+ Reply to Thread
Page 5 of 7 FirstFirst 1234567 LastLast
Results 41 to 50 of 61

Thread: When should I tap?

  1. #41
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    Crawford County Indiana
    Posts
    93

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by DougM View Post
    What does the diameter of the tubing have to do with sugar content?
    I'm new to this, but from what I've read (and my 1st run seems to back it up), getting sap under vacuum is what drops the sugar content, not the size of the tubing.
    2014 - 30 taps
    2015 - 50 taps
    2016 - 140 taps
    2017 - 115 taps - 85 taps on 3/16, 30 buckets
    2018 - 150 taps, all 3/16

    Smokey Lake 2x3
    Homemade 2x XLE-4040 RO Unit
    Kubota L3940 - big sap hauler
    Polaris Sportsman 570 SP - little sap hauler
    I'm 1:20 remote from sugarbush, so I let run awhile between boils, and time is at a premium, so I try to oversize things

  2. #42
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Lebanon, IN
    Posts
    291

    Default

    Seems like there's an old sugarmaker's tale floating around out there.
    According to this study uvm.edu/~pmrc/vacsap.pdf, (and the one from 1974 that it references) vacuum & tubing have no effect on sugar content.
    Doug
    Maple Creations
    Coatesville, IN
    350 taps on 5/16 tubing & 4 Lunchbox pumps
    MemProTec Concentrator 300 RO
    Wood-fired 30"x8' D&G Model 500 raised-flue w/Steam hood & blower
    Smoky Lake finisher, D&G filter press,
    http://www.facebook.com/maplecreations

  3. #43
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    North Shore Lake Lemon, Monroe County
    Posts
    135

    Default

    Nice, Phil - that's a workout! I went down today on my way to the IU game and things were flowing nicely! I collect in 3 different containers, so it was hard to tell, but it looked like I had about 80 gallons. I brought 15 home to test my homemade RO and left the rest. I was going to dump it because two of my lines had a bit of mold, but they were the last to start running so I only had to dump a little from one container - the lines cleaned out almost as soon as it started running. Looks like the next two days will be cold enough to keep what I have from spoiling...looking forward to boiling this weekend! If the forecast holds it should be a nice four or five day run.
    2014 - 8 taps, turkey fryer, 130 gallons sap, just under 2.5 gallons syrup.
    2015 - 50 taps and counting.
    2016 - 60 taps on 3/16 and a Bill Mason evaporator on order.
    2017 - 115 taps on 3/16, homemade r/o.
    2018 - 150 taps on 3/16, r/o a big help, but lots of leaks killing yield.
    2019 - sticking with 150 taps or maybe less, focusing on good vacuum and less waste to increase yield. Doubling up my r/o, and made a vacuum filter that looks promising.

  4. #44
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Mitchell, Indiana
    Posts
    41

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by dsaw View Post
    I'm new to this, but from what I've read (and my 1st run seems to back it up), getting sap under vacuum is what drops the sugar content, not the size of the tubing.
    Similar situation here dsaw. First two years on buckets sap was at 2%. Third year I started using 3/16 with a pump. Sap dropped to 1%. Using 3/16 this year as well. Last evening I boiled 82 gal to yield a hair over a gallon of syrup. Can't say if it's the tubing or what the reason for the drop is. That being said...I doubled my syrup last year because of the tubing. I only have 27 taps on the tubing so it's not a big deal.
    2014 - 14 taps - cinder block arch - 18x24 flat pan
    2015 - 45 taps on buckets - homemade arch from 250gal oil tank - 28x49 flat pan by Smokey Lake
    2016 - 50 taps - 26 taps on 3/16" tube with a diaphragm pump - 24 taps on buckets

  5. #45
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    Crawford County Indiana
    Posts
    93

    Default

    Checked 3 or my 4 3/16 runs, in the dark, not much sap. I was hoping to test the RO tomorrow, but not enough to fire it up. One of them has a leak; so I need to learn how to find those. Looks like I'll be putting up buckets tomorrow.
    2014 - 30 taps
    2015 - 50 taps
    2016 - 140 taps
    2017 - 115 taps - 85 taps on 3/16, 30 buckets
    2018 - 150 taps, all 3/16

    Smokey Lake 2x3
    Homemade 2x XLE-4040 RO Unit
    Kubota L3940 - big sap hauler
    Polaris Sportsman 570 SP - little sap hauler
    I'm 1:20 remote from sugarbush, so I let run awhile between boils, and time is at a premium, so I try to oversize things

  6. #46
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Freedom, IN.
    Posts
    184

    Default

    First boil of the season tomorrow. Collected approx 85 gallons this week.

