Field Trip

[WF MASON]

The Souther Maine Maple Association will be invading Underhill Vermont on Fri. May 21st. To tour the Proctor Research Center. Batten down the hatches Vermont!

[Al]

Shoot,we're fearless down here!! Come on down and have a good time. What time are you going to be there? Might be a way to get down there and say a quick hi if the association wouldn't mind.
Take care,
Al

[MaineMapleDave]

Had a great visit there a number of years ago with the late Sumner Williams. A truly idyllic operation.

Have fun.

[WF MASON]

I believe were putting on the feed bag at 12, noon there , then tour at 1pm
Al, come on down.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Jeremy,

Forgive my memory, but what is it going to be, boy or girl. Is is your first??

Things will sure change in a hurry! :D

Congrats! :D

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Jeremy,

That's really neat. My little boy was born in August of 2002. He was our first and we didn't want to know even though they knew the first ultrasound. :D

Kinda fun and exciting waiting until he/she arrives. You can get everything ahead of time anyway and even some neutral clothes. :D

Good luck and I will keep you in my prayers that all goes well! :D

[WF MASON]

The Proctor Center field trip was great, wish member turnout was better , but on a weekday its hard for people to get away.
My knowledege of tubing is limited, very limited , and it showed at Proctor when they explained the two line vacuum system. They said it had been around for ten years or so , but that is the first one I had ever seen. There is two mainlines about a foot apart , one over the other going into the bush , when you get to the first set of trees a manifold with valve and gauge is installed , and from there one mainline continues from the top of the manifold ,the vacuum draw comes up the top mainline through the manifold , the gauge at the manifold still has 18 lbs, just like at the pump , no loss in vac draw with this system. The sap come from the 5/16'' lateral lines to the single mainline down to the manifold and drops down through to the bottom mainline which is for the sap return. Does it work better than single system vacuum ?? and how much ?? Proctor will have thoes numbers in a few years.
Something else they are working on that will benefit all sugarmakers is the installion of three tubing systems , the first is IPL of Canada, the secound is D+G, and the third is Leader, all three have about 200 taps each. And is installed in the same bush one beside the other. The materals were bought at catalog prices . Each system goes to the sugarhouse separate and is collected separate and measured for amount of sap each day for that system and the bacteria count. The study will tell the cost of the system and also which tubing system runs the best and cleanest. Very interesting. I would incourage everyone to visit and at functions such as maplerama , donate to Proctor Research Center.

[Parker]

When is maplerama this year,,I guess I lost my aplication for it,,Not hard to believe in the mess that is my office,,,Parker I have a modified 2 line system and it seemed to work a hole lot better tan the single line for me..

[RUSTYBUCKET]

Parker,

Have a look at Saphead's post under the thread "Evaporator Questions". He posted contact information.


Russ

[Al]

Hi Bill, sorry I didn't get down to see you. Sue had a Dr. appointment come up and can't miss those. Glad to hear you had a good time. Things kind of quiet here.
Take care.

[Brian]

I got the chance to ride up to Quebec Canada yesterday with Glen Goodrich. He was going up to Darveau to pick up a 3 1/2 x 12 arch and a bunch of other stuff. Darveau is coming out with a new look to their R.O. and they are going to be easier to use, but still in testing. This place made leader look like a mom & pops store!! :lol: But I Do Like Leader!! My Pans are Leader for my 4x12.