Willow Creek Sugarhouse 2013

[red maples]

Time to get this going!!!
Went to the regional meeting in Henniker last night everyone seems to be excited about the season and why not after the less than exciting season last year. Good to see Russ

"TO DO" list is getting smaller. woods are 98% done. sugarhouse is 90% done. a few odds and ends to finish up. Cleaning, organizing looking forward to using the forced air this year. had to modify a few things to make sure everything is sealed up.

Had to get the hood to work that I made last year making as tight fitting as possible it won't be perfect but it should direct more steam to the cupola, as there is QUITE alot more steam than there was with out the air in the past. I wanted to try to get some sort of preheater in there but there just won't be time.

Excited about the new wood shed as well no more running wheelbarrow after wheel after wheel barrow in the dark, still have to cut in a quick door and install a light in but that should go quickly. I made tall carts to haul in wood so that should help.

Weather is a little tricky but decided to start tapping Saturday after the Blizzard is done and try to get as many in as I can by sunday night. The only question that won't be answered until saturday is will I need snow shoes. We''ll see I guess they have been wrong more than they have been right this year. Monday & tuesday look like 40's and then a little cool down but the sun is getting higher in the sky and warmer so the trees will be running a little under vacuum even in the cooler temps. I hope I will be able to start the fires Wednesday!!!!

Happy tapping everybody!!! And good luck!!!

[red maples]

Well its 1 am and just finished up round 1 of driveway clearing!!! Thank good ness for light fluffy snow!!! if this were heavy snow I'd be in trouble!!!

actually got out in the woods for a few hours today to work on a wet dry side connection. I think thats gonna be the last one for this year.
fixed 1 lateral.

I have 1 mor lateral to fix and the vacuum woods are done. Well at least until we get tapped in and I turn on the vac and have to go fix leaks and squirrel chews!!!

Enjoy the snow everybody....its nasty out there!!! and WIND SUCKS!!!

[bcarpenter]

It looks fairly unpleasant out there. I also thought about clearing my driveway half way through the storm and even this morning but that wind is still blowing some fierce. I may have to wait until early afternoon. It looks like this is one storm the weatherman got right.

[red maples]

Man if you don't check the trader in our busy season for a few days and you click whats new and get 140 new posts geez!!
The other thing is don't walk in snow in crocs you WILL FALL!! hard!!!

Anyhow... after digging out from under 27ish inches of snow for a few days, wittling down the maple TODO list. a monday full appointments in Boston, and meeting with the Accountant for taxes this morning I finally got enough stuff done that I can start tapping I got in 50 taps and let me tell you it is slow going and very wet had to come in and dry out!

It was a quick warmup today and got up to 42* by 10am then it got cloudy and cooled off already back to to 37* sap not really running that good yet, trees are still sleeping!! but its enough sap to clean things out of the lines.

looks like we are gonna get 3-4 days at low 40's then back down to a decient freeze and some more snow maybe for the following 6 days. I guess that will be enough time for me to finish up the Maple todo list and be really ready to go!!

Off to pick daughter then to basketball and will get back to tapping at first light tomorrow!!!

[Dill]

I'm glad you tapped. Cause I've been kicking myself that I don't even have a test tree going right now. Good to know its not really running yet. Back to procrastinating for me.

[red maples]

its running today!!! have about 125 taps in so far. had to come change legs wet!!! see how many I can get in before lunch headed back out now!!! The trees in direct sun are running really hard!!! I ran out of spouts and had to run back (yeah run in deep snow!) to the sugarhouse to get another bag and got back and it the drip line was all the way down the tree!!!

[red maples]

Sap running a little better today. My legs are shot!!! got all 260 existing taps on vacuum in. and let it dump clean the lines it was the nastiest green, chunky stuff yummy!!! I let it dump on the ground and keeping it from here on out.

Tomorrow morning I am tapping in the new 80-90 taps I added on should finish that sometime tomorrow morning. I am not tapping the Gravity stuff yet feeze up coming soon besides I might put in a line to pick up maybe 10-15 more??? we'll see!!

Squirrel chews were not as bad this year. I had to replace drop yesterday and a whole length of tubing yesterday and was worried about the rest of the woods but it was OK. it was only that section thank goodness!!!

hopefully I'll have something to boil by Friday!!!

[Russell Lampron]

Hi Brad,

How's the sap running down there. Sounds like you need bigger pockets. I had to go back to the house and get a battery for my drill. Left my snow shoes on and rode the 4 wheeler up and back to save time.

Richard and I tapped 450 of our taps on vacuum yesterday. It was slow going with snow shoes but we made good progress. Only have one mainline left to tap and then find and fix leaks. I had 22" at the pump tonight so there aren't too many leaks at this point. Not sure how much sap we got today but it was so slow yesterday that the releaser, which holds 25 gals, didn't dump once.

[Moshers Maples]

I got all of my 150 taps in over the last two days, vac pump pulling 22", and watched the nasty stuff flowing in. If nothing else the lines will be cleaned and I will be ready.

[NH Maplemaker]

Hey, Russ good to see you back! I tapped all day yesterday and never saw as much as a damp hole! also ten day forecast doesn't look all that great! I guess the up side is well be ready when It comes.

[red maples]

Hey guys... good to hear from you all.


Just finished tapping and everything is pretty tight I am gettign 24" at the Releaser. so I am happy with that. sap is running just OK. about 1/2 of my trees are in cold all blocked by a wall pines and helmocks not much I can do about that. I suspect the ground it still pretty frozen under the snow hopefully it thaws a little before the next warm front.

So we'll see what I get today. My lines are cleaned out now and sap is coming in noce and clean there is a little junk coming through but the filter will take care of that!!!

Time for some lunch. Then off to the store Don't forget about valentines today for the wives!!! They don't like it if you forget.

[Russell Lampron]

Hey guys... good to hear from you all.


