Western Wisconsin

[Cody]

From the way the weather looks. We are probably going to start tapping Early Saturday morning. Thoughts?

[jmayerl]

please forgive me but..........It's already past Saturday morning.

[jgavic]

The long term forecast doesn't look good at all. We aren't going to tap quite yet...Probably around the 10th. If the weather clears up and looks okay mid week we might start tapping on Wednesday. Im guessing it will be next weekend though.

[Cody]

From the way the weather looks. We are probably going to start tapping Early Saturday morning. Thoughts?
Haha I meant next weekend haha.....

[jgavic]

Any news on people tapping on the western side of the state? I think we will start friday and hopefully finish by the time the weekend is over. We have 400 new taps that we put on lines this year and will have around 650 buckets...Getting excited!

[markcasper]

I am still fixing and shoveling lines out. Will start drilling by Friday. Next week looks good according to accuweather. My prediction is the sugar content will be fairly low this year due to all the rain last summer.

[jgavic]

This Saturday would be a great time to get taps in the tree in Spring Valley. We will do 400 taps on Friday and then work on our 650 buckets all weekend.

[jgavic]

From the way the weather looks. We are probably going to start tapping Early Saturday morning. Thoughts?


This Saturday would be a great time to get taps in the tree in Spring Valley. We will do 400 taps on Friday and then work on our 650 buckets all weekend.

[Cody]

We got excited and put about 65 of our 300 taps in...haha sap was running today prolly got a good 30 gallons?

[WI Sugarpop]

Who is prolly?:rolleyes:

[rinert]

Monday I tapped 12 trees and I was not impressed but by the end of the day 7 out of 12 did drip. So today me and sap haler #4 (3) are going to try to get 75 more in then finish up the nineteenth with the boy and girl scouts. spending a day with 25 kid I will be looking to spend time with a cold one and looking at sap boil.lol

[Dane Tapper]

I've had 28 taps in for almost 2 weeks. The first week only 5 gal sap. Yesterday, 5 gal. I think that this week will be good. Next week could be too warm by me, up to 50.

[jgavic]

Well, tapped 400 trees that were on lines yesterday and some of the trees were dripping pretty good (2 drips a second). This was on a North facing hill side to so I would have to imagine the South sides are running. I have to work today but the rest of the family is trying to put a dent in the 650 buckets today. Might have to boil this weekend if we get 400 gallons!!!

[Cody]

Who is prolly?:rolleyes:

prolly=Probably lol I was lazy and didnt want to type it out all the way...:D

[fernwood2009]

Tapped 25 trees this afternoon. Sap was running out of the holes before I could get the taps in. A few trees had an almost steady stream. Some trees were in the shade, some in the sun. Most had snow 2' up the trunk. The ones where the snow had melted at the base of the tree were not running as well as those that were snowbound. Go figure.

Will do another 50 trees throughout the week.

[jgavic]

Got about 600 buckets hung over the weekend and worked on getting the sugar shack ready for the first boil. Might be firing it up on Thursday to get the first boil out of the way. Should have about 1030 taps out right now and will have 25 more done by the weekend. Work is going to be painful this week!!!

[jgavic]

How did the sap run today in WI? Any updates?

[ComputerSteve]

In Waukesha county, with 37 taps, we got 40 gallons of sap in 24 hours.

[rtoutfitter]

in buffalo co I have two hundered taps in since last Sat. an ended up with 40 gallons today, hoping it gets better.

[WI Sugarpop]

In Sheboygan we got 140 gals on 150 taps. Yesterday we got 210 gals.

[rinert]

Yesterday I empty all 115 buckets and only got 15 gal. Today I only collected 7 that is only seven. Is anyone getting more and should this newbe be worried.

[jgavic]

We have got about 550 gallons of sap out of our 400 taps on lines since Friday...Checked the sap and it is about 2.7% Got the evaporator fired up last night and got the first boil out of the way..Man did it feel good:D

[jgavic]

Are the trees dripping at all today in WI? Im debating if I should leave work to go get some ice out of buckets to prepare for some good runs. Can anyone give me an update?

