February journal

[maplwrks]

I'll start it!! I'm starting to get a little concerned with the amount of snow we have....Currently, we have 2' on the ground, with another 18" forecast. Anyone that knows me, knows that I wasn't built too far off the ground! With the possibility of up to 3" of snow on the ground and with 28" legs, you know I'm going to have some running gear draggin'!!!

[Brian]

I think this will slow the progress in the woods a little, I think I hear my snow shoes calling!!

[Dave Y]

What concerns me the most isthe 3/4" of ice they are predicting!:(

[nymapleguy607]

I am so glad I got bulk tank moved into place this past weekend. We have about 12" on the ground and they predicted we could get up to 18" of new snow from this storm. Looks like another year of tapping trees on snowshoes.

[3rdgen.maple]

It is normal for us around here to have alot of snow in the woods when we start. We get through it, you guys will too. I also think it helps keep the season going a little longer as well. People around me seem to be done while Im still going strong when they have alot less snow than me.

[ennismaple]

In recent memory, our worst years have been the ones with the most snow. Years when I could have tapped in running shoes have been our best. It's counter-intuitive and may vary from bush to bush but I'd rather not tap in shoeshoes if I don't have to!

[tuckermtn]

this is shaping up to be a lot like our 2008 season. Summer before was dry, fall was wet, winter snow was deep. Much like this year.

We made .32 per tap that season (with only 1/3 of our taps on vac)

This year we should have 2/3 of our taps on vac. So hope to do better than that...

if so, need to buy some more barrels

[802maple]

Hopefully it doesn't end up like 2001 and nearly 7 feet of snow in the woods. Well Mike with the running gear dragging you won't be going to fast.

[red maples]

Yeah I think I am right in the jackpot zone 20-25 inches (with a posibility of 30" in some places) after everything is said and done on Thursday! They are saying its gonna be all snow here no change over to ice and if it does it will be brief. We already have 2+ ft of snow pack. I am gonna be bending over to tap trees!!! I think I might have to dig out some mainline there is only about a foot togo in some places!!!

[Brokermike]

I'm going to need a ladder to pull taps in the spring

[maple flats]

this is shaping up to be a lot like our 2008 season. Summer before was dry, fall was wet, winter snow was deep. Much like this year.

We made .32 per tap that season (with only 1/3 of our taps on vac)

This year we should have 2/3 of our taps on vac. So hope to do better than that...

if so, need to buy some more barrels

08 was my best year ever, I made .38 gpt (gal per tap) with no vacuum. This year I have vacuum on about 550 and 200 more taps than 08 total and I would like to get another 08 (gpt and prices wholesale (for what little I do wholesale).

[Dill]

I'm going to need a ladder to pull taps in the spring

Thats an important thing to remember. The first year, I was warned about tapping too high by a couple of old timers. I didn't listen and tapped at a comfortable waist height. Well those buckets just kept getting taller all spring. And I dumped more than a couple on my head.

[flyfishbob]

5 Hours from the storm of the year.... 2 foot + there calling for sure... Good thing my brother and I got the sugar house all ready last weekend.

[maple flats]

I just got my motor mount installed on my vacuum pump. My machinist does good work. Now I just need to get a 1.5" pulley for the 3/4" motor shaft and a B size belt the right length. Net I need to get a 6 gal gas tank and make a stand for it. The pump will be a job getting it into place but not impossible. Still need to add a few more taps at that bush and build sap ladders. Then I need to plumb the wet/dry to the Zero tank. I'm thinking of putting a roof over the pump to keep direct rain and snow off, but will leave sides open to ventilate. I hope to be ready to test the system the week end after next, then tap as soon as weather calls for it after that.

[shane hickey]

I havent been on in a while, I just finished my last woods for the year that had 1600 taps, I guess I'll just be waiting for the weather to break for Michigan and ae'll be ready to start tapping. I going to fire the drills up this afternoon other then that waiting for the season start. so good luck to everyone, And thanks thad for the help on the ro it works and is ready to start seperating sap. shane

[Dennis H.]

Just waiting for the ice to come. They are say about 1/4-1/2" of ice over night, oh yeah!!

The weather is staring to look better for me down here. This weekend may be the start of my season. The temps look really good.

I will have to wait and see.

[Thad Blaisdell]

I worked in the woods alllllllll day. I got all of my manifolds in and all the rest of the pigtail attached to the saddles.... Very little left to do. I will start tapping on Monday. My father will help me every day and my nephew (16) is going to co-op out of school on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So with three of us going full tilt we should be done in a week. That just leaves a ton of plumbing in the sugarhouse, and get power connected at the pump shack, and finish building my out building for my tank on the other side, and then there is the..... and the..... and the..... It will never end.

[BoarsNest]

5 Hours from the storm of the year.... 2 foot + there calling for sure... Good thing my brother and I got the sugar house all ready last weekend.

flyfishbob - You're lucky your sugarshack is close to the house and road. Mine is 1/2 mile off a main road. Good thing I have a snowblower on the Kubota otherwise carrying 5 gal. buckets from the road would be a killer.

[Revi]

We don't have a huge amount of snow on the ground, maybe a foot and a half, but with the foot and a half we're supposed to get we'll be digging our mainlines out for sure.

We may not be needing the ladder to tap this year. The good part is it didn't thaw in January, so we haven't missed any sap so far this season. When it does warm up it will be the maple season.

[3rdgen.maple]

It completely amazes me how long it takes to setup a bush on vac. Been plugging away at a 200 tap section on tubing for a couple weeks. Not constant but some good hard days on it. Almost done and snow cleared out for the tank and releaser. I will be right down to the wire Im thinking coming tapping time to finish everything from the tubing to cleaning tanks and evap. plowing and just plain getting ready. After working so much on a small scale vac setup It gives a new meaning of appreciation to the guys with thousands. Right now Im liking my buckets a whole lot better, well atleast right now. Worried about wood supply as it seems some has come up missing, so going to take a trip to the local sawmill and see what I come up with or haul out some more dead standing pine. Neighbors telling me they want 200 taps on there place so got to get that all in order as well should be at 800 total for the season. Next year I want 1000 will just need to upgrade evaporator either with new or some good enhancements. Yeah this year isnt here and IM talking the next season already. Got to love this mess we all got into. Good note I kept pretty quiet about this but I completed my milk tank releaser and test ran it different times for about 4 hours each and not a single problem to report. Total cost was about 100 bucks as I had most everything I needed. Some day I will post some pics and explain the details. But it is all mechanical and dumps about 3 gallons at a time so Im pleased very pleased actually.

[CaseysSugarHouse]

schools closed today. 10-20 inches of snow expected. looks like no woods for me today. time to get releasers ready:)

[danno]

Schools closed here as well - those 2" really did us in;)

Forecasters totally blew the forecast down here. A day ago I heard forecasts for 20"+ and we received just about nothing.

Glad I spent 6 hours shoveling roofs yesterday - I guess that wasn't necessary.

[CaseysSugarHouse]

its coming down heavy here.

[mapleack]

41 degrees here. I'm missing out on a good run I suspect.

[waysidemaple]

No school here as well. All ice. Some how another bout of snow missed us.

[802maple]

I think the weather men and women missed it here to, we have about 4inches and the radar appears to be showing it breaking up, but I guess it could change.

[Maplewalnut]

Wow, we dodged a bullet here last night. Weatherpeple were calling for up to an inch of ice with heavy freezing rain all night. Temps never got much above 21 or 22F. Woke up this morning to another 4 inches of snow and sleet but very little ice buildup as everything that fell was still of the frozen variety. No tree damage to speak of! Another 8 inches of snow from this one and another storm Saturday probably will make about three feet in the woods.

