My plan 2022/23

[aamyotte]

I would put the storm collar on the single wall so rain and snow doesn't sit on the joint where the single wall meets the insulated pipe and leak inside the stack.

[Pdiamond]

Put your collar on the single wall. I used a roof jack from Menards that is for High heat that forms around the double wall pipe. It is for metal roofing and starts out flat. You can cut it to the diameter you want. It is a brownish color, and I looked but couldn't find the name.

[Swingpure]

Put your collar on the single wall. I used a roof jack from Menards that is for High heat that forms around the double wall pipe. It is for metal roofing and starts out flat. You can cut it to the diameter you want. It is a brownish color, and I looked but couldn't find the name.

Are you talking about a roof Jack like this? This one is good to 450° and the aluminum outer frame will bend around the metal roof ridges. One of those ridges will run through the middle of the hole for the double wall pipe. It amazes me how the prices in Amazon can vary so much from the USA and Canada. Sometimes much, much more than the simple exchange. This one is like $84 on the US site and $260 on the Canadian site.

A friend just ran his pipe through the metal roof, bent up the metal surrounding the pipe to act as a ridge to guide water away from his pipe and has a storm collar close to the roof to help protect any rain from getting in. His exits his sugar shack dead center on the roof peak, where mine is a foot or so off of the peak. Not 100% sealed, but works for him.

There are all metal foot jacks, but I am not sure how well they would bend around the metal roof ridges. They look pretty rigid.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/024O...fciPgKF2tiFBaA

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[Pdiamond]

It's similar to that Gary, but the base is square and made for metal roofing. I am sure it was also good for the heat on the outside of the double wall pipe. I don't remember the rating degree. I think it cost me something like $50.00 US. Want me to try and find you one and ship it to ya,

[Swingpure]

It's similar to that Gary, but the base is square and made for metal roofing. I am sure it was also good for the heat on the outside of the double wall pipe. I don't remember the rating degree. I think it cost me something like $50.00 US. Want me to try and find you one and ship it to ya,

If you find it, I will see what I can get it here for. Thanks for the offer.

Time is marching on. I am around 7 weeks from full tapping here, barring an early tap.

[Swingpure]

For my area, we are about 7 weeks give or take from tapping. Last year, my first year, I had trouble waiting for the tapping to begin and was a little envious of the southern areas that had started tapping weeks ahead of me. This year I am still really looking forward to the season beginning, but I am far more patient and accepting of when my time will come.

Despite seemingly working on improvements all throughout the summer and fall, I am still not ready.

I am excited that my new pan, base stack and other items could be ready in a week’s time. I will have a buddy help me with cutting a hole through the metal roof and rigging up the base stack and single wall and double wall stove pipe. He is much more comfortable than me being up on a roof and can really think outside the box for solutions, based on many years of experience building.

I am hoping that my fire grate for the evaporator’s fire box will also arrive in the next week or two.

One item I will be getting from my builder is a section of a 36” long, 8” double wall pipe. I suspect the OD of it will be 12” but I want to measure it first hand to be sure before buying flashing for it.

I am excited to be able to see the evaporator with the base stack and new pan and float box on it.

Last year’s concrete block evaporator I had tested 5 or 6 times prior to the season starting. This one I have not tested yet, but feel the lessons learned from last year and the addition of the base stack, 8” stove pipe, and the new pan should make it a more formidable evaporator. I will also have more seasoned wood, cut to a smaller size. I will also fill the firebox full to the bottom of the pan and will have fans blowing air under the door to help stoke up the fire. I should have a good boil.

There will be lots to learn with the divided pan, but I have read a lot about them and have watched a number of videos, so I feel comfortable starting off.

Last year I had labels on all of my jars and bottles, but I will not be doing it this year.

When I was boiling my Christmas sap, I was once again disappointed with the store bought defoamer. It once again congealed in the bottle and would not drip out. I will be using canola oil this season and just bought a bottle that I can control drip by drip. I will add one drop to the pan each time I fire up at first and adjust after that.

I do plan to start installing the remainder of my taps about a week ahead of when I think the sap will run. There is 140+ still to tap, with another 30+ taps already installed. I will be especially interested in the flow from the 30+ taps I installed at the end of December.

