We tapped 107 on Sunday and they ran well, about 100 gallons of sap collected so far. Time to set up the evaporator & RO. Good luck to everyone!
We tapped 107 on Sunday and they ran well, about 100 gallons of sap collected so far. Time to set up the evaporator & RO. Good luck to everyone!
Matthew
Highly modified Leader Half Pint with Smoky Lake 2 x 4 Raised Flue
14' Grain Bin Sugar House
152 taps on 3/16 tubing
MES Dolly 100 RO
Homemade filter/canning tank with an electric water jacket
Kubota RTV 1100
http://s272.photobucket.com/albums/j...Maple%20Syrup/
Hi JayTee welcome to the board. I harvested 170 gallons on Monday 1/27, just finished 30 pints of beautiful golden syrup. There is another poster on this board, Goggleeye, also in SE MO, north of Jackson. I think he is happy to show visitors his operation if you wanted to see it. John
2020: 220 trees, most smaller than 20" diameter, made 25 gallons
remote location in western Cole County
5/16" plastic spiles, drain into plastic buckets or sapsaks
haul sap out of woods using atv & trailer
wood-fired pans on concrete blocks
one Leader Half Pint 24 x 33" plus 24 x 30 ss pan from a junkyard
cook batch process then finish in the kitchen;
we dont sell our syrup; its for family & friends
see website www.mosyrup.com
Also JayTee, go to my website mosyrup.com I have photos of Missourians making syrup, and some use the stainless steel "steam table trays" mounted on concrete blocks, as a low cost way of boiling. John
2020: 220 trees, most smaller than 20" diameter, made 25 gallons
remote location in western Cole County
5/16" plastic spiles, drain into plastic buckets or sapsaks
haul sap out of woods using atv & trailer
wood-fired pans on concrete blocks
one Leader Half Pint 24 x 33" plus 24 x 30 ss pan from a junkyard
cook batch process then finish in the kitchen;
we dont sell our syrup; its for family & friends
see website www.mosyrup.com
Good Evening unclejohn,
Thanks for the info. I'll have to see if I can hook-up with Goggleeye. He may well be who I've bought local syrup from!
I've actually visited your site, paged through photos and have been scouting for steam table trays on Craigslist, Salvation Army, Teen Challenge (local entitiy with a store like Salvation Army) the local Facebook 'For Sale' group and local metal scrap places. Have not exhausted all of them yet, but am looking.
So, is it appropriate to post questions in this group, or is there a better, 'Beginners' area of the forum?
John
JayTee: feel free to ask questions here, or go to the MapleTrader.com forum page and find one of the forums that aligns with your question. I have asked questions and received numerous helpful responses there. Also you seek a stainless steel steam table tray; there are some used restaurant equipment supply houses in STL, (maybe one in Cape or Sikeston as well?). Some metal scrapyards have a stainless steel "department"; I have gone to these junkyards and asked to walk around and I found a nice big pan, maybe you can find something useful. Good luck!
2020: 220 trees, most smaller than 20" diameter, made 25 gallons
remote location in western Cole County
5/16" plastic spiles, drain into plastic buckets or sapsaks
haul sap out of woods using atv & trailer
wood-fired pans on concrete blocks
one Leader Half Pint 24 x 33" plus 24 x 30 ss pan from a junkyard
cook batch process then finish in the kitchen;
we dont sell our syrup; its for family & friends
see website www.mosyrup.com
Well, my question aligns with the Missouri forum a bit, as it has to do with local sap flow the last couple of days, our upcoming weather and sap flow. I know ideal weather is lows in the 20's, highs in the 40's, with possibility of 1 gallon per tap per day. Over Tuesday and Wednesday, from 17 taps, I got 2.2 gallons. This is the local wx forecast for the next 10 days:
10DayWx.jpg
Not ideal for sap, though I'm sure it will cool off again. Winter isn't over yet! What do I do until wx gets ideal for sugaring? Leave my taps alone, re-drill and re-use them or drill new?
Thanks for the help. Also, in old forums, found a link for a reasonable price on Full Size Steam Table Trays, will see what shipping is.
Cheers!
John
Leave things alone and wait for the trees to give more sap. You may get a little sap - freeze it until you have enough to cook it down. Just make sure it doesn't sit in your containers for more than a day if the temps get mid 40's or above.
I'm surprised your trees only gave a total of 2.2 gallons for those two days. Most of my trees gave a gallon on Tuesday and a half on Wednesday.
Check out our website and give me a holler if you want to come out.
This last 5 days has been one of the better runs we've ever had.
Now I have an outdoor hobby for all 12 months. Like I need anything more to do
About 1000 taps on gravity tubing, MicRO2 RO, 2.5 X 8 Leader King, and a 1953 Willys Jeep to run around the maple woods with.
http://www.gihringfamilyfarm.com/
I haven't been posting much because we've been so busy. Only getting 4-5 hours of sleep each night, as I'm usually finishing the wash cycle on the RO about 1 am.
We've collected about 3000 gallons on the 585 taps since Saturday, some runs still producing almost a gallon per tree yesterday despite the lack of temp fluctuation. The new tubing system is really paying off. 1 collection point and not having to fight the mud for by 175 tap woodlot has been great. RO a real lifesaver. But still haven't had time to finish syrup. Finishing pan is full, all my ss milk pans are full, and the wife has filled every stock pot we own. I want it to slow down but yet I don't. In 5 days we are at a quarter of last years production. Hope to catch up this weekend.
Now I have an outdoor hobby for all 12 months. Like I need anything more to do
About 1000 taps on gravity tubing, MicRO2 RO, 2.5 X 8 Leader King, and a 1953 Willys Jeep to run around the maple woods with.
http://www.gihringfamilyfarm.com/
checked our taps on jan. 27 brought home 46 gallons off of 24 taps went back jan. 31 had 18 gallons and one baby squirrel drowned in the sap bag. been to warm in southeast missouri for a good run. walnut trees are not running at all.
You did ring the sap out of that squirrel before you tossed him, didn't you?
125-150 taps
Smokey Lakes Full pint Hybrid pan
Modified half pint arch
Air over fire
All 3/16 tubing
Southern Ohio