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Maple sugaring 2021

Started by celliott, December 23, 2020, 07:50:25 PM

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Corley5

Pumped a barrel into the canner today and Zach and Zander bottled it in pints, quarts, and gallons.



 

 

 

 
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

mike_belben

I made a similar pneumatic trombone for pumping waste vegetable oil out of drums.  Itll paint most of a barn from 30 feet at just 12psi if any hoses pop off.  'Case u were wondering.   ;)
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Corley5

  We run this one at 5PSI.  At that it expands the drum.  It's pretty tame until the end of the drum  ;) ;D
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

mike_belben

Yeah mine too but i tended to leave a bit and consolidate for refiltering due to sediment on bottoms i didnt want in the tank. 


I have caved drums into wrinkled beer cans at around 8" vacuum too.
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Ed_K

 Finally got the sap lines washed, this weather has been something else this yr. We still need to put things away and then fill the wood shed back up but only boiling 5 time that won't take much time.
Ed K

Chuck White

Same here as to the firewood, Ed.

We only burned 3 face-cords of sugar wood!

We've been cleaned up for over a month now!

Poor year, but still enjoyable!
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

Stephen1

We used about 14 skids of firewood, but all softwood from the sawmill. I will replenish the firewood as I go through the year, looks like fill be sawing more hardwood this year so that will make a difference. 
We are down about 30% on our syrup. Could have been boiling all last week if the season hadn't ended at Easter. We had snow Friday afternoon 
IDRY Vacum Kiln, LT40HDWide, BMS250 sharpener/setter 742b Bobcat, TCM forklift, Sthil 026,038, 461. 1952 TEA Fergusan Tractor

Chuck White

Last year we made 190 gallons, and this year we made 88 gallons!  ::)
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

chep

We ended up with a slightly above decent year. Just over 1 quart of syrup per tap on 230 taps. 
We are at 1200 ft and have trees on all aspects except true north.  Do about 5 different stops through the neighborhood.  We put 1 bucket per tree and that works well for us. I've been picking and choosing trees over the last 10 years and have abandoned some and picked up diff trees somewhere else. Buckets are fun because you actually learn which trees produce year to year, its pretty consistent.  
Had a great year. Pretty quiet in the sugarhouse this year not many guests. But means I boiled faster!

Ed_K

 Anyone from the northeast going to Bascomb's open house on Friday & Saturday 17 & 18 sept?
Ed K

mike_belben

It would be nice if anyone who knows chris elliot could find out if hes ok.  Been a long time.
Praise The Lord

doc henderson

yes. he started this thread, and has dropped off the scene.
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

doc henderson

I sent him a PM.  his last post was Feb., and last active July 22.  I assumed he just got busy.
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

mapleack

Quote from: mike_belben on September 13, 2021, 10:59:39 AM
It would be nice if anyone who knows chris elliot could find out if hes ok.  Been a long time.
I just saw him post on a facebook syrup page in the last couple days.  Busy guy.   Also will say I just ran across this syrup thread, usually go to mapletrader for syrup chat.  I made 250 gal this year from 724 taps.   Working on a new electric releaser pump house for next season and hopefully a couple hundred new taps.   
Norwood LM2000

mike_belben

Well that is some welcome news. Thank you!
Praise The Lord

mike_belben

i just got 3 stainless "full pans" in the mail today, theyll hold about 5 gallons each and should make evaporating in my hillbilly combo evaporator/smoker/BBQ thing a lot more efficient.  my buddy is on me to build an RO to reduce the labor further.

after seeing how much good, sellable firewood i burned last year i realized that was gonna need to change.  all the long spindly stuff i culled at my dads will need to start getting rounded up.  my firebox is a 100LB propane tank so it takes long thing limby wood real well. i will sort the poplar and junky wood strictly for sugaring.  oak just doesnt seem to burn hot enough and i get overwhelmed with coals.  pallet wood is a bit too hot and scalds easy.  ill feel better when maintaining the sugar lot produces the evaporator energy and isnt eating my own heat source up.

im contemplating running a section of high tensile wire on my dads place to support a mainline with saddle taps for the rest of the property to drain into for a central collection. my place has 3 humps and wont work right but his has a nice single draw. its actually perfect. 


