Discovering my freedom in Minnesota

Yesterday morning was 22 deg, and i stayed close to the stove till it warmed up to 40 degrees

I admire your gumption.
Do motors even start at 22 degrees?

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60-70 degrees is ideal…if it rained at night. Having tin on means I have a space to work whereas last summer was very limited. I love all our seasons until it gets above 80. No AC in the house.

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Mike, I am so happy to see the temps in the 20’s. Yes, all my engines will fire up at those warm temps. Today we hit 40 degrees with full sun and I can work outside with just a flannel shirt on.
Maple syrup season is right around the corner. Maybe I can bring some to Argos this year.

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No complaints here either, but it is a little cool here now. May need to put on a light jacket after lunch. It’s 70 F I think. :yum:Looking great Bill.

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I found 3 of these. It’s thin metal. I’m guessing about 20 ga.
I’m not sure if I should use it for a gasifier or for storing wood or charcoal fuel.

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Nice find Bill. I am sure you will find more uses than you can find drums.

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It’s looking like sap season is here. Thinking of tapping tomorrow but still over two be foot of snow in the bc woods here. When do you plan on getting started?

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Hi Jim. Good to hear from you.
I think the sap may start running next week. But then again, last week it looked like I could start this week. Mother Nature does everything she can do to prove the forecasters wrong. I went through the woods with the snowmobile already last weekend to pack down trails. We had about 2 1/2’ or more in the woods. I bought a pair of show shoes so I can get to the trees. I’m a little more prepared this year.

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I hear you on the forcast, always geared to stimulate the economy. It seems a couple weeks early with this much snow. I have a bicycle in the yard on it kickstand that just popped out two days ago. I am not ready at all. To many projects going already.

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I’ve been waiting semi patiently for the Maple trees to run. I put in 100 taps but the weather has different plans.
Yesterday and today while it was snowing, I decided now was a good time to make an urn for Mary’s brother who passed last Fall. His celebration of life will be the weekend of his birthday.
My wife looked for urns online and I asked her if she wouldn’t mind if I tried to make one. I
did some wood burning on it to make it personalized. She gave me thumbs up.

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I decided to build another Maple sap evaporator. Someone gave me a free 2’x6’ stainless steel pan last Fall. I also got a free 265 gallon fuel oil barrel. I just need to buy firebrick and stove pipe. This pan will evaporate about 12 gallons per hour.



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Boil baby boil! Running yet?

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No, maybe it’ll start running Tuesday. I have another day or two’s worth of work to do on this. It’s too damn cold outside, my welding mask fogs up. So, it’s taking longer than I had hoped.

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Finished the new Maple sap evaporator.
It looks like the weather may cooperate next week.


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Hey Bill, I need to borrow that thing…Well then I guess I’d have to borrow some maple trees too. Nevermind.

Looks real good.

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I will be bringing some syrup down to Argos this year.

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Good morning Mr. Bill .

If you plan on selling some syrup put me down for about $20 worth :grinning:

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Good morning Wayne.
Yes I will be selling some.

If anyone has 1 pint canning jars, I can sure use some.

Bill on the free section of Duluth Craigslist be there is someone wanting to trade new maple syrup bottles for some maple syrup.
I like your new evaperator.
Still nothing running here. Looks like up to ten inches of snow on Saturday.

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Jim,
I found out the bottles are all different. It would be really difficult to find the caps to fit different bottles. Because I sell some of my syrup, I think it would be important to make sure I have the correct seal on each bottle.
Thanks for the tip though.

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