General NY tapping thread [Archive]

danno

02-07-2011, 10:50 AM

Copied below, NOAA Buffalo's ( in my opinion, the best upstate NOAA office) forecast beginning next weekend. Mid-range models now show a good run for next week, possibly followed by more cold. In the past I may have held off, but with CV's, I'm going all in late this week/next weekend if this holds.

IN CONTRAST...THE SECOND HALF OF THIS PERIOD WILL FEATURE THE
BEGINNING OF WHAT COULD FINALLY BE A LONG-AWAITED MAJOR PATTERN
CHANGE. FOR THE THIRD DAY IN A ROW NOW...BOTH THE GFS AND ECMWF ARE
SUGGESTING THAT THE PERSISTENT TROUGHING OVER EASTERN NORTH AMERICA
WILL FINALLY LIFT OUT INTO THE CANADIAN MARITIMES AND WESTERN
ATLANTIC... ALLOWING BROAD RIDGING TO BUILD EASTWARD INTO THE
EASTERN HALF OF THE CONUS. THIS WOULD SET UP A RATHER SIGNIFICANT
WARM AIR ADVECTION PATTERN ACROSS OUR AREA BY NEXT WEEKEND...WHICH
WOULD ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO RECOVER TO NEAR NORMAL LEVELS BY
SATURDAY...AND POSSIBLY EVEN A BIT ABOVE NORMAL BY SUNDAY. WHILE THE
WARM ADVECTION COULD ALSO RESULT IN A LITTLE LIGHT SNOW FROM TIME TO
TIME...A GOOD CHUNK OF THIS PERIOD WILL LIKELY BE DRY.

3rdgen.maple

02-07-2011, 11:56 AM

Danno I think I already missed a decent 3 or 4 day run this past week. Hindsight is 50/50 as they say. I tapping in my vac bush and hope for the best. When I see some production out of the trees I will set the buckets out as well. Good luck this season.

danno

02-07-2011, 09:17 PM

3rd gen - can't believe you would have had much if any sap the last few days. Your weather has to be similar to mine, if not a couple of degrees colder. We've had 34 or 35 as a high over the past couple days.

Now, next week ... things still look good!

Buffalo NOAA evening update:

WHAT WILL THIS ALL MEAN FOR OUR REGION? IT MEANS THAT NOTICEABLY
MILDER AIR WILL OVERSPREAD OUR REGION FOR SUNDAY AND MONDAY WITH
ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS LIKELY FOR MUCH OF NEXT WEEK. THE CLIMATE
PREDICTION CENTERS 6-10 AND 8-14 DAY TEMP OUTLOOKS SUPPORT THIS
FORECAST...WHICH IS BASED ON A 75/25 SPLIT BETWEEN THE ECMWF AND
GEFS.

3rdgen.maple

02-07-2011, 09:27 PM

Too late to find out now but had one day hit 40 and a few others at 37. I was thinking the vac bush might have pulled something. Dont matter now anyways cause turns out I would not have been able to get it in the holding tank. Went down to sugarhouse yesterday and split and stacked some more wood and was gonna start washing the tank and evap out and the piping to the tank is gone. Threw quite a fit as I was already not happy cause of the dog. Also noticed the gathering tank is gone as well. First thing that came to mind was dad came over this summer and borrowed the tank for watering the garden so Im figuring the pipe as well. Nothing like having to do things over again at the last minute. Im betting the piping is under 3 feet of snow next to his garden. WTF is all I can say. Now I got to dig through snow and find the crap.

sugar ED

02-08-2011, 02:12 AM

gota love this snow :{ was thinking to have 100 to150 taps in today, but...with about 3 to 4 ft of snow on the house, sheds ect..and more comming .. it was roof's frist-than 2 lines of 25 taps all the way to shack, than back to the shovel.. ok so 50 today and try for 100 tomorrow. By the way, 3rdgen.maple ,I've had 3 trees taped for a week now just hopeing to see that early juice... was lucky last year, but not a drop yet ,except for the BIG white drops..keep your fingers crossed for this weekend !!!

3rdgen.maple

02-08-2011, 09:38 AM

Glad to hear that Ed as you seem to be the closest to me. Snowing like crazy again today. I will be tapping my bush saturday and hope to get the bugs worked out of it. By the way do you hae any idea what happened to the producer by APW high school. He has a good size operation with a 5 ton flatbed he dries around to gather. Last year there wasnt a tap set and no steam coming from the place.?

Mike in NY

02-08-2011, 02:57 PM

Going to put out some buckets close to the sugar house tomorow just to see what is going on.But historicaly any small early runs are just a tease.We try to be all tapped in by my birthday, march 1. Main goal for tomorow is putting evaporator back together and run a good hard boil throught to get everything cleaned up and ready. Snow is waist deep to a tall indian so am hoping for a much better year than that diasaster of a spring we had last year

3rdgen.maple

02-08-2011, 10:15 PM

Well with all the recent snow today and the forcast for me tomarrow saying 12 to 24 inches and more on thursday just might delay tapping for now. Looks like a tubing digout is going to be in order. Man this winter is really getting to me.

maple flats

02-09-2011, 04:56 AM

I was hoping to be ready to start tapping 2/19. Looking at the 10 day, I might start 2/17 if I get things ready. Going to be all long days of prep from now on, no matter the weather. I still have lots on my TO DO list. Yesterday after work I was going to go do about an hour and a half but whiteout conditions kept me away from the woods because I don't dare park roadside when cars can't see my truck on the side. My bush is on a busy county road.

Southtowns27

02-09-2011, 06:47 AM

I went and pulled the trigger. I put 380 taps in yesterday, going to finish up tomorrow (my day off). Looks like it should start running either this Sat or Sun and run most of next week. Bring it on!

3rdgen.maple

02-09-2011, 10:15 AM

Only another 2 feet of snow in the forecast for wed-thurs. Geez cant wait.

danno

02-09-2011, 10:48 AM

PA - I feel for you brother. Hope those 3 foot totals stay NE of you!

LAKE SNOWS WILL BE GOING IN EARNEST EAST OF LAKE ONTARIO AS WE START
THE PERIOD. NO SHORTAGE OF ARCTIC AIR WITH 850 MB TEMPERATURES DOWN
TO -22C. GREAT OVER-WATER INSTABILITY WITH LAKE INDUCED CAPES
EXCEEDING 500 J/KG. DEEP LAYERED WESTERLY FLOW WILL CONTINUE TO
FOCUS THE HEAVIEST SNOWS ACROSS THE TUG HILL THROUGH THE DAY
THURSDAY AND INTO THURSDAY NIGHT. WE STILL THINK RATIOS WILL BE IN THE 20:1/25:1 RANGE. USING THIS AND A SIMPLE PERSISTENCE OF THE EXPECTED LAKE BANDS COULD SEE TOTALS ON THE TUG HILL NEARING 3 FEET.

Temps next week still look to rise, just slower than anticipated. I think there will be a distinct dividing line between tappable weather and not. Looks like southern NY/PA should be good to go, with the cold staying in the NNY. CNY - we'll probably be right on the fence.

gator330

02-09-2011, 11:20 AM

Not going to make it this year! To far behind to even think syrup can be made this season. Hope to be getting a big jump on things for next year. Snow took down one of our big barn at the other farm two nights ago. That sealed it for me. Was a great big and good barn too! Going to be a long spring cleaning up and building there. May not be what was there but the timbers will live again. Maybe in a sugar house timber framed from the rubble of what once was. Any way my thoughts are with you all as you get ready to tap. I'm shure there are going to be some holes drilled hear it just will have to go out to be boiled down. Freezing cold, deep in snow and no were near ready to go! What can you do your going to have those years. Have a great season!!!!!

danno

02-09-2011, 01:02 PM

Gator - sorry to hear your news, not good. I've been very nervous about my barns/house/porch roofs this year. Already shoveled them twice, but there are some roof areas just too dangerous to get to. With the lack of thaw, the weight of the current snowload is trouble.

You should make this your year to visit all your local sugarmakers.

danno

02-09-2011, 08:33 PM

Warm up delayed but not denied. Looks like temps may stay in the mid 30's early next week now (subject to change ofcourse), but 40-50 beginning Thursday? That will get the sap moving! Will be interesting to see if it stays warm for a few days, or is followed by a sharp cold front, as is often the case following a big warm up.

NOAA Buffalo -

ON WEDNESDAY...EXPANSIVE HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE EAST OF OUR REGION
AND A BROAD SOUTHWEST FLOW OF NOTICEABLY MILDER AIR WILL MOVE OUR
WAY FROM THE OHIO VALLEY. WILL AIM A LITTLE ABV GUIDANCE AT THIS
POINT AND GO WITH LOW 40S FOR MANY SPOTS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. AS
MENTIONED...PATTERN RECOGNITION SUGGESTS EVEN MILDER CONDITIONS FOR
THURSDAY WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR READINGS IN THE UPPER 40S TO NEAR
50.

3rdgen.maple

02-09-2011, 08:46 PM

Gator I feel bummed out for you. I say take a NY road trip and come visit all of us. I spent all day myself shoveling off the shop, garage and sugarhouse roofs. My back is not liking me at all. I was up on the roof and kept thinking to myself how friggin hard it is just to get ready for maple season, and then the family shows up a few times a year and help out a little ( of course with the easy stuff cause I did all the hard work) they all think that gathering the buckets and throwing a little wood in the evaportor for a couple hours is such a huge help lol. Man thats the easy stuff and why we work so hard to get to that point, to enjoy the easy part. They call daily when you tapping we want to help you cause its so hard, call us if you need help gathering. Blah blah blah clueless. Syrup should be like 400 bucks a quart.

briansickler

02-09-2011, 10:16 PM

I'm still holding off on tapping for now. I thought I was going to be tapping Friday for a weekend run, but they changed the forecasted temps from 42 degrees Sunday down to 35 for a high. I'll be watching the 10 day cast very closely. My trigger finger is startin' to twitch a little more each day.....:lol:

Brian

danno

02-10-2011, 10:35 AM

Syrup should be like 400 bucks a quart.[/QUOTE]

I'm laughing over here - that's some funny stuff.

By the way .... it's officially GO TIME!

DURING WEDNESDAY...EXPANSIVE HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE EAST OF OUR
REGION WHILE A BROAD SOUTHWEST FLOW OF NOTICEABLY MILDER AIR MOVES OUR WAY FROM THE OHIO VALLEY. WILL CONTINUE TO AIM A LITTLE ABOVE GUIDANCE AT THIS POINT AND GO WITH LOW 40S FOR MANY SPOTS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. LOOKING OUT BEYOND THE END OF THE PERIOD...PATTERN RECOGNITION SUGGESTS EVEN MILDER CONDITIONS FOR BOTH THURSDAY AND FRIDAY OF NEXT WEEK...WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR READINGS IN THE UPPER 40S TO NEAR 50 BOTH DAYS.

I was going to take tomorrow off to tap. Instead, I'm working tomorrow and will take a day or two next week if this forecast continues.

3rdgen.maple

02-10-2011, 01:29 PM

Its about time. But my latest snow problem just might kill me. I have tapped in some pretty deep snow but never this much before. Ill have to see if tis settles down and melts a little. Hope to atleast get the vac bush online by then.

briansickler

02-10-2011, 02:48 PM

Wow! And to think I was feeling sorry for myself with this 18" of snow on the ground. Man, I've got it a lot better than some. Especially 3rdgen.:D

stoweski

02-10-2011, 05:57 PM

Yea 3rdgen, how do you tap a tree in 7 feet of snow?

Sorry, our local weather came on. Saw the snow band floating north of you. Then they said your area picked up 3' over the past few days.

Hope you're not snowed in!
Keith

3rdgen.maple

02-10-2011, 06:15 PM

How do I tap in 7 feet of snow? Well its fairly simple. You see I am 5 foot 11 inches so its over my head. I just walk out the door with taps, buckets and drill in hand. By the time I get to the first tree the snow is 1 foot and 1 inch above my head, So I have a scuba mask and breather tube stuck on my face and I just hold the drill waist high and stick the tap in. Then come June or July I will see the tops of the buckets and be able to empty them and boil. So while Im waiting all this time I just fill the evaporator with water and pretend. Actually the seasons it gets this deep we just have to hold off till it melts down enough to get at the trees. But this year with some on tubing I will dig my way through it and atleast get those online until I can get the buckets out. I will go back and post pictures taken at the same spots of the sugarhouse I took this morning on the other thread. You think you got snow.

stoweski

02-11-2011, 05:53 AM

I remember a few years ago - in the mid 90's when I was at Oswego they canceled classes for two days after spring break. We picked up 52" of snow that day - on top of what was already there. I can remember because of snowdrifts that some of the classrooms/labs that we were in on the first floor were completely snowed in... except for the emergency window that they had to clear in front of. Drifts were easily 10' tall.

