Got Sanborns Sugarwoods ready to tap,,took alot longer than expected but should make a big diffrance this spring...Off to Hill
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Got Sanborns Sugarwoods ready to tap,,took alot longer than expected but should make a big diffrance this spring...Off to Hill
Deer hunting is done for a few days and just in time. Monsoons have struck again. 10-year old got a buck Monday as part of mentor program. One shot dropped it at 7:30am. Not bad for first year deer hunting. I shot a doe Monday afternoon, and didnt see any deer all day yesterday. Need to wait a few more days to see if I had any lines shot.
Got a bunch of stuff done the last 2 days. Took a walk on my neighbors property with the chainsaw She had a bunch of pine down from the wind storm storm so spent a tank of gas starting to gut that up once I get it back to the house I will have enoug wood for about 2.5 seasons of sugaring!! more trees than I thought up there!!!
Problem is there are 3 nasty nasty widow makers snapped off about 20 feet up and then got hung up have to get the comealong up there see if I can gettem loose!!!! but need enough cable to stand clear!!!
Made up 350 drop lines last night. Man are my hands sore today:cry: I need to buy a tubing tool!!
Spent the last weekend clearing a new sugarbush for tapping this season. 10 hours worth of cutting to get the debris cleared from the ice storm that hit us 2 years ago. Hoping to add 100-150 taps in this new sugarbush. In between hunting, I'm looking to hang mainline and tubing in the next couple weeks before the snow sets in. Need to start looking for a bigger evap. for next year. Anyone have a 3 X 8 or larger they want to unload?
Deer hunting in shirt sleeves Monday, rain gear on Tuesday, will hunt in 6 inches of snow tomorrow. I have several places, to still hunt, small patches of woods and small creeks with overgrown brush.
Maple related: Not much happening, considering CV spouts on the gravity systems.
Regards,
Chris
Chris 6" of snow already! We just got a monsoon down here. almost 3" or rain in just over 12 hours. The bottom is about to drop out of the temps around here the next few days.
I sure hope this cold weather we are getting is a good sign for the coming season. Last year just sucked.
I got more trees lined up for tapping, they will be on buckets though. The guy was more than happy about. He actually never tried maple syrup and when I told him I would share some for letting me tap his trees he said giver me minute I will be out so you can show me maples that I wanted to tap. Very cool.
There will be maybe 30-50 trees that I saw there, nice ones too.
has anybody ever tapped maples on uncle sams land??.. i,am talking on a military base..just wondering.
this weather sure has been wild,sun one minute,rain the next and snow the next.we had a heck of a snowstorm friday afternoon/night and early saturday morning.monday it warmed up and poured and melted all the snow,today it poured and then turned to snow again.the ground is covered in white again...uuuuuuuuuuuugggggggggaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!! !
delbert
I was in the woods today fixing squirell damage and trees on lines, until I had to evacuate the woods. I noticed the wind was really picking up. Well lets just say 30 minuites after I got out of the woods 60 to 70 mile an hour winds were coming through for about 4 hours. Trees down every where. Its going to be a long winter. I hope the snow holds off for a while.
i,ve never liked being in the woods in high winds.but,now i won,t even stay there in high winds.i lost a coworker and friend a few summers back from a very strong summer storm every time the wind blows over 30 i think of him. :cry:
delbert
A lot of changes/upgrades have been made to the tubing system-still just going with gravity but lets hope it is an improvement over last year! Time is ticking away so fast and the season will be upon us before we know it.....
We got our 2500 CV's from Leader this week and will start on replacing 1400 5/16" spiles with stubbies this weekend. If we have time we'll replace more but replacing that many will take upwards to 4 man days and we've got many other things to complete before the season.
Working hard every day. New Taps. Fixing old taps. Half way through re piping the sugar house. All sap will only touch SS now once at the sugar house. All tanks and pipe will be SS. The hope is that everything will be easily cleaned therefore better / lighter / syrup. I hope to produce a larger percentage of table grade syrup before dropping into the commercial range. And the SS looks cool.
