September Journal

[red maples]

no body set one up yet?

its 9:35am have you thought about maple yet??

less than 7 months left 'till tappin' season better get busy!!!

[Jeff E]

IT'S TIME!

I need to contact some land owners and guys I buy sap from. Get that lined up now.

Wood is done (thanks son), need to bottle up another 50 gallons of the good stuff, do some wiring and plumbing in the sugar house, and maybe put another 100 taps on line.
I have aquired a nice water jacketed 2 tap bottler, and 3 burner LP 2x3 finishing pan. That will make bottling a lot easier. SPEND SPEND SPEND. I need to SELL SELL SELL.

Have you guys noticed that no matter how big you make the sugarhouse, it is not big enough?

[Revi]

We have all our wood ready and I visit the sugarhouse every day to check it.

Soon it turns into my hunting camp for a couple of months.

I hope it's a mellow season and nobody takes any pot shots at our sugar house this fall.

We have 2 camera systems, a bulletproof box to protect the evaporator, lexan on the windows and plate steel on the door to prevent problems now.

I think it will help.

[220 maple]

I delivered candy on August 30 to the tourist trap that sell my product. I'm sure I mentioned in previous posts that the owner told me he could sell 1000 packages of sugar candy and I laughed at him, he walked off in a huff after I laughed. The joke was on me. I delivered number 1027 last monday. I told his wife that I'm going to take them out for a steak dinner, she has not told him wants it to be a surprise. I'm calling it a vendor appreciation dinner. I guess I can claim it as a expense on my taxes? These folks know how to run a country store. They keep the Sugar Candy right beside the cash register, claim it is purely impulse buying. They have it priced right I believe. they have 40% mark-up. The owner stated he probably will be able to sell candy thru the winter, I did not laugh at that statement!!!!!

Mark 220 Maple

[Jeff E]

What form is your candy in? Boxed in 10 ct. or 20, or singles?

That sounds like a great market you have with that retailer.
What is your price/ounce to the retailer

[Thad Blaisdell]

So this morning my kids are getting ready for school, 1st and 3rd grades, and my oldest says that he forgot his journal for me to sign. So I asked him if all of the work was completed and he says yes. I say no problem we will leave 5 min early I will drive you to school and come into the lobby you go get your journal and I will sign it. So into the lobby I go and off to his class he goes....tick tick tick..... 5 min later he comes back. He says it doesnt matter if I sign it the teacher told him the punishment is the same. He would lose half of his recess. Now I dont know about everyone else but I hate stupid punishments. So off to his class I go. The teacher whom I never met comes out of the class to meet me. I ask why would he get the same punishment. She says that was the rule. I said you know school hasnt even started yet. She said that was the rule for her class. I asked what time recess started. She asked why. I said because my son looked sick and may need to go home at that time. I told her I hated punishing kids for no meaning, (now dont get me wrong if a kid deserves it I would be the first to dole it out. But my kid hates to be in trouble and he is very sensitive to it). Now the teacher was getting where I was coming from. She said she would overlook it this time. I said that would be a good thing. And left. I had teachers like this when I was in school and they wonder why I hated most of them.

[Dennis H.]

I have been selling syrup lately. I now have just 6 pints left!!

I had a funny thing happen the other day. I placed an ad in the local newspaper to let people know that I have maple syrup to sell. SO far it has paid off nicely.
I get this call and the guy asks me how much my syrup costs and what sizes I have. Once I tell him is then says "Oh Ok I dodn't need any syrup I just wanted to know what you were charging". Then he proceeds to ask me if I wanted to come to one of their meetings to stand up in front of them to tell them how I make maple syrup!! Now I know who he is. He is a Mennonite.
Wow! This dude gots some balls!! He owns a small food pantry that he sells food and stuff to the amish and mennonites. I toold him that if he needed syrup I would be glad to sell some to him, he told me he didn't need any.
Man the little SOB just wanted my prices and then wanted me to tell them how to make syrup! As far as I know I am the only person in Perry County that sells syrup that is locally made and I am pretty sure that I may be one of only like 3 people that make syrup period. I think they saw my add and thought that if I am able to make syrup and sell it that they also could!

I can't beleive the nerve of some people.

[Revi]

I cut a couple of small trees that had landed on the mainlines. It's been beastly hot here, and dry. I hope Earl gives us some moisture without the wind. It rained a week ago and it didn't even get the creeks running. The ground and trees must have sucked it all up before it had a chance to run off.

[KenWP]

So far this year have not been able to sell one drop of 2010 syrup. The best I did was trade a half gallon for a rooster. I have to think what I am going to do for next season now as not much use making to much if it will not sell.
I don't get anydays off to cut wood recently so am worried about keeping warm this winter.Hopefully the ground drys out enough to get out there soon and get at least 10 cords cut.

[Parker]

I have about all of the big chunks of wood ripped up and ready to split into the sugarhouse,,thinking Ill finish them up this AM then to the fair with my girls...Will get into splitting mode next week,,,,THANK GOD FOR THIS COOLER WEATHER!!!! Crisp dry cool air!!!!! gonna head to the woods this week to check on lines also...

[PATheron]

Parrrr( so much wood smoke in sugarseason a good south wind will make Canada think theyve got another 5000 acres burning off)- Get the wood ready were making history this year brother!!!!! Theee(gonna burn oil like a fleet of semitrucks)rooon

[Farmboy]

Went to the blanford fair and picked up my supplys. Tubing filters a scoop a dial themometer another hydrommeter and a few other misc. things. He was sold out of saddles and lapierre seasonal spouts so he's going to ship them to me when he gets them in because it's a long ride for just those. I need to get going because everything is in peices or not finished.

[Sugarmaker]

Maple tidbits!

- Had fun making maple products for the Crawford County fair. The grandson Mike wanted to make candy so I watched while he boiled it and filled the molds.
We did OK with 4 firsts, a second and a third in maple and honey products.
Mike got a second and a third too.

- Will be looking for a new chain saw with the next week or two. Probably a Sthil like the 025C that just bit the dust, after cutting too many cord of wood to count.

- I do have a good used three point hitch buzz rig, 28 inch blade, for sale: $400. Its ready to go! I was going to use it to cut pallets but decided not to destroy it for that project. Plus I don't have a tractor to run it!

Regards,
Chris

[Dennis H.]

It is official I am sold out of syrup!:D & :(

I had a guy who wanted just a quart but then decided that pints would also make nice gifts so he took the rest of my pints.
I placed an ad in the local paper and for costing me $17 it was well worth the money. I have been selling like crazy since then.
Now remember I had only a few gals to sell but I am quite happy how it went.
I have already started to make a list of names of anyone who wants syrup that I will call once I get more next season.
I was tossed weather to buy syrup to sell but then I decided that I am trying to sell syrup that was made right here in Perry County and I just won't feel right if I sell syrup from somewhere else and saying that I made it here locally.

