Hi!

[Southtowns27]

Hi all, I'm Andy from Western NY state. I started doing syrup with a buddy of mine back in '99 on a wood fired 2x6. He upgraded that to a 2.5x8 that we ran for a couple more years before he gave it up after the spring of '05. At that point I built my own sugar shack and I had the Amish build me a drop flue 2x6 which I've run since the spring of '06. I just bought the 2.5x8 (Grimm Lightning) from my friend and have been messing around in the sugar shack making both evaps fit. (I don't plan on running both at the same time...but I guess we'll see what happens :) ) I've been doing 200-250 taps on the 2x6, hoping for 400+ on the 2.5x8 (all on buckets).
Here's a pic of my sugarshack during it's first season:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/Southtowns27/Maple%20syrup/100_0797.jpg

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

nice sap hauler:D welcome aboard!

[Yellzee]

wow, that is one heck of a sap hauler! Welcome.

[red maples]

oh yes love the sap hauler...welcome!!!

[Bucket Head]

Andy,

You can't just end your post like you did. Come on. Details,...we need details! Tell us about the sap hauler-what is it? How big is that sugar shack? How many gallon tank on the sled? Woods or roadside trees? Buckets or tubing or both? Any on vacuum? We need to know these things!

And oh yeah, I almost forgot, welcome to the Mapletrader. This is one of the best sites on the web. A lot of great folks here with a wealth of sugaring knowledge.

Steve

[buxtonboiler]

Welcome to mapletrader. always nice to have more folks with more ideas. Nice sap hauler too.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Sheesh guys next you will want a picture of his wife on the sap hauler......................digital would be fine:o .............Welcome I like to see a guy that thinks like me you know 1 evap aint enough.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I take it your a Denver Bronco fan

[Southtowns27]

Wow, that's a bunch of questions...lol.
The hauler is a 1967 Tucker Sno-Cat 442-A. It's bone stock original unrestored. I bought it from the ski area I've worked at for 14 years. They bought it brand new. The tank on the sled is 275 gal. We do all woods trees, all on metal buckets, no vacuum or tubing. Sometimes we have to make a couple trips with the 275 to get all the sap. I pump the 275 into a 1000 gal S/S milk tank that's behind the shack. From there it flows into the sugarshack and is pumped up through a mechanical filter, carbon filter, and UV filter into a 50 gal head tank with float switch on it so it refills itself. From there it gravity feeds through the preheater to the float on the evap.
The sugarshack is 22' square, not counting the leanto on the one end for firewood.
No, I'm not a Broncos fan, the Tucker is that color from the factory. They're built in Medford, OR, so it's proabably just a coincidence.
We're in the Western NY lake effect snow belt and we're up on top of a hill, so we get crazy amounts of snow. This past spring when I tapped, there was 8' of snow in the woods in spots, hence the need for the Tucker. A tractor would bury itself. The Tucker can't operate on non-snow surfaces, so after the snow melts I use a Thiokol 2100B with a 4 wheel wagon behind it:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/Southtowns27/Maple%20syrup/2100.jpg
I never get stuck and the ground pressure is so low I don't make ruts all over the place.
Oh, and the best I can do is a pic of my fiance driving the Tucker...sorry
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v621/Southtowns27/Sno-Cat/100_0861.jpg

[Maplewalnut]

Dang southtowns, you get the prize for coolest collection haulers. Nice rides.

[red maples]

they just look like fun all the time I think I would look forward to collecting more than boiling!!! HA

[Yellzee]

this almost makes me think we need a new thread on sap hauler pictures.... but I can't imagine anyone beating these two pieces of equipment.

makes me feel even more inadequate with a 4wheeler and sled.

[Randy Brutkoski]

My wife wont even let me have a 4 wheeler. One might accidently show up in my yard someday though.

[Bucket Head]

Well, you know what they say- "accident's happen".

Steve

[3rdgen.maple]

There is a thread floating around here somewhere showing saphaulers. Those are pretty cool looking Southtown. Bet they are a fun to drive in the fields I think in the woods it might get hairy lol. I personally think the best looking saphaulers around are the traditional team of horses myself. Get them trained good and they will follow you to the next tree. Wish I had a team of them.

[Sugarmaker]

I agree that this is near the top for coolest sap haulers set up for snow and or mud!

Nice sugaring set up! His and her's evaporators now there a novel idea!


Regards,
Chris