You know, I love winter but I can't stand blowing/drifting snow off of the lake after a storm!

3rdgen.maple

02-12-2011, 11:30 AM

Dont think its go time yet. But then again do they really know what they are talking about. Says 2 to 4 inches and Ive gotten 6 already. This is for my area. I think I will wait another week unless I see a big change.

10 Day Forecast - °F | °C View the Detailed Extended Forecast »sat sun mon tue wed thu fri sat sun mon
feb12
Snow Squalls
29°15° feb13
Snow
35°30° feb14
Snow
33°10° feb15
P Cloudy
17°10° feb16
P Cloudy
35°33° feb17
Few Showers
37°33° feb18
Few Showers
38°27° feb19
Snw Shwrs
31°18° feb20
P Cloudy
25°19° feb21
P Cloudy
28°19°

Details for Saturday, February 12
Occasional snow showers and heavier snow squalls. Some blowing and drifting snow. High 29F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. 2 to 4 inches of snow expected.
Evening: Occasional snow showers. Low around 15F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 70%.

Mountain Winds Farm

02-12-2011, 02:10 PM

We are going to start tapping tomorrow. We have some where's in the neighborhood of 2-1/2 to 3 feet of snow in the woods, not as bad as some of you but it will be snowshoes all week till we are done !I really don't like snowshoes, but I do like the forecast here in Berne at this point

wnybassman

02-12-2011, 03:35 PM

A little nicer forecast over here in WNY. I would rather wait another week or two, but my gut tells me to get stuff in tomorrow. If I didn't tap as early as I did last year I wouldn't have made much at all. Who knows what this year will bring, but I guess I'll get it while I can.

Sunday: High near 36.

Sunday Night: Low around 34.

Monday: High near 39.

Monday Night: Low around 9.

Tuesday: High near 26.

Tuesday Night: Low around 18.

Wednesday: High near 41.

Wednesday Night: Low around 30.

Thursday: High near 46.

Thursday Night: Low around 33.

Friday: High near 48.

Friday Night: Low around 32.

Saturday: High near 35.

mogihillfarm

02-12-2011, 04:05 PM

I decided to tap today. We only have about three feet of snow in the woods. I had to head out on foot today. Note to self- buy snow shoes next year!

adk1

02-12-2011, 04:11 PM

oh I bet. I took a walk in my future sugarbush and I was over my knees. I realized that I made the right decision to eventually go with tubing!

cpmaple

02-12-2011, 05:10 PM

Started tapping in eastern ny today have right around 3+/- feet of snow in the woods.Slow going only got in 55 taps today will work at it more tomorrow. Got to make some more drops tonight for my other bush that i will tap early in the week. Trees were running as i was drilling them. Cant wait for this week hope to boil next weekend. (cpmaple) crown point ny

Greg Morin

02-12-2011, 05:28 PM

working in the sap shack today off the trail the snow is over my knees , snowshoes it will be! but im not sold on this week yet!

boneheadben

02-13-2011, 06:54 AM

started yesterday we have 3ft or so of snow. got about 400 in another 7000 to go . prob try for 2500 -3000 in by weds.

Mountain Winds Farm

02-13-2011, 03:29 PM

we did get started today,tough sledding we have 2-3 feet in the woods with a double crust. The snow shoes help some but not much when your working on a 45-50 degree slope. We may have got in 250 between the two of us.Rest of the week it is a one man band,it will be slow going

stoweski

02-13-2011, 03:57 PM

Put in 91 taps today. Have another 40 buckets that need to be cleaned then I can tap at least another 35. I may have a problem finding another 5 without venturing too far off of my main trails. Instead of tubing I have snowshoe trails 'main lines' (we walk the dog on them) then I have 'lines' running from the main lines to the individual or group of trees. They've been packed down for a week now so I'm almost to the point where I don't need snowshoes. Now if I can find a way to haul a 35 gallon tank on a toboggan! :rolleyes:

Local news says it's 35 outside. I don't see how. My thermometer reads 30.

Time to go clean some buckets.

colt454

02-13-2011, 04:08 PM

started!!!! wow what a day just called it quits tired and wore out 500 in so far too many to go!!!!:o

danno

02-13-2011, 04:21 PM

150 in today. Taps were mostly dry, but began to wetten up this afternoon.

Found 300' of mainline down under 3' of snow/branches and a broken mainline. Taking care of that tomorrow. Now that I've started, no way am I missing the wed-fri run we're gonna get.

collinsmapleman2012

02-13-2011, 06:07 PM

talked to neighbor today, able to tap his trees. should be tapping tuesday so i catch runs wed- sat. boil hopefully thurs nite, sat. nite and sun.

briansickler

02-13-2011, 07:17 PM

I'm with you Collins....Tapping here Tuesday too. I just plumbed in my feed tank. We are 98% ready to boil some sap. I'll finish up some odds and ends tomorrow and we are there. :D

Brian

stoweski

02-14-2011, 05:55 AM

Note to self- buy snow shoes next year!

Wait 'til July then get some. I found a pair for 1/2 price, $20 off coupon, and free shipping online. Of course I felt a bit odd buying a pair of snowshoes when it was 95 outside but it's all good now as I can stay afloat in the snow.

Greg Morin

02-14-2011, 05:57 AM

Wait 'til July then get some. I found a pair for 1/2 price, $20 off coupon, and free shipping online. Of course I felt a bit odd buying a pair of snowshoes when it was 95 outside but it's all good now as I can stay afloat in the snow.

keep an eye on sierra trading post late fall early winter I got 200$ shoes for around 60$$ if you sign up they will email coupons that can be applied to things already marked down.

danno

02-14-2011, 07:28 PM

Planned to fix the 300' of buried/broken mainline this morning and tap this afternoon - but ... that 300' of mainline took ALL day. Absolutely brutal - buried in 3' of snow/slush, broken high tensile, pulled off the fittings, etc. Sap was running decent this afternoon and tree wells were opening.

Got the mainline back up now and then took the chainsaw and cut any possible leaners - don't want to fix any more mainline during season.

backyardsugarer

02-14-2011, 09:06 PM

I got around 400 gallons of sap from 650 taps on vac. It should shut down until Wednesday here then I expect a big run Thurs and Fri. before another cool down.

Chris

nymapleguy607

02-15-2011, 05:40 AM

Today is the day to start tapping after work. I finished the last of the mainline connections. I don't think hardly any sap ran here yesterday way to windy. I got the evaporator ready to go last night, I think Thursday will be the best part of the run. Time to see what good vacuum will do.

collinsmapleman2012

02-15-2011, 06:02 PM

tapped today, should catch some decent runs this week hoping for some light/medium to make candies and such

TroutBrookSH

02-15-2011, 08:02 PM

Partially tapped, at least. Eager to try the new vacuum pump and releaser, so I put in about 150 taps today. Hoping to get enough sap production to confirm the investment and sugar the pans by the weekend.

Thanks to Dave Brunix "davey" at Para Dey Acres and Chris Schoff "backyardsugarer" for all the help and advice! If you're in WNY/Rochester area, give Dave a shot with your new/used equipment or container purchases. It comes in handy to have a distributor so close by.

Greg

3rdgen.maple

02-15-2011, 09:54 PM

Okay I really dont like the new NYSMPA website. All the links and recipes are gone. I want the old one back. You get 3 choices on the new site, about us, buy local and Geeesh the 3rd one was so good I cant remember what it was.

collinsmapleman2012

02-16-2011, 06:06 AM

briansickler

02-16-2011, 06:28 AM

After much debate, I decided not to tap for this early short run. I want fresh taps for the real season. I'm all on buckets so I'll wait another week or so. I know you probably think I'm nuts, but that's the plan. I will have plenty of time to test boil and do other things. I may run electric to the sap house on Friday when it's warm. I hope the "real" season is better than last year.

Brian

3rdgen.maple

02-16-2011, 10:08 AM

If you are on buckets Brian I think its a good call. Looks like atleast 10 days with nothing after this initial run, but things change change quick as we all know and if it happens I will tap the buckets in but for now if I can get the tank, releaser, pump and electric set today I will tap the vac trees by days end.

danno

02-17-2011, 01:51 PM

All tapped in. Glad I started early, I had some serious bugs that needed working out. I was second guessing myself as sap was still running slow by late yesterday. Finshed tapping this morning with the sunrise. Must have had an inversion because temps at the house were 26 and everything down low was pretty frozen up.

Up in the bush sap was already running nicely. Temps started a quick upward assent - by the time I left for work at 10 we were pushing 40 and releaser was dumping overtime. All's good:)

collinsmapleman2012

02-17-2011, 07:40 PM

long day at school. gave a speech on maple sap collection then changed and went out to tap. tappers werent running right, and leaks all over. sent one crew to tap, took another kid to check lines. one line has a major issue. between the first and second saddle something is blocking the mainline. no idea what it is, might wind up replacing 75 ft of mainline. all this just as i thought i was getting ahead. oh well.
going out in the morning and collecting my sap. hopefully boil sunday.

lakeview maple

02-17-2011, 07:49 PM

Ran the main line and wire on Tuesday ,wow that snow is deep ,thank you Lord for snowshoes and a little help from my neighbor,we got the wire hung and ran 400ft of mainline wire down the mtn,yipppeeee then had to hike all the way back up hauling the mainline,any tricks out there to keep it from twisting up ?Well I worked alone all day Wednesday and got about 45 to 50 taps in ,didnt seem like much but it sure wore me out.We also put out about a dozen buckets as well.Went and checked this afternoon and man she was just running so nice ,thank you Lord for small blessings,had a couple sags fixed those up . Didnt have a lot in the tank but it looks good for a fire up on Sunday,and get the rest of the laterals in.Tough work but man it looks good after its all up.Good luck to all and may your sap run your buckets full.Al

adk1

02-17-2011, 07:55 PM

Yeah, good luck to yourself as well. We havent tapped yet. we know we are gonna miss today/tomorrow obviously. but then the weekend through next week looks to cold.

3rdgen.maple

02-17-2011, 09:15 PM

Vac is all tapped in. Set tank and releaser yesterday and stuck in maybe 45 taps by yesterdays end. Not a drop. Tapped the rest this morning and maybe half the trees were running then about 3 or so they all woke up. Not the best run but dang with atleast 3 foot of snow at the base of the trees no wonder why. Started seeing melt rings around the maples by dark and it was picking up. Sent the first 50 gallons back to mother earth. So lines are flushed and pump will run 24/7 till freeze up which sounds like saturday night. Man it is more fun watching sap being sucked up a 6star ladder and down the laterals than boiling, okay atleast as much fun. Showed it all off to my dad and he was amazed, he's never seen a vac setup in the works. Holding 20 inches of vac. could hit 27 bu releaser starts to get sticky. All in all the milk can releaser is working flawless at 20 so Im happy with that. Put alot of tinkering and thought into it.

mogihillfarm

02-17-2011, 09:38 PM

I collected and had my season opening boil today. It felt good to be in the shack all day. It's the only humidity I like.

3rdgen.maple

02-18-2011, 12:57 PM

So Im looked at the weather and it has changed yet again. No good till thursday and thats not ideal either. So let me ask this, what the hell do I do with the 100 gallons sitting in the woods tank? Vac is still on but trees really arent giving up much yet over half are dry still. Seems with 6 inches of snow tonight the little melt rings will be gone. Just enough to tease a guy. I will let her run till freeze up and pump will get atleast a 5 day break. It takes 150 gallons to even think about sweetening the pans which gives me about an hour of boiling and Im out of sap.

wnybassman

02-18-2011, 04:44 PM

Southtowns27

02-18-2011, 08:48 PM

It takes 150 gallons to even think about sweetening the pans which gives me about an hour of boiling and Im out of sap.

