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who's ready to make some maple syrup?

Started by ryguy777, February 24, 2014, 01:58:14 PM

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Chuck White

Finished "clean-up" today!

Evaporator clean and dry.
Barrels washed.
Buckets washed.
Saplines backwashed and sanitized.

All we lack is refilling the woodshed, wood is all cut!

Now it's time to get the sawmill going!
~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!

JohnM

Chuck, how do you guys sanitize your lines and/or spiles?  Is bleach a no-no?
Lucas 830 w/ slabber; Kubota L3710; Wallenstein logging winch; Split-fire splitter; Stihl 036; Jonsered 2150

thecfarm

Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

thecfarm

Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

JohnM

Lucas 830 w/ slabber; Kubota L3710; Wallenstein logging winch; Split-fire splitter; Stihl 036; Jonsered 2150

Chuck White

Quote from: JohnM on April 18, 2014, 08:40:42 PM
Chuck, how do you guys sanitize your lines and/or spiles?  Is bleach a no-no?


We use a generator, water pump and a barrel of "off the shelf" Clorox and water, mixed with enough Clorox so that we can smell it!

We hook the waterpump line in at the low end of the sapline and run the pump until the water comes out at the far end of the line, when we smell clorox water at the top end, we shut the pump off!

Then starting at the high end of the line we pull spouts and tip them down so that the clorox water exits the spout and just work our way down, pulling spouts to the low end of the sapline!

We just put a 5gallon pail on the ground near the low end of the sapline and when we disconnect the pumpline, we recover whatever amount comes down the line.

We let the spouts just hang there a couple of days to dry out, then we will go back through and put the spouts on their respective pegs!

For our metal spouts, we put them in a metal pail filled with water and boil it on the gas stove in the sugar house.  Let them boil for 15-20 minutes then we take them outdoors and drain off the water and dump the spouts out on a piece of plywood to dry (spread them out so they will all get air).  Seeing as how they are hot, it doesn't take very long for them to dry!

Hope this info helps you guys out!
~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!

thecfarm

Chunk,do you do the same cleaning before start up too?
Sap is runing. I filled up eight 2 liter bottles and half of another one. That should put me well over 4 gallons. Not bad for my taps.  :) Into the freezer it goes. Don't really dare to leave it out. Temps are in the 50's-60's.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

JohnM

Lucas 830 w/ slabber; Kubota L3710; Wallenstein logging winch; Split-fire splitter; Stihl 036; Jonsered 2150

Chuck White

Quote from: thecfarm on April 19, 2014, 06:26:43 PM
Chunk,do you do the same cleaning before start up too?
Sap is runing. I filled up eight 2 liter bottles and half of another one. That should put me well over 4 gallons. Not bad for my taps.  :) Into the freezer it goes. Don't really dare to leave it out. Temps are in the 50's-60's.

Nope!

We just tap the trees and drive the spouts, then just let the sap run for a couple of days!
~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!

thecfarm

Thank you Chunk.
29,might be running today too.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Chuck White

Ray, long as the sap is running good and the trees aren't budded out, catch what you can, preserve it, and boil it when you pull the spouts.

Sounds like it's been another adventure for you this year!  8)
~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!

thecfarm

All done,I boiled a little when the Grandson was here. Leaves was kinda dry,so I hooked up the garden hose and kept putting the water to the ground. I forgot how many 2 liter bottles I filled up. Maybe 14-15?? I think I got about 10 gallons of sap in that last cold spell. I froze the bottles.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Magicman

So you froze the sap and will boil it down later?
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

thecfarm

Sorry did not make it clear. I filled 2 liters soda bottles with sap. Than I froze them. I really did not dare to leave them out in the temps we was getting at high noon,60's. I took the bottles out about a day before I needed them,so they would melt. I boiled down about 8 gallons. It's easier for us to boil about 4 gallons at a time. That's all the pan will hold anyways. Than instead of adding to the pan as it boils down,we just go until it's just about syrup then bring it inside to finish off. So I did 2 four gallons boils. Than when the Grandson came I kept some bottles so we could do a boil with him,so he could see how it was done. I only had about 2,maybe 3 gallons to boil with him. Did not want to do a 4 hour boil,he would get bored with it. I have no more sap to boil.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

Chuck White

So how much did you end up making Ray?
~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!

thecfarm

Don't laugh. Probably a little more than a gallon. But we had fun. And don't that taste good. Wife got real good at finishing it off. I have a little bit that is real thick. But you have to remember she was only finishing off about a half to a pint at a time. When it first started it was about a ½ inch in a pint jar. That was not around long.  ;D Looking forward to next year. I go to sleep building a small sugar shack for her each night.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

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