South east ontario tapping

[hicks road]

When is everybody going to tap ? The Accu weather forcast shows a warm up around the 10th but the Weather Network doesn't show it, just curious what everyone else was thinking?

[TerryEspo]

Not even a thought about tapping here in Northern Ont. Way below freezing everyday and all days coming in the next 2 weeks forecst. Wish I had a winter home in Florida right now !!:(

Terry

[Big_Eddy]

Over the last 25 years in the Trenton area
Earliest Valentine's day,
Usual last week of February
Latest March break

I wait until it'll be above freezing for the day and forecasted to stay that way for 7 of the next 10 days.

I won't tap if it's -5 or cooler as that just results in split trees and leaky taps.

I'll occasionally miss the short early runs, but I figure I make it up at the back end of the season with fresher taps.

[TexTheDog]

I am in Napanee and was hoping to get tapping on Feb 10 as it will be a high of 2°, however it does look to warm up after that, for the next few days. Will make a decision around Feb 8th...

[argohauler]

Some guys tapped around London last week and sap was under 2%.

Might start next week.

[Sev's Sugar Bush]

accu weather showing next 3 weeks perfect temps starting on Feb 10th

[DrewCP]

When is everybody going to tap ? The Accu weather forcast shows a warm up around the 10th but the Weather Network doesn't show it, just curious what everyone else was thinking?

I'm about 115km north of you. No temps in the next two weeks for us to get excited about. Typically early March for us.

Good luck to all you "banana belters" this season!

[govner4]

When is the Best Time for Sugarmakers to Tap their Maple Trees?
by Michael Snyder | February 25th 2011 | ShareThis

Sugarmakers begin drilling holes and hammering spouts into their maple trees at their own discretion, and each has particular schedules and reasons for tapping when they do. Still, the traditional time for tapping has always been right around the first of March, at least in northern New England. But this is changing. Just as we’ve seen long-standing sugaring traditions like buckets and horses give way to newer conventions like plastic tubing and vacuum systems, we’ve also begun to see changes in the traditional sugaring tapping schedule.

Sugaring operations come in all kinds and sizes – from a few reused milk jugs the kids hang on driveway maples to imposing, sophisticated operations with tens of thousands of taps. Regardless of scale, though, all sugarmakers want to be tapped and ready in time to catch the best sap runs. Nobody wants to tap too late and miss out on a gusher. And yet many do. When Tim Wilmot, the University of Vermont Extension Maple Specialist, asks sugarmakers at the end of each year about what they wish they’d done differently, by far the most common response is that they wished they had tapped earlier.

Why did they wait? Because tapping too early has always been regarded as dangerous. The traditional fear is that early tapped holes might “dry out” and give less sap when good sugaring weather arrives many weeks later. And so many sugarmakers agonize over the when-to-tap question during every warm spell in early February.

For large-scale sugarmakers with many tens of thousands of taps, however, there’s not much choice. It takes them weeks or even months to be fully tapped and ready; they can’t afford to wait until March. Thus many of them break with tradition, tapping as early as mid-January.

This all begs some important questions: Do early season tapholes actually dry out earlier than March-drilled ones? And what tapping start date gives a sugarmaker the greatest sap volume for a season?

Tim Wilmot designed experiments to address those fundamental questions. At UVM’s Proctor Maple Research Center in Underhill, Vermont, Wilmot divided maple trees into three groups according to when they were tapped – early, traditional, late – and then compared the volume of sap collected from each category over several years. He did so using both gravity and vacuum-based collecting systems, both being commonly used by sugarmakers.

The tapholes in Wilmot’s earliest group were a month older than those in his traditional group, yet at the end of the year, sap yields were very similar. “We have learned that you can tap in January and it doesn’t diminish your eventual sap yield,” said Wilmot. “The experiments showed that while tapping early did not appear to hurt overall sap yields, neither did it supplement them.”

As to “drying out,” Wilmot explains that the term is not entirely accurate. What happens is that a great variety of fungi, bacteria, and yeasts live in maple forests and they flourish as temperatures rise. Such microbes inevitably infect the tapholes, interacting with the sap inside to form a gummy substance that blocks further sap flow. They don’t really dry out, but they do give less sap when infected.

Wilmot explained that microbial infection is a late season problem: “January and February thaws may allow sap flow but rarely involve the prolonged warmth seen in April.” Accordingly, microorganisms don’t cause as much blockage in the colder, early season but are a significant factor toward the end of the season. As Wilmot reported, “Under both gravity and vacuum, sap flow from tapholes drilled in January and February was comparable to sap flow from much fresher holes during the cooler part of the sap flow season.” But, he cautioned, “Toward the end of the season, when temperatures had exceeded 50oF on several days, January and February tapholes yielded less sap than newer ones.”

Wilmot interprets all this to mean that there can be benefits to getting out in the sugar woods and tapping early because those late season reductions in flow from older tapholes may be compensated for by capture of early-season flows. “In years when many of the sap flow periods involve relatively low temperatures, perhaps 40oF or less, the additional yield from early tapping may provide a significant advantage compared to tapping on March 1.”

Michael Snyder is a forester in Stowe, Vermont

[markr]

I also leave near Kemptville I an planning on tapping the weekend after Family Day but before I turn in my first drill bit I will be looking at the long term forecast

[ennismaple]

We'll likely put in up to 1,000 taps on Family Day long weekend and plan to get the rest in over the following 2 weekends - unless Mother Nature dictates otherwise.

[Yellzee]

I'm going to check the weather on Family day weekend.. and if there are 2-3 days in a row that look above zero I'll likely tap.

[Maple Restoration]

Hi every one, things are starting to come together here up north, I'm planning on tapping on family day again this year, and then will let mother nature decide when she is going to run!

Hope you all have a great season!

[ca2devri]

I'm near London and it looks like Sunday to Monday might be a bit of a run. 6 C and sunny. I ordered check valve spouts this year. Should I consider getting a quick early run on Sunday even though probably the next week after that will be cold?

Chris

[ennismaple]

Chris - I'm sure you'll get some sap early next week. If you can process it all before things freeze up again you should be OK to tap now. You may have to boil your evaporator through and make sure everything's winterized to avoid breaking things. Our concern early in the season when it can freeze hard for days is always to keep things drained.

At the LDMSPA meeting a few weekends ago, Bruce Gillilan from Leader said he has no concerns recommending that people tap as early as Januray 1st if using CV's. They've done their own informal tests and have seen few problems tapping very early with CV's.

[ca2devri]

Ok, so I can go for it. Now I need the ok from my wife who was under the impression I was going to finish the living room reno before sap started flowing :)

Chris

[hicks road]

Well I think I have decided to tap Sunday by looking at Accu weather forcast doesn't look to bad next week for some small runs and the week after looks even better.

[govner4]

question from a new guy ! what are CV's?

[hicks road]

The weather man can't make up his mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ennismaple]

question from a new guy ! what are CV's?

Leader's check valve (CV) spouts. There's lots of info about them on Leader's website.

[Run Forest Run!]

I've just come in from putting in my taps. Some were dry, some were damp and one is running like a stuck pig. I'm going to check the sugar content on that one right away!

[Run Forest Run!]

I've just come in from putting in my taps. Some were dry, some were damp and one is running like a stuck pig. I'm going to check the sugar content on that one right away!

2%. Not a bad start! :)

[Run Forest Run!]

I tested the two others that were running and got 3% and 3.25%. With all of the upcoming fun it's like Christmas Eve in the forest.

[hicks road]

Well I got 100 of 150 done today, not as quick as I planned with all this fresh snow. Looks like we should get a decent run tomorrow.

[BrutemanAl]

I'm new to this whole maple syrup thing , sure am glad i found this site , this will be my second year doing it , last year i started a bit late , didnt get much syrup , but this year I think i may start tapping around Feb 23 , I was going to start this coming Saturday but it looks like it will be to cold , question , what happens if I tap earlier and then we get a cold spell ? looking at accuweather this weekend coming is suppose to be -9 day time high in my area , so what will happen to my taps if i put them in and the weather temps drop ? I know everything freeze's lol , but will it push the taps out or cause leakage when the temps rise again ?

[ennismaple]

BrutemanAl - If you tap at -9 C you'll split the sapwood above and below the tree, which causes sap to leak, vacuum leaks and more damage to the tree. Hold off until its at least -5 C or warmer.

[BrutemanAl]

thanks that what i figured

[Green Bastard]

Has anyone in the ottawa area even thought of tapping yet? I dont want to be to early or late need a good season

[ennismaple]

Greeb B - We were planning to start tapping this weekend but since its gonna be very cold on Sat-Sun and barely above -5 C on Monday we may put it off for another weekend. We're using CV's so timing the tapping perfectly isn't a concern of ours.

Right now the long-term forecast doesn't call for any days above freezing so I'm not getting an itchy trigger finger - yet!

[Yellzee]

So..... Whats the latest thoughts for tapping in the belleville/ottawa zone? Im only seeing one day above zero in The 14 day forecast and its too cold to tap this weekend anyways. It's been a long time since i waited until March but it might be the right call this year.
Im worried my kids hockey shedule is influencing my decision making!

[BrutemanAl]

Yellzee , Im north of Brighton and i think I am going to start next weekend , I dont have a huge operation though , I just started last year so I am still learning and only tap about 20 trees or so .

[Maplerock]

Anyone out there in the Morton, Ontario area (between Kingston and Smiths Falls)?