Put whatever you've got in the evap and get it up to a boil. You don't want your bulk tank to freeze no matter what. Think about the next run you get and the tank is partially filled with ice. Even if you boil for an hour, at least you'll start the sweetening process, and by boiling, you'll kill off any bacteria that was in the sap. I've froze my evap tons of times and never hurt it, and next run, all you have to do is light the fire, it's already full.

rinert

02-18-2011, 09:08 PM

try to be here in WI two more weeks before taping and exp. 18-24" of snow on sunday you should be getting it on wed.
grew up in Parish

collinsmapleman2012

02-18-2011, 09:21 PM

well the clog in the lines came out, big crew tapped about 600 today. good considering we were doing other things too, putting valves and droplines in, tensioning road crossings. tired, ready for bed lol

Browns Maple

02-18-2011, 09:52 PM

I too will probably be boiling sunday as long as all goes well. 2 weeks earlier than last year. I share your disappointment 3rdgen.maple. I hope thursday will bring it back up to where the sap is running like it was yesterday and today. Certainly kept me busy, but I enjoyed it!

3rdgen.maple

02-18-2011, 09:54 PM

Put whatever you've got in the evap and get it up to a boil. You don't want your bulk tank to freeze no matter what. Think about the next run you get and the tank is partially filled with ice. Even if you boil for an hour, at least you'll start the sweetening process, and by boiling, you'll kill off any bacteria that was in the sap. I've froze my evap tons of times and never hurt it, and next run, all you have to do is light the fire, it's already full.

No way never going to happen ever. I will not take a chance of freezing up a 6000 dollar evaporator. It can sit in the 75 dollar woods tank. Plenty of room in that for expansion, Im just on the wagon with it. Firing up the evaporator for 100 gallons wouldnt even sweeten the pans and Im not draining it back out in less than an hour. I guess the bottom line is it will get dumped. Yeah I know not happy about it either but it looks like atleast a week before it will start to run again. I am kicking myself hard on what to do and I think I will test the sugar content in the orning and decide from there. If its under 2% its gone if its over I will boil it down and as much as possible then transfer it all to the front pan and fill the flue pan with water and throw the cover on that and finish it all off. It will be over 2 gallons of syrup. Heck maybe I will pull the old flat pans out and just relive the good old days when my maple world was much easier. Knew I saved those ss pans for something. lol

Maple Hunter

02-19-2011, 07:14 AM

Awful windy here in the valley today, up to 60mph gusts. Wonder how long it will take to find my lids? Starting to wonder if I jumped-the-gun on tapping this year. Not that it will be much of a loss, I'm only into my second year with a total of 25 buckets and I didn't put them all up yet. So once it starts to warm back up will the sap just start flowing from the holes I already drilled or is there a chance they'll dry up within a week?

danno

02-19-2011, 05:26 PM

Busy couple of days. Chased leaks after work yesterday. 26" at the pump and 4" in the woods is not a banner start. Got it up to 19" in the woods and still have 3 saddles that need replacing.

Last night, put the new membranes in and processed about 1000 gallons. Sap on thursday was 1.5 and up to 2.5 yesterday:) No problem taking sap from 2% to 9% on one time through - I wasn't even squeezing it.

I'm happy with my decision to start early - got some sap and worked out allot of bugs. We'll have to see if the taps deliver late with the CV's. Most years we're done by first few dasy of April - so I need 6 weeks.

briansickler

02-19-2011, 05:47 PM

briansickler

02-19-2011, 06:06 PM

Looks like a no go for tapping next week too. Unless the forecast changes a lot. I can almost here my late Grandfather say, "Be patient son, be patient."

Brian

TroutBrookSH

02-19-2011, 09:54 PM

Helping out backyardsugarer; made 8+ gallons of his light syrup today. Nice buttery flavor!

3rdgen.maple

02-19-2011, 10:47 PM

Buttery Flavor??? never heard that one before. You sure he didnt sneak some MRs Butterworths in that batch?

Mountain Winds Farm

02-21-2011, 07:04 AM

Finished tapping yesterday just at dark.Totaled out at about 1200 taps,up 500 from last year.Now for mother nature to do her thing!

wnybassman

02-21-2011, 08:37 AM

Buttery Flavor??? never heard that one before. You sure he didnt sneak some MRs Butterworths in that batch?

That little batch I did in the house the other day had a slightly unusual (but good) flavor, and "buttery" would describe it very well.

Weird.

rasento

02-23-2011, 07:30 AM

My first year. I see lots of people tapping a bit south. Temps look awfully cold. Anybody in orleans county on buckets tapping?

briansickler

02-23-2011, 06:35 PM

Tapped 70 buckets this afternoon here in Delaware County. The sap poured out on the afternoon sun side of the trees. The trees are ready to give it up. I'll tap and hang 100 more buckets tomorrow morning. All Sugars so far. It's go time for me. I may have to get more buckets or sak holders.:)

Brian

3rdgen.maple

02-23-2011, 08:42 PM

I will be fully tapped by end of day sunday. Dad and nephew will tap some tomarrow and rest of family on saturday. Other than dad coming over to boil while I gather at night this is the only thing the family helps with. Mkaes them think they all deserve a gallon of syrup. Ha for 64 bucks they can have a gallon.LOL So we should get a run late tomarrow and sunday and monday by the looks of it then I will sit back and wine for a week about no sap.

sapman

02-23-2011, 10:37 PM

Got just about 900 in now, 900-1000 to go. Sap ran pretty hard, at least immediately after tapping, on warm side of trees. All soft maple now. Swamp is froze pretty hard, so tapping is easy this year! Hoping for lots more help from nieces on break this week!

3rdgen.maple

02-23-2011, 10:56 PM

It ran hard today? Was in syracuse all day and temp never broke 32. Daily high on the weather gizmo at home said 28. Wind chill was a tad on the nippy side.

wnybassman

02-24-2011, 05:45 AM

My 8 "test buckets" showed nothing for a run here either. I'm waiting for the right signs to go all in, and don't see them yet.

nymapleguy607

02-24-2011, 09:23 AM

Forecast says 37 and wintery mix do you thinks its worth starting the vaccum? Monday looks like a good run though High of 44 but chance of rain.

3rdgen.maple

02-24-2011, 10:43 AM

Not if the lines are frozen up. If they are thawed you got nothing to lose but some coin on electricity.

allgreenmaple

02-24-2011, 05:13 PM

All 750 tapped in, just too cold to run. Only ones that ran had some southern exposure, but they were running. Hopefully soon.

concord maple

02-24-2011, 06:24 PM

wnybassman

02-24-2011, 06:42 PM

bassman,
I'm doing about the same as you- waiting, except I haven't put a drill into a tree yet. Looks like we may get a break by midweek next week for awhile after 6-10 inches of snow tomorrow and rain and high winds on Monday. Last 2 years I tapped on this upcoming weekend so everything seems to be right on target.

This is the first year I ever put a tap in before the last week of February. It won't happen again. :)

I'll probably go ahead and pop the rest in on Sunday. Then Monday after I go around and pick up the buckets that blew off the trees, we should be ready for the season to get going :lol:

adk1

02-24-2011, 06:45 PM

This is the first year I ever put a tap in before the last week of February. It won't happen again. :)

I'll probably go ahead and pop the rest in on Sunday. Then Monday after I go around and pick up the buckets that blew off the trees, we should be ready for the season to get going :lol:

You say that this year, last year if you would have tapped earlier you would have had a good year! Last year it was short and started early if I remember correctly. It does seem that everyone tapped this year for last year!

concord maple

02-24-2011, 08:08 PM

This is the first year I ever put a tap in before the last week of February. It won't happen again. :)

I'll probably go ahead and pop the rest in on Sunday. Then Monday after I go around and pick up the buckets that blew off the trees, we should be ready for the season to get going :lol:

Talked to two other producers today, one near Ellicottville and the other near Hamburg and they both are holding out as well. We'll know if it was the right decision in early April.

concord maple

02-24-2011, 08:11 PM

You say that this year, last year if you would have tapped earlier you would have had a good year! Last year it was short and started early if I remember correctly. It does seem that everyone tapped this year for last year!

Last year our best runs were the last week of March around here and alot of guys pulled taps a week to early because of the big warm up in the middle of March.

briansickler

02-24-2011, 08:54 PM

It looks like I have 140 bucket taps out a week early judging by the weather forecast. Oh well, live and learn. I took a chance and lost....Mother Nature wins this time. But there is some good news. I got home an hour ago from picking up another 105 buckets/covers/spiles. $5/set excellent condition. They were listed on craigslist Oneonta, NY. He has about 150 more if anyone is interested. They are in Gilbertsville, NY. Call Tyler Talbot 607-783-2589.

So I've got some more tapping to do anyway. I'll pop em in a little closer to the real season.:lol:

Brian Sickler

TroutBrookSH

02-24-2011, 09:08 PM

That little batch I did in the house the other day had a slightly unusual (but good) flavor, and "buttery" would describe it very well.

Weird.

wnybassman, thanks corroborating on the "buttery" flavor. Didn't want to blow in my chief taster, my wife, for making the original call on "buttery". Sure tastes fine to me! I've heard the ground minerals in WNY produce a unique flavor in our syrup.

TroutBrookSH

02-24-2011, 09:11 PM

Still have only the original ~150 tapped. Planning to go all-in this weekend after the storm.

sapman

02-24-2011, 10:40 PM

1300 in now. Hope to do 500~ tomorrow, weather permitting. Figures, the day I have a helper all day, the weather is probably crappy!

briansickler

02-26-2011, 07:04 AM

I plan to tap 105 more buckets and 25 sap sacks today. Should have close to 300 taps total.

Brian Sickler

stoweski

02-26-2011, 07:51 AM

91 been in for almost 2 weeks.
40 more to put in today. Maybe I should get 9 more and call it 140. :)
Oh well, trying to collect 131 buckets after work and beat the darkness is going to be difficult enough.

Need to go repack my trails after a foot of new snow. Time for some exercise.

3rdgen.maple

02-26-2011, 10:30 AM

stoweski

02-26-2011, 12:16 PM

Sunday through next week is going to be the perfect weather. That is unless they change the friggin frecast again.

Yea. And yesterday we were suppose to get up to an inch of snow and then sleet and rain.

We got somewhere between 12" and 14" of snow.
Looks beautiful in the woods but makes me wonder if I should change jobs! How the hell can any of them still have a job after forecasting 1" and then get 12"???!!!

TroutBrookSH

02-26-2011, 03:29 PM

This is it NYer's get your taps in today and tomarrow. Sunday through next week is going to be the perfect weather. That is unless they change the friggin frecast again. Shows here that it high 30 and 40 and lows are mid 20 all week. GO GO GO GO GO.

Just took a break after putting in a couple hundred more. Heading out to put in a hundred more. I agree, it's GO time!

Greg

chenango maple

02-26-2011, 04:02 PM

Planned to tap some today but trees are still fozen. Our sugar bush is pretty high up on a mountain side. Not even any damp wood. Do you guys tap when there is no sap running? I like it to run a little to clean out the tap hole so the wood shavings don`t plug the taps. Is that a concern?

Thanks
Charlie

smitty76

02-26-2011, 04:23 PM

Charlie,
I do not know what every one else thinks, but i like to wash out the chips as well. i use a sport drink water bottle with a straw in it. after drilling the hole(if hole is damp, i flush with water from sport bottle) but if too cold to run, i just blow out the chips. with that said, yes we tap when the sap is not running. We like to have it done before the first good run.

chenango maple

02-26-2011, 04:33 PM

Thanks for the idea Smitty. Looks like tomorrow they may thaw some. Will give a try again. Lots of lines to dig out form under this last snow also.
Charlie

smitty76

02-26-2011, 05:01 PM

your welcome, and I hear that. been in the bush all day and have been digging out line, removing fallen trees and limbs, and installing new lines. this new snow is makin it real hard.

talahi maple products

02-26-2011, 05:44 PM

I finished all my taps today ( about 450) been working on it a couple of days . Then I went to the sugar shack with some water in the tank to do a test boil, Well thats when every thing went WRONG, The new to me 2x8 has about a dozen pinhole leaks in the flue pan, that I have no expierence on repairing (soldering or welding) The Gentleman (ugh) I bought it from said it worked fine WITH NO PROBLEMS.
Man I'd like to spit some beechnut in that dudes eye.
Oh well Buyer beware. I'll have to think of something quick or I'll be flooded with sap & nowhere to boil, (hopefully)
Question, is there some type of liquid solder or some type of compound any body knows of that might work or is welding & soldering the only way?

