When are we tappin in???

[PATheron]

Thought it would be interesting to here when everybody plans on tapping. Sure different areas have different ideas. What have we got for estimated dates. Im calling Feb 1st this year here. Theron

[ejmaple]

i 've been shooting for around the 18th of feb. hopefully i can finnish up connecting my woods together to run my new vac. got about 1550' of main to run and extend my existing lines that were gravity. it's been a tough year to get much maple done. one man show.:(

2006 tapped 2 march (first year)
2007 tapped 22 feb
2008 tapped 24 feb
2009 tapped 19 feb
2010 tapped 16 feb

[Randy Brutkoski]

First week of feb.

[PARKER MAPLE]

Apprx 50- 60 days from now, weather premitting... snowing like crazy now, after we lost it all yesterday. So the old mother nature hasnt made up here mind yet about winter I gess.

[whalems]

some where around the 15th of feb. we shall see:)

[BoarsNest]

I measured the length of the hair on my son-in-laws buck then I counted the deer tracks leading into the corn on Saturday. Once I had that number I weighed the mice in the cabin before they ate the peanut butter in the traps. I took all this information and decided that my tapping date will be when I look on Maple trader and nobody is posting because they are all out tapping.;)

[Paddymountain]

The son-in law shot a nice buck on Saturday, but I didn't know I had to check the hair length on it!!!! So, I plan on tapping no later than Valentines
Day.

[Thad Blaisdell]

Last year it took 7 working days (had help for 3 days) to do 4900 this year I have to tap around 7800 so should take 11 working days. I will make the final decision when I know if I will have help or not. No help= first week of Feb. With help 2nd week of Feb.

[3rdgen.maple]

Valentines day is go time. Get ready mapleholics its almost here.

[maple connection]

Hoping for the last week in Feb. as long as good old mother nature is on our side.:lol:

[danno]

From the posts, looks like some early tapping this year. For me, somewhere between Feb 15 - March 1 when the weather looks right. My taps always seem to dry up quick, so I'm counting on those check valves this year. Due to snow, we rarely have much frost in the ground here - so on that first sunny, 34 degree day, she's running.

Got some woods work to do!

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

I'm with danno, watch the extended forecast from mid February on and go from there. Still lots to get done here but there always is. Theron, I'll try to bring my drill down for a day the first week of Feb. to get her warmed up:)

[maplwrks]

First week of February here--Everything will be ready by then

[ctjim]

since i'm alot further south and only about 30min from the ocean than most everyone who posted, i may try and tap a small portion of my bush in late jan depending on weather. if weather doesn't work out than it will be early feb like usual. last yr was a total bust for us only made about 5gal. of syrup.

[Maplewalnut]

I will be ready by third week in Jan and start looking at weather then. It was such a terrible year in Pa last year I actually made 30% of my syrup in a warm spell in January last year. before it froze solid again the first three weeks of Feb. Need some smaller runs to practice on new RO before the big sap arrives!

[bobsklarz]

Sometime after Feb. 23rd, weather permitting. :)

[Dave Y]

Tubing Feb 1, Buckets Presidents Day

[Thiems sugarshack]

Since this year i am going to have some taps on pipe line and have the check valves i think i am going to tap those 1st or 2nd weeken in feb then the buckets will go up around feb vacation Shooting for 200 mabey 250

[jrthe3]

as soon as i can find the bottom 4 feet of my trees or even my mainline would be nice

[PATheron]

Doug- That would be great if you want to bring your drill down. We'll have it all warmed up for you. Dave- How many buckets this year. Theron

[jason grossman]

all in by jan 10th, maybe earlier

[Randy Brutkoski]

Jason Grossman is going to be tapped in before Thee(every tree is getting tapped in Pensylvania)roon. I find this hard to believe.I think Therons tap date just changed from Feb. 1st to sometime in Jan. I will put $ on it.

