Thank you for the detail. I don’t have a need with the couple of trees, but it is interesting how you can easily piece the systems together now for not very much money now. I remember seeing a producer have one, when I was like 7, and I think they spent 25k for it. The ceramic filters were the only ones available. Prices have come down considerably. 
For my handful of trees, I need a better boiler and I would like a sap sucker.
Here’s the big spool holder finished for my little inverter flux gun. Pretty simple I just installed a grommet and I had a plastic vacuum hose barb lying around to guide the wire. Also some rubber hose.
Edit: gave it a good test for wire speed, ran it at full throttle and finished repairing my log splitter. Kept up just fine.
Happy Easter Everyone! I hope the easter bunny was good to everyone! 
Everyone needs a Jakob North. Today we got the Polaris Sportsman 400 running on charcoal. I hope to be able to collect maple sap with it.
O.K. Typical grey skies cold raining drizzle now and for the next 3-4-5 days.
So besides fire glow sitting here is a thoughtful, who am I.
Steve Unruh is a little “h” humanist.
I may at times sound like a communist - nope, nope, nope. Websters desktop condensed, a “social system based on the common ownership of property.”
I believe very much in the private ownership of property.
Then Steve Unruh must be a socialist. No. No. No. Again. Webster condensed again, a “social system with the government ownership of the means of production and the distribution of goods.”
Not me at all. I believe in competitive open market not government productions and distributions.
Humanist is not in this little condensed Webster. My good dictionaries are now 60 miles away. Net looking up, us little h’s humanist gets shouted down by the organized big H Humanists. Each organization vying for the most-right leadership. All defining themselves by what they are not.
Little “h” humanism is not Christianity, Judaism, Muslin, Buddhism or any other. But not big H anti-any-other either.
Here is how it is practically, daily applied, “Will my actions increase the self-worth and value of humans?” “Or will it detract?”
Because only we can truly care for and about our species.
Doesn’t mean I do not love my dogs. Or a horse. Or a dolphin. But if a newt is the way of my intended driveway. The driveway will be put in. By humans. For humans uses.
Here. This is very much a little “h” humanist approach: often all the choices are bad.
You are still obligated to yourself; to your family; to the human race to choose the least bad consequences, choice.
Make a choice. Make a decision. Push to follow it through. Succeed or not, you will still know you gave it your best effort. No recriminations. No second guessing. Lessons learned? But of course.
Steve unruh
hope your paying him well, cause y’all are getting a lot of work done while he is there! 
One more charcoal build for DOW. And a Polaris 4 wheeler at that. BILL, it is true you just cut some of your over head cost of making your syrup production, dino fuel. More monies in your pocket and tax free of the carbon taxes. Your syrup is getting greener all the time. Yes automation at it’s finest. Trees providing you with everything from sap to making syrup using wood for heat and making charcoal for fuel to run the Polaris and getting the sap for more syrup. Nice cycle of life production of cutting the dio fuel costs. Good Job you two. Yes, Jakob can get things done.
Bob
So where do l sign up for renting Jakob for a few days? 
You guys have so much fun.
Engine purrs good! If l may throw in my 2c… since this is a relatively high rpm engine, good flame speed is key. Read Hydrogen. Water drip might be challanging in your weather but you guys will figure something out for sure.
Look at you SteveU. Getting all John Locke-y. Certainly not expected but pleased. My view is that all human systems are control based. There has to be winners and losers. Keep pulling that string and by the time you have unraveled just the cuff, we, much to our chagrin, learn that at the base all political and economic systems are based on feudalism. You can smear as much lipstick as you want on that pig but it’s still going to oink. This started with the first human that dared claim ownership of a square foot of ground on this planet. I don’t need what you have. Everything I need to sustain my existence on the planet was provided for me when I arrived. I just had to cast off my serf mentality and learn to live in harmony with the natural order. It’s all about resonance.
Wrong TomH.
I was not talking about economic systems.
I was not talking about political systems.
I was not talking about social systems.
I was talking about each individual facing up each and every morning to the man or woman in their bathroom mirror.
What will you do today to make Life better?
And then the same mirror reviews just before bed time. And did you achieve this?
And this Gaja balance B.S.?
Those engines TomH you dyno raced, you track raced achieved by your own human will power.
In your iron worker days constructs were made to rise above gravity; resist winds and snow loads by human willpower. Human innovations.
Sure. Sure. Humans can put this willpower and innovations to harms too.
And if they cannot kick their own ass conscious’s then they need our assistance. Knocked down, looking up. Still too arrogant? Cut off at the knees.
As MaratL. put so well recently; he can do most anything in material things. But he cannot actually make goats. He does not have that power. There he must balance their needs for results. The results to benefit humans.
Humans are neither the masters of planet earth.
Or the slaves, or diseases to planet earth. That is also spin B.S.
Now I will agree that all spin is about influence and control.
We are just one critter of many here.
And only we will ever really, really care about each other.
Viruses will not.
Goats will not.
So truly love your neighbor as yourself.
Steve Unruh
Thanks Bob. This is one of my objectives with syruping off grid here. Other than clearing the trails of snow to get to the trees, this is another link to being able to make syrup completely with wood including the finishing. It’s a good feeling.
