Making A Few Improvements to the Process

We've been at this maple syrup stuff for quite a few days now, and for old folks like us, we're getting tired!  In order to eliminate some of the work (and save our backs!) Harold came up with a few improvements to our system!  While going through the woods to empty sap bags we decided taking the lid to the sap drum off and on all the time was a pain, so we made an improvement to the lid.

We cut a hole in the lid and put one of our 600 micron screens in the hole.  The lip of the screen filter grabs the lid nicely and doesn't fall in.  This way, we filter the sap and dump it all at the same time!  

Then, to eliminate the step of having to do a 'bucket brigade' transferring the sap from the drum to the bulk tank, Harold rigged up a 1/3 hp shallow well pump and some clear hosing and PVC piping to pump the sap directly from the barrel into the tank. 

The sap is pumped directly into the bulk tank now - no bucket lifting!

Another improvement Harold made was to rig up a regenerative blower and a long metal pipe directly into the firebox of the evaporator.  By blowing air right onto the fire, we can get a better boil of the sap and burn the wood more efficiently.

Adding a 1/2 hp regenerative blower to bring more air into the firebox really helps keep the fire glowing nicely!

By having a hotter fire, the sap can really boil!!  We're burning off excess sap now!!  Look at that boil!

The ever constant need for split wood.  Next Harold needs to rig up a log splitter!

Our constant companion in the maple syrup making is our cat FlufferDuff.  She sits patiently on the wood pile waiting for us to go into the woods and collect sap.   Then she follows us from tree to tree, watching every move, and tagging along like a little puppy dog.   She just loves being with us in the woods. FlufferDuff is about 4 years old now.

Our next improvement will be a system to boil the near syrup outside instead of in the house.  Last year we used a small propane turkey fryer, but we will rig up something else this year using the propane.   We are getting too much syrup to boil up inside the house.  It will take some thought, though, because an outside system isn't as efficient as my inside burners.  
     Now, if I could just figure out how to keep my floors clean from all the mud.   Maple syrup season comes right in the middle of the "mud season", and the woods are constantly wet.  And we got an inch of snow this morning, which melted and added to the moisture in the woods.  We are always tracking in mud and leaves, and having to take boots off and on many times a day.  Throw rugs help, but then they also get muddy after a day.  I have pretty much figured out that the floors will just have to be a disaster until maple season is done!  (This is why country folks don't have fancy carpeting!) Last night we pulled an "all nighter" - boiling sap round the clock, sleeping in one hour shifts.   We rigged up an outdoor floodlight to see things, and just kept feeding the fire and boiling sap and bringing it in.   We probably won't pull an all nighter tonight, but will certainly boil until nearly midnight.   The sap is running all week long and we still have a few hundred gallons to boil off yet!  And the sap bags are still dripping like crazy!    Every time we gather the sap from all the trees we have tapped, we collect about 300 gallons of sap.   Well, it is surely a blessing from the Lord to have all this wonderful maple syrup so I guess we really should not complain!