Tapped in Essex County

[sams64]

I used to post in the Rowley thread I started a few years ago, but, figured that Essex County would be a good for more folks to post in.

After skipping last year I am anxious to get back at it this year. I have not tapped yet, but, the weather report for this week is telling me I had better get my butt in gear. Is anyone else tapped yet?

sam

[eustis22]

Tapping Wednesday in Haverhill

[eustis22]

Tapped in Haverhill.....was gushing pretty good. Still is.

I recently acquire a couple of 40-in 400 gpd membranes in stainless steel housings so the next immediate task is re-plumbing my RO configuration to handle the much heavier housings.

[eustis22]

So far I've boiled out about100 gallons, the pan is sweetened. I did an impromptu boil last night after pumping out my barrels before the big freeze because it is a PITA waiting for barrels/holding tank to thaw out. I had to shut down early because I was not prepared to draw but the syrup channel hit 217. I still have about 30 gallons to be boiled but the niter buildup is very heavy and I need to do a pan cleaning tomorrow before the next boil. Somehow, water got into my Sap tank over the summer and crudded up the tank so I swapped it with my permeate tank and am foregoing ROing until I can get it cleaned out.

http://mapletrader.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=22086&stc=1

[Buffalo Plaid]

Looks like you've got a nice gradient going in the pan.

[KiO]

Looking good! I'm into my second week and have boiled 15 gallons twice thus far. We only have 9 taps in Billerica.

[berkshires]

So far I've boiled out about100 gallons, the pan is sweetened.

Oh wow, it took 100 galls to sweeten your Mason 2x3? This is my first full season on the same evaporator, and I was hoping to sweeten the pan with half that much sap. How deep do you run? What's the sugar percent in your sap?

Cheers,

GO

[eustis22]

Well, no, the gradient was established before I hit the 100 Gal mark. In fact, I am near to drawing off my first batch of syrup with my next boil. I will get back to you on my sugar content. Used to be 1-1.5% but I just read that tapping higher on trees may increase the sugar content and this the first year I have used 3-foot drops on all my tubing/buckets so perhaps I have a higher concentration going? Dunno. Will see next boil. We were boiling pretty fast, guestimate is 10 gph (I have AUF on my XL). I will time it next time. You know how those boiling sodas get.

[eustis22]

Not whelmed by the massive increase in temps projected for next week. It better not jump right into summer.

[sams64]

I go tapped a little late and still have not started to biol yet (everything is ice at the moment). I hope this week's temps don't bring things to a sudden stop. If I get one more good day of sap I'll probably cover the syrup we consume in a year, but, I certainly won't have any to share.

sam

[eustis22]

looks like it will dial back down to normal by the weekend so theres at least one more recharge for the trees ahead :)

[eustis22]

So I measured my sap......2%...which is high for my trees. So that's good.

Found out the scratches in my Mason pan were caused by Mr Mason during the construction process, which makes ME feel better that I didn't cause them. On the other hand, why I didn't notice them right off bothers me as yet another indictment of my powers of observation. I have some 3000 grit sandpaper I may try on a small area to see if I can buff them out a little after the season.

So I switched my RO membranes from 4 150 GPD 14" to 2 400 GPD 40" (and upgraded the pump to handle the bigger throughput) and am finally able to do the rinse/wash/rinse cycle for new membranes. BUT....I don't know if I want to mix RO sap with the non-RO sap already in the pan with these new membranes......the temps indicate I can RO all night this week w/o damaging the membranes and I AM anticipating pulling 125+ gallons during this warm spell so I DO want to try the RO....maybe I will just do this upcoming batch of sap on the RO and see how it comes out.

[eustis22]

Well scratch Plan A....I could not get any permeate out of the line after hooking up to my sap tank so I will boil what % I have the old fashioned way and try tinkering with the apparatus during down times, of which I expect very little for the next week. My pump kept shutting down at 50 PSI as well.

http://mapletrader.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=22184&stc=1

[eustis22]

So Plan B worked with the 8852 pump. Got the PSI up to 90 and ran about 30 gallons to 5%. I have to RO some more in order to get the 20+ I will need to boil it and I will boil that separately from the pure sap I have been boiling, just in case. Will have to boil it fast because of the warmth. You don't want to let that sap sit around too long before getting in the stove.

[sams64]

Eustis, you've been way busier than me. I finally got to boil this weekend and it took me all of both days to get through about 200+ gallon of raw sap. (no RO for me yet).

I did find a much better way of getting pallet wood. I've been cutting up old pallets to burn and then found a pallet company that sells bags of cut pallets for $30. These are big bags that fill a 40" x 48" pallet about 3' - 4' tall. There are a ton of blocks in the bag that don't load as quickly as longer lengths, but, save a ton of time overall.

I'm waiting for my new hydrometer to show up so that I can finish the 5 gallons of nearup that I have boiled down. Based on the forecast for this week I'm expecting to do it all again next weekend.

Sam

[eustis22]

200 gallons in 2 days??? That's a LOT. Sounds like a great find for the pallet wood (assuming it's pine).