TapME

02-26-2011, 06:15 PM

Talahi, I have had over the years pin holes in the flue pan and it is an easy fix. I went out and bought some stainless sheet metal screws and just put one in every hole facing down into the acrh. Your problem is solved and is a cheep fix. If it is in the flue and can't get to it try from the bottom side, just be carefull cleaning it.

danno

02-26-2011, 06:44 PM

Talahi - I agree with you. I'd be very upset if the prior owner said there was no problem with the pans.

What's the pan made out of - SS or English Tin? I've used JB Weld on tin pretty successfully for pin holes and they sell a food grade version. I've tried sodering tin, it can be done, but it ain't easy. Either way you go, SS screws, JB Weld or solder, once you get your sap boiling good, the niter will help plug the holes. Just heartbreaking watching the sap leak away until the holes niter up.

briansickler

02-26-2011, 06:51 PM

25 more taps to go in the morning and I'm all in. 300+/- taps total. The extra snow didn't help much.:confused: Got stuck once in a drift of deeper snow. I pulled the Yamaha Rhino out with the tractor and right back at it. I had a notion of picking up 50 more buckets. But the way I feel right now I'm thinking NOT. Now, let the sweet sap flow....Good Night:)

Brian Sickler

3rdgen.maple

02-26-2011, 10:05 PM

Yea. And yesterday we were suppose to get up to an inch of snow and then sleet and rain.

We got somewhere between 12" and 14" of snow.
Looks beautiful in the woods but makes me wonder if I should change jobs! How the hell can any of them still have a job after forecasting 1" and then get 12"???!!!

Well now I know where the 12 inches of snow we were suppose to get went. We ended up with maybe 2 inches. Man those guys on tv are pretty good huh?

Guys I dont want anyone calling me names or spitting beechnut in my eye if the weather forcast changes and I told you to GO GO GO GO.
Talahi definately let us know what your pans are made out of maybe we can all put our heads together and give some advice. Hope the pinholes arent in the flues themselves, makes it alot harder to get in there and fix them. I think I would be giving that guy a well deserved phone call and try to get some money back or something. Not cool especially this late in the game. I would assume those are english tin pans havent heard of SS doing that but you never know I guess.

talahi maple products

02-27-2011, 04:54 AM

The pans are stainless steel, and the stainless steel screws sounds like a good idea to try Thanks, I also went to other post and found out a large soldering iron (brother inlaw has one) ss flux & silver solder,clean good & low temp to make it stick. I'm going in to town today & see if I can find some
Thanks again guys, Frank

3rdgen.maple

02-27-2011, 05:59 AM

What they are stainless Im suprised. I would get ahold of a tig welder before I tried to solder. That way if there are any pinholes in the flue area you can weld the on the outside and have no worries about melting solder. There has to be some welders in lowville. I personally would hate to se a pan full of screws but hey you got to do what you got to do and maybe get a more permanent fix in the off season. But do search for a tig welder first. Heck even a good mig welder will get the job done.

maple flats

02-27-2011, 06:41 AM

I also would try finding a Tig welder (the person not the machine). Are you sure this is SS? Pinholes are not common in SS. If it is, the seller must have left cleaner in the pan long term. I would contact the owner to see if you can get any satisfaction other than telling him he is a scam artist.
I finally got my Vac tank connected yesterday and washed. This morning I need to cap or plug the various openings and turn the pump on. After digging out the tank (for the5-6 time, bad idea putting in a cellar hole on lee of open field, roof for next year is in order). I only have about 350-400 taps in so far, about 150 more on vac and then 150+ on gravity. I have decided not to do more expansion in Jan and Feb in the future before everything else is done and ready to go. As the weather went I should have been fully tapped and operational about 10 days ago. However I think I only lost about 2 day actual sap flow, but that could have been a substantial amount of syrup on Vac. I had too many new things that I was unfamiliar with and that slowed me considerably, not to mention having to uncover lines a few times. We only had 1 real thaw or 2 days since before Christmas and there islots of snow to contend with.
Anyway, should get good sap over the next 48 hrs, and still tapping as possible. This is the most I have ever had tapped in March but still behind.

maple flats

02-27-2011, 06:43 AM

I forgot to mention, also, I will lose some time this afternoon, as we all meet at my mothers for her 90th birthday get together (actually tomorrow but today is easier on the family.

briansickler

02-27-2011, 07:46 AM

The only pinholes I've seen in a stainless pan is where someone had burnt the pan before. It was an older soldered pan. The guy that owned it spent hours and hours soldering and resoldering. You have to be careful soldering near the seams or you'll melt the solder out of them and have more leaks.

Brian

wnybassman

02-27-2011, 03:37 PM

Went all in this afternoon. Ended up with 33 buckets total. The holes were nice and moist while I was drilling them. I mean..........err............you know what I mean :lol:

Gonna go back around shortly and see if there are any leakers and make necessary adjustments.

Hoping for some long nights over the next few weeks!!

sapman

02-27-2011, 05:57 PM

Started vacuum today on the 1500 in so far. Can't get above 5-8" for now. Back to leak patrol and hopefully more tapping tomorrow.

briansickler

02-27-2011, 06:05 PM

I had a notion of picking up 50 more buckets. But the way I feel right now I'm thinking NOT. Now, let the sweet sap flow....Good Night:)

Brian Sickler

Well I felt better today apparently, because we picked up 40 more buckets that became available locally. So, when we get those tapped it will bring the total taps to 335. All buckets except for 25 sap sacks.

The sap started running pretty good here around 2:00 p.m. or so. I checked just before dark and they were still drippin' some. Hopefully it runs all day tomorrow right through the rain.

Brian

82cabby

02-27-2011, 06:17 PM

Started tapping today in West Falls (south of Buffalo). Some trees were dripping slowly by the end of the day, most not started yet. I think it's going to be a week, maybe two before it really hits up here.

adk1

02-27-2011, 07:20 PM

this year is definatly behind one week from previous years past. But I guess in the grand scheme of things, its just about right.

danno

02-27-2011, 08:52 PM

As the weather went I should have been fully tapped and operational about 10 days ago. However I think I only lost about 2 day actual sap flow, but that could have been a substantial amount of syrup on Vac. .

Dave - you did not miss much. I've been tapped out for the past 10 days. I picked up about 1.5 gallons/tap over that 2 day warm up 10 days ago, and nothing since then. I've got my pans full of sweet, but have not drawn any syrup, and have not spoken to anyone locally who has drawn anything more than a few gallons. Only advantage of going in early for me was working out some bugs.

Sap's running today. Vac in the woods up to 24". Looks like we won't drop below freezing till tomorrow night. Should be RO'ing/boiling tomorrow night:)

3rdgen.maple

02-28-2011, 12:57 AM

I agree Dave you didnt miss much at all. Those few warm days we had I ran my vac mump for 39 hours straight and managed to get a 100 gallon ice cube when all was done.

130 in the morning I decided to go check on the releaser. Letting it run all night till freeze up on monday night. Sure glad I did sap in the releaser was just about a few inches from getting sucked in the vac line to the moisture trap. Forgot to lube the float shaft today after it sat for more than a week. Gave it a couple little dabs with canola oil and she let loose and dumped. Not running strong but saps trickling in. Tomarrow is going to be a good one.

wnybassman

02-28-2011, 05:34 AM

Good grief the forecast changed again. After it drops down tonight we're not supposed to see above freezing temps until Friday again. :mad:

briduhunt

02-28-2011, 09:51 AM

I cleaned all my buckets on Sat and tapped about 120 yesterday. Still have about 60 more to tap my self and another 50-70 from my sap supplier. Hope to boil this week at least to sweeten the pans. Here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope the sap god's are good to all.

3rdgen.maple

02-28-2011, 10:02 AM

Brian its been awhile since we have seen you. My nephew John said he helped you put out taps yesterday. We all sure missed his comical ways yesterday when we tapped. Good luck.

adk1

02-28-2011, 11:41 AM

briansickler

02-28-2011, 02:01 PM

adk1,

When are you going to get out of the planning stage and tap some trees instead of spending all of your time on the trader? :rolleyes: I couldn't resist. :D All in fun.

Mountain Winds Farm

02-28-2011, 04:18 PM

Turned on the vacuum about 10 this morning, The sap has been steady all day even with 3 feet of snow in the woods. Checked the new triple lift sap ladder, made a small adjustment on the air leak and ****ed if the ladder don't work. I could have stood out there all day watching the sap climb three ladders in succession and head off to the house. To bad the weather is going cold again.

briansickler

02-28-2011, 09:22 PM

We collected sap until just after dark. With the big freeze coming tonight I wanted to wait and collect late to get all the sap we could. We averaged 1/2 gal/tap over all. I pumped it into the bulk tank which is inside the sugarhouse. I'm running a kerosene heater so it doesn't freeze. Mainly to protect the valve and plumbing. About 140 gallons of sap. I'll boil tomorrow and get the pans sweatened up at least. I don't expect to draw any syrup.

Brian

TroutBrookSH

02-28-2011, 10:01 PM

3rdgen.maple

02-28-2011, 10:21 PM

1:30 in the morning! wow, you got it bad to awake to thinking you need to go check the releaser!

Well adk1 I inhereted this deal called insomnia. I get it quite often and it doesnt seem to matter how tired I am I just cant fall to sleep. Most nights I lay in bed for atleast an hour before I fall asleep. So I decided after a few hours of laying there I mine as well do something so I went out and checked on the releaser and pump.
Today was a big disappointment. Rained 1/2 day then mix of rain sleet and snow. Very windy and high was 36. Weather idiot was only off on temps by 12 degrees. Buckets started to drip when the wind died off around 3 but did somehow manage to get 75 gallons of the vac. It was quite interesting once I looked in the woods tank and it never crossed my mind that the fresh sap would make a 100 gallon icecube float. Had no way to get it out of the tank other than sticking a 5 gallon bucket I cut a whole in at about 4 inches high to stick the drain pipe in and then put the pump in that to empty it. Think it took more time than I care to ever do again.

nymapleguy607

03-01-2011, 05:03 AM

Not the greatest run yeserday, collected 100 gals of 1.6% last night and boiled it down. Took off about a qt, evaporator still needs tuning, I need to replace the ceramic blanket above the AOF manifolds with fire brick. The outer partions of the syrup pan would boil very hard. First batch of syrup is a dark amber. Hopfully that will change as the sugar goes up. Still probably 15" of snow in the woods, I lost on tree during the last wind storm. I was lucky all it did was unhook one stubby. Froze last night and is suppose to be sunny and around 38, will turn on the vacuum and see what we get

Jeff

danno

03-01-2011, 09:19 AM

Down here on the thruway corridor, we seem to warm up very quickly. High yesterday of 45 for an hour or so. From noon Sunday through freeze up last night (about midnight) collected and processed about 700 gallons. Sap is 1.5%. Drew my first 5 gallons of syrup last night.

The Marcland auto draw I bought at Verona is simply amazing. I can't say enough good about it. Interesting point - I've always made syrup at 221 degrees (based upon my pan thermos and a seperate thermo.) The Marcland reads a few degrees cooler. The Marcland was reading 219.2 for syrup, and the probe was an inch away from my pan probe. Very nice to have the temp broken down in 1/10's - and amazing to see the temps go up and down, especially when the doors are opened for firing. It just seemed extremely precise, I am very impressed.

I've always had problems batch boiling (too heavy, too thin, and over and over), but last night with the auto draw, everything came off smooth.

TroutBrookSH

03-01-2011, 08:39 PM

The good news is the vac set-up filled my 300 gal tank down in the woods. Bad news is my lines were too frozen to pump the sap up hill by time I got home from work to pump it. Need to put a couple quick disconnects in the line to purge the low spots.

Got the lines unfroze and the sap out of the valley. Quick disconnects did the job. Looking forward to more success this weekend.

Riverdale

03-02-2011, 07:12 AM

Short boils here Mon/Tues night. Just about to draw off for the first time...looks like it'll have to wait til Saturday now based on the forecast.

briansickler

03-02-2011, 11:18 AM

Boiled for the first time last night. Sweetened the pans and drew off about 2.5 gallons of very light amber. Nice stuff. I'll have to drain the pans for the cold snap coming tonight though. Single digits forecasted for here. With the wind chill today I don't think the sap will run enough to bother collecting...plus it's probably still frozen solid. Looks like it will run Friday and over the weekend, I hope.