Just finished tapping and everything is pretty tight I am gettign 24" at the Releaser. so I am happy with that. sap is running just OK. about 1/2 of my trees are in cold all blocked by a wall pines and helmocks not much I can do about that. I suspect the ground it still pretty frozen under the snow hopefully it thaws a little before the next warm front.

So we'll see what I get today. My lines are cleaned out now and sap is coming in noce and clean there is a little junk coming through but the filter will take care of that!!!

Time for some lunch. Then off to the store Don't forget about valentines today for the wives!!! They don't like it if you forget.

Richard finished tapping the last section of my woods today. He pumped about 200 gallons of crappy stuff out of the tank early this afternoon. Now the lines are clean and we will be keeping the sap that comes in now. There was about 100 gallons in the tank when we shut the pump off tonight. We don't have much for leaks out there. We have 22.5" at the pump and releaser. The regulator on the vacuum pump is set at 24". We're hoping for enough of a run tomorrow to sweeten the pans.

[red maples]

Alright I am shot VERY busy day trying to get everything ready to boil!!! didn't start the fire until 9:40 PM and shut 'er down at 1:45 AM ended up with a 2 day total of 225 gallons. with filling the evap and having a little leftover at the end I am now getting right around 42-45 gph with my evap this year!!! thats good news. No syrup yet but it look like medium I think I am gonna finish out my pans though bad sap weather for the next while coming up. Alright I am beat see ya!!!

[red maples]

Recovered from marathon day on friday!!! Barely in the sugarhouse yesterday. SORRY for OFF MAPLE TOPIC BUT PROUD PAPA>>>> 3 basket ball games. 2 for my daughter 5/6 grader W- 40/12 second game W 52/15 the Girls were on Fire!! Tournament starts today at 3:30 maybe with snow??? and my son...1st /2nd graders (they just play each other not real games still learning the game) his team W- 16-12. Good day over all. a vegetarian potluck at dinner party with HUGE BON FIRE.... good times (although I am not a vegetarian by anymeans, WAY TOO MUCH FIBER and soy....for me if you know what I mean :( rough morning)


somehow managed 100 gallons yesterday so I will cook that off today. and pans will be very sweet and ready to go then just waiting for good sap weather today.

Just had one mishap yesterday with the releaser. At the end of the night it looks like a chunk of ice blocked the flap in the check valve and froze backing up the releaser and had no pressure and vac line was frozen??? that only happened once before but it had to happen right at freeze up. managed to clean out the line as best ap possble can't really check it until the next thaw!!!

Hope everyone is having a good time in their wods and sugarhouse 3-5 inches of snow for me today I hear!!!

[red maples]

OH well temp dropped to 19* and wind picked and up everything is frozen and or slushy can move sap when its frozen!!! have to wait until thaw to move it!!! its only 100 hgallons anyway and its frozen so no harm done!!! the heater tape wire works good up to a point then it becomes ineffective at a certain temp unless its insulated and its not.

[Russell Lampron]

Hi Brad, Found and liked your sugar house on facebook!

[red maples]

same here!!! anybody get any sap today??? we got up to 43* for a short period then it dropped back down to 39/40 and very cloudy for the rest of the day, its coming in a little but it never really got going got maybe 50 gallons all day. I think the trees are still recovering form the weekend deep freeze. its still 38* but its still suppose to drop to 28* by morning.

[NH Maplemaker]

I tapped another 100 today and didn't see a drop of sap! oh well just that much closer to being ready with out missing anything!

[Amber Gold]

Got maybe a 1-200 gal during the day, then maybe another 200 gal overnight.

[red maples]

Good so mine are running just as good as everyone elses.

got to boil a little more today. just to get some frozen stuff out of the way. still some big ice chunks too big to chuck. could have drawn off at the end but not worth it. So next time I boil...not sure when that will be but I will finally get some syrup looks like a very light medium and excellent maple flavor, with hints of vanilla. excited to finally get some!!! JUST NEED SOME SAP!!!

[red maples]

Well never tapped my gravity lines. maybe today its only 30 taps mostly reds so thats a hit or miss, used to get 5-7 gallons of sap from one big old roadside maple with 3+% raw sugar that is now gone thanks to sandy and Asplundah.....anyhow decided to do a quick boil out of the 75 gallons I have and FINALLY managed a few gallons of syrup....Woo HOO!!! Just a shade into dark. thought it would medium but since some of that sap has been hanging around in the Evap since the 15th of feb. I'll take it, its got a medium good maple flavor not very characteric of a dark more of a medium and the vanilla flavor is gone. I think once we get rolling hopefully next week if the sap runs, then it will lighten up. only about 1.5 gpt of sap so far. and no GOOD runs yet same boat as everyone else.

Last night I was watching the temps and ended up with 50 gallons yesterday which was more than I got on friday. but watching the temps last night still at 34* went out and releaser had a piece of ice in the checkvalve flap again and backed up of course!!! rrrggggg!!! so go that all unstuck cleared the sap out of the vac line and shut her down as it was 32* and everything was now ffrozen. Woke up this morning to 36* rain was expecting snow. snowing now @34*. little sap still coming in. Do a quick boil to stay on top of things later!!! Hopefully big sap tomorrow or tuesday!!!

[Russell Lampron]

Heavy snow here and the thermometer has been stuck on 32 all morning so far. The forecast was calling for a high of 34 today and that has been dropped to 33 now.

[red maples]

we have about 2-3 inches depending on where you are down to 31 now. supposed to get down to 27/28 tonight that will be good for 40's tomorrow through wed. !!!!!! BIG SAP!!!!

Got my Gravity lines in I guess its about 1/2 n 1/2 sugars to reds. about 25 taps all the sugars were running none of the reds were running. got about a quart of sap over there. (its a little yellow though blah but it will be cleaned out tomorrow I hope.