[nymapleguy607]

So much for record snow fall. Looks like this storm has fizzled out around this area

[cpmaple]

In crown point ny we have gotten 10 to 11 inches so far and still coming down fine and fast. Kids have been riding the sugaring trails all morning trying to keep them open. Hope it lets up soon. Gonna have to dig out around trees in order to tap or they will be to high for the kids to gather when its time. cpmaple

[Dill]

Charlotte (my 3yr daughter) and I worked in the sugarhouse and the woodshed all morning. She's as amped up as I am for surgaring this year. I bet we got a ft in last 2 days. I plow a trail out back for the first time, without plowing its thigh deep with plowing the sides are belly button high. And I'm over 6ft. I could just toss Charlotte in a drift and not be able to see her head.

[Farmboy]

We only got 4" down here today. Thats a good thing any more and i would be digging out my lines. we got about 6" yesterday too. Its never going to stop. more is forcasted for saturday and tuesday. Putting up tubing in my neibors will be fun. Luckly ther is only 40 or so taps in there. I did manage to bend the last peice of ss for the evaporator and ordered the ss bolt so I can put it back together.

[twobears1224]

i didn,t have to be a school bus driver today so i,am making some maple cream.i have two gallons of syrup boiled down and now it,s cooling.

delbert

[Dennis H.]

Got about 1/2" of ice down here today. Haven't been able to got out to the woods yet to see what kind of damage if any there is.
The 2 corkscrew willows that we have in the front yard have quite a few broken branchs and limbs.
The wife told me that thru out the day there was ice falling along with what sounded like branches fall all day. Hope there wasn't to much damage out there.

[Sugarmaker]

Plan to hang tubing this weekend. Snow, ice, whatever, got to start some where! Supposed to be mild, in the low 30's
Some old, not as productive, taps will be dropped and some new trees will be put into the mix.
SM

[Paddymountain]

Put out 1 bucket today!!!! Got about an inch of sap. the season is drawing nearer

[HAHA I 1]

We have already gathered about 500 gallons of sap off 91 taps. We are tapping another 12 this weekend to hit over 100 taps. We have gotten about 10 gallons of syrup. We have another run coming this weekend and then a short break for about 5 days.

[flyfishbob]

Looks like no sap for the next 10 days for West Michigan....:cry: Great ten more day to get last min things done.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Everything is ready to go down here, just waiting for tapping weather. Next week looks too cold, so will probably shoot for first stage of tapping which is around 40% of taps next weekend and about 20% in another south bush within 7 to 10 days after that and remaining 40% on the north side bush around March 1st.

[Dill]

Headed to the Farm and Forest expo for the rest of the day. I'll be at the CO-OP insurance booth, but I will also be making regular trips to the maple booth for those maple jet shakes.

[tuckermtn]

Dill- you be at Farm and Forest tomorrow? I'll be there at the NHTOA booth in the morning.

[Dill]

Nope today only 1-7. I probably won't be able to talk tomorrow after that shift.

[dano2840]

well was done classes for the day at 10 but cant go home, gotta stay here tonight so i can catch a ride up to glen goodriches boiling school for the maple production class im taking here. nothing to do here in the mean time today, what an awesome day to work in the woods and im stuck here thinking about what i could be doing right now, that and boiling school tomorrow so saturdays shot all thats left is sunday too much to do! moving the tank to the back of the sugar house on sunday, maybe i'll go crazy and move it saturday night, cant seem to locate the lights though i took them out of the sugar house for some thing else this summer and they seem to have dissapeared, hm, mean while on the hunt for a real cheap truck the chevys not gunna last much longer.

[dano2840]

forgot to add how they said we were gunna get 8-14 inches of snow and ended up with about 26! it was hard trying to do my last minute logging as it was before this storm! going to have to pull out all my tractor manuvering skills and tricks now, hopefully i dont burry it theres alot of snow in the woods, snow shoes are manditory now to work on pipeline! at least its not like last year where there was 6 inches of snow on the ground at this time and by the time tapping came it was almost all gone i gues ide rather have a ton of it than none!

[maple flats]

forgot to add how they said we were gunna get 8-14 inches of snow and ended up with about 26! it was hard trying to do my last minute logging as it was before this storm! going to have to pull out all my tractor manuvering skills and tricks now, hopefully i dont burry it theres alot of snow in the woods, snow shoes are manditory now to work on pipeline! at least its not like last year where there was 6 inches of snow on the ground at this time and by the time tapping came it was almost all gone i gues ide rather have a ton of it than none!

We were on the right side, they forcast 18" and we got 8, our other 10" must have gone to you. I didn't want it anyways.
Today I finished mounting the engine on my vacuum pump, and put the belt on. Next I've got to find some help to get the pump to the bush, and about 40' thru deep snow and 6' down into a cellar, all without dumping it or anyone getting hurt. At the bush I have about 30" +/- on the ground to make it fun.

[Tweegs]

Just about ready to rock and roll here.
The arch is all set up, bricked in, pans set, float box set…
Need to plumb the nurse tank to the float box and finish setting the stack, one minor repair to do on a main out in the woods and we are good to go.

12 to 14 inches on the ground out there with a few deeper drifts, may need to plow some of the trails.

Soon, me friends, soon.

[Dennis H.]

Oh crap Man did I have senior moment or what! I posted my last one in the Jan posting!!

Not sure why or how that happen.

Oh well.

[waysidemaple]

Dennis- I follwed your trend haha....oops!:lol:

[stoweski]

Fixed my tank leak today. New bulkhead fitting did the job. I also replaced the metal fittings on the line with plastic as I hate to see rust. No leaks found so far but I didn't fill the tank more than 5 gallon.

Picking up 35 more buckets tomorrow. That'll bring me to 125 taps. Should be plenty for my second year.

Suppose I should go out and play in the woods. 2' of snow to pack down and make a few trails. Nothing like walking in the woods while it's freezing rain outside! Sure wish it was snowing though. This ice is the pits.

100% ready to go. Bring it on!!!

[maple flats]

I quit early because we are having real heavy snow. Visability is poor. I don't like parking my truch on the shoulder when visability is this bad, I don't have time to look for another truck, and I can't get off the road very far, ditch is too deep. I did finish setting up my vacuum pump, still need to set it at the bush, need help for that. I mounted the pump on a pallet and after placing it I will add a roof to keep direct rain and most snow off.

[peacemaker]

what a fun day 3 hrs on snow shoes in waist deep snow up and down and up and down the sugar bush ....picking the tubing up out of the snow and setting them shoulder height again ....then about the last hour was in sleet then cotton ball size snow flakes the rain the sleet snow ...

[Paddymountain]

Worked all day today, got everything but the evaporater washed. Hooked up the blowers on the evaporater, plumbed the line from the headtank to the evaporater, washed about 60 buckets last night. The weather is starting to look good for next weekend (Feb 12/12)

[BoarsNest]

I finally had a good reason to use my new snowblower (see video on my flickr). It mounts on the front of the Kubota and cuts through 14" of snow and deeper drifts without an issue. I might have to get some chains for the tractor but it worked great today. I'm feeling really good about getting back to the sugar shack. Maybe next weekend I can fire up the arch for a test boil.

[Yellzee]

Made the hour trip down the highway to Squirrel Creek farms.. near Peterborough.. and spent my fortune on fittings, mainline, etc today.. nice drive down with the 8 year old after hockey... now officially have spent at least triple what I will make on any syrup sales so I must be about ready!