Brian

3rdgen.maple

03-03-2011, 01:20 AM

Im am going to refrain from getting excited over the next 10 day forecast with all that perfect weather in site. Oh what the hell Yeeeeeeehaw bring it on Im more than ready and overly excited to finally get after what I have spent the last 10 1/2 months of preperation for. Vac pumps gonna run for a week straight and Im single handedly going to cause a national grid power failure from sucking so much electricity from the grid to run it. Work is overly busy and as it is I have been getting about 5 hours of sleep a night and getting home well after 1 am. Sleep heck that can wait till mid april. Once again gents its GO TIME. :rolleyes:

nymapleguy607

03-03-2011, 04:50 AM

3rdgen,

Thats the attitude to have, I'm in the same boat bring on the sap

MilesTeg

03-03-2011, 05:56 AM

I hope this last for 2 weeks I have spring break then and I want be in the woods and making syrup. For as much money as we have put in it this year to expand its time to try to make some back!

briansickler

03-03-2011, 06:31 AM

Yeah! Bring it! It's about time. I hope the weather man is on this time....Kind of hard to trust the forecast anymore.

Brian

3rdgen.maple

03-03-2011, 10:38 AM

Yeah! Bring it! It's about time. I hope the weather man is on this time....Kind of hard to trust the forecast anymore.

Brian

I hear that and I have a feeling what is going to happen. The past few days forecast has been leading to the next mistakes they predict. They have been under the correct temps for the past couple days and I think they might be being conservative now. Yesterday they were off by almost 10 degrees last might they claimed single digits and never got below 15 here and today well its already warmer than their high for the day. Just hoping for a not so dramatic change and perfect weather for atleast 4 weeks.

sapman

03-03-2011, 06:36 PM

15 in Altmar! We had 0 in Fulton. Yet sap ran as I tapped on the south side today in 20~ degree temps.

stoweski

03-03-2011, 07:04 PM

Sun is warm this time of year. One side of the trees along a field - facing south - are running even when it's below freezing whereas the other side of the trees are frozen up solid. It's neat to see though. Just hope it picks up this weekend - I want to boil!!!

danno

03-03-2011, 09:05 PM

I was debating whether to run the vacuum yesterday with a forecast high of 33. I woke up to 35 degrees and sap was running very nice on gravity. Switched on the vac and collected about half gallon/tap until it shut down yesterday afternoon when the temps plumeted. Very nice run for temps that never went above 35.

Nothing today with a high in the low 20's, but vacuum is going on before I leave for work tomorrow even though we probably don't go above freezing till mid day. Looks like good runs this weekend!

3rdgen.maple

03-04-2011, 12:04 AM

Yes sir it does help I suppose being on the receiving end of a big lake. I was driving home tonight and I noticed that alot of snow has melted in these cold temps as well. The sun sure does so good things.

wnybassman

03-04-2011, 05:29 PM

Pretty dismal run today in WNY. I had high hopes of gushing taps with early sun and an early temperature rise. Just gathered 7 gallons from 33 buckets for today's tally.

The trees are being awfully uncooperative so far this season.

stoweski

03-04-2011, 06:20 PM

winds from the south today... sap flows drouth.

Guess it's not a wives tale!

And it's quite possible that it was a "least drouth" today since the wind was out of the southeast.

Whatever the case it wasn't worth haulin' buckets today. Will wait for a better run tomorrow - that is if the low passes by and changes this wind pattern.

Boiling will have to wait one more day. :(

3rdgen.maple

03-04-2011, 07:15 PM

Same here guys. You got to remember we are coming out of a deep freeze yet again so it will take a good day to get going. Vac ran okay but not great buckets are just starting to give up some sap. Probably or hopefully I should say it will run most of the night. Vac is staying on all weekend.

zachhll

03-04-2011, 08:08 PM

Up here in sackets harbor I put 75 of my taps in and trees were running pretty good when I was putting them in

stoweski

03-05-2011, 05:49 AM

Up here in sackets harbor I put 75 of my taps in and trees were running pretty good when I was putting them in

Rub it in why don't ya! :rolleyes:

danno

03-05-2011, 09:16 PM

I think I know why there are no posts on this thread this evening ... sapcatastrophe...

2 gal/tap from noon yesterday through early evening today. Could certainly see another 1 gal/tap or better before the freeze up snow storm tomorrow. Releaser is just outright thumping. Glad I bumped up to the 1000 gal holding tank or I would have overflowed ez.

Just at about 35 gallons of syrup, or almost half of last years crop.

3rdgen.maple

03-05-2011, 09:36 PM

Yeah well not quite so lucky here. It did run but nothing to brag about. Still alot of snow around the trees but its going fast. Buckets were not even worth looking at but pulled about a gallon a tap from vac today and half gallon a tap yesterday. Still running and seemed to pick up a little tonight so should have a good amount in morning. Sweetened the pans tonight and was close to drawing off but I didnt want to push it with only 50 gallons of sap left. Will get a couple draws tomarrow.

stoweski

03-06-2011, 05:41 AM

Managed only 55 gallons on 130 taps yesterday. No sapcatastrophe for me... at least not yet. Collected at 2pm so maybe they're overflowing this morning. I can only hope! I need a sapcatastrophe right now. Then maybe I'll be able to boil for more than 3 hours at a time.

briansickler

03-06-2011, 06:16 AM

Boiled last night until about 11:00 p.m. 2 1/2 more gallons light amber. I've gotta think that the sap ran all night. I'm not looking forward to collecting in the rain and sloppy mess though. But, I'll take it. 3 - 5" snow forecasted here for tonight....Sap snow? Well I'd better get out of this recliner and go check for BIG SAP.:D

Brian Sickler

sapman

03-06-2011, 09:27 AM

Not a very good run for me. Only 8" at the releaser doesn't help much. And came down real sick Fri. night. Hoping to feel well enough to concentrate/boil today sometime. Got 2500~ gallons to process.

collinsmapleman2012

03-06-2011, 09:34 AM

3rdgen.maple

03-06-2011, 09:37 AM

Heading out in a minute to gather and dump rain water. Snowing pretty good right now and temps have gone south in a hurry. I was soaked from head to toe last night and not looking forward to playing in the snow. Hoping it ran all night but we will see in a minute. scared to look in the sugarhouse as well. Kept getting visitors yesterday while boiling and seemed like they all brought beer. Weird never has a beer been drank in my sugarhouse till last night. I hope there is enough returns in there to buy a filter press lol.

highlandcattle

03-06-2011, 09:55 AM

We have 224 taps on high vac. Our first year for tubing, vac. and new CDL 2'x8' wood fired evaporator. Raining like crazy, winds now and getting dark. We're all solar and wind power, so I can keep doing this, while Ron is running things down at the sap house. Just collected our first run of 80 gallons. Trees are still frozen and lots of snow here in Charleston at 1, 200 feet. Releaser was dumping every 20 seconds yesterday. Can't beleive it's all up and running! Just the 2 of us and we are getting there. Shooting for 100 gallons. Oh, yeah, to everyone who hasn't invested in a filter press, we got a great price at our dealer's annual open house. Another great time saver and no more crying(me) and Ron's frustration with the stupid cone filters. Good luck everbody.

wnybassman

03-06-2011, 10:02 AM

was planning to boil today, and i lolligagged too much. no sap hauler for a few hours, so no sap, and i cant really do much at all:( and it just started snowing today. i can tell now today will be long. going to school at 3 to collect there, maybe a good boil tonight? time will tell

I had planned on boiling today as well. About 2:30 yesterday afternoon I got a whiff of the forecast for today and ran right out and got things going. It was raining pretty good, and I don't have a roof over my head, but still better that cold and snow. Sent 55 gallons of sap through the pan before I called it a night. Finishing on the stove now while looking out the window at 4 or 5 fresh inches already on the ground. Makes me think I made the right call. :D

danno

03-06-2011, 10:32 AM

Highland - tell me about your filter press - I'm in the market.

highlandcattle

03-06-2011, 04:14 PM

Our dealer has an open house at the end of each season(April) and gives great discounts. This is for new equipment. He normally has just one of each item, so I've learned to grab quick and stick my name on things, I can always change my mind later and let someone else have it(not)! We got a Wesfab 7" electric. Got teh box of filter papers and the dia. earth (food grade filter aid at the same time)50 pound bag will last forever,as you use about 2 cups per gallon as you send the syrup through. It picks up all the sediment and you have nice clean syrup and it takes only seconds for a small batch. Just remove the filter papers when the pressure gauge gets to a preset level and pop in new ones. The crud is unreal. We paid about $1,000.00, yes a huge amount of money , but this is what we spend our money on and it has been worth every penny. No more trying to get the syrup through the cone filters and then having to reheat, no more swearing , crying and still getting sediment. WORTH it!

collinsmapleman2012

03-06-2011, 04:30 PM

now the big question is... who is this dealer?

3rdgen.maple

03-07-2011, 12:52 AM

Tanks are empty:cry: Sugar content has been a steady 2. What ran last night came in at 1.7. Still need to rid some snow but having so much might just bring a nice long season with slow runs in the begining. Managed to pull off a whopping, you guys ready? Yep 2 gallons before I ran out of sap. Oh well its a start. Will clean tanks tomarrow after work and start fresh for the week. SHould get some decent sap starting mid week.

collinsmapleman2012

03-07-2011, 05:59 AM

well i figured last night that i could boil today, and thas out of the picture. 3 feet of snow, and its blowing in constantly. that means no boil, since i have no shack :(

briansickler

03-07-2011, 08:00 AM

We collected yesterday afternoon in the sleet and rain. We got 140 gallons of sap. Pulled off about 3 gallons last night bringing the total to 8 gallons of light amber drawn so far this year. Looks like some good temps for sap flow coming up. We plan to try the 7" WesFab press out today for the first time. The 8 gallon stainless milk can is full. That is after I plow snow for about 3 hours. :evil: It's a sap snow though....Right?:rolleyes:

cpmaple

03-07-2011, 08:29 AM

Gather yesterday myself with my boy helping in the rain. We were soaked by time done and got 80 gallons of sap. Have not boiled yet my go out later today and boil it off but, for right now cleaning driveway and roof cleaned. So its gonna have to wait for now till mother nature stops snowing.

Riverdale

03-07-2011, 08:52 AM

Finished off about 12 gal this weekend, mostly medium but one batch of light. Looks like good sap weather on the way! Have been using our new 7" Wes Fab short bank, it's great! I'll never go back to flat filters.

sapman

03-07-2011, 11:47 AM

What size Wes Fab is it for $1000? I bought mine in '96, full bank, for $1300. It has been nice, but there have been times I swore at it. Not really the machines fault. You know, when you're almost done filtering, and a paper blows. Or worse, it squirts syrup in your eye and all over! Again, asking the press to do more than it can.

3rdgen.maple

03-10-2011, 12:07 AM

I am starting to get a little conerned in my little neck of the woods. It is the 10th of march and sap flow just plain ole sucks. I could fill a bucket with spit faster than my trees can. This weather is just not good. When we have the right temps it either rains or blows a frigid mass of air through the woods. If it wasnt for vac I would have nothing. And seeing how most my taps are on buckets this is not good. I am really starting to question all my investment and future investments. At what point does a person say enough spending money and time to go back to the old days of enjoying making the stuff rather than freaking out over not getting sap. I am telling myself vac is the answer and I truly believe it is as I see the results, but dang man everytime I make an upgrade the weather and seasons opens up some more whoopass on us. Im done with the excuse its early. I looked at past records today and this is the first year with such little syrup made including the dreadful season of 2010. It better change fast or Im selling out and getting a half pint and going back to having fun. I will put a 100 taps on vac and boil day and night and be much happier than I am right now. Im am sticking out my last 150 taps tomarrow and maybe I will get another 5 gallons of sap off them and waste all my time and fuel in the tractor driving around looking at empty buckets. :mad:

nymapleguy607

03-10-2011, 05:09 AM

briansickler

03-10-2011, 06:46 AM

I am feeling the same way now. Have only collected about 500 gals of sap and only made 4 gals of syrup. I keep waiting for the snow to melt and when it starts to we get another foot. I am still waiting for a run where I can get 1 gal per tap.

