My dad and I got the vacuum manifolds installed today. Then ran some more 5/16ths. Seems nice to be getting to more enjoyable parts of the install lately.
Tim
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My dad and I got the vacuum manifolds installed today. Then ran some more 5/16ths. Seems nice to be getting to more enjoyable parts of the install lately.
Tim
Its nice to see that everyone didn't lay around and get fat.
Well, I'll be honest. I've been in Michigan getting fat for the last couple of days. Rather be sugaring then dealing with a wedding, but you know how that goes. LOL!
I laid around yesterday, didn't get fat though! Took apart my new/used vacuum pump today. I got the vanes free, a bolt out of it, and got it sucking air. All it needs is a new oil seal and it's ready to make some trees skinny!
I finished squirrel / deer repairs to a 200 tap woods, then tied up 300' of mainline to relocate a tank. I'll have 300' more line, but 300' less mud to drive through to get to the tank. I think I've got about 600 taps repaired and ready to tap, hopefully at least 200 more by the time it warms up. On a side note, I hope that warm up isn't until February, as my amazing girlfriend is taking me to St. Croix in two weeks! Gotta get all the tubing done quick!
Hi all,
Hope the New Year is going well for everyone!!
We're having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave, it's 19 outside!!
Getting windy again.
Well let's see it's 43 days till tapping time!
We're ready!!!!
Well, all but putting the evaporator and EEU back together!!
Tap trees and boil sap!!!
Stay safe!
Dave
well im headed out it is snowing and a little windy but its a COLD wind atleast the temp is in the double didgets again!! we will see how long i last
Man i hope my $583 dollar order from bascoms finally shows up today ( i ordered on tuesday)
sold the old evap. after less the 24 hour on the trader classified
the new owner came and picked it up today hope it is as good for him as it was for me got the sugar house all put back to gather i think tomorrow i going to start stringing tubing
I spent the day in the woods again, nice day in the mid 20s. Got repairs made to a 100 tap system. Some downed trees and a broken mainline wire slowed things down. As long as the weather cooperates I think 850 taps this year isn't too far fetched. Bring on the BIGSAP!!!
put up about 300ft of main line today, a good day i think. it was good untill i ran out of wire ties, i was hoping my order from bascom's would be here but it wasnt:( so ive got nothing to do tomarrow, maybe i will run around with te saw and cut branches that will poke me in the face close to the maples when i run laterals, i went into the woods today and i came up on that nice looking pasture leveled of with a fresh 6" of sparkling snow, looked real pretty........and drove right down through it ( it looks better with tractor tracks any way) any way i put up my pipe and headed back through the 2 pastures and noticed some on had walked down my tractor road through these pastures and then turned around in the second one and headed back, dont know who,
the other day i went up into the woods and there were people tracks heading from the pastures and straight up into my woods! they went right into the woods and up through to the top and then back the way they came about 8 people and 2 dogs is what i got from the tracks, 2 kids. i have no idea who they were but then again im the first to take intrest in that woods for 45 years, maybe they saw me drive across the pastures every day and wanted to see what i was up to????
maybe they wanted to make sure i didnt build a meth lab with all that tubing i was carrying into the woods..hehehe LOL!!!!!!!!
dan i just picked up a roll of 1000 6 inch at home depot today for $13
Went for a road trip with Jim Brown today. Meet his son, half way through Ohio. Picked up his new sap hauling trailer and their 4" sap pump. He'd better be careful or he may pump his tanks up to the top of the hill:)
We spent hours talking maple. I think we have everything figured out;)
Andy, Hello, hope things are going well!
Picked up some hi-intensity LED lights from my brother today - he salvaged them from a job dismantling some mall store signage. Think I mentioned them somewhewre here earlier. I've cleaned them up and tested them out and they are BRIGHT!!! You almost can 't look directly at 'em. And efficient - each set of lights only uses 1 watt, and stay cool to the touch. I'll try and post some pics. These are gonna make a great addition to the new shack.
