2010 Salisbury Sugarworks Shakedown

[Parker]

"The future is uncertin and the end is allways near",,,,,how do you spell futcher?
I am changing the name of my opperation to Salisbury Sugarworks for some legal reasons
Anyways went to the landing yesterday AM, saw sap running out of some maple piled on the landing,,,,fired up the yard crane, took the welder out of the back of the pickup,,added 2 quarts of oil to the truck moter and went to Cabbot (Goodriches) got most everything I need for the new 1000 tap woods in Boscowen,,A friend up north lent me his dropline maker,,RAY came over last night and by 11pm we had 600 new drops made (THOSE THINGS ARE COOL),,gonna start setting that up today,,,,Stevo got the 1588 other vacuum taps ready to set last week,,I have my splie extensions,,,I have about 40 cords in the shed...got the stolen releaser back from the Belmont P.D. last week...LOTS TO DO,,but we have VERY LITTEL SNOW..more later

[Dill]

Congrats on getting that releaser back. What's the story? Or did I miss it somewhere.

[wally]

glad you got your releaser back, parker.

[wally]

oh yeah, with some help from my boys, we got half our orchards tapped today. running pretty nicely, too. should finish tapping tomorrow.

[Uncle Tucker]

Hay Parker
I will keep my eye out for steam on my way to Flag Hole Rd. I am not sugaring this year do to a busy spring last year, no wood, and tubing needs a lot of work. My friend in Meredith is sugaring for the second year so I will be spending time over there to get my maple fix. Good luck this year!

[Parker]

The releaser story is a fellow stole it from my tank while the sap was running,,thanks to the hard work of the Andover P.D. a 2 time fellon got his 3rd strike and is now going to jail for a while......there is a thread about it here somewhere......
Uncle tucker NOT TAPPING!!!!! WHAT????? Straighten up and fly right man!!!! We will be over on Rabbit road at Sanborns place all day,big farm with the view,,maple orchard on hillside below house,we park in the "Robbins nest" driveway (where the tank is going),,stop by and say Hi...
Walley-running nicely,,,AAAHHHHH I am a ways from tapping,,well wasent planning on tapping right off,,,have to wacth the weather....
Got the trail cleared to go from neighbors driveway up to sugarwoods (very long) and got the layout finalized in my mind...will set anchors and pull wire today,,hopefully get most of the tubing rolled out,,,gonna focus on setting up this lot befor I tap....GOOD LUCK TO ALL

[Parker]

Got the 2 conductor lines up-2600' of 1 inch,,sap was SPEEEWWWING out of the maples I drilled for anchors......gonna be tricky with the kids and hockey games tommrow.....

[Parker]

Hockey all day with the kids,,last weekend of that,,got a littel ice time tommrow then its too the woods,,,gonna stay in Sanborns woods till that is ready to tap,,,think Ill start tapping there,,then Hoit road,,rte.11 then Hill,,,,,warmest to coldest orchards........Looks like ALOT of trees at Sanborns...

[Parker]

Got the lateral mainlines all laid out-anchors on trees,wire in place ready to pull, gear supplies in the woods,,,

[Mark-NH]

Get the snowshoes out!

[michelle32]

Parker looks like that whole job is about to get alot harder with the wet heavy snow.

[Parker]

Think we are going to dodge a bullet with the snow-THUNDER and HEAVY rain her now-bet there wont be much snow in the AM,,,,I think I would have rather had the snow though,,,,,Getting the laterals mains up and tied off,,,hope to have a crew at it tomrow,,,but hard to find people to work in the rain----forcast is for 2 inches of rain between now anf fri. night,,,Bet it is all snow in Hill?,,,,,
Steve worked on a trawler in Maine this winter and brought back a bunch of shrimp and scallops,,,he has a propane cooker and a frying pan in the sugarwoods,,,been having scallops-shrimp in the woods for lunch,,,,he say not too long befor LOBSTAS!

[Uncle Tucker]

Parker
Drove by Rabbit Rd and looked for you and the crew, couldn’t see you, must of been eating shrimp. I was going to stop in the driveway but I felt weird driving in and saying I am looking for a guy named Parker. I saw the hill going up from the Robins Nest and looks like a hole lot of maples there. Is that an old sugar bush or are you just lucky? If you need a hand let me know, I am looking for any thing that has to do with maple (except splitting wood).

[Amber Gold]

If you're offering shrimp and scallops to helpers, do you need a hand? Those are good eats.

What's your expected tap count this year and how much wood do you have put up?

[Parker]

Early spring days are wet and cold,,,,good raingear is worth its weight in gold!
I think I got every piece of clothing I own wet today,,,,,,,, No help today,,cant blame them,,,pretty steady rain all day,,,got 2, 1000' rolls of 3/4" rolled out,tied up,and tight today,,(that is tough on a side hill with no spinning jenney),will wire tie them tommrow,,,will be putting in lateral line tommrow,,,depending on how many hands we have should put a good dent in it tommrow,,,,,,,
I can ask Steve if he has more scallops,,think he does,,can always bring the smoker over and do RIBS!!!!!!,,,,
Tucker,,I was there,,pulll in behind the farm on top of the hill and follow the tracks,,,,give a hoot and we will hoot back,,you will find us
I think there should be 850-1000,,,,not going to get them all this fist session,,plan on getting the bulk of them them comming back and finishing the last 200? or so after we get everything ealse tapped......we will be just there till phase 1 is tapped in,,,,,,,
I think I have 40+ cords in the shed,,,of DRY WOOD,,,softwood,but drywood!!

