St. Lawrence County

[Joust7.1]

I have about 85 (split tubing and buckets) of my hopefully 200-250 taps set as of this morning while trying to set up a new to me 2x8 rig. Things ran a bit yesterday and today but seemed to slow down quickly. I was checking some of the comments from the other regions and they indicate the end may be near or here. I am wondering how things are going for the established producers in the county. I am most interested in learning when people finished tapping and how production going so far. I realize that I may be a bit late this year, considering the weather. Also I am curious about what people are thinking in regards to the next week or so with barely any sub freezing temps in the 10 day forecast.

[barkeatr]

IVE been at it six years with 310 taps out this year. I know for the last six years, when ever i see an advanced weather report that looks like a string of great sap flow, it typically becomes much less optimal when it arrives. SO if this is true, the string of hot weather next week should change before it gets here...thats my fuzzy logic. I cant say otherwise, but Im going to leave my taps in untill it gets buddy. I have never seen buddy sap, i have a cold bush and typically run out of energy before it gets buddy. SO far I have only collected about 130 gallons of sap. Im over in Franklin country. good luck

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Joust, It is March 9th. Many years I am just tapping by now. We have cold weather to come. I finished tapping this year on Feb 28th. Having little snow made it go a couple of days faster than normal. Some had made some nice syrup by then. This warm trend will grow some bacteria but your taps are relatively fresh so the impact will be minimal. Where in the county are you located? We have many micro climates here so if your area is slightly warmer or colder than another the impact will differ. Good luck and keep asking questions.

[danno]

[QUOTE=barkeatr;183956] I know for the last six years, when ever i see an advanced weather report that looks like a string of great sap flow, it typically becomes much less optimal when it arrives. SO if this is true, the string of hot weather next week should change before it gets here...thats my fuzzy logic. /QUOTE]

I generally agree, but man they forecasted that warm up this past week to a tee, like 10 days ahead of time. Same goes for this coming week, they have not wavered an inch from their forecast of the pending warm up, due to being Sunday and run through most of next week. Yuck!

[barkeatr]

SOME experienced folk say to stick it out and there will be more season after this warm spell but I dont know if there has been a precident for this. I guess we will find out. how will the leaves get the sugar they need?


[QUOTE=barkeatr;183956] I know for the last six years, when ever i see an advanced weather report that looks like a string of great sap flow, it typically becomes much less optimal when it arrives. SO if this is true, the string of hot weather next week should change before it gets here...thats my fuzzy logic. /QUOTE]

I generally agree, but man they forecasted that warm up this past week to a tee, like 10 days ahead of time. Same goes for this coming week, they have not wavered an inch from their forecast of the pending warm up, due to being Sunday and run through most of next week. Yuck!

[Joust7.1]

Thompson's,
I'm at woodbridge corners on 68 north of Rens. Falls. Trying to brick my arch so I'm ready for whatever we may get this weekend. I have cv on all my taps so I'm hoping that will help if we get a "normal" weather pattern soon.

Might not mess around with adding vac on my tubing unless I get caught up by the middle of next week. Already made a booster/manifold for a bender releaser and have access to a delaval dairy pump. My plan was to run a dry line from my sugar house where I would house the pump under cover and where I have electricity to my dump station 600' in my woods. Not sure how to size the line. I will have up to three 3/4" mainlines with no more than 50-60 taps each.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Indeed the forecast looks grim.

However I like to think that it's kind of like growing a crop, we work the soil, plant, water, weed, keep pests away (every garden must be defended) and we must be diligent and do our part. We however don't have the really hard part --- making things grow (That would keep us up at night wouldn't it?).

Keep the faith -- it's not over.

[Joust7.1]

Sap was still running clear and at just about 2% as of yesterday. Not enough to collect today. Crossing my fingers for a colder night and hoping for the best. Managed to boil for only two days so far after the initial flooding and sweetening of the pan. Made almost 10 gallons from my 148 taps a couple of which I pulled already on some reds. My first taps have only been out a week today, so they should stay active for a bit, even with the warm days and nights??? It'll be very disappointing if this warm spell kills it for good. If things shut down for a bit or the end actually is here, how do I go about getting all the sweet back out of my pans? Can you simply fill the head tank with water and push the sweet through until you get it to the syrup pan or is there not enough to worry about in the flu pan? Thanks for any help/experience that can be offered as this is my first season on a flu set.

P.S. I'm hoping for a little Irish Luck tonight as the forecast is either a low of 41 or 31 depending on where you look.
P.P.S. I almost forgot, happy Pi Day - 3.14

[jeeptj19992001]

i am in marietta , just south west of cuse and i pulled my taps today. i finished with 355 gallons of sap at 2.3%. i tapped feb 15th we boiled tonight at our coop. i decided to pull my taps because next week will be in the 80's

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Yes, you can push with water --- any time, you don't have to wait for the end of the season.
Down to 28 last night and running strong right now.

[Joust7.1]

We only made it down to 31* here and we barely got a drip going yesterday, certainly not enough to gather. Last night went to 37*. Tonight might be our last hope before the really warm weather hits this weekend and next week. Thanks for the confirmation about pushing with water. I may wait until tomorrow and see if we get any new sap to add before I push what I have through. Would there be any hope for a run after the warm spell next week, even with fairly fresh tap holes or are we thinking things will be done by early next week?

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Mine are staying in! There has always been lots of syrup made in April and I expect that if the warm spell breaks, there will be more syrup this year. Hopefully the check valves will serve to slow bacteria growth somewhat. I'm guessing more syrup but not great quality. I had about 2000 gallons overnight from 5700 taps. Not good but it will make syrup.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

I agree with Thompson, it's too early to stop. We bought check valves for such a time as this and are going to give them a chance to work.

[Michael Greer]

We boiled up the last of it today and washed up somewhat. The silver maples seem to be done, the red maples didn't amount to much, but the sugar maples show no sign of budding out in Potsdam or Hopkinton. Still hoping for a change in the weather...if so we'll go back to it.

[Michael Greer]

It's pretty weird, but we're having a continuous run at 70+ degrees and 40 at night. It's not what the book says, but we'll boil it. Slapping mosquitoes while sugaring in just wrong.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

We are seeing the same thing, got 1 gallon of sap per tap yesterday and about 2/3 of that today.

[sugar ED]

It's pretty weird, but we're having a continuous run at 70+ degrees and 40 at night. It's not what the book says, but we'll boil it. Slapping mosquitoes while sugaring in just wrong.
along with the frogs a singing , lol. boiled up the last of it today and washed up somewhat. The silver maples are done (pulled taps), but the sugar maples and norway maples show no sign of budding out and are still runing /dripping ??? Just talked with friends in Alaska and there high for today was 17 degrees !

[Sunday Rock Maple]

We're done on March 21 (most years we finish the second week in April). Got 1,600 gallons of sap today from 2,400 taps but it is buddy and we couldn't get it through the press. We've boiled 7 times (not counting tonight) and were tapped 17 days. The final tally was 4.5 taps per gallon or 0.22 gallons per tap. Many thanks to all the folks here who helped out with advice as we put tubing up over the past year!

[Joust7.1]

Things have run here since Sunday almost a gallon per tap per day but have diminished substantially since Tuesday night. I unfortunately cleaned my pans on Sunday a.m. and didn't feel like I had enough off of my 147 taps to even fill things back up again. I ended up dumping most in the woods as it wasn't lasting long out in this heat. I'll hold out through the weekend and see if time and nature cooperate. Looks like at least one cold night on Monday. Weird since the robins have been around for over a week now. Saw my first snake of the season this morning dumping some yellow sap out of buckets.

[Joust7.1]

Maybe I'm overly optimistic but the 10 day on on accuweather looks great for some good sap flow in my area. My taps are still in but I haven't gathered in almost a week. If the sugar maples hold out for another day or so, can we expect that there will be some good syrup to be made this coming week as Thompson's Tree Farm had suggested before the warm spell? I'll have to search for a few more viable trees as I've taken some offline due to the buds exploding on the silver and reds. May the sap flow clear and sweet in the coming days! Thanks to all for the reply's over the last couple of weeks. This is a great resource for the budding sugar maker.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Joust,
Go dump all the buckets today so they are clean for any new sap flow. We are pulling all the soft maples and expect to let the first bit that runs go on the ground to clean our pump lines. I have emptied and cleaned the evaporator. I'll have about 3500 taps ready to go Monday AM so we will see.....

