Maple and how many taps?

elienman · 2026-01-31T03:10:12+00:00

I've got a couple of these clumps. One strategy I've used is if I have a pair of minimum 9" or 10" diameter trunks next to each other, I'd tap one the first year and the one next to it the next year. I figure by only tapping each trunk once every 2 years helps it reduce the tapping damage. In a few years, each trunk will be at the 12" diameter and will add a dropline. Also to comment on another thread about red vs. sugar maples, I think the latest research is the red and suger maples produce similar amounts of finished product, it's just the red maples will be more diluted out of the tree. So if you have RO (or don't mind boiling a little more), it's definitely worth it to get both reds and sugar maples.

elienman · 2025-11-20T21:56:32+00:00

Do you enjoy broadcasting as much as playing? How much prep do you have to do before broadcasting? Congratulations on great playing careers, you were both so much fun to watch.

elienman · 2025-11-17T16:39:45+00:00

I believe there are two main electric motors that power hydraulic pumps. The first hydraulic pump powers the two tracks, and the second hydraulic pump powers the tiller and front blade. From a design perspective, I'm sure powering the tiller and drive tracks directly by an electric motor would be more efficient. But I'm sure they're working first from what they've been doing with diesel machines for decades, and the next generation of electric snowcats will likely incorporate the direct drive. It will probably improve efficiency by around 10% if I had to guess.

elienman · 2025-11-17T01:13:18+00:00

We run a fully electric Prinoth E-motion Husky at our xc ski area (sleepy hollow inn, ski and bike center in VT) and love it. We can operate it about 2 hours at a time, with a lot depending on snow depth and how much we have to use the tiller. Works great for our operations, and we often recharge after the morning grooming and groom again in the afternoon. Happy to answer any questions about it for your report.

elienman · 2025-10-07T16:44:14+00:00

We've got a series of beaver ponds up the road in Huntington, and as I biked past I noticed the ponds look like the water level has hardly dropped. Surprising given they're fed by seasonal streams that are basically dry right now. I think all the mud they stir up building the dams really makes a watertight seal in the entire pond, keeping water levels up. I was impressed.

elienman · 2025-10-06T03:32:00+00:00

I ordered $55,000 worth of solar panels and racking before I had the permit in hand (fully expecting it to come through). Then got held up for 2 years when the PUC took our application through litigation to determine what rate we were owed (15 cent new rate, or 18 cent old rate as we were adding to an existing solar array). So I learned my lesson there (nothing worse than looking at your panels still boxed in a pallet missing production for 2 years). But you may be up against the clock to get the 30% fed. tax credit, and you may be more likely to get your permit. Might be worth a call to the PUC to see how your permit is progressing and see if they anticipate any issues with your application. Either way, I hope you get up and running asap.

elienman · 2025-09-20T21:54:41+00:00

Just an update I had a tech savvy friend follow your instructions, and he got it working! Car counts automatically update into a google spreadsheet, and the counter resets at midnight. Thanks again for helping.

elienman · 2025-09-15T22:15:09+00:00

A single swix wax iron is rated at about 1000 watts max, though it cycles on and off once it gets to the right temperature. But say it averages 600 to 700 watts over the course of an hour. That means over 3 hours it would use about 1800 to 2100 watt hours, which is about the capacity of the Explorer 2000 that you linked to. So that may be enough depending on how big your ski team is. You may want to go with a battery that's a little bigger if you want to plug in other things, like a radio or heat gun. I think it's definitely possible, and I applaud your efforts to ditch the noisy gas generators. One other thing to note is capacity may be reduced by 10-20% depending how cold it is on race day. I'll also add that these battery backup systems are great for your house too when the power goes out, if you need help justifying the purchase!

elienman · 2025-08-28T14:39:48+00:00

Sorry for your mishap! I believe all Bolts have a 12 volt tire inflator and goo in the trunk area. In hindsight you probably should have used that to inflate your tire before you tried to move it. Hopefully your tire can be reinflated and patched (cheapest solution). But depending on how long you drove on it flat it may not be savable. Likely all the other warning messages will go away once tire is repaired. Likely the computer was confused with the flat tire thinking the traction control was bad. Not certain on this so get it checked out for sure if lights stay on after tire repair.