Just have to get the kids out in the woods so they can get their taps in, they are the 8 lowest taps I have( first ones at the bottom of the sap ladder) I always save them for the kids!!! and they always want more I told them they have to grow taller for that!!! at 3+ inches per year my son will be taller than me when he hits his teens!!! only 7 now.

I have 50-60 gallons of sap not enough to warm the evap!!!

[Greyfox]

Hey Russ, I'm on the next ridge west of you, near Hills Corner. Somehow the 3" of snow I expected ended up at 14" so far, and hasn't stopped yet. I got one more short line run today in white-out conditions, but nothing ran. Hopefully THIS week is the start. Good luck.

[Russell Lampron]

Hey Russ, I'm on the next ridge west of you, near Hills Corner. Somehow the 3" of snow I expected ended up at 14" so far, and hasn't stopped yet. I got one more short line run today in white-out conditions, but nothing ran. Hopefully THIS week is the start. Good luck.

The 4" to 7" that was in the forecast here turned into 14" too. The temp stayed right at 32* here today. The lines weren't frozen so I turned on the vacuum. I had just gotten the releaser cleaned off and checked the vacuum level and the power went out. It came back on at 2:00 and I had maybe 5 gallons of sap at 5pm.

[red maples]

sopposed to get another 2-4" depending where you are tomorrow!!! geez 14" sorry that stuff was like moving concrete with a snow blower this morning!!! 4" here that was it and at least 1 inch of it was slush on the bottom!!!

[Dill]

We ended up with 14-15 as well. Just hit the woods this morning, everything is bowed down, looks like the limbs didn't break but its hard snowshoeing. The laterals are encased in snow, which is something I haven't seen before. Looks like it will need to be retightened, but the vac was pulling good this morning. I'm hoping Epping got off as light as you did. Supposed to be helping my brother run some roadside lines this afternoon.

[Amber Gold]

This storm was weird. We got about 12" of heavy snow, but my woods (about 4 miles as the crow flies) got at least 12" of snow, but it was much lighter. Microclimates are weird. Walking through the woods, now sucks again. Snow's about knee deep.

[red maples]

yes micro climates are very strange!!! maybe some more snow in tonight tomorrow wed. thurs ???? who knows....

Problems again with the hobby releaser!!! backed up to day was out for maybe 6-7 hours and it backed up sometime AGAIN GRRRR I hate this thing. sap is coming in like a gardenhose now!!! Oh well what ya gonna do..... Getting very frustrated with this though. Thank goodness for the moisture traps!!! I wish I had an extra $1K hanging around I would go get a new tonight!!! but that aint happenin!!!

[Mark-NH]

Brad, did you add rice to the float in your hobby releaser? If not, that may do the trick for you.

[Dill]

Yea way less snow in Epping. My brother got to learn how fast a roll of tubing goes. Ran 60-70 taps into a couple olive barrels. Another roll would have got us another 100 or so.

Rice in the float?
What's going on with you releaser Brad? I still think I have the only trouble free hobby. The side of the top can is leaking this year, so I taped it up. The op rod is coming down hard as well but a drop of oil fixed that.

[red maples]

I am maybe 5 miles from wally world (101/125 epping) and the first snow of the season we were supposed to get a foot and we got 2-4 inches and rain epping got over a foot. I guess the rain snow line has to be somewhere but that was just crazy.

I got it a .10 cent fix. instead of rice I just taped 2 nickels on top of the float rod screw cap button thing. and it worked like a charm. I just plain forgot to do that!!! I have done that since the first year. made it all the way to freeze up last night!!! I boiled out my 130 gallons this morning. made a couple more gallons of syrup. BIG SAP TODAY!!!! now that my releaser is working!!! Every morning I flush the rod and mechanism with hot tap water to keep things from getting gummed up and on occation I will add a drop of mineral oil but otherwise thats usually not a problem.

Got down to 29* last night just enough to regenerate the trees just waiting for the lines to thaw... maybe no freeze up for the next few days with this front coming in. probably more snow for those of you north of me but rain snow mix for here. heavy wet cement for me again.

[red maples]

Some crazy weather today...weather.com has been nothing but wrong for the past 24 hrs or so. rain / snow / rain/ snow wind/ white out/ then some more rain. 39* no 36* no 33* nor 35* no 31* no 34* releaser button froze twice today I managed 75 gals of sap or so before I finally gave up and shut her down about 5:00pm. whatever. Wanted to try to get to Chris's tonight to see his beast boil. but roads are bad took the wife over an hour so far (not home yet) to get home from work she just called said the the roads are really bad.

My first maple tour of the year cancelled for tomorrow. which is fine I need to go see if I can somehow get some water to move out in the AM. All the rain and snow melt is causing a back up and there is still a thick layer of ice on alot of the swamp. Might have to switch to the 2 pipe sap ladder back up if the waters don't go down!!! hope not!!! we'll see.

Gotta get things cleaned up and running smooth again 2 more tours this weekend. I usually sell alot but not sure If I wanna keep doing these tours they are alot of work. just gonna have open hours next year I think and limit the tours...I don't know.

But then again since NH is doing away with maple weekend and having maple awareness month then I it will just be openhouse every weekend I guess. I kinda like the $3-4 K weekend in one shot!!! then its done!!

[morningstarfarm]

they are doing away with maple weekend???? say it aint so brother...

[Russell Lampron]

Some crazy weather today...weather.com has been nothing but wrong for the past 24 hrs or so. rain / snow / rain/ snow wind/ white out/ then some more rain. 39* no 36* no 33* nor 35* no 31* no 34* releaser button froze twice today I managed 75 gals of sap or so before I finally gave up and shut her down about 5:00pm. whatever. Wanted to try to get to Chris's tonight to see his beast boil. but roads are bad took the wife over an hour so far (not home yet) to get home from work she just called said the the roads are really bad.

My first maple tour of the year cancelled for tomorrow. which is fine I need to go see if I can somehow get some water to move out in the AM. All the rain and snow melt is causing a back up and there is still a thick layer of ice on alot of the swamp. Might have to switch to the 2 pipe sap ladder back up if the waters don't go down!!! hope not!!! we'll see.