[Sugarmaker]

February 12th or thereabouts should be about right.
Doesn't take us long with only a few taps.
Chris

[cpmaple]

Hoping for the second week of Feb. going with 350 taps this year on a new 2x6. Can't wait for the fun to begin. :)

[PATheron]

Jason is the early bird this year! If I was ready Id tap in then too but im just not. Ive still got to put a few new taps in, I have to install a pump and releaser at my buddys and help him finish up some lines and finish in my shed so no January for me this year. I have to stick with the Feb 1st. Theron

[FunnyFarm]

I'll put 20 buckets in 1st January thaw and 250 on tubing in February

[HAHA I 1]

We will start looking at the weather around January 15. Last year we could have tapped on the 18th, but waited one extra week (and regretted it). In this part of the country, you never know when it will hit. But we are ALWAYS tapping by the first of February.

[Jim Brown]

Well we got another short main line run to another section of our main bush,only about 500ft. Should be able to pick up another 100 taps if all goes well. Put a cap on the end and will expand if the weather gives us a break. If not will only tap thoses we had ready from last year about 1300. We will tap on Valentines day weekend which should be around the 12th of Feb. unless the weather tells us something different .

Jim

[buck3m]

so March 10 will be in the ballpark for me.

[Dave Y]

Theron,
Probably over 3000. They are the cheapest and easiest taps to add, for now.

[Amber Gold]

3,000+ buckets and 2,600 on tubing...good luck. I see you've added a steam-away to your rig. Is there an RO in the near future?

I'm planning on being ready to go by Feb. 1st and tapping mid-February. I'm hoping to get 6 weeks out of all new tubing. I'm considering hiring someone to collect 3-400 buckets around town, if I do those will be in March 1st.

[Revi]

We'll probably tap in March, but last year it was February. It's usually the second week of March around here, but I like it when it shows up early.

[Maplewalnut]

Dave Y...3000 buckets?1?!? Hopefully you have a bucket brigade to help collect

[ennismaple]

Last year the sap started to run March 3 but we didn't get tapped until the following weekend and missed better than 10% of the year's sap in those couple of days. This year we'll plan to get some of our CV taps in on the Family Day long weekend (Feb 19-21) but it's still possible we won't get any sap until a month later. At least we won't have to worry about them "drying up" by tapping a bit earlier. The balance of our taps will go in either the 1st or 2nd weekend of March.

[Dave Y]

Amber Gold
Yes I have added a steam away it will give me a little breathing room. I figure I can do about 5000 gallon a day the way I am set up now. when I start getting 7000 gal a day i will get an RO.

Maplewalnut , yes I have a crew to collect sap.

[PATheron]

Dave- How many gallons per hour can you do totall now? Im going to laugh if you get a good season with that many buckets. Youll be busy but youll make a ton of money. Theron

[Dave Y]

Theron, I should be able to do 350 gph give or take 10gph. I Know most of you young bucks like to make your boiling time minimal but I do enjoy boiling. You can laugh if you want but I will have the last one on the way to the bank. By the way I am adding CV's to all my vacuum taps also!

[PATheron]

Dave- Im not laughing at how your making syrup at all. I think all that is fine. I was just remembering back to when I was a kid and Id hang 3 four gallon sap pails on a tree and come back and theyd be full when I got off the bus after school. Im going to bust a gut laughing if you go to empty all those pails one day and theyre full. Well know where to find you. Im actually jellous, Id run pails in a heart beat if I could free up the time. I love em. Im just pulling my hair out just keeping all my bull crap running.

[collinsmapleman2012]

this will be the last year of looking at the forecast and saying hmm.. its warming up time to tap:D
if all goes well(and it should) i will be putting in 2-300 taps next year. new evap. in the forecast too, as my current one is too small anyway:-| it will make a great warming/preheating pan. anyone got a cheap used 2x6?

[Dan W]

Dave Y, I was up your way last weekend and was going to stop in after eating at whatever Guiseppis is now, but Jack told me you were hunting with your brother. Took a walk in the woods where your tanks are-nice set up for sure. Would like to see your new addition sometime. Jack was telling me about the 3k buckets. I am putting out 250 and don't know how I am going to get to them every day. Sure would be nice to have some help around here. I'll be back up mid January getting bottles and such-maybe see you then. Have a great Christmas and see you soon!

[Dave Y]

Theron, I know you weren't laughing at me, you are laughing with me. I am still working on assembling a crew for this year, the kids that I had dumping buckets all seem to want to play ball in stead of playing in the snow and mud. But I will be good to go one way or another.

