Getting ready

[minehart gap]

Trees stopped running when it hit the freezing point(almost exactly the same time) last evening about 5:30.

At the same time, it started to snow and the humidity went up. The steam really came of the evaporator to the point that I couldn’t see the other side of it standing right beside it. Within half an hour I had my first draw off. A little over a gallon of amber. Considering everything that’s happened in the last year, that’s the hardest that I have ever worked for a gallon of anything ever!!! Pans are now sweetened and were expecting the weather for another run tomorrow.

This went from fun to extraordinary last evening.

[minehart gap]

I need to get a sap hydrometer. When I left the sugar shack Saturday evening around 5 my tank was empty. When I got there this morning at 9, I had 283 gallon from 163 taps but I am afraid that it is of the 1% verity. Boiled from 10 am until 9 pm and only drew 3 gallon of syrup. Oh, and when I left this evening, there was 283 gallon of sap in my tank.

Having fun but this is exhausting. Until I get a sap hydrometer is there any way to determine sugar content?

[amaranth farm]

Radio Silence.

[buckeye gold]

minehart gap....I'm gonna take a wild arse guess and say considering what sweet you have in the pan your probably at 1.3 to 1.4%

Most of my sap so far has been 1.3 -1.4

[Paddymountain]

Looks like you need a bigger woodpile, not a sap hydrometer!
Have fun, season is just starting!

[minehart gap]

Another gallon per tap yesterday. But I’m catching up. I changed the back end of the arch and picked up another 4 gallon per hour evaporation. Getting there. Now I need to find time to filter and bottle.

Snook, there is no doubt that the wood pile needs to be bigger.
Buckeye, I have no way to know until my sap hydrometer gets here but I am noticing that it is starting to get higher just by volume of syrup increasing.
Amaranth Farms, how many people looked sideways at you when you started snorting sap? It may be another way to enjoy maple!

[minehart gap]

I’m not sure why but anytime that I run my evaporator for more than 5 hours I greatly loose efficiency. For the first 4 - 5 hours, it is evaporating about 32 to 34 gal per hour then over the next 2 hours it goes down to Around 22 gallon per hour then if I go longer it drops to handy 16 gallon per hour. This is usually happening as the temperature outside drops so the sap gets colder and I don’t have a pre-heater and I noticed that after around 5 hours my door frame is starting to turn red from heat and it doesn’t close as tight. Anyone have any suggestions

[blissville maples]

I need to get a sap hydrometer. When I left the sugar shack Saturday evening around 5 my tank was empty. When I got there this morning at 9, I had 283 gallon from 163 taps but I am afraid that it is of the 1% verity. Boiled from 10 am until 9 pm and only drew 3 gallon of syrup. Oh, and when I left this evening, there was 283 gallon of sap in my tank.

Having fun but this is exhausting. Until I get a sap hydrometer is there any way to determine sugar content?

Taste it, if it's noticeably sweet likely near 2percent. I noticed end of season sap that's 2percent you can't really taste the sweetness much if at all

[Cjadamec]

Does your firewood usage drop along with your decrease in evaporation rate?

I know I'm not an arch expert but, if your door fame is getting that hot and your evap rate is dropping that drastically my best guess is you are loosing draft out your stack. You may need to increase the gap between the insulation and the bottom of the pan on the back end towards the stack to allow for thermal expansion of all the steel. It probably takes 4-5 hours for the heat to soak through the insulation and then cause things to swell up.

Also is your fire burning clean? If you are generating creosote from a dirty fire it can build up quickly and choke off the draft. It doesn't take much to start blocking draft with how tight a space there is between the back of the arch and the pan.

[minehart gap]

Does your firewood usage drop along with your decrease in evaporation rate?

I know I'm not an arch expert but, if your door fame is getting that hot and your evap rate is dropping that drastically my best guess is you are loosing draft out your stack. You may need to increase the gap between the insulation and the bottom of the pan on the back end towards the stack to allow for thermal expansion of all the steel. It probably takes 4-5 hours for the heat to soak through the insulation and then cause things to swell up.

Also is your fire burning clean? If you are generating creosote from a dirty fire it can build up quickly and choke off the draft. It doesn't take much to start blocking draft with how tight a space there is between the back of the arch and the pan.

Fire wood is burning clean, primarily locust and red oak. But usage does drop off about 5 hours in. I let some coals burn down and it helps with burning but the evaporation rate doesn’t pick up. And I just changed the back end to push the heat up into the pan. That is probably it. Thanks