Gotta get things cleaned up and running smooth again 2 more tours this weekend. I usually sell alot but not sure If I wanna keep doing these tours they are alot of work. just gonna have open hours next year I think and limit the tours...I don't know.

But then again since NH is doing away with maple weekend and having maple awareness month then I it will just be openhouse every weekend I guess. I kinda like the $3-4 K weekend in one shot!!! then its done!!

I have mixed feelings about the maple weekend thing too. it is ok for the big producers that open and boil on the weekends anyway but for me the only time that I have to get things done in the woods is during the day on the weekends. I think that the customers are going to be confused too.

[red maples]

yeah chris next year. is going to be MAPLE AWARENESS MONTH...... they we are competeing with maine and VT for the same weekend. and the northern most producers don't have any syrup and southern producers have no sap. you know I have had bad weather and no sap people still came out in droves and just wanted to see steam.

[Amber Gold]

My thoughts too. it's nice to be open for a full open house one weekend, then have the other weekends to do what you want...namely, be in the woods so you can get more sap. Also, we only boil at night, for us to boil all day during the weekends would be hard, and use a lot of wood. Maple weekend, we use as much as we do in an entire week.

I do like the idea of a maple awareness month in the fall when the maple trees are all colored up.

[Dill]

This is why I think its a stupid idea
March

Irish-American Heritage Month
National Nutrition Month[2]
Women's History Month
National Middle Level Education Month
National Brain Injury Awareness Month[3]
National Essential Tremor Awareness Month[4]

[red maples]

hey if anyone is making a run to sunnyside anytime soon I need a case of assoc. quart containers!!! For some reason I thought I needed pints but now I have 2 cs pints and only about 25 qt containers left. Oh well. If anyone is going I will call ahead and pay for it with plastic, so there is no need to put out your ownn money. They have the evap all set and are making syrup too they made 30 something gallons of LA yesterday. It was all set up mike was still plumbing it in talked with him for a bit. He was exctied and nervous about the new evap. but all went well with the first boil!!!

just finished bottling up 5 gallons of syrup today its nice to see fresh syrup on the shelf again. Already had 2 calls today "Got fresh syrup yet?"

All of my syrup is coming out just a hair shade of dark. thats it looks like it gonna be a dark year. Sap is crystal clear tanks are cleaned sap is no more than 18 hrs old when it gets boiled. I don't know...I agree josh there is alot of niter and its very dark. I might fliter out my back pan to see if can at least get some medium for confections Who knows.

Sap is coming in very slow. I REALLY need a frost haven't had a good one in 2-3 days now. 42 and sunny calm just need the cold night temps!!!

Went and shoveled and chipped some ice away from the Culverts and water is moving out pretty quick now. swamp has dropped 3-4 inches and dropping so thats good.

Releaser is working good. holding fast at 24.5" very good!!!

[red maples]

I really need a freeze... Praying to mother nature to give me a freeze tonight. sap is still coming in clear but 70 gallons for the day just doesn't cut it!!! I only have 300 gallons of sap since wednesday. I should be getting at the very least 200 gallons a day here. the night time temps are way above average..... I know its only march 1st, but I can't help but to worry!!! I just hope the forecast changes for me!!!

[Dill]

We added a bunch more taps for my brother down on North River Road in Epping, the Lee side of downtown. And its odd some trees were running good and just up the road the trees were completely dry. They had crust mud this morning so it must have got below freezing. I know its been freezing good up here in Deerfield. My driveway has been a skating rink every morning.

[red maples]

We have been getting down to 31/30 for a few hours that's it. I did a tour today and tapped a tree and it was dry . Gravity is doing nothing at all. Vacuum I got 75 gallons today that's it. There are no good freezes in the 10 day forecast.

[Dill]

For me it depends which forecast, weather.com is calling for no freeze, Accu is calling for a freeze every night, a couple light ones around 31. But still a freeze.
My vac pump hasn't been off for 3 days which means it hasn't got too cold.

[red maples]

The releaser starts to freeze up at 32/33* so I have shut the pump off here and there if I see it frozen. we are @ 31* this morning. so I will hopefully get another 75 gallons. and yes similar here. accuweather says freeze in upper 20's everynight, weather .com nothing lower than 31, and NOAA says upper 20's. I think if we could hit a clear night we might hit upper 20's. part of the problem is its just not frozen for long enough I think if its gonna hit 30 for 6-8 hours that would work, but its only there of an hour or 2 before it starts to warm up again!!!

[Hop Kiln Road]

Wow. It's 25* here and snowing! Suppose to hit 40* today. My trees have been pushing out sap despite it being a tad cold. Can't believe the difference 40 miles can make. Bruce

[Russell Lampron]

Wow. It's 25* here and snowing! Suppose to hit 40* today. My trees have been pushing out sap despite it being a tad cold. Can't believe the difference 40 miles can make. Bruce

Same here! Except that the difference is about 55 miles.

[red maples]

only getting a bout 1/3 gallon per tap of sap. hopefully things pick up today got down to 29 last night...thank goodnes!!! sap ran a little better yesterday as well. today is walk the woods day and evap cleanout day. Too much very dark black niter in the pans went right from a light shade of DA medium tasting GR B. 4-5 days of no freeze probably had something to do with that as well. Need to get out in the woods to see how things are going make sure everything is flowing good there!!! and fix a few squirrel chews that I found but forgot my tape!!!

Had a busy weekend with 2 girl scout tours and scheduled open hours for the first time all went very well!!! sold a few gallons of syrup....

Hopefully a good freeze tonight.... fingers crossed!!!

