Around 28 for the  overnight low.  Cloudy and then rainy today.  High around 40.    Prepared the storage tanks and syrup building today.  Had to break up the ice around the storage tanks and wash the tanks.   Put up the new smoke stack.   Prepared the values and pipes from the storage tanks to the evaporator.  Our plan was to start collecting around 2:00 PM.  Help arrived to help us collect.  We were delayed again by tractor trouble.  The battery was completely dead.  Hooked up the charger. 

While charging one of the helpers said he knew tractors.  We told him of our troubles.  He started looking at it.  Found water in the air filter.  He said its common for water to get into the air filter when the tractor is used for snow plowing, which ours is.   Dried it out and added a clean oil bath.  After the charge was completed the tractor started right away.  Maybe we were sucking water in through the air filter.  That would cause problems.  We await to see what happens in the coming days.

The new collecting tank with the self standing legs is nice.  It stays in place on the wagon.  We struggled for too many years with that round bottom tank. 

About 4:30 PM it started raining.  It will melt the snow, but leave a mess.  Tomorrow rain continues.  Next week it gets colder but there may be a few good days for us.

Tomorrow we start the evaporator and boil.   We will have syrup soon.