May Journal

[PATheron]

Been pulling taps this week. Looks like saturday I should be done with it maybe. Still have some misc cleanup around the shed but not too much left. About the last thing I have to do is jug up my local syrup for my friends that let me tap, myself, and christmas presents. Looks like this year my biggest job is pulling all the wood out of the woods that I cut last year thinning and processing it. Other than that Ive got a considerable amount of finetuning to do with the lines and I think I may setup a small dairy bush just for fun. Found a zero tank yesterday I may buy for that. Im hoping next year to be able to up my production just through improvements to my system and being able to process my sap quicker. Hope everyone is having fun. Theron:)

[ennismaple]

I've got 6 or 7 hundred taps worth of green lines to wash tomorrow - after I spend a few hours chasing a big tom around! They're all lines that have been pulled and rolled up so all I have to do is cut off the droplines and suck hot water through them at the camp. Half these lines may not go back up next spring but I want them washed in case I don't get around to replacing them with semi tubing. That pretty much finishes my cleanup other than the stew that's brewing in the pans!

Sunday will be my first day off since mid February. I'm always excited to get out golfing for the first time but this year will be extra special!

[Jeff E]

Finished pulling taps last Sunday. I have the evaporator sitting full of water and should finish cleaning that up this weekend.

Then on to filling up the woodshed. Like the CzarTheeron I have a lot of downed wood to get to from a release cut last year. I will work on this in the area I will be tubing this summer. That will add maybe another 800 taps to the home bush.

I would also like to build a preheater this summer, some decking around my big tanks so I dont need to tote around a ladder. Oh yeah, 1 releaser to scrub out. That should be fun. Interesting stuff in there by now Im sure.

[Russell Lampron]

Jeff if you can get your hands on a pressure washer they work great for cleaning the scum out of the releaser. I washed mine the other night and it had been sitting with all of the crap in it for about 2 weeks. It looks like new now and no scrubbing.

[brookledge]

I got all of my taps pulled and just about done with wood for wood furnace at home and then on to puttin wood in the sugarhouse.
Plus on a rainy day clean the evaporator.
Keith

[Sugarmaker]

Cutting pallets for the sugar house and starting the yard work. My have to find some slabs as the pallets are getting scarce.
Also will be hunting spring gobbler tomorrow morning. Then heading for Columbus to see the grandson (Dorsey) and family.

Regards,
Chris

[caseyssugarshack93]

Off to pull and clean the rest of my tubing and taps tomorrow,then hopfuly adding on to the sugarhouse.

[KenWP]

My time now is spent catching up on the Honey Do list that got left to the wayside when I was supposed to be doing sugaring. Lost that excuse now. I will probbably spend all summer and fall trying to find a way to increase my boiling capacity somehow. I know what I want to do but just have to find the peices to make it work. I am limited to where to look for parts around here.If I can increase my boiling capacity enough I have assess to a lot of trees and could maybe make a bit of money if I wanted to.
I have to cut out a lot more trees to let the maples on my own land see enough sun so they thaw out before they bud like this year. I have a couple big trees that never did give any sap untill the last week of the season warmed up good and they had budded out.

[gator330]

One Tom down one to go!

Lots of wood to cut still using some this month to heat the pool. The kids just got out from 55 to 80 (20,000 gallons)in three days. Shure love that wood furnace! Exept for the work of wood that is.

All set for the first farm market, a local growers market. If you don't produce, make or grow it you can't sell it there!!!! Going to give it a try with syrup first then produce later in the year.

Chickens are growing and the hogs are getting fat. First one to 175 lbs wins his place in the cooker!!!!! All but one garden is ready to plant and the green house is greening up. Shure love May, almost as much as the other month that startes with a M!!!!

As for Maple??? Regrouping and thinking what the next step to this madness is going to be. Bigger, better, more room, pumps, press, tube, taps, more, more!!!!

[PATheron]

Pulled the last of the taps on the pump yesterday. Only thing left is about 50 metal bucket spiles in a little woods up the road. Feels pretty good to have that done. Being in the woods got me all fired up about my lines. I think I can make a ton of improvements for last year. Going to remove some more of the small culls to speed up my better small trees. Im also thinking of taking quite a few of my marginal 2 tappers on my woods and put them to one tap. I went by guidelines but at two taps per tree I dont want swiss cheese trees in a few years so Im thinking I may only run two in the biggest ones. Im also thinking of getting some tube and reducing lat length and number of taps in some places too to get the big suck everywhere. Im going to have a fun year just getting everything perfect. Its driving me crazy having all these trees around and not hammering out another bush but financially I really shouldnt this year. Also my elbows are giving me some pain from all that I did last year so I guess I better take it easy. Still drives me crazy. Kind of planning out my next move. I have access right here at home to about 10,000 taps but the problem is its going to take 5 releasers and 4 pumps to do it. Im not sure if that is smart or not. I dont like the idea of that many setups and releasers to give me problems. The nice thing is its literally all a mile from the house. I think I can get a 10'000 tap bush all together if I go 3 to 5 miles from home and then Id only have one releaser to mess up but little farther to truck. If I get a straight milk truck and run 10,000 on high vac thats probly 3 loads a day? Hey, everyone gets to dream. Theeeron

