Sinker

Working weekends sucks. I have been begging for something like this closer to home for me, and finally we get it, and I can't make it out to it. What a bummer. S.

Another trick I use is to put a grate over my pan, and sit my propane tank in the steam. The steam keeps the tanks from icing up, and makes a much, much better burn. You can also keep the tanks in a container of warm water to prevent ice up. Once they ice up, you lose a lot of BTU's. S.

I don't care about the skim at the bottom of the bottles either. Its perfectly safe, and probably healthier too lol I really find the bucket filter works better for small batches. The flat bottom seems to make a big difference. And yes, if you filter at a lower temperature, you will have nice clear syrup every time. Try it. S.

Filtering between boils is a waste of time. I've learned that the hard way. One filter at the very end at the right temperature is all it takes to get perfectly clear syrup every time. I used to waste time filtering all the time too, and it did nothing to help clear up the syrup. Boil your sap until its syrup with no filtering, let it cool to 190 degrees and then filter it once with the prefilters and wool filter, removing prefilters as they clog. The cloudy stuff you are getting is nitre, and is formed most when closest to syrup, but only at temps above 190 degrees. When I collect I pour my sap through a funnel with a very fine screen into water jugs, then boil, and filter the final product once when it is finished syrup. I find if I get a full pan (100l), and boil it all in one shot, my syrup comes out the lightest, and clearest. If I keep adding it gets darker. I like the dark stuff myself, but right now i am adding to my boil because I have way too much sap to deal with. I am afraid to even look at my buckets today LOL. Evaporation rates are all about surface area and heat. The larger the surface area, and more heat, makes for the best evap rate. I use a 2ft x 2ft square pan that is 12" deep. One burner is most efficient for me for propane use. I add 20l to the pan every hour or so. Since I boil in my garage, I put a big fan by the pan to blow the steam out the garage door, and it seems to help with evaporating as well. I have had people stop and knock on my door thinking I have a fire in my garage several times LOL I can't believe the snow you guys have there....wow.....looks like you have plenty of season left there!! Great pics! That rocket stove looks interesting too. Add a small blower to that and you would have some serious heat!! S.

3 of them are turning now. I hate looking at them. Waste of money. Maybe if my hydro bill dropped with each one installed, but it just keeps going up.... S.

It only takes 10 mins to pop off the cap and check to see what the grease looks like. Then look at the back of the bearing for any grease leaking out. No leaks, they are fine. Pounding grease to your bearings every trip will wreck them in no time. I haven't added any grease to my boat trailer in 4 years, and haven't repacked them either. They are just as good today as they were brand new. I have EZ-lube hubs. The grease nipple on the end of the spindle pumps grease to the INSIDE bearing, and the relief valve is on the outer bearing. I've never added a drop of grease to them. If it can't get out, you don't need to add any. The #1 cause of trailer bearing failure is over greasing and popping the seals. Once the seals are leaky, you lose grease and the bearings fail. Always a good idea to feel hubs for temp on long trips, always good to pop the caps off and have a look at grease in the fall, and always a good idea to jack up and spin the wheels in the spring just to see..... No need to add grease for no reason. S.

I inspect mine annually. If i dont see any issues i leave them alone. No need to fix whats not broken. Biggest problem i see is guys pumping grease to their bearings thru bearing buddies and blowing the seals. Then you have problems. If grease isnt leaking out, water isnt getting in, and bearings are fine. How often do you change wheel bearings in your vehicle? Some go hundreds of thousands on km with no service at all. S.

Ice out trolling for lakers is generally very productive. Up until late may - early june its the best way to catch them. Flatlining diving cranks works best for me, but a lot of locals troll gang trolls with a minnow threaded on a hook a foot or two behind. S.

Oh yeah, the yeild varies all the time. Sometimes I get 33:1, other times I get 40:1.....You can get a device to measure sugar content as well. I haven't gone that high tech yet though....lol.....I use a thermometer and a hydrometer, but I can get it really close by eye. The hydrometer doesn't lie though. The hardest part for me is filtering. I had a few batches this year that I filtered too hot and ended up with a layer of "sludge" on the bottoms of the bottles after it settled out for a couple days. I don't care myself, its harmless, but I don't like giving that stuff away, so I re did those batches. If you filter above 190 degrees the syrup can still create nitre (maple sand) after its been filtered, so I let it cool to 190 before I filter. It takes a little longer to get thru the filter, but it comes out crystal clear every time. What are you using for a filter? I use a wool ( or felt, whatever it is) bucket filter with 3-5 pre-filters. Once it starts getting clogged up I remove a prefilter, and keep removing them until its all through the filter. I find the bucket filter works a lot better than the cone filter....for me anyways. The cone filter always gets clogged up sooner than the bucket filter. Anyways, just filled all my propane tanks....again....off to boiling lol EDIT: I meant to say that I have tried using two burners, but for whatever reason I still get the same evaporation rate, so I just stick to the one heavy duty burner and use A LOT less propane. I had it figured to about 1 tank per 300l of sap. That's pretty efficient for propane I think. What are you boiling in? S.

Skimming ice will help for sure. That is a really good yeild. How are you dtermining when its syrup? I collected another 180l tonight. Just make it stop already!!! I have boiled thru 220l and just keep adding. 20l/hr. I will have a mega batch when im done. 340 litres of sap in one boil. S.

IF you want to have a good time, don't tie up at the locks at night. We always spend a night on the island at pigeon, and any other nights we anchor in a quiet bay and have atter. Please, do not operate that vessel and drink. S.

So in 4 days I've finished 16 litres. I have 160l boiled down to about 50 litres now. Have to finish that tonight. 25.5 litres finished, might have 30 after tonights finish. I need a break. I hope it doesn't run for a few days!! S.

Ive been boiling non stop since monday. I have all my storage containers empty now and in the pan, so ready for tonights collection. Ive lost count of how much syrup ive made but im around 18 or so litres. Looks like lots more to come.

Its been going crazy here. Over 500l in 36 hrs!!

Yes, good advice. Make sure you have the right size wrench to get them off too. I know the wheel wrench in my vehicle is too big for my trailer lugs.... S.

I have a spare hub and bearing assembly in my boat all the time. It never comes out. Ive never needed it, but if i do it will make changing one out real easy. I wouldnt worry too much about towing that far. As long as your rig is in good shape it will be fine. S.

Im keeping every last drop i can get this year. Going home to nfld this summer and most of it is coming for the ride. It will make a great bartering tool for seafood lol. S.

Yup, the ice this year has been unpredictable since day one. Glad you're ok dude! S.

Wow....sap overload here now. Collected 280 litres in the last 24 hours.....and its still running like crazy. This season is turning out to be much better than i thought and its a nice slow and steady pace.....until now lol

Wow, this is news to me. Hope i can swing by. S.

I havent tried it yet but we do tap a couple birch trees in our bush at work. They do run good. S.

You are probably best to just knock on a few doors in the area and ask. A case of beer or a bottle goes a long ways sometimes. S.

I use the rapala knives too. I find they are pretty decent. They sharpen easily anyways. They might not stay as sharp for as long as a quality blade, but they are fine for me. I tend to keep my knives good and sharp anyways. I use a lansky system for sharpening, and a good quality steel to maintain them. S.

A lot of people really have no idea what they are looking at on that fancy screen on the dash of their boat. Once you figure out what your looking at, a very simple greyscale graph will show you everything you need to know. Too many bells and whistles these days. S.

Thats how I understand it as well. I'm not interested at all. S.