[red maples]

FINALLY!!!! getting some sap today lost an hour this morning with releaser trouble of course but once I got it going she was running great.

cleaned all the tanks and wiped out the releaser. drained the syrup pan finished that off, Strained the flue pan man was there alot of niter WOW!!! so thats all clean finished out the old back pan sap today in the front pan while re- sweetening the back pan. so tomorrow we wil hopefully get back into some lighter syrup once I get the old stuff out of the syrup pan. Weather is looking better windy tomorrow though no expecting a huge run. and some snow maybe on thursday.

Got into the woods for a few hours yesterday afternoon, found a leaky ball valve and taped it to heck until I can get out to get another one. Found 3 or 4 loose taps the new clear check valves those things are gone after this year. still need to check to see if there are any more of those loose. have only 1 so far loose of the stubby and adapter. Had a chance to get in the woods again this morning and found only 1 loose tap 2 squirrel chews. When I got back to the releaser we are pulling 25.5" all day!!! love it!!! I just wish I had a reliable releaser that I could leave and not worry about it!!

up to 250 gallons of sap. yesterday was a bust for sap 75 gals and cloudy sap for the last several days, sap was nice and crystal clear again. and still running pretty good slowed a bit since the sun started going down but a good long freeze and a little sun goes a long way. Down to 36* already the forecast says 34* for tonight but we'll see.

[red maples]

some how the sap is running. it was 31* this morning at 8:30 and snowing a little. releaser was frozen. So I figured why turn on the pump? its only supposed to get to 32-33* well it got up to 35* got home at about 2:00 OH MAN sap coming out pump not even on. picked up a quick 50 gallons and it has slowed temp back down to 32* snow pretty hard but sap is still coming???? go figure I 'll take every drop I can get!!!

[Dill]

Same thing happened to me. Didn't think anything was going to happen this morning, so left the pump off. Turned it on at 1:30, it dumped like mad clearing the lines, got back to work and Boom snow and winter.

[SSFLLC]

Hi Brad, I see you are thinking of a RO. Have you done any research on what you would want? I have and think in my case a Lapeirre 125 Turbo for the amount of taps is what will work for us here in Gilmanton. One reason I picked this one is I don't want to have to hold sap on the smaller runs for to long to get enough permeate to rinse and wash with. Keith

[Dill]

Watching Josh's operation grow I think I'm going to shoot right for a 600 Gph RO in the greater scheme of things they don't cost that much more than a 250 and I should get more years out of it expansion wise.

[red maples]

but be careful you need to enough permeate to be able to wash. I like the H2O inov. 200. If I can get another 100 taps or at least show I am putting in another 100 taps it will show that I will be about 450 taps so I can get the 200 with a possible 400 gallons of sap thats perfect for the 200. removing about 50% of the water which should be enough permeate to wash. they are WAY cheaper than the Laps. alot cheaper. that is def. a factor for me is he Price as well. I am def. going for an energy grant so I kinda have to wait and see what they will reccomend. I just wanna get more than 10 gallons of syrup per cord of wood. I have come to realize that its a pure waste of time and resources to have to split that much wood, plus spend that much more time boiling away that much water to get to syrup. If I can cut it down by 50% or more even if its only cut by 30-40% its way worth every penny. and with the energy grant they will pay for 75% of the cost. So we'll see how it goes!!!

[Russell Lampron]

but be careful you need to enough permeate to be able to wash. I like the H2O inov. 200. If I can get another 100 taps or at least show I am putting in another 100 taps it will show that I will be about 450 taps so I can get the 200 with a possible 400 gallons of sap thats perfect for the 200. removing about 50% of the water which should be enough permeate to wash. they are WAY cheaper than the Laps. alot cheaper. that is def. a factor for me is he Price as well. I am def. going for an energy grant so I kinda have to wait and see what they will reccomend. I just wanna get more than 10 gallons of syrup per cord of wood. I have come to realize that its a pure waste of time and resources to have to split that much wood, plus spend that much more time boiling away that much water to get to syrup. If I can cut it down by 50% or more even if its only cut by 30-40% its way worth every penny. and with the energy grant they will pay for 75% of the cost. So we'll see how it goes!!!

I get between 75 and 100 gallons of syrup to the cord with my RO. The sweeter the concentrate the less wood used.

[SSFLLC]

OK just went to the H2O site. What are the prices on these ro's and is there a dealer close by.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Brad - I'm running a H2O -200. Takes 75% of the water out no problem. I'm probably going 2+% to 7% the first pass and over 10% on the second pass. Maple Guys are a dealer and they're running a 300 this year. You can take a look at it sometime if you want. Bruce

[red maples]

Yes Chris Pfeil is a dealer. I was talking to him about them at the maple school for a few minutes. Honestly Keith I don't remember how much it was but you can shoot him a message on the maple guys website for a quote.

Wow 75 gallons to a cord!!! gotta do this. thanks for the info Bruce. Chris Hicks has the 600 expandable and he love it so far!!!

Alrighty. Don't know how nit going to ask....turned the pump on at about 1:00 or so thats when the releaser and lines unfroze and I got 175 gallons of sap and its 34* and its still coming in!!! So a long few days of boiling GOOD!!!

[SSFLLC]

Thanks Brad sorry I used your site on this.

[red maples]

no...no problem at all keith. Ask away!!! I am still learning and growing too.

Oh yeah that little BB2 I got form you... pulling 29" this morning and once everything broke loose it was running 26.5" to 27" all day. must be the HIGH pressure today. I have NEVER seen it that high before.

Had my best syyrup production day to date and I mean ever 6 1/2 gallons. all very mild tasting grade B really not much flavor to the syrup this year. but the end was border dark so things are lightening up thank goodness.

EXCELLENT sap weather in the forecaast that changed since yesterday!!! woo hoo... sorry for the woo hoo...

A little strange run of sap today. seemed to take forever to get going. releaser/ lines didn't thaw until after 9:30 then sap trickled in until 11 then gushed until 4-4:30 when the sun started go behind the trees and sap has slowed way down. temps are dropping fast. only have 225gallons so far hmmm not sure why it really didn't run hard for very long? Oh well still not bad I guess.