Brian,
Looking at your photos, which by the way are very good shots, of your woods and work on the arch. That last shot is of a oil burner that you are going to use as a blower for the AOF system correct? Did this work out OK for you? I plugged in one of my old (I mean old) burners and it didn't seem to have enough air flow to put out a match?
Regards,
Chris
Sorry guys I fibbed, weather man said we were getting another three on top of what we had, but the lake effect storm hit the Buffalo area instead of Erie. So I hunted almost all day and did not see a tail. Granted I did not cover as much ground as I used to, and hunting by yourself its tough to sneak up on one. After hunting whitetails for 45 years I must say that this doe killing, antler restricting, kids can kill anything, a hunting day for everyone and every weapon thing, is not providing for much catching just a lot of hunting:)
Its official the deer herd in PA is under control!
Also I am not seeing massive ammounts of large racks. A few but not many! We are not seeing as many hunters out either I think the kids and youth mentoring is good for future hunters but Im not seeing them out there.
I thinks its time to dial back to a two day doe season and make the 4 points per one side restriction for everyone. Then in a few years you could get a larger rack and fill the frezzer too.
My two cents! I'll be back out there Saturday:)
Regards,
Chris
been puttin up lines at school between the monsoon and the inch of snow... where we are we dont get much until everybody else does... hoping the ground freezes too before we get snow because i would like to get more wood done. putttin up lines are slow, someone let the wire go instead of getting a spooler so it undid itself and is in a tangle on a stick... gotta wind it through itself again and again and again and again... :o:mad:
I built my arch 4 years ago. One year before I was aware of AOF. I use the two 6" oil burner fans to feed the fire under the grates. They produce an awesome amount of air that consumes wood like it is going out of style. It is not an efficient arch but it burns hotter than hell. I can keep the stack in the 900 degree range, 17' from the front of the arch. It will consume 300+ gph of sap. I do have intentions of re building the arch to be AOF but it is rather low on the list. I have a ton of wood and a over sized RO.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sugarmaker
Been over setting up mainline for Brother Bob..Had a mainline spinner built,,works very well (still needs a couple of upgrades)...Yesterday we got up and tight 4000' of wire and 4000' of one inch mainline.(conductor lines)..they are going to tie it off over the weekend then back there monday for the lateral mainlines,,,he is hopeing for 700-900 taps on that bush this year....cant get over how nice it is to pull mainline off that spinner,,no twists when you unroll it!!! Make 1000' rolls very nice to work with!
Parker ;we bought a spinner from Tractor supply($29.00 i might mention) and like you guys we put a 2000ft roll of 200,000 ftlbs high tensel wire on it and man was it great to not be fighting the roll We also put a 500ft roll of 3/4 line on top of the wire and rolled that off the same way! Amazing what $30.00 will buy a person!With the spinner one person can almost put in main line wire by themselves but not quite!
Jim
Going to work on rebuilding the arch today. Need to get moving on this project or it will be back to boiling on the "old stove" again!:o
Deer hunting yesterday one tree stand is on the end of a mainline branch and caught a squirrel chewing on the mainline:mad: Didn't see any deer but saw a lot of squirrels. so to day were gonna go get some squirrels for sunday dinner:)
I've been using the sugarhouse to get cast iron frying pans ready for my other small business/hobby. We have a bigger woodstove up there, so I put them in to clean them up and posted some signs up in the woods, came back and scrubbed them off with a wire brush, sprayed them with cooking oil and they looked good as new.
