What do you have left to do?

[gator330]

I started to clean out a build ( old Chicken house ) today. I came up with a 10 x 18 area on cement. need to set up my Evaporator. That I don't get until the 10th. (picking it up at the show) Need to put it together, split wood, not big deal i have a lot of that. I have never run a tube ever, don't even have any yet. Only looking for 50 taps this year. no storage tanks??? Still have all my buckets and taps. Yeah, I have a long way to go!!! How long till season 6-8 weeks. Hope your all further ahead then me!!!!

[Clan Delaney]

I need to secure a wood burning evap. Need to run a dedicated power line to the shack - the extention cord isn't gonna cut it this year. I still need to string lines. Most are in the yard, and if I string them now, the kids will undoubtedly hit them while sledding. That's about it. As we get closer though I know I'm gonna realize there's a whole lot more!

[gator330]

Thanks for the reminder I need to run an extention cord. Cut pipe through the roof, Build a hood and install a few Windows. I'm just happy too get under a roof with four wall this season. Thought I would be out doors boiling again. It's hard working on all this stuff with out the wife wondering whats going on???? I saw on someones signiture that his worst fear was "My wife would sell my sugar/syrup stuff for what he told her he payed for it." I about died lol!!! Sence mine is yet to learn about o'say everything!!!

[maple flats]

I have one more 300' branch line and about 50' of another to add yet and then about 400 taps to add. If the weather cooperates this won't take as long as earning the extra cash to buy it will take.

[Sugarmaker]

I need to build the 25 adjusting loops. Get things cleaned up in the sugar house. I may try to hang up the roadside tubing starting in Mid Jan.

Right now I need to get the paper work done to be ready for tax time. Sales expenses and inventory.

Chris

[gator330]

I need to order tubing. I walked the edge of my woods covered 1,000 feet and counted 100 easy taps that was from the edge and into the woods just 20 feet at the most that was skipping a lot of 9-12 inch trees. thinking Gravity 1/2 inch main 5/16 rigid branch and and semi rigid drops pre maid buy the "Guys" plus a few odds and ends Main line manifolds and caps. If there is a little sag in the drop as long as the tap is higher then the branch or main line, which ever one i connect to. It will flow gravity wise into that line correct??? Trying to get it all figured out so to pick it up with my evaporator.

[mapleman3]

I have tons of tubing to buy, and put up, get some tanks, brick the evap... set up the gathering trailers, fix a vac pump and so on and so on!!

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

There is too much to do! But enough will get done that I will make sugar. Last week my 82 year old Mom had a minor surgery. While I was waiting, I tried to write down all the stuff that needs to be done. Came up with 2 and 1/2 pages full. YIKES!

[evansglenn]

I got lots to do to. I still need to run lots and lots of tubing. I got the wire strung out and streched, but thats about all the farther I made it so far. Most of December was below zero for us, and since then all of my days off lately, its been snowing. January is already here, and next month will be gone before you know it to. I need to get rockin! This is my first pipeline, and it will be a real learning experience.

[gator330]

Mapleman3

You have to know run a forum. Shure you have time for sugar!!!

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Gator,

Not abnormal to get maybe a little sag in a long lateral line. As long as you maintain slope even in the sag, it should be fine. It will also work as you states as long as the tap is above the mainline, but if it sags in the middle below the mainline, it is creating a place for bacteria to grow and won't work as well.

[ennismaple]

I need to cut my 2010 evaporator wood, cut Mom's '09-'10 firewood, build a sap ladder to lift a mainline over the road, stretch a bit more tube and replace about 150 taps worth of ancient purple tubing with 4-seasons. I've still got 2 months until tapping time so there should be lots of time to get it all done.

[gator330]

ennismaple

Did you say 2010 wood??? I'm still working on 2008 wood to heat the house!!!

But, I did just get of the phone with Kim. Wonderful person to deal with, Thank you so much!!! I have all my stuff on order to pick up at the show!!! Next week I will be running tube, bricking a evaporator, organiving a sugar house (chicken coup). Ok, so hot dogs are out but can you hard boil eggs in your sap???? Looks like I better warm up to a few "Coon Dogs" looks like I'll be in there house even sooner then I thought!

