Who is tapped in NH?????

[palmer4th]

I was driving in Hopkinton (New Hampshire) today and saw a bunch of road side buckets. Made me wonder if its actually running up this way yet? I have been planning on waiting a few weeks?

[spencer11]

i havent taped yet. where were the buckets? i havent seen any...and i live here. LOL

spencer

[palmer4th]

when I was headed to work today I think I was you out running tubing spencer? I am tapping some at my old bosses house so I was on Gage Hill road, and thats where I saw 25 or 30 buckets.

[Richard Gress]

I started in Newmarket today. 15 taps in a gravity line to a 55 gallon drum (firt time effort) and 6 in buckets. The flow was good. Can't provide numbers until tomorrow or Monday. Putting another 20 into buckets tomorrow. It's the earliest that I tapped in 7 years. Weathers been too freaky to wait after I put more money into containers and spouts for the lines, pans, and vamped up the homemade evaporator, ect. I'm small time so every drop counts. It's like watching a bunch of kids on the side of a pool this year, waiting to see who "jumps in first"...

[maple maniac65]

I was in manchester yesterday and it was spring like temps back home this morning it is 0 OUTSIDE. Sap is not going to run here for another three weeks. We will get the ocassional warm day but not enough to bother with.

[sjdoyon]

Sugarmaker in Lancaster area started tapping last week but he has 10,000 taps to get in. I'm an hour north and I'm tapping the week of 21st of Feb but we normally don't see any production until mid-March.


3x10 Inferno Arch
4,000+ Taps
7,5 HP Vacuum pump
Lapierre 600gph RO
3 SS 1500 gallon tanks
24x32 Sugarhouse

[Dill]

I'm holding off until next saturday

[Greyfox]

I'm tapping half mine today. The Weather Channel says highs for the next 4 or 5 days in the 40's and upper 30's, so I'm going to go for it.

[sugaringman85]

this weather is making me pull my hair out. i'm holding out till next weekend most likely or put some in during the week. Depends on how bad i get the itch to tap.

[Russell Lampron]

I am planning to tap next weekend if the extended forecast looks favorable. It was only 8 degrees here this morning and even if it does get warm enough to run today it won't run very long. There are a lot of nights with temps in the teens in the 10 day forecast so I don't think I will be missing out on much next week.

[ckkrotz]

We're hoping to tap in about 2 weeks... the evaporator hasn't even started being built yet, and our land is currently filled with loggers and machinery so we really can't be out there too much until they're done. Really hoping we don't miss the season, but we're up in Sandwich, so I really think we'll be fine as long as we get in the weekend of the 18th... saw some milk jugs on a tree in Holderness though and that gave me a little start!

[morningstarfarm]

HEHE tapped all in the 21st of jan...just crossed 25 gals of syrup..dumpen 200 gals on the ground today..was a little cloudy..cleaned the tanks and got ready for tomorrows expected tsunami to start..going to be around 15-20 tonight and 50 tomorrow..going to be a long night in the shack tomorrow night..
good luck up there in the frozen tundra..bless

[Redmaple]

I'm getting set up as fast as possible. Tapping about 1,000 between the Feb 10-14 if the weather stays warm. I did 5 test taps today only 2 were dripping(the ones in the center of a feild). Im cooking down 1 and 1/2 cups of sap on the stove as I type.

[palmer4th]

Ya I'm glad to hear its running so well in southern NH! I am going to wait another week or so, I'm not set up anyways so its not hard to wait but I dont want to miss out :) The weather in the next ten days looks like its closer to sugar weather.

This is a different question, but what do you guys use for a good extended forecast? I have the weather channel on my phone but it only goes out 10 days, and I'm not a fan of wmur's weather.

[tuckermtn]

we put in about 175 taps this afternoon. About 1/2 of them were running. Plan on putting the rest of that bush in tomorrow (should be around 400 total in that bush). Still have some vac pump work to do there so it will be gravity for a few more days. Will wait and make a decision on the rest of them next weekend. was pretty surprised to see them running this afternoon- was just barely above freezing.

[jgrenier]

We tapped our largest bush today (around 700 taps) with most every thing that is in the sun running.Just putting that bush on vac, hope to tap the rest during the week

[mjdmed76]

Started tapping in Brentwood today. Looking forward to 40 degrees tomorrow!

[Parker]

800 going in tommrow..hope to get the vac. set up and tap with it running...find leaks we missed as we go....a true test for the check valves....

[palmer4th]

Oh wow looks like A lot of people are going for it!? I better get busy

[eustis22]

Thanks for the tour, Chris....amazing setup you have there and I have severe woodpile envy....sorry about the 200 gal dumping but what ya gonna do?

.we test boiled 10 gals today and I'm really happy with the way the stove worked.

As god is my witness, I'll never propane again.

