MapleAcres

It was cold over night: down to 13.  It froze so hard we could walk on top of the snow this morning.  When it warms you sink in.  There is still a lot of snow in the woods.  We just got the trail around the building open today for the tractor.  There is still one loop on the collecting trail that is not open.  We have to unhook the wagon and collecting tank from the tractor to manually turn it around so we can drive out forward.

It was sunny all day and warmed to the upper 30s.  The sap dripped.  We will collect tomorrow.   

We got all the remaining taps out this morning.  We are now at 400.  The tractor problems set up back.  The original plan was to have all the taps out by March 4th.  Oops.

This afternoon we worked on opening the tractor trail around the building.  There are two feet of snow in places yet.  Had to use the tractor bucket to dig it out.  Its quite a workout wrestling with the steering wheel with a bucket full of snow and snow under the wheels.  

About 3:45 PM the Pastor from church came to give a blessing of the maples.  Maple syrup is the first crop of the year.   Its proper that we acknowledge and give thanks to our Maker for the crop.

Into the woods by 7:45 AM.   We started Daylight Saving Time last night so we have to adjust our schedules.   Cleaned the syrup pan then started boiling.  Some visitors arrived just as we started boiling.    We spent the day boiling. Our goal was to empty the storage tanks.  By 8:30 PM we were empty.   In two days we boiled through 500 gallons.  We bottled 25 quarts today.  This is the first syrup of the year.  Seems late.  We have two batches of syrup in the milk can to bottle tomorrow.

It was down to about 22 overnight.  The day started sunny, but cold.  Then turned cloudy although it warmed to above freezing.  It even tried to snow but nothing came of it expect flakes in the air.  Then after 3:00 PM it cleared and became sunny and warmer.  Mid 30s.  The sap dripped for a few hours late in the day.  We may collect tomorrow again.  This week’s weather forecast looks promising for sap.

12 hours in the woods today.

We got the H back!   The repair shop called about 11:00 AM.  By 11:40 AM they arrived with their trailer and unloaded the H.   They fixed the generator too so now the battery will actually charge!  We knew it needed fixing.  We had not specifically asked for that but they saw it needed fixing and did it.  We are grateful.  A lot of work, and expense, went into it but it was all needed and we have working tractor again.

Into the woods by 7:30 AM to start boiling.  There were still hot coals under the evaporator from Thursday.   Took two batches of syrup off the evaporator.   As the day went on we thinking of the best use of our time.   We had to dig out the spot where the LP tank goes.  Did that inbetween firing.   We wanted to get out 13 more taps.   Did that inbetween firing too.    But was there sap?

It was cloudy all day.  A little windy, but nothing like what was forecast.  The forecast was for 30 mph winds, but we got nothing like  that.   It was down to maybe 30 overnight so the trees dripped into the night.   There was about 2 quarts in the pails.  A few were half full.  The question became do we continue boiling, or go collect?    The weather forecast says tomorrow will be colder.  Maybe 32.  We can boil in the cold but any sap in buckets will freeze.  So we went out collecting.    What’s liquid today will be ice tomorrow so get it will we can.    We ended up collecting 200 gallons.  A lot of that was from what ran into the last night.  

A neighbor stopped by to help.   Since he had a pickup truck we asked him to get a tank of LP gas for us first.   Last year we picked up an extra tank of LP gas so we would have it.   Unfortunately it leaked out over the year so the tank was empty.   Getting a full tank of LP was also a major accomplishment for the day as we need the gas to finish the syrup and during bottling.  Tomorrow we will be finishing and bottling and need it.

Today was sunny and warmed to about 42 this afternoon.   It started out cold, down to 18 overnight.  That made ice of the sap in all the buckets.   We planned to collect, but we had to wait for the ice to melt.  By 10:30 AM the sun’s magic was starting to melt the ice in the buckets.  But it seemed slow.  We were not sure it would melt enough to collect.   By 12:30 PM there was still a lot of ice.  We called help and planned to start collecting at 2:30 PM.  And by 2:30 PM most of the ice had melted.   Waiting to collect was the right move.   We picked up 300 gallons.    We did not start the evaporator.  We will boil tomorrow.  

We did get the pipes from the storage tanks to the evaporator connected.    And tapped 12 more close to the syrup building.

We did not get the H back today.  We continue to miss it.  We were not able to fill the collecting tank because the Massey could not pull it through the snow.  We emptied at 140 gallons and again at 160 gallons.

The day started cloudy and cold.  It was cold working in and around the syrup building.  By 2:00 PM it changed quickly with the sun arriving, wind stopping and getting up to upper 30s; a very nice afternoon.  Tomorrow is forecast to be sunny and up to 40 or so; another nice day.  We plan on collecting.  There should be several quarts in the buckets as the sap did run this afternoon.

Setup the evaporator today.  Our goal was to get the 100 gallons of sap out of the collecting tank as its forecast to drop to 18 tonight.  We did not want ice in the collecting tank.  We did not use the storage tanks but rather pumped directly from the collecting tank into the evaporator.  About 1:15 PM we were ready to start the evaporator.  And by 1:55 PM we had our first boil.   And then we get that wonderful aroma of maple rising from the evaporator.  We boiled until about 4:45 PM.  Emptied the 100 gallons of sap from the collecting tank into the evaporator.

