February journal

what a day today was!!!!! found all the watson lines ...fell on the ice ....tailgate broke off the truck with me on it ....the freshly fixed snowmobile threw a chain in the crank case and left me in the woods had to drag it out with a 4 wheeler .....then coming home the tailgate fell off .... good news is my rib that was out of place is now back in place cause of the fall

I know what my job will be 1st thing in the morning will be.

Bucket Chasing!!

The wind here has been none stop all day with gusts in the high 40's.

Peacemaker it sounds like you had a very interesting day to say the least.:rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by danno

Mapleflats - make sure you check your mainline connections. I was over tightening mainlines this past week and wound up pulling them off the fittings further down the line- and this was with two clamps on each side of each fitting. Pulled connections is a tough way to lose sap. I really prefer the grey poly pipe connectors over the blue maple mainline connectors. The blue have smaller barbs which causes them to be pulled off easier, but I have not found the Y connecter in grey.

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Danno, in the past I pulled a few connections using conventional screw clamps but I have not YET had a clamp fail using the pinch clamps. I get them at lowes in the insert (barbed) fittings section and I use the proper tool and I use 2 clamps. Real fast, real secure (so far)

I know exactly what you're talking about, Dennis! This is my first year not doing buckets. I always dreaded the wind. Now I just worry about it taking limbs down and dropping on the lines.

Limbs down are a hassel but if designed properly the fix is quick. Most tension should be from side ties pulling the line one side and then the other and these side ties should be a lighter guageI use 12.5 HT for main and mild 14g for side ties). Then the side tie fails when a limb falls and you remove the limb and do a new side tie. Fairly quick to fix.

boiling this weeks sap today, about 25 gallons. should make some good early syrup.

scratch that, i burned it. feel really stupid now, i went inside for 5 mins to check on something, and it was burned. doesnt taste too bad, might finish it off for the family, or chuck it it depends

scratch that, i burned it.:mad::cry::cry::emb: feel really stupid now, i went inside for 5 mins to check on something, and it was burned. doesnt taste too bad, might finish it off for the family, or chuck it it depends

Collins if the syrup is only slightly burned let it all sit in a container and the burnt taste will dissipate. Dont ask me why or how but an old timer told me this once and I tried it unfortunetly a few years ago and it actually worked.

Finished bricling my evaporator today. My dads buddy welded my pans. I got my evaporator all put together today. Tommorrow I need to put up my stack and feed tank. I will test boil tommorrow if we dont get that much snow and Im not plowing all day.