https://i.imgur.com/wpQEi13.jpg

This hive had been ocupied by a swarm and was not easy to work but made some honey for several years. It had no frames in the bottom boxes. They built there own natural rows of comb.
https://i.imgur.com/11g13PO.jpg

7 partially filled boxes taken home to be extracted.
https://i.imgur.com/wAReaUX.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Z/MAN]

Chris, losing 6 out of 7 sucks. I only have 2 and so far they have both made it. I feel mighty lucky!

[heus]

Folks,
I had the opportunity to visit Jim (Father and Son) for their last boil of the season.
Jim was enjoying running his rig which he calls the "Mutt" since it has several manufactures components used to make a custom one of a kind rig. I boils real well and the Amber to Dark, end of season syrup was very good!
He plans to do some additional tuning with the burner but was running a steady 50ish gallons of raw sap per hour on the 2 x 8. Since this year was a system test for Jim just boiling raw sap he will be ready for 2021 season. More sap, fire up the R.O. and more syrup too.
Very organized and well thought out draw off station on the right side of the rig. Unique single side draw with the ability to easily change syrup draw off position in the front pan.
https://i.imgur.com/ENxnhmK.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/xGFSdmI.jpg?2

Auto draw monitors the temps, alnog with a watchfull eye from the sugarmaker:
https://i.imgur.com/Qmplm16.jpg

Density checks:
https://i.imgur.com/JSK7n4K.jpg

Today we will pick up another third of the roadside tubing, Hoping granddaughter Marly is going to help.

Customers are calling for syrup, So folks need this product while locked down at home during this pandemic.
Regards,
Chris

Chris that arch at Jim's looks familiar

[Father & Son]

Chris that arch at Jim's looks familiar

Jason,
I thought you might recognize that.
That’s the first time we used the burner cover. Quiets things down a lot but the size takes up a lot of room.

[Sugarmaker]

Chris, losing 6 out of 7 sucks. I only have 2 and so far they have both made it. I feel mighty lucky!

We tend to be more hands off on beekeeping! But maybe we should have fed these 4 new colonies last summer? We do not typically treat for mites either. Its not a cheap date to buy nuc's each year either, about $200 each.
Sounds like your doing good with your bees!
Having some black tea with Kelly's honey right now!
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Back to maple today. Maple Mustard and Maple BBQ sauces made this afternoon:
https://i.imgur.com/Fj6KXBx.jpg

Mustard on the right coming back up to 180 F after mustard added to the syrup. Checked PH, recorded the values, coded the bottles with batch codes.
https://i.imgur.com/0Q5Q0yt.jpg

Just a couple shots of the tubing back in the sugarhouse:
https://i.imgur.com/1C7yl0N.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/FSn9fvM.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Random picture time. Some of the unsung heros in the sugarhouse that never get much attention.
Finished syrup canner on the left. Yes its a old propane grill modified to support a stainless 10 gallon pan. Its old faithfull. The key I found to making this work well is a piece of cheese cloth over the spout. Does two things. Acts as a final filter for the syrup and also makes a straight stream of syrup int the jugs.
https://i.imgur.com/oVA58rk.jpg

The Cotton candy machine has paid for its self, even with only several events per year. We use the 32 oz plastic tubs with lids for the product.
Raining like crazy here glad I am not out gathering sap!:)
That syrup setting there was pulled from the freezer storage a couple hours prior and will be canned up today. Some of the Golden Delicate "FIRE & ICE" syrup from early this year.

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks, I like the forum But there are several things that are agravating.
1. The time out time is way too short: I have written many posts, Probably too long or I get distracted and when I go to post I loose it all due to being automatically logged out!
2. The number of pictures per post limits folks like me that like to post a lot of them. Probably ahs something to do with size but if I want I can still post 8 pictures, just have to make two posts of 4 each!

Sorry for the rant!
Regards,
Chris

Oh yea ,Keep boiling!

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
So I had lost this thread, as noted in my previous post/ rant! But as usual, I will bull my way through this by typing faster and limiting my pictures to the magic 4 numbers so this will be two posts.

Cutting fire wood for next year:

Picked up two bundles of slabs from Amish sawmill on the PA Ohio line. At $10 per bundle I will have about $2.00 per gallon of fuel costs in the finished syrup. Two bundles seemed about right for the first try at cutting slabs at the wood shed.
https://i.imgur.com/RFf9mbM.jpg

Here I have the trailer in position at the sugarhouse.
https://i.imgur.com/mltQhzW.jpg

Did some improvements to the buzz rig. Sharpened the blade, replaced the return spring for the table, added the new steel place to fill in the extension to the table. I cut by my self so the table extension is like having another helper.
https://i.imgur.com/1khNSin.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/MsB3EVm.jpg

The trick is to dump the pictures in and post. then go back and put in the comments!

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

The rest of the story.

Quick rattle can red to cover the bare steel, The buzz rig is a 3 point I run off the Ford Jubilee. It is in position about 3 feet from the wood shed for the first row of slabs. I cut between 24 and 36 inches long.
https://i.imgur.com/f1ELmei.jpg

This set up worked pretty good and save handling them again as I just cut and piled them as I cut. A few more moves but the old man needs to get off the couch more anyway!
https://i.imgur.com/RqsKcZ6.jpg?1

I fugue one row, 8 x 10 x 2.5 yields about 40 gallons of syrup. Some nice wrist sized hard wood with mixed bigger pieces, should make a good fire and be nice and dry by next spring. The wood shed is open to the west, so it gets lots of wind from Ohio up here on the hill! Just need to get 4.5 more rows in place.

Thanks for checking in on me.
You may have noticed I have a tractor problem! Stories for another day!
Are these bigger pictures OK with you folks? I just hate the thumb nails! Hope I am not hogging room with these larger pictures. I try to get the size down to 800 x 450 pixels.

Regards,
Chris

[maple flats]

Chris, I've run into the same issue, loosing longer posts that is, I finally started to copy the whole post before trying to post it, then if it fails to post, I log back in and then post it to the proper thread. I didn't have this issue until 6-8 months ago and before I got smart enough to copy the post before trying to post it I lost several.

[Sugarmaker]

Dave,
Yes I sometimes remember to copy the post too.
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Have one row of wood in the sugarshed, and when I have this second load buzzed up Will have another 1/3 of a row.
https://i.imgur.com/4z06yFD.jpg?1


So as I thought about 3 bundles of slabs should make approx 40 gallons of syrup. Will pick up a third load on Monday at the sawmill. Yes practicing social distancing there too.
Weather is back to snow today with a little more expected.
Several folks have called and stopped by to purchase syrup, using social distancing, I set the syrup out for them to drive in and pick up.
Need to can up some more gallons of syrup to stock the shelves too.
Picked up a small freezer to store the rest of the maple syrup in 2.5 gallon bulk. Thanks to Matt H., local sugarmaker up near Lake Erie.
Speaking of bulk, it sounds like one of our local buyers are pushing their maple bulk syrup buy day out into June.


We eat good too! Stack of pancakes and sausage with plenty of maple syrup:
https://i.imgur.com/xqFlBDA.jpg?1

Regards,
Chris

[Pdiamond]

Chris I was looking at some of your previous pictures and your tubing looks really good. What is your method for cleaning. I am just wondering as next year I plan on having some for my sugar bush, to help increase my syrup production.

[BAP]

Nice pictures Chris. You don’t have a tractor problem, you can never have too many tractors, especially of that vintage. I use my Farmall H to gather sap. I really like what you did to your saw rig. Nice setup all around.

