Into the woods at 6:30 AM to get setup with tanks for collecting. We knew there would be sap soon, but didn’t expect to collect today. The trees had different ideas. By 10:00 AM we had some buckets overflowing. We had to collect today.

Pushed hard to get all the tanks ready. First thing is a tank of water for the R/O. We need water t200 gallons of water to prepare the membrane. We have to get that water from the farmhouse. We use the collecting tank to haul it so we have to get that into the woods first. We made a mistake on year to full the collecting tank with sap before getting water. Then we had to use a smaller secondary tank on a trailer which was much harder.

Got all the tanks ready by 2:30 PM. Headed out collecting. Picked up 480 gallons. We used an inefficient route through the woods. Too much walking. We’ll need to adjust that.

And the new pump didn’t work. Its gets electricity, but doesn’t spin up. We’ll need to take it apart to check for twigs or bark blocking the propellers.

Tomorrow we get ready to cook. Setup R/O. Connect all pipes. Then fire up the evaporator.