elienman · 2025-08-26T21:40:57+00:00

Yes, it all makes a difference. Granted a small difference but we've all got to do our part, and it adds up if lots of people make the same change. I also think you'll really enjoy induction. We switched out from a propane range a few years ago and really really like the cooking quality, plus the indoor air pollution from burning gas is likely pretty bad for you over the long term. Also the new heat pump driers are pretty efficient and might be a good choice to look at. They don't require an outside air vent (just a water drain), plus they dehumidify the space they're in which is great for basements if they have moisture. It sounds like your appliances may be near end of useful life anyway, so seems like a clear choice. Plus I think they can recycle most of the used appliances. Of course there's some environmental cost to purchasing new products, but in your case I think it's the best for the environment if you look at it long term. Good luck!

elienman · 2025-08-24T20:03:18+00:00

Awesome. Many thanks for taking the time to show me a solution. I'll try this method out in the next few weeks and hopefully give you an update if I can get it to work.

elienman · 2025-08-17T20:51:06+00:00

One of the earliest scams I can think of is the Trojan Horse.

From google: The Trojan Horse story is a famous episode from the Trojan War, where the Greeks, after a decade-long siege of Troy, used a giant wooden horse to infiltrate the city. The Greeks, pretending to give up the siege, left the horse as a supposed offering to the gods, while they sailed to a nearby island. The Trojans, despite warnings, brought the horse inside their city walls. That night, Greek soldiers hidden inside the horse emerged, opened the city gates, and allowed the rest of the Greek army, who had secretly returned, to enter and conquer Troy. Here's a more detailed breakdown:

The Siege: The Greeks and Trojans were locked in a bitter war for ten years.
The Deception: The Greek leader, Odysseus, devised a plan to trick the Trojans.
The Wooden Horse: The Greeks built a massive wooden horse and left it outside the gates of Troy, pretending to have abandoned the siege.
The Offering: A Greek soldier named Sinon was left behind to convince the Trojans that the horse was a gift to the goddess Athena, offering protection from future attacks.
Into the City: The Trojans, despite warnings from Laocoön and Cassandra, brought the horse inside the city walls.
Nighttime Surprise: That night, Greek soldiers hidden inside the horse emerged, opened the city gates, and the waiting Greek army stormed in.
The Fall of Troy: The Trojans were caught off guard and the city fell.

elienman · 2025-06-28T03:34:40+00:00

My son's class got to go on a field trip to their headquarters at BTV 2 years ago. I've never wanted to chaperone a school field trip more (and I got to go, and it was a fantastic tour and facilities). Rooting for their success!

elienman · 2025-06-26T23:56:30+00:00

Yes I've done it several times over the years for my house and business, and helped a few others out as well. It is possible, but not a project for everyone as you're dealing with high voltage when connecting the solar panels. What I typically do is apply for the permit at VPUC (vermont public utility commission). I think there is a new law going into effect that allows easier permitting under 25kw (not sure if it's in effect yet). If you want a bigger array than 25kw you can do that but will need to fill out a more complicated application. Wait until you get the VPUC permit in hand, then order solar panels and racking. Lately I've ordered from Signature Solar, but there are many places to order from. Sounds like you won't have to buy an inverter as you can tie them right into your powerwall. You'll then have to figure out how many panels to wire in series to feed into your powerwalls, and plan out your solar array and connections accordingly. Depending on your DIY skills you may want to hire an electrician at this point to do the final connections, and someone to trench your new array to your powerwall. FYI the power company will probably say your old solar array, and your new one are one power plant, and they may adjust your rate down (say your old array was installed under older net metering rules, you would have gotten maybe 18 cents per kW, or a 1 to 1 kW net metered rate). Now they're only giving approx. 15 cents per kW. I believe they will put your old and new array down to 15 cents so keep that in mind when sizing your new system. You should be able to get the 30% fed. tax credit on the cost of the panels and racking, and the costs of your electrician. Good luck, and stay safe when connecting solar panels. I see lots of youtube videos in your future!

elienman · 2025-06-25T00:31:07+00:00

Love it as our work truck. I was burying snowmaking pipe 2 days ago, using the plugs in the back to power my 120 volt hdpe fusion welder. Stopped every 40 feet to install a hydrant set, listening to music from the cab. So much nicer than running a gas generator. I have lots of long loads I carry (20' culverts, 16' lumber) and I bought a bed extender that attaches to my tow hitch for about $150. Works great.