[maplecrest]

went and looked at another bush yesterday. same boat as you theron will have 4 pump stations for 10000 taps

[ennismaple]

It's not that much trouble having multiple stations but it is less than ideal. We've got 2 x SP22's, a Delaval and a flood oil pump to vacuum our tanks in 5 locations. It would be nice to only maintain one pump but our geography dictates otherwise. Someday I'd like to get it down to one liquid vane pump and one SP22.

[PATheron]

Ennis- I know what your saying. Im thinking that too. Thing is the close taps will require multiple setups for me too. Might be worth it though if I can get the releasers finetuned so they dont freeze. Im going to design an enclosure this year for across the road. The freezeups are an aggravation. How do you like the sp-22s? and how many taps do you run on them? Do you prefer them to the vein pumps? Like I said I think I could get a large bush if I go a few miles away but its nice being at the house. Theron

[maplekid]

been a long time since i posted on here. been looking for an evaporator becuase my slow one isnt going to handle the 250-300 trees that are being tapped next year. do any of you guys know if evap pans need to be usda or fda approved? just curious

[jrthe3]

got all the syrup stuff cleaned and away for next year i going to take alot of this summer off from maple i did alot last summer this year will be spend on boat fishing as much as poss

[ennismaple]

Theron - The SP22's are great. You can't kill them and they use very little oil. Mine will often run at 20" or better when things start to freeze up with no problems. The pump that we flooded out this year was an SP22 and all we did was drain the tank & oil, re-fill it with oil and you're back in business. They are far less fickle than the Delaval pumps.

[PATheron]

Ennis- How many taps you think the 22 will work good on? Theron

[PerryW]

do any of you guys know if evap pans need to be usda or fda approved?

Never heard anything about that.

Just use stainless and lead-free solder.

[markcasper]

Theron, The sp22 has 11CFM I do believe. That would be sufficient for 1100 taps. I have heard some running as many as 1800 taps, but do not know how much vacuum there is left with that many.

[PATheron]

Mark- I was thinking wrong again. Im sure Matt told me that. For some reason I keep thinking the 22 has 20 cfms. So a thousand taps itll work good as long as the lines are tight and anything under a thousand its a perfect setup. Theron

[MapleChaser]

Trying to put up more mainline and laterals before the woods get to many leafs on them. But those darn black flies lug you off. 100 % deat and they are so annoying. Any great idea's. Or just wait for the hatch to end!

[KenWP]

Move futher north we don't have black flies here. Course if you go far enough north you can BBQ the black flies and skeeters they are so big.

[ennismaple]

Theron - We've got 450 taps on one of the SP22's and 710 on the other.

The black flies are out in our area. I'm very glad our lines are washed so I don't have to be out there!

[mountainvan]

Started on the firewood for next year. I cut up roughly 3 cords this afternoon from log length I bought a week ago. It's all right in front of the woodshed so not much moving it around this year.

[Brian Ryther]

I said I would never do it. But apparently never is about 2 years in my book. I placed an order for an ro today. I went for a Lapierre 600 expandable. This took a lot of shopping and questions. Thanks to all who have voiced opinions and Maple Trader for the information resource. I can now say that Springtec has priced themselves out of the race but CDL was a very close second. It came down to syrup prices and my syrup check. All improvements for the rest of the year now need to come out of pocket. I hope there is a lot of overtime this summer. I still want another vac pump, releaser, tanks, supplys for another 1000 taps and I have a lot of work to do to get the sap house ready for the new ro.

[PATheron]

Brian- Now were talking buddy. How many gallons per hour is your evap 300? 2000 gallon run at 2%, 50 gallons of syrup in a little under an hour, thats some numbers you can believe in. Theeee( sure going to be fun watchin 20% move through that much rig)rooooon

[Brian Ryther]

I am a little nervous about that Theron. I am really good a burning pans. When I get crainking I can push 400gph+, but I average 300gph. But the Idea of a 1 hr boil for 2000gal makes the $ worth it.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Ain't it funny....I'll never go plastic, I'll never need a new sugar house, I'll never buy sap, I'll never use vacuum, I'll never get an RO, I'll never get bigger than what syrup I can retail, I'll never get married. And those are just some of the ones in the past 5 years!

