A spark can start a roaring fire. Have another good birthday!. How is the elevator business and sap gathering?? Missing your posts - especially your wisdom about experiences growing super nice HBG.

Happy birthday

Yep, I miss having you around too! I think about you often when struggling with yet another tiny chinese made 2 stroke carb that every spring won't start...yet again. Part of the issue is probably the $12 replacement chinese carb that I put on last spring to 'fix' the problem. I try to follow proper fuel stablizing/storage guidelines but it doesn't seem to matter.

Your common sense, wisdom, and honesty is perhaps not always popular with the members who have assault weapons in their avatars, but we miss and need your input here now-a-days.

Let us know how things are these days and we really benefit from your knowledge!

Happy Birthday Sprkplug!

Happy birthday sir!

Happy Birthday Tony. Hope all is well.

Happy Birthday spark! We miss you

Yo T - HBG, oops, I mean, HBD! Miss ya bro! Is it morel time in your neck of the woods? I'm headed out this week!

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday from way over here in deep east Texas!!

Hello PB crew! Great to hear from you guys, thank you for the birthday wishes!

The Livingston family is well, and trying our best to stay that way. Crazy times for sure. I hope everyone out there is healthy, safe, and making the best of things. We'll make it through this, just hold tight!
Yep, I'm still elevating. My four year apprenticeship officially ended in early March, but to be honest, I've had my own route and been on my own for a year now, so it wasn't a big deal. They got me a temporary license and cut me loose early. The big deal happens in three weeks, when I take the huge scary test to become a journeyman, and get my real license. IF I can pass it...I hear many don't on the first attempt...yikes!

Right now the elevator shop has been divided into thirds, with one third working while the other two thirds are off. Trying to minimize the spread you know. The university has really stepped up, the week you work is time and a half, and they pay you straight time to stay home the other two weeks. Very appreciative of that, so many are not as fortunate.

Bill, I'm still messing around with those crazy HBG, but not as seriously as I once did. The original HBG pond is a shadow of it's former self. I haven't stocked it in a few years now, very few hybs left in it. I did catch another hybrid just over two pounds out of there last fall, so that makes two that made goal. I also caught an Fx a couple weeks ago, and it was a good fish in it's own right. In my experience after a decade with these fish, the "it depends" mantra absolutely holds true. I never saw the reversion back to inferior fish that everyone reads about. BUT, this pond was dedicated to growing these particular fish only. That's a huge boost in my opinion. I do have HBG in another pond, but no efforts to achieve trophy status, just fun.

We are still making syrup! I can hardly believe this adventure began years ago with a couple old truck rims as a stove, and boiling 10 gallons of sap down outside in a hotel pan. Come a long way! Now we're running tubing, reverse osmosis system, divided pans, and for next year, mechanical vacuum off solar power to boost sap yields. (If I can get it built) We currently produce 4 types of syrup, Regular, blended with coffee, vanilla bean, and legacy. Legacy harkens back to my grandfather's farm, where they produced syrup back in the forties...it's slightly thicker, with a very smooth mouth feel, and a hearty maple flavor. The coffee is new this year, and has been a huge hit. I have to say, it's pretty tasty. Next year we plan to add a bourbon barrel aged syrup if things go as planned.

I saw a thread here about tractors..just wanted to say the LS i bought new three years ago has been awesome. I have no reservations about recommending them whatsoever.

Those carbs are a pain in the butt, eh canyoncreek! I miss it sometimes, and I still help out folks when they ask for advice, but i've resisted taking on any equipment to repair. Just too much going on.

TJ I have picked around 30 morels so far last week. Its time to go again, so maybe when I'm off I'll hit the woods. Good luck when you go!

I guess that's about all I've got. I've missed you guys, it feels good to be back on the forum for a bit. Water under the bridge I reckon. Everyone take care, and take care of one another. If i somehow manage to pass that test in a few weeks, I'll let you know!

Good to hear from you sprkplug. Happy Birthday!

Yes, sprkplug, hope your HBD was just that.

I think of you each time I dive into repair or resuscitation of of a neglected small engine. And also when I eat some of my BIL's maple syrup. He's in upstate NY.

We've got another 3 weeks until morels show here.

glad to hear from you sprky and thanks for the update.

My 6th grade son and his neighbor buddy got into maple syrup this year. They had a little friendly competition. The weather has been a very long cold spring after a very short winter. We had the pails out early this year and had a little warmup and some flow of sap and then it got very spotty as we had cold days and cold nights. WE quit early as it didn't seem worth it.

WE tapped 30 trees, no fancy vacuum or connected tubing. Just old fashioned empty them twice a day on nice days and once a day on cold days

We used to do this on a commercial gas stove in the basement but this year we helped him build a very crude cement block outdoor wood fired cubicle with makeshift smokestack. This way he got to learn how to split and stack wood, tend to a fire, and all that goes with it. We did buy a large stainless steel pan square pan with tube and ball valve to make it easy to pour off his day's work and start again the next time. Mostly we boiled on Saturdays.

It was great fun for him and good to learn how to be responsible for his 'maple tree' route every day.

We also invested in proper filtering equipment and built a little pvc stand to hold the filters. Finishing the sap is very hard to do on wood heat so we would always do that on the kitchen stove. The clarity with proper filtering is really impressive this year!


He has about 40 pints of very nice maple syrup of varying degrees of color and taste as season changes. He is looking forward to selling door to door but COVID stopped that.

I'd love to learn more about coffee infusion (sounds complicated but sounds good?) and I'm sure there must be some magic in making 'old fashioned' maple syrup. What makes it different? I thought we were doing it the old fashioned way already...

I'm sure you will do well on your test, best wishes on that though!

Greetings all. I said I would report back when I took the test, so here I am. I know many of you were around the forum when I began my elevator endeavor over four years ago, as a very green apprentice. I passed the final, which marks the end of my apprenticeship, and moves me a little further down the path as journeyman. Always felt like I was good at taking exams, but this one was no joke. Had me sweating a little there at the end. But it's all over.

Take care everyone. Remember to walk the banks, skip the rocks, get your hands wet, and laugh out loud. It's good for you.

Thanks, Sprkplug, that's great news. Please keep us posted when you can.

Congrats Sparky - Passed the hard test the first time. Your good talent prevailed even in the elevator industry!

Congrats T!