Mid-Wis Maple, Day 03

We spent much of the day fiddling with the pump we're going to use to transfer sap from collecting bins to the main storage tank, starting with a run into town to score some new fittings and hoses. That required visits to two hardware retailers and a commercial jobber for exactly the sizes / flexibility we wanted. This is the one we used last time—temperamental 2-cycle engine that needed babying to keep running.


When I was here last summer, we picked up a Honda-powered 4-cycle pump from a "shopper" ad, reassured by a demonstration by the previous owner that it did indeed pump lots of water. He didn't exactly lie, but...


The first thing was to remove the old piping, ultimately requiring a torch and a couple of pipe wrenches. Of course, that buggered up the threads on the aluminum outlet, fixed by some judicious filing. Ultimately, the piping was ... perfect!


But it took constant tweaking of the choke and throttle to keep running, not something you want to do hovering over a tub of sap in the cold.


Off with the carburetor, some disassembly and cleaning...


...and back on with a homemade gasket, which improved things, but not enough.
Amazon has replacements for around $20, if you don't mind Chinese. Monday...

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