Steaming drill bits in Andover- 2013

[R A Powers]

Eric, I just scrolled back ans saw where you burnt the pan and you talked about buying a new one from Bill Mason. I'm don''t know who that is. I am looking for a new flue pan for my old lightning and haven't been able to find a 2x3 flue pan. is this guy local? Dick

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Hey Eric,
My first boil of the season was Friday, burnt the pans on the first batch... They are salvageable. Spent yesterday cleaning them and will finish Fridays boil as soon as the pipes thaw out. Looks like things will start for real here on Tuesday.
I would love a banjo picker in my sugar house!
Doug

[tuckermtn]

Dick- Bill Mason is just over the line in Porter Maine. Excellent welder. Very busy man, but very good quality and reasonibly priced. http://www.wfmasonwelding.com/

We have been boiling on the puckered pan the last few days and things seem to be going okay. Running pretty deep, but making borderline light and wicked good tasting syrup so hesitant to rock the boat.

Now I have a back-up pan if we ever burn this one again...

[R A Powers]

Thanks, I found his web site and sent him an e-mail about a replacement for my flue pan. I think we are going to tap this afternoon and tomorrow we are going to run a new line to get us back up to 55 or 60 taps. As you said yesterday it's more of a social thing for me. I don't sell any, just use it for gifts and split it up with the people that help so we don't push to hard. I'm 67 and Butch is 66 so we can't push to hard anymore, lol. Thanks for the info. Dick

[tuckermtn]

Been a crazy 3-4 days for us. Had a very full sugarhouse on Monday after the tapping ceremony, but still managed to make a good haul of syrup that afternoon/evening. Took Tuesday off from boiling to fix the sagging door on the front of the arch- closes way easier now. So we started yesterday with 975 gals of 2.1% and then Mark hauled in another 975. Heide and Kat did buckets and some of the smaller tubing runs for another 800 gallons. Started recirculating at 1:30, Kat fired up at 3:30 and was boiling 13.2% to begin with. Made over 40 gal. of syrup by 9pm.

We are up to 140+ gallons, more than 1/2 of what we made all last year. For what has been filtered and graded, its 50 gal. of light and 50 of medium. the 40 in the canners looks to be medium or borderline dark.

We will boil the 800 we didn't get to last night today and we probably still have another 750 to pick up.

10 day forecast looks excellent after today...bring it on...

good luck to all of Maple Nation

[Russell Lampron]

Sounds like you are doing good over there too. The sap has been running when it shouldn't here and it's starting to look like the year before last.

[red maples]

Go Eric...Geez. we have been too warm at night here although it is 32* and snowing and sap is coming in good????

[tuckermtn]

right around 1200 gal trucked in today, but mostly left-overs from Tuesday and Wednesdays runs. 34 and snowing, but we still had a minor run today. Made another 33+/- gals tonight, and the stuff we put in the barrel tonight was still light. Heide says to me tonight "I hope your going to make some dark soon." I said "don't worry about that..."

[tuckermtn]

Had a very good run here yesterday. Had 6 German families staying at the Inn at the bottom of the hill help with emptying the buckets on the lower part of Maple St yesterday morning. Buckets averaged 3 gal each, and when we tested the whole load of 200 gals from those buckets it was 3.8%. That is why we still tap buckets...

All told we hauled in over 1800 gallons and still have 450 in Putney.

Most things are working as they should except for my filter press. Wicked slow and surging. Will pull apart pump and piping today and see if we can figure it out.

Hoping for another good run today. Plan on putting the "Boiling today" signs out on Rt 11 mid-day to see if we can sell some syrup.

think we are up to 200 gallons, but we have 50 or so in the canners since the press is so slow...

Good luck to all in Maple Nation- forecast looks pretty dam good for the next 10 days...

[tuckermtn]

lots of help around the sugarhouse the last few days. Figured the filter press problem was the new oberdorfer that I installed last season crapped out on us. Cleaned and re-installed the one we took out two years ago and it is filtering better, but still not like it should be. Thanks to Parker for letting us borrow his press to clear the back-log of 46 gallons on sunday evening.

Made our first dark of the season on Sunday on the Mason pan that had not been cleaned in 150 gallons. Swapped pan out and installed the new Leader front pan yesterday and the syrup we made yesterday was medium.

Only thing running for us still is a few buckets and our vacuum bushes. Hauled in 1100 gallons yesterday and about the same today.

up to 281 gallons filtered and finished, and with what we made today we will be a bit over 300. Last year's total was 270. Forecasting a nice freeze here Thursday. After that the ten-day looks pretty "sweet"

Good luck from the tired but satisfied Tucker Mountain Maple crew...