Any ontario folk in this area should make the trip up there, they are great folks and happy to hand out advice to those who need it. Not too far up 28 off the 401.

[TroutBrookSH]

Several things going on here today. Still plenty to do.

Picked up all my fittings, ball valves, etc. to plumb the new releaser. Getting ready to start assembling tonight.

The wife is working on getting the new website published. Should be up before the "big game" tomorrow.

Spent several hours in the bush today. Got the 300 gal tank washed and ready for the releaser. Ran 400' of black plastic to the tank for the dry line. Dry line came in handy running hot water down to the tank!

Installed 150+ new drop lines.

Got the new syrup kitchen/RO room all wired and insulated. Putting in the OSB walls. Milkhouse heater is working great. Nice and comfy, and should be perfect for keeping the RO warm in a couple weeks.

Greg

[MilesTeg]

Well it was one of those days and I need to vent some!

On the good note we got power down to our pump station! So here comes the bad part yay we have power lets fire up the vacuum pump for the first time (Alamo 30). So at first we couldn't get it to pull vacuum then after 5 mins of running it starts pulling out of the blue and jumps to 25". So I rushed around to adjust our regulator which doesn't work come to find out even with it fully open it didn't let in enough air. So we open up our belly releaser still trying to adjust the regulator but with no luck so we close the lines and shut down the pump. So when we go back down to try something elder we turn on the pump and it was siezed. I guess it spun back words so its time to buy and plumb in a check valve and have the dealer come and fix it and bring a proffesional regulator.

So after this craziness I decide to switch the pump on the belly releaser and make sure it turns. Well it turns but it sound like its dieing. I hope it just needs liquid on the head to lubricate it.

After all of this it started to blizzard out so I couldn't bring myself to tap in today like I had planned. So frustrated I hope we can get this all figured out before the warm up. Lol well thanks for listening and if you guys have any ideas or hints it would be greatly appreciated.

[BradWilson]

So it looks like we here in Northern VT are gonna get an early warm up starting 2/13. This is only our 2nd year tapping and we've got a lot of snow in the woods. Should we tap before this warm up? Think it'll run with all the cold and snow we still have?

[Parker]

Deep snow here..got the sugarhouse roof shoveled off..only thing that really slides off that roof is me!!! 2+ feet were on there and we got some rain last night so I was getting pretty concerned...Just looked at the accuweather forcast....looks like sugaring is going to come quicker than I would have thought...Incredably long list of things to do to get ready...havent been in the woods for some time, but, were were all up to snuff on woods work about a month ago....got to get my c.v's and plumb-wire the R.O......and just moved onto a new logging job.....snow is up to my belt..have to shovel out every tree....wonder where my snow shoes are???

[PARKER MAPLE]

So it looks like we here in Northern VT are gonna get an early warm up starting 2/13. This is only our 2nd year tapping and we've got a lot of snow in the woods. Should we tap before this warm up? Think it'll run with all the cold and snow we still have?

I have been waiting and waiting but I just cant wait any longer, I to am going the tap next weekend. weather is looking good but then cold for a few days.

[cpmaple]

Looking at the long range forecast from accuweather i will tap this coming weekend at my lower bush and the following weekend at my mountain bushes cant wait to start boiling with 600 taps out. yessssssss the season is getting closer i cant wait. cpmaple

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Deep snow here..got the sugarhouse roof shoveled off..only thing that really slides off that roof is me!!! 2+ feet were on there and we got some rain last night so I was getting pretty concerned...Just looked at the accuweather forcast....looks like sugaring is going to come quicker than I would have thought...Incredably long list of things to do to get ready...havent been in the woods for some time, but, were were all up to snuff on woods work about a month ago....got to get my c.v's and plumb-wire the R.O......and just moved onto a new logging job.....snow is up to my belt..have to shovel out every tree....wonder where my snow shoes are???

Parker,

I if tapped and made syrup based on accuweather, I don't think I would ever get very far at least down here. They have some of the dumbest forecasts I have ever seen and are so overly optomistic it makes them look stupid.

[cpmaple]

Parker,

I if tapped and made syrup based on accuweather, I don't think I would ever get very far at least down here. They have some of the dumbest forecasts I have ever seen and are so overly optomistic it makes them look stupid.

They have been pretty accurate the past few days as far as temp here in my location of ny. So i think i will go ahead and start tapping next weekend for sure and do the most of my tapping the following weekend like i posted before

[Smith's Maple]

We had alot of snow in jan. but the last two storms was mainly rain here. Only about 12 inch's or so on the ground now. That is alot better than the 50 plus inches we slugged through last year to tape.

[whalems]

Finnally got the roof on the temporary shack yesterday. need to sheet the walls and move the arch in and insulate and brick and run tubbing and set tanks and..... We tap in june Right:o:lol::(

[3rdgen.maple]

The only accurate weather accuweather is able to get right is the day before forecast. Had a big storm yesterday and not even the local channel said anything about it. Last night high temps for today was 23 degrees. I woke up this morning and it was already 30 and its 34 right now. They have absolutely no clue how to predict weather. It is in fact a waste of time to even watch the weather report. I get a good laugh when they all say todays high is ( whatever ) and its already above that temp. Idiots all of them. Im going go to cut wood.

[farmall h]

Wicked lightening and thunder. Lasted an hour or so. Got 8 inches of snow in the process. Came back from Leader in Swanton at 4:30 (total white-out!) had to drive 30-40mph the whole way back on Interstate 89 and rt.2. Got home with the Double releaser though...gonna mount the releaser in the sugarhouse today over a "cut in half" 35 gallon drum then plumb the existing 2" pvc to the side bung of the drum and redirect the sap to four holding tanks.

[Dennis H.]

I am now officially ready to tap.
I placed my tank and milk releaser for the lower trees and fired up the vac to look for any leaks. Found a stubby that was chewed completely off by a tree rat and a stubby that was hanging no longer on the T fitting plug.

The biggest leak I found was a 3/4" barb fitting that came undone. I had to put a new piece of 3/4" black pipe back in the ends were now more that 8" apart!!

Once they were fixed I had vac running right at 23"

Got the 55 gal drum ready that I will be using to collecting sap from the buckets, it fits real nice in the bed of my Kubota RTV.

[Dennis H.]

Farmall H, let us know how tha new fancy releaser works for you, got any pics??

[Fishgill]

Did a test boil today. All went great !! :D

[BryanEx]

Did a test boil today.
So basically you are saying... you made some soup outdoors? :lol:

Just teasing. These guys that are already bottling are driving me crazy because I still have weeks to go before I even start looking to tap.

[Fishgill]

I hear ya. I had to stop myself after boiling 30 gallons of water.:lol:
I can't wait for the season to start.

[Sugarmaker]

Put up tubing on three huge maples today. I tapped these 10 years ago and they ran real well on buckets.
Have some other lines to put up this week to have every thing ready to tap.
I know every one is getting busy.
Chris

[Gary R]

I went to look at some tanks today for myself and a couple other syrup makers. The cage tanks had iodine in them. Not sure I want to use them. I found out from the guy that my fellow syrup maker from across town was there yesterday. He bought a few of the tanks and some other nice poly tanks. The guy selling the tanks was an old syrup maker. He has a few SS bulk tanks. I'm buying the 400 gal. tank.

[TroutBrookSH]

Installed more drop lines and saddles today. Put in my first sap ladder; sap's got to climb about 6'. Getting closer. One more weekend and maybe we'll be ready.