[Amber Gold]

Aside from your woods not being setup, at least you're ahead of the game with wood. Feeding 40 chord per season must be impressive...wow.

[Parker]

Got alot of lateral line up,,Russel,Forest and Steve were on hand,,,got probably 200 drops cut in,,my goal is 600 ready there tommrow,,we are working thru till we boil now,,,FULL TILT!!

[michelle32]

Parker I bushhog Peg Boyals feilds do you tap there also. Its just over the hill from Rabbit road. Right on Boscawen and Salisbury line Thats a nice sugar bush you have on Rabbit rd.

[tuckermtn]

Keith- I think that bush by Peg's is tapped by the Andrus' from Salisbury...

Stopped over on Rabbit Rd. to see Parker's new set up...should run like crazy over there...go man go...

[Parker]

I would like to tap that bush,,,walked thru it this fall,,,pretty unique tubing system they have there,,,,,(OLDSCHOOL)
Well,,got about 2 inches of wet sticky snow last night,,that should start comming out of the trees about the time I get into the woods,,,looks like raingear agine today.........

[Parker]

Had Steve Big Russ and Ray today,,made tracks,,lots of drops cut in,,,will start tapping tommrow,,,hope to boil on Wens,,,,getting vac. systems running will take a minute.....Jesus loves his sugarmakers

[Parker]

Russ, Steve and I were at it agine,,got all the lines in place, have to cut in around 100 more drops, I have to build the boosters, get the tank-releaser-pump,,Russ got 300 tapped,,looking like alot less than 1000 taps,,we will have the final count tommrow and hopfuly all drilled,,,,,holes were running (in the snow) pretty hard for no vac....

[3% Solution]

Ok Parker, keep those guys hammering!!!!

[Parker]

Got Sanborns all tapped in for now (595) Will be adding more after we get rolling,,just a couple of fittings for the boosters and we will be ready for vac.,,,will start tapping rte.11,and Hoit road tommrow,,Had big Russ-Steve-Forest-and Derek today....still gotta get tanks-vac-set up BUT GAINING,,,
2 1/2 pounds of scallops today,,,,,
Got the truck tanks up on the lawn to wash them out.. Gotta build of rebuild 3 vac systems,,,,,,plenty to do....

sanborns=595
Hoit road-308
rte.11=640
Hill=740........looks like its going to be 2283 on vac and 200 buckets this year to start....CANT WAIT TO BOIL,,,,,MIGHTY MARVIN WANTS SAP NOW!!!!!!!

[Parker]

Sanborns is finished except for vac.pump and releaser and checking for leaks,,Steve was on hoit road tapping and I was on Rte.11,,I bet we have 1000 tapped,,,russ and forest we on washing tank detail and working on vac. pumps,,,would like to get rte.11 tapped and sucking tommrow, time will tell,,,

[Parker]

Got a call last night,,Peter is going to be on the sceen today with 2 dewalts and 4 batteries,,better than even chance we will get rte.11 and Hill tapped in today,,,Steve said there are 12 taps left to do on Hoit road,,hoit road tank is filled with a 600 gallon block of ice,,,need to do something about that,,got to look at the forcast and see what is comming,,,,still a bunch to do in the sugarhouse,,form the people I have talked to that have allraedy started seems like thay are around 10% id what they made last year,,,,,,,feels like it froze here last night,,first time in 4 nights,,should run like gang busters today if it warms up enough..........

[Parker]

Better get on it,,just looked at the forcast,,,cooler at night and nice during the days!!!!!!!!!

[maple sapper]

Hope the maple God is working for you. Been tapped since feb 20th somewhere in there and just waiting. Medium run as of yet. So waiting and hoping for weather to get its act together. I read all your posts in admiration. Good luck, your a good man :)

[Parker]

Sapper-thanks or the kind words...but the people that help me are the good people,,,,,, think we are tapped in,,Ray and i got a tank for Sanborns from a friend up north tonight,,,also got a7" press and a double bernard from Bascoms today,,,Ray says hell be around tommrow so we will get vac happennig,,,,PSSSSSYKKKKED!!!!!!

[Parker]

Got the new tank in place-that was heavy BUT we had Ray-Forest Big Russ and Steve on the sceen-got the pump vac. set up on Rte,11 starteds pulling at 8" then got it up to 18 befor we left-still 1 saddel to replace,,went up to Hill and changed the moter on that pump and set up releaser,,@ 8pm could see no more,,,will finish that today,,,,,,,,,,,,was not running too hard anywhere yesterday.........