[Sugarmaker]

Thanks guys,
I just back flush all my lines with low pressure water rinse. This is the same pump that I pump up into the tank on the truck. 12 volt (Rule brand). Then I take out the first tap, let it rinse, then plug it into the tee and go to the next one. It takes some time but has worked pretty well in controlling visible yuckies in the lines from season to season.
BAP,
Thanks for the positive comments. We keep trying to make improvements. This is the first year bringing slabs in, on my own trailer, then cutting and stacking in the sugarshed. So far I like the minimized handling. Trying to get a little more tech savy here, see if this very short clip works.

http://youtu.be/EYGL98y122A
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
More wood today as we continue social distancing. i didn't have anyone crowding me at the buzz rig? Hummm Funny how that works!:)

https://i.imgur.com/GMaPs7e.jpg

Mostly red oak slabs, should make some syrup next year!
https://i.imgur.com/xR4eztV.jpg

I miss spoke, one row in the sugarshed will make about 30+ gallons of syrup.
Now we need to market what I have.
Hope things are good out there.

The wife, our pup, and some of my toys too. Yes its time to mow the lawn if it dries up for a couple days!
https://i.imgur.com/A4MNUxr.jpg


Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

The slabs were no match for the Jubilee and buzz rig!
https://i.imgur.com/3PAf90w.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YJ9SEar.jpg

Weather was snow, rain, wind, and sunshine! Perfect!
https://i.imgur.com/YWoYhNT.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[heus]

Lookin' good Chris

[Pdiamond]

Chris,
Is that an old Gravely parked under the fifth wheel? My Grandfather had one of those and I was to little to use it when it was operating.

[Sugarmaker]

Pdiamond,
That is not a Gravely it is a late 40's David Bradley. It has a set of cultivators on it too. It was my wife's great grandfathers. I drug it home and rebuilt the carb on the little "N" series engine and it purrs right along. I also had to replace the guide wheels on the cultivators. I am hoping to have some better shelter for all my toys by this time next year. Wondering if I can claim a new building as part of the maple business??:)
Regards,
Chris

[maple flats]

Chris, is the N series a Briggs engine? I had and used an old unknown make open station cultivating tractor in 3.5 acres of strawberries, it had a Z engine. 3 hp. I later found an old Allis Chalmers G and sold the other one. After my 4.5 acres of blueberries got into full production I quit growing strawberries. 8-10 years later I sold the G to a guy from Indiana who later sent me pics of him driving it in a parade, fully restored.
For cultivating I now use a model 4200 weed badger behind a 1981 Ford 1500 compact diesel. It is 3 point hitch but I never remove it from that tractor. The Weed Badger has a set of tines mounted vertically, rotate and do a wonderful job, as I drive the aisles I steer the 2" diameter tine head in and out between the bushes. Back before I initially retired at 52, I got way behind in the blueberries and lots of brush and trees grew in the rows, I kept cutting them, but then a cluster grew back. When I bought the Weed Badger, the Manufacturer told me to just run the tiller there 3 times a year and in 2-3 years it would pull the stumps out and throw them in the aisle. That sounded too good to be true, but in fact that was correct.

[maple flats]

If anyone looks up the 4200 weed badger, and looks at the video, those automatic fingers to trip the retract and extend were not suggested for blueberries, mine is operated by a joy stick control, manually.

[Sugarmaker]

Dave,
Sure sounds like you found a good tool to do the cultivating!
Folks,
Just a few shots of my other new project. Man I hope this works out!

So this area is the proposed spot for a new building, this area is the island between the house and the sugarhouse.
https://i.imgur.com/wJfRWFK.jpg

Five trees were taken down which would have been in the way. These ended up here as potential wood for woods stove or maybe even syrup production. Soft maple, elm and ash. I thought I was out of the wood splittin business?
https://i.imgur.com/zXDt1iK.jpg

I dropped the Ash logs at the mill for them to custom saw into lumber. estimated to be 175 to 200 board feet?
https://i.imgur.com/6Gq5HW8.jpg

and brought home two bundles of red oak slabs for making syrup:
https://i.imgur.com/JihIXeb.jpg

Cheryl helped me get these into the woodshed.
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
While at the miil waiting to get slabs loaded I could not resist these big logs. I believe they are red oak? But I am not a good judge? Counted the rings and it looks to be 100 years old.
https://i.imgur.com/P7zldNn.jpg

Pressed the little Ford into service with the buzz saw.
https://i.imgur.com/JihIXeb.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/PzLdnPq.jpg

Cheryl doing the off bearing from the buzz rig, sure helped get through this syrup wood!
https://i.imgur.com/tPINKbH.jpg

I did get a letter that local syrup buyer is accepting syrup this Saturday. Social distancing will be in affect Folks will remain in there cars till ready to move there syrup into his building.

Thanks for checking on me!
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Slowly the sugarshed is getting full. I may go with five rows this year as I had to beg wood to get through this sping's good late runs.

https://i.imgur.com/on1LYpw.jpg

On another wood related project. We had a ash tree taken down and these are the boards from the two logs. There was about 218 board feet of 1 inch thick lumber. Cheryl halped me sticker it up. Hope to make something for her and the grandkids someday.
https://i.imgur.com/plcwLs6.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/TGdwNvq.jpg

Oh and the slabs from these logs came home too, they will make some syrup.
Regards,
Chris

Regards,
Chris

[Pdiamond]

Chris,
How long of a piece of wood can you put into your evaporator? How many slabs do you place into it at once? And finally do you have to split anything down before hand or can you throw in the whole chunk? The only reason I am asking is I may have access to a bunch of free slab wood through a family member and want to know how much work I was going to get myself into, besides having to cut, split, and stack.

[maple flats]

From my experience (I have my own sawmill) I cut to 21'- 24" even though the arch will take 30". I only split if over 2" thick or over 5-6" wide. I mix my wood going in, generally 2/3-3/4 hardwood and the rest softwood regardless of whether it is slab wood or processed from whole rounds. I only fill my firebox each time to about 6"-8" from the top.

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
My arch has a 3 foot long fire box. So 24 to 30 inches long material works well for me. I dont split any thing I am lazy. If it fits in the door it gets burned. Yes it may slow down the boil but I try to throw a big piece on the side opposite I am drawing off from. With AOF and AUF it seems to burn most of it up every 8 to 10 minutes.
Lots of folks don't like slabs. I will have a bunch of work into getting them, cutting, stacking, loading and firing. Actual cost per gallon about $1.50 ish.
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Some pictures as the new building made progress:
Dirt:
https://i.imgur.com/vrlwdOd.jpg

More dirt:
https://i.imgur.com/kukpuif.jpg

Holes and poles (July 20th) Me in the orange, doing what I do best, watching someone else work!:
https://i.imgur.com/do3Bv7v.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/bbeOCvN.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[DrTimPerkins]

Looking great Chris.

[Sugarmaker]

Dr. Tim, Folks,
Currently we are working on trim details on exterior. Progressing slowly!
https://i.imgur.com/Qq3l6Sl.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[heus]

Chris, room for more AC tractors!

[Sugarmaker]

Jason,
Folks,
Maybe room for the ones I already have!:)
Should be a nice addition to the property.
Regards,
Chris

[Z/MAN]

Wow, I love it!

[Pdiamond]

Chris, That is going to be one beautiful and functional building when you get it completed.

[Sugarmaker]

Thanks guys, One of those things you probably will only do once.
Regards,
Chris

[maple flats]

Nice build Chris.
On another front, I have a question. You have bees and do honey. How do you keep the bees away when you pack syrup? My brother just got into bee keeping, he now has 2 hives (had one which got big, so with the help of a large bee keeper near here, he split it and now has 2).
My brother's 2 hives are about1/2 mile away from my sugarhouse. I bottled up more maple syrup 4 days in the past week. I never had bees in the sugarhouse before but on all 4 days I had bees flying around in the sugarhouse and landing on surfaces very close to the syrup. Also, I mix syrup in a 6-7 gal tank (DE) with up to 6 gal of syrup in a batch. When the tank got pumped down there were dead bees (7-8) in the bottom of the tank.
How do you keep bees out of the syrup?

