sugaring in iowa

[upmep]

I live in iowa, and since we don't have a space yet for tapping updates I was wondering if anyone on here is from Iowa and has tapped their trees yet? I tapped about 2 weeks ago and have only gotten about 15 gallons of sap so far. It turned off cold and snowy. I hope this won't hurt things later when it starts to flow. My taps are just gravity flow. Anyone else out there from iowa?

[bnbmaplesyrup]

upmep We too are in Iowa around Ames area- We tapped 3 weeks ago when we had several nice days in the 40's. We gathered around 50 gallons of sap on 90 taps. We cooked 2 different times and just got it down to about 3 gallon total. We will finish when we have more to add to it. We are shooting to put in another 30 taps on hard maples to be at 120 total. We do have the ability to tapped a lot of silvers but will see how our new arch works this year. Where are you located and how many taps do you have out? Great to know someone else is making syrup in Iowa!! Bill

[upmep]

I live in southeast iowa. I tap silvers and box elders mainly. I don't have any sugar or black maples to tap. I've only gotten about 15 or 20 gallons of sap so far so I don't really have enough to start the evaporator. My trees have mainly stopped since this last cold snap. It looks like it should warm up toward the end of next week. How much sap have you gotten lately? This will be my 4th year. Last year I made a few gallons of syrup. I hope it doesn't go straight to being too warm this year. I put in about 50 taps usually.

[bnbmaplesyrup]

We had a little run yesterday. It looks like that later in the week it is really going to start running. we have 30 taps on silvers and they have been really sporadic. keep us informed with how it is going? Will post as things get going here. What are you boiling on? We have a flat pan that is 28" x 76" we built a new arch for it this year. We have been cooking woth it on a block arch. We are hoping for 20gph. Good Luck Bill

[tbear]

Henry County checking in! I haven't tapped yet this year but I'll probably start next Friday(3/8). I usually tap in mid-February but I've decided that may be a little early for me. It seems as though the sap here doesn't really get going till the first week or so in March. It's nice to hear from other Iowans! Have fun!

[IowaSap]

Hey there getting ready to put 100 in around the Eldora area, this weekend. Looks like the forcast is good. Of course we know how acurate those guys have been!:lol: Hey TBear good to see your back at it again! Im trying to get another arch made up in time for this season. I seem to put the pro in crastination! Tap on Iowans!!

[tbear]

Right on IowaSap! I understand about that "waiting till the last minute" phenomenon. Ive been running around like I'm on fire! I'm still looking at the ten day forecast. I'll probably start tapping this weekend however I'd like to see more sun in the forcast. What can I say? I'm a farmer; I have to complain about the weather! Good luck everyone and have fun!

[bnbmaplesyrup]

We put out 14 more taps last night. We are up to 104 with a few more to get out. We collected around 30 gallon and plan to start boiling saturday. Looks like the weather is going to give us some warm days going forward. This last 10 inches of snow was tough to do the side hills!!!

[upmep]

It would be nice to have an iowa page. Its nice to see their are more people making maple syrup here in iowa. I think I got my taps in a little early. I have maybe 23 gallons of sap with about 48 taps out. I might put out a few more. I hope to start the evaporator this weekend, but I do it outside and don't have a cover for it. They are talking rain on Saturday. My evaporator is a 55 gallon barrel I had lengthened, with a 2' x 4' pan with a preheater. I probably only get about 15 gallons per hour boiled off. Keep in touch everyone.

[IowaSap]

Just put in 85 yesterday then the batteries died! Gonna put in another 15 to 20 on some homemade sap sack holders in stead of buckets and see how they hold up. All my relatives up in Mn. seem to like them but I'm a lil worried about the coons and squirels chewing holes in them. Most taps were wet yesterday nothing rocking yet though. Upmep I wouldn't be to worried about 15 gph that's awful good!! Do you run a blower on that? My old 2x3 would maybe do 8gph on the best of days. My new evap is being built locally and the pan is coming from out of state, hopefully it gets here in time.

[bnbmaplesyrup]

we boiled down another 50 gallons this morning. We then added that to the other 2 boilings and ended up with 10 quarts and 2 12oz jars. It is a very light amber not sure what the grade would be. We are getting rain today and the taps are dripping slowly. Good to hear other updates from around the state.

[upmep]

Just got back from checking our taps and we got maybe six or seven gallons. 3 were kind of yellow, I hope its not getting close to the trees budding. I am hoping next week it will really run. I would like to try making some of those pvc sap sack holders. Keep me updated on the sap sack holders and the new evaporator. Bnb you've got a good start up there. I hope my sap lasts okay till next week, alot of it is full of ice from the cold weather up till now.

[bnbmaplesyrup]

The weather just will not cooperate!! We are cold again today with 4-8 inches of more snow on the way. They are saying to be in the 40's again by Wednesday. Upmep our trees are not even fully thawed yet. I would think we are just getting started. We have had some yellow but think it is from the rain running in from the tree and staining the sap? Good luck Bill

[tbear]

Boiled my first 50 gals. today! Took awhile for everything to get running smoothly so my hourly rate was a little off but everything is up and running now. I think this will be our weekend! Emptied buckets this morning and they're already running over now. My grandson will be here tomorrow night and my son has volunteered to pull the first overnight boiling shift (if necessary). I'm pretty excited! Ted

[bnbmaplesyrup]

We are starting to get some good runs here. We gathered 40 gallons last night and about 10% of the trees on the bottom of north facing hills have not started yet. We are looking at ideal conditions for the next 7 days at least. We will start boiling in the morning. Ted what are you using for an evaporator? Are you on the Iowa river basin? We fish up by Union occasionaly and there appears to be alot of nice silvers along there. Upmep any sap down your way? Good luck to all!! Bill

[upmep]

Mine are finally starting to run also. I got maybe 17 gallons of sap yesterday. I started boiling last night. I overestimated my boil rate. I am probably lucky to get 5 gallons an hour boiled down. I made some of the sap sack holders also. I went to kum and go and offered to buy some ice bags and they just gave me 10. They seem to be working well. They have the drawstring on top to keep the rain and bugs out. How deep does everyone keep the sap in the boiling pan to get the best boil rate? Bnb glad to hear its running up there. Glad to hear how its going everywhere. I need to go check the evaporator so I better get going.

[IowaSap]

Well I put out my last 17 taps for a grand total of 101. I'm trying 3 different sap sack holders. Two homemade and the regular one you can buy. I made some out of wood and some out of 4 in. pvc. The run was pretty light today so I hope we don't get any wind. That's one of my big concerns with sacks. Big wind and little sap!! Also just got my new pan and preheater in today from stainlessstealcreations out of Wisconsin. Now if I can get my new hotrod evap. done in the next couple of days I'll be in business! Going to pull sap tomorrow, buckets seem to have about a gallon average. Not heavy but a start. Hoping for 1200 gal. this year! Need to build back supply after last year. God speed!

[bnbmaplesyrup]

We boiled down 100 hundred gallons yesterday and has another 50 that we boiled today. We had our first use of the emergency sap bucket yesterdqay. We had it down to about 1/2 inch in the pan and was losing boil fast. We added wood and put to much in.We had a hard boil and it all foamed in about 30 seconds. Lucky we had a 5 gallon bucket of sap sitting for this type of problem. We added the sap and pulled it off the fire. We did end up finishing and botting 2-1/2 gallon. We are up to 5 gallon so far. Upmep we run the pan at 2 inches. We try to feed the fire every 10 minutes. We have the wood split to the size of your wrist. Iowa Sap what did you get for a pan? Are you running a divider pan? Would like to see 1 operate as our is a flat pan. We are to get cold again this week. Looks like Thursday for the next big runs.

[tbear]

Well, we boiled off 75 gal. on Friday, 70 on Saturday and ended up with 2.5 gals of the finest syrup I've made so far. Wonderful stuff! We still have about 4 gals. of sweet in the pan. I'm not sure if I should finish it off or wait a bit to see if I can squeeze out one more good day of boiling. I think bnb is right and we won't get much sap till later in the week so I'll probably empty the pan and finish off the sweet tomorow or the next day. It looks like we've boiled off about 190 gals. so far. It sure was fun having my grandson with me this weekend. He's fourteen or fifteen. It was him and my son (35) who boiled outside yesterday. Before they got started I told them that since Hunter (grandson) had the most experiance he would be the lead man and Josh (my son) would be his assistant! Hunter absolutely beamed! I went out after they had been running awhile and there was Hunter saying "Uncle Josh you should probably fire the evap, skim the pan good and bring out some more firewood". It was kinda comical. He (Hunter) is on fire. He wants to set up his own evap. Even now there are differant drawings of how he will build it sitting on my desk. A good "clean" hobby. Anyway...bnb, I use a block evap with a 2x4 flat pan. And no we're not in the river basin. We're in Henry county. But you are right. There's a lot of nice looking trees down there. IowaSap, 1200? Really? Man! I'd like to see that! Upmep, The sap depth kinda depends on how dilligent you are! My evap is rather jee-whampus (AKA not level) so I try to keep 2 inches in the lowside. But I do tend to daydream about a REAL evaporater, long and heavy sap runs and other very important things. Best to all, Ted

[tbear]

I was surprised this morning when I checked a couple of buckets in my yard. They were completely full and sap was running on the ground. I emptied all 60 and ended up with 75-80 gals. I thought the run was done for a few days.

[bnbmaplesyrup]

we went out tonight and the sap is flowing. It was 30 degress but the sun was shining bright. We ended up with about 50 gallons of sap. We are planning to try and cook down tomorrow after work.

