November Journal

[Maple Man 85]

Finished walking roughly 80,000 feet of tubing only found 1 squirrel chew but had 2 main lines taken down by trees (don't get mad get even they're going in the fire box this spring ). Flagging the next 40 and putting up more line in November!

[maple flats]

I just bottled another SS barrel worth of jugs. My bourbon barrel aged syrup is doing well. I will have another batch ready in about 4-5 weeks.
We are getting started getting ready for '19 season. Putting a new bigger Honda on an Alamo 75 so we can turn it a little faster. Might try to get it to a 100 so it should work better. We are adding more, but no new mains, just picking up some more trees with 3/16. Might get to 950, maybe 1000. That's about 50 more reds around the sugarhouse and 50 more sugars at the lease. Will also increase the vacuum at the lease from 19" thru a vacuum tank to 23-24 with a releaser. Then the following year maybe even get a better vacuum pump and add 3-4 more inches of vacuum.

[spud]

Been working in the woods cutting branches off lines. I also rewire tied some of my older saddles. I also rewire tied all mainlines where it was needed. New pump and releaser room is looking good and I am almost done with that. I will make one more pass through the woods in December and then plan to tap the 3rd and 4th week of January.

Spud

[Russell Lampron]

Been working on filling the woodshed, I've got less than a cord to go. I'm going to be burning all hardwood this year for the first time in a long time. I haven't had a chance to get into the woods yet and I'm hoping that I didn't lose any trees. We've had a lot of strong winds at times and had a real bad wind storm early last month.

[maple flats]

I likely have enough wood for the season, but I'm still putting more up. At this point I have just 1 log to process (correction I have a pile of logs which contains at least 30 full cord, but I'm only planning to process one). That one was cut just over a year ago, is about 13-14' long and is about 26-28" diameter. It was put where only the last few inches of the log are touching the ground. I will carry it out this next week, buck and split it wrist sized.
If I was to have a need in season for more firewood I have that big stack which is between 3 and 7 years old, much is ash and cherry. Plus I have likely 4-6 cords of hemlock slabwood off the sawmill.

[phil-t]

Been working on cleaning things up in the sugar house, doing some firebrick work, door gasket and pan seals replaced. Firewood all split and stacked (I use the leftover stuff from my home heating stash and split it up small for the half-pint) along with some slab wood from a local Amish mill. Also, my woodlot has a 2.5 acre stand of Black Locust. Managed time to cut and split about 5 face cord for the 2020 season. Hope this stuff works out OK, never burned any of it before.
Looking forward to the coming season with hopes of making some great syrup.

[johnallin]

Also, my woodlot has a 2.5 acre stand of Black Locust. Managed time to cut and split about 5 face cord for the 2020 season. Hope this stuff works out OK, never burned any of it before.
Looking forward to the coming season with hopes of making some great syrup.

Each year I have one or two dead standing locust over here that I cut up and split. It's my favorite wood and burns like rocket fuel. You're going to like it, trust me.

[BAP]

Been working on filling the woodshed, I've got less than a cord to go. I'm going to be burning all hardwood this year for the first time in a long time. I haven't had a chance to get into the woods yet and I'm hoping that I didn't lose any trees. We've had a lot of strong winds at times and had a real bad wind storm early last month.

Russ, no sense of checking lines today, with the way the wind is screaming and rain pouring, odds are the sugarbush is going to take a beating.

[heus]

Got my new Smoky Lake silver plate arch set up and stack installed. Need to brick it sometime in the next month or so. Just got a new Wes Fab short bank press. When all the leaves are off I will be fixing lines and replacing all drops. This is all part of my downsizing from 1000 taps to around 200-300.

[Russell Lampron]

Russ, no sense of checking lines today, with the way the wind is screaming and rain pouring, odds are the sugarbush is going to take a beating.

It turned out to be a good day to sit inside and play clash of clans. When the rain finally did stop the wind picked up so it wasn't safe to be in the woods anyway.