[Parker]

TTHHEE(SINGELEHANDIEDLYPUSHEDBULKPRICESDOWN)RRROON NN- you cant run a better dairy pump than an SP-22 or a BB-4,,,,I had one that sucked sap this year and it is fine,,I have had bad experiances with the vane pumps,,the surge pistons are great,,all I use,,will pull 23" on a tight 800 tap system...........buy an extra one for me if you find a bunch of them

[PATheron]

Parr(bucket dumpin, high vac pullin, tree cuttin, wood burnin, sap haulin, tree borin, syrup equipment peddlin)keeeeeeeeer- Ill keep my eyes open for you. Brian- I was just kidding about the 20%, I think you better do some expirimenting with that big rig. You are going to be all set though becouse think how fast youll get done even at 8 or 10%. I bet youll be able to do 15% without it being scarry. Thats what the guys down here do with the big fuel oil rigs I think. No matter what your going to have a much more enjoyable year. Theron

[Russell Lampron]

Bryan you made a wise choice in selecting the Lapierre RO. You're going to love boiling concentrated sap no what you concentrate it to. With all of the fuel that you will save and the extra time for sleep and getting other things done you will wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

[Amber Gold]

I'm starting to get stuff ready for next year. Just bought a SIHI liquid ring pump which should be in later this week/early next week. Just need to buy an electric motor for it and mount it and I'll be ready for hi vac. next season...can't wait!

Working on solving my storage issues I had last season. I bought a 600 gal bulk tank that I'll use for storage at the sugar house and that should be here this season. I may have a lead on a 200 gal s/s round bottom tank which will take the place of my 300 gallon galv. stock tank and will be relegated to backup duty. Still looking for a new collection tank. I was originally thinking of a 500 gal tank min., but thinking with the high vac. I'd probably be better suited with a 700 gal. tank min. I don't want to lose any this season to an overflowing tank.

[Sugarmaker]

All the big syrup talk scares me:)
Started cutting fire wood with my son for this fall for his house.
So sugar wood has been put on hold.
May start to put the makings of a candy machine together soon too:)
Oh yes, grass cutting is upon us!
And we do still have the 5 day a week work thing to keep us out of too much trouble.

Regards,
Chris

[PATheron]

Been cleaning up the shed. Pressure washed everything in there last night and got it a lot better. Got all the taps pulled. Now just have to jug up the syrup for my neighbors and Im all done for the year. Been walking around in the woods looking at lines and planning my upgrades. Going to force myself to hold off and get to hauling wood out of the woods. Gotta get it down for next year. Always something more to do. Theron

[ennismaple]

I've been in discussions with my dealer and I may have a new evaporator to announce in the near future! I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve!!!! Ontario has a "food safety and traceability initiative" program in place this year where you can get funding to help replace old equipment. If an evaporator that was used when my grandfather bought it in 1975 doesn't count as old I don't know what does! This should soften the blow a bit. Stay tuned...

[KenWP]

If you want I can test it out for a season for you Ennis to make sure it works.

[benchmark]

Better yet Ken, Maybe you can get a hold of ennismaple's old evap for a good price. I'm sure it would beat your ss sink setup:)

[PATheron]

Been thinking about syrup a lot lately. I know that probly suprises you guys. Going to make some changes to my bushes this year. I was thinking about another bush but decided Im going to hold off and make some improvements to the ones I have. Going to try to up the vac to the taps I have now. I think God has been speaking to me and hes saying hold off on the little ones and save my pennies for the big one. Ive decided the next ones going to be a humdinger. Im looking the hills over for a lot of maples in one area. I want to see what 10,000 taps looks like coming into a releaser at 28". Gonna take a little while to save up the money but I think I can do it. What you guys think? Think its a good idea? Theee(not sure how Im going to get the stuff in the barrell but it sure would be fun to watch the releaser)roooon

[maplecrest]

theron, working on putting pumps in my releasers. got one done and am going to do the main releaser in the sugar house. the one in the sugar house will still work the way it always has if the power goe out or something goes wrong with the pump. that is going to be behind the float. with its own float to pump out the sap in the releaser. and work when the machanics would be froze up.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Theron,

Be interesting to see what bulk prices do over the next couple of years. It would be very discouraging to sink that much money and time into setting up a 10k tap bush only to get paid $ 1.50 lb bulk.

[PATheron]

Ive thought about that Brandon. Thats the reason Im not doing it all out at once. Im afraid of the heavy debt. If what your saying happened it would ruin you if you had huge interest payments. What Im trying to do is keep the debt down and snowball it to that size by reinvesting year after year. Its just hard to be patient becouse I just love doing it so much. Jeff- If I can Im going to come back up and check out your operation now. Its going to be neat to see your new setup with all the new equipment in the sugarhouse when you get it. Theron

[Amber Gold]

Just got a call from my wife, the used liquid ring vacuum pump I bought is missing on arrival at the local post office. The cardboard box is a mess and there's no pump inside. Not sure how something like this happens, but I'm pretty upset. Not sure if it was stolen during transport or if the box became damaged and the pump got left someplace. Fortunately it was insured so I'll at least get my money back, but that's not the point and doesn't get me a pump. Still in the preliminary stages of getting things figured out.