[upmep]

I boiled down about 104 gallons of sap down to a little less than 2 gallons of syrup. I tap some box elder which don't have the sugar content. Tbear it sounds like you have gotten you're grandson addicted to the maple syruping. It looks like the sap is going to get really slow or not at all according to the weather. Hopefully its not done. Thanks for the advice on pan depth.

[IowaSap]

Man it's chilly! All my buckets and bags are sitting there frozen! We mighnt be pulling sap well into April if this keeps up. I guess it's a good thing, my new evap. is suppose to be done this week. Bnb, i just got a flat 2x4 with a preheater made up my old one was 2x3 with no preheater. I thought about the dividers but I've never really understood the things to be honest. I'm hoping with the preheater, lil bigger pan and forced air that I can bump up my boil rate quite abit. If all else fails I'll just fire up both of them. My forcast is looking pretty cold until next week sometime. Got a feeling when the weather does break were gonna have trouble keeping up! God speed Iowa tappers!

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Boy are we slow and cold. We are getting some good snow again today. Boiled down 65 gallons that we collected since Wednesday. Just left the sweet in the pan as it is to be cold until Wednesday. They are calling for nice temps starting again on Wed. Hope it does not warm up too fast as we still need to make a lot of syrup to cover all the preorders!!!

[bnbmaplesyrup]

The sap tap got turned on yesterday. Collected 80 gallons on 112 taps. They are calling for lows in the mid 40's by end of the week. Hope they are wrong on that. We need another couple of weeks if possible.

[IowaSap]

Well this should be the day! Pulled about 80 gal. of ice in my buckets yesterday. By noon it was starting to slow drip a few taps. Forcast looks good here. Time to turn on the sap!

[bnbmaplesyrup]

We clooected 70 gallons yesterday on 112 taps. We also cooked down the 80 gallons from Monday and added it the 65 gallons from the weekend. Ended up witha 4 gallons of syrup which equals 36 galloon of sap for a gallon of syrup. that is the best we have ever done. Granted we have a lot more hards tapped this year but the sugar content seems to be running high. Good luck all- Bill

[redrob]

Awesome- 36:1 is outstanding!! :)

[IowaSap]

Well my high hopes are starting to dwindle. Pulled 90 gal. yesterday for a grand total of 160 so far. Most years I pull more then that on one good day. Really thought the last two days would have been great. Many trees were but probably half were dry. Worried that maybe they started to heal up but even cleaning up the hole again with the bit did nothing. The forcast is looking like another 4to5 days of good weather then summer will be here. On a good note I did think my suger level was way up also. I'm starting to wonder if I'm feeling the effect of last years drought now!

As Phill Robertson would say "nobody happy happy happy" Hope everyone else is doing better.
Frank

[bnbmaplesyrup]

We are having the same problem in our area. We only collected 50 gallon on friday and 20 gallon saturday. They are calling for a couple of cold nights Monday and Tuesday and I hope that gets them flowing again. The silvers that we have just have not done anything all year and we were also thinking it was from the drought. We are at 715 gallon of sap with 18.5 gallon of syrup. Our goal was to do 30 gallon so I think we are going to come up short. What is happening down in the S.E. corner of the state? Frank where are you located? Good Luck to all I hope we have another week left!!! Bill

[tbear]

I'm going to pull the plug Monday (southeast Iowa). I'm having an ongoing problem with an off taste that's very frustrating. Hoping to find some answers or suggestions before next season. The sap has continued to run here but the trees (silver's) are getting too far along and are almost ready to flower. I feel that I have enough problems without adding possibly buddy sap to the list. On an up note: I am very pleased with the 2.5 gals. of what I consider good syrup. And people seem to like/prefer the syrup (3.25 gal.) that I don't care for. They say it has more flavor and I say yes but the flavor is bad! Maybe I'm too picky? Anyway, it's been a strange and wonderful season. At long last I feel confident with my equipment and process. Maybe that'll change but I' beginning to think it's now a matter of timing, when to tap. Good luck to all! Best regards, Ted

[IowaSap]

Bnb I dont think were to far apart. I'm in the Eldora area. I've been tapped since the 8th of march. Cooked down only bout 180 total now. And I thought last year was the worst I'd ever see! Maybe this week will give me a good hard run. My soft maple out back is looking pretty buddy. Luckily I'm tapped on hard maples. We'll see.
T-bear you didn't by chance get a new filter this year did you? I got a new wool filter one year and must not of gotten it rinsed out enough. Gave my whole batch a weird taste. Had to do alot of refiltering and it never did get totally gone. Just a thought.

Frank

[bnbmaplesyrup]

We tapped the 2nd week of Feb- As of Saturday we are at 715 gallon of sap 18.5 gallon finished syrup- We were really warm over the weekend and did not get much of anything- We were down to 24 last night so hoping for some big runs this week- I think our silvers will be done after Wednesday this week - Will update again after we collect tonight- Frank good luck this week- Ted sorry to hear your taste issue has not went away - Upmep are you done also?

[tbear]

Okay, so I've got some "closure" to my off taste problem. Come to find out that I like the light amber but not the dark amber syrup. There wasn't an actual "off" taste involved merely the differance in taste between the two (light and dark). All I can say in my own defence is that Mrs. Butterworth ruined my taste buds! I think this is a perfect case of getting into something (that I know NOTHING about) because it sounds like fun. I know so very little that I couldn't even tell when I got it right! I guess I shouldn't have dumped that 2.25 gals. down the drain as others that I have given samples to (around here) prefer it. Wow! What a year. Oh, and Frank? I guess it wasn't the filter:). And Bill? 715! Good on ya! I don't remember who started this thread but Thank You! It's been a nice way for us Iowans to keep in touch. Though my seasons done I'll be checking in on the forum for awhile yet so you folks have fun and good luck. Ted

[bnbmaplesyrup]

What a great week for sap - collected 140 gallon yesterday - finished another 3 gallon that went back to a lighter color- we had another freeze last night so should run good today - our weekend is looking warm so may be over after that- Ted glad you got your "taste issue" figured out. It has been a fun and frustrating season.

[IowaSap]

Well I pulled a whopping 50 gal. yesterday.:rolleyes: It was running pretty good yesterday evening when I checked so I have big hopes for today. It does look like its coming to an end I need these next couple of days to salvage my season. T-bear good to hear you figured it out. You must just have more refined taste!! ;) Bnb your really doing well on what I would call a very strange year. Good on ya. Gotta go pull sap hears hoping its a tub buster!
Later on Frank

[tbear]

"Thanks guys", he mumbled, with downcast eyes and a sheepish grin. My brother stood right in front of me, pointing at me, laughing his ### off! I never did like him much :). Bill: it sounds like you're knocking them dead! Frank: I've got my fingers crossed for you. Go get 'em! It reminds me of the first year I had my new pan, I think I collected 20 gals. of sap. Not even enough to bother boiling. It was kinda depressing. Good luck everyone! And have fun! Ted

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Writing from the sugar shack. We have collected just under 300 gallon the last 2 days. We got down to 30 last night so hoping for 1 last good run today. We finished another 3 gallon last night to bring out total up to 25.2 gallon. Still have over 100 gallon in the tank to get cooked here this morning. Will let you know how we finish up

[IowaSap]

Well I've collected 350 total. cooked down the first 180 made some of the lightest amber I've ever seen. Looks like honey! the other 190 is down close, ready to filter and bottle. I'm looking at 11 gal of finish!! I'm hesitant to even type those numbers. I cant believe the sugar content! So that is the bright spot on what has other wise been the worst sap year ever for us. Would have pulled them today but didnt' have time. Probably 50 gal. hanging still. Frogs are begining to sing, which usually means I'm done, but fence posts are still fozen in the ground and cant be pulled by a tractor yet!! Strange, Strange year here!!
later on Frank

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Well we finished our bottling last night. We ended the season right at 31 gallons. We had a yeild rate of 37.7 gallon of sap to 1 gallon of syrup. that is by far the best we have ever done. We did try and boil some sap from Saturday that we put in the freezer. Had our first dirty sock smell no question that it was bad. We dumped about 40 gallons and called it a year. Now we need to get everything cleaned up and ready for Morrell season. Will continue to monitor the site and will have a few questions about things we are going to try and do differently next year. It has been great to connect with the Iowa people!!! Bill

[upmep]

hello everyone, sorry I haven't posted for awhile. We had a family issue and had to go out to Colorado in a hurry a couple of weeks ago. During the best time of the sap running most of my taps were running on the ground. When I got back home it was just about over. I still have some thats just about finished in the refrigerator. I should end up with about 3 gallons of finished syrup altogether. It was fun, now I will have to start looking to next year. It sounds like some of you guys didn't do to bad this year. My silver maples didn't do that great this year either. My sap sacks with the ice bags and pvc pipes did well this year. I may have to make some more before next year. If anyone else has learned anything helpful let us know. thanks everyone.

[tbear]

Any other Iowans getting the itch? Ted

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Any other Iowans getting the itch? Ted

After this morning -16 I think it will be a while but yes we are getting ready. Marked a new timber this fall that will add another 28 taps of black maple - should put us close to 180 taps this year

[upmep]

I just logged on to see if any of you guys had added anything since last year. I am looking forward to this year. I will probably tap the same amount as last year. It would be nice to have some sugar or black maples to tap but I don't.