It's a great way to multi task.
so i picked up my new vaccum pump today.. as i was chatting with the salesman i was sayin that we got plenty of time to get it ready . he looked at me and laughed,, said son we got 60 days till we start gettin ready to tap. that said i gotta lot to do. pump needs a shed and the ro will be in next week. this fulltime job thing is startin to hinder my sugarin problem :o better get movin
I did that I actually found 2 of them in the woods. in a pile of junk and what was left of a rusted out 55 gallon barrel they were rusty and nasty. took em and hit em with the angle grinder with the wire brush got them cleaned up pretty good. and put them in the oven on the cleaning mode which is 550 or what ever for about 4 -5 hours (oven got clean too!!! took em out hit em with the wire brush again. oiled them up and baked them for a few hours again. you wouldn't belive the were in the woods for that many years. the one had a little pitting on the bottom and on the handle but the cook surface was smooth. great find!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Revi
STEAM MAKER: i work a job thats three hours a day split into two shifts for 180 days of the year and i can,t get done what i need too...you guys with fulltime jobs are in big trouble if your not ready by now.. :D
winter came to the north country and really messed my plans up..i,am really worryed right now.i can,t buy any tubing or fittings until x-mas so everything is kinda on hold right now because of that and the weather.all i can do is work in the work shop for now..i,ll get my door done and work on my arch if i can.
delbert
Lastnight someone took two 5 gallons pails filled with mainline tools wire tools. 5/16 tubing tools around 730 lastnight. hasnt been a good weekend. but on that note. got alot cleared out of the sugarbush this weekend.
Casey, sorry to hear that...it sucks is an understatement. Do you have extra tools handy?
I took Thursday and Friday and tomorrow off and am getting a bunch of work wrapped up. As of now, I have all drops in on all but one mainline. I've installed 105 saddles and ran out and will probably need another 30 to finish things up. I'd estimated 500 taps, so maybe I have more than I thought?? I got one of my star lifts built and will finish the other tomorrow. Next weekend, the vac line will be run and the last of the laterals/drops (50+ taps) installed and these woods will be done. Then it's off to the RO room and SH.
sorry Nate. We all know that stuff is expensive!!!
Did the x-mas tree drive around today!!! Man went to a cut your own place 60 bucks for a cut your own and you had to pay in advance!!! if you didn't find a tree they give you your money back. We said the hell with that place!!!
it still in my head $60 bucks for a cut your own. Sorry you people are high!! So we went back to our friends place and bought one from him. It was still $45 but I feel better giving it to him...he needs the money!!! And he is the nicest guy!!!
he owns tree service and he took down a few trees closed to the house for me. but a few years ago he was suppose to come back with a crane to take out a few more nast poplars but he wasn't returning my calls. turned out a tree fell on one of his workers I think the kid was 19 and it killed him!!! poop happens but he was guilty and had to pay fines out the yingyang, probation and what ever else. too bad such a nice guy!!!
There isnt much in this world thats worse than a thief. Nate I hope you catch the low down peice of Sh#t that took your stuff.
Finished up N. Tier deer season today. Was bitter sweet. Got a call today that my great Aunt passed away. She was a lady that always brought a smile to your face and lightened up any room she was in and will greatly be missed. She loved maple syrup. Was a suprise to all. Happy and healthy as could be at thanksgiving dinner.
Spent last two days cutting up 5 more cords of wood for the house just incase and I love being outside when the first snow of the season starts. Gonna spend a few more days hauling out some softwood logs and park them by the sugarhouse. It will give me something to do while I wait for tapping. Not long now. Lets hope for a quick mild winter, what am I thinking I live in a snowbelt where we measure snowfall with yardsticks. About 10 inches on ground now and doesnt look like the gound will freeze up again this year.
Nate, check out the local pawn shops. There probably aren't many tubing tools around, and the ratfinks probably went to pawn it. We have had problems too, so I know what a pain it is.
Redmaples, it's amazing how great minds think alike. We both have Phaneuf 2x6's with around 300 taps, and collect cast iron pans. We're thinking of vacuum too. How do you like it? Now that we have our crime problem under control we're thinking of installing it.
Do you have to use it all the time? I think we'd use it for weeping runs, and let the rest come down by gravity when there is a massive run. That's what i'm thinking anyway.
We're thinking of a half horse electric system or something like that.