[KenWP]

Yes getting money back is nice but you still have ti hunt down another pump. If it was me I probbably wouldn't be able to find one untill next May with my luck.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Leave it to the USPS to diliver a empty box all beat to crap And people ask me why I only use the UPS

[Amber Gold]

My wife talked to some head guy. It was likely damaged during shipping and the pump fell out. My wife sent pictures of the box and it's destroyed...it's no wonder the pump's not in it. Anything lost during shipping gets sent immediately to their lost and found in Atlanta. The only thing I have going for me is it's an unusual item...still not very hopefull of it being found though.

[benchmark]

Even if they found the pump i wouldnt want it anyway, it's probably been dropped and who knows what else....

[Amber Gold]

Here's some pics of the box on arrival. Not sure how it fell out...

After looking at the box I'm questioning the condition of the pump.

[mountainvan]

I've just been splitting wood and selling syrup. More of the former than later. I get to go and check out a "one thousand" acre property this week for tapping next year. Watch out Theron I may catch up!

[Jim Brown]

Amber Gold-keep an eye out on e-bay and make sure your pump doesn't show up there!

Jim

[Amber Gold]

Jim, Good call, I hadn't thought of that.

[maplecrest]

amber who did the packing job and sent the package?

[Amber Gold]

The seller. I spoke to him today. He had plywood top and bottom, which he planed to get an exact fit in the box. He put a styrofoam sheet on both sides to prevent lateral movement of the package and he banded the package. When it was shipped the box was in near new condition. Before I spoke to him I thought for sure it was improperly packaged, but after talking to him he did his due diligence with prepping it for shipping. I'd lay this on the USPS. Not sure what they do with their packages, but that doesn't give me any confidence in trusting them with another.

[3% Solution]

Amber Gold,
Yup and this just walking into the kitchen with two 2 year olds and flour all over the place.
You ask what happened?
Your answer "I don't know."
Nobody see a thing!!!!
You would almost think that someone saw or heard that thing fall out of the box!!!!!
Problem is no one will help the other guy out!
Nobody cares!!!!!
No wonder postal rates keep going up, we have to support someone that doesn't care!!!

Dave

[sapman]

And it seems like the more careful you are to designate a package "fragile, handle with care", the more it just gets tossed around. I used to buy the beautiful Folia bottles from D&G, and the cases always had a couple broken ones inside. D&G would make good, but it was a pain.

Tim

[Dennis H.]

Hey Josh how heavy was the pump?

If it was heavy and he only used plywood for the top and bottom with foam in between there is no wonder that it was beat to heck.

No one realizes what their packages go thru during shipping with automated sorting equipment. This is both for UPS and USPS.

We have electric motors and gearboxs sent by the USPS all the time and never had any problems. The way to send something that heavy is to attach the motor or gearbox to the plywood base with bolts or screws then place in double layer box. with straps around the outside. If there is any movement inside the box there is a good chance that during shipment that the item will come thru the side of the box and once that happens, good luck getting it in one piece.

And Sapman, machines do recoginize "fragile andle with care" The cameras are designed to read barcodes and addresses.

[WMF]

Josh, What model Sihi was it?

[maplwrks]

FRAGILE is French for "throw me!"

[PATheron]

Mountain Van- What did you find when you checked out the new woods? Im getting cought up on my maple work finally just need to finish picking up around the shed and jug a barrell of syrup and Ill be all done for now. Then for next year wood and some finetuning so should be an easy year. Theron

[Parker]

TTTHH(notfoolinganyonewiththisnoexpansionthisyears tuff)EERRROONNN-How much wood do you think you burned this year to make how many gallons? I got a line on a 600 GPH ro and a steamaway,,,,the steamaway is much less than the ro,,,but I think I would have to concentrate for a long while befor I started to boil with the RO because of its size.....I would like to add more taps but really dont want to burn anymore wood (50 cord this year for 643 gallons)

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Parker,
Just to give you an idea...my evaporator is a 4x12, no pre-heater or any enhancements. Last year I made 454 gallons of syrup. This year I had a 600 gallon RO. Burned 2/3 the wood and made 1075 gallons. I'm sold on the RO.
Doug

[PATheron]

Par(so much wood cant even see the sugarhouse)keeer- I put 1350 in the barrell and I think I seemed to average about a full cord per 100 gallons of syrup. So must have been 13 or 14 cords. Gotta do the ro if you can Parker even if its a small one. Maybe just let it run all the time while your workin or at night while your sleeping. Does hold you up a little boiling but would cut down on your wood a ton. Id like to single shoot it too but everything is so expensive. Gotta just keep working up to it. Thee(Im telling you no new big bush this year)roooon!

[Amber Gold]

Dave, my 3 year old treats stuff better than this.

WMF, It's a SIHI LPH 25003.

Dennis, The box was labeled heavy in multiple spots. I agree, bolting to the plywood would've been better. I'm guessing the pump weighed 30+ lbs. From talking to the seller there was no movement of the pump in the box.