[Sugarmaker]

Dave,
Thanks.
I never really had any problems with bees around when canning syrup. At this time I dont have bees on my property. Our daughter is now doing the beekeeping about 5 miles from me. She has 5 colonies. 4 were new swarms this year. I do need to can some syrup in the next few days too.
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Adam helped me work on door trim today. The azak material now surrounds the inside of the doors. Then the same material as brick molding on the doors exterior.
https://i.imgur.com/D12gXPv.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Just to fill in the blanks a little on the shed:
https://i.imgur.com/8FohnQK.jpg

Me wondering what I got myself into:
https://i.imgur.com/4tIuyq4.jpg

Setting the jib crane post"
https://i.imgur.com/siAtB1g.jpg

Trusses being set with crane:
https://i.imgur.com/bQVREbQ.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
This October we did a Fall in Love with Maple event along with 4 other sugarhouses in NW PA. It was great!
Tractor rides:
https://i.imgur.com/gjZX0Lb.jpg

We had tractor show, pumpkins, all the maple products, fresh pressed cider,
https://i.imgur.com/UgZEdRk.jpg

Beekeepers:
https://i.imgur.com/iSYobFd.jpg

Antique equipment displayed:
https://i.imgur.com/Vu0u8NI.jpg

cont:

[Sugarmaker]

https://i.imgur.com/r5t1pFS.jpg

Four generations of our family. I am the old fart if you didnt know!
https://i.imgur.com/ZtTihFX.jpg

Maple season is almost here! I know I am not on here much, well not as much as 10 years ago. Anyway things keep moving along.
I had a reason to hang up some tubing today. So my friend Gerry came out and we visited, solved all the worlds problems, and hung up short run gravity tubing for 400 taps. About 2/3 of my sugarbush. The main reason was to get the tubing out of storage to provide some room for the electrician (Grandson) to complete rough wiring in the shop.
We are really only a month away from our typical sugaring season anyway, so its just getting a little jump on things. And being a year older I dont move as fast as I used to either! I also pulled out my sap tank for the truck and have it in clean mode.
The shop has pretty much consumed mass quantities of time and funds this year. With the help of my two sons Eric and Adam we were able to get it dried in this fall.
Some shots to bring you up to date:
https://i.imgur.com/lABrmHR.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ekC6CxA.jpg

cont:

[Sugarmaker]

Its the shed in the center:
https://i.imgur.com/jZDAvPV.jpg?1

Sugarhouse is to the left:
https://i.imgur.com/j6z3SP6.jpg?1

Adding some color:
https://i.imgur.com/Mzcst7a.jpg

New underground service to the campus:
https://i.imgur.com/35vGmxj.jpg

cont:

[Sugarmaker]

Jib crane boom gets installed:
https://i.imgur.com/ibhapN8.jpg

Foam (2 inch) under concrete:
https://i.imgur.com/x5gSfn9.jpg

Jim(father&son) assisting in laying down the half mile of PEX tubing for radiant heat system:
https://i.imgur.com/SlwPW71.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/F7ag5nV.jpg

cont:

[Sugarmaker]

43 yards of concrete. 5 inches thick with mesh on top of the tubing:
https://i.imgur.com/HTz1LxV.jpg?1

Signature:
https://i.imgur.com/s9HFyvn.jpg

Gutters:
https://i.imgur.com/7AOUNRO.jpg

Hemlock siding:
https://i.imgur.com/AWJNThJ.jpg

cont:

[Sugarmaker]

A prototype area for siding. Goal was to come close to sugarhouse color:
https://i.imgur.com/7YMbnmg.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/fDsRANT.jpg

Overhead doors!
https://i.imgur.com/TE1zHlk.jpg

Drainage for all downspouts:
https://i.imgur.com/WWFkrhR.jpg

cont:

[Sugarmaker]

Our first snow this winter:
https://i.imgur.com/K4MPFKI.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/g546bLl.jpg?1

Building interior walls and stairs to loft:
https://i.imgur.com/08Ghkt8.jpg

cont:

[Sugarmaker]

https://i.imgur.com/63RY3mx.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/BdnebXD.jpg

Jib crane hoist:
https://i.imgur.com/whEPxyu.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/pW6P4F4.jpg

Thanks for checking in on me! As normal a lot picture heavy!
Regards,
Chris

[heus]

Chris the building looks awesome. You should have used Persian Orange siding, though. :lol:

[Skeller001]

Looks awesome. Someday I need to do a road trip to visit

[Sugarmaker]

Thanks Guys on the shop! Will be working on it for a while.
Back to Maple:
I have all my tubing strung for the 2021 season. I also trimmed the roadside sugarbush to get some of the brush trimmed down around the big maples.
We had 25 degrees last night and the water in the sugarhouse was frozen this morning. Had to use a little heater to thaw the pipes out.
I am trying to get the kitchen insulated too. Using R-Tech, 2 inch foam insulation board, on the ceiling.
Thinking of going with some 4 foot LED lights to replace the 8 foot florescent which are 20 years old. Suggestions? Whats in your sugarhouse?
Regards,
Chris

[Pdiamond]

Chris,
New building looks really good. Since I don't have a hood I used sealed lights with just the new energy saver lightbulb. I also have a 140' sting of LED lights that is contacted with the blower on the evaporator. Reminds me to turn the blower off before adding wood.

[BAP]

Great build! When I built mine 5 years ago I used ones similar to these. They weren’t this expensive, but they are great because they come on bright no matter the temperature, including below zero, and take little electricity, and put out a lot of light. Also, didn’t take many of them to light up my sugarhouse.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Metalux-8-ft-Linear-White-Integrated-LED-Warehouse-Strip-Light-with-8176-Lumens-4000K-UNV-Voltage-8SL8040/305053569

[Skeller001]

I don’t have a sugar shack but I just put some of those led lights that have 3 paddles on them in my pole barn. They work much better than any 4’ work light I have used.

[Sugarmaker]

Thanks guys! Working on a antique forklift for the shop.
Thinking of using portions of the shop for the Taste and Tour event also. Not sure yet. May not have the heat in the floor by mid March?

I have pallets and containers to place at 30 roadside locations.
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Considering closing off a portion of my back room kitchen area and having it so I could make my value added products in there in more comfort, (warmer). Last couple of years I have had to bring supplies into the house because it was too cold in the sugarhouse kitchen. Jim (Father and Son) was over and checked out the plan and thought it was a good plan.
Well I need to get some 2x4's and start the process of building a wall and putting in some type of door.
Always some type of improvement that can be made in the sugaring operation!
Temp is 22F good to have some good freezes. Not sure we are going to get much hard frost in the ground before it warms? Will have to start watching the forecast a little more too.
About 3 weeks away from normal tapping time.
Regards,
Chris

[Ryne]

10 day forecast looks like the last weekend in January is going to be it for the cold days. I spent the last little warmup we had getting things organized and ready. 15 out of 18 of my trees are new to me this year, so I'm anxious to see how the season pans out... literally.

[Sugarmaker]

10 day forecast looks like the last weekend in January is going to be it for the cold days. I spent the last little warmup we had getting things organized and ready. 15 out of 18 of my trees are new to me this year, so I'm anxious to see how the season pans out... literally.