[Joust7.1]

Wow, just read about some other areas of the state putting taps in trees. I guess I was under the impression that winter just started. I know I missed a few really good runs last year with setting up a new (to me) rig and all but this seems a bit too early even for the new "norm" if there is such a thing. Plus we have a couple feet of snow in most of my woods still.

[sugar ED]

Wow, just read about some other areas of the state putting taps in trees. I guess I was under the impression that winter just started. I know I missed a few really good runs last year with setting up a new (to me) rig and all but this seems a bit too early even for the new "norm" if there is such a thing. Plus we have a couple feet of snow in most of my woods still.
Joust7.1 Don't start yet (that is last years post ! you are looking at ) But I,m in Oneida county and if the weather report continues to look like the forecast I heard today, then 2/9/2013 maybe my start tapping date ? My Dad & Mom live in north Lawrence and it was 17 below this morning there, 7 above here .Temps make the difference ,and as for the snow... we got lots here! only makes it harder to tap - but great to keep the season going and to keep the sap cold ! Good luck Tapping !

[Joust7.1]

Sugar Ed,
Good catch on that being last year's post. It's been quite cold here lately (we also had -17 yesterday) and I am actually hoping for a few more weeks to get things togetherm for this season. I plan to be ready by the end of February in case the conditions are good to go as I missed a bunch last season starting too late. I've only been to Camden once about a year ago and I remember checking out all the maples and the sugarhouses that you can see from the road. I was thinking that it looked like a good area for maple production. Good luck to you as well.

[sugar ED]

Joust ,
Thinking I missed my tap date as the temps. here are looking good ! But as my luck would go I,m just getting over a really nasty stomach bug that has kept me at home and not at the shack :-( . But I did get the pans ready for the arch (bottoms needed cleaning) . and if I can, I'll start tapping tomorrow as temps are good till sat. sun.,(good for keeping cold,storage) Starting Mon. thru-out the week temps look good ! IF the weather man is right . and there's nothing like the first early run ! But that's my two cents, lol. Little bit colder up your way so thing might work out fine for you if ready by end of Feb.and yes I love my 7+ acres with around 250 trees =give or take 400 taps and neighbors that would love to have some syrup for the tapping of there trees ,but last year I had all I could handle with just my trees, as my helpers are my G-kids 7 & 11 and weekends only ,unless I get lucky (hint hint Brian) and my son comes down from v.t He's like a woodpecker when it comes to tapping trees (the wood chips are a flying) I have all I can do to keep up with running tubing (may have something to do with age, lol,)but I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet ! just maybe a few less taps, If no help. As I love the hobby- time at shack/woods with the kids and g-kids and of course the sugar !!! Ed

[Joust7.1]

How are we looking in NNY? I probably can't be tapped until after next weekend because of work, regardless of the weather. My friend has a few test taps out and had a bit of a run early this week with some road side maples. Next weekend is looking real good on accuweather. I'm a long way from my trees at the end of this week and next so I'm actually hoping for a late start this year. Sunday will have to be a big work "play" day to finish getting ready.

[Joust7.1]

The extended forecast looks great for my location starting on Tuesday. I'm scrambling to get as many taps out as possible.

[Joust7.1]

Weather looks great for the next few days as well as the long range forecast. Hoping I can match last years production by Monday. Spring break for me this week so "LET'S GO!"
Currently just over 1/2 tapped with a combination of cv's w/ stubbies, new leader one piece seasonal cv's (cv2?) and a few lapierre seasonal straight spouts. Probably won't have vacuum until tomorrow as I still have tapping to do today. How's everybody doing in SLC? Thompsons?

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

You don't want to know!

[Sunday Rock Maple]

We had 11 degrees this morning and were able to turn the vacuum on around noon and it was froze up again about 6:30 --- got about 1,000 gallons of 2% sap. Yesterday was about 800. No strong runs yet.....

[Michael Greer]

Nice runs March 8th and 9th in Potsdam. I gathered 160 gallons from 160 buckets...can't complain about that. Silver maples are still very slow.

[Joust7.1]

Michael, sounds like you have as similar size operation. I have 141 taps out right now and just finished my third pipeline to add about 50 more. I finished processing all my sap last night after sweetening the pans on Sunday night, enough to make about 5 gallons. Sugar was the highest I've seen from my woods at 2.5% on my first gather. 250 gallons of sap collected since Thursday.

[Michael Greer]

We're pleased so far. Scott Lalond and I made about 28 gallons so far. One more good run and we'll surpass what we did last year. I just bought 10 more buckets...

[cncaboose]

Good runs thru the weekend. We didn't get to bed til after midnight for 4 nights running. It's nice to have a break to catch up on sleep and life. Sap testing 3%. Made 48 gallons of light so far.

[Joust7.1]

My third and final pipeline for this year is up. Some of those fresh taps leaked a bit late afternoon as we drilled, no real flow on anything else. My goal of 200 taps looks in range now with 187 online (50 of which are on buckets). I should be able to get to 200 just by adding a couple more laterals on a few trees that I missed. I still have a buch of small aluminum buckets that I can put out if I want to stretch my gathering time. Looks like limited or no runs until the middle of next week around here. We received 2" of snow overnight and a cold day ahead. Vacuum Day today, hopefully I can get it set up and try it tomorrow when it gets to the mid 30's.

[Michael Greer]

The snow is nice. Makes me feel like the season could go on for a good while, and it's good to have a couple days off, eh? I've got a couple more buckets I could hang so why not.

[SWEETER CREATIONS]

Jon : were at about 160 so far , 140 of light 25 Med open for maple weekend stop over . Mike

[lmathews]

How many taps are you up to Mike(sweater creations)?Sound like your doing well this year.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Scrubbed out all the tanks and chased the evaporator with water today. We are at 260 so far, looks like possible sap on Tuesday.

[cncaboose]

Chased the evaporator on Friday night, got 3 more gallons of light, cleaned and drained it on Saturday. It looks like it will next weekend before we get any more sap. Could be interesting getting around if we get the foot of snow that is promised.

[cncaboose]

FINALLY! It is warm enough to collect some sap and boil this afternoon.

[Michael Greer]

I have 170 buckets in the Village of Potsdam. After a couple weeks of nothing, the weather has finally come around, and it looks like a whole week of it. We'll probably surpass what we did last year by tomorrow, and I would be happy with this weather for another month. Probably get out-voted on that one though.
The break in the season caused us to have to drain and clean everything, and start from scratch. You know how it goes on the first boil of the season....you bring in 300 gallons of sap, and you boil all evening long, and finally, when you think you might just go to bed, you get that first draw-off. I know the ratio is 42 to 1, but when you start up fresh, it takes 275 gallons of sap to get that first gallon of syrup...

[cncaboose]

Michael, Are you tapping yard trees in Potsdam? I'll have to keep an eye out for your buckets. Our operation is on Giffin Rd in the Town of Potsdam.

[Michael Greer]

Yep. I'm tapping yard and street-side trees on the west side...between the river and Market St. Those 120 year old trees are fantastic and I often get ten gallons of sap from three taps. Next year I'll have a sugar house here.

[Michael Greer]

The end is near. Yesterday's syrup was darker than ever, and the filter press worked hard to produce the blackest filter cakes we've seen. It's odd because the sap is really clear and beautiful. A few holes have begun to dry out, but we tapped five weeks ago. A couple trees have put out sap that looks like pee, and I've been dumping those. We'll probably finish up this weekend.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Yesterday and Thursday were the strongest runs we've had this year, but yes, everything we made was dark here as well. I also thought I detected a slight caramel taste --- we'll see what today brings......

[Angela Rust]

We reside in St. Lawrence County , but our sugar bush is just OUTSIDE SLC and in Lewis County...close to the border. We've seen things pick up this weekend as well, but we haven't had any dark yet...unless we get it today. Season started out light and went to borderline medium and stayed medium. Yesterday, it was still medium. It's been a season fraught with "anything that can go wrong, will" and it sure has! At every turn. But overall, it will have been a productive season.

There was an odd time, last weekend, I think or the one before. The syrup seemed too thick to pass through the press? Too sticky? I have the least experience so am probably explaining it wrong. It had the guys perplexed and scrambling. They made some calls and visits to find others with the same problem. ?? Anyway, it was that which brought me to this site, so something good came from it. :)

[Michael Greer]

Well, I think that's it for us. We'll gather in the last tomorrow (April 8th) and tally up the results. We had a great run here in Potsdam over the last two days, and the sap looks very nice, but it clogs the filter-press after only 10 gallons. Very few trees have budded yet, but the weather forecast has no more cold nights. Altogether, it was a very good year.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Made 45 gallons last night. The pump has been on since Sunday morning and it's still coming in today at about 0.6 gallons of sap per tap. Running the RO now -- hope it hangs on.....