[DaveB]

I still have way too much to do. I set some high goals for this season and doing my best to meet them. I may not be able to add all the taps that I wanted to this year...

In the past year I built a new sugarhouse (still unfinished, but hey, I have a roof and walls!) and have been putting in some new lines in the woods to replace older ones as well as completely new lines. I still have some that need to go in as well as get the new evaporator setup. Oh, and I'm still cutting up slabs too!!!

I better get back to work.....

Dave

[dano2840]

i have to go to TSC and buy a 500 roll of 3/4 ive got 200 ft of 3/4 left to string up and 150 of 1/2 then ive got to run my pump line, finish the tanks shed get the tanks in place and plumbed get the vac pump over and set up in the woods, finish the sugar house and run all my lats oh and go look at an evaporator (i think this is the one this time from the pics it looks real nice) then i will have to put grates in it set it all up and brick it and fill w/ vermiculite

[Jeff E]

I to had high hopes for where I would be by March. I dont think I will be there.
I had hoped to build a complete system for 2000 taps, including new sugar house and all tubing, including vacuum.
I have about 1200 on line now, have the sugar house and equipment work 98% done. I have decided to clean up all the work on what is already done, you know, punch list stuff, like finish installing all the drops, a few mainline connections, piping between a few tanks in the sugar house, getting my pipe from the vac pump to the releaser.

After that is done, then start trying to add more woods onto the system.
In hind sight, I had no idea what was needed for me to get all this done. What else is new? I am an optimist by nature, like all maple guys I suppose.

[dano2840]

we are all optimists, i have found my self a little ahead of schedule, have most of my main line done, and will start installing lats, in a day or 2, unless i get to TSC for the last 200 ft of 3/4 i need to put up back in october i though i wouldnt be half way through the main line by now

[Cardigan99]

I've got just about everything left to do. Got to finish re tining the 2x6 Grimm I got from Amber Gold this summer (thanks Josh). Have the metal. Got to get some brick and arch board. Got to fix a leak in the flue pan I got from Bascoms last month. Got to string up another 80 trees that the Reverend Moore and I got the green light to tap up back (thanks Ray). Order more taps and tees and tubing from the Maple Guys. Clean out sap drums, clean the holding tank, drag the rest of the wood off the hill (fix my tractor). Get another holding tank (thanks Ray). Make another trip to Bascoms for a piece of grate. With any luck I can fit that into the next 8 or 9 weeks.

[caseyssugarshack93]

I got 4 1inch mianlines in one mainline is almost done, putting drops on it now. have around 300+/- taps on that one line and should end up with the 3 mainline around 600 taps. still have alot of work to do cleaning out hte sugarhouse and getting ready for my new r/o and been wokring in the woods everyday little at a time cause of school. still have to but a releaser and have to finish paying for my surge bb4 vac pump and get everything all hooked up and get a tank for the new sugarbush..
lot of work to do


nate

[Jeff E]

Cardigan99, how do you retin a pan? I have been looking for the overview of this an find nothing. I am selling a tin 2x8 that may do better if it were redone. Are you talking recoating all surface, or just joints?

[3% Solution]

What do I have left to do;
Get a roll of pan gasket, put that down.
Put the pans in place.
Put the EEU in palce.
Put the Filter / canner in place.
Tap, tap, tap!!!!!
Then boil, boil, boil!!!!
That's about it!!

[markcasper]

Jeff, If I recall,,,,,,you also got a cdl ro from roth and we each have the same???? I beleieve Pete Roth said he and a techinician were goging to come the first of Feb for a info lesson and to run it. I am sitting here trying to figure the plumbing,,,,,the manual does no good. I am going to attempt to stick a 36 foot electric pole in the ground now. I have the hole dug, hope I am succesful. I'm thinking of moving the ro out of the building in case the pole were to let loose. I have got 4 bulk tanks froze in the ground and 2 of them were moved last fall while I did the addition, but then they never had anything put under them. I got the permeate tank free, took one bag of charcoal and 8 hours to get those legs unfrozen, bent the darn valve with a wrecking bar next. Aklways something.

