Maple Syrup 2019

[Ryan Browne]

Those pumps are reasonable. Never would've guessed that.

Very reasonable. There's even some cheaper ones that guys are using. I use the 2088 I think. Could be 2008. They regularly pull 20+" of vacuum. Gotta run a simple filter in front of them and hook all your sap lines into a manifold of some sort. I use 1" sap mainline and star fittings with a couple saddle fittings. It's all very cheap stuff. The DC pumps are said to last much longer, so i run an extension cord to a battery charger and clamp the leads on the pump to the terminals of a junk battery with the alligator clamps on the charger.

 

[Ryan Browne]

Been a very busy couple days here. Putting on lots of miles on the snow. It's been a scramble to get everything online but I'm about 90% tapped and most of the leaks are fixed. Still a few out there.

The next week looks very good. After that it might be too warm, but anything could happen. Hopefully it's not too short of a season for us. We've made a lot of syrup in April in the last few years, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Got the cooker cleaned up yesterday too. Should be all ready to fire up by Friday afternoon.

 

[Flint Mitch]

@beaglebriar

Thanks again for the book!

Ended up with about 3 gallons of finished syrup thanks to you. Could have had much more just wasn't set up for it so I stopped. Tastes darn good!! Can't wait until next year. Bigger everything!!!

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[beaglebriar]

@beaglebriar

Thanks again for the book!

Ended up with about 3 gallons of finished syrup thanks to you. Could have had much more just wasn't set up for it so I stopped. Tastes darn good!! Can't wait until next year. Bigger everything!!!

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

Nice! You have the bug now. Lol

Keep your eyes open for a good used setup. You could also build a barrel stove with steam table pans. Enjoy the syrup!!!

 

[Ryan Browne]

Big sap day here today! Must've had just enough freeze for a good recharge last night, and then it warmed up fast. Trees are shooting it out! If it runs like this until after sundown, I'd bet we'll see 2 gallons per tap.

Here's the gauge on my shurflo 2088.

 

[kingOFgEEEks]

So it happened yesterday...

My mom was over, and father-in-law brought over 2 neices to see me making syrup. I had just gotten the evaporator into 5th gear, and the kids (2 nieces plus my 3) wanted to go out on the side by side and gather sap. I asked my wife and mom to take them out, but they didn't want to. I asked them to watch the evaporator while I took them out. Showed them all how to add sap, what to look and listen for, and how to feed the fire (FIL was taking care of fire).

When I got back, they were adding water to the pan to prevent it from catching fire. Seems that Mrs. and Mom went inside to make coffee, and FIL just kept chucking wood in, but didn't think to check the sap level. I had to flush everything with water and scrape carbon out of the pan.

Started over again at 6:00 and went to 10:00, getting about 50 gallons through the evaporator before I knocked the fire down and went to bed. It takes me 80-100 gallons to get the pan sweet, so hopefully I can get close to being there tonight...

 

[Ryan Browne]

Sorry to hear that Chris. It always makes me nervous walking away from the cooker, even with my best guy, Cory running the show. I consider myself extremely lucky to have someone I can trust with it. He is an absolute lifesaver.

We had a great day today. Been running good every day since Thursday. Cooked for the first time on Friday and had enough to go again this afternoon. Fired up at 2:00 and cooked until 8:30. The new lights in the shack are AWESOME. No more cooking in the dark for us! I stoked the fire and moved sap around and Cory drew off 32 gallons of syrup. It was beautiful weather and a good time was had by all.

 

[beaglebriar]

So it happened yesterday...

My mom was over, and father-in-law brought over 2 neices to see me making syrup. I had just gotten the evaporator into 5th gear, and the kids (2 nieces plus my 3) wanted to go out on the side by side and gather sap. I asked my wife and mom to take them out, but they didn't want to. I asked them to watch the evaporator while I took them out. Showed them all how to add sap, what to look and listen for, and how to feed the fire (FIL was taking care of fire).

When I got back, they were adding water to the pan to prevent it from catching fire. Seems that Mrs. and Mom went inside to make coffee, and FIL just kept chucking wood in, but didn't think to check the sap level. I had to flush everything with water and scrape carbon out of the pan.

Started over again at 6:00 and went to 10:00, getting about 50 gallons through the evaporator before I knocked the fire down and went to bed. It takes me 80-100 gallons to get the pan sweet, so hopefully I can get close to being there tonight...

Well crap...that really sucks. I hope you're pan is ok. Nothing worse than scrubbing a scorched pan.

 

[kingOFgEEEks]

Well crap...that really sucks. I hope you're pan is ok. Nothing worse than scrubbing a scorched pan.

It was already a little warped, but it didn't get worse, so it will still serve. I have one known shallow spot that I use as my reference point, to prevent burning, and I even showed everyone there where it was, and what to look for.