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Anybody itching to tap yet. After looking at the long range forecast it might be the week of March 10th for us. Last year we tapped the second week of February. Oh Well

[tbear]

Hi Everyone,
Itching to tap doesn't even come close! What a winter! I've been thinking about and daydreaming about tapping since before Christmas! Checking on MAPLETRADER was the only thing that kept me sane these last few months. I usually don't look that far into the future but this year was kind of different. My wife, who is a wonderful lady and the finest woman I've ever met, is also the cause of my early "spring fever" as, shortly before Christmas, there was a large box delivered from Atkinson's. Hmmm, wonder what's in here? The next day a box comes from Boscoms! I was off and running from there on! Checking the extended forecast every few hours, lurking on the forum for hours on end, thinking of ways I might improve my process,etc..
But at long last, and not without help from my Beautiful Wife, The DAY has come! I'll spend some time with my dad tomorrow morning then try to get 15 or 20 taps in and hopefully finish up tapping Saturday. Good luck Everybody and have fun!

OH, and the boxes? Buckets, lids, spiles, and a temporary grading kit! YAHTZEE!!!!! What a wife! Ted

[Homestead Maple]

Best of luck. Hope you get to use that new equipment a lot yet. Who knows, temps may moderate though March you you.

[bnbmaplesyrup]

We spent last night washing buckets and lids - We are putting in 40 taps after work tonight and Saturday running the tubing and putting out the buckets with the drop lines in - Looks like the next 10 days are ideal - FINALLY!!!!! Bill

[tbear]

Hi Everyone,
I didn't get as far as I thought I would today. I did get trails blazed so I can at least get to my trees. Only buried the tractor once! I think my son is coming tomorrow AM to help me tap. My grandson wanted to, but got the flu instead.

I'm right there with you Bill, the forecast looks GREAT! Upmep? How are you set these days? Frank? YO! FRANK! Are you out there?

I'm about as excited as an older guy should probably get! Anyway, good luck everyone, and have fun! Ted

[upmep]

I put in 2 taps in a silver maple in my yard about a week and a half ago. I have been watching it but nothings happening. I went out to the farm today and put in 21 taps. From the looks of the forecast it should start pretty quick. I think I will go back and put 30 more tomorrow at the farm. Bnbmaplesyrup you had it right on when you said it would be the 10th of March before things would get going,and you said that on the 24th of February. I hope it lasts a few weeks. I hope we don't go from winter to summer. There is a lot of frost in the ground. I wonder if that will affect anything. Ready to get going. Upmep

[IowaSap]

Hey Guys! Sounds like everyone is itching to GO! Got home from Northern Mn. last night traded an uncle a 150 buckets and lids for a 100 sap sack holders, then started putting sap sack holders and bags together. Switching totaly to bags this year. Hope the wind and the squirels don't get me. I know we got alot of snow to trudge through but be glad were not up north. They easily got 3 feet in the woods, there not even sure if they can get taps in let alone carry buckets!!
I think I'm going to wait until I know sap is running to tap, just so I know there's a little weight in the bag. Maybe the wind won't bother them as much then. Well good luck to everyone and keep us updated on year. LET'S GO!!

Frank

[IowaSap]

Ok put out 99 bags today after church, tore one:rolleyes: Some were running a little, probably half were wet. Should be good tommorrow! May put out a FEW more taps. Hope everyone is doing well.

[bnbmaplesyrup]

We put out 35 after work on Friday and Sunday we put out 83 that were on drop lines and lines and buckets- The trees that had good sun on them were running but the trees on the north slope were dry- those should start to run this week- We are going to try and put out another 30 after work tonight in a new timber that we have- Hope to have enough sap to fire up the arch by mid week - Good Luck everyone and let us know how it is flowing!!!! Bill

[upmep]

I have some town trees tapped to see if its running and they haven't started yet. I am going to wait to see when they run before I go check my taps in the timber. They haven't started yet. The frost is so deep this year. Maybe it will take it awhile to get going.

[tbear]

My son and I got all the taps in on Saturday. We only have 70 so most of the time was spent joking around, enjoying each other's company and being glad to be outside. We also decided to put a couple taps in a walnut tree just to give that a try. None of the taps were running when we put them in and the yard trees still haven't started yet. I'll probably wait until they do before I head back out to the woods. Good luck everyone! Have fun! Ted

[IowaSap]

Pretty slow going, 57 degrees and just a slow slow drip.:( Got about an inch in half of my bags the wind is wreaking havoc on the empties. Hope it picks up tomorrow.

[bnbmaplesyrup]

We are slow also - We have 169 taps out - we have 70 black maple taps that we collected about 50 gallons yesterday - the silvers are just waking up I think due to the deep frost in the ground not sure how much we are going to get out of the silvers - we are going to start cooking Saturday morning - hope to get another 100 gallon today - Bill

[tbear]

No sap here as of yet. I did collect 2 or 3 gallons from one tree here in the yard. I wanted to see some steam so I boiled it in the kitchen. It sure smelled good. IowaSap, I've been wondering how you're doing and how the bags are holding up with the wind we've had. bnbmaplesyrup, were you able to boil today? If so, how'd it go? upmep, you getting any sap yet? Ted

[upmep]

Just got back from checking my taps. The only ones doing much were the box elder trees I had tapped. The wind has been wreaking havoc with my bags and jugs. I have only collected about 15 gallons from 46 taps. Its not enough to start the evaporator. I've been keeping the sap in an outside shed. How long do you guys keep the sap before boiling at this time of year? Still waiting for that big sap run. How is everyone else doing?

[IowaSap]

Hey Tbear I think I would like these bags alot if i could get a little sap in them to hold them on the tree! The ones that did run abit are staying put fine but I've been picking up the same dozen or so empties every day. Got a few good runners but not enough to pull sap yet. Upmep, as far as holding sap, I'm not sure if it's so much how long as how warm it gets. I've had some a few days in the cold and it was crystal clear. I've had some on a warm day start to get cloudy while I was cooking. I actually covered the tank with blankets trying to keep it cool.
Anyway hope it thaws this week and breaks loose, good luck all!

[markcasper]

How long do you guys keep the sap before boiling at this time of year? Still waiting for that big sap run. How is everyone else doing?
If the sap is 34-35 degrees it will be fine for at least a week. The trick is keeping it cold. I have actually had it get 10 days old at the beginning of the season and other than being a little darker grade, it was very good syrup.

Nothing happening up here yet other than getting things ready, some guys have started drilling, but there has been virtually no sap yet. My test tree had about a 1/4 cup from 2 days.

[bnbmaplesyrup]

We had about 70 gallons collected Thursday and Friday - We boiled it down Friday night to about 2 gallons - will add it to the next batch if we can ever get the sap to run - We have had no run at all this weekend - We do the same with the blanket over the tank - we also freeze big butter tubs with blocks of sap to throw in the tank to keep it cool - Good luck send reports on how you are doing - Bill

[tbear]

I pulled five taps out of trees that have done nothing since I put them in on the 8th. Tapped them into trees that haven't been tapped for two years. Man! It was amazing! The sap actually ran out in a steady stream until it finally settled down to a good fast drip! I think I may pull the rest of them and tap some different trees tomorrow morning. I only seem to get about three weeks out of my tap holes before they peter out, and, I don't want to miss this run! Maybe because I tap Silvers? Anyway, good luck to everyone! Ted

[tbear]

I just finished pulling taps and 're-tapping in different woods. The buckets I hung yesterday are all about half full and the last 15 or 20 buckets I hung today we're running by the time I got the spile in. With a little luck I'll be boiling by the weekend. Good luck everyone! Ted

[IowaSap]

Pulled about 60 gallons today. All the south taps running well north taps not so much! Hope we get a good run friday before the next week of freezing temps!!! Bags seem to be alright so far. Big wind tommorrow maybe they'll put some weight on overnight.

GOD speed everyone!

[bnbmaplesyrup]

We had about 125 gallon from the run on Tuesday thru Thursday - still not running real hard - started to boil last night will finish up tonight then it looks like we will be froze up until middle of next week. Bill

[tbear]

That's interesting IowaSap. I mean it makes sense that the south taps would run first, but, I tapped on the south side of the creek this year thinking they would run first because of the exposure to sunlight. They didn't. I pulled the taps and re-tapped on the north side of the creek (where the trees are shaded by the ones on the south bank) and they are running! Just for kicks I took a look at the tap holes on the south side this AM and they are still dry as a bone! Ah, Mother Nature! Ted

P.S. I collected 45 gallons yesterday and am hoping for at least as much today. Good luck Everyone and Have Fun!