[Parker]

Went to Sanborns first thing-got that running-4" at the releaser,,nothing up in the woods,,found 3 tap lines untapped-1 vac.gauge missing-bunch of chews-got it up to 12" in the woods,,Rte.11 still at 18",(12 " last tap),got Hill up to 15",(10" last tap),,Steve hauled in 1300 gal. I hauled in 325- think there will be 1600 gal by 9AM tommrow in the woods,,I think Ray will be in the woods in the AM,,,Magin hell have it pullin a steady 20" befor he leaves a woods-22+ once we get underway,,,will be boiling in the marrow

[Parker]

Had around 3400 gal/sap,,went trhu like 2800 gal,,,started boiling at 2:30pm quit at 3AM ,,made 35 or so??gallons,,,blew a paper so a bunch od DE-syrup still in 1 finisher,,,Steve said there is like 1200 gal. in the woods (last night) so that will be comming right in to boil this AM,,,,gonna be a littel tricky with hockey practice at 5:45pm today,,but we will think of something,,,looks like a pretty ideal morning weather wise.....Ray got vac. in Hill up to 22",,,,,

[Parker]

Not a lot of sap yesterday-like 1200 gallons which surprises me with the vac......it was around 50 though.....looks like a littel frost here this AM,,,,,,not sure how much we made yesterday,,,still have to jug 1 finisher,,,over 25 gallons I think,,,Still have around 800 gallons of sap above the evaporator,,will see what today brings........Have to get the vacuum at sanborns over 20" today,,,,gonna try changing the pump head (SP-22),,the one there now has had a long hard life (the pretty blue paint is burned off it) and I think its asking alot of it,,,,Ill put that head back on the 350 taps in a small area on Hoit road and put the spare I got (sp-22) from Matt Roys neighbor in its place and see if that makes a differance.....

[maplecrest]

sounds great parker!!. still doing storm damage. got one woods left to get above 20 inches. been slow going. boiled three times made 630 gallons. boil again today.

[Parker]

EEEERRRRR,,,,I have boiled 3 times and am around 85 or so gallons,,,,spent from 9AM till 12:30 AM at it...Putting a dent in the woodpile,,,dry wood is nice (even if it is pine)
Jeff how much snow do you have?
How much snow in the Rupert area? How are they doing at MERK?
I had Forest and Ray at Sanborns today-they changed to the new SP-22 head and if was still pulling 17" Now I am thinking MABEY its that I have 2, 1" lines that go 1000' till the first booster,,and the boosters I built out of 1" pipe (not much volume) after consulting with DR.Roy I am going to try to add 2, 10' pieces of sch 40 PVC along the conductor line,,,mabey at the end, see what that does,(give it a boosterotimey),,got 900 gallons out of Hill today,,rest of the #'s lower than expected,,,,,Continued cold nights and warm days (with a light west breeze) to all

[tuckermtn]

if you ever have too little sap for Marvin, you know where to bring it....

[maplecrest]

we got snow. still piled right up. do not know about merk. hit 800 yesterday. still doing storm damage. more wind comming this weekend. keep up the good work parker

[Parker]

Found the problem at Sanborns,I put valves in the 2 mainlines line at the releaser,turned them off and low and behold,,,,15" on the releaser!!! Isolate the pump-releaser from the tubing and the problem was not in the woods!!!!vac.regulator on side of vacuum tank!!!! Old milking regulator,,,made to pull only 15",,,hold that down and we got the vac. up to 26",,(,pretty hard to imagine that I have been running that setup for 3 years and I did not remember that!!!),,,,backed it off to 22" for safty reasons (did not want to inplode the universe,,create BLACKHOLE,,,fold in time,,-although I am not opposed to sucking so hard I get some of TTTHHEEEEmr2ro'sRRROONNSS sap-,ect...) ANYHOO,,getting pretty good sap flow there now,,,,my grade is defiatly dropping,,,,boiled from 1PM to 1AM,,yesterday,,,got alot of sap in the afternoon,,,,got to head out now and start agine,,think I made around 30 gal yesterday,,,nice and frozen out there now,,,hopefully wont get too warm,,,,should be boiling today for a good 12 hours,,,but we will see,,,,,,,
Eric-are you getting flooded????
Jeff, how are your new woods proforming?,,,Sounds like you are getting good runs!

[maplecrest]

no freeze here last nite. slow run today. made 1004 all fancy. new wood challenge. the vac set up is a baby siting pain so far. releaser fills moisture trap over 8 hours and shuts vac off. nice!!! sap sprays up 3 inch vac line during every dump. company says i have to adjust releaser to dump sooner. one problem no directions or book came with releaser to explain adjustment.running great on gravity. my advise is DO NOT buy a continous vac releaser. JUNK

[Parker]

Well that was a decent run,,and I think it is still comming,,might have some volume to haul in the AM,,,ahhhh, in 4 hours,,,gotta sleep fast and boil hard

[Parker]

we pulled all night and day,,,ended up with 2200 gal of sap-started at 10 am done 1am,,,,just over 40 gal tonight-50 gal+last night,,,have made over 200 in 5 days,,but very tired,,,,freezing here now,,,,wood pile is a concern...