Dan, Stop by anytime and we can discuss how we are going to handle 3000 buckets. Maybe after you are done boiling your 250 you can come help Jack and I.:)

[Gary R]

Dave, I've been by a few times the past couple months. All has been quiet. Now I hear you took time off to go hunting? What 's up with that? If you have that extra pair of snowshoes, I may be willing to help tap:) I take it I won't be sterilizing your clear Lapierre taps.

[Dave Y]

Gary, The only reason things have been quite at the house is be cause I have been in the woods working. Either repairing all of the damage I had this year or making fire wood. As far as the hunting goes I did take a week and do some trapping and my was home serveral times to hunt, i went but my heart was not in it. I shot one peaseant and no deer, did care if i did or not. As far as tapping goes we will round up as many snow shoes as it takes to get the job done. You can do the spouts when i get them off. I just wont be in a hurry to put them back on as I am going to CV's this year. I can use the clear on buckets . Stop by when you are in the neighborhood.

[wanting to get into it]

Dave, whereabouts the ANF do you live? Close to Marienville or Kane? Just curious how deep the snow is there if any?

[red maples]

last year was early I think I started tapping feb 14th. and had my first boil at feb 17th. shooting for the 3rd week in feb. but it all depends on the weather forecast!!!! This year I wanna be tapped a few days early so I can make sure I work out any bugs, vac leaks etc.

[Dave Y]

wanting to get into it,
I am in down town Marienville. We have about 6 inches of snow on the ground. W had more a couple weeks ago but the rain took most of it off. The kane area has gotten ovr 40inches so far this season.

[3rdgen.maple]

If the snow doesnt stop and we dont get a warm up to melt some of the 89 inches of snowfall we have gotten since Dec 1 I will be starting to tap sometime in ummmm lets say august early september.

[Thad Blaisdell]

If the snow doesnt stop and we dont get a warm up to melt some of the 89 inches of snowfall we have gotten since Dec 1 I will be starting to tap sometime in ummmm lets say august early september.

Just think if you tap early....... you wont have to worry about looking for the old tap holes:lol: The only problem would be carrying around a ladder to take the spouts out.

[PATheron]

Have you guys really gotten 89"?

[sapman]

I think we are not too far from that number ourselves. But Danno has actually probably had more than us for a change!

[farmall h]

Theeeeeeeron, now?! :lol:

[3rdgen.maple]

Yes sir Theron 89 so far for the month. Now that is total snowfall throw in some rain and a couple days of low 30's and all the settling it is about 3 feet deep on the ground.

[PATheron]

I dont envey you guys with all that snow. I think you folks have a better place to make syrup than us down south but that snow is tough. We have basically just a dusting here. Does it usually indicate a good season for you if you have a lot of snow? This year our ground is going to be really froze. I think that may make our season longer. Not sure all the ins and outs of that stuff. Last year the ground was hard and we got good temps for a while but it wouldnt run till it thawed around the trees and then it just became warm. Theeeeeron:)

[3rdgen.maple]

I wish I could answer this better Patheron. Here at home the ground never freezes. We get snow before the temps can set in the ground. We had some big storms last year as well and alot of rain over the summer if that means anything. I personally think the snow hinders sap flow. When the snow is 4 feet deep it takes a long time for the trees to thaw and get sap flowing and about the time it does the sun drops. Normal years in the past we have seen about 4 real good tsunami sap runs and then just average runs throughout the season. Last year did not have a single big run just daily trickles. We aslo usually get a nice week or week and a half in mid January with perfect sap temps. Always wanted to tap then and see what happens. Last year we did not get that mid January thaw. Come January 1 I will be watching the temps and keeping the sugarbush roads plowed just incase.

[danno]

We are about 85" since Dec. 1 here, but it's lake effect, so it's settled to 2" or 3". Sure is purty! Got all the trails to the sugarbush busted open to the woods. Hung about 1000' feet of mainline this weekend - I'm afraid when the snow melts I'll realize I hung it a bit too high;)

Tons of moisure in the ground here - that can't be a bad thing.