[Cardigan99]

Cardigan99, how do you retin a pan? I have been looking for the overview of this an find nothing. I am selling a tin 2x8 that may do better if it were redone. Are you talking recoating all surface, or just joints?

Jeff, You mean re tin the arch? Basically you replace the sheetmetal (galvi or stainless) with some new stuff. Josh was kind enough to give me the cad drawings that he made of the panels when he sold me the castings. I re drew them and sent them to a sheetmetal shop I used to work at. They cut everything up to spec on the plasma table

[gator330]

Well now that I am back from the show today, might I say it was a real good show at that. Time to get a move on it. I now have an evaporator, which I was able to get in the future Sugar house with out my wife seeing. It needs board and brick. Lot's of tube to run now that I have it and some idea how to put it up. Great Demo today by Dave Hill thanks for all the info. I think it should go good. A few good days and a lot can get done. Can't wait to get it all going. May even pull wire in the morning, Ok maybe not if it's -4 like it was this morning!!!!

[royalmaple]

Your going by 12 inch trees?

[Russell Lampron]

I have to take a long hard look at a 7" tree when I am in the vicinity with 5/16.

[gator330]

Only till next year!!! I only have so much time this year. I hope to run 400' main line a few good branch lines that pick up some two tape trees and let the small ones go till next year. Then I'll have a better idea what I can keep up with. Looking to do 50-60 taps this year gravity. I'm shure it won't be long and the 9inch trees will have a hole in them!!!! But for right now I have more maples then I have time.

[tessiersfarm]

I just welded my arch together yesterday. It is coming along pretty well. I may not have time to build the flued pan this year so I may go with a flat pan to get me through. Still needs a little door work and I need to brick it and hook up the forced draft blower but I still have a little time. 27" wide by 76" long on this one. Flue pan will be 48" and syrup pan will be 28". Still haven't even started lines. Have 1 woodlot on buckets but the other 2 needs lines put up. We take them down every year because its easier than working around them with the equipment. Will be over 100 taps this year.

[mfchef54]

Finished bricking and hooked up leaf blower. took a while to get the flow working right but with it on full blast it comes right up throught the bricks with holes. Still need to put gasket under pan. A few more buckets to clean. Still trying to figure how to hook up the new trees up. but pretty much on schedule. learned a lot at the conference and can't wait to try out a few things.

[Amber Gold]

Pickup, board and brick my new arch, connect to feed tank, and test fire. Construct a work/bottling bench and shelving for finished product. Mount my rolling doors. Wire the sugar house and install lighting and outlets. Cut, split another 1.5 chord of slab pine. Run another 300' of 3/4" mainline and wire, 200' of 1/2 mainline and wire, and run another 200 taps of tubing. Figure out my vacuum pump and releaser setup and get that plumbed.

Plenty of time. Who needs sleep...

[Jeff E]

Jeff, If I recall,,,,,,you also got a cdl ro from roth and we each have the same???? I beleieve Pete Roth said he and a techinician were goging to come the first of Feb for a info lesson and to run it. I am sitting here trying to figure the plumbing,,,,,the manual does no good. I am going to attempt to stick a 36 foot electric pole in the ground now. I have the hole dug, hope I am succesful. I'm thinking of moving the ro out of the building in case the pole were to let loose. I have got 4 bulk tanks froze in the ground and 2 of them were moved last fall while I did the addition, but then they never had anything put under them. I got the permeate tank free, took one bag of charcoal and 8 hours to get those legs unfrozen, bent the darn valve with a wrecking bar next. Aklways something.

Mark, sorry for the slow reply, I have not checked in lately.

Still wondering about the plumbing of the RO? I can send you some pics of how I did mine if you like.

Basically, the dual white PVC on the back right of the unit is the input, it is split so you connect one to your sap supply, the other to your permiate tank. This feeds the sap during consentration, and clean water for the clean and rinse work.

The single white PVC is for excess permiate water. You will be able to select where you want the permiate water to go, either out this to a drain, or out the clear 1" line to the permiate tank. This 1" line has a quick coupling attached and is coming out of the back of the upper part of the unit.

