May Journal

[Bruce L]

Current rate on the 3 x 14 is between 200-250 gal/hour,... with the steamaway Bruce tells me it will be 65% faster, that should equate to 330-412.5 /hour? Also looking forward to cutting down wood consumption like the new outdoor furnace, have two years ahead of it now because of lower consumption

[mudr]

Thanks guys. Hoping it works out, we have decent survivorship, and they they have as good a growth rate as I plan. They were planted on a damp but we'll drained plot if land that was a cow pasture for 60 years. Dark, and organic rich soil. Currently a grassy field, no canopy competition. It does feel good to invest in the future. That said, I know a lot (most?) farms in my arear operate "in the now", in my mind, to the detriment of future generations. Much of society is like that. But enough of social/societal observations.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Current rate on the 3 x 14 is between 200-250 gal/hour,... with the steamaway Bruce tells me it will be 65% faster, that should equate to 330-412.5 /hour? Also looking forward to cutting down wood consumption like the new outdoor furnace, have two years ahead of it now because of lower consumption

Thanks -- those max flues are giving you a similar rate that I get with the regular flues on my 5 by 14, sounds very attractive.

[lakeview maple]

Upgrading to an ro upgraded to a filter press and expanding taps from 200 to 300+ with 200 being on vac

ADK1 what kind of filter press did you get?

[adk1]

Wes fab 7" short bank

[nymapleguy607]

Adding another 200 taps on the vacuum system, and maybe another 75-100 on gravity. Just purchased a 1 season used MES 290gph 3 post ro, Clayton and Frank are putting in new menbranes and giving me the 2 year warranty just like a new one. Customer that had it first upgraded to an 8" machine they sell. I should be able to get 8% single passing but time will tell.

[BAP]

Sold my 20"x66" CDL Maple Pro evaporator and purchased a used 2'x8' Algier evaporator. Hoping to scrounge up enough used or cheap material to enlarge my sugarhouse this summer.

[DrTimPerkins]

Must be Dr. Tim is on vacation, he usually has started a new month by this time. ..

I wish. What with the end of the season being quickly followed by presentations at Open Houses (meaning analyze the data, figure out what it means, and put together PowerPoint presentations really quickly), year-end budget season at the University (so annual reviews and salary distributions for FY17), and writing papers/articles for various places....I'm busier than ever at this time of year. Should be slowing down soon though (at least I keep telling myself that), although there is the IMSI meeting and Maple Hall of Fame presentation in a couple of weeks in Croghan, NY (another road-trip).

On the positive side (at least for me), things should slow down considerably over the summer, as I will be taking a Professional Development Leave from mid-May to mid-September. I have a bunch of writing and editing to do during that time, so it won't all be fun and games, but it will mean being out of the office most of that time, and probably not on this list much during that time.

[lakeview maple]

Im converting another 200 taps to 3/16th , I would do the whole bush but the laterals on some are new and Im not going to waste it. Ill change it over as the squirrels and tree limbs take it down. Ive been hauling firewood like crazy, found a local amish sawmill who has a huge pile of slabs ,both hard and soft woods. Wants it gone , so Ive been filling the dump trailer when I can and dumping at the sugarhouse. There are at least 10 cord ,so no running low next season. I am also looking to install AOF , I have AUF and want to add on. I think it will help with my firewood consumption any insight would be appreciated. I looked at RO's as well at the open houses ,I grabbed a ton of paperwork and business cards , going to seriously look into it for the upcoming season. Have a great spring and enjoy the weather,Al

[ennismaple]

Now that cleanup is done we're compiling our to-do lists for the upcoming year to fix what we broke and make improvements prior to next season. We also have a long shopping list of items we'd like to buy to increase sap yield, speed up sap and syrup processing and generally make our lives easier in and around the sugar camp.

Plus there's a basement full of syrup that we need to sell!