You would think somewhere along the line someone would note the item not being in the box so they at least know it was lost somewhere prior to that point.

We'll see how it goes. The USPS gives it 3 weeks to find it and then you go ahead with the insurance claim. Thing is, the chances of me finding the right size pump for the price I paid are pretty slim. I asked the seller and he doesn't have access to another pump. If it does go to a claim, is the item insured for the actual value or what was paid for the pump?

[KenWP]

I am one tree at a time cutting cedars out lately so that they wake up faster hopefully next spring. I had a lot of them to closed in and the sun never hit them untill after they budded out this year. I am putting up some fences and need posts at the moment and the rest I use for firewood. Drives the neighbour batty as he figures I should haul them to a town up north and sell them for lumber. I figure that the price of gas and evething to haul them away and then buying hardwood makes up for just sawing into chunks and burning them.

[Russell Lampron]

Paaaaaarrrrrrrr(now you're talking serious)keeeerrrrrrrrr If you can get your sap sugar percentage to 8% with the combination of the RO and Steamaway you will use 1/4 of the wood, 12.5 cords, that you used to make the same amount of syrup this year.

[ennismaple]

Theron and Parker - I figure I burned 29 full chord in the 5x16 and another 3 chord in the 2x4 finisher to make 1235 USG of syrup. I can't imagine the size of the pile we would have needed without the RO!

Theron - Have you got your clogged membrane sent away for washing yet? I need to get mine in soon so they can hopefully save it. I figure it's pushed close to 75,000 gallons of sap through it since it last went in for a good cleaning!

[KenWP]

Josh what did the shipper specifiy as a amount when he insured it. Hopefully he insured it for more then its selling price. You could have paid a dollar for it on ebay but its worth more then that if you have to buy another.

[PATheron]

Ennis- Theyre both going to a cdl dealer near Matt and from there on up to CDL soon Im hoping. The one is like new but the other is clogged up bad. Hopefully they can get it back pretty good. Ive got it in the works. Im really hoping to come up with another vessel for next year. Want to pick up the pace then season after next maybe I can put out a few more taps? Gotta get fine tuned at the house. JUST WANT TO MAKE A LITTLE MORE SYRUP DARN IT!!!

[brookledge]

josh
As for the insurance, the amount you are intitaled for is the amount that the shipper put on it. And I believe he will be the one that gets paid and will then need to riembuse you. Maybe you can get paid directly from USPS but in either case the amount insured is the most you can get. Hopefully for the shipper it will cover the cost. What did the shipper an you agree to add for ins.? I have had buyers say they didn't want to pay extra for ins.
Keith

[Amber Gold]

Keith, I have not asked him about the insurance amount. I've never insured something before and didn't realize you sent an amount. I thought you just got reimbursed the value of the item. It makes sense though that you'd set an amount and pay based on that amount.

Now it's time to sit and wait for a few weeks and see if USPS finds it.

[caseyssugarshack93]

HOLD ON BOYS!!!!, Here i come, these are 2 vac pumps 2 stage LR With 150CFMS at around 27.5" if you guys dont get sap this coming spring you guys will know where its going, i have all the vacuum coming my way :D Theron and Mntvan better pick up the pace cause here i come with the big suck!!! im adding 3 soup cans and i need all the suck i can get to suck the trees right over

[caseyssugarshack93]

found this picture about using lag bolts, seems to me its not the best thing to use but who knows..........taken by the governor at proctor maple research in early april of 2009 what do u guys this of this busy corner??

[PATheron]

Guys- Go on you tube and look up maple syrup contraption. Theeeron

[mountainvan]

Still working on wood. I have not gotten up to look at the trees. It's all a formality anyway, I've already said I'd tap there. I'm mainly looking for the perfect spot for the superbush base camp. Where to put the tanks and vacuum equipment that's close to the road yet hidden. The mountain was logged about 10 years ago and they left lots of hard maple!

[PATheron]

Mountainvan- Are you really doing a super bush? I might have to come up and check out the operation. I like to see those big bushes. Theron

[Amber Gold]

Theron is that supposed to be some sort of releaser?

Casey, have you checked out HP and amperage requirements for those pumps? You're going to be sucking down some serious juice as well. Glad to see your LR pumps made it to your house.

[KenWP]

found this picture about using lag bolts, seems to me its not the best thing to use but who knows..........taken by the governor at proctor maple research in early april of 2009 what do u guys this of this busy corner??

Well it's probbably better to use one tree instead of scaring a bunch of trees.I wasn't going to use hooks this year untill I got so frustrated I finally screwed a few small ones in and made my life easyier.

[Maplewalnut]

Man if you are going to beat up a tree that badly make sure its a pine or hemlock.....The only other thing I would do if you have to use that tree, is throw a tap in it , not going to get any closer to your main!

[ennismaple]

We've got drive hooks in many trees throughout our bush and they all look like that over time. It kills a big area of sap wood. That's why I like to put a long loop around the tree with some wood bracing to keep it from cutting into it.

