SmellsLikeSyrup NH 2020 (SMD Maple Syrup)

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Happy 2021!!

Hopefully things get a lot better than this past year and we can return to some sense of normalcy.

Big year for me at SMD Maple, my wife and I welcomed twin boys on Nov 16th. Mom and the boys are both doing well, we are getting a lot less sleep and the house is a bit noisier but overall we are very happy and excited about our new additions.

On the maple side of things, I continue to tinker and try and improve my setup and capacity. I have a new property I am tapping this year that has the potential to be over 500 taps. My biggest issue with it is, 1) its not mine, and 2) the location of where I can put my collection tank. I think I have a solution for this season, but as it expands I need to come up with something better. I will be running a Shurflo pump and 5/16 lines this year on it. I will have 200 taps on this bush and after I see the results I will decide and plan out my expansion to tap it all using real mainlines and laterals for next year and increasing the tap count.

On my own property I ran 1500ft of 3/4" mainline and I have 27 laterals on 3 branches from the mainline for a total of 250 taps. I will run that with a 2 stage 12CFM pump and a Bender Releaser. Im kind of excited and curious to see how this will work out.

I rebuilt my RO again, just laid out the system differently on the dolly I am using and I added flow meters. There is more I would like to do to the RO, such as putting in a pressure switch. I am just hesitant to install anything else that will restrict flow. The switches Ive seen only seem to have a 1/2" port and with everything else on the RO being bigger than that I dont want to risk it being hampered or slowed down.

I'll update as the season goes along.

-SMD Maple

[Pdiamond]

Smells like syrup,
Congrats on the twin boys. I'll just give you a heads up now remember the 2 hour feeding schedule. In about 14 years it is going to return only in larger portions. Sounds like you are going to be a busy man. Don't get so big that it takes the fun out of making syrup. make sure you can handle what you are planning to do. I know Maple flats has some experience with the WX15 pumps. From what I can remember reading on the forum you should be able to pump your sap with this.

[LMP Maple]

Good luck on the season and congrats on the twins. Sounds like you are building a good workforce for the future. Wont be much longer down here in Hudson. Would like to see a little more cold before I get started. Any land yours or not is a blessing down here as most of it is being stripped and developed. I have been looking for the past year with no luck. Let us know when you get rolling!

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Tapped 660 on Friday. I really thought it was going to take me at least 2 days to get them all done, but that new DeWalt 20v with MES tapping bit just flies through the trees.

Yesterday the sap was flowing for me in Merrimack, not enough to boil but it was nice to see the ShurFlo setups pumping sap through the lines. I got about 20 gallons but I am not collecting it until I have enough to sweeten my pans.

Starting to get a little nervous about my Bender Releaser setup. If I disconnect the pump and hold my finger over the inlet my gauges shoots right to 28Hg and just sits there. Definitely plenty of vacuum power. Connected back to my lines going through the Bender I am seeing 10-15Hg, with the needle just bouncing non stop. Im hoping once the sap starts flowing and the Checkvalves can close properly I see better results than that. I am going to be pretty disappointed if its not sitting at at least 20Hg. Maybe my expectations are too high? Wont know for sure until its running. Im hoping by Wednesday with the projected 50 degree day I will see lots of flows.

-SMD

[red maples]

you tapped that many in one day? 1. thats a long day in the woods. 2. thats moving... I bought a new Dewalt 20v drill last year as my old 18v was just not getting it done any more and the chuck was loosening up. the 20v will twist your wrist off if it catches. Haven't tried the MES bits. I use the canadian bits from bascom's they have been pretty reliable, although last year I got a bad one just kept catching. got a really good one this year.

If you are only getting 10 to 15 Hg yesterday with a little sap in the lines you have a leak that freezing thawing which is why the needle is moving. when there is liquid in the lines the air is cooled that is sucking in through the leak or leaks. when the ice plugs it up the vacuum goes up when it thaws lets in more air and vacuum goes down. this will happen alot especially when temps are around 33-38 degrees. today will be a good day to start chasing leaks. once things get flowing just a little. its gonna take a few days for the trees to get really going anyway. just in time for the freeze on friday.

good luck!!!

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Hey Brad,
YES!!! I got them all done in 1 day. I started at 7am and finished about 5pm. 5 Hour Energy drinks were the ticket LOL

The bit found a few dead spots on some trees, when that happened it just sucks the bit right into the tree. I had to use the Reverse to get them out. I think it happened 4 times. Shocks you at 1st when it happens.

