I need to boil tomorrow otherwise won't be able to boil until next weekend. Does anybody have any experience boiling when it's below 20° out and windchill =0?
I need to boil tomorrow otherwise won't be able to boil until next weekend. Does anybody have any experience boiling when it's below 20° out and windchill =0?
Yes. Boiling outside in freezing weather is a struggle to keep your feet warm and to keep the pan that you dip your foam scoop into from freezing. If you boil with propane, it might be difficult to keep the BTUs up because the propane doesn't want to boil in the tank. You'll use more of whatever fuel you use. Keeping the sap flowing can be harder.
One side of your legs will be frozen, while the other will be nearly burning.
So, on average he should be comfortable. :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by wnybassman
Good luck weekend warrior. You're definitely going to have an adventure.
two words, Plywood windbreak
The biggest things I always noticed when boiling in cold wind was how drastically it effected my boil rate. Some cold windy days I couldn't even get above 10gph. I also had my feed line from my head tank to my evaporator freeze. That is a GIANT PITA.... I ended up stopping and going to the hardware store to buy pipe heat wrap to keep my line thawed. You might want to consider that ahead of time if you're feeding your rig with a head tank.
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I tried boiling last night and couldn't get my syrup temps up high enough so I canceled weekend operations.
Second that motion....Quote:
Originally Posted by Sweet Shady Lane
It may sound dumb but the first year I tried this I put up 2x4 walls with scrap tin for a roof. I stapled cardboard from the appliance store for 3 walls and a blue tarp for a door. Road out many snowstorms in there for weeks. Total cost was under$40 and way worth it.
Sounds like you're putting Rink Mann's advice to good use! Any way to stay warm.
I on the other hand have a shack and am out boiling as I type. My problem? My head tank is out in the wind. The feed pipe keeps freezing, I have 30 gallons of sap on reserve in buckets in case the line freezes. Big PITA. I see another project in my future. Head tank comes inside to keep from freezing!
My single greatest comfort improvement when I boiled outside was bungee cording a tarp between two trees on the prevailing wind side of me. That was HUGE!!
I'm so glad I'm inside now. I had no siding the first year after my frame went up, but I had a roof. I did the plywood wind break, and got some siding up between boils. Last year the siding was 95%. This year 99.8%. Those early years had some very cold nights tending the boil, and it seemed there was always wind (not like now - lol).