Downsizing for 2019 (well, sort of)
After much consideration I will be making some major changes to my operation. I currently have about 1000 taps on 21" of vac. I boil with a newer Smoky Lake 2x8 on a newer Leader oil fired arch. I have a D&G 600 gph RO and Wes Fab full bank filter press. I have averaged about 300 gallons of syrup the past few years and sold most of it in bulk (I hate selling retail). Due to a variety of reasons, I will be mostly selling sap in the future. I will actually expand my taps to about 1150-1200 (about the max for my woods). However, the evaporator, RO, and press will be sold. I plan on buying an A&A 2x8 or 2x10 (my last rig was an A&A 2.5x10 and it did great) and making only enough syrup for my extended family. It will be a major step back going from oil and boiling concentrated sap to wood and raw sap. I dont care because I will only boil when I feel like it, the rest of the time the sap will go from my electric releaser to my holding tanks to be picked up by truck. My arch will not have forced air. I will boil and only be able to hear the crackling of the wood and the boiling sap. No RO running, no oil burner running. I actually miss this. My sugarhouse will become a sweet cabin for family and friends to hang out. My boiling room will be under an overhang where my current sap tanks are located. It's gonna be great. Dont get me wrong, boiling concentrated sap with an oil fired rig is awesome. I never boil more than 2-3 hours at a time. However, like I said there are a variety of reasons for this change. One is that I want to have a cabin. Two, looming FDA inspections are a factor. I just dont want the federal government on my property. Three, I want to return to a time when I wasn't worried about the commercial aspects of all this. Most people will not understand this "downgrade," especially in a time when most people upgrade from year to year.
1000 taps on vac down to 100+ buckets 99% sugars
2x5 SL Hi-Output Raised Flue Corsair evaporator
SL Short bank press with CDL diaphragm pump
Leader Micro 1 RO for 2024
Constantly changing
2010:36 gal 2011:126 gal 2012:81 gal 2013:248 gal 2014: 329.5 gal 2015:305 gal 2016:316 gal 2017:258 gal 2018:147 gal 2019:91 gal 2020:30 gal 2021:30 gal 2023:50 gal Total since 2010: 2047.5 gal
Tapping the same trees my great, great and great grandfathers tapped.