November journal

[steam maker]

Just got done canning another 15 gallons, sellin pretty good!kicked this whole 4 wheeler track thing all around in my head lastnite as i layed awake with a teething baby. Lookin like im gonna get them. Other than that just kinda pickin away in the sugarhouse today got the woodstove going and making a list of what needs to get done. Mite need another sheet of paper😄

[Chicopee Sap Shack]

Check Craig's list there are a bunch on there. I won't own a snowmobile again after getting tracks

Scott


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[maple2]

spent yesterday going through an old cider mill.Came home with 2 s/s tanks and a bunch of mics. stuff. Was going to make an offer on the press and grinder. Anyone know what an old wooden press is worth? Plus 1000 apple boxes? I will also have to convince my wife to add cider making to our list of ventures

[unc23win]

I am not sure what exactly the press you were looking at is worth but they are not cheap a new one is $1000 easy I have seen some older mills more complete set ups for over $2000. A friend of mine has one made in 1806 and it is very nice it has a huge fly wheel on the grinder once you get it spinning it moves easy. We made about 60 gallons of cider in 2 afternoons it was fun. I am thinking about making more cider next year. I guess in PA and maybe in MA as well if you run a UV light you don't need to pasteurize it to sell it so that cuts down on the production costs. Everyone in my area is talking about the abundance of apples this year.

[Maplewalnut]

Well i forgot about daylight savings change again. My to do list didnt get longer but will definitely take longer to finish since I just lost 1 hour plus of daylight I became used to finishing little jobs after work.

It also hurts now that turkey season is upon us in Pa and my woods are a prime roost spot. Nothing like working on lines with a shotgun propped up against a nearby tree. Its like the movies... the turkey spots you, you spot the turkey, you look at your gun 15 feet away, the turkey looks at the gun 15 feet away.... Turkey runs away, you run for your gun... LOL

Still planning on being ready tap Jan 1.

[whitetail farms]

my list seems to be getting longer but it wouldn't be fun with out scrambling around intill the last minute to get everything ready to go, things have turned around a little bit sense the land owner shut me down on the new woods I was gonna have the DAY AFTER I BOUGHT ALL THE TUBEING I was able to get all my neighbors on board to let me tap there land and will have close to 300 taps at my sugarhouse ,I was also able to rent a vacuum system from another producer for 100 bucks, still have tubing to run to 200 more taps put the tank in place and hook up the vacuum do a little tweaking with the evaporator and find a filter press, but I still will not need all the tubing I bought so is anybody interested in 1000 foot rolls of leader 3/4 inch mainline as well as saddle fitting,wire ties and wire?....... but I might be able to achieve my goal of 200 gals. This year ,good luck and happy holidays everyone

[sjdoyon]

Finished running 7,000 feet of our 2" wet/dry line last week (took four loggers, one farmer and a desk jockey five and half days to complete) and was able to get 17,000 feet of 1" mainlines done in four days. Have 30,000 feet of lateral lines left to do but sure glad to not have to pick up a 500ft roll of 2" pipe again this year.

[unc23win]

That's awesome work sjdoyon. I have been working on my sugarhouse during the day time weekends and nights after work and then making drops while watching tv ha. I hope to get started on installing some mainline this weekend not 17,000 feet though.

[maple flats]

Sorry, can't say. All I'll say is that I should have thought of it sooner.

[tuckermtn]

busy day of jugging yesterday. A good friend Heather spent most of the day helping me jug up 30 gallons for a custom glass order and another 15 gallons of plastic quarts and gallons.

Custom glass was for a non-profit based in Mass. that supports folks (and their families) with ALS. Special thanks to Bill and Marsha at Artisan Printing for their contribution to the project.

Mark is coming over this morning to work on setting the pellet arch in its final resting place and hooking up pellet feed auger and blower duct work.

I get tired a lot easier these days, but still have a lot to do before we will be ready for the season. Thanks to all who had chipped in so far, especially Mark (Ragged View) and Parker