Net set ups! Seems like you all are getting a better flow. I boiled down 24 gallons yesterday and am putting the final finish boil on it now. Where did you get the round mason jar lid labels?
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Net set ups! Seems like you all are getting a better flow. I boiled down 24 gallons yesterday and am putting the final finish boil on it now. Where did you get the round mason jar lid labels?
our daughter designed them and I had them printed at a local print shop on adhesive-backed paper, 12 to a sheet, we have to cut them out of the sheet.
They look really nice! Thanks.
I added some photos in my gallery area that show how I set up my mainline and laterals. If anyone has trouble finding the photos let me know.
Hey River sap I looked at your photos, congrats on a successful tubing operation. Glad to hear that you got it all installed without rolling or sliding down to the river. As I recall from our visit last year, you have the steepest slope of any sugarbush anywhere! Do you pump the sap up to your arch? John
Here are a few photos of our evaporator and finished product. I will get some photos of the sugarbush next time out.
JohnAttachment 13339Attachment 13340Attachment 13341Attachment 13342
I pump it up alright. One leg at a time while holding a five gallon bucket in each hand. I get a serious workout walking up and down those steep hillsides. Talk about a lung buster. I do have steps as my pictures show on the steepest parts. Unfortunately this year I am not getting good flow from most of the trees. I need to do some research on the best technique for drilling the tap holes and inserting the taps. I have 35 trees tapped and have only collected about 50 gallons of sap. I did get a late start. I missed the first week that sap was flowing while setting up the tubing.
Ray , thanks for the label site suggestion. My season is over. Warm all the rest of this week and I bet next week too. Ended up processing 50.5 gallons of sap into just over a gallon. Maybe a gallon and a pint. Short season here. I learned a lot on my home built evaporator and hopefully will only ever use propane to finish boil on in the future. I have enjoyed you guy's thread.
Pulled my taps yesterday (29 Feb) and did my last small boil. For the season, I ended up with a bit over 2 gallons of syrup. I've got enough syrup to last through next season, plus most of it will end up being gifts. Mission accomplished. It was fun, but I was ready for it to be over by the end.
RiverSap, My flow wasn't very good this year either. I doubled my taps, but only got 1/4 gallon more syrup. I'm guessing the weather had something to do with it. There was just no good freeze for the first half of the winter. Let's hope the weather is a bit more normal next year.