I now also have parts to work on my Surge Alamo. I needed to get oilers for it and a 4" pulley for the gas engine. Now I can start fab'in again!:D

I can now start to work on my sap wagon that I want to build, it will be 2, 55gal drums tied together with 1" pvc. These will be mounted to a small trailer that I have. I needed to make this to haul sap from the new sugarbush that I have lined up.

I got a call today from the trucking company and was told that next Tues will be the delivery day for the new evap!!

Things are moving now!!!

[3rdgen.maple]

Okay guys and gals. The leaves are starting to fall, vegetable garden is making its way to the freezer and fruit cellar, Bowhunting is 19 days away, Bear hunt in Adirondack right around the corner, Salmon are in the river and caught a few of them tonight, and ever so close are we getting to another maple season. Man who does not love the 4 seasons and the fall the best out of all them.

[Farmboy]

Cut 200 30" droplines out of a 500' role of cdl semi rigid. Now I need to make a tubing tool to put the t's and taps on. Also yesterday I worked on replacing the tin on the back of my evaporator. I have the old tin off. I'm replaccing it with ss i've saved from getting scrapped over the past few years.

[caseyssugarshack93]

heres my award.

[red maples]

Nice job nate ....Good for you see all that hard work pays off right!!!!!

[Sugarmaker]

Nate,
Nice award! We can see your busy and growing. Keep us up to date on that new rig.
Regards,
Chris

[3rdgen.maple]

Caught my biggest King Salmon today on the Flyrod. Took me for a long ride and 35 minutes later He slipped in the net. Youngest boy and his friend was a little upset with me when I released it. Didnt have a scale with me but Im betting it pushed 40lbs. Man my arm is tired. lol

[red maples]

Nice man. Yeah my kids don't understand the whole catch and release thing either. I keep a few stockies in the spring enough for a dinner or 2 and maybe a few perch throught the ice for a nice winter stew, but thats about it.

can't believe Bow season starts Wednesday here.. man I haven't even shot my bow I have been so busy. I have been wanting to move my tree stand to a better spot didn't do that yet! for some reason and maybe someone from NH can helpme with this is why is the first 2 weeks of bow season buck only??? its always been either sex and no Special M tag either for the first 2 weeks. There are still a ton of deer down here I don't understand. I think there will be alot of does showing up at the check in stations. My only thought is to lighten up the bucks to ease the mating so there aren't so many fawns in the spring time. I would like to see a winter bow season maybe 2-3 weeks in January.

Gotta finish getting all the house wood up to the house gotta get it finished this week!!!! See how much I can get done today.

once thats done I can start the maple projects....once that maple projects are done then I can start redoing the downstairs little bathroom gutting the whole thing down to the studs, adding a shower, new sink, wood 1/2 way up the wall and dry way at the top. should be sexy when its done!!! then once thats done I can start finishing the basement then once thats done.............geez when does it end!!! probably never!!!

[Parker]

Trucked 2 more loads of wood home,,everything cut up,,started splitting into the shed yesterday,,got about 6 cords done..gonna try to stay after it this week,,,,was happy to see how dry the inside of what I am splitting is.....

[Dennis H.]

I made it up state yesterday to visit Theron and see how the heck he shoe horned that new rig in the sugarhouse, well I can say that he wasn't able to do it without some modification to the sugarhouse!:o
Besides the 1st impression of Holy$%!& that thing is big all I could do is laugh! Man that thing is huge!! I am glad I am a good distance south of you guys, I would watch out now. I think Theron is starting to run tubing in the cover of darkness to the north to get more sap to run that thing!!:lol: He has the tanks ready to go to handle the extra sap that has been smuggled across boarders!

[Dennis H.]

Here are a few pics of mission control(RO Room). I have no idea how he got everything in there. 2 ro's a large holding tank a releaser that looks like it could hold enough water for a small pond and something like 1,000 ball valves and 5 miles of tubing!

It was a blast to spend the day talking syrup.

[red maples]

jeesh I am lost just looking at all that!!! And yes that thing is huge!!! How in hell did he get that thing in there????

[PATheron]

You gotta WANNNNNN IT!!!

[Parker]

Yeah You Do!!!

[Amber Gold]

Saturday I stopped in to talk to the owners of my old sugar bush. I talked to the father directly and not his wife or son. He has no issues with me tapping the trees, provided I'm not hurting the trees. This is different from what I was told by others. He wants to talk to his forester about it and I told him I'd see what information I could dig up about tree health and sugaring and will drop it off next weekend. I'm not holding my breath, but maybe this one isn't dead. Fortunately when I pulled everything out, I tagged everything so I think I can get it all set back up in a couple of long weekends.

In my new woods, I marked out where mainline's going to run. There's going to be a lot of mainline to get all the trees. I'm guesstimating 4000' of 3/4" and a 900' vacuum line. I can get everything to the tank without lifts, but I will have a 300' section that'll be ~8' in the air to maintain 2% pitch. Based on my walk, I think these woods will be closer to 500 taps than 700. Hoping to get them all online for this coming season.

[PATheron]

I had it delivered to the shed on a rollback and we dropped it off in front of the shed on the concrete.. Then I tried to push it around with my dads four wheel drive compact tractor but that didnt work. Then I brought home a bunch of block and tackle and hooked a block to a tree in the back of the shed and took chain and bull line and Hooked it to the tractor and was able to pull it in place that way once I cut some ironwood saplings and put them under it so it could roll. Once it was in close I took three ton hoists and hoisted it in place by hand. Pretty tough job. I think it ways close to 6000 lbs.

[Thad Blaisdell]

Believe it or not we used 1.5 inch pvc pipe to roll mine around with. Three of us were able to make it go where ever we wanted.... we also had a few jacks to help but it actually went pretty smooth. I would hate to guess the weight of mine but I would hate to have it on my toe.

[Farmboy]

Ran a 1" water line into the sugar shack. It's set up with a draining curbstop so I can shut it off and the water will drain out of the line. So nothing freezes during the winter. Now I just need to run eletric into it then I can pour concrete.

[Revi]

I have seen a few trees that are starting to show some color.

It may just be that they are stressed from the dry summer, but we are starting the fall season now here in Central Maine.

It's just going to get better and better for us leaf-peepers.

We just got a trip for two in an antique car, and I want to time it for the optimum leaves. I think around the first weekend of October.

[red maples]

last few nights we have gotten down around 48-52 degrees and there are a few trees here and there with a little orangey red hue starting around the edges. another 1-2 weeks or so and colors should be very visable!!! nice long summer the sugar should be there. now lets hope we get a good spring this year!!!! never again like the last one!!!

[Parker]

SPLIT AND STACKED ALL DAY!!! Gaining,,,back after it after the littel ones are on the bus...

[Dennis H.]

I got the call from the trucking company at 3:30pm and was told that he is going to be here around 6:30, MY EVAP IS COMING HOME!!

Yesterday I spend the afternoon running for supplies, need to fab the gas powered vac setup, build the sap hauling wagon, tube the woods that I got permisson for.
It is go time now boys, things are picking up!! It is going to be busy for a few weeks, heck it is going to be busy till sugar'in season.

