My plan 2022/23

[bigschuss]

Thanks, that is helpful, and yes it was all raw sap.

I won’t likely have another boil for a week or two depending obviously on the weather. I drew off all of the sap from the pans. I put the first two draw offs in stainless steel pots for possible boiling into syrup, but now I think I will save it with the other sweet and just return it to the pan in the correct order, giving myself the chance to draw syrup sooner the next time I boil.

I was really pleased with the 13 gallons per hour boil rate. (I know that is slow for the professional rigs). Next time I will be more careful with how much wood I will put in it. It will still be to the top of the pan, but I will not push as much back into the firebox, to prevent the super heating of the stack.

Great plan. Haven't even tapped yet here....forecast isn't good all week. Just got several snow storms in a row. Today is my historical average for 1st day of tapping. Going to get out this week and tap.

When your season comes to an end Gary you're going to have a lot of syrup in your pan. If you're running a 2" sap depth that's about 10 gallons of sap in a 2x4, and of that 3 or 3.5 will be syrup, if you've been drawing off regularly and have the pan nice and sweet. What I do is SLOWLY and CAREFULLY take the level down to 1"...or about 5 gallons (with 3 gallons of that being syrup). I've gone as low as 3/4" of an inch but don't recommend it. Then when you empty the pan of that 5 gallons you'll have a lot less finishing to do compared to draining it at 2" and 10 gallons.

Good stuff! 13 GPH is impressive for your rig.

[Bgreisch]

You talked about freezing your sweet that you drew off your pan, if it freezes remember it will probably take a few days to thaw. If you are only waiting a week to boil again maybe just putting it in the fridge would be better. But getting a cinder block arch to boil at that rate that is awesome. Also the dark stuff floating in your channels is normal, just concentrated niter.

Bryan

[Swingpure]

Great plan. Haven't even tapped yet here....forecast isn't good all week. Just got several snow storms in a row. Today is my historical average for 1st day of tapping. Going to get out this week and tap.

When your season comes to an end Gary you're going to have a lot of syrup in your pan. If you're running a 2" sap depth that's about 10 gallons of sap in a 2x4, and of that 3 or 3.5 will be syrup, if you've been drawing off regularly and have the pan nice and sweet. What I do is SLOWLY and CAREFULLY take the level down to 1"...or about 5 gallons (with 3 gallons of that being syrup). I've gone as low as 3/4" of an inch but don't recommend it. Then when you empty the pan of that 5 gallons you'll have a lot less finishing to do compared to draining it at 2" and 10 gallons.

Good stuff! 13 GPH is impressive for your rig.

Thanks I was going to first search and then ask about how to get the last of the syrup out on the last day. That is helpful.

[Swingpure]

You talked about freezing your sweet that you drew off your pan, if it freezes remember it will probably take a few days to thaw. If you are only waiting a week to boil again maybe just putting it in the fridge would be better. But getting a cinder block arch to boil at that rate that is awesome. Also the dark stuff floating in your channels is normal, just concentrated niter.

Bryan

Double thanks regarding the niter and the advice about the sweet.

I have a “bunkie” that I keep to just above freezing and can keep it in the building. That will be as good as a fridge. The sap I drew off the barrel are in 6 different pails, with different volumes of the sweet in them. They are all numbered, so I can put them back in the right order.

[aamyotte]

I read on here somewhere that the sweet levels would find their path to the right spot when poured back in. I don't know how it does that though.

[Swingpure]

You talked about freezing your sweet that you drew off your pan, if it freezes remember it will probably take a few days to thaw. If you are only waiting a week to boil again maybe just putting it in the fridge would be better. But getting a cinder block arch to boil at that rate that is awesome. Also the dark stuff floating in your channels is normal, just concentrated niter.

Bryan

I put the sweet in the bunkie where it will stay refrigerator cold.

The funny thing, which I meant to put down on my third email of things that did not go quite perfect, was I had frozen a fair amount of sap for yesterday’s boil. Two days prior I put the pails into my heated garage. Some totally thawed and most looked like they were mostly thawed, with just a top layer of ice. I never looked closely at them. On Sunday morning went I went to bring them out to boil I was surprised to see that they were mostly all frozen to the bottom and open only on the sides.

My solution was to put them on top of the pan or if small enough, in the channels and let the steam and hot sap melt them. I knew they would increase the sap level in the pan and nothing was entering the pan via the float box as a result. The volume of sap that melted off them, superseded what was steaming off, and the sap level went to the full six inches of the channel. What was amazing, was once all the frozen sap melted and the sap level was 6 inches, it was boiling hard. Eventually it got down to the prescribed level and as soon as the float box started allowing sap from the feed tank to flow into the pan, that is where I measured my boil rate, by hour, for three hours.

I collected 28 gallons of sap today, I have put that into my heated garage, but I have lowered the heat in the garage to be just above freezing.

The 28 gallons of sap today, plus the almost 20 gallons of “sweet”, will give me a good start for the next time I boil. I suspect there will be other minor flow days before I boil again, so I might get that closer to 80 gallons.

[bigschuss]

I read on here somewhere that the sweet levels would find their path to the right spot when poured back in. I don't know how it does that though.

The gradient is reestablished fairly quickly once you start boiling again.

[The Heldeberg Sapper]

Vigorously boiling.

I think I know what is going on, it did it last year with my steam pans. All of a sudden the fire takes off and you can hear it roar and the flames are racing across the ramp.

My firebox is two logs deep and I fill it to the bottom of the pan. It is also likely that some of the back row is on the slanted ramp. I think it may take off like that when I put too much wood in it.

I had the same problem with my 2x5 oil tank arch, what ive learned over the past 3 seasons is that i no longer fill the firebox completely to the brim but instead i put 4 or 5 pieces in once i hear the rig starting to slow down (about 4 minutes or so but ive never timed it but its not long). This has helped me tremendously with not melting the stack down, but it still will get dull red from time to time after i fire it again for a minute. I am averaging 20gph doing it this way with a 2x3 flat back pan and 2x3 front syrup pan and 2" of insulation in the arch. I would experiment with different firing options and see what works best for you.

[Swingpure]

I had the same problem with my 2x5 oil tank arch, what ive learned over the past 3 seasons is that i no longer fill the firebox completely to the brim but instead i put 4 or 5 pieces in once i hear the rig starting to slow down (about 4 minutes or so but ive never timed it but its not long). This has helped me tremendously with not melting the stack down, but it still will get dull red from time to time after i fire it again for a minute. I am averaging 20gph doing it this way with a 2x3 flat back pan and 2x3 front syrup pan and 2" of insulation in the arch. I would experiment with different firing options and see what works best for you.

Thanks next boil I will put less wood in it. I was putting in almost two armfuls each time I added wood. I will watch my boil and only put in enough to maintain the vigorous boil.

Despite my pan maker and base stack maker saying I want the stack red hot, “he says that is how it makes syrup”, I found it a little scary. I will dial it back.

[Swingpure]

Just a little note I did not add in my initial review, is during my water test boil and with this sap boil, I discovered just how much sap I need in my feed tank, once I stop adding wood and I am shutting down. In both cases 15 gallons of water/sap in the feed tank is perfect to provide all of the sap that the pan needs until it cools down and also empty the feed tank so that the sap in it does not freeze in the tank and does not freeze the feed valve.

I also keep a 4 gallon of emergency sap, just in case I need a little more.


And just as an aside, although none of my taps are racing, not even close, but the taps I did on December 27, are still flowing just as well as the ones I did in February and March.

[Swingpure]

I wasn’t expecting any flow today, but it rose to +1 and I collected 7 gallons. Not much, but 7 gallons closer to making syrup.

I looked at my last year’s records, I tapped on March 6, did not collect anything until March 14 and did not collect as much I have already this year, until March 22. The flows did not pick up until March 20th.

The long range forecast still does not look good, but even a minor warm up could be a big change to the flows.

The positive out of this is I have been collecting all spring, had a good boil the other day and I made syrup on January 1, so as unconventional as this season has been for me, it sure has been interesting.

22996

[Swingpure]

+1° again and the sap flowed, ever so slowly, but flowed. Once again the December 27 tapped line flowed the best.

It has been windy the last couple of days, so I walked the three steep lines to make sure there were no branches or trees down on the lines. There was just one small branch on the lines. Of the three lines, line 3 runs the best, followed by line 2, then line 1. I noticed this time that there is a slight ridge that runs down the slope. Line 3 is on the south side of the ridge and Line 1 the north side of the ridge, which explains things.

No improvement in the 14 day forecast for the season starting anytime soon.

Not sugaring though allowed me the time for me and my buddy to drop a large oak tree on the ice and today we cut it up, hauled it away on the ice for about a mile, and cleaned up the area. Two more very tall white birch trees to do in the next couple of days as soon as the winds die down.

[Brien]

are you using your homemade RO this year?

[Swingpure]

are you using your homemade RO this year?

I haven’t yet, I haven’t had the flows to warrant it yet. I believe once I get the membranes wet you need to use them most days of the week.

Once I start to get overwhelmed and I know that the sap will be flowing well most days of the week, I will give it a try.

To be perfectly honest, I hope that I do not get overwhelmed and that I do not have to try it. That may sound like heresy, but never having used it and none of my sugaring friends in the area having never used one, it just seems as a complication I do not need. I 100% know it will save me time and fuel, but it also takes time to use and especially clean and learn. I still have so much to learn about the divided pan and I still have not used my new system of transfer pumps and connections. Flows have been so slow so far, I have been just tilting over and then eventually lifting the barrels and emptying them into five gallon pails and hauling them off.

If I ever use it, I may fall in love with it.

And also being honest I almost put it up for sale again in a 5 minute brief moment of weakness, but I decided I have to give it a chance. So far it is winter here and my flows are are about half a quart a day, but if my taps ever produced a gallon a day or more, I will be reaching for the RO sooner than later.


are you using your homemade RO this year?

Unless you are asking because you want it and I would be more than happy to sell it to you and you can try it. Lol

[Brien]

lol, no thanks. I'm still learning the setup I have, I made a homemade float box and have a head tank this year. So I will be fooling around with that.

[Swingpure]

lol, no thanks. I'm still learning the setup I have, I made a homemade float box and have a head tank this year. So I will be fooling around with that.

Although I have a float box, if you ever want to share your homemade float box design, I would be interested in seeing it.

[Swingpure]

Today’s high was supposed to be at the freezing mark, but it rose to a balmy 1.7° C /35° F briefly. The sap flowed a little and combined with a little flow yesterday, I collected 16 gallons. I am glad I have 170+ taps. Still no real warming in the two week forecast. It will not a be that long before the two week forecast gets into April.

I am grateful for the 16 gallons, so I now have 50 gallons of raw sap, plus 20 gallons of “sweet. They are all being kept at 5° C / 41°F. I don’t see the next boil for another week. I am not sure if the sap will last that long.