Praise The Lord

newoodguy78

You mister have been bitten by the maple bug  :D
Sugaring is a great way to stay busy  and foster ingenuity 

mike_belben

well, i kinda took the plunge.  the parts have arrived for a 4 stage RO and today i ordered 300 feet of 3/4 mainline and saddle taps, 500 more feet of 5/16ths, plus 100 more spiles.  got high tensile wire and turnbuckles for a sag free install.  i dont necessarily think it will make me any money, and the expense hurt, but i can see that the hurt is only going to get larger and larger if i put it off now and decide to grow later.  that mainline price is never coming down. 

i grocery shopped today which is abnormal.  stayed as much in the produce department as i could, and holy crap did that make me wish i had 10x more garden. i had a little chunk of money come in and its about gone now, but i feel i made a good investment for the future to come, in syrup, livestock fencing, soil stuff, canning stuff.  really trying to take homesteading to the next level and start cutting walmart out of my life. 
Praise The Lord

Stephen1

You best start cutting Firewood!
Congratulations
IDRY Vacum Kiln, LT40HDWide, BMS250 sharpener/setter 742b Bobcat, TCM forklift, Sthil 026,038, 461. 1952 TEA Fergusan Tractor

mike_belben

Yeah really..  Ive got all the thinnings to round up off the ground at the bush site soon now that the temp change has put the chiggers away. 

  I will tap the best trees in my yard but the lay isnt very good on the plot where i live and im not gonna develop a tubing system.  The other parcel has better trees, a great gravity layout and nothing else on it to be in conflict right now.   Since im thinning it so severely there isnt much risk of lines getting hurt if left up long term, and itll be easy to go vaccuum once theres a utility panel someday.  
Praise The Lord

mike_belben

well, my mainline dreams are dashed.  i got the call back that my order had a huge shipping bill on it due to the size of the mainline that just made it stupid.  so im shopping around the other suppliers (leader, CDL and LaPierre) and find that they are all universally frustrating.  either your site is in french and it wont translate, or its so overly fancy that it wont load the page or i cant find anything.  or it doesnt list prices and i have to email you a request for quote.  there is definitely room for a streamlined maple supplier in between the big 3.  i

f i search "5/16 tee" and get "no results"  ... then try just "tee" and get 8 pages of everything from handcarts to defribillators but no flippin plastic tee fittings, it tells me you havent tried shopping your own horrible website yet.  
Praise The Lord

Chuck White

LaPierre is French, and I believe they're headquartered in Quebec, which is primarily French!

If there is a significant amount of sugaring that goes on in your area, there should be a local supplier!
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

mudfarmer

Mike have you checked with places like Roth Sugarbush ? I have had to order from some of these mid level suppliers when locals did not have what I needed in the past (Chuck and I probably shop at the same spots :D )

If you are running 3/4 or 1" mainline you could use black poly water pipe from a local plumbing supplier and then just get fittings and lateral tubing by mail maybe?

As usual, just spitballin'

mike_belben

theres no local supplier, im in tennessee where maple sugaring isnt a thing. i know theyre french, but their click for english link was broken.

ended up ordering from leader again, melissa there is a sweetheart.  i just dropped the mainline and saddle taps from the order.  but i do like the idea of local black water pipe.  i suppose the saddle taps will still work fine. ??  you ever done it MF?
Praise The Lord

Corley5

Leader's snap over saddles suck.  They will and do leak.  We used them initially and have been replacing them ever since with ones from CDL.  CDL's are not only better but cheaper.  I like my Leader equipment but they feel their stuff is worth a premium.  I went with Lapierre tubing, red Leader spiles, and mainline entrances/saddles from CDL in last years addition.  Mix it up. 
Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

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