[3rdgen.maple]

Man you guys should take a break from this maple stuff once in awhile and go salmon fishing lol.

[red maples]

44 degrees this morning coldest morning so far. wife made me turn on the heat this morning but shut it down as soon as she left for work. ;)

I think I finally got enough wood to get me though. finished the 2 piles yesterday. all total for what I measured and added up between sugaring wood and house wood ...12 cords all done!!! but I still got some more in the woods and a few more trees that I plan to take down cut and stack as soon as the leaves are off the trees. collared em so they start to die now. Heated my house for 2 years on dead standing trees. got 2-3 more around.

The tree that snapped in 1/2 last year I cut out the tap hole section and cut it down in 1/4 - 3/8 slices on the table saw so I could see the staining through to the back of the tap hole pretty cool.

[sapman]

43 here this morning! Stepped out about 6 and man was it cold! Making me think about getting into the woods and doing repairs and a little more expansion. The swamp has been dry for a month or so now. First time I've seen that, so I better get out there soon.

[White Barn Farm]

We had 36 degrees this morning, neighbor's roof had frost on it. Six months from the first thunderstorm is October 6th, that has been my first frost determiner when I remember to write it down.

[jgrenier]

Hey 3rdgen i Will be up thursday night to do some of that salmon fishing thanks for the advice

[3rdgen.maple]

Hey 3rdgen i Will be up thursday night to do some of that salmon fishing thanks for the advice

There was a great run of salmon labor day week and yesterday things slowed down a bit but with them calling for rain thursday and friday it should bring in another good run. What area are you fishing? I have been trying to take a few days off to catch up around the house and get some more fishing in but man its tough running your own business sometimes to get a day off. Give me a shout on my cell when you arrive maybe I will join you for some salmon slamming on the SR. 315-345-4532 Darrick By the way bring some flourocarbon in 8 pound test they been real line shy.

[Farmboy]

Signed a lease agreement with some friends down the street. It's a mix of reds and sugars. He needed 2 more acres for his 61a tax break to ne active in agriculture so he's letting me tap the trees instead of clear cutting it. This year it's going to be buckets and some temporary tubing. Next year hopefully I can get it all on several runs of tubing. It's oly two acres but it's pretty flat.

[Parker]

Ray came over last night at 7 and we stacked all I had split up then split a littel more,,done at 11pm,,almost half full in the shed,,want to put an extra 10-15 cords in the barn,,,if i cant find a cheap RO or steamaway I am thinking about getting a big (cheap) wood fired rig and running the new one as an all flue rig into marvin,,,I would like to have less 20 hour boiling days,,,be in the woods more...BACK AT IT!!!!!

[Amber Gold]

Parker, there was an all flue rig on NH craigslist a while back in Charlestown, NH. You may want to give Bascom's a call...maybe they know who it was.

Just bought 4400' of 3/4" mainline and 300' of 1" mainline. Time to get to work this weekend. We'll see how far I get.

[Sugarmaker]

Played in the sugar house this afternoon. Rinsed and filled the the evaporator to get cleaned up for a trial boil in the near future. Tried to adjust the floats and checked the blower (bubbler) in the WRU.

Spent most of the day at the Albion fair. Watching draft horse hitch classes. They had a six horse hitch of nice Percheron's that did a outstanding performance in the rain and mud.

Congratulations to Jim Bortles for winning the first place in the maple syrup competition. Keith Talbot entered syrup also and I believe placed third or fourth. We also received several ribbons for maple and honey products. We need more maple competition at this small fair!

Grandson Mike pulled (right off the farm) garden tractors (Cub Cadets) on Tuesday night and placed first in the 1000 LB Lawn Stock class using the 1974 model 128. The 102 (1964 vintage) will need some work to be competitive. (Hummmmm? Do I need another hobby????)
Grandson Nic pulled in the stock truck pulls last night and escaped with out breaking anything on the (new to him) 2002 Dodge 1500.
Helped the neighbor for several hours last week work on the engine rebuild for his 135 Massey-Ferguson tractor that he will pull tomorrow.

Regards,
Chris

[Rhino]

The bear hunt went well, After all the time/gas and bait i stuck into this hunt, I only had to sit 10 minutes before i arrowed a bear. Only went 40 yards so I was happy about that. My wife wounded one and said that she had her chance and because she wounded one she is done. (I'm still trying to talk her into going, season goes into Oct.) My daughter got hers 4 days into the season. Looks like bear sausage will be the main course at the sugar shack this spring. Now to concentrate on bowhunting whitetails and wood makeing/line installation for the upcomeing syrup season.

[Parker]

WOW!!! I am dragging it...I think I have 27 cords stacked in the sugar house woodshed.(splitfine)..might be able to do a few more tommrow,,,then I am going to take a break,,go logging for a week and rest up....Want to get linewalking soon...

[Farmboy]

Cut the drain to final grade today in the sugar shack I need to compact it them my uncle has to run electric to it. My grandpa got 2 stainless steel 55 gallon drums from a basement he had to clean out. So now I have 2 ss drums. I pulled the bunts on one of them and there was nothing in it and it didn't smell. I'm going to try to find ou what was in them. I won't be able to use them for syrup for a few years so mabey I will use it for sap till then.

[PATheron]

Staying busy down here at Pierce and Sons. Still working on my lines in the woods. Hoping to be done and have everything the way I want it maybe the end of next month. Went over to my neighbor other day and ran a long wetline to start my next project down there. Im thinking I can get seven or eight hundred taps there. Not much pitch and going to be kind of a pain but I think I can get it to work good. Going to put a dairy pump on those just becouse thats all I can afford this year. Im hoping to have everthing that I have really ship shape by season. Im also helping my buddy with his taps. Looks like hes going to have 1200 on a liquid ring pump by season. That sap will all come up here too. So If I get 800 new ones it should put about 7000 vac taps between the both of us to my shed to boil. Also put an add in the paper that Id like to buy sap too if anyone is interested. Be interesting to see if I get any responses. Cant wait till season and try my hand at the fuel oil rig. Should be way easier Im hoping to stay inthused about staying up late running that as apposed to the wood one. Pretty pumped. Whats everyone thinking the season is going to be? Good or bad? Any one getting any vibes? Theron

[Russell Lampron]

Theron we had a lot of sun up here this year. That should mean good sugar content for the coming season. It has been dry though and that may have stressed the trees some. If the weather cooperates we should have a banner year. As bad as last season was for some I was only 10 gallons shy of setting a new record here.

[PATheron]

Russ- I was thinking the same thing about the sugar here too. Lots of sun. That would be really great becouse our sugar last year was really low. That would be super to get a banner year. Actually all this work making our systems as good as possable to counteract a bad year should really pay off big time if we actually have a good year. We ought to be flooded with sap. Your going to love my vac setup down to my one neighbor Russ. Hes going to let me use his electric to run a small motor so Im going to have a sp22 hooked up to it on electric running the eighthundred taps all the time and I have another gas sp22 that Im going to fire up during the days if I want to get more cfm's in there. Thats right up your ally Russ. To sp22s at the same time. Theron

[DrTimPerkins]

Theron we had a lot of sun up here this year. That should mean good sugar content for the coming season. It has been dry though and that may have stressed the trees some. If the weather cooperates we should have a banner year. As bad as last season was for some I was only 10 gallons shy of setting a new record here.

