Record season

[PerryFamily]

Long time reader, first time writer. Being that this is my first year solo , I am one of only a handfull that can say I had a record year!! After purchasing a complete setup from a sugarmaker in Mass that was calling it quits and building a complete sugarhouse from the ground up I can say that I made 35 gallons! I had 208 taps of my own and purchased sap as well.

All in all I had a great season. I even missed the first two weeks in Feb due to a previously scheduled vacation. Just wanted to give a big THANK YOU to the people on this site. I did a ton of research here before I did anything. From building, insulating the arch, splitting wood..... I got a ton of great tips and info. Also got a great deal of info from local friends and producers. I got some from a sugarmaker who learned from my wifes grandfather. That connection is pretty special.

I hope to post pictures as soon as I figure out how!! Although I am sure most peoples season is over, i hope everyone could at least get to the breakeven point.

Thanks for all the info and tricks and maybe someday I will have some of my own

Happy canning and tubing washing

JMP

[adk1]

yes, me 2 Perry..Been saying "made more syrup this year than last year"..!

[PerryW]

I also had a record year. My worst year on record in 24 years.

[PerryFamily]

PerryW- Sorry to hear that. I am sure you are not alone. I was thinking today that no matter how much syrup you make it is still the same amount of work. Still gotta tap, cut / split wood, and clean up...... I guess we'll hope for a better year next year.

[sjdoyon]

we're still at it since sugar maples show no sign of budding and last run on Sunday was nice and clear. If only we could get some warmer temps. Looks like it might happen Thurs/Fri, latest Saturday.

[PerryFamily]

I have been reading for quite a few days now about you guys up north still going. Heck I am cleaned up and thinking about how to set up my bushes for next year. I knew i did not have enough time to set up the sugarhouse and woods for this year. I have permission for 3 lots totaling about 600. Fingers crossed.

what a great resource this site is. Its nice to be able to read about people trying things with either success or not. Saves a lot of trial and error.

JMP

[red maples]

I can't say it was my worst(only my 3rd year)my first was the worst....windstorm year!!! just terrible flooded out tanks floating had to dump over 150 gallons of sap. wood floating all through the swamp no power for 4-5 days just bad!!! but this year pretty bad none the less.

[Vermont Creation Hardwood]

Up north on the border with Canada the sugars haven't opened yet. Conditions seem right yet sap wasn't running.

I tapped two sugars that I hadn't before. They started running really well, sap is clear, sugar at 2%. But the rest of my lines weren't running.

So I got an 11/32 bit, 1/32 larger than the 5/16 I bored with originally. I pulled taps and rebored. The holes didn't look bad but weren't dripping. Rebored they immediately started running. I went down all my lines reboring. Now the sap is running.

I got close to 10 gallons from the three new taps in one day. I went around to my collection barrels and dumped them as soon as they had enough so the lines were flushed with new sap. New sap is now gathering.

Tonight the forecast low is 25, the high tomorrow 43 and sunny, low tomorrow night 24, high on Saturday 48 and sunny, low Saturday night 30 and high Sunday 50. I am so hoping for a couple good runs.

Maybe the season isn't done yet.

[GeneralStark]

Up north on the border with Canada the sugars haven't opened yet. Conditions seem right yet sap wasn't running.

I tapped two sugars that I hadn't before. They started running really well, sap is clear, sugar at 2%. But the rest of my lines weren't running.

So I got an 11/32 bit, 1/32 larger than the 5/16 I bored with originally. I pulled taps and rebored. The holes didn't look bad but weren't dripping. Rebored they immediately started running. I went down all my lines reboring. Now the sap is running.

I got close to 10 gallons from the three new taps in one day. I went around to my collection barrels and dumped them as soon as they had enough so the lines were flushed with new sap. New sap is now gathering.

Tonight the forecast low is 25, the high tomorrow 43 and sunny, low tomorrow night 24, high on Saturday 48 and sunny, low Saturday night 30 and high Sunday 50. I am so hoping for a couple good runs.

Maybe the season isn't done yet.

So you are opposed to vacuum but advocate reaming tapholes. Interesting.

[Vermont Creation Hardwood]

I assume you understand what 1/32" is.

[spud]

Reaming tap holes is common for people that have small operations. I think if one should do this they should start out with the 19/64 spout and go to the 5/16 spout after reaming. You can get some short term gain from reaming but I don't think it would be worth it. Studies have proving that vacuum does not hurt a tree. The awards to having vacuum are great and well worth it. My wife has 100 taps on gravity and she averaged 4 gallons per tap. My woods has 28lbs of vacuum (on a good day ) and so far I have gotten 15 gallons per tap. I plan to get another 5-7 gallons per tap before the season is over. But even if I get nothing more I still have gotten almost 4 times the sap as the gravity taps did.

Spud

[lpakiz]

VCH,
I assume you understand what 1/32" is.
With a snarky statement like that, you wonder why people are coming down on you??

[GeneralStark]

I assume you understand what 1/32" is.

No problem. You can do what you like to your trees. I just find it ironic that you would advocate a practice that is considered to have a potentially negative effect on long term tree health while criticizing others for using vacuum, a practice you claim has a negative effect on tree health.

Oh and I only understand the metric system.