February Journal THE COUNTDOWN!!!

Supppperrrr sapppppyyy, i must say that is one nice looking hand :lol: Anyways, Looks like im just going to run Gas for this season, then talk to the owner, and i dont know if you remeber or not but befor we got to the bush coming up the hill the barn on the right side of the road before th feilds?, well i plan on asking him= the owner which owns that if theres electric in there and and if there is i know the guy will have no problem with me hook my pump there, only problem is that it will be like 1500 from the barn to the releaser if not more, but i dont think ill loose that much vac having it trasfer that far, but thats the second option if the guy right next to the bush with the sugarhouse dont let me use there electric and it didnt look to good, the guy seemed kinda mad that we got the sugarbush, but i dont see a problem the guy didnt sugar it for like 20 years and left all the taps in the trees? and he wasnt planning on sugaring it again anyways so i dont see the issue, but if he dont let me us electric looks like ill be running a big vac line next season hopfulyly anyway

I burned poplar in the arch last year, its about the one use for it I can come up with. Worked pretty well since it rots before it dries enough for house wood. It just sounds like the arch is going to explode when it starts popping.

My plan is coming along. I'm shooting for tapping in 2 weeks. Next weekend is the final sh weekend at least that's the plan.

Well we repaired a few down lateral lines in our main bush on Saturday,Only about half dozen,not bad for 1000 taps. Moved the vacuum pumps and generator in and both collection tanks. Need to plumb up the vac pumps,set releasers,and plumb tranfer pumps I can do that while the crew taps .Small bush needs to have pumps and gen moved in,(i have them mounted on trailers so no big job) releaser set,again I will get that done while the crew finishes tapping. Need to clean one more SS tank in sugar hose for concentrate and put on float boxes.We should be ready by tapping time(Valentines day). I HOPE I'm Ready

Jim

Things are coming together. I got my LR pump working yesterday. Fortunately my friend's works was instrumentation because I never would've figured out how to program the VFD. The pump still requires some tweeking and will hopefully have it ironed out this weekend.

Russ came over yesterday and helped me to layout and build the sap ladder.

There's still plenty to do, but at this point, I'm almost ready to tap if needed. I'm planning on waiting until the end of February.

I have the arch in the sugar house. A week ago I cemented the fire bricks in while it was in the shop. This way I could keep it warm while the cement cured. This is not a large arch, how heavy could it be? Well with all the bricks in it, it was more than one man could lift or should lift. End up dragging it to the trailer and tilting it on and sliding it back. Anyways the chimney is on. It is taking shape. It will be a lot better boiling inside than using the driveway like last year. I spent Sunday marking out the woods for tubing. Thanks to Dennis and MapleSyrupStove for the ideas for the tubing tool. Last night I made up 30 drops in no time flat. Still too much to do: need a cupala, maybe just slide back a sheet of the metal roofing. Make a stand for the bulk tank. Clean the 55 gallon storage drums, these had sesame seed oil in them not like the one I got last year that had a vinegar base sauce that cleanup real nice, these new one will take more work. Get some more tubing laid out, wait, order more supplies……..

Dane.

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Originally Posted by KenWP

I am in a panic right now as I am not as done as I hoped to be. I used a old bed frame for angle iron for my improvements and it has to be spring steel or something. Took me for ever to drill holes in it for some reason.
Got it together no and just have to insulate it and seal the top off and fix the fire box and I am ready. of course the weather out look says it will be June before it's warm enough to tap anyways. Sort of like Xmas in another month.

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Oh that stuff is NASTY! I used it for a project last year (not maple related) and I burned through a whole pack of quality jigsaw blades just making a few cuts in it.

I've been fixing lines, loads of limbs down. I am not allowed to cut anything, not even dead so this will be an annual problem. I did however push a few over by hand to help the future situation. This rented bush has lots of good trees but there are also many dead one, mainly mid and under story, from natural dieback. The landowner did have some logging done the year before I set up and the canopy was opened up a little better, most if not all of the dead is from before the logging/thinning. I still have about 150 taps to walk the line on which will take a little longer than it should because I am redesigning the layout and adding a new branch line along one side of the woods where it will make much more sense.

Well, went to the woods @ 3:30 today after work. It is staying lighter out. Hung 30 new taps in the far reaches of the bush. Gawsh...don't those pale blue lines look lovely as the sun shines upon them...ok now I'm getting too poetic and wierd.:rolleyes:

My to do list is bigger than the did list. But some how it all seems to work out each year. Definately the pressure is on.
Keith

Mapleflats, it is too bad the landowner won't allow you to "spruce-up" there woods. It only benefits them in the long run.