Sugar content of maple sap in the spring is related to a number of variables, not all of which are very well understood. The low sugar content observed for maple producers last year, especially for those on vacuum, was probably more related to the lack of freeze periods last spring. Freezing triggers conversion of stored starches to sugar. We just didn't get that many freezes, so the conversion was sluggish. Some other things going on as well related to type of flow dynamics in the trees due to lack of freeze-thaw and use of vacuum.

All that said, I agree that it was generally a good growing season, with ample moisture much of the time, and decent sun. That makes a HUGE difference in the amount of energy leaves can capture. A cloudy day can have only about 1/10th (or less) the amount of light (energy) that a sunny day has. Our eyes aren't real good at detecting these differences. Inside, there might be about 10-20 micromoles (units of energy) of light. Outside, on a cloudy day, maybe 100-200, on a bright day, 2,000+. Huge difference.

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
Looking forward to the 2010 season, what ever comes.
I did load some pictures of the buzz rig I have for sale in the classified ads.

Have a great weekend,
Chris

[Parker]

I got a bunch more wood split up today,,under the roof and ready to stack...We had a WHOLE BUNCH OF MICROMOLES this summer around here so I am thinking sweet sap (still have to talk to the SWEET GODDESS about the freeze and thaw thing),,,but,, I am thinking we will need all the wood I can do!!!!!! THINK SUGARING.....GO GO GO!!!

[Thad Blaisdell]

First thing first..... I pulled a third place ribbon for Med Amber at the Tunbridge "World's Fair". Pretty happy with that.

Second. My question is this. If the starch's were not converted to sugar last year what happens to them????? Do they get converted later? or do they stay "dormant" until the next season? Does the tree use these up later on or what? Would like to know this out of curiosity.

[DrTimPerkins]

If the starch's were not converted to sugar last year what happens to them????? Do they get converted later? or do they stay "dormant" until the next season?

Most of the carbohydrate is eventually converted to sugar, and used to feed the growing cambium to produce a new annual ring of wood as well as to feed the growing shoots and roots. The freeze-thaw cycles just give it a little extra kick. There is some carry-over from one year to the next if needed, but in general, if we don't get it, the tree uses it somewhere. What we do get in sugaring is normally a very small percentage of the trees total carbohydrate (sugar + starch) reserve.

[Sugarmaker]

First thing first..... I pulled a third place ribbon for Med Amber at the Tunbridge "World's Fair". Pretty happy with that.

Second. My question is this. If the starch's were not converted to sugar last year what happens to them????? Do they get converted later? or do they stay "dormant" until the next season? Does the tree use these up later on or what? Would like to know this out of curiosity.
Thad,
Congratulations on your medium amber syrup!
Chris

[Revi]

We cut some wood today to keep the home fires burning next winter.
With heating oil at $2.34 per gallon a cord of wood equals something like 200 gallons of oil, so we saved around a hundred dollars today.

Not bad for a few hours after church.

[stoweski]

Been cutting & splitting wood for the past couple of weeks on the weekends. Have enough for sugarin' now. I still have plenty of poplar that needs to be bucked and split but I'm too lazy to cut it up when there's plenty of decent hardwood lying around. I'll get to it in an emergency otherwise it'll just sit there.

Managed to get the new evaporator positioned and leveled thanks to the future father in-law. He's a great help when he's around although sometimes I wonder if he enjoys working while being here... but then again I'm not sure if I'd be happy doing anything but working out in the yard so...

Only need to get a base stack for the evap and I'm ready to go! Plan on making a trip to Bascom's to pick up some additional supplies this fall. Good leaf peeping season!

Keith

[caseyssugarshack93]

well guys it about that time. Sugarhouse is almost all closed up. now on to wiring the inside an finishing it. well anyways. I started clearing out the sugarbush to get ready to run lines this fall/winter. i never in my life seen so much brush. hasnt been managed in 20 years

[ennismaple]

We got some of our To Do List worked on this weekend. All the firewood is cut to length and half is split and stacked on pallets. About 2 hard days and we'll be done with wood for 2011.

Bought some 7' t-bar fence posts to replace a bunch of rotted out cedar posts that were holding up mainline. We put the level on that portion of the mainline and it now falls exactly as we want it instead of looking like a roller coaster! We also wire tied some sections of mainline that were getting loose on the steel and tightened up a few sections of steel.

Yesterday we took down a bunch of ancient 3/4" black water pipe and blue 1/2" mainline, tightened the steel and put up 750 ft of new 3/4" translucent blue mainline. Getting rid of all the cut-in fittings and 1/2" mainline should get us better vacuum transfer in that part of the bush = more sap!

The cold mornings mean winter isn't too far away! Go time.

[Dennis H.]

I have been really hitting the to do list the past few days. I now have my surge alamo with gas engine for the most part wrapped up.
I am also working on getting the base for the evap made. I want to raise it by about 8", it just seemed a little low for me.
I got my sap hauler finished, turned out nice. Now I can haul 110 gals of sap if needed.

[Maplewalnut]

Got the Bascoms flyer in the mail Monday advertising the tubing seminar next week. My nine year old son read it and long story short, he wants to learn so we are going. We have had tubing only about 5 seasons now so it will give me a chance to see everything I did wrong before I need to change it out:) Can always learn something new!

Put up about 800feet of mainline and starting running lats last weekend, looks like I while have a combo of taps, some on CVs, some disposable and some with adaptors. Really hate changing everything out to stubbies just to fit the cvs

[Amber Gold]

I will also be attending Bascom's seminar. I agree, you can always learn something new. Picking up supplies as well. If you need anything, they recommend you call ahead and order it as they will be very busy.

I put up 1000' of mainline over the weekend. Took out some dead/dying trees and cleared a path for the mainline. Goal is to get 1500' of mainline up this weekend. If I can keep this up, all the mainline will be up before November as planned.

[Parker]

WOW- Just had my sugaring anxiety dream,,,,That usually dosent happen till feb. sometime...In the dream Ray-Steve-Peter (and this year Russell and Forest) and I are in the woods on snowshoes,This year up at Quimbys,,the weather forcast is for 20's and 40's for 7 days with mid 70's after that for an extended period,,,,,the snow is about 5 feet deep...Forest and Ray are shoveling out mainlines,,I am pulling latteral lines up from under the crust and Steve, Russell and Peter are tapping trees,,we have allready missed the first couple of runs..our bits are dull and our battery packs are about dead...we still have to get the tanks, pumps and releasers into the woods and running,,pans on the evaporator and clean all the misc. stuff out of the sugarhouse...There is about 12 cords of wet wood in the sugarhouse woodshed...and the price for bulk is down....
I think the SWEET GODESS wants me ready this year...Think Ill go down to the sugarhoouse, turn the lights on and stack more wood!!!!!