[m_hoogendyk@hotmail.com]

I'm about 12 km north of you just passed Elgin. Just finished my new 24"X52" SS drop flue pan. Can't wait to try it out, hope this year is better!

[hicks road]

I tapped last weekend and with my south facing bush i just finished off 3 gallons of syrup.

[Yellzee]

How many taps you running? Mine is north east facing so hard to compare.

[Bruce L]

Welcome Mark,you'll enjoy the Trader,how deep did you make your crimps?We are running around like crazy now trying to get everything ready for maybe end of this month?

[m_hoogendyk@hotmail.com]

Hey Bruce. Had to make a break press first. (very similar to the ones other people have posted on here) It has five 4 inch drop flues. Hope to cut my boiling time in half.

[Yellzee]

Tapped about 20 this aft. Very cold and no sap dripping. Lightly set the taps and will seat better tomorrow

[halladaymaple]

Hey,

I was thinking of tapping tomorrow, not sure now. looking good monday, but weak days after that. Is it worth it ?

Darrell

[BrutemanAl]

I did a few test taps yesterday , but no sap running , hopefully the warm(er) weather in the forecast will get the ball rolling and the sap a flowin

[Bruce L]

Darrel,cold weather snow falling here this morning,still getting ready,but it seems like winter isn't quite ready to break yet

[Yellzee]

Tapped another 30 or so today. A few holes dripping a bit. Can't believe how slow I am at getting these in. Good thing I've only got 100 or so to do and not 1000. Took a few smaller trees out of the line to give them a year off.

[Galena]

Hey all

I'm about 60 km SE of Ottawa. Been calling EnviroCan every day to make sure the weather was gonna hold. Sounded good, so I got all of my 18 spiles in yesterday including in my two *problem children* trees (2 big monsters side-by sides, full of burls)....and much to my surprise, 3 and 4 are the ones starting to produce, esp 4!! Even my proven super-producer, 2, isn't out of the gate yet!

So happy, esp as I had to resort to slightly unconventional means to tap 3 and 4...maybe it will prove to be worth it :-) Will post pics soon!

[Yellzee]

Ok, all my taps in. Down about 10 as I reduced the number in a couple trees. Observation of the day is that only the smaller trees were doing anything. Big trees totally dry......maybe still frozen?

[Galena]

My two biggest trees are the only ones producing so far, I think it's because they are multi-trunked and where I am tapping them, the trunks are splitting off from the bulk of the trunk and are relatively small. My other trees are good-sized single trunks and all either dry or producing only a few drops now. Not concerned. I know my trees. In a few days they'll start up.

[cvmaple]

I put in 25 today and most were running quite well. It's go time!!!! Yee-haw!!!!

[Run Forest Run!]

I put in 25 today and most were running quite well. It's go time!!!! Yee-haw!!!!

Cvmaple, which town are you closest to? Trying to get an idea of where in southern ontario you are since you've got leakers.

[halladaymaple]

hey all:

tapped 440 taps in 4 hours in 2 bushes on Saturday, sap was slow, but 2.5 to 3.5%. Runs look promising Monday and Tuesday, chasing sap aftter that for a week. I think its worth the gamble, never tapped this early, we will see.

Darrell

[cvmaple]

Just a bit south of Belleville, Ontario. Forest

[Run Forest Run!]

I'm jealous cvmaple. Enjoy your season and send some sap west.

[Big_Eddy]

Put 50 in on Friday (Blue Health spiles) and another 50 in Sunday (cast alu spiles) As we were tapping Sunday afternoon, the trees were dripping and the kids were racing to hang the buckets before they missed the first few drips( why do they do that - they fully understand 40:1 )

Funny thing though - none of the trees we tapped Friday were dripping even though the new holes were. We're doing a bit of an experiment this year, trying both types of spiles to see if there is any difference.

Expect it'll be a reasonable day today. Will see when I get home.

[daverobitaille]

Hi all,

I tapped on Saturday 80 taps. 10 were going. yesterday half did start and this morning they all woke up and all are working hard to get me enough to do a boil tomorrow. I need a minimum of 40 but 60 gal would be best. Getting wood ready today and take the evaporator outside. I am so excited and looking forward to a full Gal of finished syrup by tomorrow night!!!
Dave

[ennismaple]

We got about 2700 taps in on the weekend. We saw very few moist tapholes but it was warm enough to get the vacuum pump on for a few minutes in one section of the woods to flush out the lines. One more day this coming weekend should get everything tapped.

[daverobitaille]

I just got out at 1PM and about 20% of the buckets ad almost 1L in it!!! can't wait for the pick up at 5PM. I noticed this morning that I did pick up last night at 5 and this morning the was quite a lot in the buckets. I guess it keeps running after dark some times.
By the way most my big ones are getting wet and producing since today.
Dave

[SGFarm]

We hung 50 buckets on Sunday and most of them are dripping, first boil tomorrow, spent Sunday cutting a bunch of dead elm to use for the boil. New chimney for the evaporator, here's hoping for a good year.

[Green Bastard]

Got thirty taps in now but its calling for some cold weather this next week. Should I pull the taps out a slight bit so the wood around the spile doesn't split? any ideas?

[Bruce L]

Dropped a big old dead maple that was leaning over the mainline and new dry line,quite a pull to change direction on the tree but we did it to avoid extra work.Broke off 1 small maple about 3" diameter,didn't hardly wet up so I guess we are not missing much sap yet

[Allan Limoges]

I tapped in mid January, have 2 gal of syrup already canned. I am getting very low sap flow the last couple of days but have about 40 gal of sap in my 72 pails. Hopefully I will have enough for a boil this weekend.

[markr]

Tapped 170 yesterday all were running will pick tonight hopefully boil tomorrow

[Bruce L]

Tapped the first 100 just before lunch today,some were running.This after the morning school bus run,then farm chores,then running 800' of mainline wire for the dry line

[Yellzee]

About 60 gallons from 110 taps over past 2 days. Just gravity suction from the hillside, no vacuum

Not great but a start. On the plus side my new set up out in the woods to transfer sap to my sled worked great

[markr]

Just picked our 170 buckets tonight got about 90 gallons of sap a pleasant surprise.

[Green Bastard]

Have sixty taps in and got about 35 gallons of sap in the first pick up today. The long term forecast doesnt look so good though about a week cold streak comin up. How long will the taps give out sap before drying up? Tap too early?

[hicks road]

Going to boil again tonight!!!!!!!

[daverobitaille]

Finished my boil last night. I collected a total of 141 Gal of sap in the 3 days run out of 80 taps. I have 3.5 gal of finished liquid gold in total.
Now I am welcoming the break of cold weather for the next couple of day. I need a rest.
I see a few other guys have been lucky like me on this forum.
Dave

[Profirefighter]

80 gallons of extra light and light syrup so far. Next week looks good.

[hicks road]

Good for you with the light syrup, i havn't got any light this year for some reason, all medium and last year the last boil of the season i got some real nice light stuff.

[Galena]

Boiled down my first 3.5 gallons yesterday down to approc 500ml of beautiful pale gold, but still a bit thin so may reduce a bit more. Just don't want to get sugar crystals! *note to self...buy a candy thermometer*

Good to see that most of you are also getting light syrup at this time. I usually get it approx halfway through my tapping season. 1st batch normally a medium amber.

BTW...am I the only person here who is using Imperial (aka British 4.5 l) gallons? Or is the US gallon measure of what 3.75 l what most of us Canucks are using?

[Yellzee]

First boil still underway as kids hockey tournaments are making things very difficult. Battle to thaw out the evaporator feed lines. Couldnt get them empty of sap last night so they froze solid, but rolling now. Wife hopefully taking control while i go back to the rink this morn!
I tend to talk litres, if i mention gallons on here i'd go U.S. gallons

[Yellzee]

Wow, weather forecast looking scary good for most of the coming week here. Bets it wont turn out that way?

[Run Forest Run!]

Wow, weather forecast looking scary good for most of the coming week here. Bets it wont turn out that way?

That's what I'm wondering. The forecasted temperatures have improved since yesterday's forecast, but I'm kind of tired of counting my chickens before they've hatched. There have been a lot of chickens vaporizing over the past month. None of which are landing in my empty sap buckets.

[Big_Eddy]

First boil on Saturday. I had 120 gals (CDN) in the tank collected over the week. Boiled 80 gals on Saturday in 4 hours flat to sweeten the evaporator and drew off maybe 6 litres of syrup. After an hour thawing lines, the kids boiled the other 40 gals on Sunday afternoon, but no more draws.

No sap Saturday or Sunday but expecting that tomorrow and the rest of the week should be good. Having an open house over the weekend so hope the weather cooperates.

I'm off work next week for March break, so the forecast for then will surely change.

(I mix CDN gallons and litres. Gallons for sap, litres for syrup. 10 gals sap ~= 1 litre syrup. Or a 5 gal pail fits in a 500ml bottle. My collecting tanks are marked in CDN gallons so I use those to record how much sap I collect each day. My head tank is marked in US gals so I record the boils in US gals and convert as needed)

[BrutemanAl]

I am no where near as big as a operation as allot of you , I don't have the time to be putting in a big system due to work , I do it just for fun and enjoy being in the outdoors, just started doing the maple syrup thing last year , right now I only have 5 buckets , and going to be putting in another 10 on Thurs or Fri , the 5 buckets I have I collected 25 ltr's this past Friday and boiled it down , got 3 cups of light syrup , it is yummy tasty good !