Sadly, I was trying to soap wash the RO yesterday and, as I was switching the lines to the soap bucket my pump isssued a large set of bubbles and has now stopped sucking fluid. Sent an email to aquatec and now off to the RO forum for possible diagnosis.

[sams64]

It was a long 2 days outside. This morning I felt like I had had the crap kicked out of me. I really need to finish the sugar shack I started 2 years ago and then build the RO that I have had in mind for 4 or 5 years.

The pallet wood that I got is a pretty even mix of hard and soft wood. There are a bunch of oak stringers and blocking mixed in. The blocks (majority of what I got) do burn a little slower than decking material, but, did well once I got the loading times dialed in.

sam

[eustis22]

I don't care for hardwoods, myself. They form coals and those just take forever to die down and after 7-8 hours of boiling I want to shut down and hit the couch. With just pine the time between Last Firing and "Ok to leave the pan by itself" is way shorter.

[sams64]

That's for sure. I sat out Sunday evening for half an hour inthe freezing wind waiting for it to feel safe enough to head for the house.

sam

[eustis22]

I think today may be It for me. I simply have no way to keep sap cold enough to nit have to boil daily. I did get two fantastic days of collecting friday and saturday, giving me the most in the tank at one time this whole season:

http://mapletrader.com/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=22281&stc=1

So we boiled about half of that and I decided I will RO whats left and whatever yesterday and today give me to collect and then that will be that....I may achieve my 7+ gallons regular season yet. I haven't finished anything merely refrigerated whatever Near I have gotten so that will probably be the weekend plan after I condense everything down to one pot.

[sams64]

I collected about 30 gallons yesterday and did a nice after work boil. It was probably my last one, but, I've got some wood left so if it runs today I may boil one more last time.

I'm also not finished out yet. I have been working my batches down and should have everything processed and bottled by the end of the weekend. I'm hoping for 5 gallons finished at this time. I've done more int he past, but 5 would be pretty good for my effort level this year.

sam

[sams64]

Well its all done for the year. Everything is cleaned up and put away until next season.

My final tally was 7 gallons off of ~40 taps and a moderate level of effort. I'm happy with it and now its time to get the garden planted and the boats up and running.

sam

[eustis22]

New stack

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https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/E_40PM6ycA5eT-X4AeofAN0ZkQ99amYy-aQVnDwV7qTIQeYerlZCyASiUYwLfN4kmgpafHL_G4CUlsdhfTT WW__4J4h-NPjkCvKtqgI5v2UAXSLZWNi1zixPCso7p2SPQyHUiOup-ZXQj2VyrTEUgFxlkl0B13Os7kDeHCuI5Y9L5-ZUjOICLSMglRiSfPVB62eLAEL56JRtDjNAOsO0bFQlZLQz7g0x jBZHqrS7M9dy5JFmNChRUy8OYN7E95LxmFIS91t42uGo2KxAzg _pj7uDGcpYn0VebbUWha0z3cEjMiK_0DT3rjORPY8lslZ9Mpr7 MGSYIepQLG809i8g1TobP_6gV9Luh3on2K0b_qXf-gIXuFfzhjR2C_0STvjQZStwy5l8QG71R-3e-fqjZasyTDjl-CyyV1zaS1S7IOaVDrz_QX1_Cp59ZP7bU5pgE7p1w5JKcShdaxe J1BxdqdevFCPP5wnkyxAjAzggTGW4DxFNU5d_uFIbx9Elq8M_0 kXIEvdx6JP4HAlOpm0E9zp3ru55ZVxfcoHI1Bub0Ja0khKVouy xhmxddu2-hoYeLqGLUDVXUZSmmuVf392dsBWNxhx9qqrvEKdh3USF6pkCVj NgvBjmTb55RI4FlBmIWHPeJ-9piPMhktCzE8BI0aVtI80uQj2imbq1gx9yILNkgY9edf0rrJRN JnoUlgJ7hKq1eYhRAlKbi9JDJ-scfuiA=w738-h983-no?authuser=0

[eustis22]

Got my first tubing tapped, sapped is gushing....some buckets are out there too. I broke my scapula last week so I have some friends providing local labor for the two handed tasks

[DMF]

Ugh! Hope you feel better soon. It's nice to have good friends you can count on. Blessed!

[eustis22]

you know I used to read about some of the preseason issues the larger producers have getting ready and never thought it would happen to me but..

1) burned out RO pump trying to move thru two 4X40 membranes

2) first boil canceled due to not enough sap

3) shack power strip burned out

4) ordered new 400GPD membranes but they don't fit the old 150GPD housings

5) bigger housings are either out of stock or outrageously priced

6) Valve on IBC tote sprung a leak and had to do an emergency pump into buckets to save what I had

7) reconfiguring collection barrels to drain from below (while layng on their side) so to empty them completely when draining failed because I forgot that the sap inside the drain spout would freeze solid. had to go back to the bung valves to drain

all this with a broken scapula that would have ended my season if not for the volunteer efforts of friends who really enjoy the boiling soda get-togethers

That being said, we got the pans sweetened boiling 50 gallons last night and this freeze is coming at the right time as I need a pause for surgery.

[sams64]

I hope surgery goes smoothly for you Eustis.