[Brokermike]

Getting married on Saturday. My (soon to be) wife and I will be at the bascoms seminar. We rearranged the last day of our honeymoon so we could go! That must be a good sign that she's the one to marry

[Dennis H.]

Congrat's Brokermike.
It sounds like she is a keeper!!;)

[tuckermtn]

brokermike- congrats- going to have to change your Mapletrader signature

[stoweski]

Getting married on Saturday. My (soon to be) wife and I will be at the bascoms seminar. We rearranged the last day of our honeymoon so we could go! That must be a good sign that she's the one to marry

Congrats! We have something in common. I'm also getting married to my 'sap hauler' on Saturday. We're headed to Waterbury, Vt. Taking the weekend off and that's about it. Will stop at Dakin farm for some of my favorite - "Dakin Bacon" and some maple sausage - it's awesome.

Enjoy the weekend. Looks to be a nice one!
Keith

[Thad Blaisdell]

stowski, while in Waterbury dont miss out on the Ben and Jerry's Tour. Also just up the road is Cold Hollow Cider Mill. Lets see what else...... in Barre their is the Granite Museum, oh yes if you can Rock of Ages has a pretty cool tour. Not sure of your schedule or how much time you have but my sugarhouse is open.

Thad

[Dennis H.]

How much time do you think they will have on their honeymoon!!!:o

[Sugarmaker]

Wow, Love is in the air. I guess that's what happens when not making syrup:)
Congratulations to both couples. May your lives together be blessed and long.

Regards,
Chris

[brookledge]

Brokermike
I hope you will be able to spend some of that wedding money at Bascom's. It would make a good wedding present. Stainless is nice and shiney!!!!
Good luck on your marriage.
Keith

[farmall h]

Congratulations Brokermike....By chance does your future wife work in St.Albans? If it is the same gal I spoke to today than she's the "one". All she can talk about is sugaring! :o :)

[stoweski]

This area (I'm in Waterbury as I type) is like a second home to me. Been coming up here since I was in 8th grade. We always ski at Stowe in the winter (gee, think that's where I get my username from???).

Unfortunately even though our wedding consists of six people and the two of us, our time is limited with the ceremony and trying to keep six people happy. I doubt I'll get over to Barre or to the capitol. My father and I took a day off of skiing last February and went to Braggs. That was a nice place. Even got to tour his new garage/syrup storage area.

If I'm looking for something to do in February on our day off I'll keep you in mind. Would love to stop by and see another operation. We'll be up Presidents week.




stowski, while in Waterbury dont miss out on the Ben and Jerry's Tour. Also just up the road is Cold Hollow Cider Mill. Lets see what else...... in Barre their is the Granite Museum, oh yes if you can Rock of Ages has a pretty cool tour. Not sure of your schedule or how much time you have but my sugarhouse is open.

Thad

[Thad Blaisdell]

Any time. Feel free. And Congrats.

[Farmboy]

Worked at the mass maple booth at the BIG E all afternoon. Hopefuly I'll work there next weekend too. I have a ton of stuff to do before the season starts.

[red maples]

just got back from acadia/bar harbor this afternoon. Beautiful up there. I couldn't imaging going up there in the summer id must be crazy busy. nice going up there now.

But back to work. Gotta get moving on maple now gonna be winter soon. Wood is done. Aleast I hope I have enough done. house wood is done(5 cords) and sugarin wood Hope I have enough have about 6.5 cords done with about 1.5 to 2 more cords left to split its all cut just need the splitter to do some of the knotty messy stuff which I will get doen before the snow flys!!!

[Parker]

Was in the woods today surveying the damage....got some work to do,,gonna hit it with the girls tommrow....then back to filling the shed...

[Parker]

Got a whole bunch of tubeing repair done today,I think one hour of work now is equal to about 8 hours on snowshoes with 5 feet of snow and tubing on the ground..,,the 30-p is getting old and not holding the fittings tightly as it once did..I need to get a bunch more straight connectors...I really like the end of line hooks as opposed to the end ring...much easier to work with and faster to install-adjust...

[Amber Gold]

I put up two more mainlines today, one is 300' will have 150-200 taps and the other is 400' and will have <75 taps. I also rough graded the wet/dry line to see where those two lines will fall in. Even though the wet/dry is pretty high, things will work out well, the 300' line will tie directly into the wet/dry as it's coming off a slope, the 400' line will come into it via a 6' lift...this is going to work better than I thought. The wet/dry is getting graded at 1.5%...I was shooting for 2%, but it was getting pretty high.

I still have a 900', 800', 300', and two 150' spurs and all mainline work will be done. I'm volunteering next Saturday at the NHMPA SH at the Deerfield fair, so it looks like this work will be completed the second weekend in October. This will give me time to design a tubing unspooler.

[Thad Blaisdell]

Tubing unspooler, that is an easy one. Hitch one end of the tubing to the last tree or the mainline wire (whichever end you are on). Put your arm through the center of the tubing, start walking and dont unroll it let it fall off, walk half way to the next tree and switch arms uncoiling the other direction, then around the tree and halfway to the next tree and repeat. By uncoiling the line both directions it will come out straight, and there you have it.

[danno]

Thad - If I let my mainline "coil off", I've got a twisted mess on my hands. I much prefer to roll it off the spool.

[Parker]

Thad- I know your from Vermont and all,,, you must be a lot ruggeder than I am,,,pretty hard for me to do that with a 1000' roll of 1",,,,I use the 2 person method,1 walking 1 flipping the roll (me),BUT really want to build a roller like I use with mainline wire.....looking for something a littel eaiser....

[Thad Blaisdell]

Tubing to me is what I run laterals with...... You are talking mainline..... I have the answer for that as well. I use one of those spools that electrical wire comes on. The round wooden things that people flip over and use as a redneck picknick table. I can measure the size if you like. I am able to feed 3/4 on by putting the spool at an angle and pushing the 3/4 on 5-6 coils at a time with an up and down motion. Takes about 20 seconds to feed a roll on. 1 inch slips right on. I have a piece of 2 inch plastic pipe through the hole and a chain through it. Lift it with the tractor bucket and start pulling. I have not determined if it is easier to pull from the bottom or over the top. About one in 6 rolls of 3/4 is a pain in the ..... but if you had a second person standing at the tractor you could pull all day quite easily. I pulled 6000 feet out one day by myself and that included hitching the pipe loose wire tie and tightening the pipe. Hope this helps.

[ennismaple]

I second what Thad said. We normally buy our mainline already on spools so all we need to do is put a rod through the middle and put that between the forks on the front of the tractor. If you've got a loose roll (say 300') you should be able to put that either over the forks or even put a rope through the middle and tie it to 2 trees and start pulling. Where there's a will there's a way!

[Amber Gold]

I meant tubing, not mainline. Thad...I think I tried that before and ended up with a mess on my arm...maybe I should give it another shot. I also usually end up with the roll getting tied in on itself and tangled.