Not much business from open hours but tours I make about $ 125 -150 per tour in sales so not bad. can't really boil during tours. but I boil the same as usually do during open hours.

[Dill]

I swung by Maple guys last night and saw the 300 H20 being run. He's writing the english user manual for it this year. And next year is going to run a 600.
Glad to hear you got a good run today Brad. I had a barrel just about overflowing by the house, and was surprised to see my vac bush wasn't overflowing, mostly because I was pulling 0 inches due to a full trap and half a ballast tank full of sap on the pump. Have to love this old surge, last year it sucked sap so it was shooting out the muffler. Open the stall cock spin the pump backwards, once the sap stops flowing out the pump its good to go.

[red maples]

Sorry no update been really busy. like everyone else. just passed 25 gallons of syrup today!!! Which is 5 gallons past 1/2 way from last year. of my super total of 40 gallons from last year. Everything seems to be medium and dark tasting Grade B for me no matter what I do.... sap is less than 18 hrs old I keep everything clean as possible??? what ever the trees give me I guess!!! just keep boiling!!!

Sugar doesn't even seem too be too low although I never check the sap. I just boil it out.

No freeze coming the next few days so the pump will be running steady!!! changed the oil today!!!

Alrighty make some dinner and back into the sugarhouse to clean things a little. Got a mess of syrup drips and things all over the place!!!

[Russell Lampron]

My syrup has all been dark or B too. Good for my retail customers but not for Bascoms.

I have some drips and spills to clean up too. Working my full time job and making syrup at night tends to cut into the clean up time.

[red maples]

at 29 gallons of syrup. sap has slowed way up now. just barely coming in and it has changed color slightly it was a VERY light yellow to a slight greenish hue... and its starting go a little cloudy now as well. But still make excellent tasting syrup!!! a little on the light side of the the type taste of Gr B but still good none the less.

[red maples]

looks like we are gonna get a freeze here its very clear out and its now 34* NO sap coming in at all I still ended up with 75 gallons of sap today...not sure how but vac was running at 26.5 for the last how ever many days. So vac pump is taking a break.

Went up to loudon today, stopped in talked to Mike moore picked up a few things and bought a gallon of Light for some candy. Man he made some of the lightest syrup I ave ever seen. its almost as clear as fresh sap un real. Stopped in at Windswept maples saw larry and the boys they looked as tired as I felt!!! and they had everything going, RO, Evap, Fliter press is sweet!!! Have to call mike tomorrow to reserve me the canner!!! Everyone seems to be doing well!!!

just need t find a filter press and draw off I think I am gonna get the cone filter draw off its perfect for me nice and narrow!!! but that will come later. Just the canner for now. and then a Honey frame spinner extractor.

[red maples]

Wow another kinda strange year....micro climates.... started OK then froze up then too warm, now too cold. I still haven't had that really good run yet!!! It just seems that every time I think its gonna be a good day. It starts out great things are warming up sun is high and warm in the sky everything starts to get thawed out sap started to run pretty good. then it clouds up temp drops or never comes up and I end up with a crappy run.... just the pattern of this year. Oh well.... its all up to the weather and I just can't seem to catch a break I only boiled 15 days since feb 12th not very good and some of those days were little 2 hr boils just to basically heat the sap in the evap and get through the 100 gallons that took a couple days to get.

Well it is what it is. Probably won't get much tomorrow only gonna be 34 here. then monday will be hit or miss with 17* tomorrow night its gonna take a little time to get everything thawed again.

anyhow at 35 gallons I think total for the season. At least I have had time to get candy made. got about 10 lbs done. bottled up 15 gallons syrup on friday. sugarhouse is pretty straightened up just need to do a floor scrub and little stuff here and there. more cleaning needs to get done out side and in back of the sugarhouse. and need to get some cream done, some maple nuts, so monday will still be busy. as long as I can keep things thawed tomorrow I will be able to boil.

[red maples]

Happy first day of spring??? 10+ inches on the ground and stuck in the trees driveway is a mess. AGAIN @#$#$%$% need a good melt down the next few days to get cleaned up!!!

Haven't boiled since sunday. today though.

Its amazing after making 1.25 gallons of syrup into candy then pricing it out and adding up to over $180 I like that!!!
Took advantage of the non boiling time to get some stuff ready
Candy done boxed labeled priced
Maple nuts made. just have to package
Bottled 20 gallons syrup yesterday. still need a little more but shoudl have that today.
Evap all cleaned out. finishing out the syrup pan today and finishing out the flue pan in the syrup pan while re sweetening the flue pan. Man there was alot of niter in there... WOW!!!
Honey just about all set.
Cream still is a problem gonna try again today. I don't know why I can't ge it to go!!!
Cleaned out the chicken coop on monday.
cleaned out side the sugarhouse on monday. doesn't matter now its all cover with snow again today.
Just need to finish up the cleaning out the sugarhouse and good floor scrub on (friday).

and snow removal by hand...snow blower took a poop yesterday I might see if I can pick up a new one, maybe we'll see. So parking will be an issue for the weekend!!!

[Amber Gold]

Enjoy the break because looking at the forecast, we'll be right back at it.

[red maples]

I hope so. not really much of a break still maple related!!!

[tuckermtn]

good to see a familar face in the Union Leader piece today. Nice sweatshirt to boot...!

[red maples]

you like that sweat shirt???? I know where you can get one!!! :)

[red maples]

I put out more than 1/2 of what I made which was similar to last year and I sold out in 2 hours!!! I couldn't believe it. all the pruducts were FLYING off the shelves. but people enjoyed them selves. We had as many people today as we did all of maple weekend last year. Alot of 2 and 3 time maple weekend visitors which was nice. over all day 1 I am beat........ gonna have some dinner and CRASH!!!

