I have a 300 gallon white poly vertical tank I'd be willing to sell. If that works for you send me a PM.
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I have a 300 gallon white poly vertical tank I'd be willing to sell. If that works for you send me a PM.
Just sent you a pm
So.... since i couldn't get around the bush last weekend because the snow was so deep I had to rethink my sap collection method.. lol .
After much thought and debate with my wife we upgraded to what i think will be an awesome addition to the sugar bush.....
Attachment 19634Attachment 19635
So plan is to tap Saturday and be boiling next weekend with luck now that i can get around the bush lol is the story I'm sticking with.
Nice, I am going to get the rest of my taps in tomorrow and hope to be boiling by Monday.Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffB
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LOL you guys, any excuse to buy a new toy ;-) Just make sure you have VERY tight-fitting lids on whatever you are using fpr sap hauling. Does it have a winch so you can self-rescue if it gets bogged down anywhere?
Fighting off a stupid little head cold. Don't even have my sugaring supplies out of storage yet. So going back to bed for a bit longer then get up, get supplies out, clean and dry pails etc and plan to tap either later this afternoon or tomorrow.
It sure does .. that was the first option to have installed right after the roof and windscreens..next is full doors and a cab heater but i need to let dust settle before i spend more or i might not have legs to drive it after my wife breaks them lol
Smart man, waiting for things to cool before jumping back into the fray ;-) Have fun with it and be extra-nice to wifey!
I was hoping to tap tomorrow or Monday but the weather doesn't't look very good again for the next week or so. Couple of sunny days but out our way they are calling for snow, rain and cloudy with low and below zero temps. One day is 9 with rain but the rest are not looking great. Glad in a way since this ice is brutal. My bulk tank was on blocks and the ice is above the drain so it is going to be a big job to get it out and back on the wagon.
Motoman, where exactly are you? Ottawa for instance is always at least 2 degrees colder than where I am, which is outside of Kemptville. FWIW tem,ps out here looking good though yes wind and lack of sun will affect my run but not that much. Also take the size of your trees into account...are they huge old maples or teeny little 1-spilers? My big trees take a good week or so to get into gear, but if I tap now...and I will once I blaze a little more trail...the 3 bush maples could easily have a litre or two for me by evening.
ETA: just finished tapping and already 5 of the 18 spiles are going! Surprise (W) , Surprise 3.0 (S), and for the biggies S spile on #5 and S&W spiles on #2.
Also decided to change things a little this year. Dr Tim mentioned N spiles being as good as the spiles located elsewhere on the tree. So this season 4 of the 5 biggies have spiles on the N and none on the E. Only exception is #9 which fronts onto a road so it has my traditional setup of SWE. Gawd I am such a maple geek!
Got a good start on tapping this afternoon. Started off cutting a load of wood off the swamp before it thaws,then got first bush tapped this afternoon,tough going,trudging through the snow is pretty tiresome. Not a lot of sap running,only the trees that actually felt warm with the sun beating on them
I spent the day in the bush, now have a total of 75 taps, every single one of them was running today. Hope to be boiling Monday morning.
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Was in the bush all day and 128 taps are in. 3 hours later all the main lines are starting to running . I still have another main line with 30 taps on it to install might get to that sunday.
First day or 2 I'm going to let the new sap flush the lines and actually start collecting sap monday night .
So much work and running out of time, still have to get the sugar shack all cleaned and ready togo.
Who ever said pimp'in aint easy never made maple syrup obviously !!! Cause im thinking pimp'in has gotta be easier then this at times.!!! LOL
Bruteman ...didnt you not upgrade your evaporator this yr?
Well I didn't make as much progress as I wanted to today. Started off the morning with a 3 hours sled ride because, well, it was just way too nice to pass up on! Finished trampling my paths to my trees. Managed to get my 10 tree hangers in. Now I'm working on digging the holes in the snow for the buckets to my drop tubes.. Maybe next year I'll switch to all tree hangers.. I'd be done if I didn't have to dig all those holes in the snow.. not to mention that I procrastinate knowing I have to dig holes in the snow. So I'll finish putting out the other 20 taps tomorrow.. I think washing all my buckets until 1 am last night and my 6 am start time this morning wore me out more than I anticipated! LOL
Yes, but it is still sitting in my garage and not up in the forest lol. I did not get as much done in the sugar bush during the summer as I wanted, every time I went anywhere near it I was covered in poison ivy, I ended up with poison ivy 6 times I think last summer and each time it got worse and worse, I ended up getting some medical crap pumped through me via IV to get rid of the last batch.Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffB
I may try and get the new evaporator up to the forest this week, I think I am going to need it.
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Attachment 19645 Just a little bit of snow to deal with in the bush. I finally have my main road into the bush cleared out. Now I need to bring the big tractor out to do my collection loops. The height of where I put my taps in last year are where the height of the snow is now.
:o:o Holy Crap that's a lot of times to get poison ivy in one summer! I feel for you!Quote:
Originally Posted by BrutemanAl
Hey Gelena, I am close to Russel. All but three of my trees are multi tappers and seem to take a bit to run even along the road with full sun exposure. Not sure why really but I even had some old trees that last year only gave about 4 cups all season? Got my trial packed yesterday and think I might hang a few pails today despite the snow. Guess I better get cracking or I will miss whatever comes this week. These 4:30am/pm milkings are cutting into my prep time though!
Wow, you run dairy cattle too? That'll keep you busy! I doubt there will be much run today if you're gettin the snow we're gettin all day. Just frozen smudges of sap in teh bottom of a few pails this am, not gonna change now.