I put in another 300 of mainline today and 350' of support wire for another 300' branch line today, (in this case my main and wet lines are both 3/4") The snow was real deep on the leeward side of the woods for about 50' width or so, before that and in the woods it was about 16-20" rather light snow and a hard crust under it, but that 50' wide section just outside the woods was over 3' to the crust. It was still fluffy enough that I was able to walk it without the snowshoes. On the steep hillside it is sure slippery when I step on a piece of wood with no bark or smooth bark. I had to pick myself up a whole bunch of times. On the other side of the coin the steep hillside will help the sap flow well. This hillside runs anywhere from about a 30-60or 70% slope. The steeper parts I have to hold onto the trees to keep from sliding to the bottom, but those areas are only in a few sections on the hill, most are about 45% or a little less. I ran to the end of a roll of tubing on the branch line when I called it a day and need to add about 50' more to connect to my manifold. After this I plan to add one more branch line and then all of the latterals go sort of straight up hill. This season I will still be on gravity but I have designed it to add Vacuum hopefully next year if i can get an RO. At that time I will add a dry line above the wet line and the branch lines come into the wet line at a manifold for good vacuum up and down the system. I hope to get enough cash to add latterals and taps for 400 more at this location but I have not even begun to calculate how much 5/16 tubing I need, I will likely get 8-10 coils and go til it is gone and then guestimate how much more might be needed. I may even go up hill picking up 10-12 taps per lateral while designing it for a future branch line in the middle to devide them when I add the vac, haven't decided that yet one way or the other. It would mean tossing or re using a few feet where I cut each line in the future, but if cleaned properly that should be OK, would make good drops.
Folks, Should be staring to get caught up on the trader chat soon.
First, 57 years ago I came into this old world but for some reason today I felt like I was about 15!
Our son Adam, the computer whiz, was here over night and rebuilt this new computer and found all the bugs and got it set up for us.
Then our neighbor Keith came over and we worked on layout and fab for his stack base for his new arch. We started using 3/16 sst pop rivets to put it together. They really are though to install with a hand riveter, any ideas?
About 4:30 I decided to go squirrel hunting with the dong and shook some nests and came home with a nice fox squirrel. Was nice to just grab the .22 a hooded sweatshirt and go. The sky was a beautiful orange sunset and the sky above was all blue with only the moon and one star showing. Great evening! Temp was still in the low 20's.
Cheryl made one of my favorite desserts. Suet pudding, its a old recipe like a steamed raisin bread with sweet sauce, very good.
Sold $100 in maple products today while I was resting too.
Regards,
Chris
6"? main line?????Quote:
Originally Posted by jrthe3
i bought a whole bunch of fittings at home depot and i noticed how low the price was of wtr pipe there, i noticed there isnt as much plastic used in home depot fittings eather, they are 1/2 as thick as the ones i get in town
wire ties !!!!!
Well Gary R. and I fixed all the Maple problems in North West Pa as he so rightly stated. Was great having him along on the trip!.(my wife is tired of hearing me talk maple when we travel)got the "BOSS PUMP" home and after some minor fixes she fired up and set and ran for about and hour. Can't wait to get some sap and or water hooked to it to see just how she will do!4 inch inlet and out let should move a ton of sap up the hill!(less wear and tear on my pick up)not to mention the MUD and the ruts.
Now have to get the vacuum pumps and the gen mounted on the same trailer as the pump and off to the woods we go. Got three more tanks to clean and disenfect and that will be done. Have our big vacuum pump(30cfm) to get remounted to the trailer it sits on and it will be ready to take to our small bush.So many things-so little time!
Jim
Nice day to work outside today so I brought in some more wood into the sugarhouse. Need to replace about 150 drops in the next few weeks and then should be about ready to tap.
Keith
terrable day, broke the wire, nothing worked right several unnessesary trips up and down the hill, and i ran out of pipe to boot, uhg not good
Jeremy
I have about 19 cord plus a few hundred pallets. I wanted 25 cord for this year but I'm behind. So it looks as though I'll put in a call to the guy who brings me pallets. I pay $10 for a load delivered to my sugarhouse and each load is about 80-90
Keith
how much wood will i need to run a 4x12 on 600 taps?
i have 11-12 cord stacked in the wood shed and about 2 out in the yard that i need to split up will that be enough>?
Dano
I'm assuming you have no vac. So for estimating I'll use .25 gal of syrup per tap for the season. So with 600 taps you should get around 150 gallons of syrup.
Now as for the evaporator, depending on your efficiency lets say you can get 20 gallons of syrup per cord If you have an inferno or intenso fire arch plus a preheater you will get a higher ratio.
So with 150 gallons of syrup and 20 gal per cord you will use about 7.5 cord.
