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No Peace, I wasn't there, I should have been since I need more "Stuff"
Now that my wife's Van is Ca put!! looks like I'll be buying my Sap Truck in the next few days if I can work the money right... May end up with a 1 ton maybe a 3/4. looking at a few online now.
either way, My wife will be driving my Dakota with the 210 gal tank for a while and I'll have the bigger truck. then this summer/fall I'll get her another Van or SUV.
If I only had an undetermined amount of cash!!!!
I'm going to use a homemade barrel set up this year.
Last time I checked I should be able to get 5-7 gph out of it but that will be pleanty. I think I can still get a constant draw from it and do about 30 gallons of syrup on it per hour. Of course I have to get a good steady fire under the flat pan.
Jerry you and Mike are going to have a blast. If you get there at night wait till you head up the hill and see the stainless from the tanker truck glistening from your headlights. That is how Russ and I were greeted.
I might take it easy to start and stay at a reasonable level and try to keep some flavor. I think 25% for starters would be enough, then go up from there.
I wish I had footage of the filter press inlet pipe bursting and giving me a full frontal. I kept smelling syrup the entire ride home. I thought it was in my head, well actually it was. And my pants and my sweatshirt between the seats.
I shot some videos, I'll try to get some of them updated for you guys to watch later on. Pretty neat stuff. I will have to watch them first and make sure I didn't capture any of the secrets on film.
Yeah Matt you were lucky that you didn't get burned when that pipe burst. Sounds like we have to get back to PA. It has only been one day and Theron is starting to panic. Be sure to edit those videos, we can't let out any secrets.
Jerry and Mike that tanker is a pretty impressive sight. All of the other sugar makers in Theron's area are nervous seeing that sitting there.
If they weren't nervous they will be after this weekend. Maybe I will bring the welder and weld a cone on it and make it look like a missile.
I remember one time I had a hose bust and it filled the hood of my carhart jacket. Everybody thought it was funny but I didn't dare to move, I know Matt is hard to tell if I am moving or not anyway. All I have is the truck but we could put chairs in the trailer, my Toyostove, it has interior lights and a cooler full of boiling sodas and everything will be just fine for you guys to come along. Come on Matt and Russ what do you think?
I'd love to go right back, if I had a choice I'd be there now.
All I can say is it is a good thing theron and I have unlimited long distance on our phones. Lets just say I think we are some of the few in the country that might be getting the upper hand on the companies.
There's still more leaks for me to find. I didn't even get to go across the road.
I might cut down my trees and bring them down for firewood for him.
Mike and Jerry- How much sap do you think you can boil this weekend with my little rig? I think I can fill that trailer for you. That would be 6200 gallons. Think you can get rid of all that in a day or two? Im seeming to do good getting rid of like 3 or 400 gallons per hour of perm. That goes real well but when I squeeze it down real good to get the higher concentrate its hard to get a lot of flow. Im wondering if I need to recirculate it and then actually wash it or do a more rinses. What percent do you think I need to shoot for before I send it too the head tank? Somehow I need to get on a schedule where I recirc while Im at work and come home and squeeze it down but not take so long with that part. Goin to work kind of messes up the process. I think If I had a second membrane it would be a lot easier. Have to save my pennies. Theron
I would love to go back down too Jerry but I have too much to do here to get ready for the season. This coming weekend is the last one where I have Saturday off until March. I have to get most of the stuff done then.
Theron if you recirculate all day while you are at work you could get rid of about 3600 gallons of water. Depending on how many gallons you have to start with and how many you have coming in that should sweeten it up quite a bit. I don't see a problem with letting the RO run for 9 or 10 hours.
Like Russ said, let the RO do the work. Let it pound away at that tanker full of sap while you are at work. When you get home, give her a quick rinse and start again. I know what you're saying about waiting for the RO to do it's work, that's why I put the second membrane on mine, I had to learn to trust the machine and to set it up to run all day. Once I got to that point, I was home free. Typically, I would boil day old concentrate. I would concentrate one day, get home from work, wash it, and start concentrating into the feed tank, and boil. I would let the RO wash all night and start it concentrating the next morning. Getting on a schedule is the hard part, it's real hard to look at all that sap and go to bed, it's against our thinking, you've got to process that sap!
One last question---What are you gonna do when the sap REALLY starts to run?
Mike- What your describing is what I thiink Im going to have to do. I was thinking about that too. Going to have to do the day old concentrate. Its just what Im going to have to do to get it in barrells with the equipment I have now which is fine. Im going to make dark syrup becouse of all the recirculation but a lot of dark is syrup will make me more money in a barrell than a little light. I just looked at the weather and it looks like today and tommarrow is it. Im going to just make sap now and store it and when you guys come down youll have quite a bit I think and that will be good and Ill see how you guys do it too. Im getting real familiar with the machine now and feeling a lot better about things. After yesterday Im basically set up where I can move sap around reliably and kind of have a system now. So when it gets cold for a little while I can really get things finetuned. This run now is going to be like a 3 day with out a freeze so Im not sure if the ground keeps thawing and they keep running better. Thats what it seems to be. They slowed down in the night and now they are picking up again. Were up to 2 % sap now I think which is good. Most of this first stuff was real weak and there was a lot of sap for a little syrup but it all adds up. I cant thank Russ and Matt enough for all their help. I did real good at getting taps in and making sap but I wasnt really ready to process it. They were a lifesaver. Ive tried to make things right with Matt and I think I have helping him with his stuff but Im going to have to come up maybe next year when I can and help Russ out and make it right with him. Its great to have a couple real good friends like that. Theron
We will work you into a schedule this weekend that will make things alot easier. I just need to see how your work schedule is. There isn't really a reason that you should be making dark syrup because of recircing the sap, it is more the scheduling. Whatever you have for sap we will put it in a barrel.
Once you get a system working you will be wondering what to do with all your time.