[spencer11]

just tapped 10 trees today this morning. think i should tap more with the warm weather coming up?

spencer

[palmer4th]

Sure you should then let me know what happens so I know if I'm late or not

[OldManMaple]

Town meeting day is the 13th of March this year and I guarantee I'll be taped buy then

[Amber Gold]

Keep sending the reports. I'm still planning on tapping the weekend after Valentines Day, but if I see reports of good sap runs, I'll tap this weekend. Sugarhouse is a mess though and my tanks aren't plumbed into the RO yet, so still some work to do.

[spencer11]

just put out 12 more taps. got 26 out so far. i think thats all im doing so far. no sap yet palmer4th, look at the 10 day for hopkinton. http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/Contoocook+NH+03229

[red maples]

I had too much stuff to do yesterday so I only got in 25 taps, had to walk walk the lines yesterday to survey squirrel damage and there is quite a bit of it. got a few things straighten out and put in about 25 taps. and already did about 50 this morning. its about 40 already and I have the vac on those 75 already but just a little drip coming nothing breaking loose yet!!! just need to warm hands a little grab aquick snack and back out need to finish all taps today!!! well gonna try anyway...squirrel damage slows me down a bit!!!

[sugaringman85]

Headed out to tap this afternoon, great sun and the temperature is there but its a cold wind aloft. Not sure how thats gonna help...Couple hundred out by 4 or so.

[spencer11]

just put another 15 in. up to 40 now. in 10 minuits i had about a cup of sap from 3 trees. its gonna stay fairly warm in the next week and its gonna run.

spencer

[mtcrumpit]

tapped a week ago today. just about finished tapping this past weekend. had a great run last week sweetened the pans and made 8 gallons to boot. hopefully today we'll be loaded again. no vac but the weather looks favorable.

good luck to all

[Greyfox]

Tapped in today, and was rewarded with a pretty good run. About a third ran great, about 2/3 kind of so-so. Not surprisingly the trees at the top of the hill which get the most sun ran best. I'm back to work Tuesday and Wednesday but I should be making syrup Thursday. This time last year I had 30" of snow in the woods and was going to the sugarhouse on my snowmobile, this year I could drive there with on riding mower. If this keeps up it might make me believe in "Global Warming."

[Mark-NH]

Planning to tap one orchard next weekend and the other the following. Tapping early should't be a problem with CV taps. Right?

[spencer11]

i dont think so and i really hope not. all my gravity is on CVs.

spencer

[Hop Kiln Road]

All set to go but still just a tad cold. Maybe late next week?

[bcarpenter]

I have had 10 taps in for a week or so. I was nervous with the warm weather and this being my first time sugaring, so I did not want to miss anything. Based on what I have gotten for sap (3-4gal total) I think I am early, but its a good learning experience for what to expect down the road. Can't wait to see all my milk jugs full one night when I come home from work.

[sugaringman85]

tapping today again have about 450 in and every hole that i have drill sap is running out before i get the tap in and its a cold wind, snow flurries, and overcast. Mother nature is doing drugs or something.

[Russell Lampron]

Decided to put the CV adapters to the test this year and tapped today.

[sugaringman85]

tapping today again have about 450 in and every hole that i have drill sap is running out before i get the tap in and its a cold wind, snow flurries, and overcast. Mother nature is doing drugs or something.

550 taps in today and 700 total so far.

[spencer11]

Got all but 5 of mine in. 75 total. Took 2 hours since my friend bailed on me today at school. Only got about 5 gallons. Hoping for more soon. Might add more taps to.

Spencer

[Mark-NH]

That's supposed to be why we pay $.35 a tap per year, right? This could be a good year for cv's.

[SWEETSAP]

We tapped 106 today and will try to finish the tapping (400 or so) tomorrow. 90% of the trees we tapped today were gushers. The tapping is going slow because we are tapering the inside of all the old stubbies. We should have done this last year when we started using CV spouts but didn't realize how much easier tapered stubbies make the mating.

[Greyfox]

The temperature this morning at 6:00 was 37 degrees but it steadily dropped during the day and there was a strong northwesterly breeze all day, so I got nothing. The low tonight up here will be around10. I'm REALLY starting to second guess myself about going all-in yesterday. If I had it to do over again I'd hold off.....isn't hind-sight great!

On the good side I do have a few gallons to sweeten the pan with on my next day off; Thursday. Making syrup two weeks before Daytona..........it can't be all bad.

[Russell Lampron]

My son in law and I jumped the gun and tapped all of my taps on vacuum yesterday. We got close to 100 gallons of sap before we were done. This will be a good test of the CV adapters.

[palmer4th]

How is the week finishing up? This weekend looks like good tapping weather

[spencer11]

I got all 80 taps in. Got about 20 gallons yesterday.