[DRoseum]

Just boil it into your pan and then let it remain cold.

[Swingpure]

Just boil it into your pan and then let it remain cold.

Looks like I am boiling Sunday, it is supposed to be just above freezing. I will have to pull the sweet off the pan again at the end, as the next boil could be a week or two away. I might have a shot at making some syrup, although it is a long shot.

[berkshires]

Looks like I am boiling Sunday, it is supposed to be just above freezing. I will have to pull the sweet off the pan again at the end, as the next boil could be a week or two away. I might have a shot at making some syrup, although it is a long shot.

Why are you pulling the sweet out of the pan each time? If it will be a while before you boil again, you just have to bring the sweet back to a boil every few days or so. Much less often if it's really cold.

GO

[Swingpure]

Why are you pulling the sweet out of the pan each time? If it will be a while before you boil again, you just have to bring the sweet back to a boil every few days or so. Much less often if it's really cold.

GO

Thanks I did not think of that.

There are a few 12° F nights ahead, if I boil Sunday can it last until Thursday, or will it need a boil like Tuesday.

23010

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[berkshires]

Thanks I did not think of that.

There are a few 12° F nights ahead, if I boil Sunday can it last until Thursday, or will it need a boil like Tuesday.

23010

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If that forecast holds true, absolutely. Only reason I would think otherwise is if your pan is not covered, or if it gets sun on it. Otherwise it's never going to even defrost from slush between Sun and Thurs. Just make sure everything (including any sap in preheaters or whatever) has come to and remained at a boil for a few minutes. If there's anywhere (preheaters, transfer boxes, etc.) that doesn't boil, either pull it out and add it to the pan while the pan is still boiling (you can replace with water to keep from scorching if it's exposed to heat) or take some boiling sap and flush that area out with that.

GO

[sublime68charger]

I need to find time to get threw your thread, so far I'm on page 2 but its been a fun follow so far.

Hope your having a great season this year!

[Swingpure]

I will have my second boil tomorrow. I have taken the advice offered and I have placed ceramic blanket material between the back of the pan and the basestack. It is touching both, but it is rated for 2300 F continuous use.

I have also placed a sheet of sheet rock behind the basestack to protect the tarp and wood that are behind the basestack. The tarp partially melted last time.

I have already removed the 5 gallon plastic pail that I put over the stack. My fear is one time I will forget to remove it and that will be a mess. Thank goodness I have a long roof rake to put the pail on and off the stack.

The forecast is slightly improved and I should be boiling every second day of in some cases everyday, although with relatively minimal new volumes. Hopefully as the days get longer the volumes will increase so that I can have a draw off or two, some of the times.

23028

[aamyotte]

Instead of using a plastic bucket on your stack you could use a steel ash bucket. If you forget it worse thing that would happen is smoke in your shelter.

[Swingpure]

Instead of using a plastic bucket on your stack you could use a steel ash bucket. If you forget it worse thing that would happen is smoke in your shelter.


I consider that but the ash bucket does not have the diameter or depth to put it on and take it off easily with the roof rake. J will keep my eye open for a light metal 5 gallon pail.

[Swingpure]

The boil today is going well and uneventful. Nothing to fix or improve.

Today I purposefully have a 3” sap level, which is likely why I will not make syrup today, but I am getting close.

I have 3” of sap depth because on Tuesday I will bring it to a quick boil so that it does not freeze solid on me and I have no fresh sap to add. I will boil again later on Thursday and I will have sap to add.

I was able to control the rocket effect without losing my efficiency, by simply not overloading the firebox. I think I used less wood in doing so.

Less than an hour left to add wood.

Edit: I decided to save 5 gallons, plus have the extra depth for Tuesday’s quick boil.

Should I remove the float for the two days? It will drop to -10 C / 14°F one night.

23035

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[Pdiamond]

The float box will be okay, but I would remove the hose from the head tank so it does not freeze. Even if it does freeze it will thaw quickly once you light a fire.

[Swingpure]

The float box will be okay, but I would remove the hose from the head tank so it does not freeze. Even if it does freeze it will thaw quickly once you light a fire.

Thanks. I had removed the hose. I also drained the head tank. I just got the pan covered up as the snow arrived. I actually had about 10 gallons of sap left. I may boil that down to 5 gallons tomorrow on the turkey fryer and induction stoves, just to put a boil on it.

If I do the quick boil on Tuesday, I should have a real boil on Thursday, Friday Saturday and maybe make syrup each of those days.

Edit: I checked the sap temperature at 10:30 pm and it is still holding its own at 90°F. It is currently -5° C / 23° F.

23037

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[Swingpure]

Why are you pulling the sweet out of the pan each time? If it will be a while before you boil again, you just have to bring the sweet back to a boil every few days or so. Much less often if it's really cold.

GO

Do you have to bring it to a boil or could you say bring it to 150°? I put my pan cover on last evening once sap had stopped evaporating off, (the float box stopped adding sap). I would say when the sap had dropped down to 120° or so when that happened. I can’t remember exactly. It was 90° last night and 43° this morning. I can see tomorrow when I heat it up again, it will likely be slushy with the -9 C / 16 F temps overnight.

Is the purpose solely to heat it up to prevent it from freezing, or is it also bacteria prevention of the “sweet” and that is why you need to bring it to a boil?

[bigschuss]

Is the purpose solely to heat it up to prevent it from freezing, or is it also bacteria prevention of the “sweet” and that is why you need to bring it to a boil?

Gary, I don't think you have to worry about freezing if that's your concern. I allow mine to freeze solid between runs and in 20 years have never had a problem. If a 14,000 gallon pool can freeze solid every winter and not damage the pool, your 10 gallons of frozen sweet in your pan will do no harm.

Bringing your pan to a boil every few days is to prevent bacteria growth. However, if your pan is frozen that's not going to happen anyway. I only bring my pan to a boil every 3rd day or so when the pan DOESN'T freeze between runs.

[berkshires]

Exactly this ^^^

Gabe

[Swingpure]

Gary, I don't think you have to worry about freezing if that's your concern. I allow mine to freeze solid between runs and in 20 years have never had a problem. If a 14,000 gallon pool can freeze solid every winter and not damage the pool, your 10 gallons of frozen sweet in your pan will do no harm.

Bringing your pan to a boil every few days is to prevent bacteria growth. However, if your pan is frozen that's not going to happen anyway. I only bring my pan to a boil every 3rd day or so when the pan DOESN'T freeze between runs.

Thanks!

I boiled the 10 gallons of emergency sap today so it would not spoil. I got carried a little away and boiled it down to 3 gallons. I used a turkey fryer for the first time and it work well. Many magnitudes better than the induction stove. I used both, to try and get through the sap as fast as I could.

Sap should flow this Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, but the season looks to truly start March 21 with flow days everyday after that, for awhile.

I will likely have my warmup/bacteria prevention boil on Wednesday. I have a bunch of people coming that day to skate on our lake and they want to see the maple syrup stuff as well. Although I will not have any real fresh sap to add, they will at least see the sap boiling in the channels for a very short while. In the afternoon they will see some sap flowing in the lines.

Wednesday I should collect enough sap to have a boil Thursday and will have a longer boil on Friday, where I will make syrup for sure. There is a chance I could make my first syrup on a divided pan Thursday, depending on how much I collect Wednesday.

23042

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[bigschuss]

Thanks!

I boiled the 10 gallons of emergency sap today so it would not spoil. I got carried a little away and boiled it down to 3 gallons. I used a turkey fryer for the first time and it work well. Many magnitudes better than the induction stove. I used both, to try and get through the sap as fast as I could.

Sap should flow this Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, but the season looks to truly start March 21 with flow days everyday after that, for awhile.

I will likely have my warmup/bacteria prevention boil on Wednesday. I have a bunch of people coming that day to skate on our lake and they want to see the maple syrup stuff as well. Although I will not have any real fresh sap to add, they will at least see the sap boiling in the channels for a very short while. In the afternoon they will see some sap flowing in the lines.

Wednesday I should collect enough sap to have a boil Thursday and will have a longer boil on Friday, where I will make syrup for sure. There is a chance I could make my first syrup on a divided pan Thursday, depending on how much I collect Wednesday.

23042

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Sounds great!

I still haven't even tapped yet. About 1.5' of snow on the ground and as I sit here having my morning coffee we are in the middle of a massive Nor'easter. Expecting 2 more feet. Four weeks ago it was 55 F and we had grass in the front yard.

It's going to be a short season here. But at least I have the snow now. Without any snowpack my trails are too muddy to gather sap. So, I'd rather have a short season than no season.

[Swingpure]

Sounds great!

I still haven't even tapped yet. About 1.5' of snow on the ground and as I sit here having my morning coffee we are in the middle of a massive Nor'easter. Expecting 2 more feet. Four weeks ago it was 55 F and we had grass in the front yard.

It's going to be a short season here. But at least I have the snow now. Without any snowpack my trails are too muddy to gather sap. So, I'd rather have a short season than no season.

Good luck when your season does get underway and I hope it flows hard for you when it does. Strange Winter and I have to admit, today for the first day, this winter, I am ready for it to end.

We had a cold night and day and the sap in the pan finally froze. I will bring it to a boil tomorrow, then hopefully do a real boil Thursday or Friday. It looks like our season will start March 21, but I should get some minimal flows this Wed to Fri and make syrup Friday or Saturday.

[berkshires]

Good luck when your season does get underway and I hope it flows hard for you when it does. Strange Winter and I have to admit, today for the first day, this winter, I am ready for it to end.

We had a cold night and day and the sap in the pan finally froze. I will bring it to a boil tomorrow, then hopefully do a real boil Thursday or Friday. It looks like our season will start March 21, but I should get some minimal flows this Wed to Fri and make syrup Friday or Saturday.

Yes, you got exactly the Noreaster you requested! Boston got an inch or two, Maine where my in-laws are got six inches, and little old western mass will get like two feet!

You must have a direct line to someone upstairs! LOL

GO

[bigschuss]

Good luck when your season does get underway and I hope it flows hard for you when it does. Strange Winter and I have to admit, today for the first day, this winter, I am ready for it to end.

Thanks Gary. Strange winter indeed. As a downhill skier I skied the entire season on lousy snow...in the rain....ice...slush. Now that I am ready for spring to be here...we get snow. Four weeks ago it was 50 and we had grass in the backyard and I almost tapped. Crazy indeed.


Yes, you got exactly the Noreaster you requested! Boston got an inch or two, Maine where my in-laws are got six inches, and little old western mass will get like two feet!

You must have a direct line to someone upstairs! LOL

GO

LOL!!!! You remember about a month ago when I was hoping for a March Nor-easter. My trails were all bare mud and I wouldn't have been able to collect sap without snow. I've got so much now it will be a week before I can even get out with my snowmobile to pack the trails to tap.