[PATheron]

Danno- So with all that snow you only have a couple inches it settled into? Or is it a couple feet? Id say the moisture in any event has got to be good come season. 3rdGen- Ive always tapped early and got the January thaw like you said. This has been my experiance. You do make syrup. If you look at Proctors research you will make the most syrup tapping early by a small amount. There is a couple downsides though. Number one say it gets nice for a week. Perfect temps. Seems like it takes almost the week before itll start to run and you get one real good but kickin run. So all in all I havent made a lot of syrup in Janurary but some. Other thing all the pipes are always froze around the shed. Its harder to make syrup in the dead of winter. You will make real nice syrup usually too though. This year Im not going to try to get it but its mostly becouse Im just not quite ready though and need a month to prepare. If your ready you might do good doing it, this is the other thought if you get skunked later on at least you got the early stuff too. Theron

[Amber Gold]

Like Tuckermtn said in another thread, everything seems to be two weeks early this year. It continues with the January warm spell being early as well. I wonder when we'll be tapping this year...

[maple flats]

I'm just east of Syracuse, but WE only had about half the snow Danno got. Right now we have about 8-10" in the woods and it is going down fast. We were in the 40's and sunny yesterday, 43 right now, might hit 50?
I'm shooting for a mid Feb tap date. One year I tapped the end of Feb, the rest have been from March 1-10. Last year I missed 2 days of flow because of a big snow storm requiring about 10 days repair the the lines, with my full time job getting in the way. LY I taped Mar. 5-8.

[farmall h]

Maybe at some point we can get rid of that thing called a "full-time" job with benefits etc. and just do sugaring! Maybe when I'm 67 and social security has failed me.:rolleyes:

[Dennis H.]

One more month!!

Then it is go time!

[danno]

PA - that was 2-3' back a couple of weeks ago, not inches. Now we are down to about 1' after our Jan. thaw. Jan. forecast looks COLD!

[Farmboy]

I will probably be tapping during february vacation from school. Im pretty sure vacation is the 3rd week of February. If i get everything all set before then I will tap the first weekend of it or i will have to finish things up at the begining of it and tap at the end.

[shane hickey]

last year I started tapping valintines day, It was very early for michigan, I'll have to see this year. I always look at the weather forecast, I guess we'll see what happens, when it happens. shane

[Thad Blaisdell]

Too funny I started on Valentines day myself.... I hit it right on the money.

[shane hickey]

I'd rather be in the woods then the wife, I told her if she wanted to spend time together she knew where I would be. (shes very understanding)

[Thad Blaisdell]

The way you worded that last phrase....... I am not sure that I would feel the same. I love being in the woods but......

[Randy Brutkoski]

Lets just say that I will not make the same mistake this year on val. day. Last year I was in the woods setting up line. I guess she just didnt understand.

[Revi]

The school vacation is the last week in February this year. If the sap showed up that week it would be great. I am putting my order in, but I don't know if it will happen.

I would love to spend my vacation maple sugaring. It might be wishful thinking. We usually tap the first or second week of March.

[Thiems sugarshack]

Feburary school vacation hopfully dont know if its the 2nd or 3rd week but i cant wait to put a message up here saying JUST GOT DONE TAPPING! Very exited to be in my own sugar house this year!

[parkerfamilymaple]

We are going to start next week in upstate ny. We always tap from newest to oldest tubing. Takes me about five weeks to get everything tapped.

[Thiems sugarshack]

I guess with that many taps it would. It makes my operation look tiny

[waysidemaple]

Thiems- Everybody has to start somewhere right? I too will be shooting for 200 to 300 taps this year. i have 216 right now and could eaily add 75 buckets but will see.

[Slatebelt*Pa*Tapper]

Ill be watching (creeping) to see when all you other Pa-ers tap and go from your forecasts.
still working on getting ready.. :o

I think time has finally caught up to me.. :cry: dang it

[Dennis H.]

It looks like it may be later than the past 2 years. The cold spell down here just continues. I have been tapping around the 1st week in Feb and doing pretty good with that but with the weeks of below freezing that we have been getting it may take awhile to thaw out the ground.

So right now I a predicting soemtime in Feb!:D

[FunnyFarm]

They are calling for a near 40 degree day on Tuesday with temps hovering around freezing Tuesday night.. think i might throw a dozen er so buckets up did it last yr and made the clearest most buttery syrup I've ever tasted.