My wife published the website: www.troutbrooksugarhouse.com . Now time to go watch the game!

Greg

[Randy Brutkoski]

Started tapping today. Took all afternoon to get 258 taps in. There is so much snow. Just below my waist, not fun at all. I couldnt believe how good the sap was running. There is absolutly no frost in the ground. Pretty much mud underneath the snow. We will see what tomorow brings us.

[maple flats]

I got my vacuum pump in place today. Now I need to plumb it in and get ready to tap. Right now I think I have about 520 -530 taps on that bush. I'll get a good cound when I tap. I keep track of the CV's and get my final tap count from that.

[Farmboy]

Getting closer. Sap was probably running today but Im not ready yet and it's supposed to get cold for another few weeks. This weekend I didn't get much done because I had to shovel off the house and animal barn roofs. I love having metal on the sugar shack roof. I didn't even touch it and all the snow slid off even the north side. I did manage to work on the evaporator a little bit. I riveted the sides together and marked the stainless so my dad can cut it tonight. I also took off the last two sheets of roofing on the north side of the sugar shack and cut the pine boards off between two rafters for the bigger stack for the new evaporator.

[Dill]

Well Amber Gold and I put some serious miles on the snowshoes this weekend.
Got his woods set for tapping on saturday and strung mainline for my expansion sunday. Nothing like the last moment. Should have 300 taps at least on less than 2 acres. They are odd smooth barked sugars. And I'll be tapping some on a ladder but it should be great. Next weekend is looking warm at this point but I don't believe the weather liars.

[Maplewalnut]

Got about 250 tapped yesterday. It is a bear tapping with all the snow and crust, a lot slower than I expected. Putting about half on CV's and half on Lapierre disposables this year. Broke a couple Cv's putting the staubby on, broke the fingers off one side so it must not have been seated properly. Want to get woods all tapped and then size up the weather for just the right time to start hanging buckets. Figure I'll be one switch away (power to the vacuum pump) from sap by the weekend if I do a little after work each day.

[dano2840]

well between the two storms we got this week, my sugar roads dissapeared, tried to plow them out with the jd, problem was that even with the blade all the way up i was still pushing 4" and the tractor was hardly moving because the axle was pushing snow, she just couldnt do it, going to have to go get the big 100horse 4x4 fergie and plow em out i gues and do the rest of my logging with that while ive got it for the day, didnt get my tank moved over the weekend, went to glen goodriches maple school on saturday, got home and no more than 10 min after i got home the boss man called and asked me to plow with his other truck, we plowed all night until 10 sunday morning went plowed my drive way attepted to plow the sugar roads, shoveled a roof went back to school and did home work till 11 was up 41 hours straight, got nothing sugaring related done this weekend! oh well i got all next weeks vacation to take care of it, and get tapped! im thinking its about nap time right now

[Farmboy]

Finished cutting all the stainless for my evaporaotor. Tommorow I'm going to rivet it together and drill the holes for the bolts. I'm waiting on 20 stainless nuts that are coming this week. This weekend I plan to bring my pans to my dads friends house to get a few holes welded and thermometer ports welded on my front pan. Then I need to brick my evaporator, put the stack up, put a few peices of roofing back up, put my head tank up, get bottles, finish puttig up tubing, and then I can tap and make syrup.

[3rdgen.maple]

WOW Farmboy you do know its febuary and its days before go time.

[Parker]

He is in pretty good shape compared to some of us :)

[peacemaker]

made some nice head room in the new sugar house today found 1300 of storage tanks

the plan is to set the previous owners 2x5 flue pan on a 2x5 arch raw sap will come in to it the out of that into my 2x6 into the finisher then threw the filter press and into the caner

next is to make room for the 6 cord of wood that needs to be run from my old sh to the new one =clean the area out
then next week in the woods tap count looks like between 600 and 700

[Brokermike]

peace glad to hear you found a new home. I didn't realize there was another shack on chapel hill except the leaky bucket boys

[CaseysSugarHouse]

welt today was the day. im Offically a new business owner:)

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Been putting laterals and drops on a new line for the past several days. Bush is about a mile into the woods and because of snow, only access is with the horses. We are spending a couple hours a day just in travel. We thought about taking our lunch with us but the rest/warm up time would be sorely missed. Snow is about 30 inches deep and makes for slow going. Good news is I had hoped for about 600 on this line and it looks like it may reach 800. Bad news is that we have to slog through the snow for those additional taps. Been taking Ibuprofen to help these old legs. Six degrees here this AM. Hoping that tapping will not be necessary before the first of March and we have enough thaw first to make the going a bit easier. Half my laterals are under snow now as well as a significant portion of mainline. Depending on final count on this new line, I should have about 4200 on vacuum this year. Keep Sugarin:)!

[peacemaker]

well it use to be closer to the road but when the bi pass came they paid to move there house and sh ... so if u are coming down chapel its on the left just before u go under the bipass

[Monster Maples]

welt today was the day. im Offically a new business owner:)

Congratulations!!!!!! Watched the special they had on TV with you, I think I saw it on youtube. Very impressive!!! Keep up the good work, keep reaching for your goals.:)

[Rhino]

Today i shoveled out all the storage tanks so next weeks warmer weather will hit the bare metal and aid in getting the rest of the snow off of them. Put 25 taps on one lateral comeing down a big ridge also, I want to see how much natural vac i get on that line, I have people that doubt it, so we will see how much production comes out of that line. I will put a 50 gal. container at the end so it will be easy to gauge the flow day to day. All new line, drops and taps, about 200 feet of line i would guess. Will be like a mini Proctor test comeing down that hill. Going to bulldoze all the trails on Monday so i can benefit from the warmer weather on the trails also to help melt away some of the snow. Following weekend is wash weekend for us and assemble the evap. Time is flying by fast.

[maple flats]

I'll be assembling the connections to the bulk tank after clearing lots of snow from around my main tank. Then I plan to build my sap ladders and attach my saddles connecting my lats to the branch lines where I added. I still have a few more lats to run in one section. I also want to start plumbing in my vacuum pump to the Zero tank. Lots to do, will be busy old man. I bet I'll sleep good tomorrow night (well, come to think of it I always sleep good) It's almost go time, I can plan on burning the midnight oil soon.

[steam maker]

well we got the platform built for my permeate tank today, ran line from tank into sugarhouse. started the vaccum shed.busy day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! opened up the last 5 gal. keg of syrup. just as nice as when it went in, hate to bring it to bascoms tommorow but oh well trade it in for some parts.. probly shoulda called sugar joe instead of goin to bascoms. its gettin close to go time im gettin real nervous :o

[CaseysSugarHouse]

heading in the woods in the morning to get alot of stuff done putting in 16 valves,lifter line booster that has to be 20ft in the air Yippie get to do that tomorow get the lines all hooked up to the booster. and then into my lifter which i hope to get all plumbed in sunday. and get my lifter bush ready to tap. then off the the next sugarbush to cut trees off my mainlines. got a good 2 days of work on my 1000 tap bush and that should be ready to be tapped. I plan to tap my newest tubing first and oldest last. lots and lots of work to do and a short period of time. TIME TO KICK IT IN HIGH GEAR!!!!!!


NATE

[3rdgen.maple]

Tomarrow I will be shoveling out mainlines, sunday I will be shoveling out the laterals, monday I will be shoveling out the drops, Tuesday I will start shoveling out the bucket trees, wednesday ahhh never mind. Guess what I have in the forecast this weekend? Bet nobody can figure it out.

