All set up and ready to go

[buckeye gold]

I finished all my preseason preparation and set up today. everything is staged and ready to tap. I have had a serious itching to tap, but have resisted so far. The weather forecast says cold the end of this week then warming back up next. I am thinking I will tap this weekend or early next week. My normal tap dates are between January 25th and February 1st, so I won't be too far off norm. I sure would like to make some early syrup. Even if it turns cold I'll still be ok, I think. worse case scenario is I have to pull taps Late February and tap new trees. I'd rather take the gamble on early runs than loose out on some bonus early syrup. Like I've said before I'm only a small operator and have three times more trees than I tap, so I'm fine with rolling the dice. being a small operator a little extra syrup means a lot, even 2-3 gallons. So is anyone else in southern Ohio gambling on some early tapping?

[SevenCreeksSap]

You cant be too much further south than us and if you normally tap around then with the forecast I may have to go too. I am not ready yet but if I can get my caged tank up, run about 1500 ft of tubing, and plumb my head tank I'm good to go :emb: I do have about three cords of wood split and stacked at least. If nothing else we've collected about 20 buckets I can tap into. This weather is driving me nuts. It seems perfect but you know it has to get cold.

[buckeye gold]

Swvencreekssap, I'm in southern Ross County. We're probably 40-50 miles south of you. I usually tap earlier than other producers around me. A couple i know wait until between February 1st and February 15th. Last year I tapped on January 31st. The runs will be sporadic, but it still is worth doing in my book. Why miss sap when you can be up and running, even if it's only a few runs, especially for smaller makers like us.

[SevenCreeksSap]

I'm getting ready this weekend if it kills me, which it might. Running tubing Friday. I was waiting until after muzzleloader season but missed my chance at the biggest buck on our property. Maybe he'll get strangled in my tubing.