Thoughts already for next season???

[mapleman3]

Hmmm one thing for me will be to get things cleaned up real good at the end of this season so start up next season is a breeze!!

but here is the list so far for next year and I will edit and add to it as I go along I'm sure.

1) start off with everything clean so I don't have to spend time scrubbing the evap twice.

2) get Vac pump rebuilt and setup bender milk releaser with tank in woods behing the barn(125 more taps)

3)stainless feed tank of 100+ gallons, get rid of plastic one(do that in off season so wife doesn't see it-money spent)

4)look for more trees

5)get all worried that this doesn't get done till last minute as usual

[KenWP]

Now that I know I have to wait untill almost April to get sap I won't start so early for one. Find enough equipment over the summer garage sale season for another and grow hair back for three. There is probably 4,5,and 6 also.

[Dill]

I really really need to build a sugarhouse. Enough of this invisible sugar house, its too cold at night to be sitting in the driveway.

[Amber Gold]

Alden I agree with you...experiance form last year. I was boiling inside on Saturday and it was still cold. The evaporator doesn't do much to heat the sugar house. 28 outside and 34 inside.

I thought you were parting out an old barn or something to build your sugarhouse?

[Dill]

That was last year's plan. That building got wrecked with the ice storm.
The first big thing is to haul in a bunch of fill, hopefully I can get to that this summer.

[michiganfarmer]

more trees on tubing, better mapping so I am able to remove the tubing, and put it back each year, more adds in the paper asking to buy sap, and buying an old used semi trailor to use as a sap house so I can get out of this little 8x24 foot van body. As always, talking to peple about leasing their woods.

[Russell Lampron]

1. Add on to sugarhouse with a heated floor and canning area, a drain in the floor and a larger room for the evaporator.

2. Add more taps, more mainlines and laterals and possibly another releaser and woods tank.

3. Get a filter press

4. Upgrade RO machine either by adding another membrane or replacing it with a 600gph machine.

5. Upgrade evaporator, Intens-O-Fire baby!

Probably won't all happen this year but I can dream can't I!

[3rdgen.maple]

1. Work less
2. fish more
3. bowhunt more
4. make more money
5. spend more money
6. Tap more
7. Boil more
8. Sell more
I 'm not sure how this is gonna work out but will let you guy's know.

[Amber Gold]

1. Find another orchard of 500 taps or larger and setup on tubing with vacuum.

2. Modify arch as described in recent thread. 100 gph out of a 2.5x8 sure would be nice.

3. Add preheater and hood.

4. Buy filter press

5. Buy an RO if I get another orchard.

6. Build a wood shed.

I haven't thought of this at all...

[Jerome]

Next year I haven't started this year yet!!!!

[mapleman3]

Jerome, always keep a pad handy for "the List"
as your in the sugarhouse or in the woods, you always will say, i need to change this or next year I want to do this instead.... there's always The List!!

remember, if ya don't write it down, it gets forgotten

[Clan Delaney]

Lemme see...


buy an evaorator
run permanent power to the shack
find more trees (arm wrestle with Jim if they're the same trees)
check on possible source of free apple wood
get clapboards and sheathe the shack
make list of equipment wants, try to find it all free or dirt cheap.


There must be more. Brain is slow right now.

[Jerome]

MapleMan
for this year the list is
1 replace creamic blanket with fire brick
2 finish steam new steam hood
3 finish pre heater
4 install telescoping steam stack
5 wash the buckets and taps
6 tap

[Tweegs]

Priority #1
Get that shack up.

[Fred Henderson]

Have a big going out of business sale!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mfchef54]

Fred have you evaporated already?
1) blanket door to keep from burning my coat.
2) cementing the bricks in.
3) finding more tree
4) switching over to 5/16 taps

[Fred Henderson]

Fred have you evaporated already?
1) blanket door to keep from burning my coat.
2) cementing the bricks in.
3) finding more tree
4) switching over to 5/16 taps

No, haven't even tapped yet. Might start tomorrow. My helper is moving to sunny Florida so he can raise orange trees. Next year at this time I plan on be on a subatical to see how things are done in Vt. and other area of New England.

[maplecrest]

next year make sure the sugar house is turn key ready before i tap a tree.

[Clan Delaney]

Lemme see...


buy an evaorator
run permanent power to the shack
find more trees (arm wrestle with Jim if they're the same trees)
check on possible source of free apple wood
get clapboards and sheathe the shack
make list of equipment wants, try to find it all free or dirt cheap.


There must be more. Brain is slow right now.

More:


Get a good, large, white storage tank. I'm thinking 100-150 gallons. I should get something that will hold me over for at least the next 3 years.
Finish designing website.
Find a workable (automated) way to sell online.
Design a logo for the operation.
Get some metal buckets and taps
Plan ahead to buy equipment in Verona next year. Tubing in particular.
Build a deck around 3 sides of the shack. (Big one, there. I'd have to start digging post holes as soon as the ground thaws, and build it bit by bit as I can acquire the material.)

[super sappy]

I have 3 words for next year = RO

[Russell Lampron]

Super Sappy I was reading where you had a chance to boil some 18% sap. It is fun isn't it! All it takes is once and you won't want to boil raw sap again. Maybe Andy can bring over somemore for you to play with before he gets his new evaporator.

[wdchuck]

Next year?!?...........Heck, I just barely caught up on the last year list........................

[VoterVale Farm]

Yes next years list is pretty long. A better way to collect the sap would be nice. Currently I do it on snowshoes and one of my kids sleds with a 30 gallon tote strapped to the sled, I dont mind it as far as the work goes, but if I am going to expand like my wife and I talked about, this isnt going to work very well. Erecting a 300 gallons storage tank near the evaporator so we can gravity feed the sap in and a pipeline collection system. We have the potential to put out 300% more taps but need a better way to collect if we are. Electricity in the sap house would be a plus, keep running out of batteries in my flashlights.

[mapleman3]

Adding to my list of wants and needs and to-do's

bigger collection tank at one part of my bush, I need a 100 gallon tank, the 55 gal barrel on 67 taps keeps overflowing.

bump out the west wall on the sugarhouse 1.5 feet with a footing, and put beadboard on the inside wall, insulated with 2 new windows.

auxiliary dump station for the bigger truck for those days I want to help collect buckets, it's only setup for the big collection spots with a pump.I want a slide in tank for the receiver hitch.

historical photo album for the sugarhouse for customers to look at

[KenWP]

Figure out how to actually get enough sap to make syrup. Maybe try and buy enough buckets to tap my freinds bush and actually have sap once in a while. Figure out how to use a hydrometer and the filtering gizmos.

[michiganfarmer]

I have about 100 taps on vacuum on a bunch of trees along a fenceline down the road. Im not going to ut them back next year. Its too ard to get to them. IM going to use the tubing in my own woods, and sell the second vacuum pump. Mabye Ill take the money from the vacuum, and buy a canner

[mapleack]

Like most, I've got a long list. I'm going to finish closing off my bottling area to make it a finished kitchen. Get real running water in the sugarhouse. Convert the arch to natural gas. Those are the sure things that have to be done. In dream world, I'd like to get vacuum to at least 500 out of my 800 taps. I'd like to get a small RO, 200 to 600 gph. If I get an RO I'd like to add another 200 to 400 taps. Lots of work, not a problem. Lots of money, big problem. Oh well, have to have dreams!