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Rules of thumb?

1. Straight, tight and downhill! Especially if you are on gravity!

2. When working in the woods, you will use you time most efficiently if you do 1 job at a time, ie, flag...

Hi Toquin,

Not sure exactly what you are trying to do. From your photos it looks like you have a masonry chimney to which your arch is connected.

1. It looks like there is some restriction in...

I always wondered if pumping in nitrogen or argon into a barrel to replace the oxygen would do the trick? I think they use nitrogen in other food packaging processes (like potato chip bags and wine...

Hi Jeff,

Looking down the road, if you are already on vacuum and you are considering expanding, I would seriously consider R.O. I tap 500 on vacuum and when faced with a similar late night...

We always add some of ‘our’ syrup to all batches of bulk syrup. Every jug or bottle we sell actually does have some of our syrup in it. This is how we address this issue in our FAQ’s page:

Does...

With 500 not very sweet (adv. 1.5%) taps on high vacuum, I made 63 gallon this year!
About 1/4 was extra dark.
Not bad compared to some neighbors here in Western Maine.
I'm delighted.

2014 ...

Here are a few things I have learned the ‘hard way’ about my filter press:

Safety first, DTE is nasty stuff for your lungs. I wear a dust mask when refilling my DTE bucket and am very careful to...

When installing a new mainline, I run mainline wire around the tree in tubing.
I always seem to want to 'tweak' the height of mainlines for a few seasons and looping it makes it much easier to...

This winter I spent nearly every weekend beginning in January replacing every drop in my 500 tap sugarbush. Some drops were 7-8 years old, others were newer. My reading of proctor research results...

I use a refractometer as my primary draw-off testing tool in my 500 tap operation. Once you get it warmed up, it’s fast and it allows me to easily test different parts of my syrup pan for sugar...

I boil 500 taps on vacuum (22" hg.) on a homemade 3.5' x 7' flat pan evaporator. Because of my day job, I could no longer manage 'all-nighters' in the saphouse during the week. To reduce boiling time...

You are doing the right thing, asking questions and experimenting.

I am always looking for a better way.

Keeping good notes will also help.

I write new ideas and notes to myself in chalk...

The sap WANTS to run, I can feel it in the sugarbush. :cool:

The sun is getting higher and hotter and it’s cold.

I think it is going to require some late nights in the saphouse when it does...

Yesterday it was 35 degrees and the sap is just dribbling, so I was checking vacuum quality in the sugarbush. I have 4, 1” mainlines feeding my releaser in the saphouse where I am pulling 22” hg. ...

Thanks for the ideas. I have been installing the rubber gasket first and pushing in the saddle in second. However getting the rubber ring flat and well seated in the hole can take some finesse. I’m...

As I fought with properly seating over 40 gasket saddles this past week, I thought “There must be a trick I don’t know about!” How do folks get the little ring to seat itself inside the mainline...

Sometimes when I have a maple tree that needs to be removed in the sugarbush I will put 5-8 taps in a tight spiral of tubing ringing the tree. My thought is that I'd get 1 year of great sap...

I have taken to adding a piece of wood or fabric that extends from the bottom of the tank to the top in the off season. This allows a way OUT for the critters that always seem to find their way in. ...

Changes updated based on your feedback, thanks folks! http://www.mainesugarworks.com/10-steps-to-make-maple-syrup.html

Good call on the laundry detergent bucket, maybe I could photoshop the label off as it is the only photo I have of that old rig. I did not had any issues with the strength of the 5 gallon bucket...

I put together this page about a year ago and have been updating it lately. I would love to get some feedback from beginners and/or pros on any aspect of the page. Thank you! -Mit
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