Ack! 6 taps left and the $#%^%# drill bit breaks in a tree! Anyone else have a bit break while tapping? I would have thought a tapping bit would last longer than 33 taps (20 last year and 13 so far this year).
Ugh! Not a happy camper!
Eek! Nope...try pming Bruce (BLeggett) or EnnisMaple as they, the two biggest producers on here, may have encountered the bit breaking off in a tree before.
And that was a new bit, right? Hope you kept the receipt - take it back to CDL and get a new one.
I went and checked my trees this afternoon, everything survived the night and the crazy weather we had, and most of my taps were dripping away, some more than others. I amoff all week so hopefully I will get boiling soon.
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Any bits I've broken come as a result in downward pressure on the bit, which was caused by snow letting you down. Broke 2 in one year.Quote:
Originally Posted by paulslund
Hmm.. I wonder if I may have been putting some downward pressure on it due to the odd angle I was using on that particular tree.Quote:
Originally Posted by argohauler
Unfortunately I don't have the receipt anymore, but I'll call them in the morning to see if they would do anything for me.
I've never broken a tapping bit, but some of my help have. In fact, my brother in law broke one last week, when his foot slipped on ice as he was drilling the hole. It's my belief that anytime a bit gets broken tapping a tree the drill motor was not held in line with the bit. It either was pulled up, down or sideways. From drilling steel I have broken bits but they seem to have always happened when the chuck slipped on the bit, then grabbed hold again, the sudden grab was too much for the bit. That is highly unlikely tapping a tree unless you hit metal in the tree. I don't think a broken bit will ever be covered under warranty. It makes no difference if that bit is drilling it's first hole or it's 1000th hole, if the drill is pulled in any direction that forces it to twist sideways, it is most likely going to break.
Finally some time from the rink and work to get the taps in on a mild yet rainy Sunday....Was happy to collect the little bit from overnight, back in the saddle again and won't miss the sapnami that I'm sure is coming this week....
Keep the posts coming folks, hoping for a good enough run this week to do a boil on the weekend....
TurkeyJohn
Just walked my bush. A few damp spiles, some tree pee from recent snow, but most trees are just sitting chilly. Thank gawd for that cause I still don't have my smoke pipe up for my sugar shack!
I broke my first bit in several thousand drill holes this weekend. Slipped a little and the drill was pulled down slightly, doesn't take much. It is operator error, not the bit. But I never go tapping without a spare in my pocket. Threw it on and continued to the next tree.
Broke a bit many years ago,slipped on the roots of the tree that I was drilling. Current bit has probably drilled over 10,000 holes. Only problem I have encountered for the past few years is the bit falling out of the chuck. Now I tend to check quite often to make sure that the bit is still tight,after I had to truck back home when I lost the bit between trees,time I got back my wife had excavated enough snow to find it.
We had one break this year but it had probably done upwards to 2000 taps. Can be a combination of wobbling while tapping (arms tired or slipped) and maybe the drill not being a full speed?Quote:
Originally Posted by paulslund
Bruce - I did the same thing a few years ago about an hour after I gave my brother crap for losing his! I find that if I re-tighten after half a dozen holes the chuck won't loosen again for the day. It's amazing how long it can take to find a drill bit in deep snow between 2 trees 15 feet apart!
The new vacuum pump is up and running! Three weekends ago that building was a pile of lumber and the pump was in a box. It hums along at half the noise level of the SP22 it replaces and once we get the lines walked for leaks it should pull 26" Hg all season long! One vacuum line runs 600 feet over the hill to a mechanical releaser for a 600 gallon tank and the other line runs 1000 feet over 2 hills to an 800 gallon tank. We had to put a moisture trap at the low point in between but no big deal because we had an extra anyways.
Attachment 19656
New year's project is to get 1300 of our taps pumped back to the camp, followed by another 1800 taps the year after!
I have not broken a drill bit... yet, here is a question, allot say downward pressure is what could cause it.... are you suppose to drill downward? Lol
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On a side note... I collected 145L this afternoon, going to boil tomorrow!!! It is about time!!!
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Wow Al, you're rockin and rollin already! I am still a few days or so away from collecting enough to even fill one 15l sap tank (knocking on wood), let alone fire up the shack.
Rock on Al, you the man Dude, makes up for all the poison ivy, some good Karma coming back to you...
TurkeyJohn
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Checked the buckets late this afternoon after skiing with the kids. Nada! Nothing. Empty. Hoping the temp drop this evening will produce something. Not sure what the week will produce with this crazy volatile weather!
I put in 15 taps Saturday afternoon (beautiful) and 10 more Sunday morning (not so beautiful). Snowshoes have never seemed so amazing.
Didn't think there'd be much today so I didn't go out after work.
I'll go out before work tomorrow morning. Supposed to be nicer tomorrow so we'll see what happens.
I got my 55 gal barrel for sap storage. Just need to get some plumbing supplies tomorrow to get it ready for action. Hopefully one late night and it'll be ready.
Michael
Snow is so#@&”% deep in the bush can’t get the generator into place yet,might get the tractor stuck and spend hours shovelling it out
Patience Grasshoppah, come the sap will....oh wait am I getting my wizened gurus mixed up again? Probably...brains still scrambled from cold this weekend.Quote:
Originally Posted by paulslund
Anyway enjoy the calm while you can, soon we'll all be moaning about how tired we are staying up all night boiling :-)
:lol: I always expect sap when the temps goes up or drops... Was expecting something this morning too but nothing. It's a sledding day today! Woot Woot!Quote:
Originally Posted by Galena
Finally my first boil of 2019.
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