Backyard Syrup Enthusiasts 2020

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Originally Posted by Aaron Stack

Thanks for the tip Dave. The run to the first 45 is angled about a half bubble off on the level, but I'll see what happens on the test boil and change if needed. For now focusing on getting the wood finished before any snow moves in. I definitely have enough for this season but trying to fill'r up anticipating for 2022.

(AND!! The chimney survived last night's wind storm - wasn't totally sure it would but the garden stake braces held it in place)

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Well... Dave was right. Had my first boil this weekend and it was certainly a learning experience! As soon as I tuned on the blower I had ash coming out of every orifice possible, throwing ash in my sap. Thought it was because the gasket caulking dried and started coming off so didn't use the fan and moved forward.

The best stack temp I got was about 350 but only for a short time, mostly it was hovering around 250. Eventually the chimney choked out and smoke was pouring from the stove to pipe connection point and elbow seams, and when I went to fire flames were shooting out the front when I opened the door - HAH! So I shut down and will rip it apart today, clean it out, and seal up the joints. I bet that 24" out the back it stuffed with ash.

Ordered pieces and parts on Amazon today that will be 12" out of the stove, the 45, a 24" section, another 45, then two 48" sections. Going to cement all the seams when putting it together to get a nice tight fit and see how it goes.

I have more sap than I imagined (and it isn't even "running" yet)! Got just shy of 100 gallons since Thursday so going to work with the chimney I have until the new setup comes in (clean it out, seal up the seams, use multiple curse words, etc).

Even with the problems I had a blast. Every 6 minutes stoke the fire, one drop of defoamer, and then split wood until the next timer went off. My Dad and son were right there with me and We had different colors in every chamber. Aside from the chimney issue we were rockin and rollin.

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Hey Aaron, I'm curious, why did you go with a custom 20x30 setup from Mason, rather than his standard 2x3? If you were only planning on doing a dozen trees max, I could understand that, but with 50+ taps, I'm not sure why you would specifically want a smaller arch. By my calculation, his standard 2x3 arch would have almost 50% more surface area than your 20x30 one.

GO

Hindsight being what it is yeah I shoulda coulda woulda. I actually started the madness with a barrel arch in mind and the pan was bought for that but then the plan changed/grew a couple times before going with the Mason. I think the pan is rated for 75 taps so didn't think 50 would tax it. I won't go beyond the 50 until/unless there is an RO in the mix, and already see my weekend boil plan is going to be a (stove) pipe dream. Good thing is I have an understanding employer and time during the week for Tues/Thurs mini-boils.

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Originally Posted by Mvhomesteader

How about boiling taps for 10 minutes like you're purifying water? Will that kill the bacteria? I'm essentially thrifty at heart, but I don't want to sacrifice sap flow just to save $20. I have been boiling taps each year since 2013 just because it seemed like a good idea. I boil my drill bit too.

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we used to do a diluted bleach soak of our drops/taps into buckets, and did again for some of ours this year. given that we scaled up, we have new tees and drops on half, and I plan on just replacing them every year from now on, also moving to tubing with a shurflo on half the trees (hopefully). I read in other threads (from Dr. Tim) that the micro-organisms nibble at the taps and create tiny crevices. boiling/bleaching will kill the micro-organisms, but the crevices that are created are leveraged by the new slew of bacteria that come along much faster, they already have a home that is move-in-ready essentially. if you're using CV spouts then it can be increasingly difficult to properly clean the ball restricting backflow into the tree.