Still going in Norwich N.Y

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Still going here. Even though it was near 80 today sap still ran well. Collected 4000 gallons And put another 50 gallons of syrup in the barrel. Will go as long as the sap keeps running. Slipped into B the last few days, but today back into dark. 2050 gallons on season so far puts us a little over third/gal/tap; a far cry from last years .6/tap but we are happy considering the weather we've had. Good Luck to all still going.

[grimmreaper]

Good for you.keep up the good work.it nice to see someone still plugging away.I'm alldone here in Rome.made about a third crop.

[Rugburn]

Your my hero's! My buckets have stopped too soon. I did manage to make 16 gallons on my reconditioned evaporator. It was fun, hard, work. Now I must go back to the machine shop and rest up.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Still running around 3500 gallons per day the last two days. low sugar- only making 40 gallons per day. Getting very hard to boil- will not flow well in evaporator- constantly have to use defoamer. very light in color but will not run through press either. At this point we are just running it right into the drums unfiltered.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Another 80 degree day. Another 2500 gallons of sap. It is cutting off quicker at night now, but still runs real hard between 12 and four. Has not froze for us here in 10 consecutive nights. Have given up on trying to figure out why it keeps running. Sap looks more like milk in the tanks now and smells like vinegar. Getting more experience with boiling this ropey snot though. Figured out that boiling with too much heat causes this stuff to scorch and burn, due to the fact that it does not flow in the evaporator. Also I think it has something to do with the sugars changing in the sap. Backed off from our normal 1600 degree firebox temp in the Intensofire to around 1200 degrees tonight and had a much smoother boil.

[Rugburn]

Your not running it through the RO are you?

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Your not running it through the RO are you?Yes, we are still running through ro. Just have to change the pre-filters more often as they get clogged up alot faster. The ro is about the only thing that is still easy when it comes to processing this stuff. Without that we would have called it quits days ago; not worth boiling this 1 percent sap without ro.

[Rugburn]

Understood. I'm new to this.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Decided to call it quits today after our vac. pump to our 1900 tap woods decided it wanted to stop running. Sick of boiling this fermented sap anyway. Boiled last of it and finished off evaporator. Season total is 2160 gallons of syrup at .36 gallons per tap. Just shy of 130,000 gallons of sap collected; about 100,000 less than last year. not quite what we were hoping for, but you can't predict mother nature.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Well, after looking at weather forecast this morning and seeing how much colder the coming days are going to be than anticipated, we decided to keep hanging in there. Went over and installed a new pump on our 1900 tap woods and got that running again. Even without that in production, we still ran over 1000 gallons today. With all pumps now running again, we are just waiting for that freeze on monday night. We'll see what happens.

[sjdoyon]

Wow, you're doing great for being located south of Syracuse. Would have thought just the guys in the Adirondacks were still at it. We finally slowed up yesterday afternoon but the cold weather moved in last night and we pulled in another 2,000+ gallons today. You might be good for another couple of weeks, keep boiling away.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Wow, you're doing great for being located south of Syracuse. Would have thought just the guys in the Adirondacks were still at it. We finally slowed up yesterday afternoon but the cold weather moved in last night and we pulled in another 2,000+ gallons today. You might be good for another couple of weeks, keep boiling away.Yeah, we are going on two weeks without a freeze here, alot of the days have been around 80. Using all Leader cv's. Hoping that will keep us in the game for these upcoming freezes.

[danno]

Wow, you're doing great for being located south of Syracuse. Would have thought just the guys in the Adirondacks were still at it. We finally slowed up yesterday afternoon but the cold weather moved in last night and we pulled in another 2,000+ gallons today. You might be good for another couple of weeks, keep boiling away.

Actually, south of Syracuse is generally colder than Syracuse, primarily due to elevation. We made all our syrup when the guys south of us were still a bit too cold. My sugars have totally budded out here and sap I flooded my pans with for cleaning last weekend when I quit is already half way to vinegar.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Actually, south of Syracuse is generally colder than Syracuse, primarily due to elevation. We made all our syrup when the guys south of us were still a bit too cold. My sugars have totally budded out here and sap I flooded my pans with for cleaning last weekend when I quit is already half way to vinegar. Danno, do you always clean your pans like that at the end of the year ? If so, how well does it work? We use pan acid, but were going to give that a try this year when done. Let me know your results. Neil

[Brian Ryther]

Neil, I have used the sour sap method for the past few years. It will clean your pans like new. You just have to be able to put up with the stink for a few months.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Neil, I have used the sour sap method for the past few years. It will clean your pans like new. You just have to be able to put up with the stink for a few months. Thanks Brian. I know if this works well, it will save alot of elbow grease, especially on the flue pan. I am willing to tolerate the smell if there isn't as much physical labor involved. Sugaring season is hard enough; anything that makes it easier is definitely worth doing!