New trees. If you start on buckets or single containers then you can see how each trees is doing. I set up 5 new trees 2 years ago on short run tubing and was extremely disappointed. Not sure which ones were the bad ones? The line got moved to some trees on my route that are better.
Good luck with your season! Thanks for the update on the forecast too. I really have not been looking at it at all. Head down working on non maple things in the shop. Like a 50 year old forklift!:)
I do need to get some things ready in the sugarhouse and in the sugarbush. But today is 20F may be a challange to get much done.
My evaporator needs to be put together. Things like steam stack attachment. float boxes to be set in place. Draw off equipment to be set up. Sap containers to be moved. Get the wood shed ready. Flues need cleaned. Then a goo rinsing of the pans too. General clean up too. Sure is nice not to have misc lawn equipment stored in there this year!

Anyone out there have a Marcland old style plunger draw off on both sides of there pans? I had an idea of buying another one and then I could change sides just a little easier?? May not be worth the effort??

Regards,
Chris

[Father & Son]

Chris,
Give Bob Crooks a call. He might have a plunger valve.
1-518-532-7922

Jim

[Ryne]

I'm thinking about pulling the trigger this weekend and tap for buckets. SO FAR it looks like a warm-up next week. What's everyone else doing?

[Sugarmaker]

Humm? I knew it would happen someday! Need to look at the forecast. Was near zero last night. Its going to take sevaral days for trees to thaw.
Thanks for the warning.
I did pick up some insulation material for adding to the walls in the sugarhouse kitchen. Too many irons in the fire right now. Don't feel like I have time to make syrup but will need some to satisfy customers if that come this year??
Here is the insulation. Thanks to Matt the maple guy. And the unit unloading it is the first winter project in the shop.
https://i.imgur.com/5wZPF5H.jpg

Getting some Maple Mustard ready for the Maple event less than a month away.
https://i.imgur.com/PHdniHB.jpg

Just looked at the forecast. Well if you can believe it, there looks like warming weather starting a week from today in our area. Your mileage may vary. Might have to tap soon.
Regards,
Chris

[Ryne]

Humm? I knew it would happen someday! Need to look at the forecast. Was near zero last night. Its going to take sevaral days for trees to thaw.
Thanks for the warning.

Chris

If you'll recall, the last time I thought it was a "go" week, we got this arctic blast we're just climbing out of so.... lol

[Sugarmaker]

Ryne, Folks,
Well it may be warming but not much next week? Just getting up into the low 30's during the day. Perfect time to get things ready in the woods and sugarhouse. Time to tap? Well to each his own but since I should be able to tap in portions of two days plus naps I try not to get to excited. I dont have vacuum so the trees need to be ready.
Good luck with the season to all the maple traders!
Maple Mustard production is about done and Maple BBQ needs to begin!
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Was 6 degrees here at sunrise. Heading for the mid 30's, and that will feel like its time to get moving on maple syrup production.
Working in Cheryl's kitchen to make Spicy Maple BBQ this morning. Need to start getting some small pallets and the sap containers near the door and ready to go out into the bush. Tapping Well maybe Tuesday or Wednesday?? With this good freeze its going to take several days for things to thaw.
Sun is out and its a nice winter day!
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks we are in that still getting ready mode till we tap. That may happen this week if it gets near 40.
Got my bases ready and loaded in the trailer. They are small skids support and hold and give weight to my sap containers. May spread these out tomorrow if the weather is nice. Also made two batches of Spicy Maple BBQ sauce 18 jars each batch. Thanks to Cheryl for letting me use her kitchen as mine never got done as intended. Too cold and I was/ am easily distracted working on the shop project. Today I installed two of the four man doors.

Also sold my wood stove that I have had hooked into the evaporator in past years. That made room for me to get to the wood in the wood shed easier too.

If any body is boiling, stay at it!
Regards,
Chris

[Ryne]

I tapped yesterday, part schedule necessity part wanting to see if anything runs this week. A few of the trees that were in the sun all day were weeping after I drilled.

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
So the sap containers are in place (30) and we are planning to tap tomorrow if the weather is not to bad.
https://i.imgur.com/ADGLnvC.jpg

Talked to several others that have taps in place and no run today, even on high vacuum. But one local producer has spent a tremendous amount of time replacing squirrel chewed lines!

Regards,
Chris

Regards,
Chris

[Ryne]

Good luck! The roads have been pretty slushy with this harassing snow.

[Sugarmaker]

Maple Folks,
2021 season is under way! We tapped the sugarbush today. sap was starting to run as I finished tapping at 4:30 and stopped at 4:45!:) Ground is still going to take a few days to thaw. We may have some sap by the weekend?
https://i.imgur.com/gv5hnTn.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/B4OtW3z.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/mtBrdUI.jpg


Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

I bought a pair of new Dewalt 5AH batteries . Did about 500 taps on on battery. I thought that was pretty good!
https://i.imgur.com/rvxgomf.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Pl2nQSs.jpg

The first sap of 2021!
https://i.imgur.com/sSuYUIj.jpg

[Sugarmaker]

duplicate post

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Helped a friend tap a neighbors sugarbush this afternoon. I tried the drill bit he was using and it did a way better job than the bit I was using yesterday. Faster cleaner hole. I drilled them and Scott tapped them into the trees, we did about 400 taps in 2-1/2 hours. Not a worlds record but we moved along and visited in Keith's sugarbush. Here is Keith. He will be 90 this August and claims its his last season for making maple syrup.
https://i.imgur.com/VyEdRs0.jpg

The Great grandsons tapped their sugrbush behind the shop today too. About 12 buckets.
https://i.imgur.com/XCig33v.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wS8YMQ7.jpg

Should have enough sap to boil tomorrow evening. Maybe a couple hundred gallons, enough to sweeten the pans.

Regards,
Chris

[minehart gap]

Chris, what brand if tapping bit was it that you were impressed with?

[Bill]

Chris
We are about finished tapping today, We still need to tap for about 100 buckets, However the snow is still to deep so will wait till Saturday.

Fort Leboeuf Maple
Waterford, PA

[Sugarmaker]

Chris, what brand if tapping bit was it that you were impressed with?

Matt,
I will have to find out. Scott may have got it at Johnsons (H2) dealer in Wattsburgh?

it was a CDL high resistant titanium bit sku# 662517 (Thanks to Scott R for the info)
This bit wanted to suck right into the tree. I had trouble not going too deep.

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Chris
We are about finished tapping today, We still need to tap for about 100 buckets, However the snow is still to deep so will wait till Saturday.

Fort Leboeuf Maple
Waterford, PA

Bill,
Good to here your into it! Gathered 500 gallons of 2% sap. We made 4 gallon of Amber last night. Had start up issue with temp probe. Moral of the story. look at the bubbles, check for syrup with a scoop. they dont lie! Mechanical/ electrical things can have issues!
https://i.imgur.com/MOVTSDw.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/OveG0d9.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/DZQzZw0.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[DrTimPerkins]

Mechanical/ electrical things can have issues!

All the things involved in maple can be summed up easily by the following equation:

Electrical x water/sap x mechanical x ice = TROUBLE

Now add to that the issue of trying to get good scientific data and the TROUBLE is squared. But it does make life interesting trying to solve problems.

[minehart gap]

All the things involved in maple can be summed up easily by the following equation:

Electrical x water/sap x mechanical x ice = TROUBLE

Now add to that the issue of trying to get good scientific data and the TROUBLE is squared. But it does make life interesting trying to solve problems.
Then the sap goes to the sugar shack and you are 7 seconds away from a disaster.

Thanks for the tapping bit info Chris. I've been looking for a better tapping bit.

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Boiled 450 gallons of sap this morning. Still boiling raw sap 2% ish. Made 8 gallon of nice Amber Rich today. Will be another 300 gallons out there to gather today.
I agree with Dr Tim and Matt!
Regards,
Chris

[Bill]

Chris

Lucky you we collected 510 gallons of sap Sunday and made 5 quarts of syrup. Best thing is our evaporator is sweet now.

