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mdm1 
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 Posted: 06 Mar 2021 at 10:59am |
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Here is a video of Chris explaining some things about his evaporator. Happened to stumble on it. Boxelders are actually in the maple family. The ratio of sap tp syrup is about 80/1 for them. I did one a couple of years ago. The syrup was really light colored, tasted ok but left an after taste that I really didn't care for. You can tap birch, walnut and I think even hickory. He has a really nice setup.
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Everything is impossible until someone does it! WD45-trip loader 1947 c w/woods belly mower, 1939 B, #3 sickle mower 1944 B, 2 1948 G's. Misc other equipment that my wife calls JUNK!
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JohnColo
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Posted: 09 Mar 2021 at 1:48am |
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MDM, Where is the video?
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Sugarmaker
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Posted: 09 Mar 2021 at 5:12am |
John, Yea I dont remember that video but it may be out there. I have had a lot of folks in the sugarhouse. We are prepping for the big Maple Taste and Tour weekend! Lists are made and items are being ticked off as completed. Still lots of moves to do. I will try to get some pictures too. We typically expect several hundred visitors in a normal year. I dont have any idea what will happen this year with the Covid thing. Some folks will come we will do the right things to keep people safe. Maple coated peanuts:
We will also have out Chocolate diped maple candies, Maple cotton candy and Maple sugar. Regards, Chris
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D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet.
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Sugarmaker
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Posted: 09 Mar 2021 at 5:16am |
 IBWD MIke wrote:
Chris, do you mostly tap Sugar Maples? They are fairly rare around here but do have one in my yard in town. Trimmed some branches Thursday, sap running like crazy Friday. Have Silver Maples everywhere on the farm, less every year. Don't think sap from the silvers is as good? Have also heard about people boiling Boxelder sap?
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Mike, Sorry may have missed your post. Yes these road side treed are almost all sugar maples. Higher sugar content, and typically more sap yield too. Silver maples may work fine tap them and check sugar content and see how they make sap. Good luck with your syrup making! We need pictures of other operations also! Off to check for sap! Busy day today! Regards, Chris
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D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet.
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mdm1
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Posted: 09 Mar 2021 at 6:09am |
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Everything is impossible until someone does it! WD45-trip loader 1947 c w/woods belly mower, 1939 B, #3 sickle mower 1944 B, 2 1948 G's. Misc other equipment that my wife calls JUNK!
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WF owner
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Posted: 09 Mar 2021 at 6:29am |
Kind of like blowing on a fire or opening the draft more on a wood stove.
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Sugarmaker
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Posted: 11 Mar 2021 at 6:28am |
Folks, I had forgotten about that video. Taken by Peter Gregg (sp) of the Maple News. Not a bad sot of the old King Arch as I was rebuilding it after 20 years of service.
some shots from the last few days:
An old man making syrup:
You've seen one container of sap you have seen them all!
Was a good run of sap the last two days! almost 900 gallons on Tuesday, almost 800 gallons on Wednesday. Made 47 gallons of syrup. Boil rate is around 120 GPH.
Regards, Chris
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D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet.
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WF owner
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Posted: 11 Mar 2021 at 6:55am |
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When you are starting out with everything cold, it must take a while to get the sap to a boil
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Sugarmaker
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Posted: 12 Mar 2021 at 5:57am |
WF, Folks, Last nigh the sap was not room temp, took about 20 minutes to get a rolling boil. Normally under a half hour and we have steam coming off the syrup.
Friend Steve checking density:
Sun sets in the roadside sugarbush:
Black Maple leaf floating in the sap:
We did just pass the 100 gallon mark for syrup made this year. So that should be about 4300 gallons of sap collected and boiled.
Maple weekend is on us! www.pamaple.org
www.mapleandhoney.com
Regards, Chris
Edited by Sugarmaker - 12 Mar 2021 at 5:58am
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D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet.
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Sugarmaker
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Posted: 15 Mar 2021 at 8:39am |
Folk, Canning syrup during the Maple Taste and Tour weekend:
Syrup shots:
Cheryl and Marly:
Display area in "maple shop":
Ready for visitors:
Sun setting on the almost empty shelves after 500 visitors come looking for Maple and Honey products:
So in the sugarhouse over the weekend we boiled in 120 gallons of sap Saturday, then collected 260 gallons of sap Saturday night and Steve Y boiled that in on Sunday. Probably another 300 gallons of sap to collect today. We will use that to move this dark syrup through the evaporator and maybe get back to Amber Rich class of syrup??
