howdy folks!

[sugarnut]

i just wanted to introduce myself and to say thanks to those who do the work on this site and to all the folks who contribute. i've been looking for a site like this since i started backyard sugaring. it looks like this is a good place where i can learn and i look forward to it.

i first started sugaring in 2006. i live on homestead with a woodlot of mixed trees, but a fair number of maples just west of gettysburg, pa. it's not much of a sugarbush, it's still more of a woodlot. i think there may only be one or two sugar maples and i tap mainly red maple and some silvers.

i started on the kitchen stove and have moved outdoors to make use of a brick canning stove my dad built years ago. i have a 30 gallon stainless flat pan now and started using tubing 2 years ago in a gravity system. last year's big upgrade was 400 feet of 1/2 inch mainline. i set somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 taps currently, but i hope to hit the 100 mark this or next year.

i have lots of questions, so please be as patient as you can, lol.

it's nice to meet all of you!

sugarnut

[3% Solution]

Well Sugarnut,
With a screen name like that you'll fit right in!!
Welcome aboard!!!
I am sure you will enjoy it here, I have.
If you have any questions you sure came to the right place to ask.
There is a lot of nice folks here and they are excellent at helping out.
So, set back, ask questions and answer a few questions also, because we all have a different twist on what we do.
Enjoy!!!!!

Dave

[Clan Delaney]

I was looking for a site like this before I even knew I was looking for a site like this!

You're here now, and that's what counts! And none too soon. That sap's about to start running!

[dano2840]

feel free to ask all of your questions and any maple questions you may have, even if they dont pertain to your operation, i know i never get bored of answering sugaring questions, or asking them even if it has nothing to do w/ my operation, maybe a question about some thing i saw in some one elses woods or sugar house, this is an awesome site, welcome to this trader, Welcome to Maple Trader

[Sugarmaker]

Sugarnut,
Welcome the the ever addicting maple trader. Lots of good stuff here. Another PA producer great!
If your at 100 taps this year it sounds like it will keep you busy boiling! Have a great season and keep us informed how things are progressing down state.

I would love to get to Gettysburg. One of these days!
My great great grandfather fought there and his brother was wounded there. Both surived the war and died of old age. Might have had you thinking about my heritage. Well they were some good old Virginia boys trying to kick some Northern butt.

Regards,
Chris

[mapleman3]

Welcome Sugarnut, We are glad to have you here !!

Enjoy!!

[sugarnut]

http://s111.photobucket.com/albums/n139/melocian/maple%20sugaring/

just thought i would toss in a link to my photobucket and describe my evaporator.

this will be my 4th season and the 3rd with my flat pan. it is set up on a brick, outdoor woodstove that has a cast iron cookstove top. i remove the top and line the edge with fiberglass gasket. the pan sits on the gasket over the fire. it's not much of an arch, but it beats steaming up the house!

[NH Maplemaker]

Sugarnut, How deep do you run you sap in your pan? In the picture it looks real deep!! It may be just the picture or foam!

Jim L.

[sugarnut]

i think the pan is 8 inches. i usually start off around 3 inches until i get a boil and start adding from the preheater pan. i think i stop around an inch from the top, so that is about 7 inches.

things are still crude around here and i am still a greenhorn, lol. sometimes i squeeze in as much as i can to empty jugs or my plastic barrel as i don't have any storage vessels. i am surprised the stove does as well as it does for having no arch and for the pan being set sideways. i think the chimney makes a good draft. i had flames shooting out the top 16 inches last year...it was like a blow torch. i am probably only getting 4-5 gallons per hour though. i though of trying to rig a baffle on the inside, like a fireplace insert has, to redirect the flame under the pan a little better. the firebox is a bit small, though.

i thought about tossing together a crude system with concrete block and firebrick so that i could turn the pan and get more flame on the pan. i probably have enough block and brick. i thought about building the slope with gravel and sand and laying the firebrick on top of that. the budget is super tight right now, so anything i do has to be with materials i already have.

good for the setup but bad for me is the lack of sap. i'm just not getting what i expected to get. maybe last year was a bad year for my area. i guess that is part of the fun of living too far south of north and too far north of south. the weather is always a mixed bag here. the temps kept fluctuating from total freeze to no freeze. also, it seems many of my trees like to break bud at the first hint of spring. i decided not to tap my silvers last year due to the amount of sediment they make, but i may decide to deal with it this year so i have something to boil.

[dano2840]

try boiling with 1 inch in the pan, it boils alot faster and just have your pre heater feed at the same rate as your boiling off, i had that same exact set up minus the preheater over the pan myy preheater pan was on top of the chimney, a little diff, bbq to but i used to fill the pan up and it works better and quicker w/ less sap in the pan, boils alot faster

[sugarnut]

try boiling with 1 inch in the pan, it boils alot faster and just have your pre heater feed at the same rate as your boiling off, i had that same exact set up minus the preheater over the pan myy preheater pan was on top of the chimney, a little diff, bbq to but i used to fill the pan up and it works better and quicker w/ less sap in the pan, boils alot faster

lol, yeah sometimes it boils off a bit too quick. i scorched this pan once when it boiled down and i got a bit paranoid. i think the pan set me back $300-$350 (i forget exactly how much), i need to use it for a few more seasons, lol.

i think the most sap i have gotten in a day is around 50 gallons. i hope that improves with improvements to my lines and a few more taps.

[bobsklarz]

Welcome Sugarnut! I'm pretty new to this site also, and I love it! So much info...for free!! It's a great place to ask questions. Welcome aboard!!
Hey DanO. You are one lucky dude to be getting into this so early. It wasn't till I was in my 50's that I got my start. Wish I had 50 more years to do it. Good luck to you young man, and God bless!

[maple flats]

sugarnut. You will be far better off going the 1 or maybe 2" max deep. Keep the preheater at least half full and open the valve to trickle into the pan to keep it at that level. You should split the firewood small, maybe wrist size and add wood every 5-6 minutes, by the clock or a timer. Keep the fire between 1/3 and not over 2/3 full and add only to replace what has burned away. This keeps the boil rather than fueling at a much longer interval and having to add so much that you lose the boil for a few minutes while the wood gets going again. I like to add when one layer of new will bring the firebox up to the desired level. Once you have a boil do not add large amounts of sap at one time for the same reason. Opening the preheater valve to run just fast enough to replace what evaporates keeps your boil going better. Good sugaring!!

[sugarnut]

last year was my first year with tubing. not only did i have problems with dips due to having no wire installed, i also had problems getting the sap to the evaporator. my collection barrel sits about 100 feet from the evap and i had to run 5/16 tubing from my barrel to the preheater pan. i had the same dip problems. it would only deliver sap when i had enough sap in the barrel to create pressure for the gravity feed. i plan to build a makeshift arch closer to the bush and stop using the outdoor masonry stove. maybe i will take heed of some of the homemade stuff i saw on this site and convert one of my junk oil drums into an evaporator. :) i have a nice door on an old wood furnace i could use and i have fire brick to line it. this year is a bad year for improvements as i am, how do i put it...signifigantly underfunded, lol, that'll work! :)

i'm currently prying some apple concentrate barrels from my cousin's fingers and i hope to expand and rearrange the sap collection. the barrels should allow me to add at least 30 taps and eliminate one major dip in the line. i think more tubing and wire is out this year, so i will be dumpin' and pumpin' if i expand.

thanks guys!