[rtoutfitter]

I just got back from checking my taps and there is a slow drip today, on average i had a quart to around a gallon in my bags and I have two hunderd taps out, I would weight, maybe sunday I will do a collection. Im in buffalo county.

[Merklin Maples]

Gathered sap for the first time since the snow. Most bags had some sap in it. But a lot of ice as well. Have always understood the ice was just frozen water and should be discarded and always have. Was wonderind if everyone else dumps the ice or do you boil it anyway? Hate to throw away potential end product. Any thoughts are appreciated.:

[TF Maple]

Gathered sap for the first time since the snow. Most bags had some sap in it. But a lot of ice as well. Have always understood the ice was just frozen water and should be discarded and always have. Was wonderind if everyone else dumps the ice or do you boil it anyway? Hate to throw away potential end product. Any thoughts are appreciated.:

I only tested ice once for sugar content so I wouldn't call it a good test. It was 1%. I want to test some more as soon as I go collecting again.

[Packerfan]

I pitch surface ice and small amounts in my bags, but yesterday my bags were frozen through. I could have left them alone, but I had the time and wood, so I cooked it all.

[Backyard Sapman]

On normal nights it only freezes the surface and that ice I throw out, but lately its been freezing everything completely solid so that sap (block of ice) I cook down.

[rinert]

i tested my ice and it is at 2 but when you collect 30 gal of ice if it was lower i still cook it. have 40 more buckets to pick up at least 40 more gal of ice.

[Marty]

I have some taps in pierce county...can anyone tell me if the sap is back running yet or maybe Tuesday.

[rtoutfitter]

went out today at 6:30 pm and there was a good drip i was around a 2 gallon avererge on my bags, may collect tomorrow if the ice chunks melt out but they were big blocks today. good luck

[jgavic]

I am in pierce county also and I'm guessing we averaged a gallon per tap yesterday. I found 40 more plastic taps that we had left over from our tubing so I put those in and ran tubing into bucket on ground. The fresh holes I drilled were dripping over 4 drips a second. I have never seen anything like it(I am going to put the video on you tube and put link on MT). Today along with the next two days are going to be wild! Our lines on the north facing hill side finally thawed out yesterday and was running at a steady pee...it's going to be a busy week of sappin! Good luck to all!!!

[jgavic]

Check this out! 4 drips a second out of tap holes I drilled yesterday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmM-xhwEuWw

[Cody]

From yesterday and today we collected 245 Gallons of sap. 5.8% :P

[jgavic]

Collected our buckets Tuesday and Wednesday...
Tuesday collected 450 and tested 4.4
Wednesday collected 500 and tested 3.5
Our 1100 gallon tank collecting everything from our lines is at about 800 gallons full!!!

[Cody]

SO far this year 1300 gallons averaging 5.0% :) Must say Im very pleased.

[harvey413]

It was not a very good year again, the frogs started peeping friday so it is done. The wek of cold in the middle of season sucked. Cleaned up on friday and started pulling taps sat. Time to get the boat ready to go fishing

[Cody]

Post when you tap in western Wisconsin, Thanks

[Darkhollow Sugar Bush]

Tapped yesterday. all on north hillside and we have 500 gallons of sap off 300 taps

[Balsam Hills]

Began tapping yesterday. I think it's time, especially if you have soft maples or a south facing slope.

[Cody]

I've been torturing myself for the last two weeks, because I want to go start tapping so badly, but I think the wait might be over? This coming weekend? Now I know I've never trusted a meteorologist but right now I'm really hoping they are right!
Around the 40's during the day and below freezing at night! I really hope...
http://www.weather.com/weather/monthly/54767?month=1

[PerryW]

I've been torturing myself for the last two weeks, because I want to go start tapping so badly, but I think the wait might be over? This coming weekend? Now I know I've never trusted a meteorologist but right now I'm really hoping they are right!
Around the 40's during the day and below freezing at night! I really hope...
http://www.weather.com/weather/monthly/54767?month=1

you took the words right out of my mouth. luckily for me, another producer in my town has been tapped for 13 days and he only got 320 gallons from 400 good-running field trees. He would normally get 400 gallons on an average run.