The other 1" clear line is your concentrate line, that sends sap to your evaporator feed tank. It has a quick coupling on it as well. I put a line on mine that can reach the bulk sap storage area, so I can recirculate the sap and 'hyper' concentrate it, as well as send it directly to my feed tank.

There is one other clear line, with no fitting on it that goes to the top if the filter housing.

Let me know if I can help with any questions or if you want pics.

By the way, sorry about the freeze up of you tanks. That sucks!!! It is tough this time of year to get things done.

Jeff

[maple flats]

The faster I go the behinder i get!!!

[Jeff E]

Mark and others, I posted images of the CDL RO and how it is plumbed on the photobucket link in the signature. Look in the Sugarhouse album.

[gator330]

Bricking the arch today my first ever attempt at doing so. Shouldn't be to bad. (I have the 2 year old to help me) Need to cut a lot of the bricks, just have to do it. At this point I need to do it yesterday. The Sugar house is almost in working order. Need to run electric, hook up the stove pipe, wash the sap tanks, and I have yet to hang one inch of tube!! Maybe on buckets one more year yet??? Just as long as I can get away from the Turkey fryer. All in all should be done before the sap runs. Whats that It's running!!!!!

[gator330]

It shure has been a whirl wind of events the last couple of months. This sugar bug and all!!! From a turkey fryer and 10 buckets. To a 12x18 sugar house, evaporator, jugs, bottles, tools, tubing... all because a small hobby/ intrest lead me to this site. Some day i'll figure out how to post some pics of it all. Getting close here in New York I figure three weeks till we should tape some wood. The tanks are ready to set out and all I have left to do now is run a main line and some laterals and tape in. Hope to do that this weekend all but the tape in part. Shooting for 75 or so tapes on Gravitey. (I have 100 taps and then the 10 with buckets) (There I go again loosing my mind!) I can get all of that with a 800' line up the hill may have to even skip a few trees. Or run a shorter Main line??? Just there are some big top Sugar Maples at the top of the hill that I shure do want to get into. Won't Know till I grab the end of that line and head up the hill with it. Regardless of the money, the work, the loss of sleep, the wife not speaking to me. It shure has been fun!!!!! So Im down to running some tube and coming up with a filter/canning set up but that shouldn't be a big deal.

[3rdgen.maple]

I feel your pain Upgraded to a drop flue setup from a flat pan system. Wanted to pour a concrete pad for it in the sugarhouse but opted out of it till summer. Put down 16" patio blocks down today for the time being. Looks so good i might do the whole floor instead of all concrete have to see if they hold up. Gotta insulate and brick the arch yet but that will be done this weekend. Wanted to tap this warm spell coming up next week 6 days of sap weather not counting this weekend warmup but there is so much snow on the ground the big ole john deere just sinks to dirt. Bet there is a good 48" on the ground here. Just wanna be done and tap already, darn this is alot of work for syrup. Being the third generation syrup producer in the family you would think I would remember from year to year this alot of work.

[gator330]

One more thing off the list to do. I pull 400 feet of tube and wire up my hill today. I learned a few things along the way. One, it is a nice 400 foot run from the top to the bottom of my hill. Two I can pick up about 60 EASY taps in that 400 feet. Three my legs hurt. Four I need a partner, a larger tank and a larger evaporator as well as my head examined!!!!! I also learned that I have a lot more maples trees then I could ever tap!!!!!! I'll start out in the morning side tying the main also have to tie it down in a spot or two. Run some lateral lines and we may be in shape yet this year. Most be something to this sugar bug. I don't clime that hill 10 times during deer season. Much less 10 times in one day knee deep in snow. All for maple syrup????? Is there a head DR. any were in this foram????? I have 400 more feet of main line that may just be up the next gully by 10:00 am. Shure was a good day.

[gator330]

Going to start out in the morning with the last of my tubing to be done. Should be out of the woods by noon, even if I get a late start. I'm going to do away with the end of line rings too. I'll use them to secure the tube but set a drop in front of the ring and plug the ring. I don't like the idea of the sap maybe going around the tree. Run a few laterals install the drops and set the sap tank. Other then that just need to clean it all one last time and tap the next warm up. Till then I need to split wood, I have a lot seasoned just not split very small.

