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Last night the great horned owl came back and landed on our sugarhouse right at dark.We hadnt seen him since last year at this time. I think this is a good omen for us if you believe in that sort of thing. I am a little rusty on my horned owl but I think he said" hoot hoot BIG SAP hoot hoot." -ss
SS-
That's pretty $hitty. I'd run a length of electric fence wire and charge it and connect it to something shiney and I'd leave it out in the open. Just asking them to come back. Give them a good jolt when the hook onto it.
Boy if you had a deer trail camera I'd se that up too and get a shot of who's doing in.
You can get a stealth camera at wal mart, just takes 35mm film for not much money. I'd get one and set it up and bait the bastards in. Then go on a non traditional hunting trip.
just make sure the camera doesn't use a flash or the camera might be missing also.
Sorry to hear that the low-lifes struck again.
If you were a mind to a fella may just want to load up the 12gauge with rocks salt and a thermos of coffee and take up residents there for a night. I can still remember the sting of the salt when I upset the last corn stalk at the end of the field, the tractor lights came on and the 12 barked And that was 40 years ago LOL
Jim
well i think the electric wire id the best with thr rock salt what if you shot them in the chest and have a weak hart your the one in trouble for shoting them but with the wire its there falt for going there but the best way is to have the wire at knee level and that would really get them out of there also charge the door to the building were they put the bords with nails and take those bords with nails and barrey them under the snow on there walking paths
supper sappy,
Sorry to hear about the tank incident. That really stinks. I also read your post about the owl. I hope your right about the good omen. A few weeks ago Zach & I were working on my new property and looked up and seen a huge Bard owl perched on a maple branch watching us. I don't know how long it was there, but we never seen it fly in. I hiked back to my truck and grabbed my camera. when I got back to within about twenty feet of the tree it flew off.
Update: Tapped Saturday, test boiled the new evaporator yesterday. All went well. Sap ran good today. Oh yeah, one of the best runners and one of the fullest buckets was at the tree where the owl was. Good Omen. I say yes.
BIGSAP update- Just finished up and came in the house. Had a pretty spectacular day. No sap when I went to bed last night at about 10 pm. It was still thawing out. Woke up at 430 and went out to check it quick in my shorts and the releaser was dumping regular. Looked in the tanks and there was maybe 6 700 gallons. Looked at my lines going into the house and one of the fittings was ready to blow out and loose my sap. Called my dad and told him to come over so if I was standing there holding it I wouldnt be stranded. Fixed it and the sap really started flowing. Dad and I worked all day to make things operational. I walked the lines once and felt they were pretty good. By 11 am all 4 bulktanks were 8" from the tops. Sugarmasters man came right over and hooked up the ro. Richard and his guys are terrific. The support theyve given me has been second to none. I consider them more like family than an equipment dealer. He got the ro going and it was concentrating at 9%. Thats what it came to so I told him good enough. Started boiling in the afternoon. Took it easy to get some confidence and found it very easy to take the syrup off. My neighbor, also a sugar maker came over and helped me put the ro through the wash and rinse and showed me how to filter press. Had a little accident and used some light weight plastic line by mistake instead of the heavy line that came with it. It looked the same but it was flimsy and on the second 12 gallons blew out and Sprayed Roger and I with hot syrup. Might have lost a gallon I dont know but no one hurt so thats the main thing. Also Tom from the trader came by and his friend so I had lots of support. Everyone left about nine and I boiled till it was done. Talked a lot with Matt and he helped me a lot on the phone. Any way near as I can tell made 49 or 50 gallons of syrup I think. Its in a bunch of containers becouse I couldnt press after I was alone so Ill do it tomarrow. My nighbor Jim asked me what the grade was. I told him I didnt know becouse I dont have a grading kit. Told him if it tasted good and was at density I was happy. He said he thought it was close to fancy so sounds good to me. It did taste good. When I got that syrup all over me it turned to candy. My whole pants are maple candy. Think ill eat them for breakfast. Thats the rundown on bigsap monday. From here henceforth Im calling every feb 18th BIGSAP monday. Today was the first time ive ever really ran a real evaperator by myself. I think 50 gallons was a pretty **** good first day. Theeron
Good work TheROn,
Sounds like you had a good day and didn't make any critical mistakes. It must feel good now to know that you can run all of the equipment that you have got. With all of the stuff you've bought you don't have a grading kit? At least they are not to expensive. Have fun with the BIGSAP.
Russ
Russ- I was supposed to get it but it didnt come in yet. Was kind of the least of my concerns with all the big stuff I had to figure out. I figure whatever syrup I make I can figure it out later. Im sellin it to Richard probly hell let me know what it is. Hes as honest as they come. Theron
Theron, 50 gallons on your first day boiling not bad! Glad to hear things went well. Sugarmaster and his crew sound like a good bunch of guys. Too bad more dealers weren't like them.
As for BIGSAP Monday as a Holiday I say go for it! Of course it would be a PA thing as here in Maine Matt, myself and the rest of us are getting ready to celebrate "BIGSAP MARCH" that one will be a month long holiday! LOL
Mark
THeron-
You did great, you made a couple of years worth of syrup in hours. That is a feat.