[HAHA I 1]

I put out 15 on Friday night and another 5 on yesterday morning. I checked last night and there is sap in every bucket. Not much, but its a start. We will probably tap another 60-80 today.

[Monster Maples]

I can't believe you guys are tapping already. The 15 day forecast here shows 1 day above freezing and single digits the end of this week in Ohio. A little too early for me here. Can't wait though, I am ready, just looking for some warmer days where I am at. It looks like I will have at least another 2 weeks to go here.

[Monster Maples]

with 40,000 I can see why you guys are starting though!!! That is a lot of holes to drill. Good luck Parker Family Maple!!!!!!

[Dennis H.]

I can't believe they are either and I am way south of them.

Our forecast down here shows just one day above freezing and then it goes right back below with a few days the highs will be in the low 20's with the temps dropping to single digits at night!!

So not time to tap yet. Still aiming for the biginning of Feb, will play it by ear when Feb gets here.

[Thad Blaisdell]

We are going to start next week in upstate ny. We always tap from newest to oldest tubing. Takes me about five weeks to get everything tapped.

How many people helping?

[FunnyFarm]

Last i checked accuweather had 4 days above freezing the 26th-29th. i'm small time and catching that early flow is worth it to me went from 80 taps last yr looking in the 200 plus range this yr. Got the 30 buckets in today i'll tap the 150 on tubing 1st week of February...

[parkerfamilymaple]

I think you are better off to be three weeks early than be one day late. If the buyers do not want the junk at the end of the season than we are going to try to make some early stuff. I know they want that, Bascom just raised his price ten cents before any syrup is maid.

[parkerfamilymaple]

I would like to hear Dr Perkins opinion on this subject.

[DrTimPerkins]

I think you are better off to be three weeks early than be one day late.

Strongly agree with Michael on this one. Sap in the tree isn't worth anything to the sugarmaker. Since a sugaring season is made up of only 5-10 decent sap runs, missing even one of them will definitely impact your overall yield.

Tim Wilmot (UVM Maple Extension Specialist) did a study where he tapped some trees in Jan, some in Feb and others in March for three different years. In general, there wasn't a lot of difference in yield, but in some years where you had early sap runs, you could make a good amount more syrup from those early sap runs.

Typically, tapping a little early isn't a problem. Tapping very early (January) may not be much of a problem either, especially if you're using a new adapter or CV every year.

[Dennis H.]

But would you be able to recover the cost of the vac running for no reason??

Or are you saying that you tap the trees and only run the vac when the temps are above freezing?

Yes I am running new CV's and this will be the second season on the tubing.

[Monster Maples]

But would you be able to recover the cost of the vac running for no reason??

Or are you saying that you tap the trees and only run the vac when the temps are above freezing?

Yes I am running new CV's and this will be the second season on the tubing.

This is my concern as well, I have never tapped this early. Would it be worth it to fire everything up for 2 days, then shut everything down, drain the pans, tanks, etc to wait another 2 to 3 weeks?
I totally understand when you have 40,000 taps out, you have to start early. But, when you have 500 on vac and you can get all your trees tapped in a day, would it be worth the time setting up everything? Especially this year, where we probably have more frost in the ground than we have had in the previous two to three years. The last 60 days or so we probably have only had two to three days of above freezing temps. Seems to me those two days above freezing in the forecast may only produce marginal runs at best.
I don't know, like I said I have never tapped this soon, and understand missing a run like most of us did last year, and the consequences of not tapping.

[DrTimPerkins]

To clear up some of the confusion....nobody is saying that producers who can watch the weather and get out there and tap quickly (a day or three) need to tap a month ahead of time.

If you can prepare and be all ready to tap, are able to watch the forecast, and see a good stretch of sugaring weather coming, and it is close enough to the normal season by that point, and you can tap within a couple of days....then wait until things look right.

If you have 10,000+ trees and it takes you a week or two to tap, you simply can't wait until the weather gets right. If you do, you get about half tapped in and the sap is coming in. At that point you're stuck....you either need to finish tapping and lose what's coming in (unless you have a lot of storage), or stop tapping and deal with the sap that is being collected. Either way you lose some production. So the alternative is to get started early and finish tapping relatively early. That way even if you do have an early season, you're either done or far enough along that you're not going to lose the sap yield. There is always the need to check your lines after it does start running to chase down leaks, so it's not like you're doing nothing at that time.

