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Ok, numbers are in. 24.85 gallons of syrup bottled! Not too shabby, given the fact we tapped on February 11th which seemed to be later than others. The contents of our syrup pan we heated up on the...

About 20 gallons collected today. Before Elle went to boil she was trying to fill the sight glasses and nothing was happening so she stuck her hand in the flue pan....maple jelly! Or maple goo. I...

We have a Smoky Lake Flat Filter Finisher/Bottler (with electric element steam tray), the non-vacuum version. We finish on our evaporator and draw-off directly into the unit, running the syrup...

The trees started running yesterday about 1PM. We collected 80 gallons around noon today, 1.8% sugar. Still an Amber grade in the bottles but it's the low end of Amber. Kind of exciting for us as we...

Glad you found something that will work for you!

Did you overlook a divided pan or are you not interested in one and just want to pick between the raised flue or flat pan?

15 gallons collected today. Not sure of the sugar content but from the last collection we were around 1.5%. Thinking we might have reached the Dark grade from our boil this evening. Wondering if the...

Boiling raw sap here, too, but only 20 gallons today. The Spring peepers are making noise as well.

We were just ruminating on this factor while boiling this evening-the dry weather. It seems like this season has been much dryer compared to last season. That would affect the sap flow. Anybody else...

We got about 50 gallons today which is way below normal for collection. Hoping the sap will run more tomorrow. So far we're about halfway to 25 gallons of syrup. At least for me it will probably be a...

But if your "syrup" is too thin, then it's Maple Light! Same great taste, less calories! :lol:

We had this instance our very first year-the first ever batch of "syrup" was too thin and not...

We collected 126 gallons from a few days ago. We RO'ed it last night and then boiled it this morning. Had some excitement with a foam over in the flue pan. Wow, is the boil in a raised flue hard! It...

So we've got new pans this year, Smoky Lake raised flue on our 2x4 Corsair arch. For those of you who run this rig, or something similar, a couple of questions come to mind.

One-when shutting...

We put in about 100 over yesterday and today. It is running for us, at least the yard trees. The woods trees were dripping as we tapped them but haven't checked those buckets yet. Now it's on to...

I am strongly thinking about tapping this weekend, mainly because this year that's my free time. After getting through this three/four day stretch with lows above freezing, I'm thinking the trees...

Just curious for those who have tapped-what sugar % are you seeing?

We aren't ready to tap yet. Will probably wait until the middle of February, weather dependent, of course. :D

If you wanted to go the route of a ready made lid, check out Smoky Lake. But you may have seen it already. https://www.smokylakemaple.com/product/lid-24-x-36/

Sorry, this was my fault. I should have mentioned it's a metal roof, no underlayment. I had to take out a section of a purlin in the pole barn (or really, lean-to addition to the pole barn) to...

I'm in the same boat-single walled pipe through the roof and nothing I have tried works to seal the storm collar. One fellow on here recommended chimney sealant. He found some on amazon/ebay and is...

This year we made golden and amber syrup. Last year we made amber and dark. Every year will be slightly different. We are not trying to only make a specific grade but are trying to find our niche in...

I wasn't sure where to put this thread but I wanted to share this and wonder people's thoughts. We have changed our approach at marketing/describing our syrup to people in regards to the...

I'll send you a PM. Don't want to hijack the thread any more than we need to.

The pan has been very good to learn on but we are looking at upgrading.

Yeah, it surprised us, too. Technically it was 106 taps (we have drops going into buckets). We ran out of firewood and bottles. As Ed R said, the weather can play a factor. This season was longer for...

Well, if you happen to need another Smoky Lake 2x4 divided pan, I've got one I'll be selling. ;)

Glad you were able to save your syrup (and your shack!)