[Michael Greer]

April 10th, 2013. We're all in, we're all done. 100 gallons from 600 taps. I'm going to bed.

[Joust7.1]

Great year so far for me. I've almost doubled my "hope for" production!

I have two questions: 1. Are your trees holding up still in SL county or are they shutting down/budding for the season. 2. Is the sugar concentration up this year for anyone else in SL county?

Last year I remember peaking out around what I thought was about 2.3% and most gathers were around 2% or a bit less. I've barely been under 3% on any gather yet this season. Also, after looking at the weekend weather, I'm hoping for one more gather on Sunday and try to get another boil in before the season ends. Maybe it already ended and I don't know it yet as I've been really busy at work this week and haven't checked much since Monday.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Unthawed about 4:00 yesterday afternoon and ran through the night. One more barrel to get 1,000 gallons (last year was 535).

[cncaboose]

We collected the last 130 gallons of sap on Monday after a VERY hectic weekend of boiling. Never got any dark syrup until the last day. We finished with 190 gallons of syrup from the 500 taps, our second best yield per tap ever, 0.38 g/tap. Sure wiped out the firewood pile though.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

25 degrees here at 3 AM. May have one more shot. Pumps go on at daylight!

[Sunday Rock Maple]

We had the same, it's 64 degrees now (39 degree swing) and running very strong --- had to order more fuel!

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

light freeze last night and a few gallons of sap this AM.. All through the RO and into the evaporator. Will chase the evaporator tomorrow. Good average season. No big runs but pretty steady from Mar 1 until 12th. Then a 12 day freeze up and then pretty steady into early April. A few last spurts to tease us, About 1/3 gallon per tap for final count. Planning stage for next year! See you at the open house

[Sunday Rock Maple]

We finished yesterday, but nobody told the CV's --- they are still going strong.

[cncaboose]

Anyone got a portable band saw around the Canton-Potsdam area in st Lawrence County?

[Joust7.1]

Ice from the storm just started melting off of the trees today. Current temperature is 34*. Wondering how this will impact the season. Doesn't look like there was much damage in our bush, at least yet. Only one large tree came down, it was partially hollow anyway. Natural thinning?

[lmathews]

Ian,
Randy Thayer has one.He does a pretty good job, Reasonable price as well.His number is in the book.
Backwoods or something like that as well,I know nothing about him.

[Michael Greer]

What are folks thinking about the start of the 2014 season. I'm feeling ready, but my forecast shows only three days of good weather and then back down into the twenties. Are you tapped? tapping tomorrow? or tapping next time?

[sugarman3]

Mike
South of you and I starting tapping sat,using the snowshoes ,it's a slow go,i use all check valves,the 3 days of 40's has went down to 1 and that is questionable,but with all check valves I would rather be ready than all of a sudden miss a run or 2.

[Joust7.1]

It should take me only about 1/2 a day to tap my bush this year so I'm planning to wait a bit. I currently wouldn't be able t get the sap from my woods anyway with all the snow and ice. Potentially, I could use my snow blower to cut a path to my woods or set up a pumping station with a generator. I'm still planning the set up of a new storage tank and figuring out the best way to get the sap back to my sugar house. We are in championship season with our track and field team, so the available time for maple is not great right now either.

[Michael Greer]

Looks like Friday, March 7th will bring us the weather we've been waiting for. Three more inches of snow here in Potsdam, and cold for the next four days is giving me time to catch up on my non-sugaring duties. It will be interesting to see how long it goes with a late start like this.

[SWEETER CREATIONS]

We are almost all tapped in , should finish in the next couple days. We're ready to go.

[cncaboose]

Hi Mike Kenny, you might be all tapped in but it doesn't look like you will get any more sap than us in the next 10 days, unless the forecast changes, and we haven't drilled a tree. We added about 140 taps on a new line last month and everything is ready but now are just hanging around waiting and living the rest of our lives. I've been taking the dog for walks and cutting wood just for excuses to be out in the woods. With son Gavin home we'll wait til the last minute to tap, since we are half buckets. We can get it done in a day or 2.
Michael, I'll be watching for your buckets in Potsdam. Ian

[Michael Greer]

Yes Ian, next weekend looks good. You'll see more buckets this year as I've captured the interest of a couple more co-conspirators. You'll have to stop in and see my new "shed". They wouldn't give me a permit for a sugarhouse, and they wouldn't give me a permit for an agricultural building, but they gave me a permit for a shed....

[cncaboose]

You're lucky you could get a permit for anything in Potsdam. Talk about a dysfunctional government over the last 30 years.

[SWEETER CREATIONS]

Ian : we still have about 200 buckets to put out , but like you were just waiting for the right time. Good luck stop over for Maple Weekend maple coffee and all kinds of good stuff to eat. Meeting 3/4/14 at the learning farm at 7:00 pm, hope to see you there. Mike

[Michael Greer]

I'll probably tap on March 7th, but the weather forecast calls for lower 30s and cloudy, so it's not the best. With it being so late, I'd hate to miss any of it by putting it off.

[Haze]

We're on the fence about tapping this weekend. The 10 day extended looks cold right after Sunday. On the local news today they mentioned the cold weather is going to be stuck here until the middle of March. We're in the Mohawk Valley. Decisions.......

[Michael Greer]

Same thoughts here. Our forecast shows two good warm days, a cold one, and then two more days that might be warm enough.

[Michael Greer]

The forecast keeps getting worse. Instead of 39 Friday it's looking like 35. Saturday may only be 30, and then colder until Tuesday for only one more day of warmth. I'm starting to waver about tapping on the 7th.

[tuckermtn]

Not to hijack the SLC thread, but someone forwarded me a Watertown newspaper article about a 16 yr. old from Canton that has 3500 taps and a new CDL pellet evaporator? is he on the Trader?

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Don't know, Josh are you out there?

[Michael Greer]

The weather forecast drives me nuts. Now it looks like four good days in a row. I'll tap this morning.

[Michael Greer]

Hung 116 buckets today, and I'll hang the other half tomorrow. About 1/3rd of the holes were running today...silver maples very strongly.

[Jmsmithy]

Makes me nuts! First year in commercial production. Sugarhouse just finished to point where we can work. Just put in 10" double wall smokestack. Picking up new 2x6 Leader patriot drop flue tomorrow (sat 3/8) . Picked up 3 more caged totes two days ago and 900 gallon stainless Lapierre tank in north Vt yesterday. I'll spend the weekend bricking, hanging hood, installing steam stack...THEN get tapping...I know I'm missing some potential good days but whattayagonnado!!?? There's only one of me :mrgreen:

[Michael Greer]

March 8th. Just finished hanging 230 buckets. Found 75% running this afternoon. We're off!

[Michael Greer]

Hung 20 more today, and despite it being only 25 degrees, found sap in every hole I drilled. The weather might not be ready, but the trees are.

[Michael Greer]

March 10th and it's 40 degrees this afternoon. Pretty gloomy though and the run is pretty slow. I installed a stock tank on the shady side and buried it in the snow to give me a little more storage before the head tank.

[SWEETER CREATIONS]

The vacuum systems are not doing that well either. good day to chase leaks. Good luck everyone. Mike

[cncaboose]

I'm still waiting to tap. The 10 day forecast just looks miserable for sugaring, especially after tomorrow.

[sugarman3]

Same here mike,can't seem to hit that 42-45 degrees,turned vacumn on for 1/2 hr,barely drizzled in,now snow and more cold to follow and to top it off,wunderground weather station has no 45 degree temp for the next 12 days,starting to worry!!!!!!

[Michael Greer]

We brought in 135 gallons on Tuesday from 250 taps. I'll start my first fire today and then hunker down for this storm.

[Michael Greer]

Gathered a little bit this morning before the temperature dropped and then retreated to the sugarhouse. It was good to build a fire...first fire in my new building. Things went well, with a stack temp of 700 degrees, a preheater temp arounf 175, and the outermost layer of my home-made triple-wall chimney cool enough to put your hands on. I had a bit more steam in the roon than I wanted, so I picked up an in-line fan to draw the steam of the front pan faster. Cooked 160 gallons down to about 40, and almost got a first draw...but not quite. It'll come quick after this storm. Tomorrow will be spent behind the fricken snowblower, and if that ever ends, I'll get that fan installed.