As of yesterday around 2 PM I had about 34" on the ground. Each beer can is 5" and I have 7 stacked in the pic. It snowed all afternoon and I just woke up and looked out the window...looks like we easily picked up another 12 to 14" overnight. Thankfully none of it has been heavy or wet. Never lost power. Because it's always colder here the snow was light and dry.


23051

[Swingpure]

Thanks Gary. Strange winter indeed. As a downhill skier I skied the entire season on lousy snow...in the rain....ice...slush. Now that I am ready for spring to be here...we get snow. Four weeks ago it was 50 and we had grass in the backyard and I almost tapped. Crazy indeed.



LOL!!!! You remember about a month ago when I was hoping for a March Nor-easter. My trails were all bare mud and I wouldn't have been able to collect sap without snow. I've got so much now it will be a week before I can even get out with my snowmobile to pack the trails to tap.

As of yesterday around 2 PM I had about 34" on the ground. Each beer can is 5" and I have 7 stacked in the pic. It snowed all afternoon and I just woke up and looked out the window...looks like we easily picked up another 12 to 14" overnight. Thankfully none of it has been heavy or wet. Never lost power. Because it's always colder here the snow was light and dry.


23051

Holy Smokes, that is a lot of snow! That would bury me! I would have to plow continuously during the storm, as there is no way my ATV and plow could handle that. Hopefully it melts quickly.

We have snow and rain coming, with a tiny bit of sap flow today expected, it should flow well tomorrow and should continue to flow throughout the night. I should make syrup Friday unless the rain is driving in from the north and washes out the boil.

[Swingpure]

Had 8 extended family up today from young to old. Although they were here to skate and enjoy winter, they were also keenly interested in the maple syrup operation. I did not have any fresh sap, but I still put the frozen sap in the pan to a boil and they got to see the steam come off the pan and the sap in the channels. Today it only got above freezing for a short while, so some sap flowed, but not a ton. They did get to se the lines at least drip.

Tomorrow is supposed to a big flow day, so I might collect mid afternoon and start a boil. There should be a lot more to collect on Friday.

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[Swingpure]

Soooooo disappointing. Last night the temperature was supposed to drop below freezing and today was one of two days where the temperature was supposed to rise well over freezing. It was supposed to be the best flow day of the season so far.

Last night the temperature did not drop as cold as forecasted and only barely dropped below freezing and only for a short while. The sap barely ran. Tonight is also expected to stay above freezing, so after waiting for it to warm up, two +5 days will be for not.

I did collect 15 gallons which I am grateful for and maybe I will collect another 5 in the morning. The hope is to have a little boil tomorrow, but I will have to wait until sometime next week for my first syrup.

Rats.

[Z/MAN]

Gary, one thing you are going to learn is the weather is never going to be exactly what they predict. When I see a perfect week of sap weather coming up, I am "certain" that it will NOT be just what is predicted. It is not unusual to see 6-7 perfect days predicted, and we get 2 or 3. Watch the forecast but don't bet your life on it.

[aamyotte]

Gary, one thing you are going to learn is the weather is never going to be exactly what they predict. When I see a perfect week of sap weather coming up, I am "certain" that it will NOT be just what is predicted. It is not unusual to see 6-7 perfect days predicted, and we get 2 or 3. Watch the forecast but don't bet your life on it.

Ain't that the truth. In my area we were expecting to get 12" of snow and now it's just rain. I held off tapping till tomorrow because of that forecast and tilting my solar panels to summer angle so they would have shed the snow easier.

[Swingpure]

Ain't that the truth. In my area we were expecting to get 12" of snow and now it's just rain. I held off tapping till tomorrow because of that forecast and tilting my solar panels to summer angle so they would have shed the snow easier.

That’s the rub, you can understand them being wrong 14 or 7 days away, but when they are wrong a half a day away or less, it is a little frustrating. But it is what it is.

I collected 15 gallons yesterday and 5.5 gallons early this morning during a pause in the rain. I will have a brief boil after lunch, when the rain is supposed to slow.

I will at least get the fresh sap to a boil and get the entire sap in the pan closer to syrup. The sap in the pan will freeze this weekend with cold weather returning for two days. I will boil again sometime early this coming week, but that forecast is changing each day as well.

[Swingpure]

Although I was disappointed with yesterday’s flow, I was grateful for the 15 gallons I collected. I collected another 5.5 gallons in the morning, I had about 2 gallons worth in ice form, I was lowering my sap level in the pan from 3” to 2”, and later on I collected a valuable 1.5 gallons.

This sap was added to the boiled down 150 gallons in the pan. I knew I was close to making my first syrup from the new pan. Later I collected another 1.5 gallons which proved to be key.

Just as I was getting to the point where I had stopped adding wood, I could see the temperature rising in the pan and the trademark large bubbles, indicating that the sap was becoming syrup. I tested it on my refractometer and it was at 63 Brix. I decided I had to draw it off the pan now, as I was afraid if I waited any longer my sap levels in the pan would get dangerously low.

I drew it off and you look for the temperature to drop before closing the valve. The temperature had not dropped when I decided to close the valve, because once again I was concerned with the sap levels in the pan as it cooled off. The last 1.5 gallons I collected gave me the confidence I would have enough sap in the pan for the cooling off period.

I was able to make 8.5 L of syrup. Now each time I boil, I will be able to make syrup.

Colour me amber happy!

My wife tasted it and she went Mmmmm very good, very good!

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[Swingpure]

Just had the new syrup and it is best described by me as maple smooth. It was excellent and likely fair better if submitted to a syrup tasting contest than my last year’s syrup.

My next boil will be Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning and then most days after that.

[Swingpure]

On yesterday’s boil I think I nailed down my firing interval. 8 minutes seemed to work well to maintain a good boil, but avoid the jet affect. I did not have enough sap to see if it affected my rate of boil. I hopefully will be able to measure that on Tuesday afternoon.

I placed a trouble light in the evaporator under the pan. I only had a 60 watt bulb, so it may not be enough to preventing the sap from freezing. We will see. Starting Tuesday, I should be boiling every day or every second day, so it will not be an issue after the next two nights.

I will clean the pan on Monday and will start with a clean pan, for what might be many days of boiling. It I’ll be interesting if the large dark floating areas of nitre will return with steady boiling and draw offs.

The only thing that did not go perfect last boil was when I drew off I had a filter in a filter basket on my pot collecting the syrup just to catch the easy nitre. It quickly got washed away. I remembered then, when I saw the you tube video of someone doing it similar, he had clamps holding the filter in place. I now have the clamps at the ready and will try them next time. I think it might take a trial or two to nail it down.

[richwilly]

I use a kitchen wire mesh strainer with clothes pins for clamps if needed holding filter .Then filter as i draw off rinse filter as needed or swap with clean one.really helps with filtering after finishing .

[Swingpure]

I use a kitchen wire mesh strainer with clothes pins for clamps if needed holding filter .Then filter as i draw off rinse filter as needed or swap with clean one.really helps with filtering after finishing .

Thanks, the clothes pins might be a good back up choice for me. I am going to try these spring clamps, holding the filter in a filter basket.

This is just for a quick filter to get the big stuff when I draw off the syrup.

We will see how this works either this Tuesday or Wednesday depending on Monday flows. I want 50+ gallons to start a boil now, so I suspect I will be boiling Wednesday instead of Tuesday. I still plan on cleaning my pan Monday, but that could slide to Tuesday.

I had a good chat with some neighbour’s who have been tapping for generations. They just use the syrup for family and friends and determine if it is syrup by temperature or how it looks dripping from a spoon, which has met their needs for generations. When I talk Brix, they just politely smile at me. They will start tapping Tuesday or Wednesday and they use buckets.

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23070

[richwilly]

yup used a thermometer for years no problem only make syrup for my personnel use and friends it all tastes good on pancakes.

[Pdiamond]

I like the wooden clamp on clothes pins. I have used them since I have been making syrup.

[Swingpure]

Drained the pan today of the sweet and cleaned the pan. When I drained it, I ran it through the filter I showed on an earlier post. The spring clamps worked well and I removed a ton of nitre. I will use a similar filter when I do my draw offs. I put the sweet back into the pan.

The 60 watt bulb kept the sap to 40° allowing me to draw it off. I did get a 100 watt bulb today. I also got from Amazon an eye dropper in an amber coloured jar and I will use that for dropping in the canola oil. I had a cheap plastic bottle to do that, but it broke the first time I used it.

Sap flow was almost non existent today, hopefully tomorrow enough will flow to allow me to have a boil on Wednesday. Only one line of eleven had any kind of steady drip.

I did check the drips of three of the lines. One had 2.5% sugar content, the other 3% and the other 3.5%. I checked them again in reverse order and I got the same readings. Last year I had really good sugar content as well, so that should be helpful. Now for the sap to flow well.

[Pdiamond]

I do believe you are going to have another good year. The make up of the soil and trees must create that good sugar content, at least in the beginning of the year.

[Swingpure]

I do believe you are going to have another good year. The make up of the soil and trees must create that good sugar content, at least in the beginning of the year.

The soils are interesting here as it is all Canadian Shield where you have relatively shallow soils on granite. The trees right beside my house are in very sandy soil and do not do well, but 98% of the trees are on shield rock.

[Swingpure]

This morning started off cloudy and colder than expected and all of a sudden the sun came out and the sap started flowing in the afternoon. At times it was streaming out of the lines. I ended up with 33 gallons after running for a little more than 4 hours. I am grateful for the 33 gallons. The sap is still running two hours after I collected.

I will boil tomorrow afternoon. I will also collect more sap before I do. I got a surprise Dr’s appointment in the evening, so I have to time when I collect, with my expected boil and cool down time, with the time I have to leave for the appointment. I should have time for one and maybe two draw offs.

For the draw offs I was told to draw off until the temperature drops on the temperature gauge. I only have had one draw off, the temperature did not drop, I stopped because I was afraid of not having enough sap for the backfill and cool down period. Is this correct to draw off until you see the temperature drop?


The next boil after that will be Friday.

[Swingpure]

The sap is still running almost four hours after collecting, but it should stop soon as the temps are now at zero/32° F.

The point of this post isn’t that though, it is about the line I tapped on December 27, 2022. It is still running and it is still running as good or better than lines I tapped in February and March.

I am currently at 26% of total sap I collected last year and 23% of the sap I boiled. (I was given 110 gallons last year)

[The Heldeberg Sapper]

For the draw offs I was told to draw off until the temperature drops on the temperature gauge. I only have had one draw off, the temperature did not drop, I stopped because I was afraid of not having enough sap for the backfill and cool down period. Is this correct to draw off until you see the temperature drop?