I was back to making syrup by 8:00 last night, so now it's just onward and upward.

 

[kingOFgEEEks]

Sorry to hear that Chris. It always makes me nervous walking away from the cooker, even with my best guy, Cory running the show. I consider myself extremely lucky to have someone I can trust with it. He is an absolute lifesaver.

We had a great day today. Been running good every day since Thursday. Cooked for the first time on Friday and had enough to go again this afternoon. Fired up at 2:00 and cooked until 8:30. The new lights in the shack are AWESOME. No more cooking in the dark for us! I stoked the fire and moved sap around and Cory drew off 32 gallons of syrup. It was beautiful weather and a good time was had by all.

32 gallons of syrup! There are days when I only get 32 gallons of sap!

 

[Ryan Browne]

32 gallons of syrup! There are days when I only get 32 gallons of sap!

Yeah, I'm pretty darned pleased with my new cooker. It sure is fun watching the sap dump in the float box and pails of syrup piling up on the pallet. We ran a little longer than normal yesterday, started at 2, cooked until 8:30.

 

[kingOFgEEEks]

Yeah, I'm pretty darned pleased with my new cooker. It sure is fun watching the sap dump in the float box and pails of syrup piling up on the pallet. We ran a little longer than normal yesterday, started at 2, cooked until 8:30.

Are you running an auto-drawoff also?

 

[Ryan Browne]

No, not yet anyway. We're pretty low tech really. Only switched to tubing and vacuum three years ago. Just got our first outlets and LEDs this week.

I'd definitely like to add an auto draw and a filter press at some point. The auto draw could make it so one person could run the show. Right now it's a two person job at a minimum. During the season every year I mostly convince myself it's worth the money to buy that kinda stuff but then after the season ends I always find something more important. So for now, we'll stick with cone filters and the hydrometer.

 

[beaglebriar]

No, not yet anyway. We're pretty low tech really. Only switched to tubing and vacuum three years ago. Just got our first outlets and LEDs this week.

I'd definitely like to add an auto draw and a filter press at some point. The auto draw could make it so one person could run the show. Right now it's a two person job at a minimum. During the season every year I mostly convince myself it's worth the money to buy that kinda stuff but then after the season ends I always find something more important. So for now, we'll stick with cone filters and the hydrometer.

Filtering is the worst part of the whole deal. I always struggle with it.

 

[Ryan Browne]

Yeah, my dad does most of the filtering. I get it to temp and ensure the right density and he manages the filters. I was just telling my wife last night that when he quits I'm gonna buy a filter press. We typically filter and bottle 30-40 gallons at a time, and last year we ended up putting 235 gallons through those Orlon filters.

This is what our filtering setup looks like. We usually run 3 Orlon filters at a time with a flannel prefilter in them. They hang from the pegs. The tank is something my dad picked up at an auction 30+ years ago. The rack he had made by a friend. I like to say the lid is the most dangerous thing on the farm. That thing requires gloves no matter what. Sharp and light enough to take off in a strong gust. I call it the decapitator. The guy in the fringe is Mike. He's been coming out during the season for many years and has been a huge help.

 

[Marshy]

My neighbor has been busy. I'm going to stop in the morning and pick up some jugs to sell to the guys at work. It sure has been cold the last few nights and warm in the day. I imagine we are at peak sap flow right now.

 

[Marshy]

I just stopped in this morning to say hello to him and he was getting ready to run a batch. He said he thinks the run is over before this coming weekend. Hes planning on having to pull taps before the weekend. He's ran over 800 gallons of syrup this year. So far a little behind last years total of 1200 gallons.

 

[kingOFgEEEks]

About 2-3/4 gallons canned so far:

 

[Steve Taylor]

About 2-3/4 gallons canned so far:
View attachment 173954 View attachment 173955

I am about at the same spot. 2 1/2

 

[beaglebriar]

Yeah, my dad does most of the filtering. I get it to temp and ensure the right density and he manages the filters. I was just telling my wife last night that when he quits I'm gonna buy a filter press. We typically filter and bottle 30-40 gallons at a time, and last year we ended up putting 235 gallons through those Orlon filters.

This is what our filtering setup looks like. We usually run 3 Orlon filters at a time with a flannel prefilter in them. They hang from the pegs. The tank is something my dad picked up at an auction 30+ years ago. The rack he had made by a friend. I like to say the lid is the most dangerous thing on the farm. That thing requires gloves no matter what. Sharp and light enough to take off in a strong gust. I call it the decapitator. The guy in the fringe is Mike. He's been coming out during the season for many years and has been a huge help.

View attachment 173564 View attachment 173565

That's a lot better than what use. I made a PVC stand with a single filter over a coffee urn. Chit gets messy in a hurry.