Forgot to wish everyone goodluck I was so crazy busy the last few days. SO Good luck hope everyone had a good day. Can't belive they wanna do away with maple weekend. It alot of work but it sells product!!! Gotta bring this up at the summer meeting!!!

oh yeah sap is running FINALLY...... sap ran great yesterday and is still coming good now!!! lots of sap for the weekend!!! and actually got to boil somewhat hard for a little while today. and made a few gallons of syrup. I have no idea what grade it was but we'll find out its not even filtered yet!!! Tomorrow I will boil while I am breaking down stuff then shut er down and get caught up on monday.

Good night everybody!!! ZZZZZZZ

[red maples]

just completed wiped out..... If I had 150 gallons of syrup this weekend I still would sold out!!! Why was it SOOOOO busy??? must have had 7-900 people over the course of 2 days. I was sending people to plaistow and barrington for syrup!!! But people were still happy to listen to me talk and taste syrup and see how things work Memories Ice cream which is just 1.5 miles from me opened this weekend combined with the weather and you couldn't beat it.

Had 3 of the best sap runs in a row that I have had ALLLLLL season. I hope it keeps up syrup is even lighten up a bit don't know if I will get back into GR A but it will be close. Finally good runs took long enough.

We have to bring this doing away with maple weekend thing up at the summer meeting!!! I really think people look forward to it. I don't wanna se it go away!!!

[NH Maplemaker]

Brad, I was tolled by Dave Fuller (Fullers Sugar House in Lancaster NH ) at Bascom last Friday that they are not going to do away with maple weekend! They are just going to add the maple awareness month with it! Hope that is the case! We love maple weekend as well!

[Russell Lampron]

Same here! We had a great turn out as well. I have a lot of competition in this town and I still sold more than I ever had before almost doubling last years total. The people do look forward to Maple Weekend. For some of them it is their first outdoor activity of the spring.

[red maples]

oh good!!! I was worried they wanted to do away with it. I like the addition of the awareness month. but we should still clarify this.

I still can't believe how many people came. usually Sun is slower not this weekend!!! it was busy from 10am right up until 3pm and people were still looking for syrup at 4:00!!!!

I am glad everyone had a great weekend. I just wish I had more syrup!!! made 10 gallons between last night and today. honestly the last thing I wanted to do today was be in the sugarhouse. But got it done.

I missed out on a little sap this morning. Turned on the pump and sap was coming in but I couldn't get it past 15" so I think what happened the 90* froze up last night before the sap stopped and backed up just a little before it froze up and settled in the check valve next to the vac pump and froze up I spent a about 2 hours trying to figure out what happened. walked to the woods looking for leaks. couldn't find any!!! went back found sap in the moisture trap. looked a little further found the ice in check valve. a little hair dryer to thaw things out and poof back in action. sap still coming in pretty good.

[NH Maplemaker]

I'm over here on the western side of the state and I had the same experience as you folks! We had the most visitors that we have ever had! Took in the open flag at 4pm and they still were driving in. So I certainly don't want to see them mess with maple weekend!

[red maples]

Well looks like we had he last frezze for a while last night and it wasn't a good one. Had the best runs of the season since friday. I wish it would keep going but you never know 1-2* can make all the difference in the world. I did better than last year I think thanks to the extra 100 taps I added and I did better on the gravity despite having my giant maple that gave me 6-7 gallons on a good day wiped out by the hurricane. we will be walking a fine line of temps for the next several days. Gonna change the oil in the pump and let her go 'til the trees bud or the sap stops which ever comes first!!!

At least I know where to get syrup from if I need it!!!! :)

[Russell Lampron]

Sap just started running fairly good again here Sunday. The extended forecast looks like no freezes after Monday of next week and light freezes after today. My temps tend to run a little colder than the forecast and I get pretty good freezes when no one else does. I'm hoping to keep getting sap for awhile.

[morningstarfarm]

glad you had such a good weekend...just started making nuts again...have had about 60 calls to make sure we were going to be open saturday...tried an experiment to see if I could make them with B...YAY it worked...they sugared up nicely...was a bit concerned...I managed to hide a gallon of medium but still have about 10 gals of dark and 35 gals of B...and just over 1200 gals to boil tomorrow night..you are welcome by the if you want to see the beast roar...and you know if you need some all you have to do is ask...Off to Poland me to look at a new vac pump tomorrow morning...Hoping to have that bush back in the game by early afternoon...I know it has 200 gals just in the lines...i don't even want to think what I lost the last couple days with it down...sigh...

[red maples]

I have been going pretty hard since last thursday. cleaned everything from the weekend and got a few gallons of gravity yesterday not much and still managed 150 gallons of sap since yesterday morning on the vacuum. and its still coming in although really slowly and probably not much sugar either. but I am taking a day off today got some stuff to do and some stuff around teh house to catch up on. see what we get today and tonight hoping for at least another 75 gallons off the vacuum. The buds are turning a brighter red but not really swelling too much and no peepers yet either need a few more 50* days for that I am guessing probably by the weekend. so as long as the sap is still running I will suck it out!!!

Boil everything out tomorrow and see what we get for sap in the next several days. I am guessing not much no freeze ups in site!!!

[red maples]

I think we are geting very close to the end. Releaser did freeze and we hit 33* only got about 65 gallons of sap yesterday and boiling out everything I have today. pump will still be running if there is sap coming in but not expecting much and its REALLY cloudy now. Flavor is still OK but if it turns we're done.

[red maples]

still getting sap...Love that vacuum. another 75 gallons so far today. Buckets have been dry since wed/thurs. you know I made over 20 gallons of syrup since last friday. so 20 gallons in one week but the first 5 weeks I only made 40 gallons. Making maple is just a roll of the dice!!!! some times you all 7's sometime you get snake eyes!!!

[red maples]

happy Easter!!!! got a freeze. went to bed after doing the easter duties... 39* woke up to 28* should be enough to get things going again!!! I like making syrup but honestly getting tired of the season. but if I get sap I will burn burn wood until there is no more sap. looks like we will boil today for a few hours!!! Its warm so have to keep up on the sap it turns quickly now!!!

