Rookie maple syruper

[Brien]

I already posted this message in my regional forum, but I thought I would introduce myself here as well
Hello, new to the forum here. This is my first year at trying the maple syrup. My sugar bush is in northern ontario. I built a small A frame shanty out of 2x4s and vapor barrier this winter to keep my boil out of the elements. Im planning on tapping 60 trees (maybe more, lol). I have been packing the trail down all winter so it should be fairly easy to access the trees. and I bought a 2x3 evaporator from CDL with a homemade stove under it.
The property is not accessible by vehicle in the winter so I have been working on sledding everything in with my snowmobile. I still have to tow in the stove, but I welded flatbars on the bottom of the legs to act as skiis so I can pull it in. Then it will be another trip to bring in all the fire brick.
I've been scanning through the forums, and wow lots of information. I've come to the right place. I'll post some pics of my setup on the weekend once I get everything out there.
Cheers

[raptorfan85]

Welcome. Glad to have someone new joining the maple world! I started small and have grown a lot. It's part of the journey!

[Goatogether]

Good luck, Brien....I’m in rookie year as well, about 150 tapped, mostly on a small vac system that’s solar run. We have a small shack, a hobby RO (The RO Bucket’s RB45), a Lapierre Waterloo Small Lp evaporator and a homemade vacuum filter. It will be interesting!! Have fun getting everything set up! Ellen

[Hkb82]

Welcome to the oh so addictive world of syrup making. I started out like you outside with tarps and a 2x4 frame over the pans. After the first season I was hooked and built the sugar shack for the following season. Plan on climbing up to the 150 mark this year maybe even 200 if I can find the time to get em in. This will be my fifth season and although I got it pretty figured out now I’m always learning new things and playing around with something. Trader has provided me with an endless amount of knowledge and advise from so many of the fine folks from all parts and has to be the best place to chat or research about syrup production. Have fun with it and happy sapping

[Buffalo Plaid]

Welcome Brien. After reading about what you have to do to get equipment out to your shack, I won't complain about having to carry a couple of things down to mine.

[Brien]

Welcome Brien. After reading about what you have to do to get equipment out to your shack, I won't complain about having to carry a couple of things down to mine.

lol, I definitely have a bit of a challenge, but its something to do as well. I'm taking the family and we are going to make a day of it tomorrow, roast some hotdogs and marshmellows over a campfire.

[Goatogether]

Good luck, let us know how it goes! We’re still waiting for it to run here in NE VT. Looks like Wednesday maybe?

[Brien]

Well I was able to get most of the things out to my property. It was pretty cold saturday morning around-20C. I put my phone in my front pocket when I was snowmobiling and it froze. So no pictures. I also had to bring my evaporator pan back into town because I could not get the protective wrap off of the Stainless Steel, It kept ripping because of the cold. So I sledded it back and within a few hours in the house it peeled off easily. I also put a temporary cover over the stove so I could light it to bake the high heat paint on and to burn off anything on the inside.

[Goatogether]

I’m thinking this could be a great reality show....The things we do!

[Brien]

I think your right, lol. My wife thinks I'm crazy. She said the other day, "we don't even eat that much maple syrup". I told her it doesn't have to make sense, its a hobby!