I gotta get some of those Wisconsin 5% sugar trees!

[GramaCindy]

You two are looking at more than one weather site correct? I have been obsessively perusing the different weather sites, and like a different one each day. I have not figured out which one seems more accurate most of the time. I think I like Intellicast and NOAA best. Here's your NOAA forecast...http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=44.8500274926005&lon=-92.23297119140625&site=mpx&unit=0&lg=en&FcstType=text

[Mikeh]

NOAA let me down this weekend... Their forecast for my area of NE WI was for highs of 35, 33, 30 and 28 for Thr-Sun. Thr was actually 38, Fri was 38 and Sat was 34. So they were consistently low for the daytime highs. Not sure how close they were for the nights. I'll have to compare them to Intellicast this coming week...

[Cody]

Well...Now they are saying 6-8 inches of snow Tuesday-Wednesday night.

[Cody]

Holy ****...Is it winter or spring? I cant remember with all this Snow and Rain?

[Cody]

Started tapping yesterday. I think its time. Anyone else?

[Yana Frank]

I'm also in Western WI, but on a north facing slope. Put in one test tap but nothing yet. Thinking of tapping mine on Monday maybe. What is the risk in putting taps in too early? Because it sounds like after this weeks warm up there may be more cold weather - is there any benefit to waiting until later?

Thanks!

[Cody]

If i were you i would have tapped this weekend because this week is gunna be a good one. there really isnt a risk with tapping too early unless the season runs long then you have a higher chance of your holes to dry up so youd have to tapp again but now would be the time in my opinion.
-Cody

[Cody]

Anyone getting any sap?

[Huckster]

Put in 70 taps today. It was dripping sap in front most trees. Went out about 500pm and checked buckets. A few had enough sap to cover the bottom and some were still dry. Maybe with a few warm days and it will wake up the trees.

[Darkhollow Sugar Bush]

we have 440 taps on gravity and got 525 gallons today. just checked them and they are still running at 7:30. going to fire up the cooker tomorrow.

[Balsam Hills]

We have 350 taps on red maples situated on a south facing slope. They have been running well into the evening and I'm expecting at least 350 gallons. I just fired up the evaporator and will be cooking through the night. Tis the season!

[markcasper]

The weather forecast after Friday looks terrible! I am going to hold off on tapping for now, not rip my hair to get everything ready just for two or three days of sap. Other years like this have happened and then around St. patty's day or so things change for the good for a few weeks. Will have to wait and see.

[DOlson]

We finished taping yesterday 250 tap on a mix of hard and soft maple. Had a small run in the afternoon,going to get the tanks all cleaned

[motowbrowne]

We got them all in in time to catch what I thought was gonna be a big run yesterday. Probably got a quart per tap, which was pretty disappointing. Most everything was running, though, just not very fast. One tree with two taps put out five gallons of sap. I wish they would all run like that! Well, now we've just go to cross our fingers and hope we didn't put em in at the right time. Hopefully this weather will turn around, not just warm up. I'd sure like to cook something besides water. Wish you all the best.

[Darkhollow Sugar Bush]

Looks like the season will be over Monday

[Cody]

finished collecting sunday march 18th finished with about 500 gallons of sap averaging 4.0 this year didnt turn out as bad as i thought

[Cody]

yesterday we started laying new tubing a new woods we got, these trees have never been tapped before. This woods has the potential to get around 3000 taps but we are aiming for 300 this year...really wish we could have gotten out there last fall.

[motowbrowne]

Cody, good luck in Spring Valley. We're planning on tapping tomorrow if all goes according to plan. If you end up with any extra sap this year, I might be interested. Feel free to give me a call 715-222-3237, I might buy some syrup too depending on how this year turns out and if you end up with any extra.

Ryan Browne

[Cody]

We usually have our sap under control so you probably won't be hearing from me..sorry. I did find an end of a branch that had a break in it and sap had dripped for a little while creating a sapsicle about two inches long. I couldn't resist! I had to break it off and pop it in my mouth! 2013 is looking to be a "sweet" year!