[Farmboy]

Got mt home made roof jack in place today. I need to cut the mettal roofing and put it back up tommorow. I finished retinning my evaporator friday. After I finish the roof jack the evaporator is going in the sugar shack. Then I need to brick it. I dont think the bricks are going to get cemented in this year because im going to take the evaporator out after the season to pour concrete. My dads buddy is coming over to look at my pans sunday so he can figure out what parts he needs then hes going to weld thermometer ports on it monday or tuesday. I worked on making one sap pump out of the 2 I have but there just not working and I dont have the time. Looks like Im going to go to tractor supply tomorrow and get a new pump and a tank for my neibors bush. Hopefully I will be ready to tap wednesday and boil by saturday.

[BoarsNest]

Fired up the arch with water yesterday and tried out the preheater tank. Seemed to work pretty good, but the steam hood idea didn't work out to well. The steam just rolled around the outside. Oh well, maybe some modification will help. We opened all the trails with the snowblower, but it is going to be a lot of work to get to the trees with all the snow on the ground. I am going to wait until next weekend and see what the weather looks like. The temps look warm for a few days, but not the freeze thaw that the book says is best.

[Dennis H.]

I am amazed with waht those darn tree rats will chew on! The other day when I tapped my trees that are on tubing I found alot of chew marks on the stubbies at the end of the drops. They were not all the way thru but they have to be close. It looks like I will have to start controlling the tree rat population soon!;)

[Fishgill]

Walked the woods today making paths so I can get the tubeing up tomorrow and Tuesday. The snow was waist deep in some spots 8-O .Cleaned out a bunch of buckets and the storage tank. It's go time!!:D

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I am amazed with waht those darn tree rats will chew on! The other day when I tapped my trees that are on tubing I found alot of chew marks on the stubbies at the end of the drops. They were not all the way thru but they have to be close. It looks like I will have to start controlling the tree rat population soon!;)

I only have Leader and Lapierre health spouts in the woods and amazing how many of them have been chewed on by the squirrels.

[danno]

150 taps in today - we've started. Got some mailine work to do tomorrow after finding a section down this afternoon.

Scary incident last night. While out riding snowmobiles with my buddies last night, about midnight, the guy who was leading took what looked to be 185-200lb. deer right in the chest at 65 mph. Amazingly, he walked away from it. His snowmobile did not fare so well. After he got up, he took out his buck, walked out to the deer who had sustained bad injuries and put her down. Very sureal night. Nothing good happens after midnight.

[Tweegs]

Glad your bud is OK there Danno, that had to suck.



All trees on tubing are tapped, only about 20 taps left to put out on buckets.

Sap started running good about 4 this afternoon, had a high of 46 today. Tonight is only supposed to flirt with freezing, mid to upper 30’s tomorrow. Expecting a good run.

Everything is ready to go, cleaned out, set up, repaired, checked out and ready to rock…

Bring on the sap!!

[waysidemaple]

Evaporator is clean, 200 of my planned 300 taps in, tanks set and cleaned. Little bit fof sap ran today but not much. Made it to 46 degres today. Hopfully we will have syrup by wednesday night if the forcast stays the way it is right now.

[Farmboy]

Got the home made roof Jack done today. I also dug out my milk tank. My dads buddy came over and looked at my evaporator pans and took the plug from my bulk tank so he could drill it out and weld a 1" female NPT fitting on it. Milk tank threads are a pain in the ***. On saturday he's welding thermometer ports on my pan. I got a stock tank for my neibors woods and ordered a pump from tractor supply company today. Tommorow I'm moving my arch into the sugar shack and I'll start to brick it. The seasons almost here.
Hopefully I'll tap this week and can boil by Sunday. Nothing like last minute.

[Dill]

This sucks its 50 degs sunny and the sap must be running like mad and I'm stuck inside not tapping.
I've been considering changing my name to Last minute maple, but I think you have me beat this year.

[3rdgen.maple]

It was warm here high of 41 again with rain up to 2pm. I was thankful to see that. Lost alot of snow today and over the weekend. Betting 2 feet melted. Did some changes on the milk can releaser and let her run all day. Works rather well and did not have a problem. She will be all plumbed in couple days sitting on the tank and vac pump connected. Then cobb up a roof over it all and then drill some holes, then give head tank a rinse and boil some water to get the dust out of the evaporator. Will be online by midweek, just in time for the next cold spell and snow storm. Man this maple stuff is alot of work.

[Thad Blaisdell]

I just sent 20 gallons of sap down the drain....... It is still drizzling in. I blew it I should have tested the sweetness. Dang it. Anyway, I have about 2700 more to tap and some more work on the conductor line and manifolds and I am ready. Its coming quick.

[Dennis H.]

One of the 1st great days for sap to run and the power company decides that they need to shut off the power for like 5 hrs to replace some kind of surge protector. Right in the best part of the day, 11am till 4pm. Man that sucks I am wondering what kind of sap I missed.

But the buckets are doing good though. They would do better if the darn wind would stop.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

I just sent 20 gallons of sap down the drain....... It is still drizzling in. I blew it I should have tested the sweetness. Dang it. Anyway, I have about 2700 more to tap and some more work on the conductor line and manifolds and I am ready. Its coming quick.

I know we need to check everything before we start Thad, but the drains???:lol:

[jrthe3]

have not tapped yet still way to much snow in the woods i got a little to finish up in the sugar house hook up the new preheater and hang the new steam hood over the front pan hope to test run the releaser tomorow wash everything up and be ready to go

[Rossell's Sugar Camp]

We have 6 inches in places where it hasnt melted yet. Everywhere else around my area has no snow at all. Got 200 gallons sunday from 150 taps. Hoping to start evaporating wednesday.

[jerseymaple]

Well got my 5 taps in on Sunday, 3 gallons collected so far. Going be a cold windy night but warm up nice the rest of the week. Going to tap 3 more trees on the weekend. This is only my second year of doing this but friends are already asking to come down the shore for the boiling. I think they just want to stand around an open fire, drink beer, eat some clams and goof off.







2010 2 trees 8oz
2011 goal is 8 trees and a half gallon.

[Farmboy]

Put up tubing in my niebors yard today. That added another 35 taps. If I get my tanks clean tommorow I will probably tap all my tubing if Daylight permits. When it gets dark I will set up some spotlights in the sugarshack and brick my evaporator. Made some more progress. This will be the second year in a row I've tapped before my evaporator is finished. Next year I'm going to try to be more prepared. My pump shipped today and it should be in this weekend.

[3rdgen.maple]

Put up tubing in my niebors yard today. That added another 35 taps. If I get my tanks clean tommorow I will probably tap all my tubing if Daylight permits. When it gets dark I will set up some spotlights in the sugarshack and brick my evaporator. Made some more progress. This will be the second year in a row I've tapped before my evaporator is finished. Next year I'm going to try to be more prepared. My pump shipped today and it should be in this weekend.

Quite buying new evaporators every year and you will be ahead next season.

[Farmboy]

I won't have another one for several more years unless I expand over 600 plus taps. And my sugar shack couldn't hold much more than a 8' evaporator but I could squeeze a 3X10' in there if I really needed to. The 2.5X8' should be pleanty for a few seasons.

[CaseysSugarHouse]

Tapping tomorow all day and equipment set up:)

[3rdgen.maple]

I won't have another one for several more years unless I expand over 600 plus taps. And my sugar shack couldn't hold much more than a 8' evaporator but I could squeeze a 3X10' in there if I really needed to. The 2.5X8' should be pleanty for a few seasons.

600 thats a 2x6 amount of taps.LOL Im at 800 with mine and theres no looking back now or rest for that matter.

