Wow Russ you are going to be famous, can I get your autograph. hahahaha Good for you great promotional op.
Wow Russ you are going to be famous, can I get your autograph. hahahaha Good for you great promotional op.
2004 - 2012 2x3 flat pan 25 to 60 taps
2012 2x3 new divided pan w/draw off 55 taps
2018 - didn't boil surgery - bought new evaporator
2019 new SML 2x4 raised flue high output evap. 65 taps
made 17 gal. syrup
2020 - only put out 53 taps - made 16.25 ga.l syrup
2021 - Didn't work out
2022 - 25 taps on bags / 8 taps on 3/16's line - late start
last year because of covid... ha why would anyone stop sugaring from covid? not being open is open or no maple weekend this year yeah but geesh.
may your sap be at 3%
Brad
www.willowcreeksugarhouse.com
585 or so on Vacuum, about 35 on buckets/sap sacs
Atlas Copco GVS 25A Rotary Vane vacuum pump
MES horizontal electric releaser
2x6 ss phaneuf Drop flue, Leader woodsaver blower, homemade hood
300gph H2O RO
husquvarna 562 XP
Its Here!!! 2024 season is here get busy!!!
Where was the newspaper article when I could use the free publicity? Not that I don't this year but it would have been great when we had a maple weekend. The reporter was telling me that Bruce Bascom had told her that the Canadian reserves are getting low. He said that because of Covid a lot of smaller Canadian producers had gone out of business and that they are expecting the reserves to be depleted more because of it. Bulk prices are up slightly! There were a lot of smaller operations in Quebec that also had pancake houses to support their incomes. The Covid shut down helped put them out of business. That was why the reporter wanted to know if my shutting down was due to Covid.
It's been cold and windy here with the daytime highs in the mid 30's. I wasn't expecting much for sap flows but it ran surprisingly well. I got 300 gallons Saturday which was the cloudier but warmer day of the 2 and 350 yesterday when the sun was shining all day and evening with stronger winds than the day before. I went down to check my tank at 6PM and to my delight there was 350 gallons of sap in the tank and the sap was still coming in as good as was earlier in the afternoon. I was planning to turn off the vacuum when I went back to the sugar house but left it on. The temp at the sugar house was 27*! It's always colder in the woods and to my surprise the coldest section of my woods was running the best.
Russ
"Red Roof Maples" Where the term "boiling soda" was first introduced to the maple world!
1930 Ford Model AA Doodlebug tractor
A couple of Honda 4 wheelers
Four chainsaws and no chickens!
I went to visit one of the big local producers in town yesterday and he was telling me what I already knew. The squirrel damage was the worst that he had ever seen. He also said that the other big producers were echoing the same sentiment. He had spent the last 4 days fixing vacuum leaks and had walked 44 miles doing so. He has 14,000 taps. He also said that all of the leaks he fixed had only raised his vacuum levels a little bit and that he still has a lot of leaks to fix.
Russ
"Red Roof Maples" Where the term "boiling soda" was first introduced to the maple world!
1930 Ford Model AA Doodlebug tractor
A couple of Honda 4 wheelers
Four chainsaws and no chickens!
I guess that makes sense then as to why she thought you were closing due to Covid. We are small enough (I would consider us hobby or just above hobby) I make very little actual profit at this everything I make goes right back into it with more equipment and upgrades.
Its self supporting as far as that is concerned. We (my wife and I ) have our real jobs that pay for the house, car payments, college tuition etc etc etc. (probably need some more etc's there) but She has her art and I have my maple and bees.