Yes that is correct. On my rig i actually start drawing off just before i hit the 7 degree mark and it will usually climb to 1 or 2 degrees over while its drawing off. I actually dont stop my draw until i get back down to 6 degrees to help dilute the syrup back down to closer to where its supposed to be. I end up with heavy syrup that i then correct when bottling it which is preferable to me than having light syrup.

Originally when making my rig i was going to have the front pan draw off at the back where it meets the back pan but the supplier convinced me to keep it in the front to make the piping connection easier between pans. I do regret making that change as the hottest part of my arch is right where the two pans meet. So thats why i end up with a spike in temp as the syrup is a little heavier back there and gets drawn forward as i am drawing off. It still works really well overall but its definitely something i would change if i ever got new pans.

[Swingpure]

Yes that is correct. On my rig i actually start drawing off just before i hit the 7 degree mark and it will usually climb to 1 or 2 degrees over while its drawing off. I actually dont stop my draw until i get back down to 6 degrees to help dilute the syrup back down to closer to where its supposed to be. I end up with heavy syrup that i then correct when bottling it which is preferable to me than having light syrup.

Originally when making my rig i was going to have the front pan draw off at the back where it meets the back pan but the supplier convinced me to keep it in the front to make the piping connection easier between pans. I do regret making that change as the hottest part of my arch is right where the two pans meet. So thats why i end up with a spike in temp as the syrup is a little heavier back there and gets drawn forward as i am drawing off. It still works really well overall but its definitely something i would change if i ever got new pans.

Thank you!

I will start my boil today at noon. I have 43 gallons to start, I will do a quick collection around 3 pm with my wife watching the pan while I do it. Expect another 15+ gallons. The sap slowly started to flow around 10 am. It has clouded over and we expect rain around 4 PM

It will not drop below freezing all day and overnight. I expect the sap to run well into the night before it stops because the trees have not recharged. The rain should stop tomorrow around noon and I will collect again and if there is enough, I will boil again tomorrow.

I should have at least one more draw off today.

[Swingpure]

11 hours of effort, and 60 gallons boiled, one draw and almost 9.5 L of amazing tasting syrup made.

This time on the draw off, the temp did go up, settled back down and then dropped.

I played with my boil rate. I at first avoid the jet affect and my boil rate drop to 10 GPH or slightly below. When I went with the full jet affect I was up to 13 GPH, I settled on a mix of the two, and averaged 11 GPH.

The temps will stay above freezing all night. Last I looked the sap was still slowly running. We will see in the morning if I have collected enough to boil tomorrow afternoon again, or if not, will boil on Saturday.

So far I have collected 30% of the sap I did last year.

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[Swingpure]

I collected 57 gallons today and will boil tomorrow and will collect more tomorrow after mid boil and I will have my wife watch the pan.

Last year I used wooden handles for my concrete door. The edge of the wood against the concrete burnt a little, but not bad. The wood was simply a fair size branch cut to size. I did the same thing this year with new branch wood. This year I don’t know if my evaporator is that much hotter or I used different wood, but this time, especially yesterday, the wood burnt and almost was like a stub by the end of the boil.

I put new branch handles on today. The small tree was actually cut down in the middle of this winter and I was not sure what kind of tree it was, but after drilling the hole for the bolt, I am pretty sure it is a softwood. We will see how this green softwood holds up. If not I will experiment with ironwood next time, if I can find a large enough diameter piece.

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23090

[Swingpure]

Boiled 70 gallons of sap today and had one draw off and made 8.5 L of very tasty syrup.

All went well. One lesson learned is the hose that goes from the feeder tank to the float box. I drained it the other night, but I guess there was still some sap in it that froze. I found that out when the sap was not flowing to the float box as the pan started to boil. It was an easy fix, but the hose will stay in my heated garage overnight from now on.

So far I have had three boils and three draws. The three draws made almost identical volumes of sap. Not knowing what to expect from a divided pan, I had expected more frequent drawoffs, but I guess not.

[Swingpure]

Collected 25 gallons of sap this morning, sap that flowed after 4 pm yesterday. I got it collected before the snowstorm arrived. The temperatures will warm late this afternoon and overnight and we might have 11 hours above freezing.

I am going to boil a little less often to reduce the number of setups and cleanups, so boils will occur every two or three days. That will also give me more sap to boil and allow me to have drawoffs with out fear of running out of sap. Next boil will be Monday.

The highlight of the day was I made maple syrup snow candy for the first time for my neighbour’s four kids. It tasted great. Some lessons learned on when to place the popsicle sticks into the candy. We made it inside my garage as the snow was falling sideways with the strong winds.

It made me very happy to make it. I used 500 ml of syrup heated on a turkey fryer.

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[Pdiamond]

What a great guy you are. You certainly made their day, you can tell by all the smiling faces.

[Z/MAN]

I know the smiles on their faces made you feel fantastic!

[Swingpure]

I am boiling again today. I have 90 gallons of available sap to boil and the sap is running in the collection barrels. Yesterday I had my best flow day yet, despite appearing to be the least likely with the snow and it not getting above freezing until mid afternoon. Today it is bright and sunny, but it only dropped a little below freezing last night, so the trees did not have a huge opportunity to fully recharge.

I put some ceramic blanket material between my wooden door handles and the concrete patio stone door. It seems to have slowed the handles burning away.

Today so far is going very predictably. I am probably the most relaxed I have been for a boil this season. I now bring lots of water out to drink. I found I was not drinking enough before. I like the canola oil as a defoamer. I use an eye dropper to dispense it.

One thing I do, that I know others prefer not to do, is I finish, filter and bottle on the same day I boil. Just something in my character that wants to see the end product of all of my hard work that day. I have had zero issues with focus or making mistakes. I finish it in my heated garage where I have a TV. So tonight the hockey game will be on while I do the Finishing, Filtering and Bottling.

[Swingpure]

Finished, filtered and bottled 10.75 L in time to watch the 3rd period in the house. The syrup tastes amazing. The vacuum filter impresses me each time I use it.

I will boil again tomorrow, I believe I had my best flow of the season today, we will see tomorrow morning when I collect it.

[Z/MAN]

Glad to hear everything is going well. You have worked very hard for well over a year to get to this point, now ENJOY, ENJOY. Relax and get comfortable running your rig.

[Swingpure]

Boiling again today and should boil again tomorrow. Gorgeous day and the sap is flowing well.

I have always heard that things happen fast before you draw off, but it seems to take forever to get from 58 Brix to 64 Brix. I want to get closer to 65 or 66 Brix, but I have either run out of time or sap, and this is after 6 or 7 hours of boiling.i have drawn off at 62 and 63 Brix as well.

All is good and I finish it in the garage and make great syrup, but I just trying to understand the happening fast. Maybe it happens fast when it is closer to 66 Brix.

I will have a longer boil today and I have lots of sap so I will see if I can get closer to 65 Brix today.

[The Heldeberg Sapper]

Why are you drawing off early instead of taking it all the way to syrup? You are fighting yourself by doing so and making it harder to sweeten the pan if you are constantly pulling off low density syrup to boil elsewhere. Example the other night i had a large draw off of syrup right before i shut the rig down (last five gallons of sap) and then the next time i boiled it took a while to get my first draw. Usually my first draw happens within the first hour of getting things going again but it took a while to get things back to syrup for my draw because i took so much sugar out the night before. That not a bad thing just something to understand.

[Swingpure]

Why are you drawing off early instead of taking it all the way to syrup? You are fighting yourself by doing so and making it harder to sweeten the pan if you are constantly pulling off low density syrup to boil elsewhere. Example the other night i had a large draw off of syrup right before i shut the rig down (last five gallons of sap) and then the next time i boiled it took a while to get my first draw. Usually my first draw happens within the first hour of getting things going again but it took a while to get things back to syrup for my draw because i took so much sugar out the night before. That not a bad thing just something to understand.

I have been drawing off early because I was either running out of sap to have enough for the cool down period of the evaporator or running out of time. Today I have lots of sap and lots of time, so I will try to get it to 65 or 66 Brix.

Thanks that was interesting fact about drawing off early affects the next boil and that is exactly what is happening to me. I have to wait 6+ hours for the next draw off. I will be more patient today.

Thanks for the advice!

[Swingpure]

I changed the interval between firing times from 8 minutes to 10 minutes. It has not hurt my boil rate and may have helped it. I will know for sure in 15 minutes when I finish another hour of boiling time. I am getting my 13 gph and it might be a hair better.

Whenever I opened the door and loaded the wood, I noticed I lost a little bit of the boil at the front of the channels momentarily. By opening the door less often that will reduce the lessened boil times.

My evaporator is at ground level. To load the wood, you have to squat down and your face is fairly close to the door. My face is getting a little red from being slightly cooked. Opening the door less times will also help with that.

Also loading it less often makes the pace a little less hectic. If I drank alcohol which I don’t, I would actually have a brief time for a sip of a brewsky.

I changed the sound of my timer. The old one was wearing on me, my current one is much more pleasant.

I have made four batches of syrup so far. An amber colour, but a little lighter than last year’s.

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[Swingpure]

Amazon delivered another package of ceramic blanket just in time prior to today’s boil. I was able to cut one piece that fits between the pan and basestack. Before it was a patchwork of pieces.

I did cut some new door handles out of ironwood. Unsure how good it will be, but it has the right name. The ceramic blanket pieces I put between the existing door and handles seem to help. I will be cutting better sized pieces for the new handles.

I guess my leg was a little too close to the firebox entrance while loading wood. It melted the lower portion of one leg of the snow pants. 8 got them 10 years ago from Canadian Tire on sale for $20, so they do not owe me anything.

I am starting to appreciate the “fireman” who loaded the wood on the old steam locomotives.

[Brien]

This sounds over kill, but you could put a grinding face shield on when loading the wood. To deflect the heat

[Someclown]

I did cut some new door handles out of ironwood. Unsure how good it will be, but it has the right name.

It's the only wood I have ever seen sink when put in water and make sparks when cutting with a chainsaw but I'm sure there are more types that sink but don't grow in my area that I know of
Also makes good heat in the wood stove when seasoned properly

[Swingpure]

This sounds over kill, but you could put a grinding face shield on when loading the wood. To deflect the heat

Thanks, I was thinking the same thing. My first day I am not boiling, I am going to check them out, which should be Wednesday.

Today I have boiled longer than the other days, (7.5 hours at full boil) and I have put 103 gallons of sap in the feed tank. I will stop adding wood when I get down to 16 gallons, and still I have not made syrup. Once again it is getting close.

I have a full boil on the last three channels, a boil at the end of the first channel, I am going through the sap but no syrup yet. I still have about 20 minutes for it to happen.