[Parker]

Froze last night and temp about right today-but very small run-I was not able to bring myself to get boiling (think there is a new 1200 gallons out there) really needed a day to get odds and ends done,,,got the vac. pump on Hoit road going (now up to 2600? on vac) gonna have to find some big leaks out there,,,,have to get in "cleanup for maple weekend" mode this week,,,so it will probably be a saptastrophy and Ill have no time to spiff the place up?? I will have to get some barrells somewhere,,I am about out,,,,

[Parker]

Sap has run on vac....started yesterday at 12 noon and done at 3AM,,made 38 gallons,,the sugarcontent dropped off alot,,down to 1.6,,,Ever seen that show "lost"? when I am boiling I feel like the guy in the bunker entering the code every 30 minutes (or whatever it was),,,,every 5 min. fire-foam-check levels,,,repeat for 14 hours,,,,better go see what is in the tanks,,,,,

[Parker]

Blew a big hole in the woodshed with 1800 gal of the "Maine Special" 1.1% sap toady,,,made 30-40 gal...not 100% sure of volume-blew a paper in that $%^^&#* 7" press-definatly going with the 10" next year,(and an RO),,freezing as I walked up from the sugarhouse,,,bet itll tear tommrow,,better sleep fast.....KEEP AFTER IT!!!!

[Parker]

For a minute I could not remember if I was going to the sugarhouse or to bed,,,bed time,,still a bunch of sap (900gal?) to go thru,,,thought I would be able to get thru it tonight,,but when Ray was filling the pumps with gas for the night he found sanborns had run 900 gallons scince 1 pm,,,he brought most of that back by midnight,,definatly a freeze (small) tonight,,,got awful warm here today,,KEEP THE PUMPS POUNDING-itll suprise you when you get sap sometimes,does me........

[HobbitMannor]

I'm jealous of all of the boiling you got going on! We have not had your luck. I thought the sap would run gang bustas yesterday but it hardly ran at all!! I guess you can't win them all. I don't remember you having problems with the filter press last year-maybe just not as often? Well at least you get to do what you love!;)

[Parker]

Hobbitmanor-you guys need vacuum,,makes all the differance,,i had a 10" press last year/workeed alot better,,boiled from 11 am till12:30,,made a bunch of syrup-pushed the last of it thru with water,,not sure what I am up to, too tired to add,,,

[HobbitMannor]

Parker-funny you mentioned vacumm we are actually talking about it. Maybe you could give me a little tour of one of your bushes sometime and explain the workings of it to me sometime-of course I don't want to inconvience you or get in the way. What's your syrup total?

[Parker]

Wow-what a funny year (not funny-ha-ha-),,,was running pretty good with no freeze and 70 deg,,then ran aging at 68 with no freeze,,then agine today a littel,,made around 400 gallons,,Hobbit-Ill give you a call and set up a time-no inconvieniance,,,,getting caught up on my sleep,,,could have sworn I had enough wood for 650 gallons anyways,,only have about 8 cords left of 40,,,will get the sugarwoodwood squad going tommrow....buds are getting pretty radical on some of the reds around...I just have to rember the golden rule of sugaring NEVER SHUT THE VACUUM OFF!!!

[Parker]

Made some SUPER SPECIAL STUFF today,(Did taste good though),tried to filter it 2 times..made it about 2 gallons first time and about 3 gallons second time,,,then blew papers,,,,went into the barrel with a funnell the trird time,,Think I am around 408,,
Got the vacuum thing figured out today with TUCKERMOUNTIAN---this is how it works,,,,the sugargoddess likes the sound of vacuum pumps and she can hear them from a long ways off,,if you are running a vacuum pump at a time when you should not be getting sap, it makes her happy,,,,and sometimes,,happy enough to put sap (might be white or cider looking) in your tank....think I am going to talk to DR. Perkins and see how to write up the research proposel for the study.gonna be hanging in UNDERHILL befor you know it!!!..it all makes sense now.....

[tuckermtn]

wasn't there some sort of bumper sticker about "the Goddess is alive and magic is afoot..." Think it should read "The sap goddess is alive because vacuum magic is a pullin'..." ah, its too late for me to be poetic...

[Parker]

U have got something there, I liked one bumpersticker I saw this summer that said "dirt worshiping hippe goddess", or mabey it was "Druid Goddess" cant remember....gonna have to think about the exact wording....mabey at the next mapleholics meeting we will have to set up a subcommite,,,write a grant proposal that is all encompassing,,how the sugargoddess does her thing and the proper wording for the stickers,,,probably be able to copmplete the research on the cheap,,,like all the funding we will need is a couple of racks of ST.PAULIEGIRLS???
Ill let the pumps rest for a while today if we are getting no sap,change oil in moters and pumps,,collect what is out there push it thru with water and clean everything up to be ready for round 2,,,,wash tanks and releasers..
<<<<RELOAD>>>>>

[Parker]

900 gal of .8%=big hole in woodpile ,,,well at least i am boiling...gonna try for another 400 taps in the next 3 days.....ALL IN.......

[Parker]

Pushed sap thru the evaporator with water last night,,gonna drop some acid and see where Marvins head is at,,clean everything up,,get ready for the big 2 weeks comming :)

[maplecrest]

froze up here first time this cold 28 degrees at noon in a month. got sap on truck valve froze in trans had to get hot water the unload.