[Kyle Baker]

26 taps up near Jasper and Merrickville ON. Nothing yet, but we'll see when I get home from work. Should be a good week.

[wino]

36 buckets up collected 35l tonight and test boiled on my 24x36 pan in the new shack. Let the sap roll.
wino

[Kyle Baker]

35l off of 36 buckets today? thats better than I got. I had some run but I'll wait until after tomorrow before I collect. It wasnt worth the effort today. Here's hoping for tomorrow ;)

[Galena]

Right now still doing more toe-tapping than anything else, but I just remember what 2011 was like. Then I go and peek in the pails and give the trees a pat on the trunk and a few words of encouragement. Doesn't seem to hurt.

[Kyle Baker]

Pretty slow start for me. Then a buddy 10 minutes away got almost 35 gallons in the last 2 days with only 4 more taps than me.
Come on trees!

[govner4]

I collected about 50 gallons today on 100 taps a few trees still not doing much but some were very good to me I now have around 90 to boil all burried in the snow
hopefully will double it up and have a big boil Saturday!

[Galena]

Pretty slow start for me. Then a buddy 10 minutes away got almost 35 gallons in the last 2 days with only 4 more taps than me.
Come on trees!

Hey, no need to go so hard on yourself...buddy may have bigger trees with longer taproots, more access to sun, better location etc etc...I know it can be frustrating but if it's in any solace, I got no sap from last Friday on to Tuesday...then this evening I brought in almost 2 Imperial gallons so I'm happy, happy enough to toss it in the hotel pan and fire up the woodstove!

[Yellzee]

Not as good as i hoped for, say 50 gallons but with all the ice there was in the tank its hard to be certain. Havent been home till well after dark so havent been able to check lines.
Modified pan hopefully good to go tomorrow.

[BrutemanAl]

Just went and collected 26 ltrs , took 8 hrs to get that from 8 taps , boiling away as I type :)

After all was boiled I ended up with just over a liter of liquid gold :) light colour and very tasty and sweet , I expect to get the same amount friday (today) and sunday , if not more , few of my taps were almost flowing sap which I had no idea that happens

[Galena]

Hey all

Seeing that images are kept kinda small on this site, and I have perfectly good easier-to-see images on another site, I've set up this link to a folder where I have already posted some pix from this year. If you scroll down below the images you can read my comments in the Photographer's Comments area, so you know what you're looking at.

http://www.dpchallenge.com/portfolio_mgr.php?collection_id=41009

[BrutemanAl]

collecting sap I think is an addiction , I cant wait to be done work today to get back in the forest to collect the sap

[Big_Eddy]

Thursday wasn't a bad day - 70 gals from 100 trees. Expecting the same again today. Making steam tomorrow.

[daverobitaille]

Hoping for 3 Gal of finished syrup tonight after boiling all day. Hard to keep up with the boiling. it needs lots of beer!
Dave

[Galena]

Wish I could brag too but really can't, the 20km wind from the NW seems to be robbing the trees of the nice warm 4 degrees it's meant to be today. Driving me a little crazy and making me think of building a really high wall on the north side of my property!!

[Green Bastard]

Ran well for me also about 45 gallons form 64 taps. hope for the same tm

[Zamkev]

Hey all

Seeing that images are kept kinda small on this site, and I have perfectly good easier-to-see images on another site, I've set up this link to a folder where I have already posted some pix from this year. If you scroll down below the images you can read my comments in the Photographer's Comments area, so you know what you're looking at.

http://www.dpchallenge.com/portfolio_mgr.php?collection_id=41009

password protected?

[Galena]

It was, but then I fixed linky so it should be OK now.

[Yellzee]

Big day today. Finally got time to check the lines. Lots of loose taps and one that i either forgot to hook to a tap or fell off a tap (both seem unlikely but no other ideas) so loosing sap from about ten trees as that was the closest tree to the mainline.
Finished up leak repair on the modified pan with flues and now starting the inaugural sweetening. Im about .5 us gallons of sap per tree each of the last few days so lots of boiling to catch up on.

[Yellzee]

Geussing nobody is one here as everyone in this area is boilig like crazy! Busy few days. Batch #1 finished but it has a bit off a funny taste to it. Many have sampled and its somewhere between a strong maple flavour and metallicy. Any thoughts? Only new equipment in this batch is a new plastic food grade holding tank. Flavour from that or old filters or junk in lines first run? Or maybe just unlucky?

[Run Forest Run!]

Geussing nobody is one here as everyone in this area is boilig like crazy! Busy few days.

You guessed correctly. Ontario is now the land of the midnight boil. :lol: Gusher central.

Sorry to hear about your first batch. Hopefully you'll figure out what's going on with it.

[Galena]

Just finished my 2nd batch, pale clear gold yet again...*scratching head*...which I normally get closer to mid-run. Ah well it tastes fine. Have almost 5g on the woodstove to start evaporating down from today alone. Anyone else still getting syrup that looks more like honey than amber syrup?

[Run Forest Run!]

I'll let you know what colour I get whenever this marathon boil finishes. It will be finished on the stove tomorrow.

[MustardSeedMum]

its somewhere between a strong maple flavour and metallicy.

I'm having the same issue here as well. But I'm the only one that tastes it...my kids thought it tasted fine. I'm hoping it's my pregnant taste buds. :lol:

Could it be the arch? This year we cobbled together enough concrete blocks to fashion out a crude block arch and I put some grates I had lying around in there to get some airflow. A few melted in there and I was wondering if the ashes from the melting metal might have flown into my pans. I'm going to get my husband to taste the syrup to see if he gets the same metallic aftertaste I'm getting.

Pretty pleased with my boil rate this year though. Probably quadrupled it. Managed to boil through 200L over the course of 7 hours of keeping the fire going on my 2 evaporators. Going to take a break tomorrow from boiling since the forecast is rain the entire day. I don't feel like getting sopping wet in my condition. :emb: And since we're keeping up with the collection and boils, I can afford to do that...at this point anyway.

Hope everyone else is doing well. Looks like we'll be getting a small break by midweek before another run. Yay!

[BrutemanAl]

Just finished my 2nd batch, pale clear gold yet again...*scratching head*...which I normally get closer to mid-run. Ah well it tastes fine. Have almost 5g on the woodstove to start evaporating down from today alone. Anyone else still getting syrup that looks more like honey than amber syrup?

Mine looks like Honey also , but taste's fantastic , so i am not complaining , gave some to a few neighbors and they asked why it looked that way ? It doesnt look like that in the store's they said , I said shut it lol and taste it , they tasted it and said WOW !! Thats some good stuff right there lol

[Galena]

Cool, good to know I'm not the only one! Maybe this year will be remembered as the Year the Syrup turned to Honey :-)

[Kyle Baker]

interesting color on that syrup! Mine has all looked normal. I've finished 1.25litres and have more ready to finish off tonight hopefully. Maybe about 1.5 - 2litres if my guess is accurate. Things should slow down this week... and by the looks of things may not be very good from here on out.

7325

[Run Forest Run!]

Nice job Kyle. Here too, it's going to get a little cooler in the next day or two, but I'm pretty sure we are still in for one heck of a run in the weeks ahead. Get ready for anything!

[Big_Eddy]

Three batches boiled, filtered and bottled, 25l in total, all light.
A lot of nitre in the first batch, the other 2 had very little.

Was averaging 20 gals./hr on the first boil, the next 2 I was giving tours so the evaporation rate was spotty, down to 10 and up to 18.

Not a lot of sap yesterday or today - used today to get the finishing done. Not sure about tomorrow but the forecast for the rest of the week looks good.

[Kyle Baker]

Finished the batch I boiled Sunday. Worked put to another 1.25 litres. About the same color as my first batch, but maybe sweeter :) yum yum. More sap boiling and hoping for more to run.

[BrutemanAl]

Three batches boiled, filtered and bottled, 25l in total, all light.
A lot of nitre in the first batch, the other 2 had very little.

Was averaging 20 gals./hr on the first boil, the next 2 I was giving tours so the evaporation rate was spotty, down to 10 and up to 18.

Not a lot of sap yesterday or today - used today to get the finishing done. Not sure about tomorrow but the forecast for the rest of the week looks good.

I'm not far from you and Sunday and Monday were not good for me also , only collect about 20 ltr both days combined

[ennismaple]

The conditions seem right for making extra light syrup this year! What we made Friday is the lightest we've ever made, with Saturday not far behind. Sunday's syrup was lighter than we make first run a lot of years! When we boil the evaporator through today I expect we'll make a bit of medium. Hopefully we're in for a big week next week after the thaw!

[Run Forest Run!]

Any chance we could see a picture of this very light syrup? I'd love to see it!

BTW, the sap in The Golden Horseshoe is not running either.

[Kyle Baker]

I hope you're right Ennismaple. I dont want to stop boiling yet, still havent got a gallon finished and I'm not sure I've even got enough sap to do it.
In lanark area it tends to be a bit cooler than Smiths Falls area, but I'm crossing my fingers that things keep running.

[ennismaple]

Any chance we could see a picture of this very light syrup? I'd love to see it!

BTW, the sap in The Golden Horseshoe is not running either.

I don't have a picture of the syrup but it did make the following maple sugar. 7363

It's not uncommon for producers on small evaporators or cooking on their kitchen stove to make lighter syrup than us bigger guys. It's harder for us to keep everything as clean and the evaporator makes more heat (we're over 2100 F beneath our pans) so we can get more caramelization - meaning darker syrup.

