sheboygan area tapping

[falconer]

drilled a single tap to check start of flow and got sap on 02-23; might tap trees this weekend but the weather doesn't look great. Anyone else in this area? Just a small home made evaperator 21 trees, but loving it and looking for more trees.

[ehafkey]

Falconer I live just north of reedsville and I have been debatingwjen to tap. The weather doesnt look great but i dont want to miss any major runs.

[Haynes Forest Products]

ehafkey Consider this if you tap and it runs for a day or two and then the weather turns crappy cold and marginal then the tap holes close up because of bacteria. Then the real tapping weather starts your already behind.

[C.Wilcox]

Steady men, steady....talk about tapping this weekend is likely to push Haynes right over the edge. Next thing you know we'll be reading about a madman babbling incoherently about sap who got arrested on I-80 while driving east at 120 mph with a mountain of blue tubing trailing behind his pickup. ;)

[Haynes Forest Products]

No not yet I still have a weeks worth of work on the board before I can go:mad: Getting there to early is just as bad. I still need to let Coors know Im leaving town and going to Wisc.;)

[WI Sugarpop]

I'm west of Plymouth 5 miles. I don't plan on tapping until at least March 5. I have logged my daily sap production for the last 4 years and it tells me that the big run is usually from March 15 through the end of the month.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Thanks Sugarpop Thats what I was wanting to hear. Now did last year screw up the average? I have always strived to get up during the equanox........or that funny moon thing going on:confused:

[WI Sugarpop]

Haynes, last year was a bad year but even so, March 20 & 21 were our best 2 days of the season for sap production. I always write down on a calender what our totals are for each day and then at the end of the season I transfer them to a spreadsheet. Then each year when we get the itch in Feb. we can take a look at the years past and say calm down and relax and get prepared for the big run in March.

[TF Maple]

I agree with waiting so far and I also have a spreadsheet from last year. Last year we had a decent little run from March 6 to 9. Then it was slow until the 15th when we had good runs until the 24th. Then slow for a couple days but big sap from the 27th to 31st. The sap was pretty crappy after that and I dumped it and quit.

[Packerfan]

I just keep cutting wood and moving my tree stands untill I see a run of 40's predicted. I guess I could run some more tubing too. I have fun playing with tubing.

[jfroe939]

Sorta feels like those 2 weeks before the superbowl that can't go by fast enough. Except after the superbowl your feet don't hurt, you're well-rested, and you can still stand the sight of syrup. Last year I lost 9 pounds in those last 2 weeks of March when it hit pretty good. Of course, put it all back on in about 2 months. Yet somehow you want to do it all over again come every March. I should make a video tape of myself on one of those 48-degree days in early April when the firewood's goin' up the stack like it's going out of style and it's 1 am and you're still planning on dropping the sap in the pan another 2 inches - sore feet, a.m. radio that's fading in and out from some station in Cleveland - coyotes howlin' just a field over - frozen sap hose - and can't wait to get inside and see if my college basketball bracket still is intact and then head to bed and get those precious 6 hours of sleep before getting up early again to move more sap before that next big run starts. <<-- That way I could look at the poor muther on the tape and remember to try some other hobby when March 2012 comes around. Amen!

[Haynes Forest Products]

jfroe I second all that and driving 1200 miles to do it. Say HEY to Elly Maye for me:rolleyes:

[Dane Tapper]

I'm a little farther south than the rest of you and expect the sap to run a little earlier. The weather reports all indicated upper 30's for most days this week. I put one tap in last week just to monitor and had sapcicles two mornings. So, I broke down and tapped about 30 trees over the weekend. Hopefully, I didn't jump the gun. Will put out the rest of my taps when the snow goes down a little more and makes it easier to walk in the woods.

[WI Sugarpop]

It seems pretty quiet around here. What is everyone doing? Is everyone going up to Jacksonport this year to help out Haynes? Pete S are you getting ready or are you still building your sugar shack?

[Rhino]

Ron, We are just getting everything in order before we tap, After looking at every extended forecast i can find for our area, they all say cool/cold until March 13th. That is when we will start tapping up here unless they change the forecast. Even NOAA says slightly below average temps for March for us. Yesterday I ran to Fleet Farm and bought another 1500 gal. poly tank. The tank was $469.00 but if you signed up for a Fleet credit card you got 10% off your first purchase. Can't beat 1500 gal. of storage for $420.00 bucks. Today I will do odds and ends in the syrup house and work with the mainline going into a zero tank, get the gathering trailers ready, and other small projects. Should be a nice day to work in the woods.

[Rhino]

Got alot done today, nice sunshine and 40 degrees before the cool down again. The best part of the day was finding out that the warm temps and rain a few weeks ago really set up the snow. I can walk right over it and also drive a 4-wheeler without once breaking through. There is 7 inches of fluffy snow on top from our last storm so i am thinking that will insulate the ice pack and hold it tight right through tapping unless it rains and turns it to mush before we tap. Tapping might be the easiest we had in a few years.

[WI Sugarpop]

I've been getting things ready slowly. It doesn't look like the temps will be good until about March 13. I was thinking about waiting till the 12th to put taps in. It will only take a half a day to put them in. Besides, that will make Haynes happy, right?

[ehafkey]

I've been out hanging tubing and putting the finishing touches on the shack. I was considering tapping on the 5th but now I might wait. Still not sure what to do. We have 2-3 ft of snow in the woods and my 1979 invader snowmobile is not running the best, need to rebuild the carbs. Will wash buckets this weekend and try not to drilll any holes.(this is harder than you think)

If it doesn't warm up soon so we can tap I'm going to explode! Or my wife is going to kill me for being obsessed.

[C.Wilcox]

I hate to say it guys, but I drilled a pinhole today on the south side of a tree and the sap ran out before I even withdrew the drill bit....good thing it's getting cold again tomorrow or I might be tempted to do something rash. I'm still shooting for this weekend for tapping, but might be persuaded to wait if the weather is cold or if the implement doesn't give me back my carburetor for the tractor by then.