MapleAcres

The feed pump on the R/O failed again. We replaced it in March 2020 because the motor seized up. The feed pump worked yesterday when we ran 200 gallons of water through the R/O to rinse the membrane.

Into the woods at 7:15 AM. Expected an easy day. 215 gallons with the R/O should take about four hours. Had to transfer sap from the collecting tank to storage tank first. Started the R/O. The feed pump wasn’t pulling sap. Checked the lines for a closed valve or ice. All clear. Tried the feed pump again. Now it just hummed. Won’t try to pull sap. We’re thinking we seized the motor again. But we learned from 2020 that this pump needs priming before use and we’ve been careful to always prime it. Did basic troubleshooting and called our equipment dealer. Dealer suggested checking if the motor shaft turned. But there isn’t easy access to the propellers on the pump without disassembling it. So the next step was to disassemble. Our cousin who did the 2020 pump replacement came over. Took the pump off the R/O. Took off the stainless steel housing around the pump. It’s a centrifugal pump. The pump parts that spin are made of plastic. Only the housing is stainless steel. One of the fins on the pump broke.

The pump couldn’t generate suction. That it only hummed was likely the auto shut off sensor engaging when it didn’t detect anything to pull.

The R/O manufacturer isn’t available until Monday. We want to both get a replacement part for the pump and a completely new pump. The new pump will go on the R/O. The replacement part will go into the pump so we have spare pump. We’re also going to put a screen filter in the line before the pump to filter out twigs, leaves and bark. While that is mostly soft bio-mass, it’s likely a harder piece broke the plastic fin.

We expect more set backs getting the pump and installing it. Hoping to have the R/O back in operation by March 10. But the season got harder without the R/O. This piece of technology saves us 2/3 of the time to cook. It’s frustrating to have it off-line.

Started the evaporator by 8:00 AM. Tried to fire and troubleshoot the pump at the same time. By 10:00 AM it was obvious the R/O was out of service so commenced to fire harder knowing we couldn’t use the R/O. Finished cooking by 7:30 PM. Four batches into the milk can. Very nice syrup.

Collected at 3:00 PM. 165 gallons at 2 Brix.

25 overnight. Started sunny. By 10:00 AM it was melting and sap started to run. Up to 45. Cloudy in the afternoon. By 4:00 PM a few rain showers.

Back to the farmhouse at 7:45 PM. Into the woods early tomorrow to cook. Without the R/O.

Into the woods at 4:30 AM. It was cold overnight: 22. Storage tank drain pipe was frozen and took about 10 minutes to thaw with the heat gun. But finally we heard the “gurgle gurgle” of the sap moving through the thawed pipe. Started the evaporator by 5:30 AM.

Then started on the R/O. The membrane needs rinsing before use with about 200 gallons of water. First we had to get the membrane out the storage canister. It was sealed very tight. Struggled with a pipe wrench to open it. After applying heat from the heat gun it finally opened.

After starting the pump, leaks appeared. First around the canister for the pre-filter. Food grade grease solved that. But there was still a leak from one of the drain plugs on the pump. Tied food grade grease there too but didn’t solve it. After inspecting the plug, noticed it was missing an O ring. We didn’t have any spares so we were unable to continue with the R/O. Later in the morning, family was able to get an O ring. But now it was 11:30 AM. We checked the sap level in the tank and realized we wouldn’t get enough water to wash the R/O after use. So we cooked all 170 gallons old school. One batch into the milk can. Finished by 1:30 PM. Back to the farmhouse by 2:00 PM.

But we still had to collect. Help arrived and we started collecting at 3:15 PM. Some ice in buckets from the cold overnight. It did warm to 42, but stayed cloudy all day.

While going around a sharp corner the front tires fell into a rut. Struggled to get it out. And one of the tires was flat making it even harder. Unhooked the wagon. Got the tractor out. Back to the farmhouse to fill the tire with air. Completed collecting by 4:45 PM. Picked up 215 gallons.

Another long day. It’s frustrating when something small like an O ring prevents use of technology that significantly reduces cooking time.

Tomorrow we cook again.

27 overnight. Into the woods by 6:00 AM again to tap. Put up 25 more taps. We have 225 taps out now.

At 10:30 AM we headed back into the woods to prepare for cooking. Setup the evaporator. Got the R/O into the syrup building. Connected all the hoses. We got a new heat gun this season but it failed at the end of last season. Pumped sap from the collecting tank to the storage tank because we needed the collection tank for a load of water. Washed out the permeate tank. Then got a water from the farmhouse. We need the water to rinse the membranes before use. We should be ready to cook tomorrow. Plan to get into the woods early.

Cold and cloudy most of the day, but cleared around 2:30 PM and warmed to mid-30s. Trees starting dripping. We’ll check tomorrow, but may need to collect.

A long day of prep. Back to the farmhouse by 5:30 PM.

Into the woods at 6:00 AM to tap. Sunrise was 6:25 AM. 50 more taps out by 7:45 AM. Before going back the farmhouse, we noticed there five buckets with missed covers from yesterday’s tapping. When we placed the covers, we noticed the buckets were full. Must have run all night. It was down to 30 overnight. Not a hard freeze. Sunny and up to 45. The trees were dripping. We moved sap around from full buckets.