[twobears1224]

i,am still at it but,it,s looking like i,ll just have to sell sap this year.i have so much to do i,am begining to doubt i,ll have my arch,ect all setup and be fully ready to boil.
i think i,ll just tap as many as i can and sell the sap to my dad.he has 1500 taps now and a 5x14 evap that boils really well so he can use the sap.he,s retired and needs something to keep him busy anyhow :D

delbert

[Gary R]

Boiled some sap last night. Looks like a great run over the next few days. I've sold 5 of my backyarder pans in the last 4 days.

[Farmboy]

I tapped today. I put in 90-100 in today. I still have 35 on tubing to put in and q few dozen buckets. I moved my evaporator moved into the sugar shack. Tommorrow I'm going to get the rest of my tanks out of the trailer box and finish tapping tubing. I need to brick my evaporator too. But I can't boil till saturday afternoon so I will probably tap before I brick the evaporator. Buckets can wait till sunday or Monday unless I have time before then.

[Dennis H.]

Well it was a good day down here in PA. Nice weather and the trees were running like crazy.

I had a really nice peaceful evening boiling on the new evap. It was nice to not have a blower running in the background.
With this evap I have so much free time between firings that I am already looking at ways to improve it!
I want to make a new door for it, basicaly an air tight door. Also I will have a hood and preheater next year.

[nymapleguy607]

I tapped about 120 before the sun went down, slow going with about 18" of snow on the ground sure am glad I had snow shoes. Trees were running slow I turned the vacuum pump on for a little bit to check it and make sure everything was running. The releaser dumped a couple of times but it wasn't running real hard. Today should be better I think the trees were still thawing.

[Dennis H.]

You guys better be ready the dam is about to burst!!!

[Farmboy]

Finished tapping the tubing today. Sap ran I got around 50 gallons from about 100 taps. I started bricking my evaporator too. I should finish that tommorow. My pans are getting welded saturday. I will probably test boil Saturday night and sweeten the pans Sunday if I have enough sap.

[Brokermike]

Sap is running hard i n southern VT all night. 20" of vac and it is pouring in. A little light on sugar, around 2%, maybe a tad under

[Yellzee]

Finally got my new mainline strung and mostly pulled tight. I dont' know how you big guys do this as the 750 feet I ran took forever and my hands are killing me from fighting with wireties.
off to cuba this week so hopefully it gets and stays cold here.... then on to lats and tapping first week of March.

I'm thinking I'll be up to aroudn 140 new taps roughly counting trees where I've strung this new mainline.. giving the tress from the past few years a year off.

[Dennis H.]

With the outside temps almost 70 and then firing the evap for about 4 hours it sure got hot in the sugarshack!

Today the trees are not running at all. Last night the temps only got back down to 38 and with winds as high as 40mph it just isn't happening today. Now tonight is a different story.

[maple flats]

I now know one way that is not advised when working mainline. I have tension on my lines and went to install a wet dry manifold where one of my branch lines tees into the main. I had my grandson (16 and a football player) helping me. I use a mainline tool to pull the tubing onto the fitting. Well, I clamped the 1" dry line with the tool and decided I wanted to tighten it even more. I did not properly have the tool preset and only had about 2" of tightening left. I cut out about 3" of tubing and went to pull the line onto the fitting. If you haven't done the math, I did not make it and ran out of travel. So I pulled full force in one direction while my grandson pulled in the other on the tubing and with the tool opened to it's max. I was going to release one clamp and pull the tubing the necessary 2 more inches and reclamp. Can anyone say stupid? When We both pulled as hard as we could I released the clamp and that is when all h#ll let loose. The tubing flew apart, my grandson lost his grip and lost his end and I managed to hold the tool. I had him grab a piece of 1/4" nylon rope we had and while I held the tool I instructed him how to attach rope to his end of the the pipe with a timber hitch and several pipe hitches. Then I had him run the rope back to the tool and pass it around the gusset brace to the clamp. Then he pulled as tight as he could and I was able to relax. When I did I realized I had cut a DEEP GASH IN ONE FINGER TIP and it was bleading rather steady. I got blood all over the surrounding snow so it looked like a war had gone on. We were about 200 yds from my truck and while I released some of the sideties on the tubing my grandson ran (in snowshoes) to get my first aid kit and a glove to cover my hand after applying a bandaid over the tip and another around the finger to hold the first one in place. By this time the bleading had stopped but I didn't want to yank it open again. Then we worked without thinking and without sucess. We released some more side ties but still could not get the tubing together. The next day, while my grandson was in school I did it fairly easy. I went to the nearest end and put on a come along, then I the tubing and anchor wire and the tubing was let loose about 3 '. Next I went to the scene from the night before, clamped the tubing as it should have been in the first place and then I pulled tight again with the comealong. I had to pull before assembling to make the manifold line up with the tee in the wet line. This time the assembly went well.
After I got to realize how stupid I had been. When I ran the dry line I strung it as tight as I could pull, then I hooked the winch to the anchor tree and pulled as hard as I dared. After it rested a couple days I tightened again. I repeated the 3 or 4 times and then attached the anchor wire around the anchor tree and crimped the wire from tree to the chinese finger type pull I use. After this I attached several side ties further tightening the tubing. Now my grandson and I were going to pull it by hand to choke up on the tubing, NOT!!! Warning, do not try this, I can vouch for it's stupidity.

[maple flats]

Now I need to finish my system before next Thursday. The forecast calls for below freezing temps until Thurs. I need to finish some plumbing on my vac tank to the pump, build and install a moisture trap with rackett ball inside to prevent sap flow to the pump, do a few sap ladders (3) and tap about 550 taps. I would be out there now but we are having blizzard conditions and windchills well below 0, with white outs most of the time. I do have off until 2/28, so I should get it done ok. I also need to do some work in the sugarhouse which I will do this PM and need to wash the tanks. When this weather breaks I'll be working long hours for sure. I likely missed 2 days of sap already and don't want to miss any more. This is so much earlier than my usual good sap flow days. In the past, without vac I never had more than a trickle before about March 5-10. I'm hoping vac this season will give me good flow at 36 degrees which they forecast on Thursday.

[3rdgen.maple]

Wow Flats rough day. I learned the hard way myself a few weeks ago and felt pretty stupid but hey its how we learn sometimes. I was cutting in a 6 star ladder to the upper mainline that is about 9 feet in the air. Its all tied in to the mainline wire and for some reason never crossed my mind to release the tension on the mainline. Cut through it and it sprung back about a foot and that was all she wrote. Could not get it stretched back as it was pinched in all the ties. Had to release it all and untie it and start all over. The dumb things we do lol. Like go to every weather website until we find one report that make us a little happier lol.

[ejmaple]

how true that is about the weather searches:lol: sorry to here about the main line, looks like you'll have some time to repair.

[danno]

Mapleflats - make sure you check your mainline connections. I was over tightening mainlines this past week and wound up pulling them off the fittings further down the line- and this was with two clamps on each side of each fitting. Pulled connections is a tough way to lose sap. I really prefer the grey poly pipe connectors over the blue maple mainline connectors. The blue have smaller barbs which causes them to be pulled off easier, but I have not found the Y connecter in grey.

[peacemaker]

what a day today was!!!!! found all the watson lines ...fell on the ice ....tailgate broke off the truck with me on it ....the freshly fixed snowmobile threw a chain in the crank case and left me in the woods had to drag it out with a 4 wheeler .....then coming home the tailgate fell off .... good news is my rib that was out of place is now back in place cause of the fall

[Dennis H.]