[Swingpure]

In the end it almost reached 65 Brix, so I pulled it. It was not without much thought of leaving it until the next boil to maximize the sweet for the next boil. I did bottle some great tasting syrup.

Tomorrow I already know I will have my biggest collection of the season. Still not great tap wise, but I will be grateful for it and will boil again Tuesday. I will likely collect part way through the boil and have my wife watch the pan.

Wednesday I will get the suggested faceshield.

[berkshires]

Thanks, I was thinking the same thing. My first day I am not boiling, I am going to check them out, which should be Wednesday.

Today I have boiled longer than the other days, (7.5 hours at full boil) and I have put 103 gallons of sap in the feed tank. I will stop adding wood when I get down to 16 gallons, and still I have not made syrup. Once again it is getting close.

I have a full boil on the last three channels, a boil at the end of the first channel, I am going through the sap but no syrup yet. I still have about 20 minutes for it to happen.

If you are going 7.5 hrs without a draw, something is not right. How deep are you keeping the pan? Are you keeping it fairly steady, or is the level fluctuating up and down a lot?

GO

[Swingpure]

If you are going 7.5 hrs without a draw, something is not right. How deep are you keeping the pan? Are you keeping it fairly steady, or is the level fluctuating up and down a lot?

GO

2” deep and it is steady.

The only thing I can think of is I draw off too much at a time (approx 2.5 to 3 gallons) and maybe it is almost like I am starting all over again?

I am boiling again today.

Edit : The odd thing is I am making the right amount of syrup for the gallons I boil, it is almost like I am batch boiling.

[The Heldeberg Sapper]

2” deep and it is steady.

The only thing I can think of is I draw off too much at a time (approx 2.5 to 3 gallons) and maybe it is almost like I am starting all over again?

I am boiling again today.

Edit : The odd thing is I am making the right amount of syrup for the gallons I boil, it is almost like I am batch boiling.

Dropping your depth to 1.5" will help with your establishing your gradient.

In regards to pulling off 2-3 gallons of sweet everyday think of it like this, you are trying to save $66 to buy yourself something nice and you started out with only a couple bucks. Every hour you make some money and after a days work you are at 62 dollars. But instead of keeping that $62 dollars for the next day you end up spending $40. Now the next day you are going to have to work all day again just to get close to you $66 goal.

[berkshires]

2” deep and it is steady.

The only thing I can think of is I draw off too much at a time (approx 2.5 to 3 gallons) and maybe it is almost like I am starting all over again?

I am boiling again today.

Edit : The odd thing is I am making the right amount of syrup for the gallons I boil, it is almost like I am batch boil
ing. 2.5 to 3 gallons in a day, or in a single draw? Wow, if it's the former, I've never had a draw that size but if you have a poor gradient that could make that happen. If I ever had a draw that size my temp would spike to like 40 above and my pan would catch fire. I wonder how you manage it. Are you just opening up and dumping a ton of syrup in a minute or so or is that one long draw over a half hour?

GO

[bigschuss]

2” deep and it is steady.

The only thing I can think of is I draw off too much at a time (approx 2.5 to 3 gallons) and maybe it is almost like I am starting all over again?

I am boiling again today.

Edit : The odd thing is I am making the right amount of syrup for the gallons I boil, it is almost like I am batch boiling.

Following your thread and trying to figure out what you are doing...in the back of my head I kind of always felt like you were just batch boiling.

Again...150 gallons to sweeten a 2x4 pan. Once sweet...every 40 gallons of sap you add you can draw off a gallon. It would take you about 4 hours to boil 40 gallons of fresh sap...so a 1 gallon draw off for every 4 hours of boiling. If you're going 7.5 hours without a draw-off your pan is no longer sweet. And that's probably because you're drawing off 3 gallons at a time which you're then finishing inside.

[berkshires]

Out of curiosity, is it possible your dividers are just tacked down, and a lot of sap is mixing between them? Probably not, but it could explain this.

GO

[Swingpure]

Out of curiosity, is it possible your dividers are just tacked down, and a lot of sap is mixing between them? Probably not, but it could explain this.

GO

Dividers are solid welded.

Just out of co-incidence I had a draw off three hours into the boil this afternoon. Maybe I left more sweet in the pan last night. We will see if I get another draw later today.

Thanks for the advice.

[Swingpure]

I am not going to make any end of the tapping season predictions based on the long range forecast, but what looked like 2 more weeks of unlimited flows, certainly looks more finite now. I know the forecast will change more than a dozen times, but it has me thinking about the last day of boiling on the 2x4 divided pan.

My pan has 2” of sap depth in it and when I stop adding wood to the firebox, I need 15 gallons of sap in the head tank to feed the pan while it cools down and it uses almost every drop of the 15 gallons before it stops steaming. My plan was to only have 10 gallons in the feed tank on the final day, when I stop firing, and then let the pan level boil down to about an inch, give or take. Draw it off once it had cooled down, then finish it on a turkey fryer.

Is this a reasonable plan or a dangerous one?

Thanks

[The Heldeberg Sapper]

My pan has 2” of sap depth in it and when I stop adding wood to the firebox, I need 15 gallons of sap in the head tank to feed the pan while it cools down and it uses almost every drop of the 15 gallons before it stops steaming. My plan was to only have 10 gallons in the feed tank on the final day, when I stop firing, and then let the pan level boil down to about an inch, give or take. Draw it off once it had cooled down, then finish it on a turkey fryer.

Is this a reasonable plan or a dangerous one?

Thanks

That is a very reasonable plan, just keep 5 gallons of water on hand just in case. 1" depth in your 2x4 pan is about 5 gallons which should be pretty sweet so it shouldn't take too long to finish that off on your turkey fryer.

[bigschuss]

My pan has 2” of sap depth in it and when I stop adding wood to the firebox, I need 15 gallons of sap in the head tank to feed the pan while it cools down and it uses almost every drop of the 15 gallons before it stops steaming. My plan was to only have 10 gallons in the feed tank on the final day, when I stop firing, and then let the pan level boil down to about an inch, give or take. Draw it off once it had cooled down, then finish it on a turkey fryer.

Is this a reasonable plan or a dangerous one?

Thanks



When your season comes to an end Gary you're going to have a lot of syrup in your pan. If you're running a 2" sap depth that's about 10 gallons of sap in a 2x4, and of that 3 or 3.5 will be syrup, if you've been drawing off regularly and have the pan nice and sweet. What I do is SLOWLY and CAREFULLY take the level down to 1"...or about 5 gallons (with 3 gallons of that being syrup). I've gone as low as 3/4" of an inch but don't recommend it. Then when you empty the pan of that 5 gallons you'll have a lot less finishing to do compared to draining it at 2" and 10 gallons.



As I mentioned a month ago or so...a good plan. Assuming your pan is sweet, which I am not sure if it is, of that 5 gallons about 3 should be syrup.

[Swingpure]

As I mentioned a month ago or so...a good plan. Assuming your pan is sweet, which I am not sure if it is, of that 5 gallons about 3 should be syrup.


Lol, that is where I got my plan from, just wanted to make sure my volumes of sap were correct. I do get a gradient in my pan which is obvious by the colours and I did get an early draw off last time, but I likely for whatever reason have not maintained a sweet pan. Perhaps that is to come.

I have to admit if I just kept getting a drawoff at the end of a long boil, sort of batch boiling, I am fine with that, as I immediately take that and finish it while it is still hot, then filter it, then bottle it while it is still hot. Very little reheating. I have been making 8.5 to 10.5 L each time of syrup, which fits into my capacity perfectly (finish pot size). Yesterday with it coming off mid boil, I had to reheat it, which takes a little while.

Long range forecast has already changed, so I will do that plan whenever the time comes.

I am well ahead of last year’s pace, but I need the season to extend into mid April to meet some long range goals. Last year I made 109 L with 109 taps, although I was assisted with 110 L of sap given to me. This year I would like to make 140 L with no added sap from a friend. I have 170+ taps, but some are on pails and some are on very short lines and some were tapped at Christmas, some mid February, some March 1, so I have no expectation of a litre a tap, but 140 sounds like a nice number and a good goal. I also benefit from high sugar content in my sap.

I am still really pleased with the vacuum filter. Very fast, very easy, does a great job, and very little syrup lost to the filters. I have mentioned this before, but I have a five gallon pail filled with water, and I just toss th filters from the vacuum filter into the pail and either later that day or the next day, I go to clean them, and the job is mostly done with the water diluting the nitre and the final cleanup of the filters is simply quickly finishing them.

[Bgreisch]

Do you have a thermometer by your draw off valve, when you your syrup gets to proper density you slowly open the valve a little and watch the thermometer and once the temp starts dropping you close the valve. Thats how you maintain a sweet pan, only drawings off finished or near finished syrup.

I have had 2 boils on my Smoky Lake Dauntless Evaporator so far this year and at about the 130 gallon mark is when I hit the proper density to draw off some syrup, so I just cracked the valve and watch my thermometer till is was falling and closed the valve and them a little while later after adding more sap I had one more draw before I shut down for the day, so in those 2 boils I had about 150 gallons of sap, my sap is usually in the 2.5 to 3.5 percent range and I ended up only drawing off 1 gallon of finished syrup. So now next time I boil if I add another say 80 gallons of sap to the pan I should expect to get about 2 gallons of syrup drawn off from it during that boil. Thats how you maintain the sweet pan. My divided pan is 20"X48".

Bryan

[Swingpure]

Do you have a thermometer by your draw off valve, when you your syrup gets to proper density you slowly open the valve a little and watch the thermometer and once the temp starts dropping you close the valve. Thats how you maintain a sweet pan, only drawings off finished or near finished syrup.

I have had 2 boils on my Smoky Lake Dauntless Evaporator so far this year and at about the 130 gallon mark is when I hit the proper density to draw off some syrup, so I just cracked the valve and watch my thermometer till is was falling and closed the valve and them a little while later after adding more sap I had one more draw before I shut down for the day, so in those 2 boils I had about 150 gallons of sap, my sap is usually in the 2.5 to 3.5 percent range and I ended up only drawing off 1 gallon of finished syrup. So now next time I boil if I add another say 80 gallons of sap to the pan I should expect to get about 2 gallons of syrup drawn off from it during that boil. Thats how you maintain the sweet pan. My divided pan is 20"X48".

Bryan

I do have a thermometer and I do watch for the temperature to change. The one big difference in what we do, is I open my valve wide open as per the advice of my pan maker and you crack yours open. I wonder if that makes a difference?

Thanks for the advice.

