OK, so it's been since last season that I posted anything, and even then I didn't keep up. Hopefully I can do a better job this year. This is a pre-sesason post, I guess. This is the time of year we start thinking about getting things ready for next season, and time for the Indiana Maple Syrup Association annual meeting. There are usually a couple of speakers there and several vendors so you can check out equipment and other sugaring stuff up close instead of just looking in a catalog or online.

Last year ended up being really great, we made over 40 gallons of syrup which was about 7 gallons more than we had ever made. We ran out of containers and had to use every mason jar we had around from when we first started.

Since the cost of LP has gone up so much we're going back to wood...that means we need to invest in some firebricks and doors for the evaporator, but the total cost should be less than the cost of gas was last year. Hopefully we can keep making about the same amount of syrup.

Unlike past years we have decided not to increase the number of taps we're using...we'll see what happens.

Not A Great Day

Due to Tucker being in the regional spelling bee we didn't arrive until around noon. Unfortunately the first thing I saw was Michael cleaning the pans up by the garage. I knew that was bad news, because that's usually only necessary when the front pan has gotten too hot and burned the syrup.

It turned out that was exactly what happened. Due to the cold temperatures most of the liquid in the evaporator was frozen. Michael had been expecting some visitors at 8:30, so when they arrived at 8:00 he started it up. The pans thaw fairly quickly, and the front had been pretty close to syrup when we shut down. Unfortunately the pipe that runs between the pans did not thaw, so when the liquid in the front pan was hot enough to be syrup and the automatic drawoff opened the valve there was no liquid to take its place.

The pan that was in front sagged quite a bit & was discolored, so it got really hot. Fortunately he was able to get them cleaned up & we got things started back up. Unfortunately that means the loss of probably five gallons of syrup.

The lesson learned is not to start the evaporator until everything is thawed after a cold spell. We are also going to try leaving the pilot light on during some cold weather coming up to keep it at least somwhat warm.

Another lesson learned for the day was not to install flourescent lights near the evaporator without removing the tubes. We were putting one up & the tube fell out right on the front float box & of course shattered everywhere. We were able to make a plug out of plastic wrap and a dish towel to plug the hole & remove the box. After we got it cleaned up we got it back together & cleaned up.

Not a great day with the loss of the syrup and no additional sap collected, but hopefully the weather will improve this week. Tomorrow is supposed to be really warm, then temperatures below freezing until late in the week.

2008 Season - First Batch of the Year

Today started with building a "sap sucker". This consists of the bottom of a plastic barrel cut off about 12" high, a bilge pump, sump pump switch and a (new) toilet float. The idea is that since it is sometimes hard to pour a full bucket of sap into a relatively small opening in the tank you pour the bucket into the sap sucker and the bilge pump does the work.

Overall it works really well. There are times it would be nice to have a little faster pump, but we can't complain since it only cost $5 for the pump and less than $20 for the whole thing. Maybe later we can find a larger pump clearance.

After finishing the sap sucker I headed out to collect with Tucker and Austin while Michael and Bob stayed to watch the evaporator. We went around on the property and hadn't done that many on the neighbors when we realized the tank was almost full. So we headed back to dump the first load of the day.

Austin wanted to stay at the house so Tucker and I went for the next load. Due to the mud we had decided to re-route part of our access to the adjacent property so we spent a few minutes cutting small trees out of the fence row. That made the access a lot better since we don't have to drive in the field. We had 15 or 20 trees still to do when Michael called to ask if I was ready for lunch. I turned around to look at the tank and see how much room we had just in time to notice it was almost full. Just as I told him that the last bucket was pumped in and it started running over. We decided that meant it was a good time to take a lunch break.

After lunch we had about two gallons ready to finish...our first syrup of the year.

I went back to get the last few by myself, and was driving along the edge of the woods when I noticed movement. It was a deer making her way through fairly quickly, so I stopped to see what she would do. She stopped about 30' away for a minute, looking to see what I was going to do, before she continued on her way.

That load ended up around 70 gallons so I headed back in. It was getting a little windy, and I noticed that some of the bags we had emptied the last trip already had a couple of inches of sap in them. The forecast was for cold temperatures so I was a little worried about sap freezing in the bags. We had that happen a couple of years ago when they were almost full and it took several days for the bags to thaw enough that we could empty them.

After dumping that load into a tank I went inside to see how the boiling had gone while I was in the woods. Bob had worked on the control valve we added to the automatic drawoff to slow the rate syrup is released, and had it set up where the drawoff would open and a trickle of syrup would come out fairly regularly, instead of large batches coming out in a hurry. Not knowing how to set up the drawoff we had assumed it was supposed to dump a bunch of syrup at once, but we also noticed it took a long time to make another batch, or it let out so much that the temperature in the front pan got way too hot. As usual when all else fails we called the manufacturer; he told us to set it up with the extra control valve and slow the rate down. This seems like it has helped a lot, there is a lot less time between batches and the temperature is much more regulated.

