Any one near Coldwater Ontario?

[daverobitaille]

Hi all, Just new here and was wondering if anyone is near Coldwater? I plan on tapping this coming week after the cold weekend. Going from 50 to 80 taps and got a brand new pan and warmer from Patrick paneuf in Quebec. Nice work by the way.
Anyhow just wondering if I am alone in the area...

[Shepp]

Hi all, Just new here and was wondering if anyone is near Coldwater? I plan on tapping this coming week after the cold weekend. Going from 50 to 80 taps and got a brand new pan and warmer from Patrick paneuf in Quebec. Nice work by the way.
Anyhow just wondering if I am alone in the area...
Hello. I am now live in Toronto, but still own 100 acres of bush in North River. I plan on putting up my lines tomorrow for about 100 taps. Just bought one of those 250 gallon plastic tote tanks that I will haul in with the Skidoo. No ploughed road yet. I would like to tap tomorrow, but I am afraid of splitting the tap hole.
My cousin has a small operation over in Oro township. Nice little sugar house near the house. About 100 trees on buckets. I dont have a sugar house yet. I just use restaurant pans over cinder blocks.

[daverobitaille]

Hi Shepp,

I just looked at the long range forcast and I will wait for another week. It will be about minus 10 for a couple of days this week and this morning it was -22C. It looks like Saturday morning will be a good time for tapping. Looks like the favorable conditions for the sap to run. if you tap tomorrow you may split the wood in your taps and you will have to do it allover again.
my oparation is small. This year I am going up to 80 taps and I just got a new pan and warmer to improve productivity. I boil in my back yard over a cut steel drum and my maples trees are on the next lane over.
So if I were you I would wait for next weekend.

Dave

[Shepp]

Hi Dave: Yea I probably won't tap tomorrow. Next weekend does look better. Hope the weather isn't like last year when it went from below 0c to 15c in one week.
Jim

[daverobitaille]

hi Jim,

Last year I did tap on Feb 03. I never seen this early before in my life. by march 06 I took everything out as it was done running.
I managed to make about 10 gallons of finished syrup. i just used the last gallon to make maple butter last week. So last year was good for me but not for others as they were saying it was too early to tap and they got there season cut short.
Is your lot is by the black river on HWY 12?

Dave

[Shepp]

Hi Dave: yea I waited too late last year. I only had about 30 tapped and made about a half gallon. The year before was amazing. It was the first time tapping since I was a kid helping my Dad tap. We tapped about 30 trees 2 years ago and my two 45 gallon barrels were over flowing. I plan to be ready this year. I have a bush near Laughlin Falls. My dad use to tap about. 500 on tubing many years ago. He told me he was one of the first in the area to use tubing. That part of the bush now belongs to my neighbour and the sugarhouse is gone. I still have 100 acres of virgin sugar maples. LOL
I follow this forum all the time. It is a wealth of information.
Jim

[longbeard]

Hi Dave - I am just west of you in the Vasey area. Don't panic about drilling, last year was not normal. I keep real good records and my usual drilling is done first week of March and normal first boil second week of March (sometimes later). I do not use CV's (yet) so don't want holes to dry out too soon. You may have seen Tom Shaw (Shaw's Sugar Bush) drilling on TV last week but he has thousands of taps and think he uses CV's as well so he has to start early to get all tapped up.

At any rate lots of maple guys in your area such as Ken McCutcheon, Peter Hewitt, Greenlaws, etc. just check OMPSA website and click on membership for Simcoe Co. Good luck and you are not alone!!

John

[Run Forest Run!]

just check OMPSA website and click on membership for Simcoe Co.

OK, so after finding some very enlightening online info about OMPSA (Our Mother of Perpetual Succor Academy), I tried OMSPA and had better luck. hahahaha Thanks for the fun detour John. :lol:

Karen

[Maplesapper]

[QUOTE= You may have seen Tom Shaw (Shaw's Sugar Bush) drilling on TV last week but he has thousands of taps and think he uses CV's as well so he has to start early to get all tapped up.



John[/QUOTE]

GUys-
I just left Atkinson, The TV coverage of Shaws was apparently not this years footage. The guys were talking about it in the shop

[longbeard]

Yep, that makes sense that the Shaw video was from last year!!

Dave, just testing you and you have passed.

Man, the temps for the next 2 weeks are questionable (cold) - hope they are wrong.