Fort LeBoeuf Maple
Waterford, PA

[Sugarmaker]

Bill your off to a good start!

The neighbors brought there sap for 25 buckets Also brought there kids and we all had hot dogs cooked in front of the fire! Awesome!
https://i.imgur.com/hrPI8bS.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/6GPDZ6i.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/RjZhgm3.jpg

They helped with wood for loading the firebox too!
https://i.imgur.com/JN4UgI2.jpg


Regards,
Chris

[Pdiamond]

Chris - Did the kids have some of that good sauce you make with their hot dogs?

[Sugarmaker]

Chris - Did the kids have some of that good sauce you make with their hot dogs?
Pdiamond,
Of course we did there is no other way to eat hot dogs! Must have Maple Mustard and Maple BBQ!

Some updates:
Well the Maple Taste and Tour is here!
Why in the world am I up at 2:00 in the morning? Sever leg cramps! Maybe from the lack of sleep and minimal hydration this week??
Come see us and the other sugarmakers that are taking the time to put on the best Maple tour in the country right here in our small Maple world. www-pamaple.org

Some updates:
Maple Cream made this morning in my mini gear pump machine, powered by the Hobart. I took a lesson from Amtt Hicken and added a little water as I mixed it and that helped reduce the instant set up problems that I have had in the past. Just made 12 of the 8 oz jars. Always good to keep learning about making maple products.
https://i.imgur.com/A5Appqy.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/y0kxUUh.jpg

Yea its now big but it works very well and not much waste:
https://i.imgur.com/oeptqvg.jpg

Since I can only post 4 pictures at a time, I may have several posts strung together here.

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Getting set up in the new "Maple Shop" for the Taste and Tour. Daughter Kelly, Granddaughter Marly and Owen made the first batch of Maple Cotton Candy last night to stock the shelves.
https://i.imgur.com/xEzzKrZ.jpg

This will be the second event for the shop (We had the Fall in Love with Maple event last Oct)
We added heat in the shop this last week and hop it can provide a comfortable place for family and friends to enjoy the 18th annual Maple Tour
Yes this installation of a Lochinvar boiler (I call her Nessi) is a work of art! Must be seen in real life! Andy's Heating and Cooling went over the top detailing out this system! Nice and warm at 65 degrees F right now!
https://i.imgur.com/frUyQWP.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/gw8tmkQ.jpg

Yes that unit is heating the domestic hot water too! (DHW) Very nice!
https://i.imgur.com/ZOaF9Q6.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Some updates from the sugarbush from this week while I am awake and on a roll!
Our 325 gal tank in the old F250 with boat winch to raise the front for almost complete drainage.
https://i.imgur.com/knj3Sjd.jpg

Look close I think that is a Black maple leaf? We do have some of those in the area:
https://i.imgur.com/XAIG5Kt.jpg

Friend Steve Y learing to make syrup on my old King evaporator. Boiling raw sap (ok a steam away helps) at about 120 gallons per hour Steve is going to fire for me this week end while I run around and visit and pretend I know whats going on here:
https://i.imgur.com/lPkmGgj.jpg

Yea several days of this:
https://i.imgur.com/EG2PqRU.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks:
Our small operation made 60 gallons of syrup in a couple days this week. Not bad for the road side maples!:
The Dup and Pump station:
https://i.imgur.com/94ByXdT.jpg

Pumps plugged in and ready to play:
https://i.imgur.com/ZiI1o8M.jpg

After this truck had its liver removed last year, it just sets there and purrs! Dang, these 6.7 Power Strokes will haul!
https://i.imgur.com/FvqJPpa.jpg

We did a lot of this kind of stuff getting Maple coated peanuts ready for the T&T. By the way get the good Planters nuts! They just taste the best!
https://i.imgur.com/evZ2Wy8.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
My home built 10 gallon canner is still working well! The key to this is the piece of cheese cloth on the fill spout. Does two things. Its the last filter before the customer opens the bottle ( yes it does find things that have magically got into and through your systems) and it makes the stream of syrup go straight down into the jug! Not swirl around ! Try it! It really does work better for a big spout (1/2 inch)
https://i.imgur.com/wTwukij.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KDQbuRR.jpg

Class stickers to be applied along with date code and name label, yep always the paper work!
https://i.imgur.com/tgTtfbO.jpg

Jars of Maple Peanut Butter ready for customers. Since glass seems to be in short supply our son Adam found and ordered the nice plastic jars, which I actually like better that the glass jars. These have a one piece lid so easier for the customer to get to the product easier too! They come in a 24 pack, less costly to ship too. The plastic will break too!
https://i.imgur.com/zAq0aCi.jpg
I think we are caught up??

Hey it is 26 out! Guess what that means folks! Yes we will need to gather Saturday evening. And may be in full boil for the Tour on Sunday? Weather looks pretty good for making syrup next week too!

We have gon through about two stacks of the red oak slabs some of the chunks are way to big (perfect)!

Yea good thing I gathered that 120 gallons of not so great sap and washed the containers! Syrup might go back near Golden class?

FYI we did get to the 100 gallon make for syrup last night. Have made all three of the upper classes of syrup so far. Those couple 70 degree days were comfortable but not great for the class of syrup.

Looked at the data, and so far for 2021, think we gathered around 4700 gallons of sap from our rented trees, two neighbors, and the Great grandsons sugarbush.

Keep boiling!!!!
Regards,
Chris

[heus]

Wow Chris you have been busy!

[Ryne]

A few people from work went on the Taste and Tour...tour. Everyone said they enjoyed seeing the different setups. I boiled all day Saturday which brought by season total up to about 2 gallons of syrup. I'll be working on an efficiency improvement project this summer, but until then, I'm tapped out. Pulled the buckets Sunday afternoon even though it looked like it was a good run.

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Jason, Ryne,
Yes occasionally I get off the couch and do something!
The Taste and Tour was great it seems we have more people each year. Friends family and familiar faces (behind masks) and lots of newcomers too!
Our Maple Shop worked out very well to provide more room for visitors and to display out various maple products too. Plus it was nice and warm on a cool sunny windy weekend.

https://i.imgur.com/F3xSilu.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/OsoM2eL.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/IaPtxYz.jpg

Our products were totally gone at the end of the event except for about 6 gallons of syrup that I canned up on Sunday.

We have some rain today. May run some? We have made all classes of syrup this season. Not as light as the FiIRE & ICE process produced last season. That F&I syrup was about the lightest we have made in the 20 years we have been making syrup here. Very special!

Big Thanks to Friend Steve Yoder for coming to learn about making syrup in our sugarhouse. Steve ran the evaporator and talked about syrup production while I got to run around and visit!

Also Thanks to Cheryl, Kelly, Marly, Addi, Owen, and Martha for helping folks in the display area!

Going to try this weekend to get to a sugarhouse in Ohio very near where my Great grandfather made syrup 100 years ago.

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Maple nuts,
Well busy as usual. Worked in the shop yesterday morning and had friend Scott stop by and visit and we solved all the worlds maple issues. Then Grandson Mike and his daughter Bugga came by to chat too. Maybe she will be the maple queen someday??

Then off to NE Ohio to Gordon and Marilyn Pifer's very nice Sugarhouse event:
https://i.imgur.com/RH74ezq.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/QHSIQ6v.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/2OoXFb3.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Ai3QsDj.jpg

Back on the road to gather 400 gallons of sap with Neighbor Keith T who just decided to hang up the scoop. Keith will be 90 this August and felt he shoud stop making syrup on a high point. He had made 30 gallons of Amber and Dark this spring.

Steve Y came over and helped boil, How nice to have some one that can run the evaporator too.

