First time with new 2x6 - not so good!

[ploefstedt]

Hi all -

Many thanks to those who provided ideas and guidance on
bricking. Got that job done, with the aid of a diamond blade
and a compound miter.

Yesterday, I boiled with my 'new' Leader WSE 2x6, and while
the boil rate was certainly what I was hoping for, I ran into a
scorching situation at the end. This, in spite of the fact that Ihad
1/2 inch of sap in the syrup pan. I also noted that, even after one
hour of a ripping boil, I didn't have anything like finished syrup in
the draw-off channel. In short, the whole batch is more or less
ruined, and I can't help but think I have made some fundamental
mistake.

I hate to ask, but if any of you savvy hobbiests would care to
let me pose a few questions, via email or phone, I would be most
grateful! I really hope to make this work, of course, but I can't afford
a situation like the one I had yesterday.

On the 'I'm not as dumb as I could be' front, I erred on the side of
flooding the tank when I thought things were getting out of control,
so I avoided a much worse situation.

Many thanks - hope to hear from some of you.

Paul Loefstedt

[Fred Henderson]

My first qusetion would be ,why did you only have a 1/2" in the syrup pan? Depending on what the sugar content of the sap is you may have to boil for more than 1 hour to make syrup. I think that just starting out with a new rig that a 1/2" is mighty low to be running the depth. My rig was new last season and I started out at 1-1/2" and slowly worked my was down to 1".

[tuckermtn]

on our first year with our 2x6 raised flu we also ran 1" to 1 1/2"...we still typically run close to 1". When the front pan is not boiling or empty, take a ruler and measure the opening in the divider of the syrup pan- note where one inch is on the opening...this will give you a visual on how you depth is.

Was this your first boil of the season? It typically would take us 4-6 hrs the first boil to effectively "sweeten" the pan- i.e. it takes a while get even a little of the 2-3% sap up to syrup...but once your gradient is established, you will be drawing off pretty regularly- every hour or so, depending on how you do it...

good luck...

-tuckermtn

[gmcooper]

Paul,

Your far from the first to have things not go as planned the first few boils on a new evaporator. There are many others that had far worse results. It does take quite while to make syrup starting from scratch. I'm not sure how you scorched pan with out getting to syrup. As said probably 1/2" was too shallow for the first few boils. I normally boil with only 1/2" but that is after I have boiled for a few times to learn the little "quirks" with each new evaporator. The lower the pan level the margin for error drops rapidly. My guess would be the float hung up just a little and sometimes that is all it takes.

A family near us got a 2x6 last year and never did make syrup as they had trouble getting going using the evaporator and I think they gave up. I will go over with them when they get sap this year to help them out. There are 6-7 sugarmakers with in 15 minutes of them that could have gone to help out if we had known they were having problems.

I know there will be a whole bunch of sugarmakers that read this and say "Hey, I'm not the only one"
Mark

[Fred Henderson]

Everytime you light a fire in it just keep telling yourself that you are only 3 seconds away from a disaster, if you loose liquid level.

[802maple]

First don't throw away the syrup as it is worth something as commercial grade, somewhere around 2.oo dollars a lb.

Secondly if there is a sugarmaker close to you, if you ask I bet he or she would give you a hand, Russell Lampron isn't far from you and maybe he could give you hand if not to busy. How about it Russ you out there.

[MaplePancakeMan]

i burned some last year, kinda but i poured it into mason jars and it made rock candy on the bottom and the top syrup part was probably one of the best i've tasted, really thick robust taste! I would definitely not throw it away.

On my 2x6 it takes awhile at first to draw syrup off.. in fact last year i rarely did until i really got the hang of it.

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

it sounds like maybe you did not have enough sap tp start a boil with. 2x6 pan you would need at least 150 gallons just to sweeten the pans

RICH

[3% Solution]

Hi Paul,
I'm going to send you an email with my phone #, give me a call.
Maybe we can figure it out for ya!!
First thing, saps not deep enough, I go along with the others .... up to 1-1/2" to start. Got to work the bugs out!!!!
Secondly, you won't see anything that even looks like syrup for almost 4 hours!
Give me a call.

Dave

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Evaporator might have been off level some and that would be really bad with only 1/2" of liquid, that means almost dry in some locations which could have given him syrup in very low locations in aprox an hour.

[Russell Lampron]

Hi guys I am finally able to sit down at my computer for a few minutes. I just sent you a pm Paul. Hope you didn't warp your pan. Just run it at 1.5" to start with when you try again. Be patient it takes a while to get the gradient up there when you are sweetening the pans. It has been a while since I have had to sweeten mine with raw sap but I think 4 hours was about what it used to take to get a draw off.

Russ

[white mt]

HI paul if you need to. you may call me at 603-726-7230.I may be able to help you out over the phone .dan

[Parker]

Paul- try starting with more liquid,,I run my syrup pan aroud 2" (but it is wide and wavey),,a lot can go wrong in a short period of time,,,,do you have a thermometer in the syrup pan? It takes a while tto sweeten the pans,,the key is keeping an eye on the temp,,,,that way you know how far you are from syrup,,,,,,,(or distater)