[Run Forest Run!]

Ennismaple, that maple sugar looks so delicious. I'll have to give that a try one year.

[Galena]

Karen, there is a linky at the bottom of my signature to my setup and samples of syrup from this year and years past if you're interested :-)

ETA: Ennis...wow no wonder you get darker syrup, I make probably 1 bazillionth the amount of syrup you do!! My mentors' syrup that I saw yesterday is a light clear amber, and they are only a 10-min drive from me. Their bush is scattered throughout the small hamlet where they live, and they have I think 120 taps.

I have yet to process my 3rd batch as would like to get a bit more before I boil, but will be curious to see if it's honey again or the more usual amber!

[Kyle Baker]

Galena, can't access pics through your link. I'd like to see how light your syrup is. It asks for a login and password...

[Galena]

Galena, can't access pics through your link. I'd like to see how light your syrup is. It asks for a login and password...

Aw pooh, thought I had it fixed. One moment...
*tinker tinker swear swear tinker*

OK should work now. If it still doesn't, PM me.

[BrutemanAl]

Here is a picture of some of the Syrup I made on Monday night

7373

[Yellzee]

Batch 2 tasted fine, Up to 17 liters. There would be more but it didnt all go through the filters so i dumped it back into the next finishinf batch. 2 huge pots of almost syrup to finish hopefully tonight.

Only difference in batch 2 was not using any defoamer. Bottle is a year old so thinking maybe it has gone bad? It tastes awful but i cant say i have ever tried it straight out of the bottle before!!

[Run Forest Run!]

Bruteman Al, your syrup looks great. Congrats!

Galena, your link always asks for a password etc. I guess Kyle and I are on "do not fly" list when it comes to your link. lol

I have been having no end of trouble trying to finish off my FIRST batch of syrup. Yes, FIRST.

I was all excited to be using TWO turkey fryers this year, but the second one didn't work. Took it back and exchanged it for another. Got all set up again yesterday, hoping to finally boil off all 114L of my sap. The SECOND fryer didn't work either. It wouldn't get hot enough to boil my sap. Fast forward another 11 hours of boiling yesterday and I had to pull the plug at midnight because there was no end in sight and I'd just emptied my remaining propane tank. So far I've got 21 hours of boiling invested in this batch. Sheesh!

At 9 a.m. I started up my working turkey fryer, put the concentrate in a pan and 2 hours later I've got a pot of near syrup ready to get up to temperature on the kitchen stove. I can't believe how long this has taken me, but when you have equipment failure after equipment failure, all bets are off.

So, excluding any other unforeseen acts of God I should be looking at my first batch of finished syrup this afternoon. Wish me luck!

[DonMcJr]

Hey Karen... I remember a little vent type thing on my turkey fryer that you opened and closed to adjust airflow besides the main knob...check for that and adjust it might get it hotter

[ennismaple]

ETA: Ennis...wow no wonder you get darker syrup, I make probably 1 bazillionth the amount of syrup you do!! My mentors' syrup that I saw yesterday is a light clear amber, and they are only a 10-min drive from me. Their bush is scattered throughout the small hamlet where they live, and they have I think 120 taps.

Galena - It's a different scale but no less of an obsession!

When we first took over the operation after my father's passing I would obsess over the colour of the syrup we produced. Over the past few years I've come to realize much of it is beyond our control. If the tubing is washed each season, the tanks are washed each time they are drained, the evaporator is cleaned periodically and we manage a consistent fire we've done what we can on our end - the rest is up to Mother Nature! We sometimes lament we make too much dark syrup but I know producers who wish they made more dark and less extra light!

[daverobitaille]

Boil...boil...boil...Looks like it will never end! I am so glad I did get a new evaporator this year. I do about 8 gal/hr compare to 4 last year. today I never tough it would run it is only 1.5C but the only tree in my back yard is "pissing". I can imagine the collect tonight in the sugar bush.
So far 9 Gal of finished liquid gold and more more to come.
My best year so far here in Coldwater ontario!!!
Dave

[Run Forest Run!]

Hey Karen... I remember a little vent type thing on my turkey fryer that you opened and closed to adjust airflow besides the main knob...check for that and adjust it might get it hotter

Yes, there is a little vent at the end of the gas line where it joins onto the actual unit. I tried opening and closing it to vary the amount of air, but couldn't seem to see any difference. Do you remember if your fryer gets hotter when the valve is more open or less open?

[BrutemanAl]

Yes, there is a little vent at the end of the gas line where it joins onto the actual unit. I tried opening and closing it to vary the amount of air, but couldn't seem to see any difference. Do you remember if your fryer gets hotter when the valve is more open or less open?

On mine you turn the red control knob all the way counter clockwise and that is full blast , then turn it clockwise to turn it off full . One thing I do remember a friend telling me , when you hook it up to the propane tank , open the propane valve slowly , sometimes when you just start cranking it open , the small regulator on the turkey fryer has a small rubber baffel in it and the pressure can cause it to stick and you get what you described , sometimes you even have to remove the turkey fryer hose from the propane tank and start over

[Run Forest Run!]

Hey Al. Thanks for the tip. That covers the red control knob issues, but what about the air intake valve at the unit end? Any advice about that?

I'll definitely try what you suggested before I take this unit back. Oh, another question. I had the red knob control open to full when I turned on the propane. Do you have yours turned to the closed position before you turn on the propane? Did you get your fryer at Home Hardware?

[Yellzee]

That may be the issue. You should have the valve closed when you open the propane tank knob.

[Galena]

OK Forest etc...thanks for being patient and THIS time I think I have the linky fixed properly. Try this one and if it still don't work please PM me...

http://www.dpchallenge.com/portfolio.php?USER_ID=59029&collection_id=41009

Thanks much and good luck all, this weather is driving me and I suspecting my trees too, totally nuts...

[Yellzee]

Batch 3 produced 6.5 liters medium. So 23.5 l so far. No sap here today to speak of. Added another 15 taps

[Run Forest Run!]

That may be the issue. You should have the valve closed when you open the propane tank knob.

Thanks for that advice as well. You'd think that it would be a wise idea for the manufacturer to include instructions in the box with the fryer if the unit can be rendered ineffective by not starting it in a certain way. I really appreciate the insight I've received on here from you guys. Hopefully this will solve my problem.

[DonMcJr]

If I remember right if the vent is closed the flame is smaller and as you open it it gets bigger. Play with it while it's lit just don't lean over it...LOL!

[BrutemanAl]

Hey Al. Thanks for the tip. That covers the red control knob issues, but what about the air intake valve at the unit end? Any advice about that?

I'll definitely try what you suggested before I take this unit back. Oh, another question. I had the red knob control open to full when I turned on the propane. Do you have yours turned to the closed position before you turn on the propane? Did you get your fryer at Home Hardware?

I always start mine by turning the propane tank on slowly , then the red control knob all the way counter clockwise , then push the little brass stem to let the propane start to flow while holding the bbq lighter on the burner , I got mine at canadian tire , mine also has a timer on it , it has to be turn on all the way and shuts the fryer off after 10 mins of running , the timer is a pain in the butt , so I just turned it on all the way and put a piece of duct tape on it so it stays in the on position and doesnt shut off after 10 mins of run time.

What size is your fryer ? I looked at home hardware's website to see if I could find the one you have and only found a 30 quart one , is that the one you have ?

If that is the one you have then the propane line is the exact same as mine , same timer and red shut on/off knob, pretty sure they are probably all the same for the most part.

As for the airflow down by the burner , if you close that all the way you will not get a good flame , when i first got mine I fired it up and moved the airflow "thing" ( not sure what it is called lol) to different positions to see how it worked and what the best position would be and have not moved it since . You want the flame to have blue tips on it , yellow tips means it is not getting enough air and cause's soot , the bottom of the pot turns black .

Hope some of this helps :)

[Chasinthedream]

Just started late this year, built a 2ftx7ft arch, 24x30 divided finishing pan, 24x48 8"raised flue pan - never seen one in person, just from pictures online. We boiled 180gal last Saturday down to 20 in 4hrs. We were getting about 60gal/hr when the stack was at 1450F, then cut it back to 1200F. No run Monday or Tuesday, but boiled another 80gal last night. Seems to be starting up again. I've never done this before. How long will it last? I'm worried this may be the last week, judging by how quickly the flow stopped on Monday.

144 taps 5/16 Tubing into 16L cooking oil jugs, collect with the loader and 200gal tote.

[ennismaple]

Thanks much and good luck all, this weather is driving me and I suspecting my trees too, totally nuts...

Your trees, like the rest of us, are resting right now! A freezeup or two in the season is a good thing. Our best seasons have always been long and drawn-out with several pauses in the middle to let the trees re-charge. If we can get 5 weeks from first boil to last boil it's almost guaranteed you'll be happy with your stockpile of syrup at the end!

[Chasinthedream]

They were running good on Saturday when it froze at night and the sun came out during the day. The run stopped when it got warm and rained Monday and Tuesday. Is it pressure or temperature or both. How warm can it get and still run? What was your longest season like for weather?

[Yellzee]

Im no expert but 60 gal/hr on a home made 2x7 sounds pretty darn good!

If its only a day or two it can get very warrm without hurting anything, but dont leave sap laying around

[Run Forest Run!]

