New England B.S. Thread

Cam @Darth_Yota does but he's in Martha's Vineyard so that might be a little bit of a hike for you.

 

A guy in Pittsfield MA did some welding for me on the boat I got from @LivinLoud . I don't know if that's too far out of the way, and I honestly don't know if he's the best in the business. But I'll give ya a name if you want!

 

Morning all. This rain is going to f*ck my maple syrup supply for the year

 

I didn't know you did maple syrup! Do you collect and sell it to be processed or do you cook it yourself?

 

My parents up in Farmington have a roughly 1200 tap operation, with a wood-fired evaporator. They do around 80 gallons in a good year and sell it. Started in 1990, so I grew up doing it.
I've got 8 buckets hung on the maple trees on the lower lot, and I generally produce around 3 quarts in a big pot on the woodstove

Edit: Usually medium dark amber to borderline grade B, which is fine with me because it's got more flavor.

 

Cant hurt!

 

I've heard good things about those Grabber A/TXs. I have AT2s on the F-150 and love them.

 

I’ll pm his info soon.

 

yes, they’ve been great. They are a little noisy, but super smooth. They did well in the snow too

 

I actually prefer the grade B but it's hard to find! Usually go through about a gallon and a quart a year, I like to cook with it. Every time I make bacon I candy it with real maple syrup. Bacon wrapped scallops and maple crusted salmon mmmmmmmmmmm holy shit I just made myself real hungry.

 

@johnnym @m603holden Finally pulled the trigger on a kayak! Just placed my order with Contoocook for a new FeelFree Moken 12.5. Deal fell through on that Lure I found on FB but I'm getting the new Moken for less money for a brand new rig...won't complain.

 

So it stops raining around noon, so my happy ass goes outside to do my rear brakes. Sunny and nice for 30 minutes before the wind picked up and it dropped down to freezing.

I need a garage.

 

I can’t at the moment. After I get a shop maybe

 

That's cool. I didn't even know about the different grades. How do you know what grade you are buying? Is it marked on the package? What's the most common/desirable?

 

Got my report back from the servicing dealer, disappointed in the dealer I bought it from because he told me timing belt and water pump were done, dealer says there is no sticker or proof it was. That's also the biggest cost to do. Valve cover seepage and new exhaust are the other two big ticket items plus a couple belts. Brakes, suspension, frame etc... are all good, the bad driving is just the shitty tires on it. So will be replacing those as well.

Gonna end up being a little more than I wanted to have to do to this truck, but should have it rocking solid for a long time after I put the money in now. Hoping to have it all back by Saturday. And yes I know that if I did these things myself I could save a few hundred dollars, but its gross out and I don't have a garage or any experience working on these engines. I want to get it solid from the start and then I can slowly learn and enjoy the truck without worrying about it breaking down on me, easiest way to do this imo is just let the dealer get it in shape now then keep on it myself in the future.

 

Might have missed it, did you trade in / sell your 2018? Or keeping that one for now also?

 

Yeah, it used to be 'Grade A Light, Medium, & Dark' ambers, and then 'Grade B' as you got darker. They just redid the grading system a few years ago so now it's 'Grade A Golden Color', Grade A Amber' etc. Grade A Light is considered the most desirable, What you buy in the store varies (at least in Maine), but it has to have the color listed on the bottle somewhere.

I'm not sure why they redid it; they still taste the same, same sugar content, and same colors. Just different names



Edit- To intercept the next question, the grades are determined by the sugar content of the sap. Early season sap is usually higher in sugar and it tapers as the season goes on. The lower the sugar content, the longer you have to boil it to get to the right concentration, and the darker it gets (although a nice light batch can darken if you let it sit for a few days, during a cold snap where it's not running, for instance). But, the darker it gets, the more 'maple' flavor you get.

 

I sold it. I had no issues with it but I get antsy after 2-3 years with a car and instead of taking a big loss over and over I’ve decided to find older cars that I can keep a few years but will hold their value when I go to sell them. I figured where better than to start but a 1st gen.

I sold my 3rd gen for a little under 30k. Paid 36+ taxes and had 40k miles.

we have a 16’ 4Runner with 59k on it as the “family car”, so that would be the road trip vehicle.

 

I very much prefer the darker syrups, I love that maple flavor. The light ones just don’t do it for me. I have’t seen grade B around in a while either.