[Jim Brown]

We never put anchors in ,we always put wire around the tree and place at least 4 (depending on tree size) oak hard wood blocks, 1"x2"x6" under the wire . We have some REALLY tight main line runs(ratchet on both ends) and have not seen any wires touching the trees
Our two cents
Jim

[PATheron]

Thats a releaser buddy. Pretty cool, huh? Theron

[PATheron]

Boy is it a beautifull day here in northeastern pa. Going to go home and do a little thinning( cut trees down, thats my favorite thing) and can some syrup this weekend for the neighbors. Bought a couple of cases of real nice quart jugs that will make nice Christmas presents for everyones families. Might even have to stop tonight and pick up some cold brewskies. Life is good. Theeeron

[mountainvan]

went up the hill this morning to look at the new sugarbush. Man there are a lot of hard maples there. I found the perfect spot for tanks and vacuum equipment, and it's at the bottom of the property. I'll figure out in a couple weeks what I'm going to do. With the tree having fallen on the house I don't have a roof to redo so I can have more time to put into the woods.

[sapman]

Mike Farrel of Cornell said that the lag-type anchors are better because of the potential damage from the wood blocks. He said the tree can compartmentalize the damage easier. To be honest, I'd rather he be wrong because I used the block/wrap around the tree method. Figuring I better go change everything.

Tim

[lpakiz]

Yes, Brad Gillilen (SP?) from Leader said the same thing at the seminar in Cumberland, WI. Says in the long run it is easier on the tree than blocks against the bark or tubing-covered wire or cable.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Look at Royal Maples Youtube sap ladder his wire is about under the bark on his main line. When we would cable and brace trees to save the life of the tree we would drill all the way thru a tree forancors and bolt branches back on so putting a long lag bolt in for growth i not goig to kill the tree. Just look at a fence line with barb wire on it.

[Dennis H.]

I have been out enjoying the great weather. I started to clean up the sugarbush at my dads cabin. I will try to get back up there tomorrow to pull some of the logs that I knocked down out of the woods.

I stoppped at the tax assesement office the other day and got a few names and addresses of a few nice chunks of the red maples. The one bush is on land that the owner leases for hay so I am hoping that he would be up to the idea of leasing the woods for sugar'in.

[caseyssugarshack93]

found this at proctor, they must really like the tape...

What u guys think of this, and see the mainline wire though the manline? the way i do it is use blocks, and was thinking about the bolts, but now im going to use mainline cause the tree and still grow,
let me know what u guys think of thise

[PATheron]

Casey- Do you have any more pics from there? I like that stuff. Ive got to get you guys some pics of my stuff sometime. Ive added a ton since those first ones. Theron

[caseyssugarshack93]

ill try and get some more theron, id like to see some pic of ur new bush if u have any or somthing, i kinda like looking at that stuff, i like that realser on youtube, i wanna make one !!!

[Russell Lampron]

Yeah that releaser is pretty awesome. I would like to know how it knows when to dump and how many inches of vacuum it works with or if it matters.

[caseyssugarshack93]

i wonder if anyone has and prints on how to make one like that i have the prints for the electic milk can realser

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Fired the sawmill up yesterday afternoon. First time since October. Created a few slabs to burn next spring and some battens to go on the sugar house. 6 AM today I put what had cut on the sugar house.

That is a neat contraption and I'm trying to figure out how it works too. I don't think there is much vacuum on the milk can itself because It probably wouldn't take it.

[maplecrest]

what i see is alot of places for air to leak why do you have all those clamps. when you hook up that new pump you are going to have one large ice cube at that corner. one small air leak at high vac means ICE and that line will freeze solid

[PATheron]

That milk can is awesome. About all a guy could do is put one together and just play with it till you got it right. Jeff- I agree with you. That corner doesnt look too signiture to me. Must be something going on we dont understand. This fall Ill get you guys some pics of everything once its all finetuned. Theron

[caseyssugarshack93]

jeff, that isnt my bush thats over at proctors is were the picture came from, i just posted it cause it was interesting.,

[caseyssugarshack93]

Is it a mechanical milk can realeaser prints do u know ? if so the prints would be awesome,

[KenWP]

Took me awhile to see the tube your talking about. What pray tell is it supposed to do.

[Dennis H.]

Those tubes almost look like something that they use to collect the sap at each tree while on vac. A way to tell how much each tree is putting out.

Cause if you look close there is a tube on each tree.

This is at one of their test bushes right?

They have to have some way to tell how making changes to a tubing system improves sap yeild.

Just my 2cents

[mountainvan]

We just had one heck of a lightening storm here. The lightening was close enough to knock stuff off of shelves just from the concusion. There has to be some fried trees close. Going up the hill tomorrow to survey the sugarbush and flag what part of the property I want to start with.

