MapleAcres

Sunny and Upper 40s today. Tomorrow’s forecast is lower 50s. Too warm for February, but here we are. 10 PSI again. And the tap was dripping. We have to study the long term weather forecasts before deciding to tap. But possibly tap tomorrow.

Brought over 325 gallons for water for the R/O. Cleaned the storage tanks. Replaced the flex tubing from the propane tank. The fitting leaked propane. Still more setup, but it’s nice to have a good start preparing the syrup building before tapping. When the taps are out and there is sap to cook, it’s a rush to get the building prepared.

Turned over the evaporator pans. Replaced some firebrick that were crumbling. It’s a puzzle to get the pieces to fit. The pans are on the evaporator. They need washing yet. Floors are swept.

Brought more wood into the woodshed. The woodshed is half full. That’s by choice. We hope it won’t bit us. The plan is to replaced the woodshed around June. If it was full, we would need to empty it. We have more wood cut, but it’s by the farmhouse.

Sunny and mid 40s. 10 PSI. Some sap on the spout. Tomorrow and Monday are also warm. We’ll continue preparing for the season while eyeing when to tap.

Put out the pressure gauge and one tap. No sap at the spout. 10 PSI on the gauge. Sunny and mid 40s today, but with the cold ground, little melting. Similar weather forecast for the next few days. That may wake up the trees.

Started syrup building preparation. Set out the 325 gallon permeate tank, 225 collecting tank, and the 200 gallon extra storage tank. Swept the floor. Picked up angle iron that is 1 ½” wide by 48” long. The flue pan will it on this as it spans the width of back of the evaporator. Used flat iron last season, which did give support to the pan, but was warping by the end of the season due to the heat. Angle iron should be stronger.

Completed repairs to the R/O. Replaced the defuser that broke last season. It’s the part on the bottom of the pressure vessel. We’ll check it at the end of the season for wear. We also have a spare on hand now.

Also replaced the low pressure gauge on the R/O. The manufacture sent us a high pressure gauge: 0 – 600 PSI. It would have worked but, would have been hard to read because the scale wasn’t fine enough. We need to monitor for 20 – 40 PSI which wouldn’t move the dial much on the high pressure gauge. We ordered a 0 – 100 PSI gauge online. It was described as 2 ½” diameter, but was actually 2 ¼” diameter. We rigged up gaskets from 1/16” and 1/8” silicon material to hold the gauge in place. Turns out, the 2 ¼” diameter was advantageous as a 2 ½” diameter gauge would have been a real challenge to install because the slot it fits into is only slightly larger than 2 ½” which didn’t leave room to get a gauge in or out. Until this is proven in production, there is always concern the repair won’t work.

After several weeks of 0 weather, the weather pattern is changing. 40’s are forecast for the coming days. It looks like a long term pattern change, not a just a couple of days of warmer weather. We will put out a tap tomorrow to see what the trees are doing. With a light snow cover and weeks of 0 weather, the frost is deep and it may take time for the trees to wake up. In 2022 we had deep frost and even with ideal freeze/thaw days, the sap didn’t run until the frost came out.

The season would be several weeks early by the calendar, but we have to go by the weather pattern. In 2024 the season started the end of January.

During December we had two snowfalls of 8”. But that melted over Christmas. Then second week of January cold weather arrived. We had several days of -10. We attended the Wisconsin Maple Syrup Institute in Marshfield, WI. Temperatures dropped to -25 in the central part of the state. Lake Michigan moderated the temperatures here, but we still had -10.

Into the woods by 9:00 AM to finish cleanup. Finishing pan washed. Floor washed. Tanks in the building. Equipment back to the farmhouse. Still need to organize equipment in the basement, but all the equipment is here except the R/O. We need help with that.

The R/O will stay in the garage this year. We’ll use an air compressor to blow out the components to prevent damage from any remaining water.

We’ll work on transplanting some maple trees next week. We must rejuvenate the trees around the syrup building. There aren’t any young trees.

Completed by 2:00 PM.

Into the woods by 8:30 AM to clean the evaporator pans and firebox. It was an easy cleanup. The inside wiped clean. The bottom was even easier. We’ve developed a good routine for cleaning the pans that starts with the last boil where we add water and cleaning solution to the flue pan while finishing the last syrup in the syrup pan. The polishing pads for stainless steel are the other crucial part of cleaning the pans.

For tomorrow, a quick cleanup of the finishing pan, wash the floor, bring in the tanks, and return equipment to the house.

Mostly sunny and low 50s. A good day to clean the evaporator. It was worth waiting because we didn’t get cold hands.

Back to the farmhouse by 3:30 PM.

Measured the amount of wood used this season: 5 ½ cords. Expected more because we cooked three times without the R/O and the R/O was under-preforming meaning we had more water to cook out.

Warmer weather forecast for tomorrow. Plan to work on cleaning evaporator pans

Storage tanks washed. Hauled ½ tank of water into the woods to use for final cleaning.

All the buckets and covers are stacked and racked in the garage.

Still waiting for warmer weather before cleaning the evaporator pans.

Brought back to the farmhouse and rinsed the R/O hoses with bleach solution. The bleach solution sanitizes for off-season storage.

Thinking about replacing the woodshed before next season. The woodshed has had additions to expand it, but those additions weren’t well planned. The south side addition is more of a lean-to that seems to defy the laws of physics to stay standing. The east side addition lowered the roof line to under 6’ causing a hazard to hit your head. And the floor is uneven causing tripping hazards. Without lights in the woodshed, it’s a challenge getting wood when it’s dark outside.

Low 20s overnight. Sunny and low to mid-30s during the day.