BrutemanAl, this is the unit I have. Technically it is just called a gas burner and not a turkey fryer, but that's just what everyone seems to refer to it as.

http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.htm/Outdoor-Living/Seasonal/Barbecues/Outdoor-Burners/Propane/1-Burner-60000BTU-Heavy-Duty-Gas-Burner/_/N-ntlc4Z2pqfZ67l/Ne-67nZlpu1/Ntk-All_EN/R-I6347190?Ntt=burner

I am going to pay much more attention to how I start this thing up. Maybe I've been just a little too anxious! Also, I have been getting quite a bit of soot on the bottom of my pan, so I'll make sure that I'm burning cleaner by adjusting the air intake. Many thanks for your help. If it still doesn't work I should check out Canadian Tire to see what they have at my local store in the way of a replacement.

[BrutemanAl]

Run forest run , I looked at getting that one when I was in the market for one , looked at so many and compared so many I forgot about that one somehow lol , that is the one I wanted to get because it has a higher BTU rating , I ended up getting this one ,

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/8/KitchenBath/Canning/CanningPots/PRD~0851119P/Master+Chef+Country+Cooker+Kit.jsp?locale=en

it works good and even though it has a lower BTU rating , I am still happy with it and for the price I feel it was a good buy.

If you have anymore question about yours just let me know :)

[Run Forest Run!]

Thanks Al. I'm going to start mine up again today and see if I can get it to work properly. I'll keep you posted.

[ennismaple]

They were running good on Saturday when it froze at night and the sun came out during the day. The run stopped when it got warm and rained Monday and Tuesday. Is it pressure or temperature or both. How warm can it get and still run? What was your longest season like for weather?

Temperature and atmospheric pressure both affect sap flow. So does the past few days' weather. All things equal, a day at +5 Celsius that is cloudy (low barometric pressure) will result in more sap flow than the same day if its sunny.

Our best seasons have been 30+ days from our first boil to our last boil. For this to happen, you need a few cold snaps in the middle to re-charge the trees. Of those 30+ days, we'll maybe boil half the days, often less. Our average season over the last decade has been 28 days from first to last boil, which includes last year's 11 day season. The sap was still pouring on March 18th, 2012 when it was +20 C and hadn't frozen in a week, but the trees had budded out and the sap was worthless.

[Yellzee]

Started to flow a bit late in the day here but too cold to really get going. The new line i just put up with about 20 taps on it (i know thats too many on one line but about 40 feet of drop) was really running

Today is thinning out ironwood instead of boiling. Taking advantage of the deep freeze to drag logs down the trail

[Run Forest Run!]

UPDATE:

BrutemanAl you are officially my hero. Your pointers on how to properly start my propane burner did the trick! I would have taken the unit back if it wasn't for you. My first burner is no where near so touchy to start it up, so I had no idea that the new one would need so much coaxing. Thanks again. I'm now boiling off the few gallons of sap I've stored up since Wednesday so it doesn't go to waste while I wait for the next big run.

[MustardSeedMum]

Well I'll be darned. -4C outside but some of my trees are dripping. Granted, these are the ones on the perimeter of the yard and facing SW. But high of -4?!
Then there are some that's freezing coming out of the taps and forming these 4" cone-shaped popsicles.

Glad for the break these past few days but I'd like to make more syrup...

[Yellzee]

Noticed my south ones had sap coming out around the tree/tap as the lines were all frozen

[Run Forest Run!]

My trees started giving up some drops just after 2 this afternoon. The best part was collecting the thawed sap from under the ice in my buckets. Are you ready for this?????

Wait for it...


6% sugar content! Yes, I doubled and triple checked. 6%! :o

[BrutemanAl]

UPDATE:

BrutemanAl you are officially my hero. Your pointers on how to properly start my propane burner did the trick! I would have taken the unit back if it wasn't for you. My first burner is no where near so touchy to start it up, so I had no idea that the new one would need so much coaxing. Thanks again. I'm now boiling off the few gallons of sap I've stored up since Wednesday so it doesn't go to waste while I wait for the next big run.

Glad I could be of some help , I'm new to this forum and was not sure what it would be like since this is only my second year tap'n and sap'n tree's , but it turns out I check this forum everyday and I'm glad I was able to help someone.

My tree's started dripping again on Friday afternoon , they were running pretty good , not enough to collect though , Saturday I didnt make it into the Forest and was not to concerned because of the temps , went in to the forest yesterday morning to have a look around and 10 of my 13 buckets were 1/2 to 3/4 full of sap frozen solid , left it , went and had a look again around 3 pm and the tree's were running again I was able to get the frozen blocks of sap out , brought it all home in a cooler and boiled it down , ended up with just under 4 cups of light syrup , took for ever to filter though , had allot of nitter in it.

My biggest concern is the tracks I have seen in the snow.....BEAR TRACKS !! doesnt look like a very big bear , but he or she has been around my buckets , it has not touched anything....yet and hopefully it doesnt decide to get close and personal with me lol

[Galena]

Gaahh! Bruteman, you be careful if there's bear tracks around...I dunno if they would be coming out of hibernation so soon but if they are they might raid your buckets for an energy drink...maybe take a bear banger or bear spray out into the woods with you...and Forest...6%?! Seriously? But seeing how easily I nearly killed my 3rd batch and just turned it to taffy instead, maybe the lower run means more sugar and thus only like a 36/1 or 38/1 instead of the usual 40/1.

In my area sounds like nothing will be happening til Friday. Not keeping fingers crossed but not pulling spiles yet either.

[Kyle Baker]

Galena, dont worry... it looks like a solid week coming up starting around friday. Not time to quit yet ;)

[Run Forest Run!]

Kyle, I seem to be using the phrase "next week" a lot this season. I've been saying that since mid February, and yet find myself still saying it.

[ennismaple]

No sense worrying about what we cannot change. The sap will run when it is ready - patience grasshopper!

[Yellzee]

My neighbor reports he can see his 1 tree dripping out his window, maybe with the long hold at plus 2 or so things started flowing!

[Kyle Baker]

Mine ran just a little today ;) not enough to get excited about, but enough to put a smile on my face :)

[Yellzee]

Same here, tiny bit of sap, the ice in the tank should keep it nice and cool

[BrutemanAl]

My taps have been running all week , they dont seem to start running till afternoon , as of yesterday late afternoon I could have collected probably around 15 ltrs , but I figured I would wait till today when I get home to collect what is there.

[Big_Eddy]

We collected last night for the first time since the 11th. 33 gals from ~150 trees. Some were 2/3 full, others only had a drip in them. Varied by location, sun exposure, size and metal versus plastic taps. Lots of ice. Lots of taps pushing out from the tree due to ice behind. Will need to snug them up once it warms up again.

Still don't have enough to boil. Maybe Friday now based on the latest forecast. Last boil was March 10th.

[Yellzee]

I decided to add some more taps today out of fear we are going to have a very short season and the fact the later taps i put in were running and nothing else was. This is a real pain for me as they wont run in to my main collection drum and i have to go under two laterals to get to this new drum. Will have to pump it out also. The new holes were running like fountains as soon as i pulled the drill out. Hope this was just an initial pressure release and not a sign my original taps arent gonna produce! Should get in a small boil tomorrow and if the weather forecast is correct we may have a busy next few days.

[SPM in King]

Mild run yesterday. Southern facing trees ran while temps were below zero. Northern trees were much later in the day. Looks good for today and the week ahead. Will have to figure out how to thaw all that week old sap out! I'm sitting on close to 400L of solid frozen sap.

Steve.

[Galena]

We collected last night for the first time since the 11th. 33 gals from ~150 trees. Some were 2/3 full, others only had a drip in them. Varied by location, sun exposure, size and metal versus plastic taps. Lots of ice. Lots of taps pushing out from the tree due to ice behind. Will need to snug them up once it warms up again.

Still don't have enough to boil. Maybe Friday now based on the latest forecast. Last boil was March 10th.

Hmm...now that I think of it two of my most consistent trees are the ones with the Frankenstein setup of tubing, pails and plastic spiles...wondering if that has something to do with it...and interesting about spiles being pushed out, I was looking at some and thinking 'I was sure I had drilled deeper than that!!'

Anyway weather FINALLY looking promising for here, trees 2,3, and 4 are all getting back with the program. 6,7 and 9 all need to get their big barky butts in gear :D

[Yellzee]

Bit of sap today, nothing to get excited about. Between the dribbles if the week and today maybe 90 gallons to boil down. At leat we are sugaring again. Newly tapped trees are 90% of the sap i bet

[Run Forest Run!]

I had high hopes for today, but only had a little bit in each bucket. There was a pretty hefty breeze here today, so perhaps that slowed down the flow. Crossing my fingers for a better showing tomorrow.

[Galena]

Run Forest Run...at a guess I'd say you're right, the breeze was a factor esp if it was a NW...I know I got next to zilch when it was +2, yet there was a 20km NW breeze too. Cheer up, it'll warm up soon!

Collected 8l today total so fairly happy, 5 of my 6 now back from staycation. Don't know why #6 (2nd-best superproducer) is taking so long but seeing that #2, my superproducer, is only just starting to kick into gear, being patient. Still too soon for the *firewood talk* :evil:

[BrutemanAl]

Mine seem to be flowing pretty well , yesterday morning I collected 8 gallons and most of my taps were flowing pretty well , except for 1 , its being difficult , last year the same tree was producing allot , this year it is not doing really anything .

[Galena]

Same with my superproducer, Al. #2 has been my best producer by a long shot for years, but has definitely been taking longer to get going this year. I attribute it partly to its size, #2 is one of my biggest trees, and of course this whacky weather isn't helping. But it may also just be due for a season off, which it did basically get last year, but I did end up tapping it late in the season.