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Last day of sugaring for 2021. Looks like a warming spell, and no signs of a freeze for a week or more. We will start the shut down process as we gather for the last time today. Yep glad to see it come glad to see it go. By end of today will have burned through 4 rows of wood. Each row making about 40 gallons of syrup. The read oak slabs worked good but too many big chunks that should have been split. Will be near 150 gallons + for the year. Happy with that. Made just a few gallons of Golden. Lots of Amber Rich.
Some shots of the Lapierre 12inch filter press canister. It works good for us. Several things I like about it.
https://i.imgur.com/7sZ6Wvf.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/QP8gLoi.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/mJOUWGK.jpg

Easy of handling, goes right in the sink for clean up.
Never had any blow out from pressure
Reusable filter
Quick hose disconnects
Tear down and set up is quick and easy.
Minimal waste of syrup, I rinse most of the syrup back into the evaporator after filtering.
May change the pump to air at some point rather than the gear pump.

Got to make the day a good one, and finish on a high note.
Will be bringing my 400 gallon Dari-Kool tank home from Keith's soon and plan to set it up as my dump tank behind the sugarhouse. Then can speed up the off loading of my truck if needed. Currently dumping a 325 gallon into a 250. some days that can be a issue!
My Dad's Milk tank may get retired! Its been in service doing something almost every year (milk or sap) since 1958!
Regards,
Chris

[Paddymountain]

Always read your posts Chris!
Enjoy the pictures and the knowledge you share!

[Sugarmaker]

Folks, And Paddymountian!,
Thanks, just a old man and his maple stuff!
I had a thought last night while gathering, guess I was hungry? Called the daughter and had her pick up 100 chicken wings with no coating. Invited over friends and family for the last boil of the season. We used our Maple Mustard and Maple BBQ sause on the wings. Must say they were pretty darn good!
https://i.imgur.com/PVTfwPq.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/lCSwwGH.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/oJS6N7M.jpg

Rhett and Coopers buckets rinsed and ready for next season. We are done for the year. Just the clean up to do now. Will rinse lines today, and pick up containers tomorrow. Lines will be removed after several days of drying time.
https://i.imgur.com/OakRbJJ.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
2021 is in the books! I have to get the final numbers of sap together but we ended with 230 gallons of sap yesterday, which is actually more than I expected to get, It was very warm and I gathered in shirtsleeves. We made 10 gallons of Dark Robust last night pushing the low sugar sap (1.5%) through with water. Finished the season with 156 gallons of syrup for the year. Not a record, but for us a good year. We had somewhere around 700 taps total producing sap for that amount of syrup. Ours at 620 the neighbors (Ellis') at 24, Gary at 40, Rhett and Cooper at 12.
Restocked with another 10 gallons of Amber Rich. Big thanks to Cheryl for helping me lable these too! It all takes moves and time! And I think I will can (jug) another 10 gallon of the Dark Robust we made last night.
Every time I taste some of that dark syrup it takes me back 60 years to what Dad and I made in the sugarhouse at the farm! Good stuff!
https://i.imgur.com/sDrEud9.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/4nUZEJW.jpg

We have been invited to a local Maple weekend at Asbury Woods near Erie on April 10 and 11th. They have a nice sugarhouse and will be giving guided tours of there sugarbush and evaporator room. Our job will be to have Maple products for the guests to take home if they are interested. Should be a good time. Another local well know Maple producer will be there too. Laura D. from How Sweet It Is farm.

We had a local historical buff Laura R stop at the sugarhouse last night and do some filming of our maple operation too. Mostly it was me flapping my gums! If I get the link I will try to post that here for viewing.

Did you see the trailer of the Michigan University folks filming? They will have several of us from North Western PA on there too, Looks like its going to really good info to help new folks get started into making maple!

Lots of good maple stuff happening!

Scott R stopped and helped us finish up last night. Scott has made over 250 gallons of syrup this year. He has done a great job going from a small flat pan to a smooth running maple operations in 3 years!

Regards,
Chris

[Father & Son]

Folks,
2021 is in the books! I have to get the final numbers of sap together but we ended with 230 gallons of sap yesterday, which is actually more than I expected to get, It was very warm and I gathered in shirtsleeves. We made 10 gallons of Dark Robust last night pushing the low sugar sap (1.5%) through with water. Finished the season with 156 gallons of syrup for the year. Not a record, but for us a good year. We had somewhere around 700 taps total producing sap for that amount of syrup. Ours at 620 the neighbors (Ellis') at 24, Gary at 40, Rhett and Cooper at 12.
Restocked with another 10 gallons of Amber Rich. Big thanks to Cheryl for helping me lable these too! It all takes moves and time! And I think I will can (jug) another 10 gallon of the Dark Robust we made last night.
Every time I taste some of that dark syrup it takes me back 60 years to what Dad and I made in the sugarhouse at the farm! Good stuff!
https://i.imgur.com/sDrEud9.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/4nUZEJW.jpg

We have been invited to a local Maple weekend at Asbury Woods near Erie on April 10 and 11th. They have a nice sugarhouse and will be giving guided tours of there sugarbush and evaporator room. Our job will be to have Maple products for the guests to take home if they are interested. Should be a good time. Another local well know Maple producer will be there too. Laura D. from How Sweet It Is farm.

We had a local historical buff Laura R stop at the sugarhouse last night and do some filming of our maple operation too. Mostly it was me flapping my gums! If I get the link I will try to post that here for viewing.

Did you see the trailer of the Michigan University folks filming? They will have several of us from North Western PA on there too, Looks like its going to really good info to help new folks get started into making maple!

Lots of good maple stuff happening!

Scott R stopped and helped us finish up last night. Scott has made over 250 gallons of syrup this year. He has done a great job going from a small flat pan to a smooth running maple operations in 3 years!

Regards,
Chris

Here’s the link Chris was talking about.
https://fb.watch/4qitoNwzjn/

[Sugarmaker]

Jim,
Thanks!
Folks,
I had a good visit with Jim yesterday as we set in the sugarhouse and watched a small fire heat the water vinegar mix in the pans and steamaway.
Later I decided I needed to go to Monroe Center Ohio and try to see where my Great Grandfather made syrup 100 years ago. The Shean farm is on route 7 near Hammond Corners road. Dave Shean was kind enough to take me on a tour of the farm and show me where his folks told him the old sugarhouse was.

This is a picture of GG Stump (center) unloading sap to the storage tanks: Sorry for the glare: Note he is boiling with slabs too! I knew both the Great Uncles driving the team.

Some things to note in the picture:
- Feed bag over the end of the trough to strain the sap.
- Several additional barrels to off load extra sap, just swing the upper trough over to those. then bucket it out to go to the head tank.
- Sugarhouse has steam rising for the cupola so he was boiling.
- Gathering tank is maybe 150 gallon?
- Sugarhouse window is a cloth.
- Wooden spoke wagon wheels under the load of slabs
- Tar paper roof on the sugarhouse
- No doors on the cupola/ Wait maybe there are doors folded down??
- Open buckets on trees
- Board and batten siding
- Looks to be may 12 x 20 size?
- Gravity feed off load system for easy sap unloading

Some things just dont change much in 100 years!

https://i.imgur.com/h5I7RvD.jpg

Front door of the sugarhouse. Not sure who the folks are? Maybe the first Maple Taste and Tour visitors??:
https://i.imgur.com/TTb5rQe.jpg

My Grandmother Ruby (Stump) Casbohm in the sugarhouse window:
https://i.imgur.com/Ps0IkDo.jpg

Here is the area today where we think the sugarhouse was, a low area along the creek, with the bank where the sap was brought to be unloaded: This is Dave standing near the sugarhouse, the team would have been up behind him:
https://i.imgur.com/hPxKfUR.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
If you travel Route 7 south of Conneaut Oh. This farm is near the highway on the west side of the road:
https://i.imgur.com/VQSDonz.jpg?1

Here is my sugarhouse with the pans in clean up mode a small fire under the pans filled with 4 gallons of vinegar mixed with water. Steamaway is filled with water and 2 gallons of vinegar in there with the bubbler on.:
https://i.imgur.com/7fCteKl.jpg

Off to rinse/ sanitize short run tubing lines.
If your still tapped: Keep boiling!
Regards,
Chris

[Pdiamond]

Chris your four legged partner appears to be getting pretty white in the face.