[upmep]

Finally boiling a little. I've got maybe 25 gallons plus whatever I get today. The box elders are still the main ones running for me. I had about 3 gallons in one bucket in the shed and the raccoons or something got into it and drank and spilled it. Never had that happen before. Putting my lids on tighter now. Its nice to finally get started. Probably be it for a few days according to the weatherman. I will probably watch ncaa basketball while I'm cooking it down. To bad Iowa didn't keep going. Iowa state playing late tonight. Nice to see how everyones doing. upmep

[bnbmaplesyrup]

What a frustrating year so far - Friday we only collected another 20 gallon on the 170 taps - It has not ran all weekend and it looks like Wednesday before temps are right and then we go right to above freezing at night- We have had the same issue on taps not running - 1 tree could have a gallon in it and a tree with in 20 feet does not have drop- Very confusing Bill

[tbear]

I agree bnbmaple syrup, it has been a very frustrating year. Trees that usually produce well haven't given a drop yet. I was finally able to boil on Saturday, only 60-65 gallons of sap, but it was better than nothing. I feel kinda bad for the people who might be starting out just this year. If it's frustrating to us what must they be thinking? Good luck Everyone, Ted

[tbear]

Finished off the near syrup from the first boil. Ended up with two gallons of "A" AMBER RICH. From 70 gallons of sap I'm pleased. Is my understanding correct that if my syrup is darker than the "A" GOLDEN DELICATE but lighter in color than the "A" RICH AMBER it still falls into the "A" RICH AMBER category? Also, are the categories DELICATE, RICH, and ROBUST? Or perhaps GOLDEN, AMBER, and DARK? It just seems kind of wordy to say "A" AMBER RICH. Good luck all! Ted

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Ted you must had some high sugar content to get 2 gallon out of 70 gallon- that is great- We have yet to finish off our near syrup - It has not run for us since Friday we are hoping for a good run today - the 10 day forecast is looking better as far as the lows go - only 2 nights above freezing for sat and sun- Bill

[tbear]

I was very pleased indeed with the sugar content of the first boil. I have a sap refractometer but the sap has to be within certain temperature parameters. It's kind of a pain to use. Maybe I'll mess around with it tomorrow and see if I can find out the brix on this weeks sap. I collected 70 gallons today! Maybe that's not that great on 65 buckets but compared to the 5, 10, and 15 gallons a day I've been getting today was GREAT! My grandson is coming tomorrow evening to help boil this weekend. I'm really looking forward to that! I still find it hard to believe that a 15 year old boy would rather hang out with his old grampa instead of running around with his friends on the weekend, but I'm grateful. How's the other Iowans doing so far? Good luck, and have fun. Ted

[IowaSap]

T-bear good for you! Glad someone's making syrup. What was the weather like down there today? Sun? Been raining off and on all day here. Didn't even checkem today. Hoping the next couple days will letter rip! Maybe we'll all be swimming in it by Sunday!!!!!!! I'm wondering if I'm gonna need to freshen up my tap holes. They have been dry along time. Hope there not healing up yet. Anyone else have to do this?? Well tommorrow's always the day! Good luck and God speed!!

[tbear]

Been rainy and gloomy here today with a high of 54°. The sap seems to run good for me when it rains. Low barometric pressure? Anyway, good luck! Ted

[jeffeich]

Looks like the rain will stop tonight, then a little light snow here in northern Iowa, next few days look great for flow. It has been slow so far, lots of frost in the ground as much as 6 - 7 feet deep. A lot of sap can flow in a short time. Have made about ten gallons so far of good quality syrup. We are going to be busy real soon.

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Wow what a difference a little rain and the right temps make - Collected 150 gallons on the 170 taps- had several of the 2-1/2 gallon buckets running over - Iowa Sap you might want to check this morning as it would be a shame to loses any sap!!!! We only got to 34 last night but the house tree was still dripping - We are to be 27 tonight so that should recharge them for a great run tomorrow again - will be boiling all weekend now what a great problem to have!!!! Bill

[upmep]

The sap is finally starting to run here. My big yard tree is running all night and day finally. We should have plenty to start boiling today. Supposed to get warm this weekend. I made 2 quarts and a pint last weekend. Glad everyones getting started. upmep.

[bnbmaplesyrup]

What a great run we have had since Thursday - We are at 12 gallons made with about 3 gallon to finish and bottle tonight and about 100 gallon of sap from yesterday run which is a bonus as we did not fall below freezing Saturday night. Will probably not run today but it is to be 26 tonight so should recharge the trees for good runs the rest of the week. Good Luck all - Let us know how it is going - Bill

[tbear]

Finished off just under 5 gallons this weekend. Grandson Hunter was a boiling machine yesterday. I'm holding to get one more boil in but will have to see what the weather does. As of now we've got just under 7gallons of syrup. Ted

[bnbmaplesyrup]

well we have been in the sugar house until 10pm every night this week. We are at 22 gallons of syrup - looks like we will have a good run today and tomorrow then the night temps do not fall below freezing- How is everyone else doing? Bill

[IowaSap]

Wow sounds like you guys are coming out alright! I just pulled 100gal today for a grand total of 250 so far. Most of my trees are just starting to run decent, but some have been dry all year. Hoping for a gusher Saturday, looks perfect on the forcast. If not, this will be my worst season ever. If I could get three good days the season will turn out pretty good. TOMORROWS THE DAY!!!!!!! :mrgreen:

Frank

[upmep]

I pulled most of my taps today. I drilled the trees on March 7 and think maybe the holes were sealing up. The sap was running out of the holes when we removed the taps better than it was running out of the taps. I didn't have too great of a year though. I made almost 2 gallons,which was a little better than half what I made last year. That is more than I will need for my pancakes this year though. I have been having trouble filtering. I use a thick felt filter with a linen prefilter inside it. It still seems to have a little nitre in it after I'm done. It also gets clogged up really quick and won't run through. Does anyone have any advice? I'm not ready to quit but the trees say its time. How is everyone else doing this year? upmep

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Done for the year - We had a great run on Friday and Saturday ended up with 170 gallon of sap and cooked all day Sunday. We ended the season right at 30 gallons of syrup- Now all we have to do is get everything cleaned up - Bill

[tbear]

Hi Everyone,
I'm done. I made just under 8.5 gallons this year which is the most I've ever made. All but two gallons were in the AMBER range. The two darker gallons were just inside the DARK (grade A) range. I've been making sugar, my goal is to be sugar independent this year. I think I can make 30 pounds and still have plenty of syrup to use and give away. The last 50 gallons of sap I ran as mostly an experiment. My trees (silver maple) had actually flowered but the sap remained clear. I thought I'd end up with "buddy" syrup but wanted to see for myself what that looked, tasted, and smelled like. It ended up being 5.5 quarts of syrup that was lighter than the batch before! Five and a half quarts from 50 gallons of late (last of the season) sap? Obviously the sugar content was still high. As strange as the season has been it went well for me. I was hoping for 10 gallons but 8.5 isn't bad all things considered. I sanitized/sterilized my taps this year with a bleach solution ( I'd not done that before, just washed and rinsed previously) and I do think it helped as far as keeping my tap holes open longer. I also replaced my small fan with some flex duct and a shop vac. That made a BIG difference in the boil. It was irritatingly loud but, it did create a almost frightening boil.

Upmep: Did you try to "help" the syrup through the filter? Scrape the sides? Squeeze it just a little? In the past when I did that it did make for cloudy syrup. This year I just let it run through on it's own, then when it quit dripping (there looked to be about a quart +/-) still in the filter) I salvaged the remaining sugar by soaking in a pot of hot water and squeezing the filter, not wringing but squeezing. I'd then add the salvaged sugar into the pan of my next batch. On the last batch I did the same thing then got the salvaged to almost syrup on the stove and am letting it settle now. I'll decant and make sugar out of it (about 3/4 quart).

bnbmaplesyrup: Sounds like you had a good year! You guys in the north seem to have a longer season than those of us here in the "Florida of Iowa". But then, maybe we start a little sooner.

jeffeich: how many taps are you running? My wife and I go through your area from time to time. By the time we hit New Hampton we can already see a difference in the scenery. It has more of a Norther feel to it.

IowaSap: How'd you make out this year?

I'm going to start the process of cleaning up this week but will be checking in from time to time, just because! Have a good and safe year everyone. Ted

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Ted
Can you put the process that you use to make sugar? We would like to try and make it and the instructions that I found were not very specific.

Thanks Bill

[Sugarmaker]

Folks,
I read most of these posts. We are a long way from you folks (North west corner of PA) but share the same maple passion. We just finished our season early this morning!:) tapped Feb 20, about 1100 taps (friends brought sap) we made 260 gallons of syrup, boiled 17 times. Sugar content was above 2.5% all season. gathered 12,241 gallons of sap, but who's counting:)
Hope the rest of your Iowa maple season is good.
Regards,
Chris

[tbear]

Hi Everyone,
bnbmaplesyrup: I heat a quart at a time in a large (I think it's seven qt.) heavy bottom pot. If you don't go large on the pot it'll boil over, so be careful! I've also heard you can rub butter around the top inch of the pot and this will keep it from boiling over. Anyway, I heat the syrup to 260 degrees then pour it into our mixer bowl. We have a Kitchen Aide counter top stand-up mixer. I've heard that if you try to make much more than a quart at a time it can burn your mixer up. I did do a quart and a half the other day and I could hear the mixer groan. Just sayin. Set the mixer on "stir" and watch it happen! It goes from this molten thick syrup and slowly becomes crystallized sugar! I do scrape the bowl a few times as it begins to turn. What I end up with is a moist sugar that resembles brown sugar. I get approx. 2 pounds of sugar per quart of syrup. I was and still am somewhat concerned about my packages of moist sugar drying into a solid lump so I've put some (about half) into a 200 degree oven (on a cookie sheet) for fifteen minutes then let it cool. This dries it out nicely. You do need to let the sugar cool in any case as I've heard it will create condensation in the container. Also, in the maple candy section of the forum there is a video (I think the guys name was Moser? Moser's Maple maybe?) on making sugar. You might want to check that out. Again, 260 degrees, stir (it takes 5/10 minutes in my mixer), let it cool, and package. I realize that I'm not always clear in my writing so please let me know if I need to explain or clarify anything!

Sugarmaker: DUDE! 12,241 gallons?! Dang!

Have a good and safe year everyone, Ted

[tbear]

Bnbmaple syrup,

I'm not sure how important this is ,but, I heat the syrup on medium high. It takes right at 50 minutes on my stove. Good luck! Let us know what you think of the sugar, everyone here really likes it.