Spencer

[ckkrotz]

Looking at the next 10 days... I think we'll tap Sunday... anyone in central NH think there will be any significant flow next week?

[spencer11]

it looks like it will flow. but it was that warm today and i only got about 15 gallons with 95 taps in. not impressed, but it is still early in the season so i really hope it gets better.

spencer

[sugaringman85]

All tapped out here, but even with a decent day I only collected about 100 gallons and its not enough to get me going, sweeten pans and such. Hope for better weather soon.

[Russell Lampron]

Got my tubing all tapped Tuesday. Since then I have gotten about 325 gallons from just under 700 taps. The buckets will wait until it gets just a bit warmer.

[jgrenier]

I tapped another 103 yesterday, Started boiling the sap that i got on monday as well and after sweetening the pans I drew off 1 1/2 gals. of nice M.amber seems a little early, but I will take it

[SandMan]

Put in 300 taps today...was not expecting a run but most of the sugar maples were runing despite the cold temps! The reds are still hanging on...no run! I was a little suprised with the sugar maples.... another 150 taps tomorrow. Yes, February 11th in Sunapee....to weird!

[SWEETSAP]

OK We finished tapping today (unless we add more lines ) with a total of 503 taps. Since the 8th we have gathered 680 gallons of sap at an averaged 1.8 sugar content. Today was a steady flow which picked up at about 3:30pm and we pumped up at 4:00 pm so we could drain the lines and pump before everything started to freeze up.

[Heart Stone Farm]

Put all our taps in this weekend. Actually had some flow yesterday, but all frozen up now. Hoping the warm streak at the end of the week starts the flow up. Seems sooooo early. Good luck to all!

[maple maniac65]

It was a high of 10 degrees here above the Notch. We may get some warm days this week but sugaring weather is still two weeks away.

[BlueberryHill]

Hi Everyone, I just joined the site. This looks like a great place! As a kid we occasionally would tap a couple trees and boil stovetop but last year I stepped it up. I made a crude oil drum evaporator and tapped about 15+ trees and ended up with a couple gallons of finished product. I am now hooked and I am in the process of upgrading/researching. This site looks like the place to do my research!

My question now is... Who is NOT tapped? Am I behind now? I am in Raymond. I was thinking about tapping tomorrow or Wednesday. Just curious if there is anyone that thinks it is still too early, or should I get my butt moving? I am thinking of doing 30 taps or so this year. Thanks in advance.

[spencer11]

Well I'm tapped but welcome to the trader!!!!

Spencer

[Greyfox]

I'm all-in. I just took a ride around here (lakes Region) and about three quarters of the taps I saw are in, so you're probably spot-on.

I'm a hobbist as well. My "evaperator" is a 16X28 pan on a woodstove (modified), in an 8'X12' sugarhouse made from scrounged construction material. I ran 30 taps last year and made 4-1/2 gallons of syrup, just for friends, not for resale. I started out as a kid back in the 1960's with a couple of pepsi bottles tied to a tree and a "bendie-straw" for a tap. I boiled it on the kitchen stove and was lucky if I made half a cup. Funny how one's expectations keep building.....this hobby is addictive!

[Dill]

I guess I need to start my own thread, "Who isn't tapped in NH?".
I'm still waiting on the owner of my vac bush to come home from vacation so I can plug in the vac pump. No sense in tapping until then, it just wont run on gravity. Yes this is killing me.
Ended up not putting in gravity taps on sunday. Just too windy on those fence lines trees.

[BlueberryHill]

Thanks for the replies. I am gonna go for it. Maybe tomorrow or Wednesday I'll try to get them in. Hopefully I'll have enough to boil down a good batch on Saturday. Last year I had a couple food grade plastic drums that I dug into a snow/ice bank at the end of my driveway and it kept the sap nice and chilled until I had the time (weekends) to fire up the evaporator. This year I don't have a spec of snow or ice so I don't know what I am going to do. I fear that I will end up wasting a bunch of sap, but if I have to take a day or two off of work, then I guess I could.

[TRAILGUY]

finished taping, finished cleaning the shack, some areas running
may do first boil tomorrow

[Richard Gress]

Just boiled off 70 gallons to produce just over a gallon. Tapped in the Saturday before last in Newmarket. I had 35 taps in at the time. I put in the rest this past Sat (49) but everything slowed down with the cold snap. I expect things to flow again by mid week. Will boil off next weekend with hopes of a better ratio.

[IHSNIPE]

just started tapping yesterday(262 taps) and 1700 to go. haven't missed anything, neighbors have had over 12,000 taps in for the last week and boiled for the first time yesterday. still building my own ro just need to purchase the membranes now. anybody know the cheapest place to get filmtec mark 4 4040's?

[wiam]

These are best prices I have found for filmtec membranes. I do not know what the number is for a mark 4. I have been very happy with my xle 4040's.