[cncaboose]

Michael, where is your sugarhouse located? I'm in Potsdam all the time and could stop by. Did a little work in the woods late this afternoon. I thought my face was going to fall off from the cold wind.

[Michael Greer]

I live at 12 Walnut. Sugarhouse is way out back. Looks like we might have a run for the next two days, though it's pretty cold this morning. I got that fan installed in the steam stack. We'll have to see if it survives that environment or not.

[Joust7.1]

Finished putting out most of my taps on tubing earlier today. Not even going to bother with buckets, at least until some of the snow melts. Not sure yet how I'll get my sap from the woods as my tractor won't make it through the snow. Too heavy to stay on top and too light to get good traction. Even tried snow blowing my trail but the ice layers made it near impossible. I've been walking a double wide trail on snow shoes yesterday and today to try and pack down the snow in hopes that I can creep my tractor along to make a sap road. Got my pump motor fixed and is running tonight (42* here). Sap is running steady but not very strong. Hope to boil on Sunday?

[Michael Greer]

March 14th and 15th gave us a small run, but it's going to be really cold, so I gathered it in...100 gallons from 250 buckets...enough to fire up and probably get my first syrup tomorrow. The neighbor tells me he heard it was going to snow right through April!

[SWEETER CREATIONS]

first syrup of the year at SWEETER CREATIONS today !!!!!! I thought we had only enough to sweeten the pans but made about 3 gallons. Good luck everyone. Mike

[Michael Greer]

Made my first two gallons today also. Everything worked well, and the hardwood I'm burning makes almost no smoke. The weather looks like it'll finally start for real on March 18th.

[cncaboose]

We got 700+ tapped this weekend. Maybe someday we'll actually see some sap. Collecting buckets in the woods will be a major pain until the snow goes down. I tried to bury the tractor this aft in a spot that snow was deeper than the front tires are tall. Lucky to get it out.

[Joust7.1]

Collected about 100 gallons over the weekend. Almost enough to get started. This week looks a bit more promising. BTW, I finally got my sap road packed down and snow blowed so that I can get to my collector. Place my new to me zero tank yesterday. Looks like I have a couple days to get the lines connected and ready to go. Congrats to those that made syrup already. How was the sugar concentration?

[lmathews]

Ive dumped 700 gallons of sap to date.Just not enough to start up on the individual runs.

[Michael Greer]

Imathews, Do you mean to say you've dumped 700 gallons on the ground? If so, you need a smaller evaporator. 700 gallons is $700 in my book.

[lmathews]

Yup.It was line flushing basically.

[cncaboose]

Still waiting, but it looks like I can boil tomorrow.

[Michael Greer]

The weather forecast seemed so promising the other day, but it's only been kind of piddling along every afternoon. A bit too gloomy and a little cool and breezy for a real run, but there a quart or two in each bucket today, so I'll gather Friday, cook on Saturday, then hunker down for another cold spell. Seems like it's getting late.

[Michael Greer]

The sun finally came out this afternoon and the sap began to flow for real. I gathered in what accumulated over the last three days, and got 128 gallons...enough to bother with and will probably yield 2-1/2 or 3 gallons. It seems so late, and we have yet to get what I'd call a good run. This predicted snow storm will probably fall while I'm safe inside cooking tomorrow. Will it ever end?

[cncaboose]

Finally!!! got some sap on Friday, 650 gallons of 3.5%. Sweetened the pan Friday night and boiled yesterday getting 12 gallons. Looks like we are done for a few days now.

[Joust7.1]

First Boil last night! Probably the coldest night that I've done that and it proved somewhat problematic as my tank outlet was freezing up at the start until I go really going. Had about 200 gallons collected of which 150 were gathered and brought to the sugar house. Surprisingly the sugar was close to 3%. Could be due to all the ice forming on top of the tank. Didn't get started until almost 9:00 as I spent most of the day cleaning pans, pump and head tank in sub freezing temps. To my surprise, I was able to produced a few quarts by midnight. Maybe the sugar content was good!!! I probably wouldn't even have started last night with the cold except for I didn't want all my tanks to be ice cubes.

[Michael Greer]

So now it looks like March 28th will be the beginning of something good. Folks downstate are worried that this may be the end, but up here it seems like we'll have some good cold nights between the warm days. That's what we've been waiting for I think, though it makes me wish I had more taps out. Next year....

[SWEETER CREATIONS]

Well we finally made a barrel of medium syrup Friday night , just in time for maple weekend . Good luck everyone , get rested its just beginning!!!!! Mike

[Michael Greer]

Gathered 160 gallons on Saturday the 22nd. I'll build a fire Sunday, but not until I run the snow blower for three hours. We got almost a foot last night, and that changes everybody's plans.

[Michael Greer]

What a marathon day that was! The snow kept coming, and in some places we had almost 16 inches. I spent 6 hours with the snowblower and had to lie on the couch to make sure I'd still be around for the rest of the season. After lunch I fired up and made 4-3/4 gallons of beautiful syrup. I fill a sample bottle with each batch to keep track of color. This batch is nice and light, just like the first of the season, and there's was sap in the buckets at the end of the day, so I guess we'll do it again.

[Michael Greer]

Gathered 210 gallons from 250 buckets today. That'll give me something to do in the morning, and the way the weather is looking, we'll have plenty more to gather in the afternoon. This is finally what we've been waiting for. I hope we all stay very busy for several days straight, just to catch up with expectations.

[Michael Greer]

A little warm last night and the trees pooped out by mid-day. Only brought in 100 gallons, but hey!...two more gallons of syrup! Tonight will be colder, and tomorrow will be better. Get some rest.

[cncaboose]

After a couple of late nights we are up to 60 gallons made, all medium with great flavor. Looks like the first year ever that we won't make any light syrup. Sap tests have been running right at 3%. Other than getting 900+ gallons on Monday our sap yields have been low. Other than selling 275 gallons of sap on Monday, our 3x8 has handled the sap from 720 taps. That kind of tells the story. Didn't even bother to collect today. Just boiled the 350 gallons left from yesterday for 11 gallons of syrup. It will probably run like crazy on Friday and Saturday when we have to go out of town for a funeral so you guys should all be ready.

[lmathews]

What grade are people making right now?

[stihlonlynow]

Medium just barely. Some might call it dark.

[Michael Greer]

I've just made the fourth big batch, and it's just a tiny touch darker than the previous three. Everything has been medium so far this year. I hate the new grading system. They made some statement about trying to make the designations sound more like those used in the wine industry, but with only three color choices, it would be like calling all wines White, Red, and Muscatel

[wildwood]

We made a batch of nice light syrup from the first runs, this stuff from late march to now has been medium or a bit darker, as stihlonlynow says

[cncaboose]

all 70 gallons we have gotten is medium. First year ever with no light syrup produced. Sap tests have been 3-4 % and volumes on the low end.

[tallon]

First three runs were all light amber but tonight 6 gallons so far heading towards dark

[tallon]

Did anyone start getting yellow sap I had about 10 buckets today out of 250

[wildwood]

No yellow sap but if the forecast is right my season is over, hope everyone made out OK this year. I got my taps in early and caught some short runs that may have been a saving grace

[Michael Greer]

I had yellow sap in about 20% of my buckets, and presumed that I'd be making dark syrup today. The finished product was the same color as the earlier batches, medium amber, sweet and fragrant. Tonight will be 29 degrees, so we may get a run tomorrow, but that's it. We won't see another cold night until Tuesday, and that may be too late. I'll be interested to hear everyone's totals, and what kind of ratio per tap, and per gallon of sap, etc.

[tallon]

Its over for me 75 gallons off of 250 buckets yellow almost orange made 30 gallons so far prob another 4 tonight

[Michael Greer]

I gathered 108 gallons from 250 taps. Some was a bit yellow, but the big sugar maples were nice and clear...and still running. Maybe we'll gather a bit more tomorrow.

[cncaboose]

We got 460 gallons of 3.5 % sap yesterday after not collecting for 3 days. It is yielding quite dark syrup. LOTS of tent caterpillar moths in the buckets. Best yields were from a couple of 3/16" tubing lines we have. 1.5 gallons sap per tap. Surprisingly the big sugars seem to be running decently this AM.

[cncaboose]

Only got 120 gallons of sap today. Made 13 gallons of good flavored extra-dark including some sap from yesterday. We might be all done.