[Sugarmaker]

Yes Maggie is only 8 but has a lot of white. She has to live with old folks, its not easy!
We have the sap container system picked up lines are rinsed and are draining. Will pick them up and store in the rafters of the sugarhouse.
2021 is in the books. Ok I still need to get the numbers together for the year.
Another maple event in 2 weeks. So time to make more value added products.
Daughter brought over 6 boxes of Honey from the bees that died out this year(4 of 5 hives) She just ordered 4 packages of honey bees to try again.
Regards,
Chris

[heus]

Looks like you had a great year Chris. Do you remove your pans and clean the underside of the flues?

[Pdiamond]

OUCH 4 out of 5 that is an expensive loss. What kind of bees are you getting?

[Sugarmaker]

OUCH 4 out of 5 that is an expensive loss. What kind of bees are you getting?

I dont know? Kelly ordered them. Hopefully ones that live and make honey and aren't too mean!:)

Well I saw buckets still up and some tubing still plugged in down in Springboro PA, and we are at 32 here. So maybe there will be a run in next few days?
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Got 1/3 of the tubing systems down and hung up in the sugarhouse.
Next dry day, I will try to get the rest of the shortrun tubing systems taken down, rolled up and brought home.
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
All maple production systems are back in the sugarhouse. Rinsed sanitized and hung up.
Cheryl and I made Maple Cotton Candy yesterday:

https://i.imgur.com/eVC82DM.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/puTIFTS.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/BlF5xVQ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KxGz3L3.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Made some of the sauces to restock the shelves too:
Maple Mustard:
https://i.imgur.com/RXne9AO.jpg

And Maple BBQ:
https://i.imgur.com/CpdB882.jpg

Also Maple Peanut butter is a big hit:
https://i.imgur.com/0tykt75.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/HAVVzsd.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Some candy:
https://i.imgur.com/gX65hct.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Maple Trader folks,
I am looking forward to another maple season for 2022. Having been active and involved for about 65 years helping with or making maple syrup, it just seems like the thing to do as spring arrives again.
Most of our maple production systems are not going to change for 2022. Tap count with the friends and neighbors will remain at about 700 ish. Working on moving our final syrup canning and value added products into the new shop only a few steps from the sugarhouse. Its warmer and more comfortable in there!:)
Like all areas of the sugaring region we have been affected by Covid-19 and variants. We have lost several good sugaring friends in our area.
Wishing you all the best in the coming maple season.
Regards,
Chris and family

[Skeller001]

You have me beat by a few years and a few trees. This will be my 4th season and I have about 15 trees to tap. I get enough syrup for my family each year and have fun doing it.

[Sugarmaker]

Steve,
Years and tap count don't tell the story, its the "grins per gallon" that keep us going!:)
Its all work what ever the outcome. Just don't tell anybody!
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Well several sugarmakers in our region have completed tapping gathered sap and maybe even boiled once.
Our small operation is still getting things ready. We may complete the tapping this afternoon. As Gary R is planning to come you from down south and help me set taps on the remaining 400+ spouts.
Some tanks are cleaned. Dumping station is clean and tested. Sugarhouse has been so cold that not much has happened in there. Need a few hours to clean and rinse holding tanks and the evaporator and should be ready to lite the fire. Wood (5 cord) of mixed hardwood slabs are in the wood shed, dry and ready. Additional room in the sugarhouse as we have moved the maple and honey kitchen to the warmer shop. Should make it much more comfortable to make value added products!
At my best getting the short fun tubing systems up with the help of friend Dale S.,:
https://i.imgur.com/V1eP6sa.jpg

Truck leg tank ready:
https://i.imgur.com/WhUn1Cm.jpg

Testing the dump and pump systems:
https://i.imgur.com/xDw7QHg.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/riQg4bt.jpg

Inspection complete, water test passed, taps going in, defomer ready, starting to look a lot like maple season!
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Maple Folks.
Big thanks to Gary R, for coming up and helping me install the final taps.
https://i.imgur.com/TLSNEwB.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Gary R]

It was a great time helping my mentor out yesterday. I’m from his neck of the woods, I forgot just how much poison ivy there is up there. I boiled a few days ago and we’re boiling 200 gallons right now. Should make syrup in an hour or so.

[Ryne]

I tapped yesterda. 12 in my woods and 4 in the neighbor's yard. Checked buckets this evening and most were 1/4 to 1/3 full. While I was checking buckets, a deer came out of nowhere and almost ran me over.

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
https://i.imgur.com/Mcf25ZB.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/5S2ugVX.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Dz6QfYT.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/cezFlbM.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
https://i.imgur.com/Egdjgpa.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/2rdG9J1.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8nSw8dY.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/dtONt6D.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Dennis T from Ohio brought some sap to boil:
https://i.imgur.com/o99r2Lr.jpg

Friend John K. firing:
https://i.imgur.com/czlzsOM.jpg

First boil in 2022 on the old 3 x 10 King:
https://i.imgur.com/tNN8QP7.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/CNNVvVJ.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Good to get some steam going:
https://i.imgur.com/GMen85Q.jpg

Pans are sweet we now wait for Ma Nature.
Regards,
Chris

[Skeller001]

WOW Chris... That is one heck of a setup!

[Z/MAN]

Looks good Chris. How are you posting such beautiful photos when everyone else is having problems trying to post photos?

[Sugarmaker]

Z/MAN, Skeller, Folks,
Thanks on the sugarhouse. it works but has been several years getting it tuned in. Have rebuilt the arch a couple years ago an it works well with some basic upgrades like AOF.
Picture? Well I dont use photobucket any more. I use a software called imgur to hold my resized photos. I have about 8,000 + of them. I use a Android to take the pictures, then resize them to 800 x 400 ish pixel using Photo Resizer app. It is a bunch of work but most of the time they post up easy and are pretty good quality for these forums. There are many other ways to accomplish the same thing I am sure!
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Maple Folks,
Working in the shop kitchen the last few days making sauces:
https://i.imgur.com/Vqep7bP.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/cLOuXgk.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/frB4W1Q.jpg

hope to gather again tomorrow and maybe make some syrup!
The great grandsons tapped there sugarbush in the back yard a couple days ago but it has been too cold to run.
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Gathered 600 gal of 2.2% sap last night before the freezing cold temps hit again.
https://i.imgur.com/bUZoVtA.jpg

Jim (Father and Son) came over this morning and helped me boil raw sap into finished syrup on the old wood fired King arch!
We made 24 gallons of syrup, All Amber syrup, great flavor.

Two of the great grandkids were here today and visited the sugarhouse several times to check out the fire.
https://i.imgur.com/RKYE6iP.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/FqmNyP7.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/tCeMlHi.jpg



Warm weather coming for the weekend. I had a sap pump go dead last night. Will try to improvise till a new one arrives.