[Cody]

Well, we are headed out this morning to finish up a section of woods, to add around 300 taps for this year! I'm getting really excited for the season to start!

[Jeff E]

Good luck guys. I am basically ready, 98% tapped and releasers, pumps in place. Looks like a normal early March, a few runs here and there. Looking forward to the next 3 days, fixing vac leaks, getting some sap.

[Cody]

Looks like the weather will be holding out for the next few days at around 40 during the day and freezing at night

[Cody]

well. heading out to tap so its done before the next snow storm. hoping it stops snowing... gunna be long fun day!

[Cody]

finally finished tappin today, some of the trees were dripping. very slow though the trees we got tapped yesterday had the lines filled and their was a 2 inch sapsicle hanging off the end of the mainline into the tank, hoping the season is starting

[Boomer]

Checked my 20 taps yesterday and I think if I dumped all my 5 gallon pails together I might have a little more then 5 gallons total. My "best " tree is in my front yard with very good southern exposure and that bucket is half full. So that tells you what's in the rest of them. Hoping for big things the next few days and hope to start boiling Saturday morning.

[Jeff E]

Its what we do....HOPE!

I agree, and am anxiously excited about the next few days, thawing out the trees to a point that they may run. It looks like Friday night it may stay about freezing, so I am hoping for sap.
March season total with high vac on 2700 trees until yesterday was 500 gallons of sap. Yesterday was 350 gallons, so it may finally be ready to start.

One good thing. We all had time to get ready this year:rolleyes:

[gouldjs]

25 taps......half were dripping good today.....5 still sleeping. A little over 5 gallons of sap today.

[gouldjs]

boiling down 10 gallons as we speak....finishing on the turkey fryer right now. 10 gallons went pretty darn quick on my 3x5.....lesson learned

[gouldjs]

successfully made 2 pints of some darn good tasting sap....so good we had to have pancakes for supper tonight. We are hooked.....hoping for a good run this week.

[Run Forest Run!]

There better have been some crispy bacon on the side to swirl through the syrup. ;)

[backcreek]

MMMMMMMMM bacon and syrup.

[Run Forest Run!]

MMMMMMMMM bacon and syrup.

I know! It's enough to make you weak in the knees.

[Cody]

Well, we are pretty much done with tapping now, we had one tree that started dripping as soon as i pulled the drill out and it had to of been close to 10 drips per second, it was crazy, i wish i would have been able to video it to show every one, i think if it were to come out any faster it would have been pouring out!

[Tom M]

First year tapper - hooked! 10 trees near LaFarge, WI, 2 trees in backyard Nashotah, WI. Long drive between, but having great fun. This is incredible stuff. I'm getting my friends educated (but have to give them a pint each to do it) :)

[GramaCindy]

Welcome to the addiction Tom M

[gouldjs]

had a good run in Polk county today....25 taps.....21 gallons....all were dripping when I was finished collecting. Hauling out with the sapmobile (snowmobile), might get one more trip on the trails before I have to switch over to ATV.

[Boomer]

Boiled last Saturday (3-30) afternoon. 26 gallons of sap and that boiled down to 3 quarts of syrup. Collected yesterday afternoon and now I have about 15 gallons of sap and I will boil this afternoon into the evening. I started with 20 taps but now I'm down to 17, need the 5 gallon buckets to collect in. I need to get a 30 or 50 gallon barrel to keep the sap in, there's always something.

[gouldjs]

a little slower run today....collect about 2/3 of what I collected yesterday.

[gouldjs]

13 gallons today...boiling sunday, have about 50 gallons packed in snow.

[gouldjs]

boiled down about 55 gallons today....bottled about 15 pints of some amazing syrup. Had a few little issues with the finishing but overall it went pretty good.

[Boomer]

Boiled down 30 gallons of sap yesterday for a total of 80 gallons for the season. I'm done. Pulled my taps. I know it's early and things are just getting going but I'm done. Need to get my evaporation rate up higher, can do a little over 4.25 gallons an hour with my barrel stove. Think I'll post some pictures of it on another thread and see if I can get some help to improve my evaporation rate.