[SPM in King]

Sap is running today, but not BIG. I expected more, but when the clouds rolled in and the wind picked up, well it just never got going in a big way. Strange year. So much frozen sap. I had my barrels on the heated garage for 2 days and they were still frozen this moring. Got through 500L and called it quits at 3pm. I thought I would have way more.

Steve.

[Run Forest Run!]

Steve, I'm near the King/Caledon townline and was as equally uninspired by today's run as you were. A few trees tried hard, but most were fast asleep again.

[Bruce L]

Vacuum pump running at 25" today,hauled in about 1000 gallons of sap,tapped the buckets beside the sugarhouse,running like crazy,but slowing down pretty good by 4:00 Very impressed by the Vortex today,1000 gallons of sap through in less than 4 hours boiling,no hood,preheater or ro

[BrutemanAl]

I had a good run today , collected 16 gallons off my 13 taps , boiling away right now

[Yellzee]

Wow Bruce, I'm jealous of those sap numbers and amazed at the boil rate. Likely hauled in about 100 gallons sap with now about 160 taps, 40 of those tapped in the past couple weeks and doing a lot of the work. Found another screw up when i noticed my mainline full of sap about 15 feet from the tank. I had strapped a pre-filter to the end of the mainline at the start and hadnt changed it. Must have been a ton of stuff in a line somewhere i missed and it had clogged the filter. Oops! I had strapped the filter pretty tight on the pipe so it didn't have much surface area to clog. Going back to empty the tank shortly.

[Run Forest Run!]

BrutemanAl, how much syrup have you made so far this year?

[BrutemanAl]

roughly 7 litres , been giving it away to everyone , and drinking it lol and putting it in my tea and coffee

[Run Forest Run!]

That's a fantastic start! I hope you are flooded out this week. :) Thanks again for your help with my propane burner. Now, do you think you can do something to get the sap flowing for me so that I can use it again?????

[Run Forest Run!]

I've just finished tallying up my sap for today. Of my 20 taps, only 10 had any sap in the bucket. I hauled off a whopping 16L of sap - total. (That's 4 US gallons) Pretty pathetic.

Still waiting......

[BrutemanAl]

You can come get all the sap you like from my taps , I have to leave to go to Montreal for 4 days this morning for a training course for work and I have no idea how I am going to collect the sap , the buckets are filling up so fast for me

[Galena]

Dangit Al, don't place temptation in my way...next thing you know I'll be looking up Codrington and borrowing a friend's pickup and as many 5-gallon foodgrade buckets from the local restaurant I can bum!!

Oh double dang, I can't raid your pails, I have to be somewhere this weekend. Dang.

Meanwhile had a slower run yesterday, got I think 6 litres total, boiled down the previous batch of sap into near-syrup to make room for more sap in the evap pan. But today it's meant to be +5 today...but with a slight breeze...so that could slow things further.

And then there's Codrington *rustle of opening map of SE Ontario*...;)

[Big_Eddy]

Boiled over the weekend - only had 75 gals of sap by end of Saturday and most of it had been frozen and thawed, so was super concentrated. Made for a short boil. Syrup was a little darker as some of the sap had been frozen in the tank for almost 2 weeks. Discarded the remaining ice, cleaned and washed all the tanks.

Collected another 30 gallons on Sunday. Some of the trees are flowing well, the north facing ones are still slow - it's not been getting warm enough to thaw out the trunks yet. Hoping it'll be good this week. I've been tapped for a month now and only boiled 3 times! Still over a foot of snow in my woods, but I was into Trenton yesterday and there was no snow to be seen.

[Run Forest Run!]

Some of my buckets started dripping ten minutes ago. Fingers crossed.

[Yellzee]

Bigsap warning in Plainfield! About 150 gallons today and still flowing! Murphys law in effect. I cant boil tonite, have to go to work tommorrow and my father in law who does all the boiling has surgery tommorrow!!! At 10-15 gall per hour i need him. Weather looks good for tommor as well. Up to 38.5 liters so far of syrup

[BrutemanAl]

I ended up asking my neighbor to empty my buckets for me , I left him some empty culligan water bottles in the forest ( 4 of them ) plus 2 8 gallon water jugs the kind you take camping , I got a text saying the 4 culligan bottle's were already full and by tomorrow the 2 camping water jugs will more than likely be full , hopefully he has something he can use to store more if needed . gunna be very busy when I get home from montreal I do believe

[Run Forest Run!]

Al, the floodgates are opening for us now. Your poor neighbour. hahahah

I'm one happy gal with 32 litres collected today. It was gaining speed throughout the day and I question how much it will slow down tonight. I'll start boiling 70 litres tomorrow morning and expect at least another 30+ of new sap will be in the buckets tomorrow. Good thing I've got 4 propane tanks to put in rotation.

[SPM in King]

BIG SAP!!

600L on 100 taps since yesterday morning...and really running strong.

Steve.

[Yellzee]

Slower day, maybe 50-60 gallons sap. Have about 150 or so boiled down so far. Frost on ground already. Up to 46 liters of syrup

[Run Forest Run!]

I had a weird day. All the trees on my property were shut down. There was a breeze that was the likely culprit. However, the 7 taps that I have down the street in a sheltered forest were champs today. I got 37.5 litres from those 7 taps and they were showing no signs of letting up when I emptied them at 4 p.m. I'll have to go back first thing tomorrow morning to make sure they aren't overflowing. Big difference between the two locations today.

[Kyle Baker]

Yesterday was weak for me... on 16 taps I got maybe 4 gallons. The day before on all 26 of mine I probably did 25-26 gallons. Do you guys think this could be close to the end of it?

[Run Forest Run!]

Kyle, it sounds like you and I had the same sap day. I can't imagine that we are nearing the end because we've barely even started. Hang in there. I'm sure there is more to come. Even today the trees on my property are sleepy. Thank goodness I've got those few down the street to help me over the dry spells here.

[ennismaple]

Can someone tell our trees to wake up!! We last boiled on Monday so my brother was ready for a massive day today. Turns out he'll have to run less than 1 gallon per tap - and that's 2 days worth of sap! It has great colour and flavour and we're approaching last year's total (per tap) so we can't complain - we just want to see it go so hard we don't know how to get it all processed!

[Run Forest Run!]

This is why this type of forum is so helpful. If so many of us weren't having this unexpected dry spell we'd think it was just us and we either did something wrong or have crappy trees.

[Kyle Baker]

Ennismaple, I'm not sure exactly where you are in relation to Lanark village, but for you Lanark tends to be a couple degrees cooler than where I am which will hopefully work in your favor... hopefully mine too, but only time will tell for sure ;)
I know way up in the Lanark highlands where Wheelers is it always seems colder.

[Big_Eddy]

Monday I had to work late - sent the 2 boys out to collect on their own. Was wondering where they got to - they collected 111 gals from ~145 trees. They were tired when they got in.
Boiled Tuesday at a leisurely rate between various phone calls and work related stuff- boiled off 100 gals.
Collected another 35 gallons in the evening.
I think I have about 100 in the tank now - so all set for some more long boils.
Here's to some colder nights over the next week or so.

[Yellzee]

[QUOTE=Kyle Baker; Do you guys think this could be close to the end of it?[/QUOTE]
I wouldn't panic yet. There is still snow in the woods and frost in the ground. I checked the stardate log for the past 5 years or so and except for last year we are always boiling past the first week of April and there were much warmer springs than this one. Soft maple sap is still clear so the hards have plenty of time left

[Yellzee]

Just made it to the woods. About 120 gallons sap today. Not bad. Ill be boiling for days to get caught up and it feels cool back here already! More tomorrow?

[Kyle Baker]

Just hung 9 more buckets on some sugars I hadn't tapped earlier. Insurance incase my soft maples wind down early. Having a good boil with what I've got now though... Should finish a gallon more at least :)

[Yellzee]

Finished 10 litres. Getting darker. First year with flue and from the look of the dark niter on my filter i think i maybe should shut down, draw off the sweet and clean out the pan. Comments??

No frost out there yet.

[SPM in King]

Yesterday was slow here. Sap ran a bit in the morning then slowed right down with the snow and wind. I boiled 700L of the 900 that I had on hand. I should finish it today.

On the bright side, today and tomorrow should be big days. Cool nights, warm days...we shall see. Keep your Easter weekend open! It is Easter, right?

Steve.

[Galena]

Got almost 4 gallons on Tuesday in warm sunny weather. Yesterday weather was cloudy, cool, breezy and punky...and so was output, only 1.5 l. Fingers crossed for the weekend.

[Green Bastard]

The past three days i have been getting atleast a gallon a bucket but getting swamped with sap. today should slow down and recharge the trees abit and let me catch up on boil in. I have already past last yrs syrup total.

[BrutemanAl]

I have been in Montreal since monday , had the neighbor collecting my sap , came home to 56 gallons that need boiling , did a boil of 8 gallons last night when I got home and ended up with 7 cups of medium maple syrup and it taste's fantastic , boiling another 8 gallons right now .

[Run Forest Run!]

Al, thank goodness you're back!

[BrutemanAl]

hey thats what my neighbor said to lol

[Yellzee]

Anyone else sick and tired of washing out filters? It is the one part of making syrup i dont care for.

Almost caught up to the sap backlog. Bottled another 10.5 liters. Woodpile getting very low and we should only be 50% done.