[Michael Greer]

I made three gallons from that last collection of 108, which I thought was a pretty good yield. I decided to call it quits for the season, and chased the sugar with water which gave me another five gallons of dark syrup by the end of the day. I have a couple of customers that have been waiting for the dark stuff, and of course they had to wait until the very last day.

[tallon]

Does anyone know of someone who can fabricate some pans in our area turns out I have the only 30x5 evap leader ever made as far as Bruce the president knows so I'm looking to get new pans made made or 30x 8 set of used pans just extend my arch thanks

[bogy12456]

try the Heuvelton tin shop he made r first pan we had it was 30"x24" stainless steel pan only thing i wonder is how the silver solder will hold up to the heat of an arch.

[tallon]

Thanks that's exactley what I was wondering about with his pans I really would like all welded

[cncaboose]

Michael, If you run out of dark, we have several gallons, and 12 gallons of good flavored extra dark grade B. Probably make some more dark this weekend. Many trees are running well this afternoon. We'll boil tomorrow evening.

[Michael Greer]

The very last thing I did, before dumping the rest, was to take about three gallons from the front pan and put it in a pot on the stove. There wasn't as much sugar in there as I had thought, so it took several hours of boiling to reduce it down to two quarts with the right density. It's as black as tar, and fiercly flavored. I told my wife that it isn't syrup..it's maple flavoring...use sparingly.

[Joust7.1]

My trees are producing a lot of sap right now and the earliest I can boil is Sat evening. Based on the local forecast do you think it will stay fresh enough until tomorrow night/Sunday or should I look for someone to buy the sap? I have almost 400 gal at about 2.5%

[riversideacres]

I had about the same experience as Michael. Last boiled ended up with about a gallon and a half of grade B syrup. Going to try making maple granulated sugar out of it. Have more sap in the buckets but I'm going to pass. First year making syrup. Had about 90 taps made about 8 gallons of syrup on a Leader 18x36 propane finisher. Got a taste of it this year, looking to do more next year.

[cncaboose]

We had 1000 gallons of beautiful clear sap on Friday. Started to boil it and it smelled bad, getting worse as time went along. Concentrated taste was way off, buddy, so we dumped it all. We felt really bad dumping all that but I'm not going to make grade C.

[Joust7.1]

I too have a lot of sap that I'm sure is buddy but was somewhat clearish. I probably would just dump it since I don't really have it in me to boil sap that I wouldn't personally consume. However, with so much in my tanks (over 400 galllons) at a decent sugar %, I am contemplating boiling it today to have some "C" grade to sell. What is the process for "C" grade? Where do we sell bulk "C" Grade in St. Law C? Does it need to be finished the same as bottled, ie. filtered and hot packed? Any advice would be much appreciated. Also, I know syrup is sold by the weight, but what might I expect to get for a pound of "C" grade? I'm trying to decide whether this would even be worth it to me to put the rest of my day into processing this sap.

[stihlonlynow]

Late last week we had the same over here in Clinton county. It is very hard to filter the syrup if not impossible. So if you can't filter it its grade C2. If I remember right that was wort about 1.35 to 1.5 a pound. There is a thread here that said what Bascoms was paying.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Does not need to be hot packed. Filter it if you can. Filtered C is worth $2 per Lb and unfiltered $1.50. Tom Todd in Norwood (MKS enterprises) bought bulk the last I knew and Jim Woodrow in Herman buys for Bascom.

[Joust7.1]

At the rate that I can boil (about 1 gallon of syrup/hr) I'm not sure that is worth it to me. Especially, since I don't even have any barrels. I am probably looking at about 15 or more gallons worth of syrup. I am now at least 500 gallons of sap and it's running well today with my vac. Would anyone in the Canton area be interested in picking up this sap and processing it? If so send me a pm.

[Joust7.1]

We are done! We made about 1/2 of last year's crop with no light or medium. It all tasted really good other than the last couple of days that were buddy. I confirmed yesterday that I don't have it in me to process "C" grade syrup. I made about 4 gallons in the afternoon and still have a ton of sap left that I will dump today. Another crazy maple season in the North Country. I think my trees were sweeter this year than ever, even down to the end. I never had a sample of less than about 2 3/4% and most was over 3. The good news is that with such a late season, it won't be long until we are setting up for 2015.

[Michael Greer]

I agree with Joust. It must have been a sweet year. I made 1685 gallons of sap into 56 gallons of syrup...that's a 30 to 1 ratio. Can't complain about that.

[cncaboose]

Somebody has got to say something from around here for 2015, so I'm going to do it. Maybe we are all too frozen and depressed to think about it. I've spent 6 hours plowing in from the road with my little Kubota and I'm still 200 feet from the sugarhouse. 2 feet of hard packed snow the whole way. Getting tapped is going to be a bugger. Can some one remind me why we do this?

[WI Sugarpop]

Somebody has got to say something from around here for 2015, so I'm going to do it. Maybe we are all too frozen and depressed to think about it. I've spent 6 hours plowing in from the road with my little Kubota and I'm still 200 feet from the sugarhouse. 2 feet of hard packed snow the whole way. Getting tapped is going to be a bugger. Can some one remind me why we do this?

Mental disease!:lol:

[MT Pockets Producer]

I feel your pain. I spent about six hours on my tractor making trails so we can into our bush and still have about another hour to go to reach the rest. My brother has about the same amount of time on his to reach another section of woods. A lot of people shaking their heads at us but not doing it is not an option. That has nothing to do with money but the fact that we never do anything the easy way so why start now. We built a V plow last year for this purpose and it worked great, last year. This years snow is way different and it has been a real struggle. Just can't get any traction, even with chains. It is like driving in beach sand. Kind of reaching panic mode now looking at the upcoming forecast. Heading out this morning to try get some line strung for a section of vacuum. It is our first year trying that in an effort to cut down on gathering time.Still lots of prep after that is done. It has been impossible to do anything when the average high temp has been 6 degrees for the past month.

[Joust7.1]

Ohhh Yeah! It's over knee deep in my woods and that's with my snow shoes on. I do like the feel of that sun though, even if it's single digits F. Does anyone have any test taps out yet? Is there any sap moving? Best of luck to everyone getting ready for the the season.

[wildwood]

Put 30 buckets out this weekend, had to break trail with snowshoes to use the snowmobile. No sap moving

[Michael Greer]

I'm not convinced. We're breaking out the equipment, and getting set up to go, but the weather prediction is pretty borderline. I don't believe that one warm day is going to start anything happening. If it did run a bit, but then gets cold as predicted, where would you be? A little sap in the pans won't even make the first gallon if it isn't followed pretty quickly by more warm days.

[Michael Greer]

OK, OK, I take it back. Weather forcast for March 8th shows daytime temperatures above freezing every day except one for the next ten days. We'll finish setting up and tap tomorrow, March 9th. If this week pans out, it could be a fine start for the season.

[Michael Greer]

Nothing moving yet at lunchtime, but man is it beautiful out there! Getting a good workout with the snowshoes. I've decided to do something a little different this year, so I'm tapping every butternut I get near as well. I'm curious to see what 5% butternut might have on my flavor.

[cncaboose]

I started tapping at 4 PM today. Managed to get 80 in, but man it was a LOT of work. Snow shoes were sinking in a foot, but without them it would have been thigh deep and nearly impossible. Even the smaller trees south side in the sun was not running at all.

[Michael Greer]

By lunchtime on the 10th, I've got about half the taps dripping. They say it will be 45 degrees this afternoon...I expect everything will cut loose. Most of the Butternuts are running.

[cncaboose]

tapped more today, up to 230. Holes I drilled today were dry as can be. Pretty cool in the woods even with the sun out this afternoon. My car therm said 35. The snow has dropped a foot in 2 days though.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

The snow has dropped a foot in 2 days though.

It sure has, what a difference walking in the woods this afternoon compared to yesterday morning. We saw the same thing with taps, a very few were slightly wet but most were dry. We are almost tapped as we ran out of daylight and spouts about the same time tonight. We have to finish tomorrow and then turn on the pump and go after the leaks to be ready for when it comes -- don't think we have missed anything at this point.

[Michael Greer]

You haven't missed anything. I've had buckets out for two days and there's not much to collect. This morning, it's all frozen solid.

[Joust7.1]

I'm glad to hear that I haven't missed much in the North Country yet. I had to be in NC for work the last five days. Looking to get all my taps out tomorrow when I get home. Ps, people don't use. 3/4 mainline anymore? Doesn't seem like anyone stocks that this year.

