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I bought the flat pan and lid when I was cooking on blocks and will stick with that setup for the time being. The hybrid pan looks neat, though.

Tapped trees a month early this year based on weather reports, and I’m glad I did. I’m still 2 weeks away from when I tapped last year and I’ve already matched my total 2023 production. Get a break...

I’m in west-central Wisconsin wondering the same thing. I’ve only been syruping for a few years, but I’m currently inclined to wait until late February like I have in the past. The forecast sure...

Pulled taps and finished boiling today. Probably could have kept going another week if work/family plans allowed, but no regrets there. Ended up with a touch over 9 gallons of finished syrup and am...

I batch boil, but it’s in my backyard and it sounds like your trees may not be close to home. I added a lid to my evaporator this year (smoky lake dauntless pan on cinder blocks) and it made a world...

I’m in the hills halfway between Blair and Ettrick. Beautiful country unless it’s freezing rain…

Congrats! I usually can’t wait til breakfast to enjoy my first finished syrup of the year. Thankfully it goes very well with a couple fingers of bourbon.

For the time being this is my spring sanity project - a pleasant diversion from my day job. I’ve kept it small enough to be enjoyable with the kids. It may grow into something more in the empty-nest...

Taps placed today and about 3/4 were flowing. 45 taps all on yard silver maples. If the weather holds as forecast it should be a good boil this weekend!

Hard to say from your photo, but would it be possible to cut vents in the bottom of the stove to let air come up through the fire? It looks like a gravel floor, so coals falling out shouldn’t be a...

Can’t speak from experience with that stove, but how do you intend to feed the fire with a pan over the top? Another concern is that if you do decide to try it and just move the pan to feed the fire...

Let them air dry and use them as small trash can liners?

I’m guessing Carl will be along shortly, but the larger RO bucket kits will do 6%, and I believe the RB25 said 8% last I checked. Their new single-post rig advertises 10%. Send them an email to...

That mirrors my experience as well. Excellent company to work with.

I’m about 40 miles north of La Crosse and hoping for good sap flow starting tomorrow. So far I’ve had a few drips from all my taps, but that’s about it.

Tapped 30 trees on the 1st because the forecast looked great. A week and a half later I have 8 gallons of sap. Looking good for my area (north of La Crosse) early next week if the forecast holds.

I used 2 stainless u-bolts per pan as handles. Drilled them in high on the long sides of the pan and at opposite ends. Bent the last 1/2” or so of threads so that they curve up above pan height. ...

Can’t speak to that kit specifically but the RB10 I used last year was great. The owner of the company is very friendly and responsive via email with any questions you have before the sale and tech...

I just picked up a Milwaukee pole saw and it’s pretty amazing what it will get through on a single battery. If/when my stihl 026 gives up the ghost I may have to check out the 16” Milwaukee.

Tablespoon or so of maple syrup
Finger or 2 of scotch
Ice

Finding this site was a game changer as I was gearing up for my first season this January. The amount of bad advice posted elsewhere that was soundly refuted here is simply astonishing. Thank you...

I’m south of Eau Claire a bit and I haven’t had any sap since Monday. 16 bucket taps on silver maples. I’m hoping they don’t completely bud out this week, otherwise it’ll be an incredibly short...

I have the same style spile, and have similar problems with leakage. I figured I just screwed up seating them, which I suppose may be true for both of us... I was planning on trying a different...

Thanks Mvhomesteader, and thanks for the tip. I’ll play around with it a bit this year and see how it goes. Can’t remember where I saw the chimney idea first, but it certainly wasn’t my idea. Much...

Hi mdm1,

I’m west of Black River Falls in Trempealeau county. I spend quite a bit of time in Clark county for work, though, so I’m decently familiar with that part of the state.