Hey Loren,

Donald Lehman · Mar 30, 2016

How did your sugaring season turn out? I think we may get one more run yet over the next few days. Considering the crappy beginning, we are doing alright. We are at 6 gals. of sap per tap right now and the best we've ever done was a bit over 7 per tap, so we aren't complaining. The sugar content was a few points lower than average, though.

Adirondack case guy · Mar 30, 2016

Don,
Glad to hear from you. Tim V said he talked to your wife yesterday.
Our season has been a roller coaster. Short 1-2 day runs then warm weather and yellow sap that had to be dumped and so-on. We had decided last Sat to quit for the year, but now we are going back into the deepfreeze as I'm sure you are also over the weekend, so I guess we are going to see what happens next week. We are at about 2/3rds of last years production.
One of our old evaporators is giving up the ghost, and we looked at some SS pans up your way a week ago, that a Meninite producer has, but in the meantime we found much newer complete air-tight 6x14 Leader Evaporator with a preheater and condensor hood. The guy is getting a brand new Leader with a wood gasifing arch. We are getting everything from front to back including the smokestack.
WE will be makeing some renovations to our old sugarhouse this summer before the new to us evaporator goes in. The new unit we are getting should cut our boil time nearly in half and reduce the supply of wood we will need in the future. That will be nice.
Loren

Donald Lehman · Mar 30, 2016

The guy who boils ours has his front pan getting on it's last legs, also. He's looking at options, too. Don't know what direction he is going to go yet. A local large producer bought one of the evaporators made in Canada. Spent big bucks on it, but he said he only has to fire it every 55 minutes or so and it boils much faster than his old unit. I believe he told me he spent about $38,000 on the thing. Yikes!!!!

If and when my boys decide to build our own sugar shanty, we have talked about using natural gas to boil with. A line runs by our place anyway and we don't have the time and labor to cut the wood or the wood supply to heat two houses and make syrup too.

Hey Loren,

Donald Lehman

Well-known Member

Adirondack case guy

Well-known Member

Donald Lehman

Well-known Member

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