[Parker]

not that cold here,,just in from sanborns trying for another 200 there,,should be in by noon? still need to do buckets (too windy today)gotta do the big clean up the yard for maple weekend,,and tag a bunch of jugs,,plenty to do,clean Marvin,,,steve is gonna be cooking (saclops-chicken-ribs) maple weekend and Ma is making maple meatballs,,,should be able to put on 5 pounds...course if it freezes tonight we will be boiling tommrow

[maplecrest]

4 pm wind changed, warmed up sap and r/o ran all night. still running now at 7 am,be a double boil today to change pans

[Parker]

TIme to start pumps,,littel baby freeze here,,,finish tapping when things are running,,,,,,,,

[Parker]

got like 650 at sanborns and 500 in hill,,rte.11 vac down to 16" and mabey 200 gal,,hoit road,,pump out of gas and 100 gal...just 30 taps left to go at sanborns,,yard looks great,,just finished the biggest plate of scallops in my life (caught in Harpswell yesterday) boil tommrow,,lots to do,,,,big eats on for this weekend,,all invited,,might even have live music (not sure),,,the goddess is smiling down upon me and my tanketh almost runeth over......

[maplecrest]

well, if i did not think the big one was going to happen this year was i wrong.finally 19 degrees!!! just ran for 34 straight hours. forget the swimmies. r/o ran for 24 of that. hope to finish boiling it in today. then wash up sugar house. releasers were a pain in the rear. most sap came at 34 degrees and the new lapierre releasers do not like that temp. but the benard doubles work great at that temp.did not miss a drop with those.the tee spoon releasers SUCK more hang ups sap every where but the tank.at one point looked likew a jack in the box that jumped out of the box.found every leak it had. and is 2 weeks old.

[Parker]

Sounds great jeff-not running anything like that here but it is kinda bumping along,,just a littel below freezing here,,nothing real cold,,gonna go out check pumps-finish sanborns,,prep for this weekend,,,,BUSY!!! BUT FUN!!

[Parker]

Got sanborns done,,,the last 40 taps took forever,,froze my finger trying to finish up,,the trres are on the top of the field,,exposed to the wind and it was howling out of the north,,,got a littel run there,,but nothing much anywhere ealse,,is it the check valves? got to be I used a bunch of 20 year old tubing in spots over agine there,,,,not sure at this point,,but,,its a due south face,,no snow,,definatly my warmest orchard,,and was tapped first,,,while it was out proformed big time by Hill and Rte.11 early on it is doing more than them lately,,,dont think it has caught up volume wise but it might,,,surprising,,,STEVO and I went and got the eats today,,,,OH MY,,,should be good,,hard to get it all in the fridge,,bought Market Basket out of ribs and thighes,,,,:),,,,Marvin has a littel stage fright,,but we should be O.K. for maple weekend,,,I have empty pans but 1500 gallons above,,gonna be a trick getting it into the rig when its 14 deg out,,but we will find a way to make it happen,,,havent herd back about the music-kinda sucks cause I could call some others to make plans,,,,port-o-potty in place,
think it ios going to get so cold tonight wont do much tommrow,,,but I am wrong most of the time,,we will see,,,good luck to all,,,stay in the fight..please the godess and she will fill your tanks :)

[Parker]

might be a trick getting the sap into Marvin this A.M. Pretty chilly here,,,possibility of a good run? SHE SMILES DOWN UPON US TODAY BROTHERS AND SISTERS!!!!!!

[Russell Lampron]

A bit too cold for a run here today. I had to fight freeze ups to get my RO going today. Hope that you didn't have too much trouble getting the sap to Marvin. He's a thirsty guy!

[Parker]

Well, mabey she was smirking today,,,a littel run,,late,,I dont hold out much hope for rte.11 or hoit road,,but I will keep pulling for a while,very difficult getting sap to Marvin this morning,,someday Ill buy 1/2 mile of heat tape and eliminate that problem,,but we were simmering,,had a few visitors,,but,WHAT A FEED!!!Steve is a culinary artist with a smoker,,RIBS-CHICKEN-and new this year FRENCHFRIES,,,Ma made maple meatballs,,,wow,,,and its all going to happen agine tommrow,,fridge is 1/2 full of chicken and ribs,,so stop by if your around,,from all reports today production drasticaly down across the board in this area,,those without vacuum perticulary hard hit,Gotta look at the weather,,,Left a HUGE offering to the Godess down at the sugarhouse,,Mabey she will dig the eats and fill some tanks this week?

[Parker]

Better turn out today TREMENDOUS FEED!!!!! Steady supply of chicken-ribs frenchfries and ,,,,,,I broke out 2 lbs of scallops (caught in Harspwell M.E. last wens.),,steve droped them in the fryer and, well,,words really cant do it justice so......ran at Sanborns,,everything ealse pretty darn sad,,been trapped in the S.H. last 2 days,,,tommrow I look in the woods and see whats happening,,make some decisions,,made 26 gallons of real dark good tasting stuff....she was smiling,,,gonna run back down to the sugarhouse and leave a plate,,and a 12 pack,,ect.,,WORM MOON TONIGHT,no freezes in sight,,,BUT SHE LIKES TO SEE THE STEAM

[Ridgeland Farm]

well didnt really thaw until about 1pm got about 750 gal. between then and now off of 775 taps. Still runnin strong. will be over a gallon per tap by midnight! sugar still low 1% thats up from .6% from last week. we'll see how long it lasts! Good luck for the rest of the season!