I know what my job will be 1st thing in the morning will be.

Bucket Chasing!!

The wind here has been none stop all day with gusts in the high 40's.

Peacemaker it sounds like you had a very interesting day to say the least.:rolleyes:

[maple flats]

Mapleflats - make sure you check your mainline connections. I was over tightening mainlines this past week and wound up pulling them off the fittings further down the line- and this was with two clamps on each side of each fitting. Pulled connections is a tough way to lose sap. I really prefer the grey poly pipe connectors over the blue maple mainline connectors. The blue have smaller barbs which causes them to be pulled off easier, but I have not found the Y connecter in grey.

Danno, in the past I pulled a few connections using conventional screw clamps but I have not YET had a clamp fail using the pinch clamps. I get them at lowes in the insert (barbed) fittings section and I use the proper tool and I use 2 clamps. Real fast, real secure (so far)

[sapman]

I know exactly what you're talking about, Dennis! This is my first year not doing buckets. I always dreaded the wind. Now I just worry about it taking limbs down and dropping on the lines.

[maple flats]

Limbs down are a hassel but if designed properly the fix is quick. Most tension should be from side ties pulling the line one side and then the other and these side ties should be a lighter guageI use 12.5 HT for main and mild 14g for side ties). Then the side tie fails when a limb falls and you remove the limb and do a new side tie. Fairly quick to fix.

[collinsmapleman2012]

boiling this weeks sap today, about 25 gallons. should make some good early syrup.

[collinsmapleman2012]

scratch that, i burned it. feel really stupid now, i went inside for 5 mins to check on something, and it was burned. doesnt taste too bad, might finish it off for the family, or chuck it it depends

[collinsmapleman2012]

scratch that, i burned it.:mad::cry::cry::emb: feel really stupid now, i went inside for 5 mins to check on something, and it was burned. doesnt taste too bad, might finish it off for the family, or chuck it it depends

[3rdgen.maple]

Collins if the syrup is only slightly burned let it all sit in a container and the burnt taste will dissipate. Dont ask me why or how but an old timer told me this once and I tried it unfortunetly a few years ago and it actually worked.

[Farmboy]

Finished bricling my evaporator today. My dads buddy welded my pans. I got my evaporator all put together today. Tommorrow I need to put up my stack and feed tank. I will test boil tommorrow if we dont get that much snow and Im not plowing all day.

[Sugarmaker]

snowing and cold: we wait

[Dennis H.]

Had to repair a mainline wire today. I found the loop around the end tree that holds the ratchet tensioner broke. The funny thing is I figured that it would break at the THERON SQUARE KNOT but nope, it broke where the wire went thru the tensioner.

This mainline is where it goes over a right a way so it is 15' in the air. I guess those trees must have gotten swaying yesterday when we had all that wind.

[paul]

Dennis
I`ve had the same problem and your right it`s from the tree swaying.We fixed the wire a few times before we decided to top the tree.

[waysidemaple]

Well Im at school and the report from home is 13 inches of snow on the ground. Our big fourwheeler with the 35 gallon tank on it crapped the bed while dad was plowing with it this morning.....great!!!:mad: Looks like ill be using the old international scout to plow the trails out in the woods when i go home wednesday.

[jrthe3]

this is the first year i jumped on the tapping band wagon and it will be the last year from now on i will be sticking to my guns only thing i made with the 150 gallons of sap i got last week was a dirty evaporator

[Sugarmaker]

Boyd,
Glad to see your enjoying the early runs too! NOT!
Well I have a good reason, I need to get some syrup for open house. But I may lose a good week at the end of the season:( Time will tell. Hang in there. Good news is, your tapped!
SM

[PATheron]

Update from Pierce and Sons- Last week was a real stuggle down here for us but things are starting to come together. Still tapping so couldnt get the vac where I want it yet. Id tap at night when it was froze and chase the heavy leaks in the days when it thawed. The sap did run surprisingly good for a couple days for such early sap. Got around 7000 gallons I think. Some of the first of it real thin then got better. All the while were hooking up stuff in the shed. Found that my newer cdl machine had a bad high pressure pump so had to process all the sap with the older machine which worked great. We really like the evaperator a lot. Very easy to operate. We ran it at about half throttle to get the hang of it with 8% sap and we both agreed next batch were going to take it to 12%. The piggyback developed a leak at a float box that had been patched. We drained it and decided not to use it. It will be easy to fix but need to lift it off the evap to do it and dont want to mess with it. I think Ill probly sell it and just use my ro equipment. Ended up making a 55 drum of dark syrup and theres probly a drum plus in the evap so Im really happy and figure were off to a good start. Gonna finish my last bush on the ring pump tomarrow night and then I have two 400 tap dairy pump bushes to do and Im ready to get the vacs where I need them. All in all Im pretty pumped about the year and I think its going to be a good one. Everybody better get ready Its almost go time everywhere now. Also, lost 8 pounds in 8 days, Weighed myself this morning. Looking pretty buff. Theron

[Maplewalnut]

Spent the weekend cleaning up wind damage and fixing a couple af leaks throughout the bush. Got everything nice and tight now but weather looks cold for a while still. Didnt need the 10 inches of snow we got again Sunday night, it was just starting to get walkable in the woods after a few days in the 50's. Yet to hang remainder of buckets, hoping for a later season this year since we susually fininsh up first week in April and no decent weather in sight in the 10 day forecast.

[ennismaple]

Also, lost 8 pounds in 8 days, Weighed myself this morning. Looking pretty buff. Theron

Keep at 'er Theron!!! I wanna be able to see the steam from your sugar shack here in Ontario! I always joke that I come out of sugar making season at my fighting weight too - no time to eat enough to keep the weight on.

[dano2840]

spent to much time in my buddies woods and not enough in mine, helped him tap, and he got to boil on friday while i was still tapping, only have 421 out of 700 in but ive got alot to do yet before i can even think about boiling any hoo so i gues it was a good thing i didnt get tapped, hopping to brush the rust out of the tank in the big woods, and stick the lines in on thursday and let it fill, that load will probably go to my buddies since im not ready to prosses it. way to much to do!

[CaseysSugarHouse]

been real busy in the woods getting everything ready. 1300 taps in. hope to tap the rest tomorrow. getting releasers and pumps out and then just waiting on mother nature



NATE

[Wanabe1972]

Well we had a busy week here trying to get ready. Got my buddy on Friday to dig through a 4 foot snow bank with his bobcat so I could set my tank and releaser up. Got the releaser plumbed up and waded through a good 18 to 20 inchs of snow to finish up a dozen entrences on the new mainline. Sunday my daughter and I plowed out the sugar house with the backhoe so we could give it a rough cleaning. Monday we tapped in the bush with vacuum and fired the pump up for a few minutes to check for leaks and found the releaser has a leak some where. :mad: Today we washed the pans down again and plumbed up the evaporator. Wed. if it gets above freezing we are going to pressure wash head tank and barrels for my seasonal lines. Possibly we can tap in the 50 or so seasonals at my parents. I will do the 50 or so around the house on Thursday morning before bed because i just went back to night shift for 4 months. Seems like no matter what I do IM always behind the 8 ball, but its still a little early here. At least this year there is not a snow storm forcasted last year we tapped early to beat a storm that dropped 2 feet on feb 24.

[whalems]

Got the rebuilt arch bricked and mortared today. Need to install the stack and put on pan gasket and it will be ready for some test boils. I plan on doing several small fires to help cure the mortar and season the bricks.