[cncaboose]

Did you try Gavin at MacK Maple Supply on Rt 11? 244-5256. I've got 20 feet of 3/4" in the sugar house if you just need a short piece. We've got 600+ tapped. What a job it has been. Still 18 inches of snow in much of the woods. It's keeping the trees cold and slow with the sap.

[adironmaple]

Trees are starting to thaw out some here. We have three bushes old , young and cold. Checked the tank at the cold bush this morning and wow 6000 gallons. Time to get the truck on the road to gather it up. Sugar content started at 1.2 last week and checked yesterday was 2.1. Gonna give our new setup a work out this afternoon.

[Joust7.1]

Did you try Gavin at MacK Maple Supply on Rt 11? 244-5256. I've got 20 feet of 3/4" in the sugar house if you just need a short piece. We've got 600+ tapped. What a job it has been. Still 18 inches of snow in much of the woods. It's keeping the trees cold and slow with the sap.

20' won't quite stretch far enough, but thanks for the offer. Yes, I did check with Gavin and he will hopefully have what I need before things get moving in my woods. Today was a dream walking around. Tried to go without snowshoes for a bit but would punch through now and again up to my knees. Put them on to keep that from happening and was able to get quite a bit done today. Added some more laterals to total 30 more taps to my tubing system. 30 more tomorrow, then wait for my mainline to arrive.

[cncaboose]

Gavin is back from VT and has it. You sure did not miss any sap the last few days. We have quite a few half buckets and some in the tanks but it is all pretty solid. Hoping to boil tomorrow or Saturday for the first time.

[Michael Greer]

I put up 225 buckets last week, and then went out and bought 25 more. I built my first fire on the 18th and cooked in the first 210 gallons of the season. After a rough start (14 degrees), in which every thing had to be done the hard way, we made five quarts of beautiful red syrup, so I guess we're under way. All the bugs have been worked out, and our next boil will be a lot easier. Here it comes!

[wildwood]

Our first boil was also the 18th, Michael but only ~35gal sap in a barrel evaporator. Sure was cold out! Looking good for today and tomorrow but wunderground is showing below freezing temps for Sunday and Monday, hopefully they are liars

[adironmaple]

We were looking forward to a decent run today and Sat. So far not much sap, only 800 gallons from 3900 taps on our 2 low land bushes. Seems every time we get sun its too cold to run and is cloudy on the days the temp is right. No sun all day today until just now. I mean just now as I am writing this post.

[Michael Greer]

Contrary to my prediction, It wasn't the smoothest start-up this morning. It's tough getting stuff started at 14 degrees, and even harder a 5 degrees. It took an hour and a half to get everything thawed enough to run automatically, and even longer to get rid of my coat. By lunch time it was 65 inside, and I had a couple gallons in the pot, so I can't complain. Looks like three or four days off until the next run. I hope this season evens out eventually...it's getting late.

[wildwood]

Running today? I am stuck at work until late but it sure seems like a nice day..... It was 5F last night though

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Just a bit in the direct sun. I didn't start the pumps

[Michael Greer]

Tomorrow is the day.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Looks like it might run all night tomorrow....

[cncaboose]

Bring it on! John, did you get that tubing up? If you run short, I still have that 20 feet available.

[lmathews]

So much for a good run.Gotta love the wind.

[wildwood]

Got some sap to boil, can't complain about that but can always wish it was more! Collected at 10pm and there was some more in the buckets this morning from it running overnight but only a few trees were still dripping at 9am

[Joust7.1]

Bring it on! John, did you get that tubing up? If you run short, I still have that 20 feet available.

Tubing is all up, including my first ever sap ladder. I built it with the 6 way stars. I have about 31 taps running on it. It looks to be working fine. Is this the right number of fittings for that may taps? I just have to finish cleaning up the sugar house before my sap freezes so I can have the first boil of the season! BTW, next week looks like a great forecast.

[Michael Greer]

Yesterday was my best ever. I made 10.5 gallons and got all cleaned up in time to go to happy hour! It looks like we'll have five more days of pretty-near perfect weather, but next weekend looks like the end. Last year, (2014) sugaring ended April 11th around here.

[DANNY-L]

2500 taps on 3/16 in and it's dripping today,hopefully it'll go all night. Then another cold spell coming on Tuesday. 300 taps along roadside are 5/16 and dripping also.

[Joust7.1]

It's starting to feel a lot like sapping weather around Canton. I was away Fri-Sat but I think I should get ready to tap so I'm ready for the next run. Good luck to everyone this season. I would be interested in hearing how the early runs are going for those that are tapped.

[seandicare]

i am really getting anxious to start tapping...with the weather the way it has been, and still getting stuff for the evaporator i had set 2/29 as my tapping date......after this weekend and this 35-45 degree weather i am almost tempted to go out this week. but of course during the week when i am NOT working temps are supposed to drop back below freezing......

i am considering tapping late in the week, so i will have some ready for when i get off work Monday 2/29 instead.

[Mikemartin274]

SAP is finally running in Waddington! Not great but it flowed the last two days. Looking good for weds and Thursday of this week around here. Just this past weekend I put out 50 of 150 Taps. Had to put out some but not all as everyone is advising against tapping yet. I got the itch and with it come SAP. Hoping to get more this week to fill the new evaporator!

[DANNY-L]

Had a small run Saturday and Sunday here in Russell. Made 12 gallons. We put in 4 vacuum gauges on the top of the hill just to see how the 3/16 was pulling,ranged from 18"-25". Quite impressed,can't wait for a big run now. We tapped on the 9-10 of Feb just so we didn't miss the first run.

[Mikemartin274]

First run was in December. Hoping for A+ weekend for all!

[DANNY-L]

We were at around 36-40 yesterday but it just didn't want to flow. Thinking it must be the high pressure system going through.

[Michael Greer]

36 degrees won't thaw a tree that's been deep frozen. Think about how long it takes to thaw a couple pounds of hamburger in the fridge.

[MT Pockets Producer]

We put all of our vacuum taps in yesterday and today (220) and fired up the pumps to work out the kinks. Had several leaks in the tubing we put up last season due to squirrels and an adjustment needed to be made on the pump for our new set up we installed this year. The sap actually ran pretty well once the sun came out today but too little too late. It did run enough to detect the small leaks so we are thankful for that anyway. We also got to see our first sap ladder work.

[Michael Greer]

Next weekend, we've got that perfect combination of sunshine and above freezing (Mar. 5th)and it finally looks like the right kind of weather.

[cncaboose]

I tapped 100+ that are on check valves today just to get a head start on next weekend. I hope to get the remaining 650 done on Sat and Sunday.

[DANNY-L]

No where near a heavy run but did manage to pull off another 6 gal. last night.

[Michael Greer]

Tapping tomorrow, March 5th, and will probably enjoy a two-day run, but the forecast looks like warm weather but no cold overnights, so I don't know where we'll go from here.

[adk1]

Will tell yeah at the end of the week. It's weather, changes every 5 minutes!

[Michael Greer]

Hung 180 buckets today (3-5-16) and found about half the trees dripping a bit by the end of the day. At 5:pm there were little icicles hanging from the spouts. Weather looks good for the 6th and 7th to be a big run. Hope it's not the end of the season.

[Mikemartin274]

Put out 75 buckets in Waddington today. Have about 150 Taps total. About half of the trees were slow dripping. I'm very concerned about the early presence of bugs. And on top of that many of the red maples are already budding. Beginning and end of season so soon? Very happy the sugar maples have not budded yet. Tomorrow looks promising good luck to all!

[Michael Greer]

I tapped the rest today and as usual, I have more trees to tap. Off to find some more buckets first thing tomorrow. Even today, some trees haven't awakened yet, but it's forecast to be even warmer tomorrow. The rest of the week looks a tad bit better, but the lows don't look low enough here in Potsdam. Your EXACT location will make a real difference this week.

[Michael Greer]

Not quite all of the trees are dripping even yet. I've hung 311 so far and I'm really tempted to go buy 25 more tomorrow morning.

[ADK_XJ]

Not quite all of the trees are dripping even yet. I've hung 311 so far and I'm really tempted to go buy 25 more tomorrow morning.
Hope for your (and my!) sake the weather plays along!

[Mikemartin274]

About 65% of my Taps were performing well today. Got myself 42 gallons of SAP. So excited it's the biggest collection I've ever had! Still not enough to fire the rig.