Ted

[upmep]

Sounds like everyone had pretty decent years. Tbear do you bake with the sugar you make? Does it add a different taste to baked goods etc. I wasn't ready to quit but the trees quit on me. If I made as much as casbohms I would be ready to quit. I will have to try your advice on filtering next year tbear. Its great to hear everyones kids and grandkids are getting involved. upmep.

[tbear]

Upmep: My wife does most of the baking and she's a little gimped up right now (surgery next Monday) so I can't speak about the flavor of baked goods. However, Think about homemade pumpkin pie with maple sugar as opposed to white sugar! Or maybe apple pie? Oh wait, apple crisp with maple sugar in the crumbly stuff on top! How about sweet potatoes? As soon as my darlin wife can get around better I'm going to request some peanut butter cookies using maple sugar and see how they turn out. I can say that the sugar is good in coffee, tea, Raisin Bran and oatmeal. On another note, I pass a house north of New London (on my way to Burlington) who had 6 or 8 trees tapped in their yard. I was wondering if that was you? I finally decided it wouldn't be creepy or anything to stop and talk to them but they weren't home. Also, about filtering, I noticed a small cloud in the bottom of the jars from the second and third batches today, so maybe I shouldn't offer advice on filtering. Anyway, it's been a fun season and you're right it's good to spend time doing this with family. All the best, Ted

[upmep]

tbear, I live in between you and Des Moines so that wasn't me in New London. I was wondering what everyone else had for an evaporator. Mine is a barrel with a 2x4 pan I had made for it with a preheater. It doesn't boil very fast but it does the job.

[tbear]

I've got a flat 2x4 batch pan on a block arch. No pre-heater, but I used a shop vac as a blower this year. It was loud but made a big difference in the boil. I think I'm going to try a squirrel cage blower for next year to cut down on the noise. Upmep, how does your pre-heater work? If you could describe the setup I'd like to have one made. Ted

[jeffeich]

Done hear in NE Iowa, started to pull taps and buckets, pretty good year once all the snow melted, make close to 120 gallons of good quality syrup. I have made maple sugar before, made 200 lbs last year, pretty simple to do, takes some time to do it right. Hope everyone had a good season.

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Well we made sugar this weekend - turned out great!!! Thanks for the recipe Ted - We run a 2X6 flat pan on a slanted arch - we average right at 25 gallon evaporation an hour - Jeff how many taps do you put out to get to 120 gallon of syrup - next year we are going to shoot for 50 gallon of syrup - that was our goal this year but the sap did not run all that great - Bill

[upmep]

tbear, My preheater is about 1 foot x 2 feet that sits right on top of my main pan. It has a spigot on it that I can adjust to whatever drip I want depending on how fast its boiling. It holds several gallons of sap. I sit it at the back of the pan and fill it with sap as it drains into the main pan. I had mine made in Wisconsin. It was one of the more reasonable dealers on ebay. I haven't tried the blower. How close does everyone try to get the fire to the bottom of the pan? Mine is probably several inches. I don't get the best boil rate but I'm usually not in a hurry.upmep

[IowaSap]

Hey everyone sounds like a good year for most. T-bear not ignoring your question just a bit busy right now. Between new pigs twice a week, taking kids shed hunting and turkey hunting and cleaning up sap stuff and then oh yeah work! I forgot about posting.
It wasn't a very good sap year here. Collected 450, made a little over 7 on a little over 100 taps. Second worst year ever only to last year. I should of made closer to ten buttttttt...... I had a small mishap:emb:
Boiled 120 down to about 5-6 gal of near, let the fire go out late one night. I got up the next morning pulled the pan off and started a new fire, pushed the pan MOSTLY back on the stove. Then the sap sloshed forward and back and flipped the whole pan off and onto the ground faster then you can blink! At least it wasn't hot cause I took a GOOD bath! GRRRRRRR!!! It seems I always have some strange thing happen, it's just the nature of my operation. But it gives the kids a good story to laugh at later.
I've never made sugar. Can I use some of my old stuff? I'm curious about this, thanks for the info.
I have a small squirrel cage blower on my cooker and love it. It's quiet and boy does it pump up the boil, but it devours wood!! Mine's mounted onto an old header pipe on the front of my stove.
Well hope all is well with everyone, type at ya later.

Godspeed!
Frank

[tbear]

Hi Everyone,

IowaSap, sorry to hear about the mishap. Glad the syrup wasn't hot, man, that would have been bad! It wasn't the year I was hoping for either but, you get what you get. Sounds like you're having fun with the kids. Those are some precious moments. Also, last years syrup will work for sugar, the first batch I made was using the last of last years.

bnbmaplesyrup: glad the sugar turned out for you. I made some more this morning and it still kind of amazes me to see it change.

Upmep: I have 12 inches from the top of my grate to the bottom of my pan and I load wood as high as I can without touching the bottom of the pan, getting the flames up there really helps. So, concerning your preheater, does it sit across your pan using the steam from your pan to heat the sap? How hot does the sap get? One foot by two feet, how tall is it? I apologize for all the questions, but a preheater of some form will be the only upgrade (that I can see) I can make without buying an evaporater. That of course would be expensive and I'd have to change the way I'm doing most of the process and what can I say, I'm just now getting the process down.

Jeffeich: x2 on bnb's question! How many taps for that kind of production?

Ted

[OCHTO]

upmep, Does condensation drip back into your pan from your preheater pan?

[upmep]

On the preheater, its about a foot high also. It has brackets on the bottom to keep it on my main pan. The steam warms it,so it doesn't stop the boil. It does get condensation on the bottom of it. Its made with stainless the same as the pan. I think it helps. It holds quite a few gallons. upmep

[tbear]

Sanitized, sterilized,or at least cleaned my spiles today. Boiled them for twenty minutes, soaked them in bleach solution for twenty minutes, scrubbed the outside with a green scratchy pad, soaked in bleach solution another twenty minutes, scrubbed the inside with a bottle brush, soaked in bleach solution again, tossed them in the dish washer then boiled them again. Over kill, I know. But cabin fever knows no bounds. I don't like to say things like this as it sounds like I'm wishing my life away, but, I wish it was March. Insert heavy sigh. Ted

[Revi]

In Iowa I'm sure it warms up enough in February to start. Here in Maine we sometimes get a little run in late February. So the season could be about a month away, depending on the weather!

[tbear]

Thanks revi! I've not had much luck tapping in February, the buckets tend to just hang there as the holes begin to dry/heal up. But maybe this year will be differant! One more month? I'd like that! Ted

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Ted

I am seriously thinking of tapping some trees - we have had 7 days of good weather and the next 10 days look great

[tbear]

Hi Bill, good to hear from you! Ya know, I've tapped at the end of January, the beginning, middle and end of February, and the beginning of March. I've just not had much luck (sap) before March. It seems, no matter what the weathers like, my trees just don't give until March. We're prepping for a couple weeks vacation (starting a week from tomorrow) so, I couldn't tap now anyway. That all being said I'll be interested in how it works out for you! Good Luck and have fun! Ted

[upmep]

This is upmep. Has anyone started tapping yet? The weather has been off and on warm. I was looking at the notes I've made over the years and the best for me has usually been during March. What does everyone else think. I ordered 25 more taps and got them in the mail yesterday. I'm ready to start.

[bnbmaplesyrup]

We held off tapping due to it really cold again. We will keep a close eye on the forecast going forward. It is looking to get really cold again late this week again. Will probably be 10+ days before we tap. We are trying to get a hood built for our evaporator so would like to get that finished. We are looking at 200 taps this year if all goes right. Will definitely post something when we get ready to tap. Thanks Bill

[tbear]

Okay, so I'm looking at this coming Sunday to tap. Forecast looks good. But then, that can change. Anyone else? Ted

[IowaSap]

Thinking about Monday here, it does look to be getting close. Hate to miss a drop!!

[bnbmaplesyrup]

We are going to try and tap Friday after work - We got the new steam hood in place this weekend and just need to install the drip pan - tonight we are starting to wash buckets - Should be running hard by early next week after seeing the forecast this morning - Good luck everyone Bill

[upmep]

It looks by the weather forecast its about time to start tapping. I have Friday off work and might start then. It looks like late next week it is supposed to be very warm. I hope it doesn't make things go too fast. In this you take what nature gives you. That's what makes it interesting. I hope everyone has a great year. Looking forward to hearing how everyone does.

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Well we were able to get 204 taps put out Friday thru Sunday - we are done tapping but very concerned with the temps for the next 8 days. We collected about 60 gallons on Sunday. We did get down to 27 last night so hoping for a big run today. It is not to drop below freezing for the next 8 nights. Bill

[IowaSap]

Put in little over a 100 today. Most every one was running hard. Never tapped in a T-shirt before!

[iowathumper]

I'm about the middle of the state Montour, IA I tapped 1st time ever last Sunday. Maybe to late, but watching the weather we were below freezing until last Saturday.
I checked yesterday afternoon (Monday)and with only 6 trees (All Sugar Maples) tap, 2 of the trees I had 2 taps in, total of 8 taps.
I collected 10 Gallons in 2 days.
Tuesday morning the low was 32 not sure we are going to have many more days below 32

Just wondering what everybody going to do with these temps. Keep going or stop.

Other question is storage of sap. I have it 5 gallon food grade buckets in garage and was going to boil down this Sunday with furture temps will it go bad?