No...there is no need to run the vacuum until the weather warms up. You can tap in though, and even turn on your vacuum for a little while to see if there are any big leaks. However you needn't let it run for the 2-5 wks before the sap starts to run. But this way it'll be ready to turn it on when it does run.

[Dave Y]

If you can get out all of your taps in 2or3 days i would not worry about tapping early. Just watch the long range forecast and tap 3or4 days a head of the extended warm up.

[Dennis H.]

Thanks for clearing that up Doc.

That is what I do keep an eye on the weather, look into my crystal ball and then decide when is go time.

[HAHA I 1]

We completely tapped one whole area yesterday and have a total of 29 out (we only tap one per tree). We are thinking of tapping some down the driveway tonight - maybe 15-20 more. We only got 10-12 gallons of sap off of 20 taps on Saturday, and it stopped yesterday, but its 37F right now and will not drop below 35 tonight, with a high of almost 40 tomorrow. Should be a decent small run over the next 24hrs. Then we hit another cold spell for about a week. My guess is that by tomorrow evening we will have about 40 gallons of sap, which is plenty to fire up the evaporator (the 10 gallons we gathered over the weekend is in the freezer). Pancakes with fresh syrup Wednesday night!!

[ennismaple]

We're a long way off yet... it was -27 C (-17 F) this morning! Even for a born and raised Canuck that's ccccccccoooooollllllldddd.

[PATheron]

What Ive done up to this year is always tapped in in January. What I normally do is tap in while everything is froze up. Then If it looks like tomarrow itll be above freezing I turn the pump on. From that point on if there is any chance that tomarrow it could be above freezing I let the pump run. Thats always the way I decide, if it could be above freezing tomarrow it stays on. I normally make a small amount of syrup in January. Then a bit more in February and then most of it in March. Ive always worried about my holed drying up but generally Im the first one tapped and generally Im still making syrup after most everyone has quit. So it seems to work. Im not sure if they run as hard in March than if I tapped closer to season but Ive never waited so Im not sure. Last year I started tapping second week of January and finished tapping second week of Feb. Just takes me a long time becouse Im normally working alone and trying to do a good job so I usually only get around 500 holes a day in. This year Im tapping next month just becouse Im not ready but if I was I would be tapping right now just to get it done. I think the biggest thing is to make sure the pump is running if its thawed out other thing is I never shut it off when it just starts to freeze up, ill give it 12 hours. Then if its going to be froze up for a week or so then Ill shut it off. I figure electric is cheap compared to the syrup I can make off it. Theron

[parkerfamilymaple]

We like to tap when it is frozen, Then if we do get a warm day then we stop tapping and take atvantage of the above freezing temps. to look for vacuum leaks. When it freezes back up we will go back to tapping.

[HAHA I 1]

We ended up with about 40 gallons of sap off 29 taps today. We should have about 20 more gallons to gather tomorrow since the run will stop this evening.

[PATheron]

Wow, You guys in Indiana are cranking already. Thats kind of normal for you guys isnt it? ParkerFamily- I do the same thing you are saying, when I start tapping I tap till it warms up then I check for leaks like you say once the lines thaw and you can find them. Then it freezes up and I go back to tapping. Im hoping to have my lines done and the evaperator going and be tapping here in two or three weeks. I think if Im all in by third week of feb I wont miss anything much. Theron

[HAHA I 1]

Last year we tapped about a week from now, but missed a pretty big early run and regretted it, so we swore to be ready and hit early if we could. But, yes, this is kinda typical to have some shorter "warm" spells here. Its going to be too cold for the next week, but we will have gotten 60 gal off 29 taps. More importantly, we NOW HAVE SYRUP. We ran out a month ago.

[Dave Y]

I just looked at the long range forecast and we may be in for some sap weather here in NWPA the first full week of Feb. I guess its time to get off my butt and get ready to go.
Joe Bastardi's rest of the winter forecast also looks favorable for a average season.

[Quabbin Hill Farms]

Hey hope you guys in Indianna have good season we don't ususally get tapped out until late February in eastern Ontario