Regards, Chris
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D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet.
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Ray54
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Posted: 15 Mar 2021 at 12:22pm |
 Now Chris are you just doing photo ops,  cause I don't see any sticky spots on your shirt.
I am such a clouts I cannot eat pancakes with becoming a sticky mess. Let alone work with anything that will stain my cloths, I am just a dirt magnet. So I admire those that are not.
So a very backwards way of saying ,you sure have clean looking work area.
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WF owner
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Posted: 15 Mar 2021 at 12:27pm |
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From the looks of our weather forecast, you are going to be VERY busy this week !!!!!
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Sugarmaker
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Posted: 15 Mar 2021 at 10:01pm |
Folks, Ray, I can be pretty messy too. Just caught me at a good moment? Gathered 160 gallons of 2.4 % We made 15 gallons of Very Dark syrup tonight. Puts us at 117 gallon for the season so far. Big run coming this week! Hang On is right! Regards, Chris
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D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet.
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shameless dude
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Posted: 15 Mar 2021 at 11:11pm |
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is the sap sticky right out of the trees? and Ray...you and i are alike, i'm also a dirt magnet! lol
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WF owner
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Posted: 16 Mar 2021 at 6:25am |
Drinking my coffee with 4 teaspoons of pure maple syrup as I read this.
Shameless, sap is almost like water out of the tree. I guess I would say it is a very little bit sticky.
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Sugarmaker
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Posted: 16 Mar 2021 at 7:57am |
Folks, Sap is 2% sugar so not very sticky. Just about like water! I have syrup in my coffee too! We made 15 gallons of very dark syrup last night, using 180 gallons of sap to move it through the evaporator. Most of it was work in process (WIP). Got a little low on sap and had to pull the fire out of the King Arch. That doesn't happen often. Hot coals were dumped in the yard and hosed down. This allowed the boiling/ simmering to be reduced with no danger of running the pans dry. It will be a good day for sap this afternoon, as it ran all night. Regards, Chris
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D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet.
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IBWD MIke
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Posted: 16 Mar 2021 at 9:15am |
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Good article about this in the latest issue of Red Power Magazine.
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Strokendiesel002
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Posted: 16 Mar 2021 at 11:59pm |
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Wish I could've been there for the event! Great pictures!!
The Maple Peanut Butter is fantastic, everyone's eyes lite up when they try it! The syrup is great too! It reminds me of Buckwheat cakes, brig's back some great memories, thank you again!
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Sugarmaker
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Posted: 17 Mar 2021 at 6:16am |
Strokendiesel002 wrote:
Wish I could've been there for the event! Great pictures!!
The Maple Peanut Butter is fantastic, everyone's eyes lite up when they try it! The syrup is great too! It reminds me of Buckwheat cakes, brig's back some great memories, thank you again! |
Jim, Glad your family is enjoying the maple items!
Folks, I guess I forgot to mentioned that we may have had near 500 visitors at the sugarhouse and the Maple Shop! Gathered another 450 gallons of 2% sap yesterday. We made another 7.5 gallons of Dark Robust syrup. Getting the total to 124.5 gallons. If I gather some up today we should go up a class to Amber Rich. The day before I had gathered 120 gallons and dumped the ice from the containers, improving the sugar content a little bit also.
Maggie guarding the sugarhouse at full boil. Yes about 50% of the wood is gone! The red oak slabs have done a good job making syrup!
Regards, Chris
Edited by Sugarmaker - 17 Mar 2021 at 6:25am
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D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet.
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ac hunter
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Posted: 17 Mar 2021 at 9:16am |
Chris, Could you briefly explain about the dark syrup? I thought that the syrup naturally got darker towards the end of the season as sap quality decreased but you seem to be intentionally making dark syrup. Just wondering. It's all good. Thanks, Russell.
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Sugarmaker
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Posted: 17 Mar 2021 at 3:20pm |
Russell, The slow simmering over the days of the Taste and Tour added additional carmelization (color) to the syrup. Didn't changed the flavor much. Anyone can make dark syrup. All systems must be working well and good sap to make light (color) syrup! Maybe the lightest syrup we made last year of the 20 years we have been boiling here. We call it FIRE & ICE. Think I may go gather just cause I can! Regards, Chris
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D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet.