[upmep]

I started tapping last Friday and Saturday. I have maybe 60 gallons of sap from about 40 taps. Its starting to tail off already . It is getting too warm too quick though. I think us maple syrup people are the only ones who wish winter would hold on a little longer. As for the storage, I don't think I would wait till Sunday to boil. They say it will spoil like milk. I have been keeping mine outside in the shed in a redneck refrigerator. I have filled a bunch of icebags with snow from some drifts that are left and putting these on the buckets of sap and I put a tarp over that. I took off work tomorrow to boil as much as I can. Its nice to see how everyone is doing.

[tbear]

Hi iowathumper, and welcome to the forum! Upmep is spot on. If you can't keep the sap cold it can go bad. It's pretty ugly when that happens. Also, even if it doesn't go bad the microbs will lower your sugar content. Try to avoid keeping it around too long. As for the weather and what to do? My taps are in and I'll keep going for as long as the trees allow! Again, welcome. And good luck! Ted

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Well we have had really good sap flows until yesterday- only collected 70 gallons on 204 taps - we are up to 6-1/2 gallons of syrup with another 100 gallons to get cooked down today -
we plan to leave the taps in until the trees turn buddy - we are to get cold again Saturday night so hopes that we regenerate them. Bill

[iowathumper]

I checked mine this morning, the container is very cold to the touch.
I removed the lid from the oldest bucket and it looks o.k. And does not smell any different then when I first put it in there.
I'll try and stick a thermometer in there to see what the temperature is.

[IowaSap]

Thumper. You'll know its to warm when it starts to yellow. Next step is cloudy. Then it goes to some strange moldy jelly stage! My dog couldn't even lick it out of a bucket. Just slid right off his tongue!! You know you went to far when the dog can't eat it! I've cooked slightly yellow sap with no problems. Everything else i pour out.

[IowaSap]

Thumper. Also you may smell a fermented smell:cool:. Just charge more for that batch!!!:lol:

[iowathumper]

I bought a digital thermometer yesterday morning and checked the temp of the syrup and to my surprise it read 39F still looks good, and no smell.

So decided to try a batch using a turkey fryer. (Man this is slow) It took me about 5-1/2 hrs to build down 9-10 gallons of sap before losing light outside and finishing inside.
I boiled water in a seperate pan to check the boiling temperature at boiling it was 210.5F With that information I added 7 degrees for a finished product of 217.5F

I can not beleive how good this turned out... Waffles for breakfest this morning...

I think I will try my 2nd batch today! I'm hooked, and willing to go bigger next year.

Thanks for everyone input...

[upmep]

It looks like you are getting pulled in like the rest of us Iowa thumper. Pretty soon you too will be buying bigger pans, more taps, etc. I pulled my taps yesterday. I went from 20 gallons of sap per day at the beginning of the week to about 4 gallons yesterday, and it is supposed to get in the upper 70s today and tomorrow. If you guys left your taps in it will be interesting to see how well you do. I may have pulled them to quick. This weather has really been different.

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Iowa Thumper welcome to the addiction!!!

Well we had a very slow weekend for sap collection- we also had the silvers break open there buds yesterday on Sunday. We are going to try and continue to collect on the hard Blacks yet until they open up. We are to get down to 28 on Tuesday so hopeful that will help get us some more sap. We are right at half of what we did last year for syrup. Need better temps going forward.

Good Luck all Bill

[IowaSap]

Thumper. I'm up by Eldora, not to far away. If you want to go bigger I have my old evap. And a 2x3 stainless pan I should get rid of. Nothing special but around 7-8 gal an hour. I wouldn't need much for it.

[iowathumper]

I really had a lot of fun with this except for the long cook down. I spent total of about 14 hrs between two days for about 40 Oz of syrup.
I would be interest in learning more about your operation...
Send me some pictures to my e-mail address tom.fitzgerald@lennoxind.com

[tbear]

Iowasap, holy cats! An actual evaporator? If Iowathumper isn't interested I very well might be! If I didn't use it I'm sure my grandson would love it! What am I saying, of course I'd put it to use. The rickety old cinder block widow maker I'm using now? Of course I'd be interested! Let me know.

Some of my trees are budding out so I'm going to move those taps down to the north side of the creek. I hope to get at least 2 more boils in. Maybe, maybe not. As of now I've got 4.5 gallons on the shelf. I hope this coming cool down helps. Good luck everyone! Have fun! Ted

[upmep]

Well I ended up with about 1.5 gallons of syrup on 48 taps in about a week. The silver maple in my yard has quit. Has anyone else had much luck in the last few days? I got less than last year, and last year wasn't great. It was quick this year.

[tbear]

I've got about 30 gallons of sap to boil tomorrow. I'm hoping the sap will run with the warmer temps tomorrow. But then I usually hope for the best. I think I ended last year with 8 to 10 gallons of syrup. This year kinda bites. Good luck and have fun! Ted

I was at HyVee the other day and checked their maple syrup prices. HyVee brand pure maple syrup was$5.99 for an 8 ounce jar! What do those of you who sell syrup get for it? Looking on line for Iowa syrup HyVee's price seems close. Ted

[IowaSap]

I've boiled a whopping 120 gal on 107 taps. (That's all the bags I had). Looks like another hundred hanging now. If it will run through the weekend it might save the season for me. This is as rough as I've seen.
T-bear when I sell its 8 a pint 15 a quart. But probably not this year!

[tbear]

I've got the beginnings of at least a small run starting. I'll check buckets this evening and let you know how it turns out. Good luck and have fun! Ted

[bnbmaplesyrup]

We are right at 2/3 of the syrup we made a year ago - the silvers are all done and we have pulled all those taps - we have about 85 hards we are going to try and continue to collect - we have right at 20 gallons made so far -

We sell pints for $10 and quarts for $18 -

[tbear]

Only collected 15 to 20 gals. tonight on 65 taps. Sigh. Thanks for the prices. Ted

[boondocker]

Hey guys I just wanted to chim in here and tell ya that your prices are not far of from us over here on the east coast. I sell 1/2 pints for 8 pints for 12 and quarts for 20. Glass is a different story to many sizes and shapes to keep tack. Anyway just wanted to say you guys are on track for prices.....the Iowa thing cought my eye, my girlfriend is from Zearing and she was all excited to see people from back home making syrup. Good luck with the rest of your season.

[tbear]

Hey Boondocker! The wife of a buddy of mine is from Maine! She's all atwitter as my buddy just started sugaring this year. She still has that strange opinion that Maine syrup is better, but we're working on her! hehehe! Good to hear from you and tell your wife,"Hi!" from Iowa! Ted

[IowaSap]

Boondocker I go to church in Zearing! I live 18 miles north of there. Ask her if she had a teacher named Jack Roberts. He taught there forever.

[iowafarmboy]

First post here from NC Iowa south of Clear Lake. I just started with 12 taps this year on silver maples. it stalled out last week for a few days but today I came home and every gallon was full 8-/ got 12 gallons with who knows how much I lost due to overflowing jugs.

Thank you for the prices. I was thinking about $10 for a half pint, but maybe that's too much. When I ran my cost through excel with how much propane I used and the cost of each bottle, I came up with $4.40 per bottle, although I know it's a bit high with how I'm sourcing my bottles ($3 each... mostly because of shipping cost)

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Hey guys I just wanted to chim in here and tell ya that your prices are not far of from us over here on the east coast. I sell 1/2 pints for 8 pints for 12 and quarts for 20. Glass is a different story to many sizes and shapes to keep tack. Anyway just wanted to say you guys are on track for prices.....the Iowa thing cought my eye, my girlfriend is from Zearing and she was all excited to see people from back home making syrup. Good luck with the rest of your season.

Boondocker - we are just south of Nevada 10 miles from Zearing - if you are ever in this part of the country send us a note and come see us Bill

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Boondocker I go to church in Zearing! I live 18 miles north of there. Ask her if she had a teacher named Jack Roberts. He taught there forever.

IowaSap - same goes for you if you want to come down and see our set up - we are not to far from each other Bill

[bnbmaplesyrup]

We are having our best week of the season so far - we have been collecting about 70 gallons a day from our hards - avg about 1 gallon a day - we are at 23 gallons made - we should be good through the weekend with temps

Good luck all Bill

[bnbmaplesyrup]

First post here from NC Iowa south of Clear Lake. I just started with 12 taps this year on silver maples. it stalled out last week for a few days but today I came home and every gallon was full 8-/ got 12 gallons with who knows how much I lost due to overflowing jugs.

Thank you for the prices. I was thinking about $10 for a half pint, but maybe that's too much. When I ran my cost through excel with how much propane I used and the cost of each bottle, I came up with $4.40 per bottle, although I know it's a bit high with how I'm sourcing my bottles ($3 each... mostly because of shipping cost)

Welcome to the addiction - Our silvers leafed out last Sunday so they were very short this season - Silvers are very unpredictable in what they give - I would suggest getting away from the propane and set up a cement block arch with some buffet pans. Any restaurant supply house will have them Good luck - let us know how you do Bill

[IowaSap]

Farm boy. I second bnb, you'll go broke on propane.
Bnb. I should stop in. I Need a reason to head over to hickory park anyway!
Pulled 130 gal. This a.m. gotta love a fresh snow followed by 40s! Looking like a good couple days. Might just save the season!

[iowafarmboy]

I plan on doing a cement block arc for next year. Don't have the time or resources for doing one now. Thank you for the suggestion of the buffet pans!