[Swingpure]

I was fortunate today to finally watch my neighbour’s boil their sap. Their family has been doing it for generations. Their large cast iron finishing pot has been used for generations. They have a 5x2 flat pan, also around for a long time, that sits low to ground on a metal frame with tin sides. It has a couple of pieces of tin for a door, that are just leaning against the fire box opening. They add wood whenever they feel the boil gets down. They add sap, by going out to a drum holding the sap, dip in their metal pail, then dump the sap into the pan.It is not a brisk boil and is not for the whole pan, but the pan steams and they do reduce the syrup. They use far, far, far less wood than me. It is a very low event day. They only tap for a week to ten days, just enough to make 25-30 L of syrup and then they pull their taps.

23112

23113

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0fd7dq-6KF5KtZZ9-mneuNurg

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0bed93Js_PXp-EIykZ7KgAoPQ

I can see why they chuckle at me, when my timer goes off every ten minutes and I stuff full the burning inferno evaporator of mine. I do boil at a much faster rate than they do, but their boil rate is just perfect for them and they have three families and sometimes more that help them and I am very envious of that. I told them what they have and what they do, is really what making maple syrup is all about.

[berkshires]

I do have a thermometer and I do watch for the temperature to change. The one big difference in what we do, is I open my valve wide open as per the advice of my pan maker and you crack yours open. I wonder if that makes a difference?

Thanks for the advice.
I asked you about that a page or two ago, and if you replied I never saw it. This is what I suspected. If you are just opening it wide and dumping all the sweet, this is why you don't maintain a gradient. If this is what you prefer, that's fine, but most folks would rather keep a good gradient in their pan and have smaller/more continuous draws.

GO

[Swingpure]

I asked you about that a page or two ago, and if you replied I never saw it. This is what I suspected. If you are just opening it wide and dumping all the sweet, this is why you don't maintain a gradient. If this is what you prefer, that's fine, but most folks would rather keep a good gradient in their pan and have smaller/more continuous draws.

GO

So when it gets to the right temperature and density, I should let it trickle out until the temperature drops.

I know there are variables, how long on average should wait until the next trickle drawoff?

[bigschuss]

So when it gets to the right temperature and density, I should let it trickle out until the temperature drops.

I know there are variables, how long on average should wait until the next trickle drawoff?

I would experiment with more draw offs of a lesser volume. Typically when I draw off I remove maybe a half gallon to a gallon at a time. So instead of one big 3 gallon draw off, try 4 or 5 smaller ones over the course of your day. I think also there is a little lag if you're watching the thermometer. When drawing off you're also flooding the pan with fresh sap and there is some lag in the response of the thermometer to that fresh sap.

[bigschuss]

Lol, that is where I got my plan from, just wanted to make sure my volumes of sap were correct. I do get a gradient in my pan which is obvious by the colours and I did get an early draw off last time, but I likely for whatever reason have not maintained a sweet pan. Perhaps that is to come.

I have to admit if I just kept getting a drawoff at the end of a long boil, sort of batch boiling, I am fine with that, as I immediately take that and finish it while it is still hot, then filter it, then bottle it while it is still hot. Very little reheating. I have been making 8.5 to 10.5 L each time of syrup, which fits into my capacity perfectly (finish pot size). Yesterday with it coming off mid boil, I had to reheat it, which takes a little while.

Long range forecast has already changed, so I will do that plan whenever the time comes.

I am well ahead of last year’s pace, but I need the season to extend into mid April to meet some long range goals. Last year I made 109 L with 109 taps, although I was assisted with 110 L of sap given to me. This year I would like to make 140 L with no added sap from a friend. I have 170+ taps, but some are on pails and some are on very short lines and some were tapped at Christmas, some mid February, some March 1, so I have no expectation of a litre a tap, but 140 sounds like a nice number and a good goal. I also benefit from high sugar content in my sap.

I am still really pleased with the vacuum filter. Very fast, very easy, does a great job, and very little syrup lost to the filters. I have mentioned this before, but I have a five gallon pail filled with water, and I just toss th filters from the vacuum filter into the pail and either later that day or the next day, I go to clean them, and the job is mostly done with the water diluting the nitre and the final cleanup of the filters is simply quickly finishing them.

Yes, Gary...as long as you're having fun and making syrup that's all that matters. Batch boiling is fine. You're retired (I think?) so I assume you're not constrained by time too much.

During that last boil just take your time and go VERY slowly as you bring down the level in your pan. I will pay attention to the pan and the fire and add small kindling as needed to keep the evaporation process going gently. I have a shovel ready in case I need to remove the hot coals and wood from the firebox and kill the fire immediately. The lower you bring it down the more time you'll save later on the turkey fryer. There have been a few years that I drop the level so much that when I drained the pan I was basically at syrup within 5 minutes of finishing.

[berkshires]

So when it gets to the right temperature and density, I should let it trickle out until the temperature drops.

I know there are variables, how long on average should wait until the next trickle drawoff?

On my evaporator it's pretty obvious. Whenever the temp gets back up to syrup (or close and rising) it's time to open the valve again. Sometimes it's just a few minutes after the last draw, sometimes it's an hour. You just go by temperature at the draw-off.

GO

[Swingpure]

When I boil again on Saturday, I am going to try and use less wood. Right now, every 10 minutes I stuff the firebox full. The fire is very hot and I get a great boil, but I wonder how much heat is racing out the stack. The old timers I watched yesterday, use much, much, much less wood than I do, but their boil rate is also much less. There might be a happy medium between us.

Not sure if the best solution is not to stack it so full or have a longer fire interval time, or perhaps a bit of both.

[Swingpure]

A two day break from boiling, back at her tomorrow. Took the break because of weather, but also personal reasons, not the least of which I get to watch my Granddaughter’s skating show. She is also in gymnastics and on her final day of this session, she climbed a very tall rope and rang the bell, primarily using arm strength, it was impressive.

I think I might burn through the wood I had surrounding the evaporator after the next four to five boils. They also acted like walls, so today I am buying some tarps to take their place if need be. I may have to tap into the wood supply I split last year for next season’s production.

I have collected 76% of the sap volume I collected last year and have made 20 L more than last year at this time, but I made a fair amount of syrup last year during the first week of April.

I have made 6 batches so far. The picture shows bottles from the first five batches.

23117

https://share.icloud.com/photos/025Kr-doirv_aps9-tLpX4aGA

[Swingpure]

Yes, Gary...as long as you're having fun and making syrup that's all that matters. Batch boiling is fine. You're retired (I think?) so I assume you're not constrained by time too much.

During that last boil just take your time and go VERY slowly as you bring down the level in your pan. I will pay attention to the pan and the fire and add small kindling as needed to keep the evaporation process going gently. I have a shovel ready in case I need to remove the hot coals and wood from the firebox and kill the fire immediately. The lower you bring it down the more time you'll save later on the turkey fryer. There have been a few years that I drop the level so much that when I drained the pan I was basically at syrup within 5 minutes of finishing.

Thanks for all of the advice. I am retired. Time is something I have available this time of year, ice fishing is done, still not time yet for wood splitting as there is still lots of snow around covering the wood piles and the splitter.

Once maple syrup season is done, then it is moving split wood from more open areas to covered sheds for use this coming winter, then splitting already stockpiled logs to refill the more open area storage locations for winter 24/25, and the goal is to get that all done before the black flies show up, then it is time for fishing and projects.

I have been retired for 12.5 years now and have not been bored for one second. Living in a rural area, there are always chores to do, or fishing!

[Pdiamond]

You are very consistent on your color/grade of syrup.

[Swingpure]

You are very consistent on your color/grade of syrup.

And I have no idea how I do it, lol, other than being consistent in what I do, right or wrong.

[Swingpure]

While I was boiling today, my bride thought she would try and make some maple sugar. She followed all of the instructions and made some good looking maple sugar. It is drying on some baking sheets right now.

23120

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0ba1JkrIxoCxQZkSvxqPKOHTg

The boil went well, cut short by the weather, as snow was blowing into the shelter with strong cold north winds, but I did have one draw early in and made 7 L of syrup.

Next year I will add a metal door to my front metal facade. The evaporator is so hot this year, compared to last year, my wooden handles on my concrete doors are burning, and today even briefly caught on fire. Last year they lasted the whole season.

23121

https://share.icloud.com/photos/062THuZWOZtJhE3GAC5GLazLA

[aamyotte]

That sugar looks great. I made myself some last year and loved it. With the tap expansion this year I want to make sugar again and try maple butter.

[Swingpure]

This is the video my wife used to make the maple sugar. It explains it quite well, although does not give the time periods for some of the steps.

https://youtu.be/cfZxs0rBffY

Instead of making the sweet liquid from the sugar on the edges of the pot like the cook did, she just out the pot into the oven for a brief time at 200° and the sugar on the edges became crusty and she was able to easily scrap it off and process it like the other sugar.

Today I will be making a new concrete door, I see that the other one is starting to crack. I will have a metal door next year. When I say make, is I drill two holes with a masonry bit into a patio stone, then add two handles.

I am also going to move wood around in the shelter to make some of it more accessible and replace it will full tarp walls, which will be removable.

I am also going to shovel off some snow from next year’s evaporator wood pile. I may only have four or five boils left, but likely only have wood beside the evaporator at best for three boils. This coming week I should have some good flow days, but the following week may not get cold enough at night to recharge the trees.

My next learning question is how many days can the sweet sit in the pan with temps above zero. As an example if I have four or five days in a row with temps above freezing during the night, do you call it quits?

[bigschuss]

My next learning question is how many days can the sweet sit in the pan with temps above zero. As an example if I have four or five days in a row with temps above freezing during the night, do you call it quits?

Yes, this time of year you're going to have this problem. If you still think you might get some runs and don't want to drain the pan just quite yet, I typically just bring the pan to a boil every other day for 10 minutes or so. If it gets real mild you might do a daily boil. Of course you have to have sap. If you don't, water works fine too.

[Swingpure]

Yes, this time of year you're going to have this problem. If you still think you might get some runs and don't want to drain the pan just quite yet, I typically just bring the pan to a boil every other day for 10 minutes or so. If it gets real mild you might do a daily boil. Of course you have to have sap. If you don't, water works fine too.

Thanks for the advice.

The long range forecast is looking warmer with night time lows above zero. I am hoping it will change, if not I might only have two possibly three boils left. Way too early to end and I will come up short of my goals, but we will see what actually happens. They have trouble, forecasting the next day. If it does end early, it will validate my early tapping though.

I did make a new door with a spare set of door handles. I moved the wood from behind the evaporator to a more accessible place to the right of it. I hung up the heat shield and hung a tarp to close off the rear. The evaporator is all set to start with paper kindling and logs at the ready for a light. Tuesday I am hoping will be my longest and most productive boil, but I will need a decent sap flow tomorrow to have enough sap for a long boil.

Sap left to right batch #1 to batch #7, and batch #1 and batch #7.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0df-pH9eAxKmXa7pMBLv-7trg

https://share.icloud.com/photos/03fJ8k92b2tcgBNpMRljUHn7g

https://share.icloud.com/photos/057A8BCTBfPg2Lv4b7Z0uFwQA

[Swingpure]

Just as a note, the line that I tapped on December 27th is still running as well as the ones I tapped on February 15. This is a subjective observation, based on how fast the drips or streams come out of the lines.

