2007 Official Maple Syrup Thread.

RedneckPete · #**181** 03/18/07, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ripcat-ranch

This is what we start with.........not the traditional flat pan set up but does work well during the summer to steam lobsters!!!! We boiled 22 gallons and got 1 quart and a pint of syrup. We are just a bit jealous of those of you who have sugar maples!

If you would cut a hole in the top of those barrel stoves to match the bottom of your pans, you would save at least half your boiling time. Nothing beats flames licking across the bottom of the pan.

Pete

ripcat-ranch · #**182** 03/18/07, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedneckPete

If you would cut a hole in the top of those barrel stoves to match the bottom of your pans, you would save at least half your boiling time. Nothing beats flames licking across the bottom of the pan.

Pete

There is a hole in them and the round pots sit 3 inches or so down inside the barrel. Each barrel boils about 2.5 gallons an hour........wish I could do more but don't we all!!

If anyone has any ideas that might speed things up for me with this set up please bring on the suggestions.......I'll try anything as long as it doesn't cost big bucks.

FrankTheTank · #**183** 03/18/07, 10:12 PM

Michigan Farmer- Looks like your lows should drop into the teens early this week and then stay above freezing until atleast the following week. Highs should range from 40F to mid 50'sF atleast through the next week.

Nice pics, makes me want to go start tapping all the maples in my neighborhood (which i hate hate hate, because they clog my gutters up with the helicopters!!!!sorry

)

michiganfarmer · #**184** 03/19/07, 05:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrankTheTank

Michigan Farmer- Looks like your lows should drop into the teens early this week and then stay above freezing until atleast the following week. Highs should range from 40F to mid 50'sF atleast through the next week.

)

yeah tell me about it. Pretty poor weather for sap running, and we just got 4 inches of snow last night and this mornign. I checked yesterday afternoon, and the sap was just starting to run. its stuppos to be 40 today. It might run, but there is still quite a bit of snow in the woods. I dont think it will run hard untill the snow is gone.

michiganfarmer · #**185** 03/19/07, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ripcat-ranch

If anyone has any ideas that might speed things up for me with this set up please bring on the suggestions.......I'll try anything as long as it doesn't cost big bucks.

A pan 3'x3' x 8 inches deep will boil about 10 gallons per hour. It might be something to invest in for next year. Set it on cement blocks like Bob did(zealyouthguy). Leave a space between the back of the pan, and the blocks of about 3" for smoke, and flame to get out. set a piece of steel roofing, or other sheetmetal in front of the blocks with a 3" gap at the bottom to let air into the fire. Have your wood seasoned, and very dry. Split everything. Spliit wood burns better than whole pieces. Get ahold of some Kiln dried cabinet shop scraps to help increase the heat. When you add wood, add just a couple pieces, and add it often. I add wood about every 5-8 minutes. Add some to the right side of the fire one time. criss cross it so it gets lots of air. Add to the left side of the fire next time. If you add lots of wood at one time it cuts the fire down while it is tryign to ignite everything you added. Keep your air intake at the bottom clear.

When I had flat pans, I would keep a 3-5 gallon pot full of cold sap sitting in the boiling sap as a pre heater. If you dump cold sap into your boiling pan you will loose your boil.

ripcat-ranch · #**186** 03/19/07, 07:11 AM

[QUOTE=michiganfarmer]A pan 3'x3' x 8 inches deep will boil about 10 gallons per hour. It might be something to invest in for next year. /QUOTE]

The only problem is.....there might not be a next year.....actually I didn't even think there would be a this year!! We thought we would be moved by now. Hopefully we will be able to make syrup in Kentucky. The property we bought has about 15 acres of woods, oldest son said there were sugar maples on the property, I didn't take much notice of what tree types there were. If there are sugar maples we will invest in something much, much better. Even thinking about planting sorghum to get double use out of whatever we end up with for an evaporator.

Thanks for the advice, hopefully it will be useful to me next year.

michiganfarmer · #**187** 03/20/07, 05:45 AM

the sap ran a little yesterday. I checked my 1500 gallon tank in the woods last night when I got home from work. There might have been 50 gallons in it. It takes almost that much to fill the evapoator. I hope to have more so I can boil tonight.

ripcat-ranch · #**188** 03/20/07, 06:28 AM

We made another quart and a cup of syrup yesterday.....some trees started to run late in the afternoon. Only the ones that were in full sun all day and then only the taps that were directly south. It seems funny when you have two taps on a tree 8 inches apart and one has over a quart of sap and the other is dry. The temps hovered right at 30 degrees all day then at about 10 pm the temps went up to 36, now this morning it is 38. Maybe I'll have a big suprise in the woods this morning.