There are other factors like sugar content and how many times you start up and shut down that will affect your ratio.
When you start boiling keep track of how much syrup you make in a day and measure the wood before and after and it will give you an idea.
So you should be all set 11-12 cord.
Keith
Keith-Quote:
Originally Posted by brookledge
Is your pallet delivery guy exclusive, or is he looking for customers? That sounds like a sweet deal for someone willing to cut 'em up.
Last year at this time I found all sorts of wood at the transfer station, but lately there isn't any. I still check it out, but I haven't found any for a while.
I don't get anything with nails in it, no paint or pressure treated of course.
There used to be a lot of white pine limbs, but nothing for a while.
I guess I'll have to drag some wood in from the woodlot...
I'm not sure. I know I'm close by for him and he has to dispose of them. Check around Belchertown you may find a business that is paying to dispose of pallets and would be willing to give them to you free.
As for pallets it is amazing on the waste. As for manufatuers they get a product in on a pallet that is made for the products coming in but after manufactuering the pallets needed to ship out are different than those coming in.
Like I said it's a shame that I will burn a pallet that has been used once but have been told that it is too expensive to ship it back.
Keith
Ahh,Firewood dont you love it. Most of us couldn't make syurp without it! Yet it is the thing we will fall behind on the quickest. I'm looking at 31 full cords, not N.Y. cords. I hope thats enough because I have no more room for storage. and I am looking at 2300-2700 taps this spring. I should be still boiling come May 1st.:)
i will be running 400 taps on vacQuote:
Originally Posted by brookledge
What is a "N.Y. cord" if I may ask???
dano
Don't you have school today?? Or are you using the school internet for something outher then your school work??
yes ive got school, but when you have a free block your all set, nahh you dont do school work in school
For the first three years of high school, I busted hump - took all the accelerated courses, filled my schedule. By senior year I realized I only needed a small handful of required courses left to take to graduate. So I took them. And nothing else. I didn't take home any homework that year cuz I got it all done during my free periods. No regrets.Quote:
Originally Posted by dano2840
i wont have very many classes that i will need to take next year,
more time for sugaring!
this year im going to work my scheual so i can get out 2 blocks early all i have to do is talk to the prinipal and off to the sugar house i go 2 blocks early
Gator,
a N.Y. cord is a face cord. The length of your wood x8x4. Many time I have heard folks north of the border talk about how many cord of wood they have, and when truth be know they are talking face cords not 4x4x8 cords.
Did mine in 3 years and had one class in the senior year, they let me come in for that one class.Quote:
Originally Posted by Clan Delaney
I GOT MY BASCOM'S ORDER TODAY!!!!
i saw that package on my front porch and i had a grin from ear to ear, it was as good as christmas morning!
ive got to go to TSC and get some pipe and should be allset for supplies (minus tank fittings and other stuff)
YAY, i need to teach one of my retired buddies how to hang pipe, so i can get it all in on time,
Just finished the stainless base stack for neighbors arch. Its 6 foot high and is for 10 inch smoke stack. Took part of Sat. afternoon to do the lay out and then we put it together Sunday after noon . Keith was happy and its going to work well. One mor step closer for him to make syrup. He did find someone to make his pans too. So maybe with some luck it will come together for him.
Chris
Went up to New Hampshire this morning did a little syrup transaction. Bottled some this afternoon for delivery later in the week. Tomorrow I go in for another biopsy. Weather looks cold and snowy for a week so I'll have a chance to recoop . Driving through the Berkshires today it looked like a tornado had gone through the trees from the ice a couple weeks back.
Here we go again, another ice storm coming.
The weatherman is telling us that we can expect 1/4-1/2" of ice over night, great. I hope it isn't as bad as they are saying. I also hope that it gets nowhere near the northeast, you all have had enough already.
I just wish we would get snow and only snow, this mixed bag of crap is for the birds.
Mountainvan,
Hope all turns out good for you!!
Where in New Hampshire did you go?
Dennis H.,
Yeah I don't like that ice stuff either, causes way too much damage.
Rather drive in 12" of snow than icy conditions.
Looks like we're in for up to 8" tomorrow and tomorrow night, could be a mix around the coast, which is typical, doesn't look like to much mix here.
Going to work in the sugarhouse tomorrow, not going anywhere!!
Dave