[Brian Ryther]

If you can run a garden hose then you can clean your pans with fermented sap. No need for elbow grease.
Are you going to try to make sap next week? I have everything cleaned and ready to go. Leak check is complete for 1/2 of the taps. 2nd 1/2 wil be up and running tomorrow afternoon.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

If you can run a garden hose then you can clean your pans with fermented sap. No need for elbow grease.
Are you going to try to make sap next week? I have everything cleaned and ready to go. Leak check is complete for 1/2 of the taps. 2nd 1/2 wil be up and running tomorrow afternoon. We are going to give it a go next week. Vac. pumps have been running constantly, except for the one that quit, which is now running again. We have about 2000 gallons to boil tomorrow, then clean out evap. and tanks. Hopefully it will run again after the freezes. I'm sure it will be a little off-flavored, but at this point any syrup is good. It will all help pay the bills for the coming year. Neil

[sapman]

Do you guys that are hanging in there have leafing on the sugars yet? or major budding?

[sapman]

Do you guys that are hanging in there have leafing, or major budding, on the sugar maples?

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Do you guys that are hanging in there have leafing, or major budding, on the sugar maples? The red maples are pretty much budded. The hard maples I have looked at in woods are still tight. Ones along road are a little farther along, but all our taps are in the woods. About half of our taps are on north- facing ridges or mixed in hemlocks which makes it better for us.

[sjdoyon]

No budding on our sugar maples, reds in the area are budding. We're on a north facing slope at an elevation of 2,000ft, took in another 2,000+ gallons last night, nice and clear, slime is gone. Also using 100% Leader Check-Valves.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Well, today is the day when we find out if our tap holes have any life left. Got down to 15 here last night. First night with a freeze in 2+ weeks. Started tapping in late jan. and finished in early feb. so our taps are about 7 weeks old. CV's got a good test this year. Vacs. have run constantly for 15 days straight before being shut off last night with the freeze. Excited to see what happens, as we have never went this long in sugaring season without a freeze before. Time will tell.

[Rugburn]

Keep us posted! I'm tempted to go to my untapped property in McDonough and drill some holes. It's a shaded, higher altitude forest. Might just get a second chance.

[danno]

I shut it down a week and half ago. Pulled the releaser, shut off the vacuum. After our cold night Monday night, it's been running pretty good on gravity. I'm not boiling it, I just havent pulled taps yet.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Last 2 days we ran just under 3000 gallons. All woods are running fairly well, except the woods the vac. went down on. Was down for 30+ hours during that warm stretch before we got it running again. Before that it was producing more than any other woods, now producing the least. Ran 680 gal. on that woods on 1900 taps in last 2 days. Our other woods all gave 3 quarts per tap. Just goes to show that vacs. have to be running continuously in warm weather or bacteria will take over and slow them down drastically. Very low sugar. Testing .8 today.

[Brandy Brook Maple Farm]

Will we lighten up [our syrup grades], please??
Pails that were tapped yesterday on hard maples have already filled a pint to a gallon of clear, decent tasting sap. Will test them at the tap tomorrow. Buckets from earlier in the season not dripping as well.
Still have the pump on here at the home bushes with temperatures not expected to freeze tonight, but sap is coming in good. They will stay on.
Two other sites didn't really have the opportunity to warm up yet (colder temps, higher elevation). Will try them again tomorrow. One of our other sites is running like mad. One of our sites doesn't seem to want to start back up at all. This pump was the only one not left on continuously through the warm spell. I agree with Walling’s….have to keep them going no matter what….

R.O. will be washed and pans will be clean in preparation of this current run. Let's hope we can go up a few grades...back to something that I would personally put on my pannycakes. Only the next few days will tell. My daughter turns Sweet 16 tomorrow. Maybe my sugar baby will bring us luck.

Please feel free to follow our progress in Round 2 of this maple season on our visitor message board where I will be posting daily results to this crazy experiment called maple production!

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

1900 gallons today. Too cold and windy to run much. Sap is clearing up well though, now that the mainlines are flushed. Only drawback is sap is all testing below 1 percent. Not enough to process today so wait until tommorrow- should run well with freeze tonight.