I was thinking an unspooler would consist a 2'x2' sheet of plywood with piece of threaded rod through it with a hook bent on it. Hook it on the mainline and walk.

Marty, I hadn't thought of tieing the mainline roll off to a tree. I'll need to give that try. Usually I'm unspooling it by myself and it can be a bit cumbersome.

[PATheron]

When I run my lateral line I go to the last tap on my lateral take off the tape on roll and cut the four plastic bands. I take it aroung the tree and put the connector on it and then unroll it like thad said. Ive gotten so used to it its just second nature. Start it from the end on the outside and pull off 5 lays of tube for instance and just flip the tubing around so the lays fall of the other side and take 5 and just keep doing it. Ive found the tubing reel that hangs off the mainline just slows you down. Only thing I will say it is nice after a while when your arms just get really tired. Probly just what your used to and get into a routine doing. I made a thing for the mainline. Its just a board like six feet long maybe. Then its got a couple short boards that stick up in the middle with one across the top of that. You set the roll down on it and then theres a swivel on the top board and you hang it from a tree or something. It works good but its good to have a man at it becouse you get out 300' and it hangs up it sucks. Other thing you can do is hook up one end and just unroll it. Theron

[Thad Blaisdell]

The nice thing about doing the tubing the way I described is its nice and tight. Dont worry about drops and or fittings just put up the laterals.... the other things you will come back to.

[ennismaple]

We (Dad) built our tubing unspooler out of the wooden end of a spool of wire (a 2' diameter piece of plywood would be fine too) with 4 pieces of light angle iron bent up to a central point. The angle iron is joined at the top with a bolt that has a swivel with a hook on the end. You hang that end from the mainline, pull to the head tree, attach and tension back to the mainline. If the mainline is too low we tie a piece of rope between 2 trees and hang the unspooler from that. This is one of my favourite jobs to do in the bush.

[Thad Blaisdell]

The only problem with this is that you only work one direction. You pull the line up to the top tree, put in the connector, walk back down tightening as you go and attach it to the mainline.... move up to the next point. The way I do it is to attach to the mainline, uncoil as I go reach the top tree and put a hook in. Move to the next tree and work my way down to the mainline. Half as much walking. The only thing that stinks is around 2pm when you run out of tubing and you look at the new roll like it weighs 200 lbs...

[Parker]

I like to do my laterals as Thad describes..one pouch of connectors with hooks (for the mainline end),,another of end of line hooks-plugs (I used to use end rings but no more) for the tree end..
Got in the woods some today,,a bunch of laterals down at Sanborns (set up last season),,,they logged-clearcut- next to it and a bunch of tall thin black birch and cherry broke off, blew over on the laterals,,,also some bigger dead limbs down,,,have to bring a powersaw over...Been looking for the 2 *%^$$#@ one handers (one handed tubing tool) we lost last season..no luck,,,you can use a two hander for everything but a one hander is faster for some stuff....

[3rdgen.maple]

Well the annuall bear hunt for the 3rd year in a row was a flop due to excessive rain. Came home 2 days early and never went out. Bowhunting in the rain is not a great idea. Did enjoy the company of friends around the campfire. when it wasn't raining. Bow for whitetail opened today as well so I will be enjoying that. Time to put fishing on hold and get after the whitetails, finish up the wood and start getting ready for maple.

On a side note I would like to add that this site is the best. I belong to 3 other ones non maple related. Hunting, fishing and racing and I got to tell you guys this is the only one where there is not the constant bashing and the hate for the fellow man. Great job to all involved and the members as well.

[Amber Gold]

There's some good advice on here and I can't wait to try it out. I have a lot of work to do and need to do it the most efficient way possible. Thanks for all the tips.

When I'm working by myself, I usually tie up one end of the mainline roll, and unroll it down the line. It works OK except when trying to go through tight areas. It's much easier

I also have one of those roll-a-bob things from TSC and it works well when there's snow on the ground...the mainline can slide on the snow. This time of year it tends to hang up, kink the pump, and is more aggravation than it's worth.

[whalems]

Got the call today that my new WF Mason pan will be delivered tomorrow.:D now to finish rebuilding the arch and cut more wood. Also got permission to tap the neighbors old bush that he hasn't tapped in 15 years or more. Looks like it has the potential for atleast 300 taps. Needs alot of clean up due to the fact that he never pulled the taps the last time he tapped. Some of the taps pulled right out and some are almost grown completley into the tree. Not sure if I should try to pull them or leave them alone?

[red maples]

I was one of the suckers who paid the money for the pre made SS tubing spinner/spooler... but I love it. I didn't like the roll off my arm way some how ended up with a big bruse on my arm and a twisted mess especially trying to get through tight spots ...after running a few thousand feet. that night I went in and ordered 1. just put it on the spool cut the straps hang it off the mainline and pull.... best thing ever. Probably easy to make like Ennis said with a piece of plywood.

sun, yesterday, and today cleaned up all the junk wood scraps and brucsh and what ever else behing the SH picked up a tarp and mice, snakes, bugs spiders went every where!!!!

Switched out the first 150 ft 3/4" to 1" that went very well.( except when the end of the tubing slipped out of my hand it was drisseling and popped me in the lip all fat and bleeding kept right on working through!!! ) just have to finish the 7 ft lift on that and that will change my pitch from 1% to about 3% and lower all my laterals!!! also have to build a platform to raise the tank so I don't have flooding issues like last year. added on 150ft branch off that, all in and tight. added in some more ball valves for easier cleaning of lines in sections. tied in the other branches. now working to extending 1 branch approx 150-200 ft with a 5 ft lift to shorten up the laterals in that section. should be able to make all my lateral less than 100 ft and have no more than 5 taps per with many at 3. except 1 that will still be very long and have like 12 taps it goes around the house but vac still is better than buckets. getting there.


Bow season started 2 weeks ago wednesday ...I don't even have my liscence yet!!!! gonna do it tonight. and try to practice a bit tomorrow. Once apon a time I used to shoot instinctively (no sites) and I was good I could put 3 arrows in a 2x2 square at 25 yards...my first deer with the bow was a 157lb 8 point(or 4x4 for you westerners) 35 yrds through the heart walked up it!!! on it. but you need to practice almost every other day for that. now I use sites no time to practice like that anymore!!!

[Parker]

Finished getting all the lines of the ground at sanborns today,,gonna change one of the lateral mainlines out and run new 1" (reused a 3/4" line like 15 years old that was there from a previous set up-line had a lot of chews leaks,,fyi the hockey stick tape we tried to seal the holes off with dosent hold vacuum, stick with electric tape).....decided I am gonna change over to stubbies and C.V's everywhere this year...orderd 1000 stubbies and a one hander,(bet you $10 that when the new onehander comes Ill find the 2 I lost last year),,Ill get another 1000 stubbies after I get the first bacth installed,,Sanborns allready has them,,,
Think I will hit 3000 taps this year without too much trouble...next fix it session will be Hill where I plan on adding alot of new mainline,,,have some very long laterl line runs there ,,,also have an old wet line (20? years old from previous sugarmaker) that has lateral line running into it,,got to eliminate that for rapid leak isolation,,better vac. transfer,,,,nice time of year to be in the woods...