My DYI RO I have not thought about a lot. I still have to do the first ever flush. I will not do that until I get close to feeling overwhelmed, then I will flush it and then start giving it a try. My brain tells me it will ultimately save me time and fuel, but because of the unknowns of never have used one and none of the sugar makers I know around me never have used one, it seems like another level of complexity and additional work. But I will try it sometime this season and may ultimately come to rely on it.

[berkshires]

When I was boiling my Christmas sap, I was once again disappointed with the store bought defoamer. It once again congealed in the bottle and would not drip out. I will be using canola oil this season and just bought a bottle that I can control drip by drip. I will add one drop to the pan each time I fire up at first and adjust after that.

Other folks can speak to their own experience, but I have found that my early season sap doesn't need any defoamer. Later in the season I need some, and sometimes a lot. So you might try using it more sparingly, and then add more or even cut back to zero if you don't need it. The thing to watch for is a foam up in the syrup channel when you get close to or at syrup temperature. If you never get this, you don't need defoamer. If you can control it with less defoamer, that's great. Of course the trick is, you should try to add the defoamer *before* you need it. So that makes things more difficult. But I've found that if you should have added it earlier, and you catch a foam up starting in the syrup channel, you can add some defoamer to the syrup channel. Just then remember to start adding more to the earlier channels so you don't have to add it to the syrup channel often. Of course the risk is that if it's really too late, you might need to have that "Oh $h!t" bucket of sap handy!

GO

[Swingpure]

Other folks can speak to their own experience, but I have found that my early season sap doesn't need any defoamer. Later in the season I need some, and sometimes a lot. So you might try using it more sparingly, and then add more or even cut back to zero if you don't need it. The thing to watch for is a foam up in the syrup channel when you get close to or at syrup temperature. If you never get this, you don't need defoamer. If you can control it with less defoamer, that's great. Of course the trick is, you should try to add the defoamer *before* you need it. So that makes things more difficult. But I've found that if you should have added it earlier, and you catch a foam up starting in the syrup channel, you can add some defoamer to the syrup channel. Just then remember to start adding more to the earlier channels so you don't have to add it to the syrup channel often. Of course the risk is that if it's really too late, you might need to have that "Oh $h!t" bucket of sap handy!

GO

I only needed it on my second batch of syrup when I was only boiling 6 gallons. It got very shallow in the pot and started to bubble up, I added it, but it was also very close to finishing and I believe that is why the golden syrup had an off taste. Lesson learned.

I never use defoamer when finishing and I rarely had to use it all last year. In this case with such a small amount I was boiling and finishing at the same time. In hindsight, I should have just turned the heat down.

To your point, I will not add defoamer until I see some evidence that it will be a concern. As mentioned I rarely had to use it last year on my steam pans, but it could be different with the divided pan. If I have to use it, I will be mindful to use the least amount that is necessary. I will have a few gallons on raw sap on hand for emergencies.

[Swingpure]

I haven’t been posting much, because I have been waiting for things to happen.

I finally got my firebox grate after trying to get it since June. I actually got two grates, both too long and both too narrow. I will cut them to size and get them welded together, to make it into one correct sized grate. They are certainly heavy duty enough.

I also bought my blower fan. It has three settings and I can adjust its force as well by moving it closer or further away from the draft opening. I have another lower speed fan, so I am sure I can dial in the correct cfm.

I thought I might have got my pan and base stack last Friday, but I am told it is close, so I should get it next week, fingers crossed.

Just now we are getting our first extended cold spell, which looks to be at least two weeks long. It will make it interesting to cut the hole in the metal roof and install and seal the silicone roof Jack.

[Swingpure]

Today I cut the two grates to the proper dimension using an angle grinder and I will be dropping them off at my welder contact to join them. They are pretty heavy, so I expect they will fair well by the end of the season. I support the grate in the firebox so thatnis is 4 inches above the firebricks.

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I did not hear from my pan maker today, so I am really hoping I hear from him early next week. I can be pretty patient when I know a date something will be delivered, I am not quite a good when the delivery date is an unknown moving target. I still have a month before I start to panic, so I am still calm, but I used to have 8 months.

A deep freeze will be settling in here starting Sunday and the long range forecast shows it lasting at least two weeks and maybe all of February. The snow amounts are starting to build up again and I will have to start walking all of my lines again to reestablish my trail along them again

This is a picture of the fan(blower) I purchased. I am not sure what productivity improvement I will get from it, hopefully 1 or 2 gallons per hour.

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