I have a question. Say we have a warm spell of four days with no freeze at night. Will the trees that have not thawed give off SAP on say the 4th day when it does thaw. Or does their have to be a freeze within a certain time? Thanks

[Michael Greer]

I gathered for the first time today (3/8/16) and brought in 184 gallons of sap from 332 taps. It's enough to fire up and probably make my first syrup this year. The weather forecast looks grim though. I hope this isn't the end....(of the world?)

[adk1]

About 65% of my Taps were performing well today. Got myself 42 gallons of SAP. So excited it's the biggest collection I've ever had! Still not enough to fire the rig.

I have a question. Say we have a warm spell of four days with no freeze at night. Will the trees that have not thawed give off SAP on say the 4th day when it does thaw. Or does their have to be a freeze within a certain time? Thanksthe trees that are still thawing will run hard and won't need the freeze at night. These are typically the larger trees and in shade. Takes longer to warm up more frozen wood than less

[Michael Greer]

This morning, at 7:am, it is 54 degrees in Potsdam. That's warm enough to begin to compromise the quality of sap in the buckets and holding tank. There is a 31 degree morning predicted for Friday(Mar.11th) which is our only hope for a continuation of this season. The ten day forecast shows nothing after that but warmer and warmer temperatures.

[Mikemartin274]

Thanks for your response. You are absolutely correct. The trees in question finally woke up today. Some that were thawed flowed all night couldn't believe it. Going to fire up the rig in the a.m. I've got about 100 gallons of sap. Hopefully enough to get at least one draw off from my new 2x4

[Michael Greer]

Much to my surprise, the taps are still dripping as of 5:pm today (3/9/16). It was quite warm over-night, and I would have expected the taps to stop, but they didn't. I gathered in another 140 gallons, and will fire up again in the morning...and then go gather again I guess. I got a call today from someone wanting to offer their trees. The weather forecast looks terrible, but it IS only the 9th of March. If it cools down, I might just go and get another 25 buckets.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Been running here since Monday noon and still going although the releaser dumps are a little longer than they were.

I'd like to once again pass along my thanks to the great folks who share their experiences here so that others may benefit. This year we installed vacuum gages after each shutoff valve at the whips from the dry lines to the main line spurs. Someone posted on that last year and then later on someone posted about DirectMaterials and I saved $600 bucks on the gages. They worked great and really helped locate the leaks much quicker after things unthawed.

[Joust7.1]

I had to be in Iowa this week for work and I'm worried that I might be missing out on what's left of the season. Any reports from the county on how the trees are looking, going into this weekend? We have some warm days coming up but the long range looks promising in about another week. What are the chances that the trees will hold out that long?

[MT Pockets Producer]

Fueled the vacuum pumps at 7:30 this morning and we were still pulling sap. Not a great amount but better than nothing at this point. Just a little concerned the sugar is going to be low seeing it has been running for a few days straight now. Our buckets are doing absolutely nothing. I think the amount of sunshine in the next few days will determine how long the trees are going to hold out. They don't look too bad where we are right now but that is on the edge of an ice covered lake and our other woods is down low near a good size pond. Hope it helps for a while longer. We aren't ready for it to be over yet.

[Mikemartin274]

Well trees are still producing SAP not alot but I managed to get 50 some gallons today. If it freezes tonight theirs a good chance the season. Will continue. The SAP is still crystal clear.

[Michael Greer]

Here in Potsdam, we gathered 300 gallons from 360 taps over the weekend. It made for a real cooking marathon, and the buckets ran all day, so there's more to gather this morning. All-in-all, the weather forecast looks a little less ominous this week, with cold weather coming back later this week.
My progress was severely slowed yesterday by a leak from the condensate pan in the pre-heater.

[Michael Greer]

Looks like we'll be having three days off with temperatures well above freezing, but then it's getting cold again. This season may just turn out to be fine, though it's a little unnerving to find those little bugs in the buckets on the first week. I scared up a fox while tapping some additional trees last week. She popped out of her den about four feet from where I was standing... now I see her every day.

[Mikemartin274]

After building a new sugar shack and buying a real evaporator I was nervous the season would end young. Things are looking up now. Made 2.5 gallons of robust syrup only one more Gallon to meet my goal. Boiling tomorrow! Trees that are in the sun ran OK today not great though got about 20 gallons off 120 Taps. The weather next week looks like awesome sugaring weather. The reds have buds on them but the sugars and silver have no noticeable buds forming.may pull the reds soon. Got a great feeling about next week hoping we all get a few more good runs! How are your woods doing? You boiling this weekend? Let me know how things are!

[Sunday Rock Maple]

It's March 18th and this is our 10th day in a row boiling -- last year our very first boil was March 19th. Everything froze hard tonight and it looks like it could start up Sunday afternoon. Hope to get the tanks and everything cleaned up tomorrow to be ready to start again.

[cncaboose]

Other than 2 hedgerows with 70 taps on 3/16" tubing, which have been great, our sap yield has been really low. It shows the advantage of vacuum on marginal days. Lesson learned is that more trees will be on 3/16" next year. Test has averaged 2.8%. We've made 40 gallons of syrup so far, 30 of which is dark. Excellent flavor. We boiled the limited sap several nights this past week to make sure it did not spoil in the warm temperatures.

[Michael Greer]

Despite three warm nights in a row, I still managed to gather in 130 gal. on Friday (3/18). I made five gallons of nice amber syrup today which gives me 26 gal. for the season so far. This looks to be a good week, especially if it's sunny.

[Mikemartin274]

Has anyone in county made grade a light amber in the last couple weeks. I can't seem to make anything other than dark syrup. Thinking of boiling down concentrate and starting over.

[MT Pockets Producer]

We are around the 45 gallon mark and it is all dark except the first 10 gallons or so. Drained and cleaned pans and it did not make much difference. Getting very little sap on buckets but have been able to pull it with vacuum. Took in about 500 gallons of sap between Tuesday and yesterday.

[Michael Greer]

There are a lot of factors at play in trying to make light colored syrup. We have had some daytime temperatures lately that were too hot, and the sap in a bucket on the sunny side of the tree is quite perishable.Then we've had a season that's been broken up by cold days, or warm nights...any delay in the process has an effect. Now that we're a couple weeks into the season, it's likely that all of our equipment is a little less than pristine. Perfect weather, perfect processing, and clean equipment are essential for light colored syrup. This week may give us the first opportunity to experience that first part.

[Michael Greer]

We've had small runs for the last three days, but nothing to write home about. It turns out 36 degrees isn't really quite enough....that little piece of ice from Monday is still there even in the buckets in full sun.

[Mikemartin274]

Running really hard today. Only trees in the sun. Got about 65 gallons of SAP off 3o or so Taps. How do you all test for buddy SAP?

[ADK_XJ]

Same type of thing here, getting 2-3 gallons off single taps in a 24 hour period. I do sight and smell, if it looks weird/cloudy then I smell for sour/fruity smell.

[sugarman3]

no test other than sight,watch for the buds to swell.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Sunday and Monday things thawed about 2:00 and ran slow until about 6:30. Today we had the same start but it's still coming in as I think the cloud cover is keeping it from cooling off so fast -- hope it runs all night.

[Michael Greer]

Oh yes! indeed it ran all night. Buckets that were half full in the afternoon were overflowing the next morning. I gathered 527 gallons from 360 taps which is about 160 gallons more than I have storage for. It'll sit on the truck until I get some cooking done. Today (3/24/16) it's cold which will give me time to catch up. It looks like we'll have another big run tomorrow.

[Michael Greer]

I found a couple of trees today that were STREAMING, not dripping. I don't like this warm weather, but on the other hand, I've never seen so many buckets running over. I've been cooking in the morning, and gathering in the afternoon, but as the morning session gets longer, the afternoon gather is running later and later...pretty soon they'll meet with no time for sleep!

[matt151617]

I'm a little east of you in Clinton county, same here, trees are going crazy. I only have storage for 20 gallons, yesterday with 6 taps I was overflowing. I actually pulled 2 taps from one tree just because I can't keep up with the boiling anymore.

[Michael Greer]

I'm glad to see tonight's weather forecast. Not only will a bit of sub-freezing recharge the trees, but it will keep all that sap nice and cold. I've been gathering and boiling all day, every day, and I keep getting further behind! Tomorrow I will surpass last years total.

[Michael Greer]

Working four, 13 hour days in a row is beginning to take the spunk out of me, but tomorrow I will finally catch up. I was just outside at 9:30pm and could still hear the buckets making their music.