Now keep it up. Keep the blunders to a minimum if you can and keep filling drums. You are a producer now. Hobby stuff is to the wayside.
So when are you going back to boiling raw sap?
Congratulations, you stick handled through a lot of possible snags. Pretty impressive.
Thanks for mentioning the filter press line blow up. Hot syrup at maybe 40 PSI ... I better re-think the hoses I'm going to need to get mine going
THEERON
congratulations sounds like a good day for you. its always good when new things work well for you with few problems. [ GETS ME EXCITED ALMOST AS MUCH AS YOU]
RICH
How much sap did you get? Must have been quite a bit. To make 50 gallons and sweeten the pans takes some!
We only made about 45 last night. Don't have but half things tapped! Of course we're north and up on the hill, so maybe we just didn't quite get the run you did. I can't complain though because hey its only February 19th. I know I checked Sun night at 10 pm and ours was just drippin in the releaser. Vacuum was down in the morning so I went for a walk. When I can out of the woods after 2 hours dad told me I did something because we're back to 25". That's what I was aiming for!
Glad you had so much fun!
hey big sap on the 18th where would you have been with out that R/O? how many days do you think it would have taken to boil that 2400 gallons[ if you got 2 gallons per tap] with out the r/o? now you need the finish pan i have to reheat and press all that syrup. you now have graduated to a big draw off and aid mixing tank 12 to 15 gallon size so you can get it all pressed as you boil. congrates an your first boiling and your syrup baptism. was any one there with the camara? to record the history making day? it is all down hill from here. my first day with the r/o i was filling everything thing in site with syrup, every pail in the house and every sap bucket i could find. the next day i ran to bascoms traded an old vac pump for a 15 gallon draw off tank. good to see your having fun!!!
Yawn.... Hello everyone, I guess I forgot to set my alarm and overslept from winter LOL :) So the season starts !!! been so busy haven't been on the trader in eons... but.... I'm baaaack LOL Lets do this thing and make some SYRUP !!!!
Should be close to ready after this weekend, also in the process of building a cream machine...just figuring out my pulley sizes and such
Good Luck to Everyone!!
Great work Theron and supporting cast, Its great to know that sugar makers stick together lol. I can't wait for BIG SAP MARCH gmcooper.
Maybe Feb 18 should be Theron's day here on the trader?
Mapleman3, Good to see you back!!
Take a deep breath Theron, looks like weather is going to be cold for another week or so.
Got all 190 taps in on Friday and was greeted with 275 gallons of sap by yesterday afternoon! Looks like a good starter run to work the kinks out, let the games begin.
Congratulations TheROn on your successful first BIGSAP boil. You made more in one boil than I do in 1/2 a season.
BIGSAP MARCH would work in NH too. Hopefully we get a good start like TheROn and others have.
Russ
The 30x8 found a new home today. Nice meeting you Doug and Greg. Hope you guys made it through the lake effect up north. Looks like it started a little earlier then expected.
Now that the old girl is gone, I guess it's time to show off the new girl. Lots of great ideas, as usual, came off the Trader - including the dog chain tie downs for the stack and one piece hood. Thanks WV, look familiar? And, ofcourse, big thanks to Parker for putting me on the rig.
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Thanks for the posative feedback you guys. Im not sure exactly how much sap I got. I really kind of think it was over 2400 gallons or at least that. I drew off 50 gallons and flooded the pans with concentrate and basically sweetened them so maybe the numbers jive. I dont really care I just want to make syrup. I took it off the evap at density, actually I was running it off heavy for a while till I got the hang of it. I toned it down though. After everyone left I broke out the rocket fuel. Small seasoned hard maple from a thinning. I was boiling pretty much continuous with foam to the top of the flue pan and the syrup pan boiling way up there. Got greedy on one of the last draws and the fire was down just before the draw and I firgured what the heck and stoked it. The syrup pans in the front boiled over the devider and mixed and I lost my draw for a while. Then when it came talk about a draw. Couldnt find anything in the syrup pan that wasnt syrup. Filled a 5 gal bucked pretty much. Started to get a little scared but figured Im a sugarmaker now Ive got to boil like ive got a pair. If I didnt have an ro and the sap ran like it did yesterday. Id open up the valves and run it down the creek before id boil that much raw sap. I just dont have it in me. Holy cow I think Matt took the end of my mains and plumbed them in the pond but it seemed to be 2% sugar. Syrup tastes good. What do you guys think 50 gals of fancy is worth in the barrell? I think you guys up north better get ready becouse I think you are going to have a good season with the temps and all the snow cover your season is going to be awesome. Theeron
well we are about 2 weeks away and im all ready (i think) hopfullt this year is a good year so last year sucked here we had 100 taps and made 40 liters now we got 400 taps hoping to make 400 liters
Jemsklein- Keep us posted when you get your first big run. Im cuious to see how your evaperator does for you. Hope things work good. You should see some pretty big sap with that many taps. Theeron
Theron,
Nice job! Sounds like you are in the syrup business!
Jems
We will get the weather soon for some good runs.
Jim,
Glad to see your back and building a cream machine.