Frost coming out of the trail making getting sap home a real challenge. Good solid frost forecast tonight so lets see what tomorrow brings

[BrutemanAl]

here is a few picture's of the syrup I have made over the last 2 days ......

7587

7588

[MustardSeedMum]

Anyone else sick and tired of washing out filters? It is the one part of making syrup i dont care for.

Me too. This year seems to be producing lots of niter. My filters are getting clogged up much faster. Or maybe I got to get some new ones. My Orlon filters take forever to filter thru, even with the prefilters.
And I hate to lose do much syrup thru them.

[Galena]

What a crazy season. Got nothing until today, the trees chugged out a couple gallons by almost noon. I collected and put it on to evaporate and turned down the temp on a batch of near-syrup that I had the stove, slowly (or so I thought) boiling down. Went outside to bring in some firewood and returned to see that lovely golden froth starting to spill over the top of my finishing pot!

So I did the only thing that made sense: dropped the firewood and sprinted full tilt into the kitchen, screaming at the cat en route to get the frig out of my way (and she did so, nearly tripping me in the process) and got the pot off the heat. Thank gawd it had just begun to go over so didn't lose a lot.

Poured it into jars through coffee filter/white cotton combo and the colour and taste are fabulous, but afraid I've got some sugar crystals in it...argh. But it is clear as can be so I can't complain too much.

As the pot that boiled over is now shiny with leftover cooked-on sap/sugar, I'll filter my next batch of sap collected into it and gently swirl it around to loosen up the good stuff left behind. Might even fill the sink with hot water to make an impromptu bain-marie so it dissolves a bit faster.

Yep, just another boring ol day sugaring...:D

[Yellzee]

Probably 100 gallons sap and still running a bit. On the last few gallons of early week sap then starting the new

[Run Forest Run!]

here is a few picture's of the syrup I have made over the last 2 days ......


Al, that's A LOT of syrup. Those are really large jars!

[Bruce L]

Got a surprise freeze last night,couldn't start the pump until 10:00 though,then it got too warm,managed to draw off 34 gallons of light syrup in 5 hours

[Yellzee]

Major screwup underway as our biggest batch of the year got way over boiled on us, Not sure how. Put the hydrometer to the level i want and it almost shot out of the glass. Added in sap and have refiltered 3 times trying to get it all thru a filter. Bringing it up to boil now for hopefully final test and filter. Never done this in ten yeArs.

[MustardSeedMum]

Weird day for me too and a major screw up. I thought I had plenty of ways to go in my front pan (which is where my concentrated sap is) since it was pretty much new sap from 2 days ago. But it frothed up (the little brown bubbles type) on me before I could say boo and spilled over onto the concrete blocks. I have no idea how much syrup I lost. All I know is that the hollows of my blocks have chunks of burnt sugar all down the insides. The sugar content must have been a lot higher in this batch, because I had only about 300L of sap that went thru in a 6" full size steam pan. And I usually go thru much more than that to get to where I take it off to finish indoors. My pans are in great need of a major clean to get rid of all that crud around the top. I'll probably use tomorrow to do it since its supposed to rain and I won't be able to boil as I am out in the open. Fun fun fun :rolleyes:

[Yellzee]

Ok, emergency over. Batch 9 at 12 liters nice amber colour, very sweet. Up to 79.5 liters on season. About 60 gallons left from today still to boil.

Trail is really getting interesting. Spots i added rock holding up pretty well, but rough in other areas. May have a trail maintenance Easter sunday! Can still walk on the ice in the swamp so theres gotta be quite A while left yet. Looks like after this week it stays warm though. Good news is second week of forecast is always wrong!!

[Big_Eddy]

I boiled Friday - about 100 gals sap total, then collected a cord of wood Saturday morning to replenish. Sunday was filtering and bottling day. I had 4 different batches sitting in the 20l stainless pots waiting for finishing. I always take off a bit thick so my finishing process is to heat the pot to almost boiling, adjust for density and then raise to a full boil and into the filter / canner.
7628

Bottled up over 45 litres on Sunday - making my year total 68l so far. (Funny how 18l in the pot turns into 13l in the bottles after I fill the bottles to capacity)

My filter/canner was an excellent investment and highly recommended for anyone with 50-150 trees. It holds a single cone filter and can accept a full 20l pot at once, keeping the syrup and filter hot through the bottling process. I was able to bottle all 45 litres using a single cone filter. I used 4 pre-filters, washing them out between batches but didn't have to replace the orlon. First 2 batches were light, the last 2 medium although right on the edge with light. Even though that last 50gals of sap was starting to cloud, still making medium this year.

I only had 25 gals of sap collected on Friday and Saturday and none yesterday, so we'll have to see how this week looks. It's supposed to be cool again tonight. Yay.

[ennismaple]

We made 267 gallons from Saturday to Monday and I'm exhausted! The sap was coming in cloudy and it was amber - but a great amber.

All in all a good weekend. We didn't break too many things (there's always something every day!) and the entire operation is getting easier to manage. Hopefully this cold spell brings crystal clear sap and monsooooon flows!

[markr]

I just pulled down half of my buckets I know it is to soon but I have made 16 gallons just to give away to family and friends so I have made enough. The other half of the buckets I split with a neighbour and I think he is going to boil a couple more times before we call it a season. I can't complain I have made more syrup this year than ever before.

[ennismaple]

I just pulled down half of my buckets I know it is to soon but I have made 16 gallons just to give away to family and friends so I have made enough. The other half of the buckets I split with a neighbour and I think he is going to boil a couple more times before we call it a season. I can't complain I have made more syrup this year than ever before.

Good for you Mark! I'm surprised you've done well on buckets. We've had so few days with really good flows that I figured buckets would be having a marginal year.

[markr]

Thanks for the vote of confidence I think between my neighbour and I we have finished off and bottled somewhere around 23 gallons on 335 buckets. All in all I think we had a great season.

[Yellzee]

Surprised but there was a bit of a run today. Was flowing good about 5:30 but almost stopped now. About 100 gallons collected. Weather looks good tomorrow and depending what forecast you like maybe the next few days.

My trail likely impassible by end of weekend without alot of work so that may shut me down unless someone donates 1000' of mainline in a hurry

[Run Forest Run!]

I collected at 6:00 p.m. and things had started to drip like they meant it! I'm really hoping for some fun tomorrow.

[SPM in King]

Every time I've said big sap tomorrow, it's been a bust. So forget tomorrow. Let it happen if it will. Boy, it's been cold though...

Steve.

[Run Forest Run!]

Steve, you're absolutely right about the cold. My hands were completely freezing while dumping the buckets tonight. It wasn't as much fun as it usually is.

[BrutemanAl]

I am going to be pulling all my stuff tomorrow morning , I am busy doing home show's now for work every weekend for the next few weeks and will not have time to do the maple syrup for the rest of the season (however long that will be ) , I'm happy with what I got from 13 buckets this year , 8.5 ltr of syrup , not including what I have given away to family and freinds , probably closer to 15 ltr's in all.

[Yellzee]

If you had 15 litres of syrup from 13 buckets you should be estactic!

[Yellzee]

Looks like a gallon per tap back here! Crystal clear

[Run Forest Run!]

Me too, things were running today in the afternoon and are still hard at it. Crystal clear and sweet.

[markr]

Even though I'm done for the year I helped my neighbour gather tonight and we were at least a gallon per tap I hope he realizes he could be in for a very late night

[Bruce L]

big run today,got in around 1600 gallons of sap,ran it all through this afternoon after the bus run except for about 350-400 gallons,too tired out and fighting the flu bug

[BrutemanAl]

If you had 15 litres of syrup from 13 buckets you should be estactic!

I guess I am , this is only my second year doing it , so i am not sure if that was good , bad , average or poor , but by going by your post , I guess it was a good year for me :)

[SPM in King]

Ran as strong here as I've ever seen. Not sure what happened over night, but we collected a lot. The weather looks like there might be one more run...-6C tonight.

Steve.

[BrutemanAl]

yes it is running good , I just got back from the forest and pulled all my buckets and taps and every bucket was overflowing , made me sad to think I dont have time right now and had to dump it back onto the forest floor , I just kept telling myself i was giving it back to the tree's .

[Yellzee]

I went back to get some more sap about midnight and the tank was well above where i left it when i got my 5:30pm load, i'd guess 190 gallons yesterday. Lots of ice and frost when i was back there so i may get a bit more today.

If tomorrow brings another big run i think i'll probably start tear down on sunday, doesnt look like great weather coming and spring chores are piling up! I think i am going to try and coil up my lats at the mainline to try and reduce squirrel damage. Only challenge will be to remember the correct path next spring!!

[Run Forest Run!]

Ran as strong here as I've ever seen. Not sure what happened over night, but we collected a lot. The weather looks like there might be one more run...-6C tonight.

Steve.

Oh my goodness Steve! Thanks for the heads up. I'm going to check on the trees in my other location immediately!

[Run Forest Run!]

Steve, I owe you one! My buckets and pails were dumping on the ground. I'll have to go back in a couple of hours once I've got someone to babysit my burners while I make the trip. They were running so hard that I wouldn't dare to wait any more than three or four hours.

[Run Forest Run!]

In the past 24 hours I collected 110 litres (29 gallons) from 8 taps. No complaints here!

[BrutemanAl]

In the past 24 hours I collected 110 litres (29 gallons) from 8 taps. No complaints here!

Thats awesome !!! I now wish I didn't have to pull my stuff yesterday , but had no choice , hopefully next season is just as good .