[gouldjs]

my 25 taps produced about 30 gallons so far this week....not huge but not bad either. Some freezing temps the next few days should extend the season a little.

[gouldjs]

Had my first good run of sap, collected over 40 gallons from last 2 days. Taps were dripping faster than 1 drip per second as of 6:00pm tonight. Boiling 80+ gallons saturday....sunday looks awful for weather.

[jeep27]

Collected 150 gal last night ... Have that and more in there tonight. Can't collect until Monday so I am thinking we will have a lot of work ahead of us .!!

[gouldjs]

finished off 17 pints of sweet syrup with my new hydrometer today, boy does that come in handy.

[gouldjs]

If weather forecast holds true, this could be the main event week in northwest wisconsin.

[gouldjs]

50 gallons of sap collected tonight off of 25 taps....3 day soak.

[junior1]

We are in over our heads finally. collected over 800 gallons on sat. now today and this evening totaled just shy of 1200 gallons. had to sell some to the neighbor as we ran out of storage.

[gouldjs]

Took the family for a walk out to our maples yesterday with no intention of collecting. Found 6 gallon buckets with over 4 gallons of sap on a 24 hour soak....had to change plans and rush home to get the sapmobile.

[gouldjs]

boiled down 130 gallons of sap today and got a little over 4 gallons. Had the luxury of skimming lots of ice today that we didn't have to boil down. Decided we will be staying at 25 taps for next year. We are up to 8 gallons of syrup on year 1. Didn't scorch the pan for the first time today....I'm learning. Let the fire completely die out before we drained today. We even got the drain material to register on hydrometer scale. Did 3 separate batches on turkey fryer from there and each took less than 20 minutes to finish. 1 more weekend to go it looks like. To be honest I am hoping for no more than 100 gallons this week.

[gouldjs]

collected 70 gallons today...a few buckets over flowing. 25 taps had last been emptied on Saturday. Got a feeling I will be pulling plug on thursday most likely assuming they run the next few days, I will be out of storage. One last boil this weekend to complete my rookie season.

[gouldjs]

I tapped one test tree in Polk County last night just to see what was happening. I had shoveled the snow away from this tree a few days earlier and it is in an area with lots of sun exposure.. It didn't run, but it did get a little soggy.

[gouldjs]

Anybody having any action in Northwest Wisconsin?

[Boomer]

I put in 19 taps yesterday afternoon. It was about 20 degrees and the snow was hard enough to walk which was very nice. I was surprised that I even had a few trees dripping after they were tapped. Still lots of snow in the woods but I also tap a few in my yard which have been my better producing trees the past two years I've been doing this. Hope I have enough wood cut this year, had to steal from my pile that I cut for boiling sap for the house this year.

[maplefool]

I've got a few inches in a number of my buckets.
I'm hoping to fire up the arch this Thursday.
I'm North sloping a bit, but i've been catching wind of folks with significant runs already just south of LaCrosse.

[Boomer]

I tapped my 19 trees on the 16th of March and collected 10 gallons on the 29th of March. I collected again on April 2nd and got another 10 gallons. So not much yet but if the weather here straightens out by Sunday I'll boil for the first time then.

[gouldjs]

The flood gates opened up on the back 40. Collected about 50 gallons today off of 25 taps. Got stuck a few times in the wet snow.

[maplefool]

I'm running out of tank space!
Today should be an awesome run.
Collected about 400 gallons the last couple days...
Carrying 5 gal buckets.
Sore as hell today, but the SAP seems to draw people like free beer...thankfully

[Boomer]

Collect 40 gallons of sap yesterday, oh boy here we go!! Did a little test boil on Saturday afternoon, not good. Burnt the one pan because my barrel stove wasn't level & the other pan I turned into a Slow-Poke. Not a good day but it was only 10 gallons of sap. Think I need to take the one pan to the car wash & power wash the burnt sap out. Lessons learned this weekend.

[Boomer]

I tapped 19 trees on Saturday (3/14), all of them ran. I checked my buckets Sunday (3/15) there was a little sap in most of the buckets. My yard trees again this year are the best, maybe a gallon each in those 3 buckets. I hope to have 40 gallons by the weekend to boil, wishful thinking but the weather forecast looks favorable.