I've been waiting for one of those good runs for a long time. We didn't get one last year either. We've collected 455 gallons of sap on close to 300 bucket taps and have about 8 gallons of syrup thus far. I was planning to make about 75 gallons of syrup this year. I've invested around $15,000 getting ready for this season. New sugarhouse and evaporator...the whole nine yards. It has been a big disappointment thus far, that's for sure. I keep thinking the big sap runs are just around the corner. But we are running out of time in a hurry.

nymapleguy607

03-10-2011, 10:00 AM

Word from home is that the vacuum is on and the sap is running. Lost a lot of snow with the rain over night hopefully this will be a good one.

wnybassman

03-10-2011, 11:22 AM

adk1

03-10-2011, 11:30 AM

len

03-10-2011, 01:11 PM

The flood gates opened up on my trees late yesterday and last night here in WNY. 60+ gallons out of 33 buckets in less than 24 hours, and there is probably another 15 out there right now since I finished collecting a couple hours ago. Most everything collected was 2% or higher as well.

This is one of the good days :D:D

What are the topographic conditions there? Are the trees multi tappers?

Reason I ask, I'm in a similar geographic location, and of the trees that I'm tapping (not mine- bro's), one is in a wet area, where there is occaissional creek overflow. It's tall, and is about 22" dia. Seems to have good genetics, and puts out a lot of sap. I collected at about 5PM yesterday, and boiled last night. The sugar content has risen with each boil so far- approx 2.1%, 2.6%, and 2.9% (yield/ sap collected) with trees that have probably never been tapped before. Grade has shifted from a golden light amber to a light/ medium amber, but that might be due to residual sap being present from last Sat collection (2 buckets were slightly cloudy). Not sure about doing 20 gal of sap at just over 2gal/ hr lol I'd better get the scrap wood pile shored up a bit now lol

danno

03-10-2011, 03:06 PM

MilesTeg

03-10-2011, 03:18 PM

Were running into the same problem in morrisville and all of the other local producers are complaining too. We have a north facing hill so its always a slow start for us but this just seems like a crazy late start. With all of this new equipment I'm very anxious to get this ball rolling.

stoweski

03-10-2011, 07:33 PM

Same here! Emptied the buckets yesterday afternoon and could see they were just starting to run. Walked the dog before work and most were 1/2 full. Came home and collected 1/2 to full buckets from every tree! Great run - hoping to do the same tomorrow!

The trees are waking up!!!:)

cpmaple

03-10-2011, 08:43 PM

Just went out and checked my main line coming down off the hill running a steady stream out of it. thank god it run on it own since vac is all messed up need new pump. Cant wait till morning to gather then off to plattsburg shopping maybe to get a vac pump then collect if i get home early enough. thanks to mother nature finally looking to be a good run. yesssssssssssssssss

wnybassman

03-10-2011, 08:51 PM

I ended up collecting 90 gallons on the nose total out of those 33 taps since daybreak. Probably another several gallons since I made the rounds.

The last round I got mid to upper 1%'s

Smaller trees have already slowed a lot, bigger trees still dripping good but slowing as well. Could use a freeze now :cool:

3rdgen.maple

03-11-2011, 01:20 AM

Pulled in 600 gallons today. Not great but its a good start. Vac isnt going off till it blows up or I suck leaves off the trees in august. Should be a good amount tomarrow emptied the vac tank tonight and checked a few buckets and they are 3/4 full. Hope the rain holds off till I collect in the morning.

cpmaple

03-11-2011, 03:44 AM

Just check gravity line its 443am and its still running strong. In holding tank right now right around 25 gallons that off from 40 taps on that line cant wait to collect which its gonna be early when i start. boiling here i come

nymapleguy607

03-11-2011, 06:30 AM

Finally the sap has started running. Collected 145 gals of 2% yesterday, Couldn't get everything boiled down. Took off about 3 gallons, still is dark but should change over to medium today. Evaporator seemed to run slow last night was running 1000 degrees in the stack but too much wind to really boil hard.

Mountain Winds Farm

03-11-2011, 07:13 AM

pulled in 1500 gallons overnite and no sign it's going to let up ! About time

briansickler

03-11-2011, 12:24 PM

Collected 300 gallons yesterday. Pretty good run at 1 gal/tap average overall. Boiled until sap was gone at 4:00 a.m. Drew off 8 gallons of light amber. Should have as much for tonight. The sap ran all night and are still running. It's about time. The weather looks good for more decent runs....I hope....

Oh yeah, I filtered 8 gallons of syrup with the 7" Wes Fab short bank press the other day....It was a pleasure to see the sparkling clear light amber come out of that awesome machine.:D The whole operation took only 5 - 10 minutes. Clean up was a breeze.

Brian

briansickler

03-12-2011, 07:00 AM

Another 300 + gallons sap collected yesterday. Had a light niter build up in the draw off section of the pan after an 8 hr boil. I'll have to reverse flow more often on the longer boils. Maybe every 4 hrs or so. With our previous small amounts of sap I was able to clean the pan more often so this didn't come into play before.

Overall I couldn't be happier with the new rig...performs flawlessly with an evaporation rate of 35 gallons/hr. We will be up to 24 gallons after todays boil with whaat sap we have in the bulk tank.

Brian

3rdgen.maple

03-12-2011, 07:07 AM

I am around 10 gallons made:cry:. What I find weird about this year aside from sap flows is that every year I have to clean the niter concrete off the bottom of the pans every 6 hours max. This year the bottom of the pans are as shiny and free from niter as if I never boiled in them. I like it. Boiled 4 times for around 24 hours total and nothing caked on them yet. Trees have pretty much given up. We need some cold nights now. 33 last night.

stoweski

03-12-2011, 07:11 AM

Sap came in yesterday at a bit over 2%... Nice!

Gathered 90 gallons on Thursday, 118 yesterday. Can only imagine what will happen when the temps warm up today after a night around 32.

Bring it on!!!

highlandcattle

03-12-2011, 07:34 AM

We're in Montgomery County, NY, at about 1,200 feet. Approx. 3'-4' feet of snow in the woods, but the trees are starting to run, only got in about 224 taps on high vac(first year, what a nightmare) many more on buckets, then last time for these. So for a crappy late start, doing beyond what we ever thought... About 265 gallons of sap so far, first tasting is unbeliveable! GREAT stuff. Ron just fired up the new CDL and is boiling, it needs ALOT to fill it up. Snow and wind here right now. Windmills cranking, so power for me to stay on the internet. Once things thaw out, I think our 600 gallon bulk tank will be overflowing! Good luck to everyone! Ron just tested 2%.

highlandcattle

03-12-2011, 08:07 AM

We got our WesFab(same one) af ew years ago, and boy, did that make all the differece, quick, no problems.....

wnybassman

03-12-2011, 02:48 PM

I boiled down 65 gallons yesterday but couldn't keep up with it and left 35 more gallons for today. We dropped a couple degrees below freezing last night and when I got up it was already up to 32.5 and the trees were beginning to unleash again. Couldn't boil all day so I got through 45 more gallons and left 30+ to do tomorrow, and the trees are still running hard as I type.

My sugar is down to 1.5 to 2% though.

collinsmapleman2012

03-12-2011, 09:18 PM

long couple of days, going to boil my sap tomorrow morning. thursday was not my day, put the tractor in a ditch and buried it at school. bad time to do so. took yesterday off, but of course they get 4500 gals off of 3600 taps. so i missed a big run. today, worked on tightening vac up got one woods up to 25" and another up to 20". then collected, skipped buckets there was little sap there. bottled syrup from past 2 days, about 80 gals. puts us up to about 250-300 gals made this year. good sugar, about 2-3%. tomorrow im going to get my tank plumbed up and boil. syrup season is at full boil!!!!!!!!!!!:D:D:D:D

cpmaple

03-12-2011, 09:37 PM

boiled today and got my first gallon of syrup that made it worth while and more to come tomorrow but trees gave up after two warm days and nights. But trees that were not running are waking up and running today can wait for the am to collect some more.175 gallons of sap the past two day yessssss

danno

03-13-2011, 12:06 AM

2400 gallons of sap Wed-Sat, I'll take it. Processed 1400 tonight in 3 hours after letting it recirc for several hours today - me likes the RO!

briansickler

03-13-2011, 05:27 AM

What I find weird about this year aside from sap flows is that every year I have to clean the niter concrete off the bottom of the pans every 6 hours max. This year the bottom of the pans are as shiny and free from niter as if I never boiled in them. I like it. Boiled 4 times for around 24 hours total and nothing caked on them yet.

Same here until yesterday. We boiled 4 times with virtually no niter. Then I noticed a big change in the boil and checked for niter. It's here now in a big way. It took forever to get a draw and foam. Then foaming in center two sections of the syrup pan. Seems like it showed up after all the rain...maybe just a coincidence? We're up to 22 gallons made...All light amber. We might have some medium now because I boiled a little to long with the niter build up. But should be right back to light amber after cleaning the pans.

Brian

3rdgen.maple

03-13-2011, 11:11 AM

Brian I havent made anything other than medium yet and last boil was close to dark. Has rained everyday sometimes just a quick shower and other days it doesnt stop. Sure wish I made at least a little light so I can fill some candy orders. Oh well not liking this season at all. Unless we make syrup well into April its half over and I should have put up close to 50 gallons right now.

stoweski

03-13-2011, 03:49 PM

Made 8 gallons of light amber so far with what looks like a few more ready to be pushed through once I get more sap.

Honestly I can't stand light syrup. I'm trying to egg on the medium/dark. Not even sure people around here like light.

Did bottle two, gallon jugs of it for myself. Thinking of making maple cream... or candy. God I must be crazy!

All cleaned up and sitting inside relaxing. Sap stopped flowing... for now.

briansickler

03-13-2011, 06:09 PM

I cleaned the syrup pan this morning after boiling and soaking in vinegar water. Got rid of the niter nicely. Boy how she did shine. I was finally back to boiling sap by noon. But, I had to reverse flow after only 1hr 45min. and that's the way it went for the rest of the day. The niter problem was conquered with the frequent flow reversals. We are now up to 28 gallons finished. The sap should run well Monday and Tuesday according to the forecast.

Brian

wnybassman

03-13-2011, 07:58 PM

I'm ready for a break here. Been boiling long hours for three days straight outside. Got about 3 gallons in the house very close to syrup but can't finish it because I am busy boiling outside still. Probably another 1.5 to 2 gallons worth yet to bring in to finish. I just stepped inside for a minute, still boiling as I type.

Overwhelmed I am!!

maple33

03-13-2011, 08:38 PM

Boiled 8 hrs on sat. & 2 hrs today, had about 380 gallons about 2% witch made me 6 gallons and left about 2" in pan. that is the only run so far hope for good week to come if weather men are right !!

150 taps on gravity
103 taps buckets
3.5 x 5 englishtin w/ 1 x 2 englishtin preheat pan on homade arch
wife,brother & blacklab helpers
12 x 16 sugar shack

3rdgen.maple

03-13-2011, 08:51 PM

wnybassman

03-13-2011, 09:34 PM

If the weathermen are right we are looking at a bad year for sap yet again. One night with freezing temps and all but one day out of 7 it is suppose to be below 50 during the day. NOT GOOD NOT GOOD AT ALL.

Must be just a little better conditions down this way so far. I'm about 50% ahead of last year already, and one more really good run (Tuesday and Wednesday probably) should put me double of what I had last year.

3rdgen.maple

03-13-2011, 10:01 PM

If I was alot smaller I would be doing pretty good. I have a few trees for maybe 30 buckets that run everyday. The rest what a joke. Over 600 taps out and nothing great happening so far. Vac has been pulling in 100 gallons a day even though we havent had night time temps. If I dont downsize next year which I am really considering at this point then I will put another section on vac. Seems like nowdays we have to tap alot more trees to get the same amount of syrup we made 5 years ago. Im not even taking any orders as of yet cause afraid I cant fill them again this year. Sold out last year the day I pulled taps. Where is that banner 2 gallon a tap day? Havent even seen a gallon a tap yet.

Mountain Winds Farm

03-14-2011, 06:15 AM

we have been reasonably steady here , 28 degrees this morning ,but there has been no sugar in the sap .7 up to 2.1 ,still no big runs however

danno

03-14-2011, 09:40 AM

3rd Gen -

How many do you have on vacuum? If I were you, I'd be looking to get as many on vac (high vac if possible) as you can next year.

The weather around here looks good for vacuum producers, not so much for bucket/gravity guys. Our last freeze was last Wed. before the 30 we got down to this morning. I did 1 to 1 1/2 gallons per tap for every 24 hour period from last wednesday through freeze up last night (running 25" vacuum). Tonight's high teens/low 20's should re-set the trees and I expect same gallon per tap until the next freeze this weekend.

