November Journal

Chris,
Tell your Mrs. I said hello and to get better soon as she has to help you get ready for sugaring season. :) jr ,andy I will keep you posted on the demo I hope to have lots of folks here. I know it will be a blast.

Hi all,
Haven't posted here in some time.
First off want to wish Mrs. Sugarmaker a speedy recovery and glad she's home.
Spitting a little snow here today.
Now for our update; all of the wood is in (1.5 cords), the pans are set ready to go.
Just need to tap and wait for sap.
Going to be adding 50 more taps.
HUH, guess we got a few months before that happens.
Oh well, we can wait.
Guess that's all for now.

Dave

You must have a really good system to only burn 1.5 cords of wood with that many taps. It also must be hard wood. I burnt soft wood and used a lot more doing what few taps I had last spring.

Ken 3% has his EEU which is a homemade version of the Steam Away. It is like a turbo charged pre heater. I used 2.25 cords of wood, mostly pine, to make 162 gallons of syrup from a little over 500 taps last year. I have an RO machine that gets rid of more of the water than 3%'s EEU does.

KenWP,
I think we're about as efficient as we can get.
Last year we made 26 gallons of syrup per cord.
We are hoping for a little better this coming year.
I am hoping with the little tweeking I've done we can get rid of 32 to 33 gallons per hour, it's been running 30 gph.
Also keep in mind we are boiling 3% sap and that is going to make a difference too. What are you boiling for sap?
We burn Hemlock slabs, best thing I have used, just don't like pine, Hemlock keeps a good boil.
Now remember, Hemlock works good for us.

Dave

You are really efficient! We burn just about any kind of wood and only get about 15 gallons per cord.

We did a timber stand improvement and ended up with a lot of little popple that was like balsa wood. It burned pretty quickly and we kept filling the cart.

This year we have more hardwood and a bunch of stuff we found here and there, so maybe our efficiency will be up a bit.

We used up the whole woodshed's worth last year.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zachklein/2290782708

The only 3% sap I get is from the 6 silver maples in the yard. The other trees go less. The real sugars went 1.7% or a bit higher most of the time. Usually needed about 50-60 gallons per gallon. I am trying to get a better pan set up for next spring so I can boil at least 9 gallons of sap off a hour instead of 3. Would be nice to not have to work so hard to boil.

Thanks folks,
Cheryl is feeling a lot better and is improving by the hour. I still love her even without her gallbladder:)

Dave Y, I would love to get down there to see you test your new super rig.

Dave 3%, hows that grandson doing? Sounds like you have been busy getting things ready for syrup season.

Gary R, Hows the deer hunting?

Revi, I agree, what every is handy, burn it!

Regards,
Chris

Not sure if I have to go into the sugar inn, and re-introduce myself?

Been pretty busy. Got another 10 weeks or so before the sap hauler shows up. Still "under construction".

Matt,
So the rumors of your demise are false. Glad to see you are still out there. When construction is complete you wont be able to wipe the smile off you face for six months.