[Greyfox]

The low here last night was 23*, so I'm in the same boat;no freeze coming tonight and I don't want the sap to sit too long. I think Easter dinner for me will be sitting by the evaporator eating a ham sandwich and a hard boiled Easter egg. The long range here calls for three more good days later this week and then I think we're done. Last year, the lost year, I packed it in on March 19 when it hit 80*. I'd much rather a season like this one. Happy Easter.

Doc

[red maples]

got more sap than I expected...kinda like boiling water but I have 3-4 gallons of syrup that I finished when I cleaned my evap and the sugars carmelized a little so it gets that molassesy flovaor to it not too bad but it has to go to the Commercial barrel so I have been tryin go to blend a little here and there. So I figured I would try something. I diluted it with fresh sap and have been dumping just a little at time into my flue pan and by the time it makes it around the strong flavor has been diluted and is gone. So I have about a gallon left to mix in which I will easily get rid of tomorrow. awe-some that will give me No Commercial. but I am expecting some once I finish of the pans hope fully I can get make it work. we'll see.

Ended up boiling longer than what I wanted to today. and made a little more syrup. but spilled about a quart when I was filling a 5 gallons container. just trying to do too many things at once. luckily I had the mop right there and took care of it quick oh well what are you gonna do.

I think I am gonna need to spilt some wood tomorrow. at least there isn;t any more snow around it so I should be able to get to it.

The bugs are pretty bad I need to try to get a screen over things to keep the buds out thank good ness for pop sap filters!!! just a pain to clean!!! and no peepers yet!!!

[Russell Lampron]

That mersh that you are trying to get rid of makes great tasting baked beans and it also makes great tasting soft molasses cookies when you substitute it for the molasses in the recipe. I save a bunch of it for that purpose. I have some relatives and customers that get it from me to bake with too.

[red maples]

hmmmm...maybe I will save that last gallon and put it in the fridge. I always get some at the end of the season when I finish my pans out. As you know it doesn't taste bad it just has that carmel molasses flavor to it.

[Amber Gold]

I'm starting to wonder if we're going to make any peeper syrup this year. It'd be the first year if we didn't.

[red maples]

nope I am done as of today. the sap turned!!! I had a few trees bud yesterday and I figured I just pull those taps but there are more and more popping today and I heard a few peepers today too so I had the remaining sap go though the evap today. I dumped the 25 gallons I got on the overnight I have been keeping things separated day to day and doing a quick test and it just started to get tangy from last night's sap. So I figured I just turn off what I could on the tubing but there are more and more fuzzies coming out today being its 60* outside I was hoping I could get through the next few days that look like pretty good sap weather but no such luck!!!

Oh well its always a bitter sweet end to the season...no pun intended!!! you wanna keep making syrup but at the same time you just want it to be over.

so I still have to finish out the evaporator and start cleaning. but I am taking a few days off first then I'll get back at it!!! its gonna be chilly the next few days anyway.

Time to get ready for bees and get the onions and peas in the garden and get the chicken tractor ready the chicks will be 3 weeks old on wed. and are getting pretty close to being feathered out!!!

Good luck to everyone still going.

don't have finished tally on syrup yet I think its about 65-70 gallons
sap was 4800 gallons best ever but sugar was very low most of the season. that breaks down to 73 gallons of sap per gallon of syrup, thats a lot of wood!!! got 13 gpt on vacuum. and 8 gpt on gravity and and a few buckets.

Wish the sugar was better and the begining of the season was better. that would have put my syrup numbers ALOT better but like I said before maple is a roll of the dice!!!

boiled including today 26 days total since first boil on feb 15th. estimating 120 hrs of boiling and alot of wood!!! that will be cut to hopefully 1/3 or less of that time with an RO for 2014 season :)

[red maples]

I hate seeing the sap coming out of the lines but you can't use it!!! I just tasted it again just to see...pretty nasty very bitter oh well!!!

[Russell Lampron]

What a difference a few miles makes, the buds are still tight on my reds. You had a good season just the same.

An RO for next season? You'll be able to cut that boiling time down more than a 1/3. A single pass to 8% takes out 3/4 of the water which means it will take a 1/4 of the time that it takes now with a similar savings in wood.

[backyard sugaring]

Brad, It was nice to meet you during Maple Weekend. Hopefully, next year you will have more syrup to sell. We had a good year in Hudson, most we ever made. Good luck. Lee

[red maples]

Funny thing. Did the annual white vinegar boilout today 7-8 gallons of vinegar overfill the evap bring it to a roilling boil and shut it down the leave it over night and repeat every few days while scrubbing and stuff 'til its nice and shiny and I was working on the chicken coupe too but had to run in the house for a pair of pliers come back out and there is a couple in there and they come out of the sugarhouse rubbing their nose and said they never smelled sap like that!!! is that normal at the end of the season??? I said yeeh when I add a few gallons of vinegar to clean the pans!!!! ooopppps!!! But they reserved a bunch of syrup anyway. bottling tomorrow!!! Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong!!! :)

[red maples]

I wish I could have more weather like we had this past week before the sap turned!!! 20's at night and 50's durring the day!!! we had 28 night before last and 25 last night!!! gonna be in the 50's today. sap still dripping out!!! buds are just beginning to drop. I hate clean up time. Selling alot of syrup on weekends though!!! 1/2 gallons seem to be FLYING out the door!!!!

[red maples]

didn't think I would have anything else to post for this season but I was able to pull some taps yesterday the ones that weren't flooded and I pull taps with the vac on to pull out any sap in the lines and thing was I forgot to turn off the vac went out later to turn it off and I was getting sap not alot but it was still trickling in!!!! go figure 8 weeks and some warmer weather in there too and holes were still giving up sap I guess that the high vac and check valves are worth the money!!!