I finally got everything tapped yesterday afternoon. I'm feeling like I may have started a bit late, but too much other stuff on my plate to get it all done before now.

I'm glad we got that last push of snow as it allowed me to snow blow a big pile to cover my collection buckets. I can only boil on weekends, so it helps to gave a good refrigeration system.

sam

[eustis22]

Well, in the continuing Season of Suck up here on the Mountain, my first ROing was.....underwhelming. from just under 2% (in itself a minor miracle) my single post 400 gpd membrane brought the sap to...a rousing 2+%. So I ran it thru again and got it up to 2.5%. I ran the first pass thru at 100 psi and the second about 115 but the optimal for this membrane is 100 PSI. I would have used 2 membranes in series but I stupidly overtorqued a fitting and broke it inside the housing. I will try to drill that out later top try to save the housing.

I have ~180 gallons in the tank right now with probably another 70-90 to collect tomorrow and its gonna be life n death to get it all boiled before a) it goes bad or 2) I run out of wood.

[eustis22]

Anyone in the area use a CDL Vaccuum filter? I could use some how-tos on it.

[eustis22]

Guess not :). Thankfully there was a whole thread devoted to it. Anyways, season totals were down, but I will take what I can get after my injury.

[eustis22]

Anyone in Essex co. with a DIY RO system that they are happy with and woudn't mind showing off?

[eustis22]

Guess not. Anyways, tapped in Haverhill, just the lines as I broke my tapping bit before I could do the buckets. I don't see any leaks outside the bulkhead fitting on one of my collection barrels.

[berkshires]

Guess not. Anyways, tapped in Haverhill, just the lines as I broke my tapping bit before I could do the buckets. I don't see any leaks outside the bulkhead fitting on one of my collection barrels.

I did that last year. :( This season I brought three bits with me! Better safe than sorry, especially when it's a two hour drive each way.

GO

[eustis22]

So far, 60 gallons boiled..I am close to a draw but it's the lightest I've ever seen it. The warm spell has me shut down fr the most part as the taps aren't running too much. I hope to restart Sunday.

[eustis22]

So this happened...before the Big Freeze I had 20-25 gallons in my sap tank that I hadn't gotten to yet (in hindsight I should have boiled that off and emptied the tank). Keep in mind we had a warmish spell before the single digits....so this sap had been...well...not fresh outta the tree. So now my tank is thawing out and I'm debating if I should boil that warmed then frozen sap or just pitch it and start anew with the fresh stuff. Thoughts?

also, judging by my sap hydrometer on some draw off, I am drawing off way too dense, which is weird because I just replaced my pan thermometer with one of those 0-50 jobs that has a mark at 7 fr mapling. I usually just go by temp for drawoff but I will starting taking some density readings going forward at +5, +4, whatever it takes. I have always been worried that I will break my sap hydrometer out in the shaque but I guess I should just order a couple more as just in casers.....anyone use a Murphy Cup?

[Pdiamond]

I have the Murphy cup and wouldn't be without it. I started making syrup by just guessing and using the old spoon run down application. Now, no more guessing I hit density right on the button every time and adjust when I need to. I know they have gone up in price since I bought mine but I would buy one again if something happened to it.

[berkshires]

So this happened...before the Big Freeze I had 20-25 gallons in my sap tank that I hadn't gotten to yet (in hindsight I should have boiled that off and emptied the tank). Keep in mind we had a warmish spell before the single digits....so this sap had been...well...not fresh outta the tree. So now my tank is thawing out and I'm debating if I should boil that warmed then frozen sap or just pitch it and start anew with the fresh stuff. Thoughts?

If it passes the smell test IMO it's fine. And in my experience frozen sap lasts more or less indefinitely. But it's your syrup, so you be the judge. That said, some of my tastiest dark syrup has been from sap I thought was borderline at the end of the season.

GO

[eustis22]

Well the tossed sap has become Moo as my trees are all producing at a prodigious rate (almost as if they know this is their last year of tapping). I am almost not able to keep up with the sap flow and will try to RO today to cut down some of the build up. I anticipate another 130 gallions to go into the tank today and may have to stop collecting for a couple days because I have to head up to maine for the weekend.

[johnpjackson]

Well the tossed sap has become Moo as my trees are all producing at a prodigious rate (almost as if they know this is their last year of tapping). I am almost not able to keep up with the sap flow and will try to RO today to cut down some of the build up. I anticipate another 130 gallions to go into the tank today and may have to stop collecting for a couple days because I have to head up to maine for the weekend.

Their last year?? :cry:

[eustis22]

I will be moving to Maine this fall. Not to worry, there is a whole new sugarbush where I am going.

Got the RO going but the pump is being balky.

[johnpjackson]

I will be moving to Maine this fall. Not to worry, there is a whole new sugarbush where I am going.

Got the RO going but the pump is being balky.

Ohh!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well that's awesome! Congratulations and great luck with that! :D

[eustis22]

around 5 gallons produced from roughly 375 gallons....issues with the RO and DE filtering for next year's problems but I learned some things and am happy with this year's crop

[berkshires]

Congrats on wrapping up a successful season Eustis.

GO