Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Making Maple Syrup

Thanks Tony! You should consider writing an article (in your spare time ) for PBM on Sugaring. I see articles all the time that are not strictly pond related but tend more towards land/wildlife management and I suspect they are popular with subscribers.

Vids showing our first attempt at using tubing for sap collection.

SWEET !!! No pun intended. Hope to get some good dirt on ya someday so I can blackmail ya out of a pint or so. I know....it's a very long list. If ya had a way ta keep em warm, I'd smuggle some Tilapia to ya on my way home in April.

Very cool Tony. I'm glad the plan's working well.

Tony this is great - always pushing the envelope. Only thing missing is a sasquatch walking through the frame in the background.

What do you know it actually works. Almost 18" of vacuum generated by gravity, no mechanical assistance. And that's with a leak that is substantial enough I heard it hissing as I walked up.

Cool!!, but is that a RoHS compliant coupling?, and the brass?

It's a powerful thing going on right now with a deadline.

It's plumbed on it's own line, and never contacts the sap. But you're correct, things are tightening up, and rightfully so, where food grade items are concerned.

Nice!!!

It's actually everything

Almost maxed out.

How much sap are you collecting in a 24 hr period now?

What are the lines and fittings rated for vacuum wise?

We broke down and hung a few buckets this morning. Life is so hectic right now, that we had almost convinced ourselves to take a year off from syrup production and concentrate on the new job and the new home. But, the allure was too strong. Plus, our experimental tubing is working very well, so we needed to decide if we were going to dump sap, or try and boil.

In the end we're going with a limited run. 15 maples on tubing, 18 maples on buckets, 17 walnuts on buckets. It hurts seeing all those maples without spiles, but we're stretched pretty thin. Probably need to take tomorrow off and boil sap, as it's running very well right now.

It's very nice that you have instilled in your family how wonderful nature is and how to enjoy and benefit from it. Keep up the good work.

I hope that with this warm few days that it doesn't get bitter. It looks like cooler weather for Feb though.

First traces of steam for the 2016 season:



And then there was an incident....a weld cracked, allowing the sides to pull away from the pan support rail....blowtorch up the side of the pan, and the added source of O2 turned the pan rail cherry in just a few seconds. Full shutdown.



The repair is simple, once the firebox cools. But to be honest, my heart just isn't in it this year. We have so much going on right now, that my wife and I have made the decision to suspend operations for the season. It sucks, as we are going to pull taps and buckets that we just hung yesterday, but this is an endeavor that you need to commit yourself fully too, for 4-5 weeks. And right now our focus is to get the remodel project done, and get moved in. We're disappointed, and will undoubtedly disappoint others who were looking forward to getting syrup, but with the new job, apprenticeship obligations, and the house ordeal, something has to give.

Hopefully we will be moved in, and ready to hit it hard next season.

Sparky do ya have any friends/neighbors that ya can trust that might supply the labor for a percentage? I know it's hard ta let anyone use your property and or equipment. It's a shame to not utilize all of the tubing collecting already up and going.

Sorry Spark. I can sense your disappointment.

Everything will fall into place and the syrup will be even more appreciated next year.

Cmm

Bob, I don't know of anyone who would be willing to put in the time and effort. I agree though, it's a shame.

Thanks CMM...we're pinning our hopes on next year also.

A long time ago when I read how many gallons of sap it took to make 1 gallon of syrup I knew I'd never do it. I can understand there being so few folks that would put in the effort.
Next yr will be here all too soon.

Tony,
I think you have this a little backwards. YOU tried and simply were overwhelmed by events. That is not a failure, it was a great try!! So you did not hit it out of the park AGAIN. You will, and when you do, it will be even sweeter.

For me, I would rather try and fail this time then to never try at all. YOU will be back when your obligations subside some. That much I know.

Just so you know, it is because of people like you that we are learning about bees. I am looking forward to having several hives on the property this year. Hope we do as well as you do with your syrup.

Thanks for the inspiration!!

Any tips on running the line? I just sent you a PM Sprkplug.

Wondering if the line needs to be vented and how to go about it.

Cheers Don.

Well we are boiling now in Ontario. Few pictures of grandpa adding more sap.

This old hair dryer is the blower to really get her to boil good.

We estimate to have about 9 gallons in the first batch.

100 trees total with 45 on buckets still the rest on lines. Everything runs into the bottom tote then pumped into the second tote on top when we have more then the bottom tote can hold. Then gravity into cooking pan. With the cool nights lately no need for the second tote yet so just pumping into the evaporator pan.

Cheers Don.

Very cool pics! About how much syrup do you guesstimate you can make from the sap of that many trees?

Outstanding!!!! Nice family effort....it's addictive isn't it!