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Typically about 18” at the pump. Each pump handles about 75 taps at 60 psi. So it’s a 3/16 gravity system with a diaphragm pump booster. The lift over the hill to the sugarhouse is the most useful...

I use flotec g80 beverage pumps. They run on compressed air, which is cheap to supply over long distances compared to electricity. In one place I run air in 5/16 sap line 500 feet over a hill,and...

I have a new toy that controls the stack temperature of my boils. (Thanks to Tetil Engineering) This has allowed me to dial back the heat and keep it consistent (wood fired here).

This year I am...

I think any pan that has folded in channels would have this problem. It’s just how pans are made now. Looking to hear from people who have successfully rewelded that seam in the ports between the...

My old leader pan had channels inserted into a flat pan, but my new pan has holes punched into the folded in channels. This results in a lip , and the pan doesn’t drain completely. This in my...

It gets to zero here between boils sometimes. I have an antifreeze tester that I use only for sap. Draw a sample off, take it into the tester and read the freeze point. Sweetened sap will test...

I never rest easy with anything in the flue pan during a cold spell. It’s thousands of dollars to replace. What if eight days from now the forecast drops ten degrees?

Id be concerned the acidic nature of sap would leach something out of the aluminum, but im sure aluminum is used all the time. All stainless, all the time, is my motto.

Meeting you and Emma this weekend reminds me that growing the next generation of traditional sugarmakers is important work.
Emma surely has the “disease”, and thats very encouraging.

i found a stainless steel countertop that i made into a hood for my old 2x4. I will give it to you to get it out of the yard. Im in Lowell vt. It has a 8” circle in the center for a stack. Not...

My procedure is to always final check syrup when it has gotten to 60d. The hydrometer has a red line for this temperature. The syrup temps are more stable at this point, and you dont need a 125.00...

I left out one tiny detail: the membranes are not installed. No dpubt they raise the pressures a bit?

This is an older home built r.o. It has a lp pump and a rotary vane hp pump. The relief pressure on that is 240 psi, four gals/mimute output.
It has full instrumentation; sap temp and sap pressure,...

New to me used ro has 3 4x40 membranes, and 20” filter. Previous user said it ran best at 90-120 psi. Do ireally need 20” filter? Im running around 500 taps and used to,changing my prefilter daily...

I keep my ro20 in a foam lined box built under a stainless steel table. For heat i use a 20w seedling mat connected to a controller set to 40d. This is good down to about zero deg f. Off season i...

I have the ro20 on three hundred taps. It is essential for me. The support is excellent and its easy to use. In my setup it is maxed out.

Daily cleaning takes me about an 1.5 ,hours in the...

2x4 drop flue pan here:
The old men in my Neighborhood say a cord of good dry softwood will make 20-25 gallons of syrup. Provably on a longer pan.
I cut and split fine a shed full of pine...

I just looked into this finally. Its sounds like it might work for exactly my problem. It seems to me that a tds meter reading would
Tell me if the output is safe for processing into permeate. ...

I have just purchased a 2 post ro for sap concentration. I see right away that bootstrapping up to get enough permeate early in the season will be be difficult. I have available to me an old spring...

It can get very cold here even in season. To solve this problem I bought an automotive antifreeze tester. It tells me how sweet i am with a freeze chart attached. DO NOT put the tester in the pan...

I have to step in here. Retired chimney mason, seen everything, including lots of charred rafters and roofs.

Insulating wood members is considered a bad idea as it retains heat right where you...

You would be training a whole generation of squirrels to search for salt by eating tubing, other than that its a great idea!

Membrane outputs are calculated at either 40 or 60 degrees, operating on plain water. RO outputs will be reduced as the sap temperature is much colder. In addition, pressed into sap concentration...

I use a thermoworks chef alarm digital. It has an alarm and can be calibrated. There is an available 12” probe as well. I set it much closer to the bottom out of the bubbling. On my first draw of...

I dont think with those results you are wasting line. And it feels like I might be getting to the upper limit of what i can push over the hill without a traffic jam at the pump on warm days. This...