Early forecasts say the last 10 days of March/early April are to be colder than normal as the trough out west moves east and we move into a negative NAO that we expeerienced much of the winter. I also love seeing some snow in March like we've had this year, unlike the last two years. Certainly plenty of moisture in the ground. Sugar is down, but that can be made up for by pulling sap with high vac.

I'm thinking banner year for our area for vacuum producers!

3rdgen.maple

03-14-2011, 11:30 AM

Danno I have just under 200 on the vac and pulling a consitant 24 inches of hg. I am pullling in sap on them but not what I would like. Iam getting about 100 a day off them. I only put the one section on vac as it is on my side of the road and the hardest to collect and electric was readily available to that section. I have a big diesel generator I was planning on using to run vac across the road but after seeing the fuel prices rising I opted out. Depending on which section over there I will put online next year I will run a remote vac pump to the woods of the neighbors electric (family) or on the other end I have to ask that neighbor about running electric off them which is the woods I would rather do at this point. I could leave that up year round as I dont hunt or use that section of land for anything other than maple. I have a big pump that will handle alot of trees and pulls even higher vac levels than the one Im using now. It was nice seeing a freeze last night thats for sure. Starting this saturday night it is looking more ideal with cold nights in the future. But we shall see. I have the trees to get into the thousands of taps and try to expand a little every year with money made from previous seasons. I might just ditch that plan and hit the savings and go get them. Just for some reason several years in a row with little reward is aging on me.

3rdgen.maple

03-14-2011, 12:30 PM

Okay Danno and everyone else who wants to listen. Before I posted the last post I made a small change to the vac system. It seems I fell into the idea of seeing the sap shooting up the sap 6 star sap ladder was a good thing with opening a valve at the end of the mainline and losing 1 hg. Yes just 1. Well I closed the valve to see what would happen. Here is the answer for all who think venting a ladder is key. It is NOT. I am pulling 25 at the releaser now versus the 24 I had. Well sap is coming in twice as fast and dumping twice as much. Once the 6 star filled with sap it is pulling sap up it alot better than watching surging sap up it. I can visualy see the amount of sap entering the releaser is more. So after seeing that I went back and vented 1 hg of vac on the end mainline and went back and watched the releaser and it is coming in half as much as it was before when it was closed. Sap is coming down the laterals a ton better instead of the slow flow it was at. It is sucking it right down them nice and fast. I am going to say that the vacume willl take the easiest path of resistance and with it only being 1 hg it is alot. Proof enough for me valve is closed production is doubling on my vac. Already pulled in 100 gallons on it since I did that and I expect from here on out to get a minimal of 200 gallons a day and on a good run I should get the 2 gallon a tap mark. I looked in a couple buckets as well and they are an inch from overflowing. So my friends do not vent your ladders and if you dont believe me go close it off and see what happens. Finally things are looking up and all from a stupid mistake.

talahi maple products

03-14-2011, 02:53 PM

3rd gen
We all learn from our mistakes, and some of us are lucky to learn from other peoples mistakes. So don't be to hard on yourself.
My big mistake on Friday was thinking my Honda rubicon w/tracks could go thru anything, and I'll tell ya if your ever going across a open field after 2 days of rain and a foot of snow still standing, try to avoid the low spots. A honda w/tracks does no good if 2 foot of slush is holding you in mid air & no tracks are touching the ground, Bad part of the whole story is my wife was on with me: I had no one to call: So with my logic of weight displacement on slush :rolleyes:I figured she had a better chance of transversing the semi hard snow w/100lbs than my 200lbs.) Yea ,right. she still isn't talking to me:( and man was that water under that snow cold:mad:. 1/4 mile walk back home with frozen clothes up to your crotch I guess isn't as fun as it was when we were younger.:emb:(By the way it was dark before I got it shoveled out of the field, 4hrs.)

3rdgen.maple

03-14-2011, 07:48 PM

Ahh Talahi the good thing is you can laugh about your mistake in due time all I can do is cry over lost sap. LOL Anyways the vac tank was full to the brim today. 275 gallons of vac alone which put me over the 1 gallon a tap mark for the first time this year. About half my bucket trees did good and got another 200 there. So things are looking up finally. Tomarrow should be even better. Temps are below freezing already and high 40's tomarrow.

Mountain Winds Farm

03-15-2011, 06:00 AM

sap running hard yesterday afternoon, 13 degrees here this morning so once it warms up today it should be slamming ,about time !

danno

03-15-2011, 11:30 AM

Left for work yesterday and the 1000 gal tank was half full. With it below freezing yesterday morning and a forecast high of 36 I figured I'd be OK. Wrong. Tank was overflowing when I got home. Hardest I've seen it run all year. Immediatly started the RO to draw down the tank. RO'ed and boiled the 1000+ last night, so starting today with nice washed out tanks. Sap was 1.1%. Hit 80 gallons last night, which is 5 more than I made last year.

SPILEDRIVER

03-15-2011, 07:12 PM

I LOVE HAVEING MORE SAP THAN I CAN BOIL!!! all my drums and tanks are full and the sap is running hard!! tested at 2.2&2.3% makeing a emergency run in the morning to pick up another 250 gal. tank.....looks like i might have to sell some sap.....BUMMER!!!!!!!!!!

wnybassman

03-15-2011, 07:16 PM

I took a short video of one of my taps today. It was the closest I have ever seen to a steady drizzle. Amazing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGMb_rNPlfY

GramaCindy

03-15-2011, 07:21 PM

Awesome! I sure hope I see this sometime soon up here in NW WI!

danno

03-15-2011, 08:51 PM

Yesterday was the hardest I'd seen it run all year ... that's until I saw today's run. Wow! Releaser tripping every 4 minutes. 1 1/2 gal/tap over 12 hours with no end in sight! Was hoping to wait to RO tomorrow, but got it going to tonight as tank is quickly filling. I'm feeling a sick day from work is in order tomorrow. Sugar content still blows, but I'm not complaining. Taps have been in for a month. Granted, the first couple weeks were very cold, but beginning to believe in those CV's.

TroutBrookSH

03-16-2011, 03:21 AM

Sap's at 1.5% here in Mendon, after being ~2% couple days ago. Releaser was dumping every 4.5 mins today. Slowed down tonight/this morning. Making lots of medium. Let's see what daylight brings.

Greg

maple flats

03-16-2011, 03:27 AM

My final push to add more taps is this week. I have been fixing lines and boiling since it started, even with a 19 hr boil on last Saturday, still have a few taps to add in my vacuum woods (maybe 75 more +/-) Any I don't finish by sunday will be left for next season. This vacuum has boosted my sap so much I have not made the time to tap more. Next year I add vac on my other bush and an RO.

cpmaple

03-16-2011, 05:41 AM

good morning boil for 10 hours yesterday and made 2 1/2 gallons of med. Got to go collect this morning and get back at boiling today. will boil most of the night again.fixed one collection tank mid day yesterday that was leaking and thought it was snow melting under can till the girlfriend said to me that tank leaks. got that fix wonder how much sap lost due to that:mad: drink my off and off to gather. yesssssssssss

sapman

03-16-2011, 10:48 PM

Yesterday's run was phenomenal for me! Around noon, the double was dumping every 45-55 seconds, giving over 250 gph for awhile. Emptied tank at 6:30 pm, got back this am at 7:30, and the 1600 gal. tank was running over again! I never should have gone to bed after boiling last night.

Back to reality today dumping every 4-5 minutes. Hoping for more nights in the 20's!

3rdgen.maple

03-16-2011, 11:37 PM

Evaporator has been running 20 hours a day. Thankfully my dad has been giving me some small breaks for a nap and to run to work and turn some wrenches a few hours a day. Been averaging 3 to 4 hours sleep since sunday. Just as soon as a tank has room for a little more sap it gets filled back up. 500 gallon head tank is full, 2- 275 gallon storage tanks full, 130 gallon gathering tank full, buckets overflowing and just emptied the vac tank. At the point now that some of the earlier sap is starting to get cloudy and will be back into fresh sap by morning when I take back over. Got all but 2 tanks cleaned and better sap on the way. Been making grade a dark since monday night and xtra dark today. But man does that xtra dark have great flavor. Went from mad to overwhelmed. Yeehaw bring more on. 1.5 percet doesnt help either. Want that 2 percent back.

stoweski

03-17-2011, 05:55 AM

Congtats 3rdGen! Next year don't be so pessimistic, so early! Just wait it out and see what happens... if by the end it still doesn't run hard THEN you can BMW all you want... and we'll join you!

briansickler

03-17-2011, 06:10 AM

330 gallons of sap collected yesterday. That's our best day so far. We are up to 38 gallons of syrup finished. I plan to boil all day or until the sap is gone.. We still have about 300 gallons in the bulk tank.

Brian

MilesTeg

03-17-2011, 08:52 AM

Well after a 12 hour boil session we made around 14 gals I wasn't there for the final round of bottling. It was frustrating day I couldn't get the evaporator to regulate out I was getting 3 gal drawoffs at a time and then the temp was dropping 4 def and then the waiting game. On previous boils we were getting quart drawoffs every 10 to 14 mins. It was a strange day all around. The sand seemed to be very heavy too which I think is why were getting more foam than usual. Lol I talk like we've had this rig for years but in reality this was only the fifth boil so there's still alot of learning to be had. But were over 30 gal for the year which is good I guess. I'm really hoping to break the 100 gal mark but I'm not sure if that is possible with 243 taps and only running 17 in of mg I guess time will tell. I hope everyone else's season is going good!

danno

03-17-2011, 09:13 PM

Kind of quiet on the NY thread today - where is everybody? Those 60 degree temps have you down? Went over 100 gallons of syrup last night. My consevative goal is 200 and I bet I'm gonna get there. Picked up another 700 gallons of sap today although it does look a wee bit green. Maybe the trees know it's St. Patty's Day!

Weather beginning tomorrow right through the next weekend (not this weekend) looks spectacular. Most nights going below freezing and most days up to the low 40's

cpmaple

03-17-2011, 09:57 PM

The weather forecast does look great cant wait get my bigger rig sunday so i'm gonna be down a few day hoping no later than midday tuesday and i'll have it up an going 5x10. six foot raise flue with a 4ft syrup pan cant wait learning here i come never had a flue pan before.

3rdgen.maple

03-18-2011, 03:51 AM

Man am I beat. Just shut down the evaporator for a few hours till dad runs it today. Wood supply is getting scary low. Looks like a big week coming up. Finally got through the cloudy sap last night. Pretty proud of my dad he stepped up and felt bad that I boiled 2 nights straight with only couple hours sleep and took over for me wednesday night around 10 and boiled till 10 am. 68 and the guy still got it lol. Back into some good sap and got back into medium and looks like some light to follow it by the color in the pans. Pulled the plug on the vac this morning. Tank needs cleaning and releaser is getting scummy and sticking a bit. Darn thing has been on since sunday night. Will get that cleaned up today and fire it back up but not till I sleep first. Have no idea how much I have made since monday but pretty positive I already ouproduced last year. Definately time for a 3x8 with all the bells and whistles lol.

Haze

03-18-2011, 01:09 PM

The buds are starting to pop in the Mohawk Valley then again with the more seasonable weather next week maybe we'll be ok. We have a bunch of sap on ice in the woods that we're going to try to get up tomorrow. That last big snowstorm did us in. We made some buddy last year but that won't happen again as it's a waste of time. Next year we'll have tracks on our wheeler for hauling in all conditions!

SPILEDRIVER

03-18-2011, 02:02 PM

bought a guy out in pelaski yesterday 2x5 leader drop flue....bye bye homemade flat pan....got 300+ to boil down tonight and weekend....250 gallon holding tank tested at 2.5% still at 2% or above on all the tress i tested even had 1 that came in over 3%..hope the weather holds i need to make 24 extra gallons to pay for the new steamer.

sapman

03-18-2011, 03:15 PM

Expected to find 1000+ gal. this morning, only to find the vacuum off. Apparently fuel filter plugged. It is high time to get power to the saphouse for next year!

ceebsonline

03-18-2011, 04:02 PM

The weather's warming up and I'm starting to get worried about buddy sap...
This is only the second year I've been syrupin' and I don't really know what to look for when it comes to the sap getting buddy. Can the sap be buddy before the tree looks any different, or do the bud's of the trees actually start to pop open and get green? Does the sap look any different when it comes out of the tree? I've got a weeks worth of sap stored up that I'm pretty sure is good, and I don't want to risk mixing any more with it and spoiling the whole batch. Maybe I'm jumping the gun here and worrying more than I have to, but I'd hate to make a bunch of crappy syrup.