[Revi]

We're going to put up a little more mainline and then we're done with the tubing on our woodlot.

There will be lots of grow-in, so I imagine we'll hit 400 or more taps in the future.

As it is it's perfect in my opinion. If we need more we'll add vacuum and an RO.

If people left our sugarhouse alone we would invest in more stuff, but until it's a bit more secure I think we'll just stick with what we've got.

[PATheron]

Parker- 3000 and no R.O.! Thats wanting it brother. You and 10 cord day Ray and Marvin deserve a bunch of credit. Im pulling a Parker this year with two sp 22 in service. Man there hard to find but they do work great. Ive been slacking last couple of days but were coming along down here on our stuff. Should be ready by season with quite a few taps. Trying to get big vac everywhere too and not the easiest or quickest thing to do . Need to add a bunch of dry lines. Got a feeling this is going to be a really good year. Been lots of sun here so sap should be pretty sweet. Better get a lot of wood ready Parker you might be drowning in sap. Theron

[Amber Gold]

Parker, 3000 taps on vac. and a 5x16 evap...you're nuts. You must really want it. I hope you get a lot more wood put up because you're going to need it.

[farmall h]

Parker, don't let those "oil-burning r/o babies" discourage you! Put the wood right to her! 5 x 16 can handle it no problem!;)

[Thad Blaisdell]

My suggestion would be to sell the wood buy an RO and some oil. Then put on more taps. How many cords of wood are you going to burn.....20 then that would be roughly 4000 dollars worth of wood. Lets see 3000 taps at high vacuum would equal 1500 gals per tap..... RO sap..... you would need roughly 750 gal of oil. At 3.00 you would need 2250.00 for oil. Since oil isnt at 3.00 lets say you would save 2000.00. 4 years would pay for a good used RO. Plus all the time you would save putting up 20 cord of wood, and all the extra time firing Marvin. But that is just my opinion.

[PATheron]

Parker is just burning scraps from his logging anyway. Its a good fix, he can have 10 cord a day Ray( love that name) keep truckin it in and fire up Marvin and he'll get it in the barrells. I do wish he'd do more buckets though. If I didnt have to go to work Id string those suckers all over the place. I still have dreams at night about when I was a kid seeing those things runover a four gallon bucket.

[220 maple]

Busy preparing for final festival of 2010, hopefully two turns of candy tonight if they set fast enough. I guess I should buy more molds. Should be able to sell three gallons worth of candy and 8 pounds of Maple coated nuts. Plus about 800 dollars worth of syrup? I still have 5 gallons in the freezer to get the tourist trap store thru October. Then hope for the best in Feb-Mar.

Mark 220 Maple

[brookledge]

Thad
The way I look at it is that Parker is saving $2,250. granted it cost a little in fuel to cut and split the wood but when you need to do something with the scrap wood that gets generated. should he pay someone to haul his cut offs and junk wood? That would cost even more. I'm not in the logging business but I have no problem getting plenty of wood delivered to me. You would be supprised how much log length you can get delivered from the local DPW crew or local tree companies. When they are working in the area they like to get rid of it as close as possible
Keith

[danno]

Theron - Did you just pick up another Surge 22 out your way? I saw one on Craigslist with pump and motor for cheap just west of you recently. I tried to get it but guy never responded. Maybe you beat me to it.

Parker - what ends are you using on your lats now. I don't like the leader rings where the runs around the tree either (that's where I get the most squirrel bites). I tried the Y ends, but was not crazy about those either. Can't really use the tubing tool to get the dead tubing over the Y barbs.

[PATheron]

Danno- I never saw that one. These two are ones I had from before. The one I kind of rebuilt and I put a gas engine on it and this one I found in a barn and bought it with a tank. I try to find them when I can. Pretty scarce though. Theron

[Revi]

I like burning our 3 cord or so. I heard that another producer around here just got a super-efficient arch from Leader and is going to use around 3 cord to make a hundred gallons of syrup. I would love to have that.

I think a combo of RO and wood fired super efficient arch could be the way to go in the near future.

I think oil will stay around 3 bucks this winter, but next winter and the one after that could get dicey.

[GeneralStark]

I have been working on maple stuff lots recently. Moved a bunch of sugar wood and house wood out of the sugarbush from the thinning I have been doing. I have been planning my new dual line tubing system and trying to figure out this year's costs. I just finished cutting the trail for the mainlines and got up the first sections of wire. I hope to get all the mainline pipe up in october and november. Probably about 6000 ft. all told. Laterals will go up in winter.

I built a quick and dirty wire spooler out of a piece of plywood and an old 27" bicycle wheel. (see photo) A couple more scraps of wood for a hold down clamp and a brake. Works slick. I set up almost one roll (2000') of wire in a couple hours yesterday. WIll finish up the rest when the rain stops.

Anyway, it's almost october.

[red maples]

I like burning our 3 cord or so. I heard that another producer around here just got a super-efficient arch from Leader and is going to use around 3 cord to make a hundred gallons of syrup. I would love to have that.

I think a combo of RO and wood fired super efficient arch could be the way to go in the near future.

I think oil will stay around 3 bucks this winter, but next winter and the one after that could get dicey.

I am pretty sure RussLampron made over 100 gallons this past season with his RO and 2.5 cords on his 2x6!!! and has around 600 taps on vacuum. thats my goal eventually!!! processing like 600 gallons of sap in a few hours I think he said.

[farmall h]

Why go to oil if you get the wood for freeeeeeeeee!

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Do I sense a debate coming on:rolleyes:

[Thad Blaisdell]

Now there are several factors that would have to come into play when debating this. Wood is not for everyone, nor is oil for everyone. I could never in a million years burn wood. Could I put together enough wood to do it.... maybe. Could I fire the arch and run the evaporator by myself... probably not. 10000 taps worth of sap.... trying to make 5000 gallons of syrup..... by myself. Wood just could not be a possibility for me, I like my back to not be crooked.

[Parker]

I agree with Thad on this one,,In a perfect world with 3000 taps I would have a BIG R.O. and a littel oil fired rig,,Boil about 4 hours a day and have LOTS of time to be in the woods (where you really make your syrup) checking-fixing vacuum leaks. BUT,, the funding just is not there at this point..What I do have availabel to me is a whole bunch of wood,,and a strong spine. I am blessed that I love to work up wood and I have some equipment that make it possibel to process and stack in my shed 20 cords a week,,
I would love to be able to boil the sap from 3000 taps with 20 cord,,but its gonna take at least 60 cords based on past experiance,,Marvin is not the most efficant rig in the world. I think Ray is getting to the point where he will be able to boil this year..last year I had many 20 hour boiling sessions and that can be tirering after a while,,,
Kind of a daunting feeling when the guys showing up to haul sap in and I am still boiling from the day befor....and they will have all the tanks at the sugarhouse filled with fresh sap in 5 hours...and its gonna take me 20+ hours to empty those tanks agine..One of these years its really gonna run and I wont be able to keep up....In my situation you have to SLEEP FAST AND BOIL HARD!!! YOU HAVE TO WWAAANNNTT IITTTTTT!!!!

