Syrup straight from the tree?

[psparr]

I hope someone has an answer to my little mystery.

I tapped about 100 trees this weekend and here is what one of the trees decided to give. 6413

What the heck is going on. At first I thought there might have been some dirt in the bucket and I didn't see it, so I emptied and came back a couple hours later and same thing. Dr. Tim?

[TerryEspo]

WOW,,,,prob not syrup, but I sure look forward to watching this post.

For sure it is a ......."Doc Tim Time "

Terry

[TerryEspo]

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?11321-brown-sap

Found some answers here from an old post !! But I am not a Doctor !! :lol:

[happy thoughts]

Is the color just off.? Or is it thick and sweet? Did you check the sugar content? Hard to tell from the picture.

[DrTimPerkins]

What the heck is going on. At first I thought there might have been some dirt in the bucket and I didn't see it, so I emptied and came back a couple hours later and same thing. Dr. Tim?

It is very difficult to tell for sure, but the most common cause for this is rain water or snowmelt running down the bark and off the spout or bark into the bucket. It can cause sap to be very brown or yellow in appearance.

[psparr]

It is very difficult to tell for sure, but the most common cause for this is rain water or snowmelt running down the bark and off the spout or bark into the bucket. It can cause sap to be very brown or yellow in appearance.

No rain. Tapped and checked them a couple hours later. Dumped cleaned bucket and checked again in another couple hours, same thing. Trees right near it were fine.

[psparr]

Is the color just off.? Or is it thick and sweet? Did you check the sugar content? Hard to tell from the picture.

Don't have a refractometer so not sure of sugar content. It's watery just like sap. Just a crazy color.

[Mike R.]

Time to check it with a hydrometer. See what the sugar content is.

[psparr]

I just read the other thread linked here and nothing applies. Tree is healthy no barbed wire for miles. I might drill another hole far away from the first and see what happens.

[TerryEspo]

My guess is old fence, nail or something metal from years ago inside or an old tree injury not visable. Can you plug that hole for now and retap the same tree 180 degrees away from this brown sap tap. Would love to hear if the sap is clear or not.

Terry

[psparr]

My guess is old fence, nail or something metal from years ago inside or an old tree injury not visable. Can you plug that hole for now and retap the same tree 180 degrees away from this brown sap tap. Would love to hear if the sap is clear or not.

Terry

It will have to wait till next week. I tap at our cabin and only get there on the weekends.

[psparr]

I'm wondering if it is a bullet maybe. Doubtful it's a nail. It's way back in the woods. But would it be the lead, or dead wood that is causing it. The wood from the hole was white.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

The tree has a bad heart, but looks OK from the outside. We used to tap 2,300 buckets and sometimes you'd see this, it's as Dr Tim says --- water that is trapped inside the tree cavity (no telling how long it's been there). It's possible that you could tap in another spot and it would be OK. You may find something similar when cutting down a tree --- pockets of water caught in some crevice (or ice, depending upon the temp). I kind of look at it the same way when you pick a bad ear (we also sell sweet corn) the best thing is to move on to the good ones. Have a great season!

[psparr]

The tree has a bad heart, but looks OK from the outside. We used to tap 2,300 buckets and sometimes you'd see this, it's as Dr Tim says --- water that is trapped inside the tree cavity (no telling how long it's been there). It's possible that you could tap in another spot and it would be OK. You may find something similar when cutting down a tree --- pockets of water caught in some crevice (or ice, depending upon the temp). I kind of look at it the same way when you pick a bad ear (we also sell sweet corn) the best thing is to move on to the good ones. Have a great season!

You were right. Looked on the other side of the tree and about three foot above my tap there was about a three inch hole with rot.