[Parker]

Newbie- where are you located? That is quite a run-your taps in a cool or warm area? what aspect? When did you tap? I like to compare and contrast,,what do you have for vacuum?
Cant wait to get into the woods and see what happened last night,,,gotta get the littel ones on the bus first,,,

[maplecrest]

broke open at midnight, did not get r/o going till 9 am. lines froze to pem tank and to r/o from feed tank bummer. that was how cold it got here for 3 days. gotten 7000 gals since mid night. sap i clear now and running strong. to step outside now does not fell like sugaring weather any more.noon got to go boiling. see what i get out of this run got 350 gals out of last wed run.

[Parker]

When I got to Sanborns tank yesterday morn is 1 inch from running over,,pulled in a total of 2380 gallons,,almost a gal per tap,,nice sap,,testing 1.3%,,boiled till midnight,,still 600 down there,,still running (slower) at 10pm

[Parker]

Will be boiling till 5pm tonight ,,,might be the last boil this year,,but we will be rolling today

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Parker,
You aren't thinking of quitting yet are you? Froze hard over here last night and the forecast says 34 for tonight so there might be another one. Next Monday night there may be another freeze coming. Don't start waxing poetic for the goddess, go out there and put more suck on the pumps!
Doug

[tuckermtn]

got this text from Parker at 9pm last night:

"Marvin and the goddess will be dancing till late
she brought us big sap today and that was great
one last big blow
she hates to go
global warming u know"

sounds a lot like Robert frost to me...

[Ridgeland Farm]

Parker, Im in loudon right down the road from windwept maples. Im boiling with him this year. Next year I'll have my own evap. My setup is all new this year. Its a SE facing sloped orchard, fairly cool. 775 taps on 1" wet line and 3/4in branch line. 300 cv and the rest regular spiles. New bernard double releaser and a delaval 73 running at 22-23in of vac. Pulled the plug today. from 1pm sunday to 10am tues got 1925gal. total for the season was 14340gal of sap. 18.5gal/tap and I didnt run the pump for 7 days last week because the sugar dropped bellow 1. and I missed the first 5 days of the season back in late feb. I think I could have prob brought it up to around 25gal/tap. all in all an ok season. sugar was not as high as we would have liked. 1.8 was the highest I got out of my orchard and about 2 was the highest for windswept. The last few boils we have done has been off flavored but the color turned 180 and turned very very light. tonight will be the last boil for the season.

[Parker]

Nwebie-stop by sometime,,sounds like you have a nice set up with good results,,,but,,pulled the plug-did it stop running? and not running cause it was low sugar?,,,Does windswept have an RO?
Thompson-I never quit,,but when I am burning more gas in my pumps than we are getting for sap....No freezes in my forcast,,supposed to be over 70 3 days in a row,,,BUT YOU NEVER KNOW!!
Had to stop boiling for a parent teacher conferance (all good news),,gathered another 1600 gallons today,,1.1 but thats OK,,,still have about 800 above the evaporator and all the pumps running,,we will see what she brings tonight,,boiling agine tommrow :)

[Parker]

Lost a wheel off the dodge yesterday,(everyone OK-empty tank on truck at the time),might try to fix it today or might just get brave and attempt to fire up the f-350,finished off the potatos and chicken from the weekend yesterday,,smelled like the hopkinton state fair in the sugarhouse!!! Kids loved comming home to french fries and smoked chicken!,,,gotta see what the godess left in the tanks,,but I bet we will be boiling into the night,,,stop by if your in the hood,,,thanks to all that have stopped by this season,,I like the company,,,,if I am alone boiling to long,,,well you know what happens...........boil rymes with,,,,hard to stop once its started......

[Parker]

Started a 11 done at 11,,made 24? gallons,,low content but happy to have it,,found an old box of tapes-boiled to the VIOLENT FEMMES-CYPRUSS HILL,and THE GREATFUL DEAD,,,blast from the past,,,,my new goal this season is to burn all the wood in the shed,,,I think it is an attainabel objective only about 4 to go ,,,gassed up the pumps for the night...hoit road all done,,I failed that bush this spring,,,I hope to be better organized next year,,,part of the BIG PLAN,,,,WHO EALSE IS STILL IN THE FIGHT?

[markcasper]

Parker, I have failed to be organized for 26 years! Don't feel alone.

[jwalker]

Still holding on. Boiled on Tuesday , took a bunch of wood and time for nine gallons of syrup. Hope to have one or two more boils left. Our higher elevation lot has not stopped running since Sunday.... Not gushing but a steady trickle. Way below on numbers, our worst year to date. 80 0n saturday I think will do it.

[Parker]

sapwalker- do you have vacuum or are you getting gravity runs?

[maple sapper]

Still in the game down south in Nashua. Thank god for my addtion of vac to my small pipeline system. Pulled about 100 gals every other day. Im happy with that. Sugar is low but my little merlin ro system is earning its keep. Got to love that. Sap is cloudy and saw tinges of buddiness to it yest. Surprisingly some of my buckets had good amounts of sap in them the other day. Maybe the low pressure system? Or rain water? lol. either way I let the RO sort that out. Also putting a 1 micron bag filter in my over head tank has sure cleaned things up. So maybe a few more not so sweet smelling boils. At this point just looking for recovery money selling bulk.