[Swingpure]

Crazy day with a few unplanned things taking up the day and shortening my planned leisurely sap transfer and collection day. I got home at 6:40 pm and raced to transfer and collect the sap. It was my largest collection of the season, 106 gallons. I finished in the moon light just before 9.

Tomorrow I will start boiling around 9 am, with the temp just below freezing. I have 156 gallons to boil and I will try and boil as much as that as I can. There will be only two more boils after this one.

I have collected 94% of the sap I personally collected last year. I was given 110 gallons last year at the end of the year. Counting that I have collected 83% of last years sap.

I am hoping for a long boil tomorrow, resulting in a good syrup haul. I have a long ways to catch up to last year’s total. Hopefully I will have my first multiple draw off boil.

[Z/MAN]

Gary, I would draw off much slower. Just a small stream instead of opening it right up. When you open it fast, your float floods the pan with raw sap and it ruins your gradient. It's like starting all over. If the temperature rises above 7 don't sweat it, it's less time to finish it later.

[Swingpure]

Gary, I would draw off much slower. Just a small stream instead of opening it right up. When you open it fast, your float floods the pan with raw sap and it ruins your gradient. It's like starting all over. If the temperature rises above 7 don't sweat it, it's less time to finish it later.


Thanks today I did just that, about three hours in, I just let it trickle out, then a couple hours later I let it trickle out and I stop it when the level in my big collection pot got to the level my finishing pot could handle. I drained the collection pot and there was still syrup ready to come out, so I trickled some more out until I saw the temperature drop, but after that it never came close to being syrup, before I shut down.

I just about used all of the wood surrounding the evaporator. I will have to cut into my supp,y meant for next year’s season. I have three boils left I figure.

I have enough sap to boil tomorrow, but it will be a lousy weather day. I see a boil Thursday, Saturday and the last one on Monday.

My line I tapped on December 27 is still running well. It just needs to last a week and it will have lasted the entire season from December 27 until April 10.

[Swingpure]

I will be boiling tomorrow, my third last boil. Today I was getting everything ready I could, for tomorrow’s boil with the exception of bringing a new supply of wood, because of the rain and thunderstorms today.

While cleaning out the ashes I discovered that the new, very heavy metal grate I got this spring, is slowly getting destroyed by the heat of the evaporator. It may just last the last the three boils.

I am not sure what to do for next year. I will check will my metal guy if there is a steel that would hold up better than what I had this year.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/03d0Yrp9U1Xg31zBA6mmAgj4Q

I wonder if I am boiling too hot, my fire certainly consumes the wood, and the firebox is very hot, but I thought that was the goal.

Monday will be my last boil and Tuesday I will pull my taps.

[Super Sapper]

I will be boiling tomorrow, my third last boil. Today I was getting everything ready I could, for tomorrow’s boil with the exception of bringing a new supply of wood, because of the rain and thunderstorms today.

While cleaning out the ashes I discovered that the new, very heavy metal grate I got this spring, is slowly getting destroyed by the heat of the evaporator. It may just last the last the three boils.

I am not sure what to do for next year. I will check will my metal guy if there is a steel that would hold up better than what I had this year.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/03d0Yrp9U1Xg31zBA6mmAgj4Q

I wonder if I am boiling too hot, my fire certainly consumes the wood, and the firebox is very hot, but I thought that was the goal.

Monday will be my last boil and Tuesday I will pull my taps.

There are several threads on grates. The most common is to use angle iron in the V position as this allows the ash to fill and insulate it. I have unistrut in mine and is the same as when I put it in 12 years ago. I suded to have 304 stainless sheets protecting my insulation but the heat burned it out in less than 2 years so I know my fire is hot. The unistrut is galvanized and so far unaffected by the heat.

[The Heldeberg Sapper]

There are several threads on grates. The most common is to use angle iron in the V position as this allows the ash to fill and insulate it. I have unistrut in mine and is the same as when I put it in 12 years ago. I suded to have 304 stainless sheets protecting my insulation but the heat burned it out in less than 2 years so I know my fire is hot. The unistrut is galvanized and so far unaffected by the heat.

I have been using 1.5"x1.5"x3/16" angle iron in the "V V V V V" configuration for the past 4 seasons with no issues. They are easily removable and replaceable if needed but i havent had to.

[Swingpure]

I have been using 1.5"x1.5"x3/16" angle iron in the "V V V V V" configuration for the past 4 seasons with no issues. They are easily removable and replaceable if needed but i havent had to.

Thanks!

The top of the V points up?

[Swingpure]

My last boil for the first time I had brown bubbles that I would call syrup bubbles in the last channel. They never got out of control and I just thought it meant I was getting close to making syrup.

In today’s boil that is on going, they appeared again almost right away and this time around 63 Brix they started to get higher in the channel. When I add wood and the front of the pan momentarily cools they back off a little, but came back.

It is not for lack of defoamer.

I ended up drawing off at 63 Brix to resolve the problem.

There are still some bubbles in the channel after the drawoff, but not out of control.

Any suggestions?

[Bgreisch]

Yes, VVVV up. Here is a link to Smokey Lake for an example for a grate.

https://www.smokylakemaple.com/product/steel-grates/

Bryan

[The Heldeberg Sapper]

No the point goes down. I just welded some 1/2" long pieces of 2x2/1/8" angle together in a VVVVV pattern and then the 1.5" sits inside of it for the spacing. I tired uploading a photo but it wont let me right now.

[The Heldeberg Sapper]

My last boil for the first time I had brown bubbles that I would call syrup bubbles in the last channel. They never got out of control and I just thought it meant I was getting close to making syrup.

In today’s boil that is on going, they appeared again almost right away and this time around 63 Brix they started to get higher in the channel. When I add wood and the front of the pan momentarily cools they back off a little, but came back.

It is not for lack of defoamer.

I ended up drawing off at 63 Brix to resolve the problem.

There are still some bubbles in the channel after the drawoff, but not out of control.

Any suggestions? If its bubbling up like crazy and defoamer wont touch it, then its a build up of niter and you need to drain and clean your pan. I avoided doing cleaning for too long and ended up caking on an 1/16" layer of niter that was starting to burn in spots and was a pain to clean. Never happened to me before but we had a lot of niter this year.

[Swingpure]

If its bubbling up like crazy and defoamer wont touch it, then its a build up of niter and you need to drain and clean your pan. I avoided doing cleaning for too long and ended up caking on an 1/16" layer of niter that was starting to burn in spots and was a pain to clean. Never happened to me before but we had a lot of niter this year.

Thanks and rats, just two boils left.

I am in the middle of a boil, should I shut it down?

[Swingpure]

Thanks and rats, just two boils left.

I am in the middle of a boil, should I shut it down?

My instincts say yes shut her down, so I have stopped adding wood and have left the door open to cool down faster.

[The Heldeberg Sapper]

My instincts say yes shut her down, so I have stopped adding wood and have left the door open to cool down faster.

Better safe than sorry. I kept boiling on mine for probably 8 hrs total when it was foaming up (had never happened before) and i regretted it immensely haha.

[nhdog]

swingpure are you referring to foam or bubbles near the draw off. there is a difference ?

[Swingpure]

If its bubbling up like crazy and defoamer wont touch it, then its a build up of niter and you need to drain and clean your pan. I avoided doing cleaning for too long and ended up caking on an 1/16" layer of niter that was starting to burn in spots and was a pain to clean. Never happened to me before but we had a lot of niter this year.

I cannot thank you enough for your prompt advice. I did shut it down as soon as I read your first post. All four channels had nitre buildup, but the fourth channel had a lot of nitre buildup and that is why that one was foaming up as you suggested. I was going to take a picture of how bad it was, but decided some embarrassing things you do not show. Fortunately there was no scorching.

I was able to get it all 99% clean. I will work on 100% clean after the season ends on Monday.

Next year I will have to get ahead of it and have a routine schedule for cleaning the pan. Today I had to undo a number of things because I stopped mid boil. I lot of extra moving of firewood and sap, that would not have happened if I had cleaned it on an off day.

I still have three boils left as I still had a lot of sap unboiled today, that I will boil tomorrow. I have to leave time to collect for Saturday’s boil.

Two interesting things from today:

I cleaned the bottom of the pan as well. I had my buddy helping me and we first rubbed the bottom of the pan on the snow. It removed about 80% of the carbon. The power washer got 99% of the rest.

I had to steal from my wood supply that was meant for next season’s boil. The wood had one year of seasoning, but I try to have two, but I am using it a year early. I also realized that I did not split it quite as fine as I did this year’s supply.

The combination of not being seasoned as much and being slightly larger, meant it burnt slower. Now my boil was not as hot and the boil rate was a little slower, but not a hec of lot less. I had no rocket roar and I used a he of a lot less wood.My fire interval I changed from 10 minutes to 13 minutes as a result of the slower burning. It sure was more of a leisurely pace.

I did have a draw off before the nitre problem and made 8 L of syrup.

[Swingpure]

swingpure are you referring to foam or bubbles near the draw off. there is a difference ?

I guess it was foam, the bubbles were smaller than syrup bubbles and they were tight together. I know what to look for now. Thanks.

[berkshires]

I forget, swingpure, did you get a reversible pan? If so, a good way to avoid having to drain and clean the pan when you have only a couple boils left is to switch sides before it gets that bad.

GO

[Swingpure]

Yes, VVVV up. Here is a link to Smokey Lake for an example for a grate.

https://www.smokylakemaple.com/product/steel-grates/

Bryan

Thanks, I can make that!

[Swingpure]

No the point goes down. I just welded some 1/2" long pieces of 2x2/1/8" angle together in a VVVVV pattern and then the 1.5" sits inside of it for the spacing. I tired uploading a photo but it wont let me right now.

Did you use any kind of special steel or just regular cold steel?

Thanks

[Swingpure]

I forget, swingpure, did you get a reversible pan? If so, a good way to avoid having to drain and clean the pan when you have only a couple boils left is to switch sides before it gets that bad.

GO

Yes, I did. I can trade places with the float box and draw off valve.

My pan comes with couplers with gaskets to connect the float box and the drawoff valve to the pan and you don’t get the gasket perfect, you can have a leak and the only way to fix the leak is to partially drain the pan.

Also the way I set up my head tank it does not work for the way this pan works. I had expected it to be set up differently. Next year I will have to set things up so I can move my head tank to either side of the pan. I also have to trust that I can connect the couplers with the gaskets in the correct position. I would have rather had it so the accessories just threaded on.

[The Heldeberg Sapper]

Did you use any kind of special steel or just regular cold steel?