At Noon we started getting ready to collect. Washed the storage tanks and collecting tank. Everything ready by 3:00 PM when help. The original plan was to continue tapping, but switched to collecting first. Collected 170 gallons at 2 Brix. 50 of the taps were from the morning tapping session and they were half full. It was a good run.

After collecting, we still had time to put up 50 more taps. But we did break a drill bit. Hit something in the tree and bit stopped turning. The bit snapped. It’s been five or more years since we broke a bit. And that was because the bit was of poor quality. Broke on the first tap we tried to make with it. Went to the farmhouse to get a spare bit.

Back to the farmhouse by 5:15 PM.

100 taps out by 5:00 PM. Tress are running. Missed some of the run. We plan for 250 taps this season.

A mild winter. Feb 17-20 was sunny and warm. Sap likely moving but we wanted to wait with tapping because of a snow storm. We got 12” of snow Feb 22-23. Biggest snow of the winter. Not much snow on the ground before the storm. Green Bay had open water. Rivers had thin ice and open water in places. This is climate change.

Scrambling to catch up with the weather now. Plan to get in the woods by 6:00 AM tomorrow to tap 50 more.

Welcome to season 106.

In May of 2020 we transplanted 20 maple trees in front of the syrup building. We expected some would die. But last year we still had 10. Seven more died over the 2021-2022 winter leaving three. We were hopeful that after two years the remainder would make it and disappointed to see the die off.

Also, a tree we transplanted in fall of 2012 thrived for nine years but declined this winter. The crown died off. In early spring it appeared the entire tree died. But some leaves are sprouting from the trunk now. Its wait-and-see if the tree survives but its growth is stunted.

Worse, many young maple trees of 4’ to 7’ died off. There were groves of young maples grouped together. When grouped together, they compete for sun and other resources. Some won’t make it. But all the trees in the grove dying off at the same time is unusual.

We aren’t aware of any disease that accounts for the die off of young maples unlike ash which have the Emerald Ash Borer killing many ash trees of all ages. We attribute this die off to the deep frost from the past winter which also delayed syrup season.

We did transplant a 4′ maple tree to the area around the gate. Both of the 2020 transplanted died there. After the leaves are out isn’t usually considered a good time to transplant trees. But we tried anyway. In 2005 or 2006 we transplanted a 10′ maple in July. Most the root ball fell away exposing bare roots. The tree is thriving and close to 25′ now.

We’ll continue to monitor tree health.

Variable weather during syrup season is expected. We’ve waited out cold spells or warm spells in past seasons. Rain. Snow. Sleet. Fog. And perfect sap weather. If you do any agricultural activity, you better be an optimist. But this season was still an outlier. Even when we had freezing nights and sunny days with the tree pressure ranging from -10 PSI to 20 PSI, we still didn’t have sap runs. Until the last week in March, it looked like it would be an historically poor season. The frost was deep because there wasn’t much snow cover this winter. When it warmed above freezing we had rain followed by below 0 temperatures, driving the frost deep. The trees didn’t run until the frost came out.

Researchers at the University of Vermont Proctor Maple Research Center cite several reasons why sap may not flow even when weather conditions are favorable.
1.) Thermal inertia. Trees are big and it takes time for them to warm
2.) Depleted moisture after prolonged cold. Until there is a good thaw followed by freezing conditions to recharge the moisture in the system, sap flows will be weak.
3.) Uneven warming in trees. Sunny sides warm and produce sap runs while shady sides stay cold.

Point 2 seems most applicable to this season. Any moisture in the ground was frozen and not available to the tree. We got sap March 30 and March 31 as the frost depth receded. The frost came out completely between Noon and 3 :00 PM on March 31. We know this because at Noon when we left the woods there was 2” of water on sidewalk by the syrup building. At 3:00 PM when we returned to collect, the water had soaked into the ground. Big sap run after that on April 2.

Here are pictures of the bottom of flue pan before cleaning and after cleaning.

Glad we could use the R/O. Feels like cheating especially when we see neighbors steaming away all day for several days in a row. Burned 2.3 cords of wood in the evaporator.

In the end, we had an above average season. With 500 taps we would have had 100 gallons of syrup. We are happy with the season.

Into the woods by 8:00 AM to finish cleanup. Washed the floor. Brought in the tanks. Took equipment back. Disconnected the propane tank. Brought the R/O into the farmhouse.

Disconnected the radio. Took down the clock. Out of the woods at noon.

Into the woods by 8:15 AM. The evaporator is clean. The pans cleaned easily. We did well with cleaning solution in the flue pan. The nitre brushed off with very little scrubbing. Swept the ash from the evaporator. Put the pans upside-down on the evaporator base. The finishing pan and bottling pan also cleaned easily. Those pans are also upside-down on the evaporator base.

Washed out the storage tanks and collecting tank.

Nice weather today. Sunny and 60. Too many times we’ve cleaned the pans in the cold and rain.

Tomorrow we bring back equipment including the R/O. And wash out pipes with a bleach solution. We should finish all cleanup tomorrow.

Back to the farmhouse by 3:00 PM.