I want to thank all of you for the great information I have receaved and found over the past few months from this forum. It has been a real great help!!!! Best to you as the season begins may you make lots of syrup cheap and sell it all for a ton of money. Help us get out of that barrel!!!! Thanks again.

[dano2840]

ive got 6 lats left to hang in my big bush and probably 75 taps to add in the little one, need to tighten lats and clean up and fine tune every thing in the big woods and the little woods, then i gotta get my uncle to solder the tanks, gotta go get my evap, set it up in the sugar house, build a tank stand for the feed tank, build a tank stand at the bottom of the big bush, then run some 1" line to the drive way of the neighboring property, run a 1" line from my drive to the feed tank in the sugar house, gotta lay out the pump line down the hill to the little sugar woods, re work how that goes into the tank because the tank will be lower down the hill than last year, hook every thing up, plumb all the tanks, bring the 500gal from the farm clean it, and get it secured to the wagon, and then i might be ready .............OH DID I MENTION I HAVE UNTIL NEXT SUNDAY TO DO ALL THIS?
IM FLIPPIN OUT RIGHT NOW

[3rdgen.maple]

Danno2840 Easy lad take a breath. You have acheived alot in a little time thus far. You will get what you need done. All I got left to do is tap when the weather breaks here. OH yeah i still gotta pm everybody with secrets. Other than that gather, boil,filter and bottle.

[gator330]

All that's left now is to boil some sap!!! In the morning we're going to sweeten the new set up and see what it's got!!!! I think it's a go for central New York!!!! My 73 tap gravity line ran about 50 gallons yesterday and has been running a steady little stream all morning. I would say if she keeps up I'll have 150 by morning. Good bunch for the weekend. I am going to add a few more drops and now have 18 pals if I feel the need to hang them. The kids like to check pals so I'm shure I will Set some out this week or next.

Who wants to bet that dano2840 kid is running around florida looking for a cumputer to get on the trader. Tapping a few palm trees and eating fake syrup at I-Hope!!!!

[KenWP]

I am trying to find 5 gallon pails most of all. I also need to buy more pre made drop lines as I found more trees then I thought I could get to. Other then that wait till sometime in march and tap the same time the big guy down the road puts his taps in and away I go. Then wait for sap to actually show up. I am wondering if it is a myth or urban legend.

[mapleman3]

Hmmm it's 2/26/09 at 1:07pm, whats left to do?

Finish a few odds and ends with plumbing in the pump and feed tank.
also a few electrical things like the dimmer/reostat for the blower...

then Tap this weekend, get the trucks set up for collection, test the transfer pump and wait for Sap !!!

[michiganfarmer]

Finnish the roof on my sap house, build some taller legs under the tank that feeds the evaporator, wash 400 buckets, Wash a dozen plastic barrels, wash 2 1500 gallon tanks, wash 3 smaller tanks, stretch wire, tie mainline up, and repair a broken rear leaf spring shackle on my F250.

Im sure there is more to do, but I cant think of it.

[tessiersfarm]

Man I just added to my list. Was going to have about an even 100 taps this year and on the way home from tapping one of my sugar bushes I stopped and talked with a Farmer with nice side hill sugar bush and he gave me permission to tap 8 acres with a 5%+ pitch right to the hot top road. He also offered me a 50 acre bush off of a back road , but I can't handle that this year. Hoping to add some mainline and a 150 gallon tank by the road in the next week or so. Should put me around 150 + this year. I still don't have the hood and pre heater on or the feed tank set up yet and I already have taps in. Hope to tap the the rest of my original 100 tomorrow.

[KenWP]

That is what I have found here a lot of guys have trees but do not want to sugar and for syrup they are glad to let you tap their trees. I have more trees then I can handle now and I started with 30 trees of my own.

[3% Solution]

What do I have left to do ............... hang 14 more buckets.
Do the supply pipe to the sugarhouse, five pieces of pipe.
Then it's wait time!!!!