Just lounging in the lazy boy here in NWPA! If anyone can help me with this syrup problem let me know!
Jim and Chase thanks for the firing mitts!
Chris
If you get $ 2.50 lb, it would be $ 1,400+. Not bad for a days work.
Danno- that is a sweet rig for sure,,,I am looking forward to hearing what kind of evap. rate you get with it,,,,bet it will suprise you,,,kdid you put a blower on it?
Theron,
Or if you retail it all in quarts it is over twice that $1400.00. Better yet turn it all into candy and that would be a realllll good one day return on your investment.
A days work?? I think you forgot the 11 months preparation that he had to get a days pay!!Quote:
Originally Posted by WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER
Oh, trust me, I know all about the 11 prior months as it is a year around job for me too. I was using PMA(positive mental attitude) to show what kind of reward he got in ONE day for all the work he did.
Danno,
Very nice looking hood and nicer than mine. Sure you will enjoy it and it should work great. Keep us posted on how the new rig does!
Blower - ofcourse! As well as a preheater.Quote:
Originally Posted by Parker
For me boiling and making syrup is just a vaction from spending money in theQuote:
Originally Posted by WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER
sugar bush. Spend it on boiling sodas, food etc.. etc.. LOL...
GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE ON 2008 SEASON!!!
TheROn actually spent 2 years planning and building and buying equipment etc. Hopefully the BIGSAP will run again soon so he can get somemore experience before the season really kicks in.
I agree with Pete about the boiling sodas. Vacation? Boiling is still alot of work but fun work.
Russ
Hi Russ,
From what can gather this a kind of business, hobby, past time, whatever it is to each of us that you need to go slow and expand as you go not one big jump.
PATheron did it right he PLANNED his moves and now he's waiting for "BIG SAP", because he earned it.
There is an operation over here (bush, land, sugarhouse, all the equipment) that is for sale.
They got discouraged real quick, they didn't make enough light or medium syrup, mostly dark and B. I think they used the equipment maybe 5 years, if that.
This place right from the get go was state of the art equipment.
I would say "To big, To Quick".
Maybe I'm wrong, just my opinion.
So, when are you going to tap or have you?
Dave
Reminds me of a book I read called Yankee Storekeeper. Set in Maine, Vermont, etc.
Guy says if ya want to go into chickens, get a hen and a dozen eggs and learn how to raise em . In a year you'll have 13 chickens. If you buy 13 chickens right off the bat, in a year you won't have ANY!!
You guys are giving me some nice compliments and I really appreciate it. Im just doing what I love to do most. I think sometimes people will go hogwild like you say and spend a ton and put in this big setup not realizing how much work is involved and what a struggle it is to actually make syrup. I think you have to do it becouse you just love doing it like us or it wont work. If you figured your time up and what you make per hour its probly pitiful but we dont care becouse its not work to us becouse we enjoy doing it. I think it has to be like that or it wont work. I like everything about syruping and I kind of wish I could make a fulltime living at it but its a lot easier to drive to town and get a paycheck, insurance and everything. Maybe someday, everyone is allowed to dream. Theeron
Guys- Im tapping small cull trees that I am going to cut out anyway so its going to mess up my averages probly but here is my current mumbers. 1220 real taps although theres 40 on a long .5" line that I had so I used it but it does seem to deliver vac. So 1220 real taps. 60 cull tree taps. So 1280. Saturday im going to tap some more good taps and try to run the cull tree taps to put me at a even 1400. Ill let you know how I make out and Ill keep you guys up to date on my taps so you guys dont think im doing better than I really am. What Im doing now is using up a bunch of used tubing I had. Thats why the .5" What the heck the object is to make syrup might as well put everything up I can. Theeeron
Hi Dave,
I had to expand slowly because of finances. I paid for everything as I bought it so that I wouldn't have to make X amount of dollars in sales to make loan payments. I am comfortable with what I am doing now but when I retire I plan to double or more what I am doing now.
TheROn took the big leap but not so big that it will bankrupt him. He planned it all out knowing that he wanted to make syrup and do it right. Back when I started there wasn't a Maple Trader and I had to deal with myths and miss truths about things like RO and vacuum.
I was the first small producer in my area to get an RO and I have spread the word to other producers about its benefits to a small producer like myself.
Russ
Hi all,
Bit cold here this morning, 0, big goose egg!
That'll tight the trees back up!!!
Yeah I started slow and easy too.
After I retired in "99" my grandson asked if we could make some syrup, of course I said "Yes"
Had some SS pans made, barrel arch.
Started in a plastic sugarhouse (frame work was PVC pipe with a tarp pullled over), now look at us we're in a 8' X 16' building. WOW
We kinda look at it as a hobby that supports it's self.
As you guys know, if you figure all your time, the labor board will step in, cause it's no doubt WAAAAAY below the minimum wage!!!
Seriously, it's a GOOD hobby.
As Marge Putnam (from Putman Brothers Maple) told me one day, "I's in your blood and it's been there since you were 17, when you would come down to help Morris".
Morris taught me alot about making syrup!
Stay safe out there, that ice is slippery!!!!
Dave