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Dave in PA
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Posted: 17 Mar 2021 at 4:21pm |
Chris, Maggie looks good there, lucky that my wife didn't hide her in the car when we left! Beth was about ready to try to sneak her out. LOL We both love dogs, do the rescue thing, have had about 4 or 5 over the past 30 years. But I did buy my girl I have now in Sagerstown near you. A Springer Spaniel. Longpond Springers. But still have the old girl, rescue, going on about 11 years now. Some have gone, still miss them.
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shameless dude
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Posted: 18 Mar 2021 at 1:48am |
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ohhhhhhh......Chris....that maple candy is.....OMG! i may hafta order some of that!
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Sugarmaker
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Posted: 18 Mar 2021 at 6:56am |
Folks, Like life my threads are intertwined too. Sometimes I post maple stuff in my thread about our shop. Anyway we are still making maple syrup. Curt, Glad you liked the maple candy! I took a nap yesterday after lunch, felt foxy and went otu and cleaned up the sap that had ran over night. only 250 gallons, Rhett and Cooper had 5 gallons and neighbors brought 10 gallons. Was back in the house at 10:00 after Steve Y. helped boil it in. This is the sugar sand that we filter out of the syrup using food grade filter aid. the hot syrup is pressurized through the filter to remove the sand and have crystal clear syrup.
Here is the working end of the old King arch. we fire every 8 minutes with red oak slabs this year. It boils good at a rate of about 120 gallons of sap per hour:
Rain today. Has been very dry this syrup season. Will see how that affects the sap flow today. Regards, Chris
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D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet.
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WF owner
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Posted: 18 Mar 2021 at 7:10am |
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Chris, correct me if I am wrong, but I have heard that sap runs best on bright sunny days with temperatures above freezing. Most of the guys around here say they prefer below freezing temperatures at night. If they have too many days with above freezing temperatures, the trees start to bud and that is the end of the season.
Edited by WF owner - 18 Mar 2021 at 8:17pm
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Ray54
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Posted: 18 Mar 2021 at 11:52am |
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After WF post got me thinking (that dangerous) why do you stop collecting , sap running as long as the leaves are on. Does the tast change as the leaves come on and put sugar into in the roots? I see where you would weaken the tree if you took to much, just something I got thinking on.
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Bob-Maine
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Posted: 18 Mar 2021 at 3:39pm |
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Hi Chris, I have a 3X10 Leader evaporator. Bought it used about 10 years ago. It is also a drop flue and we reverse the flow each day that we run it. That reduces the niter that builds up in the pan and reduces the chance of the flue pan burning through. We burn about a cord of hardwood for each 25 gallons of syrup.
I collected sap today with my AGCO ST-32 and we will fire up the evaporator Saturday for the first time this year. A late start for us.
Hope you have a great season. Bob@allisdowneast
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I used to think I was indecisive, but now I'm not sure.
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desertjoe
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Posted: 18 Mar 2021 at 8:55pm |
Very interesting thread here,,Chris,,!! You're a dedicated fellar cause it looks like a lot of WORK,,,, I've always wondered,,,if the sap traveling UP the tree is for aiding the tree to leaf out and produce it's fruit,,,,can you get to where you tap TOO much of the sap,,,????
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Sugarmaker
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Posted: 18 Mar 2021 at 9:32pm |
Folks, Yes. Sap typically runs and is sweet this time of the year when the temps are above freezing. When it then freezes again the cycle starts over. We can have 10 to 20 runs during a normal season. You could over tap a tree and damage it. As the trees start to get first signs of leaf buds the sap can have a less than desirable taste to it.. All good questions!
Rain today. Trees shut down completely! Will need another freeze to get sap flowing! Visited local sugarhouses today! Regards, Chris
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D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet.
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Sugarmaker
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Posted: 18 Mar 2021 at 9:35pm |
Bob-Maine wrote:
Hi Chris, I have a 3X10 Leader evaporator. Bought it used about 10 years ago. It is also a drop flue and we reverse the flow each day that we run it. That reduces the niter that builds up in the pan and reduces the chance of the flue pan burning through. We burn about a cord of hardwood for each 25 gallons of syrup.
I collected sap today with my AGCO ST-32 and we will fire up the evaporator Saturday for the first time this year. A late start for us.
Hope you have a great season. Bob@allisdowneast |
Bob, Pretty much the same rig I am running too! Is your flue pan and front pan same length? Mine are, most newer ones are longer in flue pan. Regards, Chris
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D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet.
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