Gramps, there is an option that research has shown to make the pain a little less. That is to use Zap Bac spouts, they have silver in the nylon that makes up the spout. They are shown to work well for 3 seasons. They will cost more the first year but when you divide the cost by 3 it comes to very slightly under the cost of the lowest priced annual spouts. They are available from Catskill Mountain Maple, or any D&G dealer.
Another option is to use SS spouts, which will cost in the $2 each range but then clean then directly after the season and then boil them shortly before taping the next year. They will last forever. Just divide the $2 by whatever forever is. There you may want to divide based on your grandchildren's years or even their grandchildren's use, that depends on whether following generations follow your lead, historically some do but most do not.
Dave Klish, I recently ordered a 2x6 wood fired evaporator from A&A Sheet Metal which I will be converting to oil fired
Now have solar, 2x6 finish pan, 5 bank 7x7 filter press, large water jacketed bottler, and tankless water heater.
Recently bought another Gingerich RO, this one was a 125, but a second membrane was added thus is a 250, like I had.
After running a 2x3, a 2x6, 3x8 tapping from 79 taps up to 1320 all woodfired, now I'm going to a 2x6 oil fired and a 200-425 taps.