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Sap pump back on line. EE Friend found a bad wire somewhere. He rewired the system from the truck to the pump. Ready for sap today!
It will be a typical busy week making syrup and getting maple items ready for the public a week from now!
Hope things are good in Maple Land!
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Still here making syrup!
Another small last night. Out comes some nice Dark robust syrup.
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Some shots from the weekend:
https://i.imgur.com/8HVHk1M.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/WRNadwx.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/uhzMzDb.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/lewGIpW.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

cont:
https://i.imgur.com/aYazf0T.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ZV5Lg2i.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/7zmOhUl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/FnlTIOi.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
https://i.imgur.com/e4Cf52V.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Ywqmm56.jpg

Maple Taste and Tour in a blizzard! It was great! Had lots of fun!
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Maple folks,
Still plodding along making syrup when sap is there!
https://i.imgur.com/YOvU4jJ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/TuQNEBI.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/GzbmmUq.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jaERp0B.jpg

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
https://i.imgur.com/euu3Dz6.jpg

We have about 120 gallons so far. Weather is too warm to run till early next week. May need to get the syrup boiled in, that is in the rig.
https://i.imgur.com/2wTGgrE.jpg

Visited a couple other sugarhouses in the area that were doing just fine carrying on the maple sugaring traditions!

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Maple folks,
Could we be done! Well the seasons seem to be getting shorter! We completed 130 gallons of syrup Amber, Dark and a little Very Dark.
Cheryl watching the rig:
https://i.imgur.com/cgczdVk.jpg

Family in the sugarhouse, That's what its all about, and the main reason I built it. Great grand daughter Chloe is enjoying the warm heat while she sleeps in her moms arms.
https://i.imgur.com/XsKCAE3.jpg

Cheryl and I on probably the last night to boil this season!
https://i.imgur.com/VUDQxoC.jpg

Probably a lot of sugarmakers have maple leaf tattos? Being the wird guy that I am, I had maple leaf art work added to the dental crown installed on St. Patrick's day. Strange but true!:)

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

In what is known around here as the Bortles zone! Which means as your syrup is being drawn off the temp doesnt get higher than .3 above the setpoint. The rig is running pretty good at that time. Phrase comes from Father and Son!
https://i.imgur.com/BL3I7tL.jpg

The old King rig just coasting along.
https://i.imgur.com/VB1OMmB.jpg

Making some darker syrup:
https://i.imgur.com/IRnaM6S.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/xnw1S4s.jpg

Hope your syrup is great! Keep on boiling!
Regards,
Chris

[Ryne]

I pulled buckets Saturday morning and did some playing with the RO while I boiled off the last 10 gallons. Ran though twice and ended up with around 6%. Made a nice little batch for maple BBQ sauce. Ended up with about 3 gallons total. The RO definitely helped keep me on track this year.

[Sugarmaker]

Ryne, Folks,
Have stuck a fork in it for the season. Lines all rinsed and draining in the bush. Will pick up the containers in a day or so. Have the evaporator and steam away filled with vinegar water solution and a small fire. Weather is way too warm for too long. Dumped 200 gallons of sap yesterday as I moved through the roadside sugarbush. Most all of it was cloudy and gray, just after a day or so.
Syrup sales are brisk. And we have been invited to Asbury Woods Nature center for their Maple Weekend April 2 and 3 from 10-4. Should be a good time.
Hope things are good in in the Sugarbush!
Keep on boiling!
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Cheryl and I picked up the sap containers and bases.
Drained the evaporator after heating with the vinegar in the pans and steam away.
Yesterday Great grandson Cooper had a good time helping with the evaporator clean up! The water was only luke warm as he was playing with the scoops and stainless stuff. I had just started the fire to warm the full pans.

https://youtu.be/prQ7OfYWpbk

Several visitors came to the sugarhouse and the Maple kitchen today. Canned another 10 gallons of Amber Rich this morning and made a batch of Maple mustard this afternoon.
Cold weekend weather coming. Sap may run again? We will see! Several local sugarmakers are ready to make some additional syrup!

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Several local sugarhouse are still making syrup. Darker but good flavor. Also heard that there may have been some metabolic flavors detected in some of this later syrup. I guess I continue to learn things: You can hear the peepers every night until you get a warm rain and then the season is done. Man I need to brush up on this peeper thing and the weather. Our family records indicate they were making syrup about 200 years ago and they never passed that down to me!!

So I sanitized, scrubbed and rinsed the sap containers today and have them draining and drying in the sugarhouse. Boy is it nice to have the sugarhouse open without as many items in it!

Our weekend at Asbury Woods in Erie was awesome. Many visitors sampled our maple syrup and value added products and they took most of it home with them!:) We tried our hand at making maple coated popcorn. Learned some things: Like sift out the unpopped kernels before coating the popcorn. I made a sive and kernel catcher that made that job easy.
https://i.imgur.com/Z0a7PuN.jpg

Next will be to pick up the tubing in the sugarbush that has been rinsed and is drip drying/ draining. A dry warm day makes that project go much easier. about 30 rolls of the short run tubing and drops will be brought back to the sugarhouse. I will color code the roles to indicate which third of the sugarbush they go in. The rolls will be hung in the sugarhouse rafters until next season.

Hope things are good in maple land!
Keep boiling (if you are still in the game) Or you can go to other sugarhouses and visit!

Regards,
Chris

[Ed R]

Chris, The 100 year old adage in my family is that you can make good syrup for 2 weeks after you hear the first "frogs" if you have the right "syrup weather". It's been pretty spot on and why I held out till this past week and weekends run. Made some real good tasting dark syrup here on the west end of Lake Erie. I'm pulling taps tonight.

[Sugarmaker]

Ed, Folks,
Well you would have been spot on with that prediction this year. There was some additional syrup to be made this season. We wrapped up a little early. Things to do and had two big maple events for us. So we were very busy. Sure feels good to be done, with every thing put away for the season. Now to make some maple products for our great customers! Just doing prototype development work on a somewhat new maple product this afternoon too. Got to keep moving and moving maple!
Regards,
Chris

[TapTapTap]

In what is known around here as the Bortles zone! Which means as your syrup is being drawn off the temp doesnt get higher than .3 above the setpoint. The rig is running pretty good at that time. Phrase comes from Father and Son!


And what's the name of the condition when the temperature exceeds the 0.3 rise?

[Sugarmaker]

Ken,
That would be how i normally make syrup. Hard for me to stay in the zone with wood fire and 5 foot syrup pan. Haven't come up with a name for that yet:)
Happy Easter!
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Maple folks,
Yes still here and making syrup too. We set up the roadside sugar bush in late January, and tapped February 5th. We have boiled almost every day with good to very good runs on our gravity 625 taps. Syrup class was right at the golden/ amber line. We made 85 about 95 gallons of that. Ast night we went from amber to dark as we finished another 12 gallons.
Weather has warmed and stopped sap flow today. Looks like another day or so and we will be back at it.
We are pleased with the quantity and quality of the syrup too.
So far one of the best seasons in 20 years. Over 5% of our normal season made in 10 days with 9 boils!
I have pictures just need to load them.

Off topic:
The 1932 Ford dump truck has a new rebuilt engine installed an is running good!

Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Maple folks,
Well yes I am still here and trying to make syrup again for another year. Cheryl and I have been making syrup here for 23 years! The season has started earlier this year. Just the way the forecast looks this year! Tap count remains right around 625. We hope to make some syrup tomorrow evening. The pans are sweet with 350 gallons of 2% sap boiled in yesterday. We tapped last Tuesday and Wednesday. Gathered sap Thursday and boiled Friday. For the first time in my syrup making I saw a distinct difference in sap produced from trees down in the valley by the creeks vs trees that got just a little frost up at higher elevations. 200 low elevation taps produced about 50 gallons, 200 taps up on the colder hill produced the other 300 gal. I didn't even go check the other 200 because they are lower and were only tapped the day before.
All our syrup is gone from last season.
Looking forward to the 2024 season, Several other sugar-house's are gearing up to tap or have already made syrup in our area.
A good freeze tonight should produce some good runs this coming week.
Good luck in your maple season!
Regards,
Chris and Cheryl