[Michael Greer]

Everyone should keep their fingers crossed. It's going to get cold again next week, but the next three days and nights will be warm, and I hope it's not the end. I'm a little worried about keeping what's in the evaporator from going bad.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

One option is to chase it with water tomorrow.

[Michael Greer]

Yes. The other option might be to delay cooking today's sap until later, or even tomorrow. It will cause the result to be darker but I would rather get dark syrup than vinegar. If I had a big chest freezer available, I'd just drain it all and freeze it for a couple of days.

[Michael Greer]

We gathered 414 gallons from 330 taps today...not a boatload but more than plenty to keep me busy all day tomorrow. Now is the time to carry a puller with you as you collect. There are taps that are delivering sap the color of pee, some that are brown-stained, and some that have quit altogether, and there's no point in leaving them hanging there to do nothing. On the other hand... I have a couple of huge Silver Maples that finally woke up YESTERDAY,(March 30th) and gave their first half pail of sap for the season!!
We'll be having a few very cold days, and then probably another big run. It's a good time to examine your process...What worked well? What did you screw up? What improvements or expansions might make it all easier next year? For me it will involve some new tanks. I have outgrown the current set up, and HATE the poly truck tank. Next year I will need storage for 500 gallons, and it's gonna be something that can be properly cleaned.

[cncaboose]

Well that was a wild week. We had 4 days that yielded 1.5-2.0 gallons per tap. I had to sell 1000 gallons on Monday since our processing capacity was overwhelmed. It was pretty strange going from dark syrup in early March to light syrup in late March.

[MT Pockets Producer]

I concur. It was a long week of boiling and in the very few moments we were not boiling we were cutting more firewood. Got it all burned off though and now we are waiting to see if this upcoming freeze brings another run. Still no buds on our hard maples.

[Michael Greer]

Did some serious tank cleaning today, hoping to make something a bit lighter with this next (last) run. Boy they want a lot of money for those nice stainless tanks!

[Michael Greer]

I was just out walking the dog at 9:30, and checked some buckets. They kinda ran half-heartedly all day, but apparently got serious about it this evening(4/7). If they continue all night we'll have some serious cooking to do tomorrow.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

That would be great, we didn't really thaw here until about 2:00 and we ended up dumping what we had at 6:00 as it was very cloudy but it started running clear after that.

[Mikemartin274]

Wow it's 4/8/16 and I'm still cooking SAP. The trees ran hard yesterday right through the night almost all my 3 and 5 Gallon pails were over filled. Turned out to be a great year I couldn't be happier. Only downfall was burning the roof off my new sugar shack and losing everything in the shack to the fire extinguisher. Looking back I thought the season was over well over a month ago
The silvers and sugars still have no buds at all. While the reds have buds. I've made four times more than my goal and even surpassed next year's goal. I'm running out of wood and the syrup is getting really dark. Cooking Sunday till I run out of wood then calling it a season. Hope you all had a great year. I got my 2x4 doing almost 25 gph without a blower and until the shack caught fire. Can't complain with the new setup. Hopefully carrying less buckets next year.

[cncaboose]

Sap quality on 4/7 was poor and smelly so called it quits. Using our new 100 gph RO, I even have wood left over. Anyone looking for a 40 gallon barrel of great flavored dark syrup?

[Michael Greer]

Still going here in Potsdam. Made another 7.5 gallons yesterday and Monday looks good. I've been very careful to keep the sugarhouse as cold as possible...like 30 degrees. Sap doesn't really freeze until you get a bit colder than that, and those temperatures keep the yeasts at bay until the next firing. Getting the whole rig to cool down when you're finished requires a bit of extra attention. Opening all the doors wide and going back much later to close up are procedures that require a sugarhouse to be close by....I wouldn't get in the truck to do it.

[Mikemartin274]

Boiled hard all day today. Came out with almost three gallons. Going to cook the concentrate down this week and get everything cleaned up. Ive ran out of dry wood and motivation im done. If I find a buyer for my SAP I'll leave the Taps out if not I'm pulling them tomorrow night. What a great season. I'm very happy will my new rig.

[Michael Greer]

Brought in 90 gallons today from fewer and fewer taps. Made 2.5 gallons of pretty red syrup, so I'll gather again for the last time tomorrow(4/15), and then finish up what's left in the pans Saturday morning. Despite lots of lousy weather predictions, the season went pretty well. I boiled 19 times so far.....last year was only 9 times.

[Michael Greer]

Gathered for the last time on the 15th of April, and finished cooking on Sunday the 17th. Now I'm washing buckets....LOTS of buckets. What a fantastic year!

[Mikemartin274]

Well the SAP is flowing in Waddington. I'd go all out but scared of the dried up tap holes. Put out 20 so I can see just how well they perform end of season. Saw someone boiling in Dickinson got me antsy. Anyone fully tapped?

[Michael Greer]

I see sap running from broken and cut stems today (1/23/17) but it's getting cold again and...I'm not even gonna think about tapping for about another month.

[Mikemartin274]

OK so I put out fourty taps. Last week it was fourty and she SAP ran slow. For some reason the last two days have been 28-30 degrees and it's flowing extremely fast. It's weird. Still have a couple hundred taps to go but I'm going to wait because everyone says they'll dry up. I'm closely going to watch the first 40 all season. If they don't dry up ill have better idea next year. If I had them all out today I'd have enough to fire up the rig.

[Michael Greer]

Tapped 100 here in Potsdam today (2/19)...earliest ever for me...probably should have tapped yesterday. The high temperatures woke them up. I found almost everything running, even the Butternuts and Box Elders. It looks cold tomorrow so I'll tap the rest and be ready.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Yes, this year they didn't wait for the moat to form in the snow at the base of the tree. We started yesterday and are a little over two thirds done. We missed a lot of sap though and it tested 1,8

[MT Pockets Producer]

We tapped a total of 220 Friday and Saturday and started the vacuum pumps Saturday morning. Brought in 350 gallons last evening.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Finished tapping today and fixing leaks now.

[Michael Greer]

I've got about 300 tapped and maybe fifty left to go. It looks like we'll be having a five day warm spell through the 25th.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Didn't start until about 1:00 today but looks like it may run all night. We only have about 10" of vacuum and are letting it run on the ground to clean things out. Hit it hard tomorrow.

[Michael Greer]

I hauled in 396 gallons from 310 taps...all by hand and I am bushed. Brix % measured 3.5 which is almost unbelievable. If I wake up tomorrow, I'll be cooking all day long.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

3 and 1/2 is outstanding, we were at 2 today which is good for us.

[Mikemartin274]

Please winter come back! Finally got to fire up for the first time today. It's only the second time collecting and the taps are drying up and theirs moths and flies in the pales. Makes me nervous. The beginning is resembling last year's end. Praying for a freeze tonight! Got a half gallon and a sweet pan anywhooo!

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Sweetened the pan and made about 50 gallons. The pump is still on and its running slow.

[Michael Greer]

I made almost 5-1/2 gallons on my first boil. It was too hot in the sugarhouse by 9:am...this weather is just wrong. I have flies and mosquitoes in the buckets that we don't usually see until the third week of March. Last fall we pulled the last tomatoes from the garden on Oct 20th and now it's in the 50's in February. That doesn't leave much space for winter.

[Mikemartin274]

Oh yeah I was in my tee shirt it was beyond hot I'm pretty sure my blood was boiling with the SAP. Little to no SAP flow today!

[Michael Greer]

Let me rant about the weather a bit more. I took my dog out to look at a small stand of new trees to tap today. The snow is almost gone, so we could drive right in on the old wood roads and have a look at a stand of about 200 trees, all eighty feet tall, with three loop roads that will put me within a few feet of every bit of it...a bucket guy's dream. But I digress...when we got back, I was sitting down to make a little map and shopping list, and what is this WALKING ON MY HAND??!! A TICK!! IT'S FEBRUARY!!

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Reminds me of the old joke about politics. "Poli" an old greek word meaning many, and "tics" bloated blood sucking creatures.

Looks like a return to seasonal temperature this Thursday but perhaps a run before then on Tuesday.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

Our Oberdorfer has fallen down and can't get up, so we got the spare out of the cabinet and it was seized up. Lots of pressing to do but it'll have to wait for now.....

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Our Oberdorfer has fallen down and can't get up, so we got the spare out of the cabinet and it was seized up. Lots of pressing to do but it'll have to wait for now.....

Brian,
Replace it with an air pump, You will never go back to the old gear one!