[Brian Ryther]

Finaly back to worknig on maple stuff, not just spending money on it. I am turning a 12x20 area of my barn that was used for wood storage into the ro room. I spent 8 hours behind the jack hammer pounding out the floor. I will remove the rubble today and begin digging the floor drains. Any luck I will be able to pour the new floor next weekend.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I use black plastic pipe and put the wire inside it and the pipe doesn't seem to grow in the tree and the wire stays inside the tree. I don't want to put hooks or anything else that will cause damage to someone else's trees if I can prevent it. Same principle for side tying off mainlines, wire inside black plastic pipe.

[mapleack]

I finally pressure washed the underside of our flue pan yesterday, got all the creosote off. We've got the arch lined with ceramic blanket now, and gas burners put in. We're planning on doing a test boil soon to see if we get enough gallon per hour evap. rate compared to wood.

[mountainvan]

Bottled 40 gals of syrup today to stock up the shelves for the start of the farmers markets. I found a barrel of medium, almost light, that I seemed to have lost track of. Covered it up with tubing stuff in March. Going fishing tomorrow!!

[Dennis H.]

Was out this evening cutting up some wood for next season.
I have a bunch to cut up that I downed a few weeks ago and there are a few that I would like to down to try and open up a few maples.

I am checking on a few prospects for sugarbush's.

Other than that just doing the hum drum daily like stuff.

[KenWP]

Finally after a year of living in Quebec I found somebody that was another sugar maker. Old guy at lodge last night turned out to have a town named after his family and they have sugered for over a 100 years around here. He was telling me they actually this year got a run of sap in Febuary which was unique for around here. I now have another brain to pick.
He was amazed that I bothered with buckets and wood and hauling sap out of the bush with 5 gallon pails. I never mentioned useing 2 gallon jugs and a few other inventions I came up with. Rather have them think I am weird then prove that I actually am. I think my homemade evaporator might prove it also.

[caseyssugarshack93]

found this picture floating on the internet. Looks like the guy is seeing what it takes to operate a 10,000 taps releaser. "BIGGEST SAP"

[maplecrest]

the lines to the releaser are going up hill

[Russell Lampron]

The man in the pictures looks like it is the Captain aka Matt Roy. The releaser probably belongs to Kevin Sargeant aka the Governor.

[Acer]

Went fishing, filled the 50qt with haddock & a few cod.
Saw some dolphin and a couple whales.

Thought about sugaring on the run out and back, well on the way back at least.

Dean

[vtmaplemaker]

You are onto something, the picture does look like the wild Captain, but not sure on the releaser, if you have seen one you have seen them all.....

The mystery continues....

[caseyssugarshack93]

the releaser is sitting on top of a 4200 gallon stainless round bottom tank by the way,,,

[Russell Lampron]

Acer when is the fish fry?

[tuckermtn]

Russ- At the early summer Andover/Salisbury Maplehaulics Anynomous meeting...
cookout and/ or fish-fry at my place sometime soon?

[Dennis H.]

Just got back from getting a go ahead on a small stand of red maples.
Tomorrow I will be checking on another stand of Red's.

[tuckermtn]

Watch out Dennis- pretty soon you'll have to change your signature from "hobby producer" to "maple barron"

[Russell Lampron]

Eric any dates in mind for the mapleholics meeting? For me the Saturdays in June are pretty much booked.

[tuckermtn]

was thinking one of the sundays...perhaps the 14th of June? early-ish so folks have time to make it back home...4pm? Need some help brainstorming from folks on what to do with my double-kettle steamer unit...at least for the time being we can use it to keep the boiling sodas cold!

Acer does that give you enough time to get some more fish?

[Acer]

Eric,

That's right about the day the first Bluefin tuna show up.
That's a reason to party. Kind of like catching a side of beef, only yummier.:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


Dean

[Russell Lampron]

Eric the 14th works for me. Just let me know what time and how to get to your place.

[Amber Gold]

I'd be interested in going as well. As of now, my weekend schedule is open for June. It's always good to meet other traders and could also check out the legendary Mighty Marvin as well.

[Parker]

Eric- that cooker you have is something ealse,,looks like a pretty easy mod. to turn that into a steam evaporator,,,mabey turn your woodfired rig into an all flue unit and use the kettels for finishing,,,,wonder how much (gas-oil?) that thing uses an hour?

[mapleman3]

I decided to sell my ole wood splitter for a new vertical/horizontal version... I put it on craigslist yesterday and within an hour had it sold and picked up ! Sweet! then took up 30 gals of B to Bascoms this morning so the 600 from the old splitter and the 750 from the syrup today... just picked up a 27ton troy built from lowes and LOVE it. Man what a difference. My old one that I bought off Bodie maybe 4-5 years ago only had a single stage pump... 2 stage makes all the difference.
That ole girl though split a lot of wood for me. ran like a champ. I stand up and salute her (playing taps now ) hehe I have a lot of large trunk size wood that I got for free and this new one is humming through


Just to let you know.. 2.50lb for B wish it was more like last year

[mountainvan]

Started the farmers market season yesterday, best start yet. My wife still agrees that I don't have to get a real job and can stay a fulltime maple producer. Still figguring on biggering next year so it looks like I'm in this business for the long haul.

