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Put pine ship lap boards on most of the back wall of the sugar shack today. Also one of my dads friends gave me a hydrometer. I need to buy a cup for it though. Saturday I put up the support bracket and some of the stack. I am using 6" metal bestos. I have had it sitting in a trailerbox for years so I'm putting it to work. I even have the spark arrestor cap for it. I can't wait to tap. Farmboy
Well, I decided that new bush was ready to go on-line. Ran 750' of high tensile, got 300' of main line hung and picked up the new (to me) RO and got her safely put to bed in her new home. All in all, a good day!
okay danno- fess up- what did you get for an RO?
Mike- Quit dissn us southerners! Were just trying to make some PENNSYLVANIA FANCY!! You ought to see the stuff come out of my lines yesterday. Thats going to make some Pennsylvania fancy. Theron[/QUOTE]
Theron: I hope you fill all those tankers! Is your dad doing the boiling again!
I have been putting up lots of lines and may have more taps ready than I think I can handle. Everything is down to the sugar house now. Just installed a new 1500 gal tank. (small in respect to your tankers but a start) I just need to get an electric releaser and hook up the vac pump. Oh and several things to do to the evaporator. I replaced the bearings on the motor you sold me and got that old delaval 76 working. Need to go get some belts and test run it.
Maybe he got my old towers and membranes, 250 gal/hr cdl.
I look at the classified adds every day. This morning there where two evaporators list by I think cooney in north PA. Just went back and there not on there??? Did any one else see them, am I going nuts? They couldn't have sold in seconds or did they. If so where did they go? I was just about to give cooney a what for for posting them and making me think I could buy the 2 1/2 x 8 and get it home hooked up and add 500 taps before season starts in 4 weeks!!!! Who is the lucky guy or gal to get that 2 1/2 x 8 !?!?!:evil:
yah gator, i looked at them this morn as well and just checked them now and they are gone. and it was from cooney. I liked the 21/2 x 8 as well. I currantly have a 2x6 small bros and would love to upgrade to that.
Smitty76:confused:
So I'm not nuts!!!! Well at least about seeing them listed this morning. Someone was fast with the check book this morning!!!:mad:
It looked like a nice unit.
It shure did look nice!!! Ready to go, lots of extra stuff going on with it too!!!!
In anticipation of the 2 plus inches of rain coming in today. I got a roof on the sugarhouse! Wahoo!. Unfortunately, the evaporator is still in the driveway under a tarp. Darn.
Really odd weather for NH. Going to get above freezing almost everyday this week. I still don't think its tapping time yet though.
We just went through that weather this past week and it is odd for us as well. I do not feel its time to tap either.
Congrast on your sugerhouse, now you can work on it in any weather.
It has been odd weather for the north east. Your right about it not being time to tap as well. We could freeze up again and not see a run till into March, Should be good and sweet by then. Good to her you have a roof. Now get that 2x6 you grabed out from under my nose under it!!!:lol:
It's pouring rain right now. Poured rain off and on all day today. Finally got the roof of the house free of snow so I can do the chimney. Like to do it around the first of January but am a tad late this year. The last three dasy felt like tapping weather but supposed to be -20 by friday so me thinks not. Hopefull the ground dosn't freeze solid not that the snows been melted off in places.
I am hopeing to get the evaporator done by Sunday and then see how she works the next weekend and go from there. The weather forecast says Feb is supposed to be cold.
Drove through ice yesterday in the Berkshires, lots of accidents, and am dealing with flooding now. My two sugarbushes by the creek could be tapped from a boat right now! Adding more taps tomorrow!
We got mixes of rain and other stuff for 3 days. Hung 1300 feet of mainling and a few laterals. I was happy for the warmer weather. Only a couple inches of snow in the bush. I can see half the fields of alfalfa. Gotta get the bush work done so I can get back into the sugar shack. Easier to work in there when it freezing and blowing.
bulled and jammed and pushed/pulled/ com a longed a 1000 gal metal framed tank way up into the woods all by my self, pretty proud of my self allthough the first day i wrenched my back some kinda hard but i worked that tank over the next day and got it in the shed, not bad for a one man army with a 20 foot tow strat and a 5 foot comalong
Danno ...if you put down some planks (use pine thay are lighter) it will slide nicely on them. you just need to keep moving them. but it sucks when you slide off them. and take it easy on your back man..I try to do things smarter not harder and usually end up stupider after but my back doesn't hurt...only sometimes when I get frustrated and I say the heck with it and just pick it up.
I just checked my test trees and I did tap 5 trees. in about 40 ft radius maybe bigger all reds. don't have that many sugars want to save them for the "right " time.