MELOC · #**189** 03/20/07, 07:14 PM

i just collected 9+ gallons. my trees really produced today. i didn't check the upper half, but i was there earlier today and they didn't seem to be running too strong. that was early in the afternoon and maybe they ran hard this afternoon. i will check in about an hour and see. i lost several gallons today. every container was overflowing and i had a five gallon bucket sitting on the ground that tipped when the snow under it melted away, lol.

i will see if the sap is buddy tomorrow when i boil. i tasted it, but i really cannot tell until it gets concentrated. this may be my last boil as the buds are really swelling. i was going to stay on top of the sap today, but my chainsaw died yesterday and i had to take it to the shop. i couldn't cut wood to boil, so getting the saw running was more important i guess.

on a side note/rant...i replaced the coil on my saw with one bought from a store on ebay when it acted up about a month ago. after i did, it ran great. it died yesterday, and the guy at the shop (a repair shop that has piles of junk and foot trails through it) eventually salvaged a used coil from another saw to get my saw running. i could have purchased a "good" coil from a husky dealer for $76 a month ago, but i chose a $37 delivered price coil from a chainsaw store on ebay. the repair with the used coil cost me $45.

sigh

ripcat-ranch · #**190** 03/20/07, 07:38 PM

We gathered 28 gallons of sap today and got 20 of it boiled. Pretty good considering I didn't expect any at all. We did get 1 quart and 1 pint out of the 20 gallons which was about a cup more than we got when we boiled 22 gallons. Can the sugar content increase somewhat after the trees start running?

The weather is looking great for Thursday and Friday with highs near 50 and lows just below freezing.

MELOC · #**191** 03/20/07, 08:10 PM

i may be wrong, but i always thought the best sugar content was from the first sap gathered. maybe you just got more sap from a few trees that have better sugar content than the last time you gathered.

ripcat-ranch · #**192** 03/20/07, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MELOC

i may be wrong, but i always thought the best sugar content was from the first sap gathered. maybe you just got more sap from a few trees that have better sugar content than the last time you gathered.

I never thought of that, that is a good possibility. I just hope it continues!

michiganfarmer · #**193** 03/21/07, 04:03 AM

I emptied the tank in the woods last night. I got a little less than 200 gallons. I boiled a little last night.The temps didnt get above 35 yesterday. It froze good last night, or actually its 5am, and its 25 degrees.

Here are some pics of my dad, my daughter, and my oldest son in the saphouse, and some pics of the evaporator fired up.

2007 Official Maple Syrup Thread. - Homesteading Questions

Here you can see one of the float boxes on the side of the finished syrup pan that regulate the level of sap in the pan.

Here is th eother side of the syrup pan. THere is a float box on both sides. Sugar sand build up in the syrup pan so you have to change the side that you draw syrup off about every 8 hour of boiling. WHen you change sides, and draw some syrup off it rinses the sugar sand out. You can see the automatic draw off hanging off the bottom side of the float box. This makes it so you can boil continuously, and dont have to stop boiling to finish a batch.

Here is the 400 gallon tank in the truck that I bring sap up from the woods in, a plastic barrel that I drain sap from the truck tank into, and put a pump in to feed the evaporator with.

Here is inside a float box.

We got steam!

My dad, my 15 year old, and my 6 year old.

Me.

I'll get some pics tonight when I collect from the 1500 gallon tank with the truck.

stanb999 · #**194** 03/22/07, 09:15 AM

Had taps out for a few days. They finally started running today. It looks like good weather for Sugar'in for the next few days. Yahhhooo

seedspreader · #**195** 03/22/07, 10:12 AM

After the storm passes today, I will be boiling again. I have a silver maple that's starting to swell, but the trees back in my woods seem ok for the next day or two...

Not sure about how long they will run since it's 62 and not supposed to get too cold tonight.

bill not in oh · #**196** 03/22/07, 10:31 AM

Mine are trickling, not dripping - guess I should have kept boiling...

stanb999 · #**197** 03/22/07, 11:55 AM

Guess what happened when I tried to take the tractor to the back woods. STUCK in the snow even with the plow. It's still over 2' back. Then I figure that the truck can make it as it has a Higher clearance...........Nope stuck too. I found the spot that was almost 3'. I can't wait for the melt off. Looks like I gotta carry sap for a few days.

ripcat-ranch · #**198** 03/22/07, 09:18 PM

Finally got a pretty good run today....35 gallons of sap. Went out and collected some in the dark and most trees were still dripping good. Boiled 12 gallons and got 1 quart. Would have boiled more but was really windy and quite annoying.

michiganfarmer · #**199** 03/23/07, 02:41 AM

Here are a couple pictures of my 1500 gallon collection tank in the woods.

I boiled last night from 6 till 11. It froze during the night. I should have a full tank tonight. That will keep me busy all weekend. I will boil from 5 am till as late at night as I can stay awake, Probably around 10, saturday, and sunday. I hope to get my dad, and my wife to boil monday. My little evaportator will only get rid of about 500 gallons per day. I know thats a lot for hobbyists. IM not trying to be condesending. Its not nearly enough for what I need to do. I just want this operation to get built up to be a large part of my retirement income. I hope to be making over 500 gallons of syrup per year by the time Im 50. Im 37 now. Im loking at a reverse osmisis, and a better vacumer pump next year.

MELOC · #**200** 03/23/07, 10:46 AM

i made a total of about 3.5 gallons. i decided to pull the plug. the temps are above freezing at night now and into the 60's in the day. we hit 70 yesterday. i haven't had buddy sap yet, but i don't want to and waste the time and energy of boiling. perhaps next year i will be able to tap a week or two earlier as i think i need to. we had a late cold spell that delayed tapping this year and three days of 60's and 70's in the middle of the run. i know my red maples bud early here, but the weather just worked against me. i did get valuable experience boiling outside in a good pan, so it was a good year considering that.