2020 New Years Maple Resolutions ??

[wmick]

Happy New Year Folks.... Hope everyone had a good Christmas....

I'm a little more on the ball this year, than most... Already working on some changes to my maple system, rather than waiting till the sap's flowing.
I thought I'd maybe start a thread about what people are changing, trying, or improving for 2020.... (This will by my 3rd year boiling with my home-built 2x6 evaporator, so still lots of room for improvement... i think I get as much enjoyment from the tinkering as the boiling. Maybe more?)

1. Added filter cloth and 6" of drainage stone to the dirt floor of my shack... (In hopes that it is less mucky.)
2. Installed a Tecumseh 8hp engine on an old bale elevator to hoist firewood into a crib...
3. Planning to erect a couple small wood cribs.. Tying some welded wire panels (from pallet racking) together. (kind of like the old round corn cribs)... I don't like piling.
4. Replaced all my 1/2" and 3/4" threaded fittings on my (2x4 sap and 2x2 syrup) pans with 1-1/2" milk-line ferrules. (to eliminate flow restrictions.)
5. Changed the dividers in my Syrup pan to cross flow, feeding the front and drawing off a back (which is the hottest part of the pan)... (hoping to have better temperature gradient and flow from inlet to outlet)
6. Dropped my syrup pan 1-1/2" lower than the sap pan, and installing a float box between. (to have pan-specific, and hopefully better, depth control)
7. Changing my float valves from a 3/4" Kerrick to 1-1/4" "Bob" valve. (to eliminate restrictions)
8. Bought a Roll of 1/2" ceramic batt insulation... Going to add a layer or two behind my fire-brick... to keep a bit more of the heat inside. Insulated my firebox door with it. and added an insulated panel on the exterior of the firebox (where we stand) to keep some of the heat off our legs.
9. Purchased a used water RO. Planning to add a feeder pump and a circ pump and some new membranes to this CAN 4040-2 (2 post unit)... https://static1.squarespace.com/stat...+M+5-15-19.pdf I still have lots to learn about RO... but hope to have something ready to try out by spring. (hoping to accommodate some shorter boils instead of the all-nighters that I'm getting too old for)

I think that's it for me.... Not planning to do anything different in the bush this year.... Sticking with a couple battery/solar powered 12V diaphram pumps drawing from 100+ taps on 3/16" lines .

Thanks for now...

[ddociam]

I’m Jerry from SW Minnesota. This will be my fifth year. I’ve added buckets and water jugs each year. This year I’m adding tubing and sureflow vacuum to three groves. I expect to have have about six hundred taps. That’s double what I had last year. I’m upgrading from a single post 4x40 with a half horse motor. To a single post with 3/4 hp. Also a two post with 2 hp. I have a 2x4 Smokey lake with hybrid pan which is going to get a real workout this year. I’m looking to upgrade to a bigger one but can’t afford that now. Getting all this installed and put together by the first run is a challenge.


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