[Sugarmaker]

Just finished building a maple candy machine and if the first batch is any indication of future ones then I may make a lot more candy:) Weather was right, syrup was right invert sugar level, and the finished product was excellent!
Dan thanks!

Eric and I cut 20 cord of wood and I have moved five cord from last year to the house for 2009-2010 winter. So I am ahead on the house wood but not moving fast on the syrup wood.:(

Hauled 10 ton of big rocks to our daughters house for her landscaping today.

Weather has been mild and dry. Farmers and maples could use some rain.
The day after it froze last week I could see the maples still running some sap from the old spile holes.

Regards,
Chris

[caseyssugarshack93]

Look at this Whopper of a pump 3000CFM

[ennismaple]

If you turn that thing on you'll end up with roots stuck in your releaser!

[brookledge]

With that size vac pump you wouldn't have to worry about as many leaks as long as the main line was big enough
Keith

[3rdgen.maple]

I think everyone in ny could hook into that pump and still have enough vac for pa.

[KenWP]

I will run a 1/4 inch line down to it also. What was it used for the collection tube's at a saw mill.

[Sugarmaker]

Pictures of the candy machine I built over the last few months and some of the results.:)
I purchased the stainless pig, worm, trough, gear motor and Lovejoy coupling from Dan on the trader. I needed to get a left handed screw(worm) made and then build the base for the motor the trough and the pig support. Local fab shop built the new stainless left hand worm. Fun and interesting project and will make a nice addition to the business.

Most of the machines are fabed from stainless. I used 1/8 inch thick aluminum for the structural parts. (cause it was cheap) Whittled these individual components out with the sawsall, Dremel and various files and grinders. Turned the gear motor upside down and hung it inside a aluminum "box" to get the output shaft better aligned with the worm shaft. Some of the bends were a little tough on the bench vise:(

Several runs to the hardware stores to get stainless fasteners and electrical items for the super sano look. I think it came out OK for homemade job.

Just made another small batch of candy tonight, and it turned out good also. Something about this type of agitation that makes different, better, textured candy. Nice fine grain with the glossy, "machine candy", look on the backs.

Should be able to make 6-8 lb of candy at one time, if I get some more molds. I have enough molds at this time to make about 1/2 gallon of syrup (4 lb of candy).

Regards,
Chris

[maplecrest]

looks like leader made it

[Sugarmaker]

Maplecrest,
I guess I will take that as a compliment. (I did use pictures of their unit as a guide, why reinvent the wheel:)) I also got several suggestions from other sugar makers; like where the syrup from the pig should drop on to the worm.

Chris

[Dave Y]

Chris,
Nice job on the machine!

[Jim Brown]

Hey Chris nice job! I know this guy up your way who has a candy business he wants to sell he may have some molds.

Looks great!

Jim

[3% Solution]

Chris,
Looking good!!!
I like that home made stuff!!!
Got the EEU bubbling with a full load of sap.
Ok so the next project is an EEU, right????????
How's Logan doing??
Regards.

Dave

[Sugarmaker]

Dave 3% and All,
The EEU!!! I need to start thinking is some direction to reduce boiling time. Also would be nice to reduce wood consumption too.
Really been looking at the posts from Techtar on the home made R.O.. That is a nice looking unit he built. plus he has included a lot of good pictures and specs. That would be a nice addition in front of the old 3 x 10. He said he is getting 7% on the first pass that would cut down a lot of boiling!!

I have this candy machine out of the way. But would love to build a cream machine this year too. Considering a new building in the near future also, (Well it is fun to dream!)

Eric and I cut 18-20 cord of firewood and I have just started to split and stack my half today. (this is for the house for 2010-2011). Several days worth of work there.

Dorsey is doing pretty well, he is trying to roll over and is eating well from a bottle.

Regards,
Chris

[3% Solution]

Chris,
That is great about Dorsey (sorry about the last name calling thing)!!!!
Soon he'll be tagging around behind you!!
Well I guess you know what's best for the next project.
I am thinking about a GE Merlin RO for our little operation, I bet it would work good.
Maybe I could get Brent (I think it was him) to sell me his GE Merlin and pump.
We have to get 1.5 cord of wood in for next year.
Well keep in touch.

Dave

[Brian Ryther]

Good weekend. Friday I poured the floor for the ro room. 6 yards was enough work for one afternoon. Saturday I striped forms, and walked a new bush. Only 300 potential good taps. Sunday cleaned the stink from the evap. I also got back into the woods to empty the water out of the drops from washing. I got a good lead on a 2000gal beer tank. It is set up for CIP, might be a good oppertunity. Need to get the price down first.