[GeneralStark]

Have any of you western Champlain Valley folks boiled any of this recently collected sap to see if it is buddy? I have collected almost 200 gallons on 200 taps in the last 24 and will boil a pot of it on the stove in the am to see. Sugar is .9%

We probably have similar climates. My sugar woods is 600-1000ft and north facing. How about yours?

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Have any of you western Champlain Valley folks boiled any of this recently collected sap to see if it is buddy? I have collected almost 200 gallons on 200 taps in the last 24 and will boil a pot of it on the stove in the am to see. Sugar is .9%

We probably have similar climates. My sugar woods is 600-1000ft and north facing. How about yours?General, we are located in the southern tier of ny, only about 70 miles north of the PA. border. Our elevation is similar to yours though, at around 1000 feet. We have 4 sugarbushes. 3 are facing northeast and 1 has southeast exposure. We did boil down the 3000 from yesterday and it definitely has an "off" flavor.

[sapman]

General, we are located in the southern tier of ny, only about 70 miles north of the PA. border. Our elevation is similar to yours though, at around 1000 feet. We have 4 sugarbushes. 3 are facing northeast and 1 has southeast exposure. We did boil down the 3000 from yesterday and it definitely has an "off" flavor.

Did you guys use CVs? If you did, and they were still working, shouldn't they "protect" the holes even with no vacuum?

[wglenmapler]

CV Adapters are designed to work with vacuum not without them. At the last weeks temps, any sap sitting near the hole is going to cause rapid closure.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Did you guys use CVs? If you did, and they were still working, shouldn't they "protect" the holes even with no vacuum?wglenmapler is right; in those kind of temps you have to keep constant positive pressure on the taphole. Without that, bacteria will multiply rapidly. vac keeps holes cleaner and will not let holes close over as easy. That being said, cv's will work better on gravity than a normal spout. during the year when you get the freezes and thaws, the pressure in the tree is constantly changing. even gravity lines have a certain amount of natural vacuum and when the tree freezes, the negative pressure it creates will pull bacteria in the hole. This is where cv's come in handy on gravity.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Last 2 days collected 3800 gallons. Sugar so low, only filled one barrel. Good thing we are wood fired. would not be worth boiling with oil.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Season is over for us. Started pulling taps yesterday. First boil- Feb. 1. Last boil- April 3. 144,000 gallons of sap collected. 67,000 less than last year on 220 more taps than last year. .38 gallons of syrup/tap puts us a little over the 2250 mark for gallons of syrup with a 70% crop. Poor year- hope next year is better. Good luck to everyone still going. Neil

[Brandy Brook Maple Farm]

Consider yourselves a bit more fortunate, from what I've read/seen/heard, than many other producers. Us, we are only a little over 50% of a crop and averaging less than a quart per tap on vacuum. I was taught to be thankful for what we receive, but it's still hard to swallow (pardon the pun) after making such a large amount of high quality syrup last year. Thanks for the good luck. We are still going.

I am curious, if you don't mind me asking, what percentage of your crop was C?

BBMF

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Consider yourselves a bit more fortunate, from what I've read/seen/heard, than many other producers. Us, we are only a little over 50% of a crop and averaging less than a quart per tap on vacuum. I was taught to be thankful for what we receive, but it's still hard to swallow (pardon the pun) after making such a large amount of high quality syrup last year. Thanks for the good luck. We are still going.

I am curious, if you don't mind me asking, what percentage of your crop was C?
BBMFBrandy Brook, Although we didn't make as much as we had hoped this year, the majority of our crop was good syrup-1700 Light, 100 med., 125dark, 75 B, 250+ Unfiltered commercial.

[Brian Ryther]

What made you decide to quit? The weather is perfect. I am pulling taps now with the vac on and the sap is running pretty good.

[Brandy Brook Maple Farm]

I'm glad you made out as well as you did. :)

[doocat]

Wallings,

If you don't mind how many taps are you running and are they all on vacuum?

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Wallings,

If you don't mind how many taps are you running and are they all on vacuum?doocat, we are running around 5950 taps and they are all on vac.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

What made you decide to quit? The weather is perfect. I am pulling taps now with the vac on and the sap is running pretty good. Brian, we decided to call it quits because the sap was only testing .6 and we were only bringing in around 2000 gallons a day. This was only making about 14 gallons of syrup a day. From a financial standpoint, we were spending about as much as we were making.