It’s hard to believe Jakob is only 18 years old. He’s taught me a lot in this build.
We need more than two cents worth. I’m hoping for 10 or 20 cents worth from you.
We’ve burned up a ¾" pipe for a nozzle just having it at idle. We have a fluted nozzle in there now and waiting for it to cool down before we pull it out to see if there’s damage to it. We weren’t sure of how many holes, how big they should be and how far apart.
Wow l saw the new video! Seems you got it runing good!
Hi All, We had a non-typical Grid power outage yesterday at 4:15 PM (16:15). Flickering lights. Obvious low voltage, going on for minutes. Long enough for me to run into the houses and grid disconnect to save the electronics.
A neighbor north of me had cell phone videoed an in a pole transformer on fire and spitting out smoke an orange flames. With blue glow-balls traveling out along the power lines.
Hmm. Well, just fall back onto my last two years evolved response . . . do nothing for 24 hours? Use the battery florescent lanterns. The Woodstove was already going for heat warming. Hot water, light cooking just there.
But sister next door would go cold. The in fireplace wood stove does poorly to heat the whole house without electricity for its jacket air fan.
The two foster girls just home off the bus had already afternoon soup heated, but wanted grilled cheese sandwichestoo. (Stovetop direct grilled bagels with cream cheese satisfied them).
Then the Wife arrived home. Tested the battery lanterns, checking before possibility of darkness needing. Only one worked. The rechargeable batteries had self-discharged over the last 6 months.
So she was lighting her smoky candles and step stool reaching up for the high shelf stored oil lamps.
NO!!!
I went and got the Honda 2000 Inverter-generator. Haven’t used it in ??? one year?, two years?
Of course it would not start. Spark, yes. But a blacked spark plug from the last low loaded Eco running session. So? Where are the small engines spare spark plugs? Moved up 60 miles away. Grrr. Stupid Steve obviously had moved up the wrong box!
Cleaned the spark plug. Use a squirt of starting ether. One pull to running.
Great! No. The wife could have never managed this solo, stupid Steve.
Then of four pre-set up, been proof-used cords . . . only one still present! Yep. Me. The wife both to blame.
Sigh. Cord hunting then.
In 30 minutes scrambling, cussing and swearing they had satellite television back. And living room electric lights. Could of had microwave, rice-cooker, and crock pot cooking. And I had the lantern batteries recharging.
Ha! Ha! Predictably just before true dark we got grid power restored.
I left the Honda running, powering to run out the old gasoline
until bed times.
There you go. No DIY system will work when you really need it, if not being used daily/weekly.
I know this. I know this. I know this.
Just I age weaken. And location moving absorbs all of my attention now.
Regards
Steve Unruh
Steve! Mr. prepared! No running of small engine for maintenance check?! Tisk tisk sir.
I’m guilty to, I may every 3 months fire off the little gennie just for a small job and get some run time. Last time we had a major outage I was scrambling trying to get the big gennie up and going, dirty fouled carb, fuel tank suddenly leaking, petcock stuck…gahhhhh make you pull your hair out. I contemplated a fast hook up to the truck to fuel it and didn’t have correct materials on hand. Grrrr hording of parts pile useless, committed to memory to make a woodgas hookup. Then moving, shuffle everything in life, still have not got back to it 3 months now and neck deep in truck swaparoosky and next gasifier build. last week small outage for us, step dad has 3 gennies, 2 small 3500w one big diesel 10kw. Wouldn’t you know it non of them would start. List of things always growing, and time to do them never.
I walk past the little inverter generator daily and every time think, I should start that up and get new fuel in it. I’ll do it tomorrow. The very things you detailed SteveU is why we recently bought the small power station. Only 700 W but it will keep lights on and a few things running while I get better systems up and running. I’m sure you off-grid guys have forgotten the mad scramble when the grid goes down. Lucky you.
I’m in a slow motion mad scramble trying to get batteries and inverters.
For my generator I just got, I shut the petcock and run the carb dry after disconnecting my extension cords. But I also put Stabil and MMO in the gas to be safe. I finally twisted my mom’s arm to put Stabil in her gas cans for the John Deere zero turn. I’m tired of draining the float bowl for that wore out Kawasaki twin in that thing.
She was having battery problems and I found out the ground lead was a little loose so I told her “hol up I gotta do a little maintaining on it” before whacking it with my vice grips.
Seeing this video really puts me at ease about putting in a smaller carburetor for gasoline backup in the Mazda.
If a V8 can run with a small engine carb then a 2 liter 4 banger can run with a motorcycle carburetor.
Good story Steve.
I know that it has inspired me to fire up the 5kw generator, hook it up to a 1.5 kw heater for a 15 min run. Then close the fuel valve to empty the carburetor. It usually only gets a reality use for a few hours each winter. Although it had about 20 hours this past Winter due to a 28 hour outage.
Hi Cody, i like your idea of using a small carb/motorcycle carb, i think it should work good, maybe loosing some top-end power.
I know Mikkonen uses small carbs, much like the one you mentioned earlier, he get them from outboard engines.