We may get the H tractor back tomorrow.  That would be very helpful.

Weather forecasters like to name storms.  This storm was named Ethan.  We did get about 6” of wet, heavy snow.  It started about 3:00 AM.  By 11:00 AM it was tapering off.  By 2:00 PM it was light rain.  By 6:00 PM precipitation stopped completely.  Pretty much just as forecast. Its really impressive what computer modelling can do.

The tractor repair shop called with bad news.  More then the clutch needs replacing on the H.  There are other housings around the clutch that are bad too.  That’s not completely unexpected consider the tractors age.   We discussed it.  The tractor does have life in it yet.  We know the Massey will not meet out needs.  We could be looking at $1800-$2000 now.

The weather forecast says the cold pattern could be breaking.  Tomorrow and Friday should be nice.  And next week it warms into the 40s.

Today was the kind of day you think of when you think of maple syrup season: sunny, 38-39 degrees, no wind.  Just a nice day in the woods.  Its hard to understand that a snow storm is coming.  After teasing us for almost a week the weather forecasters have decided we will get 4”-6” or 5”-7”.  The rain will stay to the south of us.  Now we’ll see what really happens tomorrow.

We tapped 75 more before lunch.  That makes 300 taps out now.  

We miss the H tractor.  We are happy to have the Massey as a loaner: we would not have been able to  do anything today without it.  But it struggles in the snow and pulling the collecting tank.  It doesn’t have as much clearance.  The wheels are smaller so it doesn’t pull as well.  Chains would help, but this tractor seems much more suited for good surfaces.   Its not the best for the snow and mud of syrup season.

Knowing that a storm was coming for Wednesday we planned to collect today.  Dug out our wagon which we need for the collecting tank.   Prepared the collecting tank and storage tanks.  Set out about 3:00 PM to collect.  Picked up 100 gallons.  Not a lot but get it while its there.

A neighbor came this morning to pull the tractor from the woods.  We got the tractor to the garage.  Looked it over to see if we had a broken link or missing pin in the clutch system.  Nope.  Took a ride up to a tractor repair shop.  Described our problem.  They said its the clutch.  In the 30+ years we had the tractor we haven’t replaced the clutch.  Estimated $800 to $1000 to repair. 

They had some other tractors there for sale.  There is a nice Massey Ferguson.  $3500.  Very good condition. It too is about 40 years old.   They offered to let us use it this week while the H is in for repair.  If it works out, it we may purchase it.   

About 3:00 PM they came with the trailer to drop off the loaner Massey and pick up the H for repair.  Took the Massey for a drive through the woods to see how it would do.  Early observations:  where there is an existing track, it moved OK.  When trying to break a new track in the snow, it gets hung up because it has much less clearance then the H.  There is no bucket on the Massey either so we can’t clear a path.  

Wednesday a storm is moving in.  It seems now we will be more on the rain side then the snow side.  Farther north they will get 4”-8” of snow.  We are may get 2”-4” with rain mixed in.

We will check tomorrow to see about collecting before the storm moves in late Tuesday.

It was sunny today. Still a little cold. It did not break 32.    We went into the woods about 1:00 PM.  Visitors came and we showed them the operation.  They will tap some of their own maples this season so were very interested in learning.   We were showing them the differences between the hard (sugar) maple and the soft maple.  And ash which can be confusingly similar to maples.  Its all in the bark and learning to read it.

It was nice in the woods this afternoon.  Sunny.  No wind.   Crunchy snow under foot.  The kind  of day  that you expect when tapping.  The sap is moving in the trees.   We put out 50 taps.  And then the trouble began.

The tractor was idling in neutral while we tapped the remaining 18.  When we hopped on the tractor to go back to the house the clutch was not responsive. It was flopping around and not engaging.  This is a major problem because we can not move the tractor.   We figured out that with the engine off, we could get it into gear.  Then with the tractor in gear start the engine and move it.   Every gear change required turning off the engine.  Our hope was to get it back to the house where we could work on it.  But with the snow under foot we had to maneuver around back and forward a few times, stopping the engine each time to change gears.   This drained the battery.  Starting the engine while its in gear is a big drain on the battery.   So now the tractor will spend the night in the woods.   We are making arrangements for someone to come in the morning and pull it back to the house for us.  And then find someone who can work on the clutch for us.   Since we can get into gear and move it doesn’t seem to be a transmission problem.   We are hoping it is something simple like a pin that fell out.  But with a 60+ year old tractor it could be a lot of things.    

We need a tractor for the season so there will be some drama until we get this resolved.

It was windy, cloudy and cold today.  A strong North wind.  Everything froze overnight.  We did some cleanup and setup in the syrup building.  We will need to fill our LP gas tanks again.  We had a full tank from last season, but its empty now.  Somehow its leaking away over the year.  We picked up some supplies from Fleet Farm.    And we are working on a price list and possible logo.

We are in a cold pattern.  We did not tap any more today given the cold weather.  There is no rush as the sap will not run.  It warms a little Monday and Tuesday.  But a snow storm with “significant accumulation” is forecast for Tuesday night into Wednesday.