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Thread: Red Roof Maples 2018

  1. #41
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    east kingston, nh
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    4,148

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    yep long warm spell. man what I wouldn't do for some nice consistent sap weather. its a rare occurence for me. it only really happened once in 10 years which to date was still my best year for syrup per tap. and that was on 285 taps before RO. so I was getting almost a gallon per day for close to 2.5 weeks. I was boiling 6 to 10 hrs a day lost 12 lbs and was tired as hell. but it was worth it. and burned about 11 cords of wood. now if I burn 2 cords its alot.
    may your sap be at 3%
    Brad

    www.willowcreeksugarhouse.com
    585 or so on Vacuum, about 35 on buckets/sap sacs
    Atlas Copco GVS 25A Rotary Vane vacuum pump
    MES horizontal electric releaser
    2x6 ss phaneuf Drop flue, Leader woodsaver blower, homemade hood
    300gph H2O RO
    husquvarna 562 XP
    Its Here!!! 2024 season is here get busy!!!

  2. #42
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Rock Creek, NC
    Posts
    5,807

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    I'd like to see some consistent sap weather too. It's starting to look like a couple of years ago when if the sun was out it didn't get above freezing and if it was warm out there wasn't any sun. There weren't many days that year where we had both sun and warm at the same time.

    I came home tonight to find that my releaser had stuck today and filled one of my moisture traps. It looks like I got about 75 gallons before the malfunction occurred. I got the moisture trap drained and cycled the releaser a few times and it was working like it should but the sap wasn't coming in fast enough to see if it would dump on it's own. I'll find out when I go down in the morning. With yesterday and today's sap I was able to bring 175 gallons up to the house. Hopefully the releaser will work all night and I'll find a full tank in the morning.

    It looks like I may be able to sweeten the pans tomorrow night. I can't wait to see what the evaporator will do with sap in it.
    Russ

    "Red Roof Maples" Where the term "boiling soda" was first introduced to the maple world!

    1930 Ford Model AA Doodlebug tractor
    A couple of Honda 4 wheelers
    Four chainsaws and no chickens!

  3. #43
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Deerfield NH
    Posts
    1,314

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    But on the bright side the moisture trap worked. I'm hoping for a good vac run tonight. Its 38 and raining. It was running good when I came out of the woods around 4 should go all night.
    30x40 Sugarhouse
    975 taps here at home. Still have 3-400 to add in.
    3x10 Cabin by the Creek evap with "steamaway"
    CDL 600 RO
    ebayed Sogevac S65

  4. #44
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Rock Creek, NC
    Posts
    5,807

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    We did our first boil last night. We started out with 700 gallons of sap, got the pans sweetened and made 5 gallons of Amber syrup. I don't remember a first boil where we made that much syrup. We usually make 2 or 3 gallons. It's going to be a little bit of a learning curve but the new arch worked great. We turned the blower all of the way down and still get a better boil then we did out of the old set up.

    Went down to check the woods tank at 10:30 and found that 200 gallons of sap had come in since 4:00. I'm going down shortly to pump out the tank.

    I leveled the releaser and lubed the float rod and it has been working flawlessly.
    Russ

    "Red Roof Maples" Where the term "boiling soda" was first introduced to the maple world!

    1930 Ford Model AA Doodlebug tractor
    A couple of Honda 4 wheelers
    Four chainsaws and no chickens!

  5. #45
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Barrington, NH
    Posts
    2,762

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    Glad to hear it. I had my first boil last night too. I didn't check grade, but guessing an amber. Things went off mostly without a hitch.

  6. #46
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Rock Creek, NC
    Posts
    5,807

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    When I got down to the tank this morning I found 275 gallons in the tank and that I had gotten a light freeze. It was nice to see that the temps had dropped overnight instead of increase like the forecast said that they were going to. So far today the temp isn't rising very fast so hopefully it won't hit 68* like the forecast was still saying it was going to when I left for work this morning.

    The good news is that my membrane didn't get damaged last winter when it froze up and isn't passing sugar. The bad news is that it isn't flowing quite as good as it should. If the sap flows are slow enough I'm going to do an acid wash and see if I can get it to come back. If not I have a new one that I can put in.

    I'm boiling again tonight and after this I'm not sure when the sap is going to run and how much. It looks like I should get a little Thursday through Sunday. The temps that I get are usually colder than what is in the forecast so I'm not expecting much.
    Russ

    "Red Roof Maples" Where the term "boiling soda" was first introduced to the maple world!

    1930 Ford Model AA Doodlebug tractor
    A couple of Honda 4 wheelers
    Four chainsaws and no chickens!

  7. #47
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Deerfield NH
    Posts
    1,314

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    I had clouds until 130 or so, I think that really helped. Temp didn't spike as hard as I figured it would.
    30x40 Sugarhouse
    975 taps here at home. Still have 3-400 to add in.
    3x10 Cabin by the Creek evap with "steamaway"
    CDL 600 RO
    ebayed Sogevac S65

  8. #48
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Rock Creek, NC
    Posts
    5,807

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    I don't know how hot it got here yesterday. It was 73* in Concord when I left work at 5:00 and it was 63* at my house when I got home 20 mins. later. For the 24 hour period from Tuesday evening until last evening I got a little over 1 gpt.

    I made 11 1/2 gallons of Amber syrup last night. It was coming out of the draw off really light towards the end. If that continues into the next boil I'll probably be making Golden.
    Russ

    "Red Roof Maples" Where the term "boiling soda" was first introduced to the maple world!

    1930 Ford Model AA Doodlebug tractor
    A couple of Honda 4 wheelers
    Four chainsaws and no chickens!

  9. #49
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Rock Creek, NC
    Posts
    5,807

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    I went down to the woods this morning and found just under 200 gallons in the tank. The sap was still running but only trickling in. I'll find out when I get home if it continued to run and how hard it ran if it did.
    Russ

    "Red Roof Maples" Where the term "boiling soda" was first introduced to the maple world!

    1930 Ford Model AA Doodlebug tractor
    A couple of Honda 4 wheelers
    Four chainsaws and no chickens!

  10. #50
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Rock Creek, NC
    Posts
    5,807

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    I went down and collected 250 gallons of sap last night so it looks like i got about 60 gallons before it froze up. I went down when I got home from work and found that about 150 gallons came in today after it started running and it was still coming in. The woods are tight and I'm pulling 26.5" of vacuum. If it runs as good as it should tomorrow I'll have a good boil on Sunday.

    I did 4 wash cycles on the RO and am doing a hot permeate rinse now. I'll find out after this if my flow rates are going to come back or if I will need to change my membrane. Even though I have a new one I'd like to keep using this one and save the other one for late in the season.

    I'm going to do some much needed cleaning in the RO room tomorrow. There's still some tools and a lot of dust and dirt from cutting fire bricks in there that I need to take care of.
    Russ

    "Red Roof Maples" Where the term "boiling soda" was first introduced to the maple world!

    1930 Ford Model AA Doodlebug tractor
    A couple of Honda 4 wheelers
    Four chainsaws and no chickens!

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