dearchristopher 35 Posted March 9, 2020 (edited) This is a thread on another forum i’m on, and it’s always good for conversation. I ripped out some bushes with the winch on mine today, I sincerely don’t know how i’d do this stuff without it. my little craftsman mower would never be able to do this. what did you do with yours today? Edited March 9, 2020 by dearchristopher formatting 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
01RUBY500 1,253 Posted March 9, 2020 Good idea, it is always a fun subject to watch. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bcsman 1,345 Posted March 9, 2020 Took my 450 for a ride around the neighborhood. Was feeling springlike and a good day to take her out.... 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Scotticus 777 Posted March 9, 2020 Took my Rancher for a ride along my favorite trout stream on a warm sunny day 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dearchristopher 35 Posted March 9, 2020 23 minutes ago, Scotticus said: Took my Rancher for a ride along my favorite trout stream on a warm sunny day good looking bike! i’m a little partial....lol 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PROV 1,389 Posted March 9, 2020 I looked at mine once. Still have at least 18" of snow here. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toodeep 1,737 Posted March 9, 2020 I drove the sxs about 10 miles one way to check a road and see if it was open enough to get to my place to cut wood. Its not yet but was a good drive. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,236 Posted March 9, 2020 I got my buddy's 06 Foreman engine pulled Saturday (first gear out, multiple oil leaks). Got the rebuilt 2011 engine put in yesterday. Fired right up, but didn't pull. I KNEW that I triple checked to see if the clutch plates were bound up before I put that engine back together, but it would barely pull, then stop pulling as the engine was revved. Popped the front cover off this morning and the clutch plates were tight, but the clutch adjustment screw was turned out too far for the alignment peg to hold it still, so that was my problem. Got it right and reinstalled, ran it up and down the street. Runs and pulls great. He's not going to know how to act with 1st gear. LOL Was out working on that front cover at 5AM with a headlamp on. Supposed to start raining here early afternoon and continue for the next 10 days, so wanted to get it wrapped up before the rain hits. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PROV 1,389 Posted March 9, 2020 The snow settled some yesterday with beautiful weather but I got sicker than a dog all night. Maybe I'll go look at my machine again.😁 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bighanded 1,220 Posted March 9, 2020 beautiful 60s temps this weekend..but the honda never came out of the garage...will be the next several evenings.. I have a small island in my pond and the geese have arrived to start nesting..so before they get into it, I did a lot of brush cutting, limb trimming and several 3-5inch sapplings down...decided there are 3 significant trees that I'll take the chain saw to...and they'll fall into the water, so I've got a long tow rope that I'll wrap around the tree trunks so I can drag em out with the honda and take them to my burn pile. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bighanded 1,220 Posted March 9, 2020 here's what it usually looks like when my lil blue pony is helping me...I agree Christopher...the quad is such a huge help 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dearchristopher 35 Posted March 9, 2020 10 minutes ago, Bighanded said: here's what it usually looks like when my lil blue pony is helping me...I agree Christopher...the quad is such a huge help lookin good! added bonus of making chores a tad more fun. lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PROV 1,389 Posted March 9, 2020 Here's my Ruby ready for brush cutting at the hunting shack. Those new Kolpin tool holders work great. Last winter we got a load of power poles to make a bridge up there. I could chain up two 36 footers and haul them two miles through 8" of snow at 18mph. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dearchristopher 35 Posted March 10, 2020 18 hours ago, PROV said: Here's my Ruby ready for brush cutting at the hunting shack. Those new Kolpin tool holders work great. Last winter we got a load of power poles to make a bridge up there. I could chain up two 36 footers and haul them two miles through 8" of snow at 18mph. that’s impressive. I doubt mine will ever see work that hard Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sublime68charger 172 Posted March 10, 2020 I took the 02 Foreman out in the rain on a maple syrup gathering trip. have also used the 03 foreman for gathering trips, the 2000 recon as well though it didn't work so well in the deep snow and pulling the trailer and 2 kids had to get off and push it threw Have had 9 trees tapped for 8 days now and avg 3-4 gallons collected a day. did maple syrup making last sunday had fire going from 7:30am to 3:30pm to boil it down to make the syrup. my 8 year old daughter wanted to make maple syrup so we are trying it out this year. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,236 Posted March 10, 2020 We Southerners are gonna need pics of that Sublime. 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PROV 1,389 Posted March 10, 2020 My buddy started syruping about 4 years ago and I help him from time to time. Last year we got 21 gallons of finished syrup. We had to dump over 200 gallons of sap on the ground because we couldn't keep up. He bought a bigger stove made for this so we can keep up. 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeepwm69 7,236 Posted March 10, 2020 So what exactly is the process? Get the sap, then what? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PROV 1,389 Posted March 10, 2020 Without getting into great detail, when collected from the tree we filter it immediately into containers for transport. Then you boil it to a certain temp above where you could turn it into sugar but stay several degrees above that. Then we finish boil the syrup on a gas fryer(like a fish cooker). When it's at exactly the right point we pour it through a filter into sterilized bottles. Then you cap them. They can be stored unrefrigerated until you open bottle, then you should keep it refrigerated. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shadetree 5,554 Posted March 10, 2020 53 minutes ago, PROV said: Without getting into great detail, when collected from the tree we filter it immediately into containers for transport. Then you boil it to a certain temp above where you could turn it into sugar but stay several degrees above that. Then we finish boil the syrup on a gas fryer(like a fish cooker). When it's at exactly the right point we pour it through a filter into sterilized bottles. Then you cap them. They can be stored unrefrigerated until you open bottle, then you should keep it refrigerated. why does this sound like a moonshine operation ?..lol. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bighanded 1,220 Posted March 10, 2020 1 hour ago, PROV said: My buddy started syruping about 4 years ago and I help him from time to time. Last year we got 21 gallons of finished syrup. We had to dump over 200 gallons of sap on the ground because we couldn't keep up. He bought a bigger stove made for this so we can keep up. that is soooo cool.. I'm envious that you guys have those trees and knowledge to make this happen.. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sublime68charger 172 Posted March 10, 2020 1st time doing sap so I'm learning as I go. this is my sap boiling setup, took me about 3 hours to make give or take. got the plans of the net roughly, put fan in front to blow air onto fire and it seemed to work okay. just take time is all. its a boil down 40-1 ratio, from what I have read, This is the first year of doing Maple syrup, first pan get warm and 2nd pan boils it down. keep at it till you get down to the last gallon or 1/2 gallon in my case, we had 18 gallons to start with. on the fire at 7:30am pulled off at 3:30pm had a 2nd smaller barrel stove that we ran as well I can cook 4 gallons at a time 2nd stove can only due 2 1/2 gallons at a time but 2nd stove worked great for when we go down to the last 2 gallons finished it up on that stove. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sublime68charger 172 Posted March 10, 2020 keep fire stoked with small pine branches that burn fast and hot and then add in some bigger wood chunks to keep it going 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sublime68charger 172 Posted March 10, 2020 this is my brother-in-law and the stove that he made in about 1 hour, wasn't super fast but didn't cost much and it worked great for the final finish down of the the sap, he just used stuff he had on hand. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sublime68charger 172 Posted March 10, 2020 ill get sap gathering pics tonight when I make my gathering trip, we only have 9 trees tapped and only are getting about 3-4 gallons a day, 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