As for the Vac issue, I walked the line on Sunday and definitely found a few leaks already. A few Saddles needed to be squeezed on tighter. The Bender design in itself is going to have some leaking. Even if my lines are 100% tight Im still never going to get 28Hg with a Bender for a releaser. Next year, once I make a few $$$ this season, I will use the cash and get a real releaser.

[red maples]

Last year I got a new electric horizontal releaser from MES. its $$$$ but I love it. Had to save a little for that one had to build a new heated insulated 6 x 8 shed too. continuous vacuum is the way to go if you can do it. depending on how your set up is you can do it for cheaper with a verticle releaser but my wood are VERY flat so I needed something very low and MES doesn't have a manifold in their design it just goes right in to the main tank. so it sits lower. And the VFD comes already programed (although the directions were wired backwards and the switchbox was wired backwards as well). Its much easier on the Vacuum pump as well and never have a reverse flow in the lines each time it dumps. I wanted to get a new vac pump this year too but since 2020 sucked for sales overall(no maple weekend) and no fall craft fairs etc. the funds weren't there. Hope you get some sap today.

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Thanks Brad, I had contacted MES about a releaser and they told me they didnt make one rated for 250 taps. I was hoping for a smaller unit, but no luck. Im pretty handy, maybe I will make one once the season is over or I will look for something that meets my needs.

Already 39 in Merrimack, let it flow!!!

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Wanted to show a little video of my sap running last night around 930 using my Bender releaser. As fun as it is to see this system actually work I am sure its going to be a 1 season thing for me. I am losing 5-7Hg by default using the Bender with their design not really allowing for an airtight system. Dont get me wrong, I am happy, its working, but I am greedy and want better performance lol.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OdI97l18gs

[n8hutch]

Do you have a check valve in your sap line? How are you loosing 7" how much vac are you pulling? Just trying to figure out the whys

[raptorfan85]

I think bender releasers have a designed leak to operate properly. They can't handle high vacuum.

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Hi Nate,
You can hear it leaking out from under the cap where the rod seats down. I dont see anyway to actually fix it. It sort of is what it is. I do have check valves on the incoming and outgoing ports.

Other issue im struggling with is the float will move up the chamber and as long as it has a good flow to make it trip the seal everything is fine. If the float is raising and its getting a small surge of sap and get only enouugh to raise the float to crack the seal it will get stuck and then nothing moves. Vacuum just leaks out and nothing flows in. I added some weight to see if that would fix it and its still happening. Not sure how to resolve that one yet.



Do you have a check valve in your sap line? How are you loosing 7" how much vac are you pulling? Just trying to figure out the whys

[n8hutch]

How many taps on that thing, just by that short video it appears that it might be undersized. Looked like it was trying to dump quite often. You could probably stick a half horse goulds on your outlet and pump your sap from the releaser. I've got an electric lappiere single vertical releaser that I bought last year, I think it was about 12-1300 all in. Works great. Something maybe for next year, you could even buy an older releaser and retro fit a pump to it, you don't need to spend 2-3 grand to have an electric releaser.

[maple flats]

What is you question about the Honda WX15? I might be able to help. It certainly appears that the Bender is too small. Do I understand correctly, you're using a ShurFlo for vacuum? If yes, why a releaser? Did I miss something?

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Hey Dave, not sure where the Question is about the Honda? That wasnt me.

I have a 12CFM Chinese Vacuum pump attached to the Bender. I have ShurFlos on my other sections. I will get a real good test of how this thing works over the next few days. I plan to be off from work so I can monitor and see if I can adjust if it keeps getting stuck. I changed the angle of the line feeding into it this weekend slightly and now it has a 30+ft section that will flow directly downwards to the releaser. My thought being that if it somehow gets stuck that any flow coming down the line should put enough sap into it to finish the trip of the valve and let it release properly.

Im learning, its my 1st year using a system like this. I will get better at it.

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Had 475 gallons of Sap on Thursday night to run through the RO. Took about 3 hours to get it up to 8% and down to about 170 gallons of concentrate to boil. Made 13 gallons and bottled it all on Saturday morning. Looks to be a great week ahead and hopefully I get to see the Bender system finally working as I had hoped it would. I found a leak in one of my laterals that had been stumping me and my Hg is now up to 20. This warm up will really let me see if all the effort I put into setting this thing up was worth it. I am sure it will be.