I also noticed a ratchet strap stretched between a rafter and one corner of the steam hood. It turned out the hood had collapsed on that side. It was bent when we got it so it always sagged a little, but evidently it gave out completely and had to be held up. Maybe it was the extra weight of the new curtains, I don't know, but it needs some extra support.

For the day we made about 6 gallons. I don't know exactly because we put 5 gallons in jugs, but we had another batch of at least a gallon in a pot that we're going to package later. The best part was the color, not quite fancy grade, but very close. A nice light medium, anyway. And there was a nice sunset at the end of the day.

With the forecast for colder temperatures it's hard to say if we'll have anything to boil next Wednesday, but I'll probably go back down to package the other batch and do some other stuff that needs done...a day sugaring beats going to work even if I'm not exactly making syrup.

2008 Season - First Boil

We arrived at the sugarhouse to find the new Kawasaki Mule (Francis) all set up to collect sap and with a full tank - 135 gallons - that Michael & the boys had collected the night before in the rain.

We had massive amounts of rain the couple of days before and it was still raining so we did some final prep work before heading outside to set up the pump, connect the upper tank to the evaporator & dump our first load of sap for the year. Except for one hose we were able to find all the hoses we needed, so we were ready to start.

We did find one leaky valve when we filled the evaporator, but it was on the drain for the sap pan, so we plugged the pipe and hoped we wouldn't need it until the end of the season. Starting the burner was a little scary this time. The main burner went out & blew out the pilot, so there was still gas flowing and it apparently built up a little around the nozzle because when I put a torch up to it to re-light it there was a loud whoosh!! and flame went everywhere. Needless to say I jumped back a few feet, but kept my eyebrows & beard.

We also added new "curtains" to the steam hood. In the past we had used whatever cheap plastic sheet we had around to keep most of the steam going out side, but Michael had come up with some pieces of plastic that they use for forklift doors to keep the air movement down. We mounted those with self-tapping screws and it seems like that is going to do a much better job. Plus they are clear, so you can see through them a little, better than the white plastic we had before.

This was a pretty uneventful day, mostly just waiting for the sap to condense in the front pans, and one trip around to collect. I have to say we were impressed with Francis; with 4WD, a locking differential and a low gear it seems to go anywhere, even in the deep mud we had from all the rain. It's an equal or better replacement for the Gator we used the past few years.

2008 Season - First Tapping

OK, I have to interrupt the history lesson here to report on the current season. Due to a lack of time the last weekend in January we decided to hold off tapping until the first weekend in February.

We put together a bunch of bag holders and bags and headed to the woods with the three smaller boys for help...as Michael says: when it comes to help one boy is worth one boy; two boys are worth half a boy and three boys are no help at all. That's not entirely true, but we weren't able to move quite as fast as if it had just been the two of us. Andrew fell out of the back of the wagon almost onto his head but didn't seem too bothered by that.

By lunch time we had lost track of how many taps we had put in, so after lunch we put in all but the last seven. Since we didn't know how many we started with that only told us we had seven more to put out. Five of those go on the neighbor to the west, we'll do those later. The other two we can put in a couple of trees that are large enough to take an additional tap but only have one right now.

2005

This is our crew in 2005 - Austin, Julie, Doug Tucker, Lori and Michael

New Evaporator for 2005

This is our new rig for this season. Purchased through eBay, believe it or not. It's a Dominion & Grimm from Canada, fired by a gas burner made in NY. It also has an automatic drawoff to open a valve on the syrup pan when it's up to syrup temperature...pretty cool.

2003

This is the 10'x2.5 evaporator we rescued from an abandoned sugarhouse.

For 2003 we made 27.75 gallons of syrup

So, late January of 2000 we started tapping trees & hanging buckets.

We also tapped the old-fashioned way with a brace and bit. Since we only had about 25 taps it didn't take too long.









This is our first evaporator. It was built from concrete blocks, Grandpa's pans & some parts we made and/or salvaged ourselves.

Michael made the door, Dad made the base for our smokestack and I got the hood for free when my employer was going to throw it out.

We added a squirrel-cage fan from our old furnace to blow the steam out and we were on our way.

As you can see, the fan did not always keep up with the steam.

Grandpa was able to come up & help us out with our first season. Here he is with Tucker watching our finishing pot.










Michael & his dad, Don hard at work sugaring with help from Maxine.


Tucker helped out with collecting sap, too. He's a little hard to see, but he's in the trailer.

Humble beginnings

These pictures are of Grandpa Roland's sugarhouse and evaporator near Knoxville, TN. We hauled all of this stuff to Indiana on Memorial Weekend of 1999.