Originally Posted by red dorakeen
Been there!
16x24 Timber Frame Sugar House
Mason 2x4 Evaporator
90 trees on buckets
2 fav's, the start of the season, and the end of the season. Least fav , waist deep snow.
44 27'08/71 27'56
300 totalish taps 250 on tube and bosworth sap sucker
50 bucket and bags about 40-50 gallons a season
on a 2 by 7 home made evaporator and sugar shack
1st gen circa 1966 still learning stuff
Too many to choose from. How about:
Favorite: Arriving at the sugarbush to find every bucket overflowing.
Least favorite: Looking at the woodpile and knowing I won't be able to make it through all that sap.
Favorite: being in the sugar shack, everything is going well, snow is lightly falling outside and all is peaceful and beautiful.
Least favorite: washing endless buckets after the season. Frozen buckets of sap is a good one too.
GO
2016: Homemade arch from old wood stove; 2 steam tray pans; 6 taps; 1.1 gal
2017: Same setup. 15 taps; 4.5 gal
2018: Same setup. Limited time. 12 taps and short season; 2.2 gal
2019: Very limited time. 7 taps and a short season; 1.8 gals
2020: New Mason 2x3 XL halfway through season; 9 taps 2 gals
2021: Same 2x3, 18 taps, 4.5 gals
2022: 23 taps, 5.9 gals
2023: 23 taps. Added AUF, 13.2 gals
2024: 17 taps, 5.3 gals
All on buckets
This has been a fun post to read! All good likes and dislikes. We all probably have a small list of both if we gave it more thought. I have a bunch, but here's two of the bigger one's.
Favorite: Spending quality time at the evaporator- both operating it and showing visitors how it works.
Least favorite: Spending quality time at the evaporator- cleaning it.
Steve
2014 Upgrades!: 24x40 sugarhouse & 30"x10' Lapierre welded pans, wood fired w/ forced draft, homemade hood & preheater
400 taps- half on gravity 5/16, half on gravity 3/16
Airablo R.O. machine - in the house basement!
Ford F-350 4x4 sap gatherer
An assortment of barrels, cage tanks & bulk tanks- with one operational for cooling/holding concentrate
And a few puzzled neighbors...
http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/t...uckethead1920/
Right now Least Favorite is my struggles with my RO and DE filtering.
Favorite: Night boils, , the stack glowing, the yellow glow from the shack lights lighting up the steam coming out the shack, a star filled sky
2024 - New Maine resident, 12X12 sugar shack under construction
2019 - New 12X12 boiling pavilion
2018 - New Mason 2X3 Hobby XL and homemade RO
Favorite: All work prior and during the season.
Least Favorite: Post season clean-up.
2016 - 2 x 4 Randy Worthen built arch and pans 11 taps; 2.625 gallons of syrup!
2017 - 29 taps; 11.625 gallons of syrup!
2018 - 30 taps; 98 pints bottled! New sugar house being built, new equipment coming!
2019 - 125 taps; 50 gallons made! New 2x6 Smoky Lake Corsair arch, drop flue pan, auto draw. Smoky Lake filter press and Steam Bottler
2020 - 173 taps; only 35 gallons made.
2021 - 242 taps; New record! 50.5 gallons made!
2022 - 321 taps; New record! 80 gallons made!
Favorite: Eating it on waffles before work most mornings
Least Favorite: the dry rough burnt hands from hot and cold. Seems like not matter how careful I am, my hands take a beating after boiling.
Favorite: talking and showing people about the maple syrup process and the anticipation of the upcoming season
Least favorite: Mud, having to dump sap on the ground, sleepless cold nights.
Thanks for starting this thread!
Favorite: Being outside in the woods. Secondly the plumbing of vacuum and pumping.
Least favorite: troubleshooting mechanical issues.
825 Taps
2 HP CDL Rotary Vane Vacuum Pump
2000 Gallon Poly Tank
H2O Electric Releaser
2023- 825 taps 17325 gallons of sap
2022- 800 taps 12375 gallons of sap
2021- 350 taps 3815 gallons of sap
Favorite-tapping and hanging buckets in the snow
Least-taking buckets down knowing I have to wait another year to do it again!
100-110 buckets
Leader 7.5" 3 Bank filter press (2023)
RO Bucket RB10 (2017) upgraded to RB20 (2020)
Homemade oil tank arch
Homemade stainless pans
12x16 Sugar Shack (new 2020)
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