  7. #47
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Freedom, IN.
    Posts
    184

    Default

    Boil went well, should finish off on propane tomorrow. My wife got a cool shot through the refractometer:


  8. #48
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Freedom, IN.
    Posts
    184

    Default

    Sugar content is not what I hoped for thus far. The 150 gallons boiled yesterday and today yielded 50:1.

  9. #49
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    North Shore Lake Lemon, Monroe County
    Posts
    135

    Default

    I have to admit it's a bit of s*%t show when I go down to boil. It starts out great with tracking gallons of sap and ro rate, then I get working on firing up the evaporator, pulling some sap out and putting it in a bucket heater to increase my ro rate, but then throwing some on the evap because I figured slightly preheated sap would get to boil faster, putting some ro sap with some raw sap into the evaporator when the boil gets ahead of my ro...oh, and it's 5:30 am and I've been up for 23 hours. Anyway, I think I worked my way from about 175 gallons of sap to 7 gallons of near syrup between 5:00 pm yesterday and 5:00 tonight. With time spent walking lines, talking to neighbors, hooking everything up, splitting wood, heating up (should have started fire in the evaporator early instead of waiting 5 hours) and cleanup, a three hour nap, etc. I was pretty pleased. It was so warm today (75) I could see a change in the sap I got to later today vs the first pulls. I am pretty sure it is ok, but I had to change my ro pre filter when I got to the later stuff. That's usually a sign that the end is in sight for me... plus I heard peepers last night. I hope we have another week or two!
    2014 - 8 taps, turkey fryer, 130 gallons sap, just under 2.5 gallons syrup.
    2015 - 50 taps and counting.
    2016 - 60 taps on 3/16 and a Bill Mason evaporator on order.
    2017 - 115 taps on 3/16, homemade r/o.
    2018 - 150 taps on 3/16, r/o a big help, but lots of leaks killing yield.
    2019 - sticking with 150 taps or maybe less, focusing on good vacuum and less waste to increase yield. Doubling up my r/o, and made a vacuum filter that looks promising.

  10. #50
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    Crawford County Indiana
    Posts
    93

    Default

    I had a learning, but frustrating weekend. On a good point, the 3/16" was really flowing. I collected about 300 gal of sap and one of the 55 gal drums was overflowing when I got there. Then I tried to fire up my RO for the 1st time, and I couldn't get my high pressure pump to stay on. It kept shutting it-self down, and I'm not sure why (although I'm leaning towards electrical imbalance from running a 110v 3/4 pump and a 220v 2hp off the same drop; that or I'm falling in a strange point on it's performance curve that it doesn't like). So I figured out I could run it just on the feed pump, I just couldn't get the thru-put I wanted and it really fell off after concentrating to 5%. But when you're starting with 1.5%, that's still a huge help. Once I resigned myself to a limited RO, I thought I was doing good. I had my little 2x3 pan ripping through 12+ gph with a very crude AUF and a preheater; when I drew off too much syrup and burned my pan. So I drew off about 1/2 gal of good syrup, but the rest is relegated to cooking duty. I finished the burnt syrup this morning in a finishing pan while cleaning the main pan and froze the remaining concentrate for next weekend. I also heard peepers this afternoon, and I'm wondering if the season is about done looking at the weather.
    2014 - 30 taps
    2015 - 50 taps
    2016 - 140 taps
    2017 - 115 taps - 85 taps on 3/16, 30 buckets
    2018 - 150 taps, all 3/16

    Smokey Lake 2x3
    Homemade 2x XLE-4040 RO Unit
    Kubota L3940 - big sap hauler
    Polaris Sportsman 570 SP - little sap hauler
    I'm 1:20 remote from sugarbush, so I let run awhile between boils, and time is at a premium, so I try to oversize things

+ Reply to Thread
Page 5 of 7 FirstFirst 1234567 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts