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Thanks for the replies. I'm wondering what my action item is then. Yes, our setup doesn't really work, but do you have any suggestions on what we should do instead without a vacuum pump? I'm really...

I've been a bucket guy but my neighbor got us into 3/16 natural vacuum last year. It's not a huge slope but it worked. From what I understand and have read, somewhere between 20-25 taps is optimal to...

Never thought about using a siphon. I see some for brewing that could probably be cleaned easily enough, I'll think about it. I've never seen one like yours, normally I'm used to one where I start...

Hi, looking for some evaporator arrangement advice and thoughts on an additional pan to what I currently have. Sorry for the long post and the sideways photos - they're normal on my computer.

I've...

Thanks. My wife will be happy to hear that she didn't accidentally lose 50% of my work. It still tastes great in this form anyways.

Ok so you don't think anything structurally changed in the result similar to how cooling Maple cream and stirring it does?

I'll give it a go if you think so. That's what I had been thinking...

Wanted to follow up. The RO 10 unit worked great today on about 40 to 50 gallons. I had bought some food grade barrels but I couldn't get them clean in time so I ended up working just from buckets....

Boiled today and made around 1 gallon. Since I'm small scale in hotel pans, I was trying to get it out into a pot to bring inside. Turns out I needed 2 of them so I set one down, a Dutch oven, in the...

Yes, I'm on 5/16 drops. No, the tubing isn't generally in the sap as the hole is in the very top on the side and it even likes to curl upwards.

I'm hesitant to drill holes, so maybe I'll try the...

Been thinking about this one for a while, not 100% sure how to describe it. When using gravity taps on buckets and you have a really good seal on the tubing hole + lid, is there any concern about the...

Thanks. I tried it and it's holding better. I'm not sure if it will cause the sap to "shear" off the tubing as it comes back down along it from the end (my tubing often seems to curl upwards at the...

Tapped almost all of my trees today. Just missing one bucket. Ran into some problems where my old tubing probably wasn't the standard size and while the ID was 5/16s, the OD was 7/16s. The Leader...

Thanks. I do have the prefilter. I guess I'll give thawing in the basement a go and start it running while I get a fire and boil going. I may then not need to get some barrels for gathering all the...

Hi recently purchased the RO Bucket's RB10 kit. I did 18 taps last year, have a few more I'm adding on this year, and may have a neighbor join with me. I'm still on a 5 pan cinder block arch, and...

Ok well I'm basically done after making 3 gallons. So it might not matter for me other than as you say, it could make the cleanup easier.

I just can't imagine bigger operations on buckets or sacks...

Could you post a picture of your chimney too?

How have the sheet metal doors worked? When they're closed, how is the fire getting air? Or are you finding that it can idle enough with the doors...

Hi, just wondering what you do after dumping a bucket of spoiled sap. Do you need to worry about cleaning the bucket out? Just thinking that there may be some bacteria or whatever (just my overactive...

Thanks for the replies.

What would you suggest I do to solve my bottling problem? Can I screw my lids on tighter and do a water bath for 10+ minutes to resterilize? Or maybe I do get those plastic...

Hi, this is my second year making syrup, first year filtering. Last time I just skimmed it and used a sieve to get the bigger things out.

Anyways, I bought a synthetic filter from leader...

Thanks for the tip. I saw some on Craigslist in the past seasons so you're right, not a bad idea. We'll see how this year goes and go from there. I'm freer this year with work, but that won't happen...

Thanks. I'm in the hills of Pompey.

I'll keep that in mind. I would love to expand, but we'll have to see how things go. I myself don't have many more trees I can tap, but quite a few neighbors...

I tapped late in the day on 2/21 as we had good weather then. Got a few good runs but have really only collected around 15-20 gallons. All frozen now. Hoping to get some good runs starting this...