[maple sapper]

Parker,
wanted to ask, do you boil to NH or US grade for your bulk? Also, I rigged up my gas powered generator (for this season) with a tee fitting and a check valve on the front side of that for the built in tank on the fuel line and a 15 gal fuel tank. This thing will go 3 days straight or longer. I have not tested the duration, I just bring a can everytime I go and top it off. Is this something you have implemented on your own remote set ups? I hope to figure out some means of power for next year. Ive spent alot on gas already in a few weeks.

[Ridgeland Farm]

Parker, Pulled the plug for many reasons! the main being the syrup we were making had developed an off flavor. Nothing you would bottle up. It ended up being a pain to boil and misserable to filter. The sap had slowed down but not stopped. But with the warm weather coming and sugar struggling to stay at 1% it was an easy call to throw the towel in. They do have an RO but when the sap drops bellow 1% it starts to not pay off when you factor in the cost of runing. All in all not a terrible season but deff. a strange one. Now its on to planning for next year! I will deff. try and stop by sometime. Got a lot of clean up to do first though! Good luck with the rest of the season. Hope you get some more good sap!

Stefan

[Uncle Tucker]

Parker I cant believe you are still boiling, it must be getting stinky in there. Keep going! and keep the maple gods happy.

[maple sapper]

TOWEL thrown in. Modified releaser and created issues. So, Im done. I could get it going but by the time I get the part I need/want the heat will be to much and sap will be over. So once again your the last one standing. LOL

[Parker]

I just boil the best I can and those that buy it decide what grade it is,,,for example bascoms has a B price and a Commercial price,,,
Made 8 or so gallons last night,(found my lost copy of "Babalon by bus" and boild to that...I get sooo sick of the radio,,one of my favorite things is listining to the SOX while boiling,,,not surew that will happen this year,,,there was still sap comming into the tanks at 10:30 last night,,saw at least 600 gallons in the woods,,releasers were looking very mungie,,,just about out of wood,,44 deg here this am and supposed to get into the 70's ,,,,that will about all it takes I think,,,,brought home the rte.11 and Hoit road releasers yesterday,,were were burning more gas than getting sap,,,,,,,,,Sapper I run 5 gallon jugs on my hondas,,they last between 18-24 hours depending on the pump,,,,and I yes, they do get very expensive,,but my smallest orchard is 350 taps,,largest is 800,,so I genrally get alot of sap per 5 gallons,,,gonna go see what she left me,,,,

[jwalker]

Parker, we have all gravity. Hope to get some big suck soon! Checked tank yesterday and it really had slowed up. Looking really slimy too. The fat lady is really warming up now. Will most likely sit up and listen this weekend and start cleaning up. Extended forecast isn't looking promising... Are you still running your vac Hill? How's it been running?

[Parker]

Still pulling in Hill,,that has slowed down alot,,,

[Parker]

Just when I thought I had seen all his trick STEVO trows SHISKABOB on the grill today.....WOW....French fries to boot...sap was pretty much white today with this radical soap sud foam to it,,did not smell bad boiling,,made another 8-10 gallon,,think we are at 512 gallons,,,just got back from gassing the pumps (gonna try to suck the buds back into the branches) still running a littel,,nothing hammering or pretty,,,but WE ARE GONNA PUT IT IN THE BARRELL!!!!!!!!! about 1 cord left in the shed,,,15 cords outside in case things turn around :),,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,NEVER GIVE AN INCH!

[Backyard Sapper66]

Parker,
You really make my day!!!! I love reading your updates, it helps me through my "maple fix" that I am having trouble overcoming. Keep at it, I think all that suction is pulling the buds back into the branches here in Alexandria!!!!
Thanks again for taking the time showing us around on Maple Syrup weekend.

[Parker]

Doug thanks for comming, I enjoy company, hope you had fun,
Just back from Hill,,,shut the pump off 100 gallons overnight,,supposed to get to 80 today and the buds are blown right out up there,getting so it costs too much to be fueling up pumps and riding around,,,,think I am going to have about 600 to boil today and that will be it for me,,,temps in the 80's till monday...

[maplecrest]

parkerrrrr , will i made 206 gallons yesterday, 1/2 non filtered. r/o would not take the hot sap so i dumped that. clean flue pan going to try again today. 100 degrees in the sun here. do not believe any sap that i get between now and sun going down will go thru r/o. high pressure pump does not keep cool enough to run

[Parker]

Jeff-I shudder to think of volumes when you say you dumped sap,,,You better call Jr. up and but that 1500 gal/hr RO (memtec with piston pump) for just such an occassion,,,bet you that would jam some nasty thru,,,,,,How many gallons have you made and what were your best and worst addations this year,,,,what is going to get changed for next year,,,looking forward to a vist,,,I think the Salisbury sugarworks posse is going on tour next week...definatly hitting Rupert and you on the way north

[maplecrest]

parker i set fans in the r/o room got washed everything and started again. everything worked great evap running tank fillling r/o running making light B then the density started to drop off. thermometer at 220 and was no longer syrup. i looked in the finish pan and i bit thru my hydrometer. shut the rig down. i was no longer making syrup but jelly. smell like fruit. so now i have a lot of sap running on the ground. when i went to wash the r/o the ph is different also. having a few questions on how to get it to 9. one tablespoon on soap and it goes to 9 last nite i put in 2 and it was neutral. got a few drums and the pumps for ya

[Parker]

Some early post season thoughts,,,
#1-feels weird to get a full nights sleep!