Tree 1= 1%
tree 2 = .75%
tree 3 = 2.1 %
tree 4 = 2%
tree 5 = 1.75%
total 2.5 gallons sap
average = 1.52% or 56 gallons sap per gallon syrup...hope it comes up a bit!!!!
all had similar amount of sap about 1/2 gallon between yesterday and today.
picking up my order that i put down from rick marsh at the farm show today, also ordered some main line from leader at the last minute and some main fittings, brings this weeks wallet damage to 764.79. good god that hurts considering i dont work to earn money in the winter because im busy getting the sugarwoods ready. i sold 3 5 gal drums of syrup for 450 which help off set that but man o man my bank account is down to 179 OUCH thats gas money for a little while. theres a girl who really likes me but i told her i dont have any money i can spend on her right now and in about 2 or 3 weeks i will have 0 time to spend with her unless she wants to hang out in the sugar house, and with her being the next town over about 30 min away and not having her own car and just her permit i dont think she will be in the sugar house any time soon. i gotta cut some more wood, i cut about as much as i had last year and if i had a good season last year i would have run out. that and im adding 114 taps and putting 500 and some thing on vacuum this year. still running my old 3x8 with 4ft flue and 4ft syrup pan, man im going to be screwed bad when we get a BIG SAP run. might be calling in "sick" to school a little more this year
Dan I know I'm impressed by your efforts. I did a bit of farming at your age, but not on my own and surely not funded out of my own pocket. Keep up the good work. Its really money out season, its hard to have to spend and spend, without knowing what will be coming back during the season. But here's to hoping mother nature is kind to us.
Dan, so far im 400 in the hole and im sure ill spend alittle bit more once I get my tax refund check. Thats one good thing about going to college you get most of your money back and then you can blow it on more maple equipment.:lol: Bad thing is I can only boil on the weekends.
Dano, I would have spent less on maple and had some money for the girl you speek of. And the hole telling her i've no money or time for you. We have to work on that some too.:cool:
Thats not so dumb, if she comes back she really likes him and there are no expectations.
I know Danno is addicted to maple - but that's a tough decision! At some point in life it's no longer socially acceptable to chase teenage girls but you can tap trees at any time! Maybe she'll keep you company in the sugar shack at during those all night boils!?
Don't worry about the girl. Its a good test, if she sticks around then shes a keeper if not youll save money in the long run. I shouldn't talk though I bought my girl freind a horse for graduation, she was a big help in the season though, once she tasted the first batch of syrup I had her hooked.
DAN...LET HER GO IF SHE LOVES YOU SHE WILL COME BACK IF SHE DOESNT SHE NEVER DID.........:mad: BULL)*^%#&()) )*(&^%% (*(&^%$%$# THROW HER A PAIR OF GARHART BIBS AND IF SHE STARTS HELPING SHES A KEEPER:evil:
Dano you better find some kind of balance there between the girl and maple. The number of teenage girls will to help in sugarhouse is very small, the number that know you and are willing to spend time with you is even smaller. If you chase her off now your gonna kick yourself later!
Good luck
Mark
I think you can figure out a balance between sugaring and the girl. Take her to the movies or something and see if she likes hanging out at the sugarhouse. Don't overdo the sugarhouse. It's the man cave.
She may like to help out some, but it's pretty much a male thing.
DanO, does she have any money? Maybe she would be willing to be a "silent" partner. Just be careful. Don't want to end up on "Judge Judy". ;)
A silent female partner is a oxymoron. Sort of like a good mother in law. I was too busy working as a kid also and never had time for fun. I got old and don't have the energy for fun now. Might as well have some childhood memorys.
Dang Ken Your making me feel bad Im 59 and are just starting to have some childhood memories there called my 6 and 9 year olds:o
Dano just make sure that you dont try and improve on the SUGAR SHACK reputation and have some childhood memories of your own with little sap suckers running around:o
dano learn from other mistake and here is mine my first wife i had here involved in the sugar house alot so she knew what here half was when she left my new wife i keep ad far away from the sugar house as poss
i use the woolie system of clothing in my woods:cool: shes alittle smaller than i am but my spair pair of woolies will fit her just fine:lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by Haynes Forest Products
shes a little smarter then you, well all u need to do is get a few boiling sodas in her, lol. u should proboly just keep her out of the sugarhouse u might get destracted and burn your pan.
its all about the tapping man, tap right and the sugar will come.
That's bad.
We got some snow today and it's supposed to return to Quebec weather. So 4 more weeks of weather and then away we go. Another fun year of hauling buckets,watching wood burn and trying to figure out how to get everything done in a few weeks. Now if I can find everything I need this weekend I will be ready.
Ok, so who is tapping the trees?;)Quote:
Originally Posted by dano2840
I'm married, its all about the trees, what are you guys thinking?
All my lines are repaired and everything is ready to go. Just waiting for tapping time. I built a nice bathroom house to match my building and got a nice 5 gallon flushing RV potty off of ebay so the ladies will have a nice bathroom for this season and not have to go somewhere else. Built to to match my building, so it should look pretty nice sitting on lower corner of my lot. Just need to finish up the door on it and get it outside and it will be ready to go.
Looks like another couple of weeks here. 10 day forecast shows all cold and warmest day is 36. Hopefully it will hold like this for a couple of more weeks which will get it to middle of Feb.