[peacemaker]

so ups is something .... last Tuesday i ordered my taps for this year should have been here weds so i could tap on Thursday and Friday.. they where a no show so today i finally find out they went to the Ehrich road house which we use to live at lets see maybe 8 years ago
lol
way to go ups

[jrthe3]

chris maybe tapping earl was i good thing cause i got a lot of kinks large and huge worked out but this first run cost me a lot of money so i only about a 100 gallons of syrup to pay for all the broken parts

[802maple]

I am not to enthusiastic about going out again today but I guess I can't let -14 bother me. This global warming really gets under my skin, I wish it would just cool off.

[whalems]

Well I did a test run this morning on the rebuilt arch and AOF system. It went pretty well. I need a different blower for next season but it is time to stop spending money on this project for this year:( Over all I was happy with the results. This will be my first year on a real evaporator so I have alot of learning to do, But am looking forward to the adventure:) I need to get about 200 more taps run for a total of 600. But it looks like I have at least another week before we start getting good weather. Good luck all, Mike

[Dennis H.]

Man is this frustrating. 2nd day of warm temps but no sun and both 3/4" lines going into the releasers are frozen solid!
The other day the temps dropped when I was boiling and did noticed it and the releasers froze along with the main's coming into them.
I looked and the lat's are they are thawed.

Then the other thing is the pipe that I use to pump sap from the 200gal tank up to the head tank remains frozen.:mad: So there is no way to start to boil the 50 or so gals of sap either.
Man this sucks.

[adk1]

Man is this frustrating. 2nd day of warm temps but no sun and both 3/4" lines going into the releasers are frozen solid!
The other day the temps dropped when I was boiling and did noticed it and the releasers froze along with the main's coming into them.
I looked and the lat's are they are thawed.

Then the other thing is the pipe that I use to pump sap from the 200gal tank up to the head tank remains frozen.:mad: So there is no way to start to boil the 50 or so gals of sap either.
Man this sucks.

yup, pretty much nothing you can do until mother nature decides to warm the place up alittle!

[3rdgen.maple]

I keep saying its early yet and if this is going to be anything like a normal year then we are back to the march sap runs like it should be. Yes its fustrating I too have a frozen releaser and lines everywhere. Forecast is what kills me. Within 30 minutes they change it. One minute you look and theres a good run coming today friday sunday and monday. Few minutes later no run today friday sunday just monday. How do you plan when those friggin idiots have no clue. Wish I had a job that I could f*^K up everyday and still make good money.

[twofer]

Wish I had a job that I could f*^K up everyday and still make good money.

You could always run for a public office. *badaching*

:)

[3rdgen.maple]

You could always run for a public office. *badaching*

:)

Hmmmm wouldnt work. Me and Polotics are not a good fit. I get so enraged over our government I go nuts. All my family and friends know not to bring up politics in front of me because they are in for a long heated debate. It was funny I was at my warehouse the other day and this new kid I hired made a comment to me about Bill Clinton and the whole darn place cleared out in seconds lol.

Time to go to work I guess, saps not going to run today and I need to get something accomplished.

[Dennis H.]

Finally got both releasers thawed and running sap. Didn't have much sun today so trees are not running that good.
Now with the releasers thawed if it freezes again today they won't be froozen solid.

[jrthe3]

ordered i new releaser today the run we did have last week my homemade double just couldn't keep up so i tried to wip up another one but a lack of parts and a long back order on parts made me call up leader today this will be the first thing in my sugar house that i didn't build

[farmall h]

jrthe3, is it the BHR?

[jrthe3]

not sure if it is a BHR but it is a single vertical mechanical

[farmall h]

More than likely it is a BHR..they look just like the Bernards. I had no idea that that was what I was buying until i went to pick it up. They say they are proven worthy and are made by two individuals that were employed by Bernard and Lapierre. Go figure. We'll see how the Double works. I too broke down and bought a "factory" built unit. My pvc homemade Bender hybrid wouldn't allow for high vac. :)

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Spent the afternoon digging 150 yards of the "Theron" mainline and dry line from under 18 inches of frozen crusty stuff. The lines have come apart at a y where a side line enters. Dry line ends are five feet apart. Come a longs tomorrow to re assemble them. Need about a day to get the pumps and releasers plumbed in and a day for the sugar house and RO. Probably start drilling sometime next week. Get to work in a snowstorm tomorrow:)

[Farmboy]

Test boiled yesterday to clean everything. With the blower and all pine split wrist size and smaller makes the pans jump. Today I tapped about 30 buckets. Sap was running. Hopefully I will boil in the next few days. The local maple dealer is suposed to get jugs in tommorrow so I will make the trip there. Saturday Im supposed to look at some maples my friend got permision to tap in the next town over. Hopefully I will have 200 taps this year.

[waysidemaple]

They are calling for 4 to 6 inches of wet heavy snow tonight and tomorrow. Might not be able to make it home tomorrow...ugh. Havent boiled any new sap since last friday. Weather looks better for sunday and monday so hopefully we will get a decent run but we will see. Broke my hydrometer so i ordered two more of those that should come in on monday. Labels come tomorrow for my bottles.

[collinsmapleman2012]

long long week. monday fix lines, fix releaser, set up research project, tap 600. tuesday, tap 5-600 buckets. wednesday, work on tubijng systems again, tap 1-200. today, ran 1 1/4 in. mainline and attatched to manifolds. ran 2 main wires, then a large power cord for the pump. made 100 droplines. tomorrow will be like vacation, going to ny farm show.

[Brokermike]

got about a 1/2 gallon per tap on vac yesterday, not enough to bother firing up the rig

[waysidemaple]

Got the family supply of syrup restocked tonight. Just over 3 gallons bottled tonight. I'll grade it in the am. Cant get a pic to upload unfortunatly

[jrthe3]

i have had pretty good luck with my home made relaesers they just not enought

[shane hickey]

I havent been on here in a while but I got the boilers dirty and made a whopping 6 gallons it only ran one day in almost 2 weeks here in Michigan.

[Sugarmaker]

Shane,
Wow you haven't got the weather or sap to keep that system happy for long. Good luck this year.
Regards,
Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Keith and I checked all the roadside containers today about 1/2 were out of position and a few were tipped over. [trying to get ready for a run on Monday]
Made a batch of maple BBQ and a batch of maple mustard this afternoon.
SM

[shane hickey]

Does the snow plow knock alot of those buckets off when it goes by? I always wonderd, I hope we get some better weather. Good luck this year Chris

[Sugarmaker]

Shane,
I did buckets for years and they were a much bigger problem that the 35 gallon containers I use now.
Yes snow plows can knock off buckets, refered to on here as the bucket rodeo!
Chris

[peacemaker]

well tap count is at 309 and climbing

[maplekid]

wow its been a while since i chimed in on the site. well i slowed the role this year. went from 100 taps down to 20. gotta save money for big production next year. got a woods with 1200 potential taps and i wanna hit everyone of them lol. gotta get me a big evap first though.

[3rdgen.maple]

wow its been a while since i chimed in on the site. well i slowed the role this year. went from 100 taps down to 20. gotta save money for big production next year. got a woods with 1200 potential taps and i wanna hit everyone of them lol. gotta get me a big evap first though.

I think you are the very first person I have heard lower their tap count by well over half. Ahhh whats another 80 anyways.

[maplekid]

but next year the tap count will rise exponetially lol

[Parker]

Maplekid- I got the big rig u need,,,:)

[CaseysSugarHouse]

no school today due to this weather. Lucky me:) i get to get more sugaring stuff done and pumps go on today!!

[maplekid]

parker-what rig might that be lol?