[Russell Lampron]

I am pretty sure RussLampron made over 100 gallons this past season with his RO and 2.5 cords on his 2x6!!! and has around 600 taps on vacuum. thats my goal eventually!!! processing like 600 gallons of sap in a few hours I think he said.

Brad you were close. I made 153 gallons of syrup with just under 2 cords of wood. Most of the wood was pine too.

[red maples]

oh man those numbers are even better than I remembered!!!!

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I am running 625 taps on a 2x8 which is 16 square feet and would be the equivalent of 3250 taps on a 5x16 which is 80 square feet. I don't run vaccuum but could easily get 5,000 to 6,000 gallon of sap in a normal year, so what Parker is doing is doable.

[Brokermike]

back home after the honeymoon, a good time had by all, even at bascoms in the rain!

[Russell Lampron]

Forgot to mention that I processed over 12000 gallons of sap last season. The low amount of syrup is because of the average of 1.1% sugar for the season. I would have done better on the wood consumption too but boiled raw sap on the open house weekend. I used almost a 1/4 of a cord of wood on those 2 days.

[Parker]

We got 2500 to 4000 gallons of sap on a decent run last year..and that is kinda the problem,,alot of the sap we got during the bigger runs was 1.2% to .8%,,,,That can be very discouraging,,knowing that your are gonna have to boil 15 or more hours burn all that wood and the sap you are working with is gonna give you 1 gallon of syrup to every 60-70 gallons you boil......Boiling 2.2% sap is super fun and fast,,, .8% and its a whole diffrent ball game, not fun and fast,,,,,That is one reason an RO would be super cool,,,even if I just one passed the sap, got it up to 4%,,,,that would be a HUGE diffrance..in time, wood, and grade I bet (less time in the evaporator)..

[PATheron]

Parker- I think theres quite a lot of grant money now with everyone wanting things green and all that. Maybe someone could hook you up on some of that. Your the poster child for that kind of a program burning all that wood. Best deal on an ro if you have to buy one yourself I think is something like that seprotech I bought last year. Paid around 5000 and its older but it has recirculation. Thats the big thing. It has vessels without recirc on them but it has a seperate recirc pump and it works just as good as the new ones. Plus its really cheap to add a second vessel that way. You just buy a fiberglass one from the ro people for like 1200 bucks instead of 7000. If a guy could scare up 5000$ you could buy a good used 600 if its older. Id look into those programs. Theron

[red maples]

yes it is a big Difference boiling heavy % sugar vs light % sugar seems you boil for ever and ever and ever and get very little for your work.

So the tubing seminar was good yesterday??? I wanted to go but I had my little guy. (4) He hates the long drive but he would have been miserable in the rain!!!! But I would of loved to hang out inthe rain and learn some new stuff!!!

[Parker]

I looked into one of those programs earlier this summer,,I have the 1/2" thick folder I got from them this summer here on the desk,,after reviewing the package decided it was not for me...Ill have an r.o someday..but Ill make wood for now :) ,,and BOIL HARD this spring...Bet my carbon footprint is bigger than yours....

[Amber Gold]

Parker, I commend you for what you're planning on doing, but I certainly don't envy you. Best of luck and hope you know how to swim.

[PATheron]

Parker- Your carbon footprint is more of a carbon grand canyon. In some ways what your doing isnt too bad of a gig. You have access to tons of wood. You already have big equipment to get it in bulk. Your only investment in the sugarhouse is Marvin and youve been running and making money on that thing for years. Lets say Marvin wont hardly boil becouse hes having a bad day and the sugar stinks. Say your only pulling off five gallons per hour. A ten hour day thats a drum and thats 1500 bucks. Thats not bad money for a ten hour day. Last year with the sucky weather all I usually made a day was a drum for all the investment I have in my shack. I dont think you have too bad of a gig if the wood doesnt kill you physically. At least you can burn big stuff in that thing so thats less handling and stuff. Keep up the good work, your probly making more money than the rest of us. Theron

[TRAILGUY]

good posts. my question is who is managing their woodlot to improve their trees? oil gives no need and volume does not happen in a maple grove. I had some logged and still am hardly making a dent and the first areas are getting ready for another hit. long term plan is wood lot first them go to 2 X 8 then vacuum then RO. I only do quarts by word of mouth but could have sold double as all are asking for more how and next year. well back to little improvements to sugar shack and thinning the woods.

[Parker]

I thinned Rte.11 befor I set up the system and it is amazing how the sugar-sap volume increased in that time. THe tree growth there is amazing, but I hit that stand at just the right time in the life of the trees. I would like to thin there agine, But, the curent owner is not very excited by that prospect. I have done extensive thinning in Hill but that is an older stand and the soils are not as good there. There are sections of that woods where I have sucsessfuly shifted the groth potential of the site to maple production. Hoit road was thinned 4 years ago..but agine there the stand is much older,,basicially,, the results of thinning are much more apparent in a yound stand on good soils....but I think that thinning a sugarwoods is one of the best ways to improve production of syrup and sustain a sugarwoods...You have to keep the beech and hemlocks from taking over!!!
ThheeMAGASUGARINGrroonn-as a close friend of mine once told me "all you will ever want is a littel more than you will ever have" and at 4:30am when I have been boiling since noon the day befor and sap ran all night.....Ill have an RO sometime,,do I really need it , no,,would I make more syrup if I had one, I think so cause I could keep the woods tighter and that is where you make your syrup......we will get the barrells filled either way

[Thad Blaisdell]

Why not sell 40 cords of wood and use that money to buy a good used RO. That would save you sooooooooo many hours boiling. Less than two years would/should pay for itself.

[Parker]

I burn pine-hemlock and spruce,,,not a real great market for that around here

[TapME]

Parker, just so you know burning wood is green. Your foot print for burning wood in Marvin is zero. Now processing it is a different matter.

[Thad Blaisdell]

I now am starting to get the full picture.

[brookledge]

That was my point the other day. No one will buy the wood that gets burned in most evaporators. Another thing that I have said and am a strong believer in is that those that burn wood will more likely manage and thin their sugarbush better than those that burn oil. not saying that there arenot some that burn oil who manage their trees well. I for one used to get all kinds of slab wood because noone wanted pine and hemlock slabs. Now that most mills have gone out of business or are turning every once of byproduct into a useful product slabs are not as abundant as they use to be. So now I get logs delivered to me since the price for soft wood is in the tank and most mills won't think of cutting roadside trees due to hardware in them.
Anyways I will go out and look for a bunch of trees to cut each year. Prior to doing this I wasn't as good about management as I"m now
Keith