Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

[GeneralStark]

Spent the morning rinsing, washing and benchmarking the new to me ro. Looks like my 500 gph is actually a 450 gph machine which is ok by me considering the age of the membrane. Ran the 500 gallons of 1.5% sap thru to make almost 200 gal. of approx. 4% that I will boil off this afternoon after I finish putting the rig back together. Looking forward to testing out the new auto-draw.

New vfd should be coming today so tomorrow I will install and tune and be ready to collect sap again. Still need to put in about 200 taps which I am hoping to finish tomorrow and saturday.

[Amber Gold]

Stark, after the VFD failed, I found an A5 single phase pump that I bought as backup. If the A10 fails, I just plug the A5 in and back in commission. It was cheaper than buying a backup VFD.

Good luck with the new vfd.

[DoubleBrookMaple]

My self made electric releaser worked flawlessly operating on 22-25 inches for two days on 260 new taps. Yielded 325 gallons of What????? 1% sap ! The last two years I consistently got 1.7. on gravity tubing and buckets. My big time producer neighbor just told me he gets 1.4.
I stuck to my guns and boiled it off today, and what a long day for 3.5 gallons. I should have got about 6. Not worth the the 14 hour day, but I do have something to show for it. A back ache. Hope things get back to normal. At least I have a break for a while.
For the record.. I was not aggressive enough in burning i think, but 13 hours of boil time for 325 gallons = 25 gph. Best I have ever had, but i had hoped for a couple more. Another stat. I burned 48 cu ft of wood! Not Good.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Spent the morning rinsing, washing and benchmarking the new to me ro. Looks like my 500 gph is actually a 450 gph machine which is ok by me considering the age of the membrane. Ran the 500 gallons of 1.5% sap thru to make almost 200 gal. of approx. 4% that I will boil off this afternoon after I finish putting the rig back together. Looking forward to testing out the new auto-draw.

New vfd should be coming today so tomorrow I will install and tune and be ready to collect sap again. Still need to put in about 200 taps which I am hoping to finish tomorrow and saturday.

What are you guys paying for vfd's? I picked up a 3hp single to three phase for like 254.00 and Clayton programmed it for me. I watched him program it seemed pretty simple just never have done one.

[spud]

My self made electric releaser worked flawlessly operating on 22-25 inches for two days on 260 new taps. Yielded 325 gallons of What????? 1% sap ! The last two years I consistently got 1.7. on gravity tubing and buckets. My big time producer neighbor just told me he gets 1.4.
I stuck to my guns and boiled it off today, and what a long day for 3.5 gallons. I should have got about 6. Not worth the the 14 hour day, but I do have something to show for it. A back ache. Hope things get back to normal. At least I have a break for a while.
For the record.. I was not aggressive enough in burning i think, but 13 hours of boil time for 325 gallons = 25 gph. Best I have ever had, but i had hoped for a couple more. Another stat. I burned 48 cu ft of wood! Not Good.

Looks like you are going to need an RO. After the third of fourth run your sap should have more sugar. Good luck.

Spud

[GeneralStark]

What are you guys paying for vfd's? I picked up a 3hp single to three phase for like 254.00 and Clayton programmed it for me. I watched him program it seemed pretty simple just never have done one.

The Hitachi model I am using for my 3hp vac. pump was right about $225 + shipping. They are pretty straight forward to program. Some are more complex than others. The one I got from Clayton for the deep-well submersible in my releaser has fewer bells and whistles so is a little more straight forward. Next time I need one I will likely go with Clayton once again.

[sjdoyon]

Looks like we might get ten inches of snow on Sunday. At least Monday looks good.

[spud]

Today is supposed to go to 42 and rain. Not sure if that will get the trees going or not. Today I plan to add another 200 taps on just to kill some time. My Busch pump is generating to much heat for my new sap shack. I plan to frame in for a future window but for now stick a fan in the hole.

Spud

[sapmaple]

Spud
If you get too bored you could build a sugarhouse and process and boil your sap I guarantee you won't have any kill time

[spud]

Spud
If you get too bored you could build a sugarhouse and process and boil your sap I guarantee you won't have any kill time

Your right on that sapmaple. The only problem is I would have no money in the bank if I set up to boil.

Spud