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It's been a few years since I've done this, going to try again this year. I haven't tapped yet. Seems like temps are heading below freezing after next weekend. Should I wait, or try to tap...

I'm usually late to tap compared to most of you. I'm on buckets. But I saw a day in mid 40s and decided to tap yesterday Feb 15. I didn't even check the buckets today to see if it was worth it! Prob...

My buckets have been collecting from the past 2 weeks. I think I really pushed it since I wasn't able to boil last weekend. I know there was ice in the buckets last weekend, so it was good up to that...

Forgot to add pics/plans of the arch.
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I am burning mostly oak & maple. I don't have any soft wood. I also intentionally fire slower than most 15-20 min on avg as I don't sit around...

I'm looking for the correct design for a fire grate. I have an old wrought iron grate from a fireplace. The kind with just a few square bars spaced a good 4" apart. I have a hard time getting past...

So this is my first year after a 2 or 3 year hiatus. Filtered and bottled 1.5 gallons of syrup. I don't track sap exactly, but I estimated I had boiled 60 gallons, but I guess it must have been a bit...

Yea, I hear everyone say they load every 8 min. I just can't imagine this - sitting around for 8 hours loading that often. To much like work and not enough like a hobby.

I batch boil in a flat...

In general, what is the cost of a DIY RO of this size? I may also be interested.

For me, I boil about 40-60 gallons every 1.5 - 2 weeks. I had a 2x3 pan and just upgraded to 2x4. First time out...

Took previous two years off. I ended up tapping last Sunday Feb 9. So over a week collecting. Some 5 gallon buckets are overflowing, other reds are 1/3 full. Planning to test out the new badgerland...

Here is a pic of the arch.

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I continuously feed sap. I run anywhere from 1-3" depending how close I want to watch it. I've tried everything. I can get a fire shooting flames out of the chimney. Magnetic thermometer on flu is...

I am looking for advice on a pan for my homebuilt evaporator. It is 2x3 with the flu pipe coming out the top, or 2x4 with it coming off the back. I currently have a 2x3 14 gauge SS flat batch pan...

Agreed, steel rusts and can get into the final product. But if I may tag on to your question: Why not copper? Stainless is a terrible heat conductor, and copper being ~20x more thermally conductive...

I'm out too. Boiled everything from last two weeks. First week was mostly frozen solid with nothing running, then everythong came last week when I was away. Ripped out taps on sunday. Now just...

bigschuss: Your equations are more critical to boiling efficiency, so spend the effort to make sure those are correct!

ecolbeck: Yes, any errors would be the same for both material type and pan...

I boil on a 14 gauge SS pan, and have had an interest on how much improvement I would see if I went to a ~20 gauge pan. A new pan is fairly expensive so I wanted to understand if I would see a...

Increased depth creates more exposed surface area on the side of the pans and will lose heat to the ambient cold air. That said, I don't see any noticeable effects of boiling deep. The backside of my...

I've been debating about the thickness of the pan since I boil with a relatively thick 14 gauge stainless pan. I am getting 3-3.5 gph on a 2x3 pan with new custom steel arch. I'm not convinced the...

Do you need all new 3/16" taps? Or can you convert 5/16" taps to 3/16" line?

How forgiving is the setup? Can you have a section that runs uphill for 5' in the middle of the line?

I only checked a few buckets this morning but I got near nothing on about 7 red maples. Not sure if they're dried up or just hasn't been cold enough. They've been tapped for 3.5 weeks. The two sugars...

Has anyone gotten any pans made from the guy in Newtown? I'm curious if the prices are reasonable to maple equipment manufacturers? I'm looking for a 20 or 22 GA 2x3 flat pan.

Been collecting since last weekend. I can't boil until Saturday, so I'm hoping it makes it through the next 3 days of warm weather. For personal use, I think it will be ok. We'll see...

Found a couple buckets overflowing. Poured into my 55 gallon drum, which overflowed. Drove it on the back of the lawn tractor trailer, more overflowed. Found a slow leak on my buttress fitting. But...

It's a gamble. I have two 55 barrels which had vinegar. Neither were cleaned when I got them. One with a recent date was easy to clean. The other which had an older date (maybe 2-3 years) I could...

I don't know what my % is, but I find the biggest problem I have with reds is inconsistent with sap output. I have two reds next to each other about the same size. One has a bucket overflowing, while...