I'll have 40 gal of sap to boil down this weekend. A few of my trees produced at least 3 gal a day each for the last couple days. My outdoor propane fryer is going to have it's work cut out for it.

Where do you guys get your bottles? I went through 'fillmorecontainer' and got some salad dressing style bottles; the price wasn't bad but the shipping was high.

Thanks for the replys!

[IowaSap]

I go through maple hollow in Wisconsin for everything. Super nice people and fast delivery. I did start using mason jars for some stuff because of the delivery $ on bottles. They are nice though.

[IowaSap]

Pulled everything yesterday. 400 gal on the year. Could of been worse. Looks to be right at 10 gal finish. Hope everyone did well.

[bnbmaplesyrup]

We finished the season yesterday also - We ended up with 35 gallon made with 18 of that in the last week. Amazing what a couple of freezing nights did for us. We did not keep track of our sap gallons this year - We did test some sugar levels and for the most part it ran 2% most of the season. The last 2 batches were very heavy with sugar sand- We had 5# of sugar sand in the next to last batch -

We are in clean up mode now and will look forward to next season. Good Luck to all Bill

[tbear]

We finished the last 1 1/2 gallons yesterday on the kitchen stove. Ended up with just over 12 gallons this year! Half of that was since last Wednesday. Pulled buckets today, and a muscle in my back. It's gonna be a slow clean up this year! Good to hear from everyone. I'll keep checking in but if nothing else I'll type to you next year! Have fun, Ted

[tbear]

Anyone else starting to get the itch? I sure am! Ted

[prairiecreekmaple]

I actually had sap flow last sunday (a week ago). I only had one tree tapped just to know when things were going to start and I was certainly surprised. Hoping we don't have a repeat of last year when it hit 70 degrees for a couple days before the ground even started to thaw. Most of my trees didn't produce a drop until the buds were open and the sap was nasty. I only have access to silver maples so my love for sugaring is put to the test every year. I am addicted though. There's nothing like it.

[tbear]

Hello prairiecreekmaple! And welcome to mapletrader! I'm in southeast Iowa and thinking of tapping next weekend. It's a little early, for me, calender-wise but I'm fearing a short season. I run 70 buckets on a 2x4 flat pan with a cinderblock arch. What kind of setup do you use? Ted

[PKerns]

Hi Ted and prairiecreekmaple and other Iowa sugarers,
My wife and I are in NE Iowa and we're planning on tapping later this week, maybe Thursday. We'll only tap the top of our hill and work our way further down as it continues to warm up (the bottom of the hill stays cool longer). We're sugaring as a part of our first year as a new farm, Turkey River Farm. Two years ago, we tapped 7 trees on buckets and boiled in steel milk buckets over a campfire. This year, we're tapping 60 (hopefully) on gravity tubes and boiling in a used copper drop flue + continuous flow finishing pan we bought from an Amish community nearby. We're concerned the Amish's normal boiling rate of 40gph is way too fast for us, but we're burning some less than fully seasoned oak slab wood so it will probably work out to be a reasonable boiling rate in the end.

Happy Tapping! Pete

[tbear]

Hi PKerns! Welcome to the trader! Also, congrats on the new farm! I'm glad to see Iowa starting to wake up. Me? I start getting the maple crazies after the holidays and it builds from there. By the time I actually tap I can hardly sleep at night thinking of the next day! Making the jump from campfire to your new arch and pans will be exciting! I'm going to be working on a sugar shed this summer. If that works out I'd like to upgrade to a Smoky lake 2x4 corsair arch. Again I say, Welcome and I hope you have a great season. Ted

[prairiecreekmaple]

Hello prairiecreekmaple! And welcome to mapletrader! I'm in southeast Iowa and thinking of tapping next weekend. It's a little early, for me, calender-wise but I'm fearing a short season. I run 70 buckets on a 2x4 flat pan with a cinderblock arch. What kind of setup do you use? Ted

Thanks! I love this forum. There is so much to learn. I started out two or three years ago with 8 taps consisting of home made spiles (ballpoint pens with the guts removed are 5/16 spiles) going into old milk jugs and ice cream pails held on the tree with bungee cords. Then the next year I got the 7/16 white plastic spiles with hooks and some free 2 gallon buckets with lids from a local Caseys gas station. They get their donut glaze in those buckets. Last year I had 30 buckets out but barely got anything before the buds opened up. This year I am trying the LaPierre 5/16 straight seasonal spouts with my buckets. I boil with some old propane burners that I rigged up on a air hose to my 500 gallon propane tank since $.92 propane sure beats $5 propane in the bbq tanks.

1310113102

[upmep]

Hello everyone. Looks like we have some more Iowans getting the maple bug. It looks like it might start this weekend. It looks like its going to get really warm fast. Its hard to get it all figured out. Last year I think I quit too early and some of you had some better runs later in the season. I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone does this year.

[tbear]

Prairiecreekmaple: It made me laugh to hear about your pens and bungee cords! Not in a nasty way but in a way that says I can appreciate the concept of "I've got nothing, but the desire!" Love it, man. Love it.

Hey Upmep! Good to read from you again! Yeah, the last run last year was a big'un. Hunter and I made more syrup that week (3 or 4 days) than we had all year. Personally I was glad when it ended. That stuff is for younger guys!

So, it sounds like we're all tapping this week/weekend? Okay... I'm in. I've been a little ambivalent, but Hunter, Sweet Wife, and you guys have convinced me.

Good Luck Everybody! Let us know how you're doing and HAVE FUN! Ted

[boondocker]

Hey guys I enjoy reading about sugaring in IA. My girlfriend is from central IA and she lives here with me in Maine but she loves to hear about people making syrup back home. We have had some crazy weather here in maine this year, unseasonably warm and the record lows. We are all tapped in up here and the vacuum has been running for 3 days but coming in slow, but hey we will take it. Best wishes to you Midwest sugar makers.

[tbear]

Hey boondocker! You sir are a lucky man indeed! There's something very special about Iowa women. They tend to be kind, patient, supportive and loving (and downright beautiful!). I think the first four attributes may come from being raised around knuckleheaded Iowa men, but can't say for sure. The fifth? God just likes us I guess! Please tell her "hello" from back home. Ted

[boondocker]

Hey Tbear, yes you are absolutely correct about all of that lol! Nothing like being with a farm raised god loving beautiful country girl! She thought I was nuts when I met her and I told her I owned a maple sugaring business. But once she saw that first draw off I think she understood my sickness. Best wishes my friend to a sweet season.

[tbear]

Hunter and I got the taps in Friday afternoon. We only collected 15 gallons on Saturday (none today) and spent the rest of the weekend getting things set up for boiling. Now it's the waiting game, checking the forum every five minutes, watching the thermometer, checking the forecast (over and over), second guessing every decision we made, you know, the "Maple Crazies". Ted

[PKerns]

We got a quarter of our taps in today. I know I said we would tap Thursday, but there was so much stuff to do! We had to flush our gravity tubes with cleaner and fresh water, we had to bring our collection tank to the bottom of the hill and install our transfer tanks on saddle mounts on the tractor. We also had some repairs to make on our gravity tubes, squirrels chew on them, or maybe it's mice, and we had a maple tree fall on one line. We had to bring out the big saw for that one. Anyway, we finally started tapping today and we feel like we missed some great flow on saturday but hoping to get more tomorrow. Also, then we may get a cold break here in NE Iowa around Thursday. Who knows. It seems that the forecast just doesn't apply to our little sugarbush. We also took a trip to buy and pick up our new/used copper evaporator from an Amish family nearby. It is beautiful! Tomorrow after we finish tapping, we're going to set-up our boiling area and brick our arch. So much work to do, but it is great work. This evening as we were coming back from the hill, we stopped and saw the sunset in front of us and the full moon rise behind and it was stunning. This is an excellent obsession. Ted, the "Maple Crazies" are all I've got these days!

[tbear]

Collected 35 gallons yesterday and the sap is running today! Ted

[upmep]

We were gone over this past weekend so I didn't get any taps in till Monday. Over Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we have put in 75 taps. We have about 35 gallons of sap so far. Looks like today it might slow way up, but this weekend looks great. I need to get the evaporator out now and get it ready. How many taps does everyone else have? I have some trees tapped in town that are doing the best. I hope to start boiling tomorrow. I will check in later and see how everyone is doing. upmep

[tbear]

Start your evaporators is right Upmep! Collected about 75 gallons this week (65 buckets) and it looks like a good sap weekend coming up. Hunter is unavailable this weekend so I plan to start boiling tomorrow morning and shutting down about 3:00 to collect sap then probably run the same schedule Saturday and if there's more sap Saturday afternoon do it all again on Sunday.