Actually Bees are a little more profitable than maple as it doesn't require so much equipment just getting the bees to over winter is the biggest problem. if not then you have to buy more bees in the spring. I bought 4 more packages of bees $550 and need to buy more containers probably $300. but already spent $600 for glass and containers at sunnyside, $200 in supplies at Bascom's so far. Will need DE, new taps for next season Etc Etc Etc. But the one thing is that I could consider it all an investment because the retail value of the equipment I have doesn't go down that much anymore for the smaller producer. As long as I take care of everything. I think I could actually make money on my evaporator if I sold it tomorrow. I bought it for $3300 11 years ago and could easily get $5000 for it today.
may your sap be at 3%
Brad
www.willowcreeksugarhouse.com
585 or so on Vacuum, about 35 on buckets/sap sacs
Atlas Copco GVS 25A Rotary Vane vacuum pump
MES horizontal electric releaser
2x6 ss phaneuf Drop flue, Leader woodsaver blower, homemade hood
300gph H2O RO
husquvarna 562 XP
Its Here!!! 2024 season is here get busy!!!
For those of you that can buy the Concord Monitor, today is the day!!!! If this link works you can read the article here: https://www.concordmonitor.com/Maple...demic-39388450 . If any of you producers in the area that aren't going to be open this weekend are out and about stop by for your last chance to check out my operation.
There wasn't much maple related stuff going on here yesterday. I made a batch of maple cream and that's about it. I have a couple of valves that need to be replaced so I'll be getting that done today. It was too cold and windy to attempt it yesterday.
That's one of the things that I like about maple Brad. The equipment holds it's value. If I just consider the money that I take in to the money that I spend I do make some here, but if I were to figure in a wage for myself I would always be in the red. That's why years ago I decided to make this a hobby business. If the IRS came knocking on my door I could easily show them that I don't make any money here.
Russ
"Red Roof Maples" Where the term "boiling soda" was first introduced to the maple world!
1930 Ford Model AA Doodlebug tractor
A couple of Honda 4 wheelers
Four chainsaws and no chickens!
Yesterday was just too cold here to get a sap run. The original forecast was for a high of 41, that was dropped to 39 yesterday morning and what I got was 34. The sap that I did get only dribbled in. My releaser which holds about 25 gallons only dumped once and was about 1/3 full when I collected Sunday's run at 6PM. I'm going to start ROing this morning for a boil this afternoon or evening. I've got 650 gallons on hand and today's weather should bring in more.
Russ
"Red Roof Maples" Where the term "boiling soda" was first introduced to the maple world!
1930 Ford Model AA Doodlebug tractor
A couple of Honda 4 wheelers
Four chainsaws and no chickens!
Interesting article you shared. Not close enough to snag a newspaper but i read it online. Hopefully the last season had good yields, always good to go out with a bang.
6th season solo sugar maker in a young sugar bush of mostly red maples
320 taps
2x6 self built arch, Flat pans w/ dividers
New 12x16 sugar house
CDL hobby 250 RO
It was a strange day for sap flow. I turned on the vacuum at 9:30 this morning when the temperature got to 30. There wasn't anything coming in at that time but with the bright sunshine I figured that it would be running soon. I went back at 12:00 when the temperature was at 48 to check it and the sap was barely dripping off of the releaser flap. It seemed like the sap should have been running but it wasn't. I went back down at 3:00 when the temperature was 54 and it was running better than before but not by much. I had about 30 gallons for the day so far. I went back down at 6:00 and the temperature was 50 and in the 3 hours since the last check I had gotten over 200 gallons. The sap was still coming in good when I pumped the tank a half hour later. It's not supposed to freeze tonight and I'm hoping to find a lot of sap in the morning.
Russ
"Red Roof Maples" Where the term "boiling soda" was first introduced to the maple world!
1930 Ford Model AA Doodlebug tractor
A couple of Honda 4 wheelers
Four chainsaws and no chickens!
We are a ways apart Russ but similar thing here in our cold woods. Nothing at 3 PM then 40 gallons by 6 PM on 120 taps. Pumps are on all night and work looks optional tomorrow! Good luck!
305 taps on 2 Shurflo's, 31 taps on 3/16" and 229 taps on gravity. 565 in all
Mountain Maple S3 controller for 145 of the vacuum taps
2x6 Darveau Mystique Oil Fired Evaporator w/ Smoky Lake Simplicity Auto Draw
Wesfab 7” filter press