3rdgen.maple

03-19-2011, 01:53 AM

I put in a pretty lazy day. Only pulled 6 gallons off the 2x6 today, made a visit to the local amish sawmill and made a deal with them for a gallon of syrup in trade for 12 cord of slabwood, hauled a cord of it home and cut split and stacked in sugarhouse, replaced a part on the house furnace and got all but one tank cleaned, cleaned up the sugarhouse. I did all that and forgot the most important thing on my list for the day. Clean the darn releaser and tank. Forgot to even turn it on. Oh well give me something to do tomarrow as I only have about 250 gallons left to boil down. I will grab another load of slabs tomarrow, clean the releaser and tank and go shopping for daughters prom dress just in time to get home and boil again. Loving every minute.

stoweski

03-19-2011, 07:01 AM

I put in a pretty lazy day.... Loving every minute.

Now that's what we like to hear!!!:)

3rdgen.maple

03-19-2011, 08:44 AM

Now that's what we like to hear!!!:)

Thanks but Im so tired this morning Im having a hard time even putting a shirt on. Oh well time to suck it up and get after it. Hope everyone else is doing well finally. 10 day outlook is dream weather right now for a sugarmaker. Lets hope it holds true cause Im wanting that 100 gallon mark in a bad way this year.

stoweski

03-19-2011, 09:32 AM

I'm really looking forward to the next seven to ten days! After the blast of heat the past couple I was almost ready to pull taps on the reds - which would probably cut my production by 30%. Things are looking up for sure. Need to prepare some meals this weekend so I can heat them quick and get out and boil after work.

Good luck! And get some sleep... you'll need it this week!

danno

03-19-2011, 01:19 PM

wnybassman

03-19-2011, 02:34 PM

I actually pulled my taps this morning. I know next week is going to be optimal, but I already made 9 gallons which is 50% more than I have ever made before. The past week and a half has been exhausting and fortunately my work schedule (or lack thereof) allowed me to to make syrup nearly full time. I'll be working more steady now so the stuff got cleaned and put away today.

It was a GREAT season!!!

I'll start the preparation for next year now.

concord maple

03-19-2011, 04:56 PM

Any thoughts on this one. I pulled pan and cleaned yesterday to remove sugar sand (2nd time) this week and spent rest of day finishing and bottling. I ended up collecting an additional 45 gallons between yesterday morning and last night. It is currently cloudy and yellow tint in the collection tank. I would need approximately 20-25 gallons to fill pan and start back up any thoughts on using it or discard it and wait till we get a fresh run starting tomorrow into early next week. I figure it is going to be dark.

Mountain Winds Farm

03-19-2011, 05:49 PM

Had a great first day of the Maple weekends .we are up to about 82 gallons made for the year and the week coming looks great.Still fighting 1% sap ,hope it changes with the weather this week so we can get back to some medium syrup.

3rdgen.maple

03-19-2011, 10:37 PM

3rd gen - are you buying slabs from the mill on Rt. 2 on Orwell? I have to start thinking more wood. Even with the RO, looks like I'm not gonna make it. I have allot of wood bucked but it got burried in snow before it got split and put in.

Nope made the deal with a family on route 28 in mexico area. Really hard to pass it up. I mean a gallon of syrup for 12 loads of slabs lol. I run over with the trailer and its filled up in about 10 minutes and Im off heading for home. Its about 10 minutes from my house. I was a day away from being out. Sugar content in the mid 1. range sure eats wood. Never seen the amount I would burn coming. As soon as I have hauled a few more loads home they are going to cut it to length for me all spring and summer. They just want me to drop my trailer and they will fill it and I will pick it up and do it all over again. 6 loads that way for a gallon. I am really happy with the deal as I dont have to cut wood anymore for the sugarhouse. They are also going to saw up a dozen 2x8 to redeck my trailer and once I get them square footage of the sugar house He is going to saw up board and batten to reside the sugarhouse. He prefers syrup over money and we will base the cost on what I seel a gallon for versus his pricing which is cheap. I love bartering. Weirdest thing though his father lives a few miles down the road from him and has around 3000 to 4000 taps out he said. He knows quite a bit about making syrup. I had to ask him today why the syrup trade when your dad produces it right down the road. With a big smile on his face he said well I was only going to do the first gallon and then ask for money but after tasting your syrup versus my dads I will take your syrup instead. That sure made me feel good. Oh and after I cut the first load it was more than a face cord but less than a full cord but not by much.

3rdgen.maple

03-19-2011, 10:39 PM

briansickler

03-20-2011, 07:43 AM

Hoping for a decent run today. We had a low of 18 degrees last night. We had a break in the action yesterday. I hope our taps haven't healed and dried up to badly after that very warm weather. We are now up to 52 gallons of syrup finished. We've ended up with a nice even array of grades. I can't wait to see how the sap runs today. The weather looks great for sap for over a week.

Brian

stoweski

03-20-2011, 08:01 AM

21 this morning. Forecast high is suppose to reach 46.

Love to see some full buckets... especially after I finish cleaning the tanks and evaporator this morning!

3rdgen.maple

03-20-2011, 09:40 AM

wnybassman

03-20-2011, 03:46 PM

I got a little curious about the tap holes myself so I pulled one of the bucket taps to take a peek and the holes look pretty clean yet. 41 degrees on the thermometer right now but it sets in the sun. Vac going back on and ready to boil in a few minutes.

When I pulled taps yesterday I took note of the ones I put in earlier than the rest, and they were kinda black and nasty in there. The ones I put in "when I should have" looked good yet. They were all running great during my last good run though.

Mountain Winds Farm

03-20-2011, 06:19 PM

Another great day for the maple weekend. It was 13 degrees here this morning so it took some time for the trees to warm but it is 7:00 pm now and the sap is just hammering ! We met a large group of new people today as we had steady traffic from about 9:30 this morning till 4:00 this afternoon.The whole family jumps in and the buying public was really interested in the how's and why's of the syrup operation. Anyone who is not doing the maple weekends should really look at it as it brings in a huge amount of extra business. It is exhausting as we had some wheres around 100 + families come through our facility this weekend. The big plus is 100+ families all spent some money with us and if we did our job will be back year after year!!!!

stoweski

03-20-2011, 07:34 PM

Anyone who is not doing the maple weekends should really look at it as it brings in a huge amount of extra business. It is exhausting as we had some wheres around 100 + families come through our facility this weekend. The big plus is 100+ families all spent some money with us and if we did our job will be back year after year!!!!

I'd do it but I'd take all of your business away from you. :D

Congrats on the huge crowd! I spent the day cleaning, then emptying buckets, and now boiling what we collected today. Temp was a bit warmer down the hill from you this morning, 21, but the trees still ran pretty good.

Have a good rest of the season!

danno

03-20-2011, 09:30 PM

Sap ran good today, but not quite as good as they were running before the warm up. Also, sap stayed cloudy. I was hoping it would clear up after last nights freeze. Ground is drying up quick here. Rain/snow next few days should help. Temps even look too cold a couple days later this week with highs in the low 30's. Who would have thunk.

gi53

03-21-2011, 09:21 AM

Does anyone else have real low sugar sap? My first boil about 250 gal and did not make 1oz of syrup, just sweeten the pan,and it looks like it will be dark?

3rdgen.maple

03-22-2011, 02:41 AM

gi it is real low this season. Highest I have had is 2.1 and mostly averaging 1.6 or so. Sure makes for longer boils but getting lots of sap to make up for it. Today or shall I say yesterday was the best run of the year to date. Pulled just over 2 gallons a tap on vac and most buckets where overflowing. Tonight was the best the evaporator has boiled all year. Been fighting bad boils I guess from barametric pressure. It was enjoyable to boil tonight. Going to be a busy few days ahead.

danno

03-22-2011, 07:24 AM

Hard to believe it wil be the last week of March and we will have 5 consecutive days where it's too COLD for sap to run. Having tapped mid Feb. and it looking like the season will easily go into April, check valve taps are certainly going to be put to the test.

Sap still running down here, but cosiderably slower than before the the 60's we had last week. Looks like the gunk is now out of the lines from the warm up and sap had cleared up quite a bit. Still need to find a way to get the sap through the RO. Sap from the bottom of my tank is clogging pre filters bad - not that I'm complaining;)

stoweski

03-22-2011, 05:11 PM

Ok, so I lied. Just got in from emptying 127 buckets. Got a massive 5 gallons of sap!!! 36 when I got up today and now it's 38. Hoping for better weather. Wait, it's going to snow. :rolleyes:

backyardsugarer

03-24-2011, 04:07 PM

I went to the bush for fun around 1:00 today and thank goodness I did. Sap running hard and clear from anything in the sun (80% of my bush). Hit the vac and it really started to hammer. looks Like I will have lots of sap to boil for maple weekend take 2.

Chris

stoweski

03-24-2011, 06:28 PM

Sap was a-flowin' today. Looks like it's going to run all weekend and into next week. Can't wait to see what we collect. Going to be a long weekend of boilin'!

3rdgen.maple

03-24-2011, 10:28 PM

This low sugar content is sure starting wear on me. Burned more wood this year laready than I ever have. Twice as much as last year just to get to the same amount made. Will be all caught up by days end tomarrow. Just in time for a good clenaing to start over again. Who ever said this isnt work or fun is crazy.

MilesTeg

03-26-2011, 08:05 AM

I have to ask anyone have a guess when the season is going to end I'm still hoping for 100 gal but I'm not sure if I'm going to make it.

danno

03-26-2011, 09:22 AM

I have to ask anyone have a guess when the season is going to end I'm still hoping for 100 gal but I'm not sure if I'm going to make it.

Well, that depends on how many gallons you are at now;) Looks like a great week coming up. I think we'll be making commercial grade, but it's all syrup and goes to my final count. My goal was 200 gallons, I'm at about 135 and would be very surprised if I don't get there.

Get this - I have a neighbor who I try to compete with every year, and he always blows me away. He has amazing trees that have been tapped for years. He's getting the low sugar like me - 1.25%ish, but they get huge sap runs. I tapped two weeks earlier than him. He tapped around 3/1, has just shy of 600 taps I think. As of last week, he was sitting at 230 gallons.

stoweski

03-26-2011, 09:32 AM

Had 200 gallons in the tank waiting to be boiled. Knew it would be cold out last night but with that amount of sap I didn't think it would freeze. Nope, it didn't.

However... the line from the sap tank to the float box DID freeze. Nothing flowing through at all, not even a trickle. Decided to wrap part of the pipe with a waterbed heater and let it sit for a few hours.

Well, went out 20 min later and found 10 gallons missing from my tank... 1 was dripping on the ground from around the heater - it was wrapped around a fitting that must have expanded... 4 was on the sugarshack floor... five I drained out of the float that was overflowing.

Net loss... 5 gallons and 2 hours of boiling time. :(
Finally got started boiling and have a frost-free pipe.

If that was my only mistake this year I suppose I'd be happy. Needless to say it wasn't.

Do ants like sap??? I may have to pressure wash the floor at the end of the season!

Good luck today! Looks like the sap will be flowing in my area.

maple flats

03-26-2011, 09:40 PM

Try doing as I do. I have my line from the tank to the evaporator on a slope so I can close the tank valve and drain the line completely,including the pre-heater. Then I close an inline ball valve so if the tank butterfly valve leaks the evaporator does not get flooded. Then when I want to start again, I sometimes need to warm the butterfly with a torch but everything else is clear. A minute or 2 on the min valve and it opens. I then am ready to boil. Don't close a ball valve when full of sap. If it freezes the valve will burst.

3rdgen.maple

03-27-2011, 01:14 AM

I have to ask anyone have a guess when the season is going to end I'm still hoping for 100 gal but I'm not sure if I'm going to make it.

If you hit 100 gallons on 243 taps you need to tell us what your secret is. All my sap is boiled through and debating wether to finish off whats in the pans and do a complete cleanup and start fresh come the next run. What little sap that came in friday looks pretty clear and had an amazing lol 1.6% SC. Oh well atleast it went up 2 tenths of a point. Been making grade B for last few runs with very good flavor. Would like to get back into some medium fro some glass that needs filling. Hoping the deep freeze brings the color down. Should bee making syrup well into april with the forecast.