Still Running in St. Lawrence Co.

[ibby458]

After a nice, 6 day break, the sap started running again. Gathered 540 gallons of 2.8% (mixed average) sap. Some was just as clear as the first runs, other buckets were cloudy to yellowing. Wish I had several tanks on the gathering trailer so I could have kept it seperate. Still - it should make dark amber or grade B. It all has a market.

I got the ceramic blanket and stainless heat shields put on the evaporator. Hopeful;ly, it will up my boiling rate. At the very least, it should reduce the flying sparks and ash around the sugarhouse.

5:00 am. Time to make some steam!

[mountainvan]

glad to see I'm not the only guy in ny still making syrup.

[ibby458]

There doesnn't seem to be many of us willing to hang in there till the end. If Somebody will buy it, I'll make it. Got 13 gallons of B/C yesterday. (Haven't graded it yet) , with 200 gallons still in the bulk tank. $200 worth of syrup ain't a bad day's work. Didn't run much yesterday, so we didn't gather. Don't expect much today, either, but we'll gather for boiling on Saturday. Once I start making B&C, I don't worry so much about gathering and boiling every day.

Weather Forecast looks promising for a couple more runs. As long as it don't warm up too much, we'll keep on trying.

Gotta finish whjat's in the bulk tank and go cut some more wood today. I'll have a LOT more wood put up for next year!

[Flatfoot95]

Running like dumb here again....emptied 5 gallon buckets yesterday at about 6PM and today at 8AM some were over flowing. Syrup is looking like Medium to Dark grade A still...Weather is looking great for the next four days or so too....

[sbmaple]

sap still running some here(near moira ny)made 40 gals of b/c since thursday.definitely going to consider vacuum pipeline next year.added another bush this year.landowner let us use 400 of his buckets plus 200 of ours that brought us a total of 2100 taps, is almost twice as many as last year and our production is up about only 20 gals at present.

[ibby458]

I'm glad to hear there's more than just me & mountainvan making syrup! I was starting to feel like we were the only ones.

Finished that 200 gallons in the bulk tank, and picked up 170 more of 2.8% from a bit over 1/2 the buckets. (Had to go to the school play, and ran out of time to get the rest.)

HARD freeze yesterday - never thawed out until about 3 pm, so we cut wood instead of gathering sap. Plenty of frost again this morning, but supposed to warm up faster. Might get a good run today with all the extra moisture in the ground. We'll gather everything today for boiling tomorrow.

The syrup's been running quite dark (B or C), but with great flavor. Not a trace of buddiness yet. Should bring a good dollar. I'm going to check around on prices. I wonder if trucking it to Bascoms would pay better than selling local, after deducting the cost of the trip.

If I got decent wood and keep my firing up, I max out in the 40 - 45 GPH range. I guess that's the best I can do until I get a pre-heater. If the owner decides not to sell, I don't think I'll complain too much. There's gotta be a good used 30 x 8 - 3x12 out there in my price range.

[sbmaple]

im afraid our season is done. toke most of the buckets down sunday and monday.take the rest down tomorow .boil in what ever is in those buckets and call it a season.

[lew]

boiled our last sap tonight. Made 65 gallons of good flavored B. No Frost in sight, so I guess that's it for '06. Not a very good year for us, about 75%, but better than last.