I love the vac. yes I use it all the time I tap mostly reds and sometimes they run sometimes they don't run good from tree to tree when they are on vac they run like crazy. Last year it saved my season without it I would have made nothng!!!! I orginally set up for gravity tubing and had alot of taps per lateral which I am changing out this year and basically re running all my laterals to a maximum of 5 taps per lateral some as many as 2. I made enough money this year to switch over to CV's too. Got all my drops made btu have to switch out Tee's too. lots of work but getting there.
I got a bb2 and it runs great!!!
i got my PID controller in the mail yesterday.after,work i went to the shop and worked on my rollup door again.i have three panels done and the last one almost done then it,s paint and put it up.
it looks like winter has came to the north country.yesterday,at 4pm i was out by my sawmill and i whipped out the ruler..16 inchs of snow on the ground and counting.it,s snowed all night and it,s still snowing and snowing hard right now.
delbert
Nate- sorry to hear about the stuff getting ripped off! I had a releaser stolen a couple of years back..We put a sine up at the tank where it was taken from (next to a major road) and got 2 eye whitness reports..Police were able to "take down the bad guy".and after a while we got the releaser back....Hope you are as lucky...
Over at Bobs agine yesterday...Got another 1500' of wire and 3/4"lateral mainline up,,laid out the rest of the lat. mains, and moved a whole bunch of supplies into the heart of the bush..(a 4wheeler would make that job eaiser!)..cant express how wounderful that mainline spinner works,,what a timesaver!
Last 2 days i was repairing lateral lines that the trees and squirrels made a mess of. Lots of branches down/damage this year. I know we had a freak 6 inch snowfall in May when the leaves were on and i think thats why all the damage. One more full day and i think i will have the obvious damage repaired. We have a inch of snow on the ground so it's nice walking but the mornings are starting at 8 degrees so thats real fun working with tubeing repairs. Yesterday, when i was done for the day and went back to my truck with the 4-wheeler, I seen that a wolf trotted past my truck sometime as i was working in the woods. Getting a little to brave i say!! I know the gut piles all over from the past gun hunt dosn't help much to make them shy away from human activity. Today i found myself looking over my shoulder when i heard something.
Nate - sux about the tools, hope you get a lead on them.
Figured I had plenty of time to add another new section and re-work part of another. I did get started a few weeks ago, but then got sidelined (steelhead fishing). At least we were able to brush a new mainline run. Anyway, I like tubing best in cold, snowy weather.
Well, after 30" of snow since Saturday, I can't find my mainlines. This will slow things down a bit. I was able to break a trail with the snowmobile to the bush today - so at least I can get up in there this weekend. Quite a lake effect storm for this neck of the woods. Never thought I would get the snowmobile in there, but the snow is pure fluff.
39 inchs of snow and more still coming pretty much put a stop to all things maple
Boyd,
Some of that 36 inches missed us. But there is still time. We may have 16 inches. Yea glad the wood is cut. I can ride the trader a little more.
May go out and put the WRU on and get the hoods in place.
Chris
Our lake effect blitz ended this morning - final count was 50"+/-. Heard Perrysburg down near the PA/NY border picked up 72". Sounds like we're supposed to do it all over again early next week. Gonna be tough to get tubing work done unless we thaw.
Same here Danno had a final tally of 50 inches also. Rain sunday then same deal all over. It has been a rough few days keeping up at work and trying to plow 5 driveways. Wanted to drag out some more pine for sugarhouse we will see though. Tractor had no problem getting through the woods yesterday all fluff. Really debating if Im going to run some tubing this winter or not. Just been so busy and booked with work till second week in febuary so I dont know if I will get it in or not. I wanted to do a section of 150 taps that are hard to gather with buckets. Nice and close to the house but not so easy to get to by tractor. Easy hookup for vac.
Just got an update from the farm - a grand total of 1" on the ground! Those of you snowed in but itching to run some tubing can come help me for the weekend - I need someone to run the 2-hander while I stretch.
I do sympathize - it sucks when you can't work in the bush because of the weather. I hope things get better, not worse, before tapping time for y'all.