[Yellzee]

Boiling boiling boiling. Cant keep up to the sap. Gonna go until we run out of wood some time tommorrow then shut down!

[Run Forest Run!]

Boiling boiling boiling. Cant keep up to the sap. Gonna go until we run out of wood some time tommorrow then shut down!

Me too. Except I had to make a propane run instead. Couldn't be having more fun if I tried!

[Galena]

Me too. Except I had to make a propane run instead. Couldn't be having more fun if I tried!

I have 2-3 days worth of wood left, til then gonna go til they stop. Have 4 gallons on the woodstove evaporating, and another 5 gallons waiting. Oh yeah and that doesn't include batch 5 which I plan to finish tonight, should give me 6 cups of yumminess. That's all I ask!

[Run Forest Run!]

Just shut down the fryers. I don't dare take the 'nearup' any lower in the pans. Another marathon boil and still a 20 gallon storage pail full of sap staring at me. When I emptied my buckets and jugs today at dinnertime they were running like they meant it. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to deal with all this sap. Who knew I'd be saying that EVER!

[Big_Eddy]

Collected 120 gallons on Friday to go with the 55 on Thursday so had lots of sap this morning. Boiled off 140 gallons and after collecting today (early) still have 90 gallons in the tank. Will be steaming again tomorrow. Trees were still Rumning well when i collected so therell be more in the morning. I'm running low on wood so will have to put the kids to work stoking tomorrow while I go collect some more. Syrups getting darker (and tastier). Tomorrow will likely be it given the forecast.

[SPM in King]

Huge sap day! Running very strong. 2 55gal barrels completely overflowing this morning and it just keeps on coming. the kids are tending to the buckets. I would guess that it will slow down this aft....

Steve.

[Bruce L]

Picked up 200 gallons this morning at second bush which is only 120 taps on tubing,gravity,was gathered yesterday at lunchtime,kept running most of the night.Waiting for another 200 to come in at home on vacuum so I can fire up

[Run Forest Run!]

Huge sap day! Running very strong. 2 55gal barrels completely overflowing this morning and it just keeps on coming. the kids are tending to the buckets. I would guess that it will slow down this aft....

Steve.

Me too Steve. I've got more sap than I can handle right now. Everything is overflowing faster than I can collect and boil. I'm guessing the hurricane force winds we currently have will start to slow down the sap.

[Yellzee]

Not much flow here i am actually glad to say! Over 200 gallons at the back still and at least 150 at the shack. Thats 35 hours boiling for us. Time to pull the hose i think.... Oh, weatherman now saying zero tonight which would definitely be frost here.

[Galena]

I have about 6 gallons in sap waiting and 4 gallons sloowwwllly evaporating...and pretty much out of firewood!! Trying to decide if I should buy another 1/2 cord to tide me over, or just wait til 7 this evening and boil like crazy on the stove (least preferable option). Might just go for a scrounge in the woods and see what I can bring home.

Planning on pulling the spiles probably Wednesday. Already pulled the spiles on #9 yesterday, checked this am and glad to see the holes aren't leaking. I've got 5 gorgeous batches (see linky for latest pics) so not complaining, wouldn't mind another couple gallons for batch #6.

Also very glad that my best trees, which were the last ones to really start producing this year, did indeed come through and kick into gear...not that I was worried they wouldn't!

[Big_Eddy]

A good weekend for us.
Collected 55 on Thursday, 120 Friday, 20 Saturday and another 75 on Sunday.

Boiled 140 on Saturday and 70 on Sunday and still had yesterday's sap left this morning so it seemed like a good day to take off. Down to about 25 now but haven't been to see if there is more in the bush. Have at least 20l of syrup in the pots pending filtering.

Did have a little excitement this morning. Was sitting in the shack reading when I heard the unmistakeable sound of a crackling fire from OUTSIDE. Yikes! Dashed outside to see I had a little grass fire going which was quickly dealt with. Things are drying out!

[ennismaple]

If this season goes on much longer we may be raking up leaves, twigs and bark to feed the evaporator! I can't complain about burning too much wood because we burned so little last year! We're now towards the back of the woodshed which is 3-4 year old softwood that's split way too fine - meaning it burns like gunpowder in the Force 5!

[Yellzee]

Father in law boiled all day and now im at it. About 130 gallons to go. Hope it doesnt go bad in these temps. At least the sun held off. I pulled the hoses out of the collecting tank in surrender yesterday! Will be interesting to see where the syrup total ends. I may need to hire in the marketing department!

[Big_Eddy]

I'm done. Ran out of sap about 4pm, so boiled what I could and drained the flue pan, then backfilled with water and finished off the remaining sweet using the syrup pan. I'm going to be over 100l made from 145 trees. Not a banner year, but more than enough for our needs, even with 4 boys who like their pancakes and waffles.

I'm all out of bottles so will need to get more glass before filtering and bottling the last 30l or so.

Will let the buckets hang until next weekend then do the big clean up before getting to the list of improvements for next year.

[Chasinthedream]

When it started again last week I was hoping for another 100gallons. got 50 gallons wednesday and thrusday, 170 Friday, 285 Saturday and 60 Sunday all from 185taps. Boiled 3 nights still 200 gallons in the tanks. Anyone see the buds? The oaks and poplar are starting. Supposed to get cold again Thrusday.

[nudlebush]

We just finished one of our best yrs, our 177 taps dripped out more sap than we could boil. Probably dumped 100gal of clear sap yesterday when pulling bucket then dumped another 75 from the bulk tank.
We just had enough and we run out of wood! Time we are done bottling we should have 20 gallons of sweet stuff.

Hope everyone had a succesfull season as well.

[jnexus]

Thought everything was winding down and the forecast was a week of nighttime lows above zero. That was yesterday...forecast has now completely changed showing lows of -2 - -5 until Monday the 15 and who knows after that. Still lots of snow in the bush....is it normal for the season to last this far into the spring? I am about 100 km east of Ottawa. Made 80L of light, 22L of medium and back to another 70L of light. Tanks are full and the trees need to be collected.

Jason

243 buckets
25 on gravity line
2 1/2 * 8 Drop flue
1 tired back

[MustardSeedMum]

Made the hard decision to pull my buckets off after Sunday's collection. We'd collected 290L of sap on Saturday alone and trying to keep up with the boiling has been tiring. Also eating too much into our heating wood - my husband hasn't cut me off :lol: but I know the hard work that goes into our logging method enough that I feel bad using so much wood for the syrup. (We don't have the heavy duty equipment for logging...just his chainsaw to do the cutting down of the trees, then he chops them up with an axe because we can't get a log splitter into the woods. Then the kids haul the split logs down and up the the rocky terrain...by....ready for this?...using their toboggan sleds. We do about 4-5 bush cords each year.)

Anyway, back to syrup. I was still boiling yesterday...trying to finish up before the rain started in the afternoon. I boil outdoors in the open on a block arch so no protection. Tried to rig up a tarp which helped partially until the winds were too strong and the tarp kept hitting the stack. Called it quits after 2.5 hours into the rain. Kept one pan protected from the rain to boil down overnight.

In the end, I'm dumping out about 40L of sap that I couldn't finish boiling. Done with boiling outside today. It's supposed to rain again this afternoon. Brought in what I could to finish.

Can't complain about the season. This has been a bumper crop for us. More than double last year's total. We'll have a final tally after we finish up the last batch.

[Chasinthedream]

I'm just west of Frankford, North of Colborne, any buds yet? This weekend looks good if the buds hold off.

[Yellzee]

I would think no buds yet in quinte area, north of 401 anyways. There is still frost in the ground and snow here and there in the cedars. I have gone to mid april before and it was alot muddier than this! Not sure how much is from lack of dain this year which probably normally helps thaw everything.

I am done collecting myself, wood is almost done. Whatever is boiled today is it!

[Big_Eddy]

I'm just west of Frankford, North of Colborne, any buds yet? This weekend looks good if the buds hold off.
No buds yet on the sugar maples in my bush just east of Frankford. A Red Maple in the yard is covered in buds. The Sugar on the opposite side of the drive has none.

The last of my snow melted this weekend and the frost is just about gone. Drying up nicely. My woods are on a north facing slope so late to thaw. Fields have been dry for a week now.

[Run Forest Run!]

The soft maples at my home are starting to look threatening with bud swell. And, this afternoon I heard the peepers start. The forest 5 miles down the street where I have an additional 8 taps is still very cold and the ground is still frozen. No peepers peeping there.

[Chasinthedream]

Ok, I'm a beginner.
When does it turn? When the buds appear, get large or when they pop?

[Run Forest Run!]

Ok, I'm a beginner.
When does it turn? When the buds appear, get large or when they pop?

To be on the safe side at this 'iffy' time of year, test your sap by heating a bit of it in a saucepan before adding it to your sap pan. If it stinks, it's bad. When that happens, that tree is done. Other trees on your property may still be fine, so test each one when in doubt.

[ennismaple]

The sap was quite cloudy today and we got just over 0.5 GPT over the past 48 hours. I'm not sure what the rest of the week will bring but if we start making black road tar it won't take me long to say "screw this, I'm outta here!". I don't know if our woodshed or my energy level has taken a bigger beating this past month!?!?

[Run Forest Run!]

My sap is all still very clear with sugars between 2-3%, but I'm in the wind-down phase now. I've got more syrup than energy and I'm likely on the Christmas card list for the guy who fills my propane tanks. What a great year it's been!