Good to hear that you are getting some syrup made Mapler. I'm guessing next week will tell the tail for the season.
We have about 500 gallons to run today. Then we might have to wash up a bit and prepare for what looks to be the final run. I would like to be able to write in the journal that we were still boiling in April.
Good Luck
Chris
Originally Posted by Mapler
2011 19 taps, 5 gallons of syrup
Moved from turkey fryers to barrel stove.
A copy of the North American Maple Manual.
"2012 in the book" 85 taps, new 24"X60" rig 5" drop flue, made 15 gallons
2013 75 buckets and bags, 50 taps on tubing= 32.6875 gallons in glass.
http://s1129.photobucket.com/albums/...%20rig%202011/
Hey Chris,
It finally started a little here in central Wisconsin. Had a few days of mediocre runs. The next 4 days are gonna be fridged, with lows tonight and tomorrow night to be near 0 F, so we boiled for the first time this year. Got about 8 gallons in the milk can. All went well.
Larry, I'm happy that you have gotten started. Sorry about the ZERO over night lows. OUCH! That has to be tough on you folks up there. Is this the first year for your new arch and pans?
We are to be 14F tomorrow night. That might be the reset that we need here.
Today we boiled for 13 hours, went through about 500 gallons. Added some air under fire. That helped quite a bit.
2011 19 taps, 5 gallons of syrup
Moved from turkey fryers to barrel stove.
A copy of the North American Maple Manual.
"2012 in the book" 85 taps, new 24"X60" rig 5" drop flue, made 15 gallons
2013 75 buckets and bags, 50 taps on tubing= 32.6875 gallons in glass.
http://s1129.photobucket.com/albums/...%20rig%202011/
This season is the 2nd season. Last year, we made 260 gallons. The set-up works really good. It's 2 X 10, but 8 feet of drop flue and just 2 feet of cross-flow syrup pan. Things get hectic and stressful, so we seldom carry out a precise measurement of evap rate, but at the end of the day, it's 90-100 GPH. We have a 1/2 HP blower under it, running on a 3 phase motor and VFD converter. Usually we need to run the cycles at 68-70, which gives us just a bit more air than a regular 1740 would give. Nice to be able to dial up the precise amount of air we want.
After this cool spell, will you be able to go again?
Larry, I'm hoping that the trees have one more run in them. It didn't get too cold last night, about 22F. Tomorrow night they are calling for low teens. I'm thinking that that may set us up for more sap.
Saturday our tally was 425 gallons of sap, Sunday we cleaned up and got ready for a run if it comes.
We now have 7 five gallon buckets syrup to process when the bottles get here.
Your rig, 100 gallons per hour sure would keep a guy hopping. What did you do with 260 gallons of syrup?
Last edited by Indiana-Jones; 03-24-2014 at 02:50 PM.
2011 19 taps, 5 gallons of syrup
Moved from turkey fryers to barrel stove.
A copy of the North American Maple Manual.
"2012 in the book" 85 taps, new 24"X60" rig 5" drop flue, made 15 gallons
2013 75 buckets and bags, 50 taps on tubing= 32.6875 gallons in glass.
http://s1129.photobucket.com/albums/...%20rig%202011/
Well, some of that 260 gallons was returned to the sap suppliers. Then I sold some of my own as bulk. The rest we bottled and sold at a couple craft fairs, some out of the house, traded some on halves for maple cream, sold some to my younger son for gifts and such for his business, some to his father-in-law for gifts for his business clients, donated some to our church for their annual pancake breakfast, I dont know, somehow, slowly, most of it is gone. The fancy bottles did not sell as well as I had thought, so we won't need to bottle as much there. All the quarts and pints are gone, tho. I think a market that is easily overlooked is small bottles to businesses to give away for good will. 8 oz and 12 ounce flats, mainly.
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