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I don't know about Mass. rules, but I will not open my sugarhouse to the public this season. I'm so glad I sell so much syrup online, and my only local retail outlet does extremely well.
I also, for...

When you drill out the long nuts you only drill half way in from the end facing the other long nut. That way the threads grip the tubing, while the fitting barb can fit into the larger half of the...

Even if you had a check valve and left the pump and pipe full of water it would not work from the top. That is because a pump that is pulling can lift no more that what the atmospheric pressure can...

Just one question, since the rule of 86 has evolved to 87 or even 88, which number do you use?

To legally re-use a container for retail sales, you must have an approved bottle washer such as what milk dealers clean their glass bottles before re-filling.

I don't know the prices now, but a few years ago I was at Eastern Crown Inc, (ECI) in Vernon, NY buying new o-rings for a 1.5" Sunset tank valve and I saw a small room full of 5 gal white plastic...

In your filtering, with either the cones or your vacuum filter try mixing in more DE (must be food grade, get it from a maple dealer). I've found that most who have cloudy syrup didn't use enough DE.

While it's not impossible to get natural vacuum in 5/16 it would be very rare. The reason, is that in 5/16 the air (gases) can pass the sap, thus hard to generate vacuum in it from gravity.
I'd...

Welcome AL, I'm also retired twice, once at 51, again at 71. After retiring at 51 I got bored, then drove school bus for about 20 years. Finally my wife said"you don't need to work that much" and I...

We don't all stare at acres and acres. My first 2 years I tapped on my land, then in yr 3 I had leased taps from others. When I had my highest number of taps at 1320, all were leased. I then spent...

back about 2004 I made my drops 24", I later went to 28", then 32" and now 36". I see no reason to keep the tap within 6-8" of the tap hole. You want the drop long enough that you can reach...

I use a typical SS sap tank. Mine is 150 gal and it sets outside on a platform attached to the north wall of the sugarhouse. It is high enough that the bottom of the tank is about 20-24" higher than...

I've never rinsed them. As long as the carton was sealed and nothing could get it, I just bottle. Never had any issues except on some bottles with a larger diameter cap similar to a salad dressing...

Welcome tapdat. Many of us started rather small, then we grew too fast.

I used to clean my pre-filters in the washing machine too, ran 2 full cycles, no soap, hot water. Now I'd even question that.

I hope it's not too late, but I made 2 moisture traps in the past but I made them using 4" sch.40 PVC in the past. I then at the top reduced to 1.25", I also had a ball valve to drain the bottom. I...

I'm not sure, but some pumps are available in options for the threads. I don't know if Shurflo is one who does that.

Yes, hot pack the 5 gal jugs. Be extra certain it is completely clean inside and intended for hot pack. For years small producers used blue, or white (semi transparent) jugs.
Starting a few years...

A couple more questions, are the pails specifically "food grade" , were they cleaned completely? and you say you need to remove the filter ccake and start again. How much DE are you using per...

Back when I was both younger and had lots more taps we tapped at 15F. Now I have fewer taps and I'm also on a blood thinner, (which makes me get cold faster) I tap at 32+. But we can tap everything...

Me too, they were close by, kept in stock quite well and they could answer any questions I had. In fact, they were my only source for maple info from Feb 3rd of my first year until I attended the...

Tell us your filtering process, step by step, including temperatures as best you know them.

Just test a piece. Heat a teakettle, when the steam is shooting out the spout, hold the plastic close but not touching the spout. Be careful not to get burned. If after 3-4 minutes the plastic...

each heat cycle darkens the syrup. If you only heat it to 185, each time you darken it less than if you heated it to 195-200+ each time. I like to use a Hanna Checker which gives you the % of light...

Any I've seen used plastic end caps. You should be able to get leak free connections, I suggest a good quality joint compound paste. Some use teflon tape, but in reality that is not suggested for...