And of course the deer ticks are back with this warmer weather, had a couple crawling on me Saturday and Sunday.

I know there was already a Western Wisconsin thread but I've posted on this one the past couple years and didn't want to see it die.

[Boomer]

My son and I collected this afternoon and got 25 gallons of sap off our 19 taps. My three yard trees gave me a combined 10 gallons. So things are loosing up, the weather today was great, a light freeze last night and mid 40s today.

[Boomer]

I collected 15 gallons yesterday afternoon (3/18) so I'm up to 40 gallons now. Looks like for sure I'll be boiling this weekend.

[Gilby]

Got 30 gallons yesterday on 32 taps. Hoping for the same today, but I'm running out of storage...

[motowbrowne]

Got 30 gallons yesterday on 32 taps. Hoping for the same today, but I'm running out of storage...

I think today's gonna be a dud. Ran good for the last two days here, but didn't freeze last night. Nothing running today. A few drips here and there, but that's about it.

[Boomer]

I think today's gonna be a dud. Ran good for the last two days here, but didn't freeze last night. Nothing running today. A few drips here and there, but that's about it.

I'm with you motowbrowne, I checked my good yard trees and there might be a couple gallons. Going to leave everything in the 5 gallon buckets and hope for a better today tomorrow.

[Gilby]

Yeah, I ended up with 15+\-, we'll see what tomorrow brings, but I'll be boiling Saturday for sure!

[Gilby]

11208

Finished my first batch of syrup ever, I think it came out pretty well, and I definitely learned a lot. A little cloudy, so I'll have to do so,ex extra filtering next time. We'll see what this weekend brings...

[mainstreet]

Dismal last two days. Hopefully this weekend is better!

[Boomer]

I boiled down my 40 gallons of sap yesterday (3/21) and produced a gallon of dark syrup. Anybody else have dark syrup? This is my 4th year of making maple syrup. Years 1 & 2 I had beautiful amber colored syrup and now years 3 & 4 the syrup is very dark, still taste excellent but just not as eye appealing. Am I doing something wrong?

[WI Sugarpop]

I boiled down my 40 gallons of sap yesterday (3/21) and produced a gallon of dark syrup. Anybody else have dark syrup? This is my 4th year of making maple syrup. Years 1 & 2 I had beautiful amber colored syrup and now years 3 & 4 the syrup is very dark, still taste excellent but just not as eye appealing. Am I doing something wrong?

With the warm temps we had at the beginning on the season, there will be microbial action in the sap plus if you don't boil right, that will make it darker. It just makes a full flavored syrup, the kind that I like the best. It should lighten up but don't leave your sap sit too long.

[Gilby]

Mine was darker than I expected as well. But the taste was good.

[Boomer]

With the warm temps we had at the beginning on the season, there will be microbial action in the sap plus if you don't boil right, that will make it darker. It just makes a full flavored syrup, the kind that I like the best. It should lighten up but don't leave your sap sit too long.

Thanks for the info WI Sugarpop. I did talk to a friend (and neighbor) of mine this morning and his syrup is dark also and he talked to a couple people that live close to us and there syrup is dark. So I guess it's not just me. I do have a couple questions for you, what did you mean by not boiling right and don't leave it sit to long? I have that gallon of syrup in the fridge right now and will can it when I get more to make it worth while.

[WI Sugarpop]

Thanks for the info WI Sugarpop. I did talk to a friend (and neighbor) of mine this morning and his syrup is dark also and he talked to a couple people that live close to us and there syrup is dark. So I guess it's not just me. I do have a couple questions for you, what did you mean by not boiling right and don't leave it sit to long? I have that gallon of syrup in the fridge right now and will can it when I get more to make it worth while.
I meant to say "if you don't boil right away". In other words, the sooner you boil your sap, the better.
Our first two batches were dark, but we collected 220 gal of fresh sap on Friday and boiled it down right away and then our draw offs started to turn light.

[Boomer]

I meant to say "if you don't boil right away". In other words, the sooner you boil your sap, the better.
Our first two batches were dark, but we collected 220 gal of fresh sap on Friday and boiled it down right away and then our draw offs started to turn light.

