Backyard Syrup Enthusiasts 2020

[Aaron Stack]

Doing GREAT! Every weekend plugging away.

Gravel pad is complete, canopy up, stove in place, top row of bricks rounded (might still round the front and back yet), chimney went up this past weekend, and plugging away on cutting up the wood. Wiring the blower this week and more wood cutting planned for the weekend... almost done with that. Taps bought, tubing cut, buckets drilled, Went with the 275 gal tote due to costs and need to make a cradle for two 55 gal drums to fit in my truck or a trailer for collecting and buy a few more accessories that Santa might not provide, but the end is in sight! Very excited and keeping busy.

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[maple flats]

If that stack arrangement doesn't work as you expect, try moving the first 45 closer to the arch, and extend the next section to be 2x as long, then the 45 to go up. Oftentimes a long flat will not be ideal.
Aside from that everything looks real nice.

[Aaron Stack]

Thanks for the tip Dave. The run to the first 45 is angled about a half bubble off on the level, but I'll see what happens on the test boil and change if needed. For now focusing on getting the wood finished before any snow moves in. I definitely have enough for this season but trying to fill'r up anticipating for 2022.

(AND!! The chimney survived last night's wind storm - wasn't totally sure it would but the garden stake braces held it in place)

[Pdiamond]

Very impressive. Keep up the good work.

[Aaron Stack]

Got the blower wired (another first - never wired a motor before), installed bucket covers for what will be my collecting drums, and ordered the pan cover this weekend. Might run over during the week to attach the blower to the arch as it looks like rain the next two weekends, but have a couple of inside projects I can tackle - cradle for the drums to sit tightly in my truck bed and doing the initial wash/sterilization on 33 5 gallon buckets & covers I picked up at Tractor Supply. 11 weekends (+/- 2) to go!

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[Aaron Stack]

Hi Folks - A couple questions on hot water supply.

I'm trying to come up with an idea for hot water at the site for sanitizing and cleaning and wonder what people do when the house is a good distance away.

Question 1 - The hose: The house has a basement sink with a hot water spigot on the faucet and is about 150 feet away. I have regular garden hose long enough from my yard that I was planning to run for the hot water supply. I won't use it for sap, just cleaning and sanitizing and wondered if that is a good idea or not. If I were going to use it for the sap or syrup I'd get the right kind of hose, but any issues with a garden hose for cleaning, would I actually be "cleaning" with a garden hose or introducing contaminants? Amazon has a 150' drinking water hose that isn't totally outrageous, and a 125' that's a bit cheaper. I'd have to measure precisely before buying if that is what I should be doing.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XNJ6PSG...ing=UTF8&psc=1

Question 2 - HOT water: A neighbor showed me a propane-driven hot water system he rigged up that he said was basically an RV hot water heater. Cost wise it's about the same as the hose would be so if the garden hose idea is bad, bad, bad I'll take a look at that.

Something like this mounted on a dolly with the propane tank under it is what he had rigged up https://www.amazon.com/Camplux-Outdo...67582208&psc=1

Thanks for any advice!

-Aaron

[Aaron Stack]

Moving right along...

Drum connection T and sap hauler complete, bucket cover installed on tote, made kindling out of a small birch tree that we took out for the driveway this summer, and installed the sight glass. Ran my first 2-hour test boil to initially clean the pan and set the mortar yesterday - EXCITING! Granted it was just water and a "small" fire, but hit a solid 10 GPH on my little 20x30 arch maintaining a 2" depth so I was pretty pleased.

Stack temp hit 600 at one point and maintained around 400-500 degrees so I assume a bigger fire will bump that up once the setting fires are complete (4 to go). I believe I am aiming for 650-800 based on postings I have read. I noticed backing down the blower to the medium/high point rather then full blown "on" upped the temp, and also saw it drop dramatically just as the timer was hitting the 6 minute mark for refilling wood.

Decided on the propane tankless hot water heater and will get that assembled and running shortly. Then the trailer-to-tote pump setup needs installing. The building phase is almost complete!

Couple things noticed when boiling:
Had ashes blowing into my bucket where the syrup discharge/filter will be so will probably add some of the leftover ceramic blanket to seal that off. Also, the sight glass has no way to be removed if sap still in the pan, so picking up another ball valve to add before the gauge to handle that (unless there is some sort of plug...?)

Finally, starting a new job tomorrow and ended 2020 65 pounds down (who knew sugaring was an exercise plan!).

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[maple flats]

Your valve arrangement is basically how I did it when I had to haul sap 7-9 miles ( 2 bushes, one 7 miles, and another 2 more miles past #1). I had a 18' gooseneck trailer and used 2 tanks of 275 gal each at times, 3 at other times, valved together like that. It worked well. However, I always filled one at a time, so I only had a max of one sloshing around for the haul to the sugarhouse, easier on the brakes and the corners. Even though I have a 1 ton, I still felt the weight especially down the one long hill I had with a stop at the bottom.

[DrTimPerkins]

Question 1 - The hose: The house has a basement sink with a hot water spigot on the faucet and is about 150 feet away. I have regular garden hose long enough from my yard that I was planning to run for the hot water supply. I won't use it for sap, just cleaning and sanitizing and wondered if that is a good idea or not.

Despite the fact that most of us probably grew up drinking from garden hoses from time to time, they are not water potable due to their often being made from recycled/regrind materials. Better to go with the drinking water hose you linked.

[Aaron Stack]

Despite the fact that most of us probably grew up drinking from garden hoses from time to time, they are not water potable due to their often being made from recycled/regrind materials. Better to go with the drinking water hose you linked.

Thanks Dr Tim - I went with the drinking water hose and will be rigging up the tankless hot water heater for cleaning. Going food safe with everything to make growing easier.

Dave - Thanks for the tip on filling one side before the other. I was thinking of an equal fill to more or less distribute the weight but will give your input a try. Thankfully the only large hill is on the way "to" the bulk of my trees about 5 miles away... maybe a little more, and I can take the longer route back which has no hill to worry about if it stresses the truck pulling a full load.