#2 Maple weekend was alot of fun, not that difficult,,and, potentialy profitabel,,,gonna have a band (Mellow-mabey bluegrass) and a small scale petting zoo-neighbor has critters,,,MORE FOOD! will advertise in papers also plan on having 200 gallons jugged up befor maple weekend,,, (that means someone will have to be on staff to do some serious jugging befor the weekend

#3 I will be useing all CV adaptors next year,,say what you want,,they worked for me and everyone I know that used them

#4 I will plan my life so I can tap EARLY (TTHHEEsuckedmytreesdryfrompaROONN STYLE) and I am going to get 1/2 mile of heat tape so when I get a run and it freezes in my tanks at the sugarhouse Ill be able to get the sap into Marvin

#5 Gotta get an R.O.,,,,I think burning 50 cords makes me an ideal canadet for an efficancy grant!

#6 goal for the off season is another 2000 taps installed BEFOR WINTER

[Amber Gold]

Are you talking about having over 4000 taps for next season? Marvin's going to be HUNGRY. Sleep is for the weak.

[markcasper]

You'll need 100 cords of wood then if that ro does not come.

[Parker]

I need to get an R.O.,,,had a real informative, productive conversation with the new owner of Rt.11,,looks like Ill be able to tap there 3 more years,,then he will be doing it himself,,,I am happy for the oppertunity to do it a littel longer,,,said I can expand up to 1500 taps,,,thanks to local compittion I will be paying an obseen amount for the privlige......thats all right I have a bead on 4 more large orchards in the area,,,wasent going to go for them right off but.need to be ready for the transition..GAME ON!!

Added up our hauling #'s and we had an absolutly horendous season,,,I did start much too late and that adversely affected our final #'s,,,I am going to go over the book 1 more time to make sure I did it right...
If I dont have an r.o. by july Ill put 40 extra cords in my barn (as well as having the shed full),,,,,the tought of that is motivation enough to get an R.O.

[tuckermtn]

what local competition...?

[maple sapper]

Parker,

If you run the amount of sap we read of daily, and you get an RO, Then you may need to run a 24" culvert pipe to a stream. Then excavate that stream a bit wider all the way to the nearest river. This is just to handle the discharge water. Maybe you can make a contract with a local drinking water bottling company to buy it from you. :lol:

[Parker]

Local compittion-I.E. tucker mountian,,,Ill give you a call today...

Was washing things up yeasterday,,,got all the releasers home,,washed up all the tanks at the sugarhouse,,starting washing the evaporator,,,,the earliest I have ever gotten done,,,fell like I should be boiling,,,,,but looks like it time for a littel scrapping.....

[Parker]

Had another informative conversation yesterday, this time with Eric,,I think the new owner of Rte. 11 was useing the Tucker mountin Coop as leverage to get the price I paid for the taps up as high as possibel,(good business man),,sorry to have doubeted you Eric,,should have known better,,,
Would you say that is accurate Jay? The taps are worth the price,,,BUT,..
Glad that I see things more clearly now...
Scrapping is no where near as much fun as sugaring!!! Although I do love to see the unique people and the stuff getting hauled in...

[Parker]

Got all but about 100 taps pulled at sanborns,,(check valves) so far 2 of the balls were missing (but might have fallen out sepertating the adaptor from the stubbie),,,no where near as much snot as the regular adaptors,,,still have Hill to pull,,ray did rte.11 and hoit road...still looking over the numbers,,,trying to find mistakes,,,Marvin soaking,tanks washed,,,littel wood progress,,,I have seen that if I fixed my woods they way I do other peoples I would make alot more syrup,,,definatly need to install at least 5 more lateral mainlines,,,,trying to decide if I want to expand 900 more on rte.11 if its just for 3 years,,,will it be worth the investment and the rent of 90 cents a tap?? Say I get 20 gal/tap of 2% sap,(most of the new trees will be red maple),,but I am gonna need a bigger pump,,plus the expense of trucking,,,I do have more taps I could get elsewhere......Also trying to think of a good time for the next MAPLEHOLICS COOKOUT,,,was thinking mabey a band this time,(kinda mellow),,ideas??? steve says he can get lobsta

[Russell Lampron]

I was thinking just yesterday about how good lobster taste when it is cooked in a maple syrup finisher. Keep us posted on the mapleholics meeting.

[Parker]

I am thinking mabey around the end of may..befor I get too much wood in the shed-so it it rains we can get under cover-stay dry,,

[Parker]

Got the last of sanborns pulled yesterday-started pulling Hill taps-this summer I have got at least one week of work to do making improvements,,I really skimped on lateral mainline there,,also need to run an additional mainline (wet) on the conductor line,,isolate the old wet lie that has laterals running into it (from the origal system)....incorperate valves and gauges to isolate leaks.....