Thanks for the tips WI Sugarpop. Anybody that has 300 taps out I'll listen to.

The kids & I collected 20 gallons of sap yesterday (3/22) off our 19 taps. I won't be boiling until Friday so my guess is I'll have dark syrup again but that's ok it still tastes great.

[Boomer]

Wow did it run today! I collected 45 gallons of sap today off my 19 taps so now I have a total 65 gallons to boil down on Friday. A few of the 5 gallon buckets were almost full. Think this weekend will be it for me, probably pull my taps Friday. So whatever I collect between then will be it.

[Cody]

How many taps is everyone running this year?? how many gallons of sap have you collected also?
Heck I forgot about this forum for that last few years....oh well.
I've got roughly 775 taps and have collected 2222 gallons of sap! Have made just over 65 gallons of syrup!!

[motowbrowne]

Cody, wow, big expansion this year! Did you get a bigger evaporator or add an RO? We're running about 410-420 taps. Have made about 60 gallons and have about 650 gallons of sap yet to cook. I'm looking to expand to about where you're at, 700-1000, but I think it's gonna take a bigger rig, or else not much sleep. Glad to see you're back on maple trader.

[Cody]

I actually sell my sap to my neighbor! so i don't have to worry about cooking..yet.. I want to get an evaporator someday. Probably when I get around 2000+ taps

[Boomer]

Friday (3/27) I boiled down 40 gallons of sap and now have another gallon of sweet dark syrup. So for the year I've boiled down 80 gallons of sap and produced 2 gallons of syrup. I pulled my taps on Friday and gave away to a friend of mine the 50 gallons that were in the pails. I have my syrup in the refrigerator and will let it settle for a couple weeks, then heat it back up to 180 degrees, strain it into my coffee urn and can it. It's time for me to clean up and figure out how to get my barrel stove to evaporate more than 4 gallons an hour. All and all another successful season here in Star Prairie.

[Cody]

How big is your pan boomer?

[Cody]

755 gallons of sap yesterday! How'd everyone else do??

[motowbrowne]

About 550 off 420 taps. Another 350 tonight. Thinking this is probably the last "run". Maybe a little trickle coming in later this week, but I'm not banking on it. Should come in close to last year. Hoping to finish with 110-120 gallons.

[motowbrowne]

Interestingly, if this is the last run this year, it will have occurred on about the same date as our first run last year.

[mainstreet]

Reds seem to be getting close to budding here but at the same time others don't have a bud in sight. Go figure. The end could be here with the predicted temps.

[Cody]

i say we got another week! Hoping for the best of course!

[Cody]

Every one ready to go.Plan on tapping 3/25.

[markcasper]

Every one ready to go.Plan on tapping 3/25.

I have a feeling you will miss some season if not tapped before 3/25.

[WI Sugarpop]

Do you mean 2/25?

[Cody]

2/25 ya fat finger problem

[Cody]

Have about 3/4 of our woods switched over to 3/16 so getting excited.Pushing for 800 taps on 3/16,legs are getting tired and checking account is getting tapped good right now.Hopefully brake even or maybe turn profit! Good thing it's a hobby!

[mainstreet]

Tapped two on 2/19. One started running today so I went ahead and put in my other 18. Still seems early though.

[mainstreet]

Checked the 18 I put in yesterday and had something out of 4 of them at 1 pm. Saturday should be the real test with 40s in sight.

[Mister Breeze]

Hello,
Been watching this forum for a few years trying to soak up a little knowledge. I like the posts on the homebuilt equipment and plan on building an arch of some sort for next year. This will be my third season doing maple syrup. I'm located in Jackson County and I put out forty taps yesterday and collected about six gallons of sap from my red maples.

Mister Breeze

[nick3093]

We put in 178 taps Sunday in western Richland county. Had about 240 gallons in the tank as of yesterday and fired up the evaporator today. This is our 4th year and by far the earliest we have started cooking. Hoping for a nice long "traditional" season. Not fun trying to keep sap fresh when the temps are in the 60's like the last couple years!