Thanks

Just normal steel stock. The key to this is that the inside of the V fills up with ash and helps insulate it.

[The Heldeberg Sapper]

I cannot thank you enough for your prompt advice. I did shut it down as soon as I read your first post. All four channels had nitre buildup, but the fourth channel had a lot of nitre buildup and that is why that one was foaming up as you suggested. I was going to take a picture of how bad it was, but decided some embarrassing things you do not show. Fortunately there was no scorching.

I was able to get it all 99% clean. I will work on 100% clean after the season ends on Monday.

Next year I will have to get ahead of it and have a routine schedule for cleaning the pan. Today I had to undo a number of things because I stopped mid boil. I lot of extra moving of firewood and sap, that would not have happened if I had cleaned it on an off day.


Glad to hear you got it cleaned up. I used to be able to go all season with only on cleaning but this year i had a lot of niter build up. I think you should plan on cleaning pans at least twice during the season or if you notice it starting to foam up a lot plan on cleaning it before the next boil. Once you get a lot of hours on the rig you'll know when a cleaning will be necessary.

[Swingpure]

A good uneventful boil on Friday excluding the frozen valve on the feed tank, solved by a heating pad. I boiled all of my available sap, had one draw off. I though I might have another, but likely needed another 10 gallons of sap to get there.

It is still amazing me that the wood that I am using now, that is larger and less seasoned, seems to be a better match for my evaporator. It still boils well, but does not get super hot. Hec, even my wooden door handles are hanging in there and I am using less wood.

Two boils left, Sunday and Monday, then pull the taps Tuesday. I was going to boil Saturday, but I only have 56 gallons to boil and having a day off sounds good.

[Swingpure]

I collected 122 gallons of sap yesterday and today and will try and boil it all tomorrow. If successful it will be my largest one time boil.

I think only two boils left, unless Monday has a surprise flow. For sure after Monday the season is over. It is a good thing the season is ending, my fire grate is rapidly disintegrating, I will put some patches on top to make to the end.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0dc7bTRZoVgJrey0_r0vlBJ7g

I brought over two more trailer fulls of wood from my next year’s supply. When I start splitting to replenish my supply I will make them wrist size, but large wrist size, I like the slightly less hot fire.

I now have collected 123% of the sap I personally collected last year and 109% of the sap I had total last year, with one and possibility two more collection days. Hopefully that will equate to more syrup than last year.

[Swingpure]

Yesterday, Saturday, was the first day that the lines I tapped on March 1, outperformed the lines I tapped on a December 27 and Feb 15. The March 1 lines have every advantage, with new lines and fittings and being on a much steeper slope. They might get a little less sunlight, but essentially all of the slopes face east.

I have no doubt that if I had tapped everything on March 1, from that point on, they likely would have produced more, but I know that today, the last day of flow, sap will be streaming out of the old tap lines. I think that is pretty remarkable especially since they have never been high flow trees.

[Swingpure]

I boiled the 122 gallons of sap I had planned and maybe a little more. My best ever in a single day. I had three drawoffs, which is also a first. It all when without incident.

I collected over 90 gallons this evening for my final boil tomorrow. I likely will collect another 20 to 30 in the morning before starting the boil. At the end I will get the sap down as low as I safely can, then will draw if off and finish that.

I have set my personal best in sap collected and syrup made. Final numbers tomorrow.

[Swingpure]

I am all finished collecting. Today I have 131 gallons to boil, which will be a new record for a single day boil for me.
I collected 1153.2 gallons /4365.4 L, which is more than I collected or boiled last year. I credit early tapping for making that goal as our season is shutting down a week earlier than last year. My expected syrup from that is around 109 L based on a 40:1 ratio, but I will far exceed that because of my high sugar content in my sap. How much more I will not know until I finish it all tomorrow.

After the boil and after it cools down, I still have to take the sweet off the pan for the final time and finish that.

My gallons per tap were down this year from 7.9 to 6.4 gallons per tap.

Lots of cleanup to do and after that I will take my time to review the season, what went right, what went wrong and things I will do different next year.

Spring has truly arrived her. The ice on the lake might be out in a week’s time and the race to get all of the wood cut, split and stacked prior to the blackflies showing starts immediately after clean up. I already have three trees down to cut up and haul home plus over 40” logs already cut to split and stack.

[Swingpure]

Soon I will let the pan boil down from the 2” level for the final pull off of the sweet. Is going for the one inch level ideal?

Do I have to pull it off as soon as it cools or can I do it tomorrow morning?

Thanks

[Swingpure]

At the end of last season I was pooped and I thought I would downsize and make it more hobby friendly. Then I got the okay to tap what I thought was a dream slope and I went all in. I am a little pooped at the end of this season, but I know this time not to make any decisions while I am tired.

By some metrics I had a very successful season, I collected my most sap ever (1153 gallons) and made my most syrup ever (128 L). The changes I made to my cinder block evaporator and associated equipment all worked well and I was able to boil at an amazing 13 gph on the cinder block evaporator, with a 2x4 divided pan and I think that is pretty darn good. Last year I had so much smoke at times you could not see in the shelter and this year there was zero smoke. My syrup tastes fantastic if I say so myself.

It wasn’t all roses and there are definitely a few changes I have to make next year if I am going to do a similar number of taps with the same equipment. An easy one is to fix is the door. I actually still like the concrete door, it is simple and inexpensive, I just need to find better handles that don’t burn up. Someone suggested here that I look for wood stove door handles.

I would give myself a C- for my divided pan performance. Even though I made all of the possible syrup I could from it, I never maintained my sweet very well. A few times I had multiple draws, but most time I had one, almost like batch boiling.

I ended up with a nitre problem, cleaned it and two boils later had a nitre problem again. I have to change my setup next year so I can reverse the flow. I also have to be confident that the gaskets will not leak when I make the change from the float box to the drawoff valve.

I give myself an F for not trying the RO at all. I never got overwhelmed with the sap, which is one reason why I did not, the other reason is I did not want the extra hassle, but I used humongous quantities of wood this year, maybe 10 to 12 facecords, which is getting close to what I use to heat my home all year. That is unsustainable. I will have to find away next year to incorporate the RO. (Not knowing if it even works or not.)

I was very pleased with my shelter. It cleared the steam well and kept me and the evaporator dry.

I have touched base with the landowner on the steep hill. I will know in a weeks time, but it is looking good I will be able to tap there again next year. I will add a fourth line, but I will also drop some shorter lines and all of the pails.

To be honest if the landowner had said no, or insisted I remove the lines, I was going to really downsize, perhaps sell my evaporator, float box and base stack and just buy a barrel evaporator and be totally happy with making 30 L of syrup. There was something alluring when I saw the low event boiling of my neighbour’s and their choice of just tapping for 7-10 days and quit when they get to about 28 L of syrup.

There were times this year with the early smaller runs that I thought steam pans would have been better to deal with the amount of sap I had. I also learned that turkey fryers work well, and have respect for them.

Not next year, but one year I will settle down and have a lot fewer taps and will be happy just to make 25 to 30 L of syrup.

Just a question, I made 15.5 L (4 gallons) of syrup from the sweet from the pan at the end. Is this a normal amount?

Edit: I forgot to mention that the heat of the fire virtually consumed my entire brand new heavy duty grate. I will be making a new one with the V’s as suggested.

I also forgot to add the 2 L I made on New Year’s day, so all totaled I made 130 L of syrup.

[Andy VT]

Overall sounds like a pretty successful 2023!

[Brien]

wow thats a lot of syrup, but thats also a lot of wood. People have asked me if I would sell them some syrup and I always say (no, but you can have some). If I wanted to make extra money I would just sell my firewood. At the crazy price of $150 a facecord its going for here in North Bay. Last year I stopped making maple syrup at 32L simple because I didnt want to burn anymore wood.(burned around 3face cord) That seemed plenty to give a bunch away and keep lots for myself. I intended on doing the same this year, but I went to florida in the heart of the season and then came back and got sick. I managed to make 4L before I left, so at least I have something.

[Swingpure]

wow thats a lot of syrup, but thats also a lot of wood. People have asked me if I would sell them some syrup and I always say (no, but you can have some). If I wanted to make extra money I would just sell my firewood. At the crazy price of $150 a facecord its going for here in North Bay. Last year I stopped making maple syrup at 32L simple because I didnt want to burn anymore wood.(burned around 3face cord) That seemed plenty to give a bunch away and keep lots for myself. I intended on doing the same this year, but I went to florida in the heart of the season and then came back and got sick. I managed to make 4L before I left, so at least I have something.

Hopefully the smaller firebox I will have next year will have a significant change to the amount of wood I used.

I also likely will not sell any. My kids will get 10 L each and extended family another 10L. Royalties for using neighbour’s trees will be another 21 L and rewarding people who helped me, such as doing welding and putting the roof and stack on, another 10 L. So that is 51 L right there. Then we give a bunch to friends and I also give my fellow volunteer board members syrup.

So in the end, I still have enough syrup to meet my needs.

I can see a day in 3 or 4 years, where I do a major downsize, have less than 50 taps, just on my property and maybe have a barrel evaporator.

[Swingpure]

Finally finished cleaning all of my barrels and tanks, pans and some lines.

I am not sure if the pan is supposed to look like new when you’re done cleaning or not. Mine looked a lot better, but it did not look like new. I just used white vinegar and elbow grease to clean it.

The lines on the hill, I just let them hang like Proctor does and soon I will connect them up to the holder on the fittings. The ones that were on my property and my adjacent neighbour’s, I connected my garden hose to the lines using a barbed fitting and pumped water through the lines and drops. They are now hanging again and I will connect them up later as well. I figure pumping water through them is one step better than simply letting them hang.

[Swingpure]

One thing I missed with my wrap up is I give myself a C in sap transfer, mainly because every gallon of sap ended up in a five gallon pail and I lifted every pail head high, while standing one step up on a ladder, to dump the sap into the head tank. That was a lot of lifting and hauling.

Without getting into the food grade issue what so ever, I had two new pumps to use this year. One was a sump pump with stainless steel components. It was a little awkward and did not pump near as fast as I expected. I then tried a bilge pump that had a 1 1/8 hose attached. Both pumps were powered by a quick connect cord that was powered from my ATV, but could also have been powered by my truck.

The bilge pump was light and very handy and pumped really quickly. I liked it, but it only had a nine foot hose with it so at one collection area I could pump into pails on my ATV trailer, but the other two locations I pumped directly into pails that I had to either carry up or down steep hills to get to the ATV trailer.

Next year no pails. I will have a longer hose and will pump directly into a 35 gallon tank on my ATV or possibly the bed of my truck, and then will transfer it to a 55 gallon barrel by my 35 gallon feed tank or at times directly into the feed tank. No more pails.