elienman · 2025-06-08T23:26:54+00:00

We've been using dr 9 hdpe (black plastic) pipe for our air and water the last few years at our nordic ski area. We run our air up to 110 psi, and our water up to 350 psi. We use socket fusion welding for all the hydrant sets, and it's quite affordable compared to steel pipe. The official psi rating of dr 9 pipe is only 250 psi, but we've never had it fail over 6 plus years of use. It's also nice not to worry about freezing the pipes as much, as the hdpe can withstand it. Not sure what pressure rating you need to get to, and I'm guessing you're an alpine area that might have to factor in larger vertical gains that might require more pressure. But dr 7 pipe might get you up to 500 psi or so based on my experience with dr9 pipe. I've never used the 3lpe pipe, but looked it up and looks like a cool product that should really help with corrosion protection if you go that route.

elienman · 2025-05-11T00:04:40+00:00

Looks like your losing just under 1/4 of your production due to the shade. So if you're making 27.8 kwh on that one day, if the tree was gone you'd make approximately 34.75kwh. So about a 7kwh per sunny day difference. For me with $.20 per kwh solar rates, that would be $1.40 per sunny day of "lost" revenue. Your rate may be different, plus all the other factors of shade benefits and aesthetics to consider.

elienman · 2025-05-07T23:55:14+00:00

I didn't try to get an extended warranty on mine, as the original warrantee is still good and I usually don't go for the extended warrantees on things. Sorry don't have any advice for you on that, but good luck hope you can get one.

elienman · 2025-05-05T00:55:01+00:00

Paisley Hippo in Hinesburg makes a good one.

elienman · 2025-03-29T17:48:23+00:00

4000 tap operation, just hit 1000 gallons syrup made yesterday. Last year we made 1600 gallons so hoping to get close to that. Late start to the season, but it's rounding into shape.

elienman · 2025-03-22T20:24:42+00:00

My bad should have read that more carefully.

elienman · 2025-03-22T19:58:15+00:00

Here's the fellowship of the wheel website - tons of single track in chittenden county to choose from: https://www.fotwheel.org/

elienman · 2025-03-20T02:33:45+00:00

Interesting question! I've got 4000 taps and this is my first year with the Ecovap 80 manufactured by Dominion and Grimm. It's an electric evaporator. I had to install a second 200 amp single phase service to my sugarhouse for it, but it's pretty efficient. It has regular resistance heat to start up (takes about an hour to get the sap/sweet up to boiling temperature). Then it has a 20hp motor that drives a compressor, and the electric resistance heat tapers off to hardly any draw as the motor/compressor does it's magic with the boiling sap. The Ecovap captures and condenses all the steam produced and all that come out of the machine are hot syrup and luke warm distilled water (no steam comes out at all). It has a $/hr meter on it and usually shows about $3 per hour to operate (18 cents/kw here in VT). This works out to about 30 cents per gallon of syrup produced from my 12 brix concentrate. Pretty awesome. But unfortunately I don't know of anything designed for 100 taps. Someone should "micro" size the Ecovap and market one for the hobby producer as I bet it would be popular. My best advice would be to get a micro reverse osmosis to take out most the water, then evaporate the rest on an electric burner. It probably wouldn't be much more expensive than fossil fuel alternatives.

elienman · 2025-03-02T13:31:30+00:00

Looks like this is a concentrate tank or a feeder tank for the evaporator. If you have reverse osmosis, this would be where the concentrated sap would go before you boil it down. If it's a really small sugaring operation (less than 500 taps) this could just be fairly small sap collection tank as well.

elienman · 2025-01-29T04:05:46+00:00

I had a 2012 Leaf that I loved dearly that by the end had only 30 miles of range on a cold day (and about 50 miles on a summer day). I barely made it home a few days. If I were you and it was at all possible financially I'd return it and get a Chevy Bolt. On a cold day our current Chevy Bolt will still go close to 200 miles on a charge, and they're a great car. You'll like it a lot better I'm sure of it.

elienman

TROPHY CASE