SUGARING Making the most with the Maple Guys
The Smell of Sweet Success
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When Chris Pfeil, owner of the Maple Guys LLC of Lyndeborough, N.H., and his wife, Kim, set out to make a significant change in their business, it was already a two-time recipient of the Carlisle Trophy, New Hampshire’s recognition for the best maple syrup in the state. So, what could possibly have sparked the need for a major change, considering such sweet success that evolved when Pfeil and his co-owner and neighbor, Chris Schoen, made syrup as a hobby with a “homemade rig?”
“It was the end of sugaring season,” Pfeil said, “and I was trying figure out how to be more efficient.” The Pfeils were looking for ways to increase the efficiency of their wood-fired evaporator. Did this mean ridding themselves of wood as a laborious fuel source, and investing in a gas or oil-fired evaporator, as many sugar makers had done before them?
Schoen, an environmental science minor, wanted to continue using wood for fuel, as his involvement was mainly helping Pfeil ready their wood supply over the summer, harvested from the 70-plus acres of timber they owned between them. The Pfeils wanted the same. They both strongly believed in the sugaring industry relying less on oil and gas, instead taking advantage of their own local, more sustainable fuel source. They were especially troubled by global warming and its possible negative effect on maple trees, and consequently the future of the sugaring industry.
“It is why we never switched over to an oil-fired evaporator,” Kim said. “Even though putting up wood is very labor-intensive, we felt the detrimental effects of an evaporator that burned fossil fuel were not worth the time savings.”
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Previously, Pfeil had actually worked on a pellet-gun evaporator with a manufacturer, but at that time it was determined not cost-effective. They knew what they wanted, but knew of no clean, energy efficient wood-fired evaporator on the market.
It was the closing of the Maple Guys’ former wood-fired evaporator manufacturer (with whom Pfeil was established as an equipment distributor) that brought their values together and provided an exciting opportunity for change.
When Lapierre USA, Inc. took over the old company’s location and dealers, everything fell into place. Pfeil first visited Lapierre’s Swanton, Vt., site, bringing with him two of his inventions to demonstrate: the Acc-u-cup (combines the tasks of taking a temperature and hydrometer reading) and his Hands-Free Bottling System.
Lapierre also demonstrated their new Force Five evaporator that featured an energy-efficient wood-fired system using high-efficiency gasification technology. “I watched them for two days. By the end of those two days, I was convinced it was the right direction for our business,” Pfeil said.
The Pfeils learned that in 2008, in Canada (the company’s home base), Lapierre had successfully worked on the evaporator using water. The next spring the evaporator was put into operation during the sugaring season. The results were impressive. Compared to traditional wood-burning evaporators that had to be fed wood every five minutes, the Force Five improved to a 45 to 60-minute-firebox load time; a decrease in wood consumption from 1 cord of wood per 1 gallon of syrup produced to the same 1 cord per 20 gallons of syrup. That calculated to a 40 percent decrease in wood consumption.
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Not only did the evaporator save wood, the gasification process burned all the wood gases. There was no soot or creosote build-up, and it eliminated any hazardous sparks often sent up chimneys from wood fires.
According to Pfeil, the company’s owner had a huge number of taps, and started shutting down his four oil-fired rigs to begin using his prototype, a 16-by-16-foot wood-fired evaporator. Since then, the owner has put two new Force Five’s into his sugarhouse, and begun selling off the oil-fired rigs.
Pfeil was so amazed by the benefits of this new evaporator, he ran the new technology past Schoen, of whom, Pfeil said, “If it improves production, he’s all for it.” Pfeil then bought Lapierre’s final version, the Hurricane Force 5, and immediately signed on as a distributor. As project director for the Maple Guys, Pfeil then applied for a USDA Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG). According to the USDA, the CIG program promotes innovative conservation approaches and technologies and supports environmental enhancement. It also “enables the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) … to accelerate technology transfer and adoption of promising technologies and approaches, to address some of the nation’s most pressing natural resource concerns.”
The Maple Guys’ proposal goal was “to have the first clean burning gasification evaporator in New Hampshire, and promote its use with other sugar makers in the state.”
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“The grant proposal was submitted in May 2009, and we received most of the funds that November,” Kim said, noting the balance was to be paid as reimbursement for any future receipts incurred.
With funds in hand, the transition to the new evaporator began. Pfeil oversaw the new 3.5-by-15-foot construction site, and the evaporator’s delivery and set-up. A licensed electrician completed the required wiring. Pfeil then put his 21 years of instrumentation and plumbing experience to work, first setting up instruments designed to monitor the evaporator’s performance, then plumbing in new sap lines.
Boiling seminars were scheduled for producers. Last December’s first boiling demonstration was crucial. It was time to convince other sugar makers this new evaporator was everything it was claimed to be. Before 25 attendees’ scrutinizing eyes, which included four representatives from the NRCS, Pfeil fired up the evaporator, while Rejean Laverdiere, Lapierre’s Force Five engineer and designer, presented it to the audience.
“The evaporator performed beautifully,” Kim said.
“Adding wood every 45 minutes as opposed to every five … the longest we went was an hour and 15, without a reload,” Pfeil boasted. A marked difference from his old evaporator, he said, that belched black smoke and sparks from the chimney. “Going outside and looking at the smoke stack, you couldn’t see anything, which was incredible. It was a true tell about how good it is for the environment.”
“Most of those skeptical before they arrived about whether this was possible quickly changed their opinions,” Kim said. Pfeil added, “The USDA representatives were blown away. Impressed by the demonstration, they eagerly shared grant resources and related materials available through them, with the newly enthusiastic sugarers. It was an amazing success.”
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Of the few skeptics that remained, one voiced concern about noise level, to which Pfeil explained, “The initial fire-up involves running more air into the evaporator. Once up and burning, it brings that down, making the noise level not a problem.”
Another attendee raised a concern about the boiling rate. Pfeil answered, “It’s hard to get a true boiling rate unless you’re taking off syrup from the evaporator.” Pfeil said it will be more accurate when he begins actual production with the Force Five this spring. “Once we run sap through, performance-wise, we will pass that data back to the manufacturer. Based on what I’m using … wood type, mix and dryness, I will collect that data to use for sales to potential customers.”
Overall, the Pfeils remain positive and strongly committed to convincing the industry it is possible to have both efficiency and earth-friendly technology. “Chris enjoys spending his time testing his ideas and feels there is a lot of room in the industry for improvements,” Kim said. She also credits her husband as the first to launch an online bulletin board for maple producers, www.mapletrader.com. Future 2010 boiling seminars are scheduled for March 20, April 17 and hopefully a fall session. See www.mapleguys.com.
Pfeil’s proposal and first demo statement sum up the future direction set by the Maples Guys. “The technology is very important to us and the industry, and is long overdue. Now maple syrup producers can use less wood and emit less emissions into the atmosphere.” Of his demo, he said, “It was clean burning and wood usage—the focus of both the manufacturer and myself. As sugar makers, we rely on the weather, and it comes back like a round circle.”
The author is a freelance contributor based in New Hampsire. Comment or question? Visit www.farmingforumsite.com and join in the discussions.