Got a 4H group coming on Saturday March 5th and am really looking forward to it! I plan on having them tap a few tree's, empty a few buckets, (haul a little sap, hehehe!) and I'll send a 4oz. jar of syrup home with each of them. My hope is that the more adventuresome will taste the sap in the bucket, then the sap that's been boiling awhile and also the finished product to emphasize the fact that it starts out with a hint of sweet and through the evapozation process gets gradually sweeter til you end up with "the golden wonder". I'll have plastic spoons and dixie cups for that. Should be fun. It's been a while since I had a group here. Ted

[upmep]

That sounds fun having the 4H group come out. I especially like the idea of having extra sap haulers. My wife helps on occasion but she can get kind of obstinate at times. Don't tell her I said that or she won't go with me at all anymore. The local county conservation group does one of those demonstrations here. I just got my evaporator going and plan on about the same weekend as you are having. By the weather it looks like it may be a decent year. upmep

[tbear]

First boil today! Steamed off 40 gallons just kind of feeling it out. Hoping to get a REAL arch next year. My rickety ol' cinder block widow maker has definitly seen better days! It's kind of jeewhompus and leaning a tad bit but I think I can squeeze one more season out of her. Collected again today and have 70+ gallons in the truck. I'll start boiling earlier tomorrow and hopefully my son can run it for the hour and a half it'll take me to collect sap. Looking at the weather I think it's going to be a good sap day though a little windy for boiling outside. Oh well, you gotta take the good with the bad or stay at home, and I've never been a stay at home kinda guy! Good luck everyone and HAVE FUN! Ted

[tbear]

Oh yeah, just wanted to say: Hello? Mrs. Upmep? My name is tbear and I just wanted to tell you...... hehehehe

[IowaSap]

Just checking in. Hello all! Never tapped in Feb. but you guys and this weather are giving me the itch! Better get my bags ordered asap! Moving evap and wood around today. Good luck!!

[upmep]

tbear,
This is Mrs. Upmep. I don't mind stoking the fire and collecting the sap from here in town but am a little grumpy when it comes to hauling sap through the wood.You need to
encourage upmep to get a better sap hauler. i.e. Gator, Mule etc. it would less noisy be than his wife. :)

[tbear]

Upmep: Well played sir! Well played!
Hey IowaSap! Good to read from you again! It's early form me to be tapped (by the calender) but I think I've collected 175 gallons so far. I like to think of it as free sap.

Busy day today. My son, 3 granddaughters, 2 young boys and a gal I don't know, all wanted the tour and questions answered. While I was trying to run evap, haul sap, move sap and keep track of numbers. It was fun but busy as .....heck! How's everyone else doing? Ted

[tbear]

Got another 90 to 100 gallons of sap but way to windy to boil outside today so I finished off the near syrup from the first two boils on the kitchen stove. Ended up with 2 and 3/4 gallons of amber. Be back outside tomorrrow. It'll be windy but nothing like today. Man is it blowing! Ted

[PKerns]

We got 250 gallons of sap on 59 trees yesterday! It was a big run! Today we boiled off 200 gallons but our table is so big 2.5'x6' that we only drew off a gallon and a half before we had to shut the table down. We are having the darndest time establishing a gradient and getting a hard boil in the draw-off section of our finishing pan. Also, we're burning mostly green white oak slab wood and it can really cool our fire when we load it. We did cut down a dead standing elm yesterday and mixing in the small branches with the oak seems to help a bunch. Anyway, we still have about 85 gallons to boil and there's still 50 gallons in the collection tank at the hill, so we'll be boiling tomorrow!

My wife is keeping a production journal while I am supposed to post here, I'm so glad to hear of your guys' progress. Good luck! Pete

[upmep]

I have collected about 140 gallons so far. I have been boiling every day. It sure would be nice having a faster evaporator. I haven't been out to collect today, yesterday it didn't flow very well. Maybe it was the wind. I could use a break for a couple of days. I have to go back to work. Work is always getting in the way of fun. I'm glad to here everyone is doing well. upmep

[tbear]

Boiled outside Monday and Tuesday, the wind was a DRAG! Hard to keep a decent boil going. Brought in the nearup to finish on the stove today and ended up with 2 1/2+ gallons of Golden! Go figure, two day batch boil, cloudy sap due to high temps, boil it some more on the stove and end up with Golden? I think it's a first for me. Not much sugar sand either. It was in the teens here last night, high today in the upper thirties, not counting on much sap but will check later today. My dear sweet wife has given her permission for me to take a nap! Life is GOOD! Ted

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Update from Story County - kind of late for me to be getting an update on - have been swamped - we put taps out on 2-20 started with around 100 we are up to 180 with a few more to get out - we have collected right at 500 gallon on sap and have made 13gallon of syrup - we have been cold last few days so gave us a chance to clean up the sugar shack and catch our breath - anticipating a big run starting tomorrow thru the weekend then temps not to drop below freezing for a while -

Good Luck to all - great to get the updates!!!

[tbear]

That was a long weekend! Started Friday and ended yesterday. My season is over. Ended up with just under 11 gallons. How'd the rest of you Iowans end up? Or maybe you're still going? Making sugar with the last gallon of last years syrup. Gotta go! Ted

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Ted you got the long weekend right - we had record sap collection - we are at 29 gallons made - we had ice in the cans last night so hopeful that the hard maples will drip today - all of our silvers are done as they burst on Sunday -

Good Luck to all Bill

[upmep]

I finished boiling on the evaporator on Monday and brought the near finished product in and put in the fridge. I took it out last night and started to boil down and it looks like maple tree snot. You can't even get it to stay on a spoon. If you put it on a pancake I'm sure it would slide off. I thought by keeping it in the refrigerator it would keep for a week till I had time to finish it. Have you guys ever had this? I don't know if I should dump it or try and finish it. Otherwise I have about 4 gallons I have finished that is ok. Its the best year I have ever had even with the stringy syrup. It sounds like tbear and everyone else has done well too. upmep

[tbear]

Upmep I'm glade to hear you had a productive season. I wonder if the snotty stuff is what they refer to as "ropey". You might post a question under the "all about syrup" tab.

Congrats on the 29 gals. Bnb! Dang man! That's a BUNCH!

I wonder if IowaSap got his bags in time?

[WI Sugarpop]

If it does what you described, I would say that you made ropey syrup. Keep it separate from the rest. I wouldn't use it for table syrup but you can use it for cooking such as barbecue sauce. I've done that twice in the last 20 years. I think it comes from a bacteria because of warm temps and dirty tanks and containers.

[tbear]

Well, gentlemen, I just sold my first pint of syrup! The first pint EVER! Now all I have to do is sit back and watch the money roll in. Yeah right. Exciting anyway! Ted

[IowaSap]

Sorry been busy busy. Looks like I was late to the game this year. Tapped 7 days made 10 gal. Can't complain to much. As for the snot sap. I had it one season when it got warm gross stuff. Dog couldn't lick out of a bucket!!! I'd throw it or give it to the in laws!!!:mrgreen:

[PKerns]

Long delayed summary post. Our first big season turned out quite well. We had taps in for about 3 weeks, from 2/19-3/11. We still had sap flowing when I took out the taps but we were ready to be finished. We ended up with about 15 gallons syrup from about 760 gallons sap. We learned a ton of stuff. Now, onto the wild mushrooms and then vegetables and pigs! Thanks for your support and advice, see you next year! Pete

[150ish]

Glad to hear that everyone had a good year. I will be upgrading to 150-175 taps next year and also upgrading my arch and pans. I have a Sunrise 2x3 hobby evaporator and a fully bricked arch that I am going to sell if anyone is interested pm me for more details.

[tbear]

(Sigh) I've already got the maple crazies and it looks like 4 more weeks before I tap. (Sigh) Ted

[PKerns]

Hey Iowa Sugarers, does anyone know what the effects of the weird warm weather are on the maple season? Up here in NE Iowa it seems like it will get cold again before the end of the month, but I'm just concerned about what the trees are experiencing and if budding time will be affected. For the past week it has been above freezing both day and night and the soil is still frozen... Anyway, let me know if you have experienced a weird winter like this before and how your syrup season went.

Thanks, Pete

[PKerns]

Ted, are you going to plan on tapping on 2/15 no matter what the weather? Pete

[PKerns]

I'm actually going to wait. Just got 4 inches of snow and looks likes some cold coming. Also, we brought our copper finishing pan to a welder yesterday to re-weld the sections to the base, hopefully it will improve our gradient. We also walked the lines yesterday, everything looks good, just one fallen tree across the lines, and plenty of squirrel damage on our standpipes (our lines are 1" pvc on the ground, very steep hill). We also went to admire the posts and braces we put in for our very rustic sugar shack in the fall. Not sure if we're only going to get up some windbreak walls or if we can possibly get a roof up before/during syruping. Anyway, that's us, Turkey River Farm in NE Iowa. Signing off, excited for the trees to run!

[tbear]

Hey Pete! Not sure how I missed your post, this time of year I cruise the forum a few times a day. I'm still watching Accuweather for a rough idea on when I need to be ready, so no, I'm not locked in on the 15th. Also, I'm not too worried about the temps right now, there's bound to be more freeze thaw cycles before we tap. You asked about strange weather, I believe it was 2012 (could well be wrong) temps went from the teens to the 70's and stayed there! We had 70 buckets out and collected about 3/4 of a gallon of sap...all season! The "Season That Wasn't". Glad to see you posting. It sounds like you have a fine setup going! I'd like to see it in operation. Good luck this season! Ted

[upmep]

Hey everyone hello and how are you? I've been cutting some wood to run through the evaporator and thought I would see if everyone is ready to go. I had a willow tree die in my yard so I don't have far to haul it. It looks like some of you are going to have a go at it this year again. I agree about the weather, it has been an odd winter. We have not had much snow here at all, more rain than anything. It might get warm enough to tap before long. upmep

[tbear]

Hey Upmep, good to read from you again! I hope the past year has been good to you and the upcoming season is even better to you! That's three of us accounted for. I was hoping to be boiling on a REAL arch this season but it just didn't work out. Maybe next year. One more go round on my rickety ole cinderblock widow maker! Such is life! Good luck everyone! Ted

[PKerns]

Hello,
We're getting very antsy, we're putting rafters on the shack today and I can just feel the sap is flowing. But it'll get cold the next few days this far north and then we're thinking of tapping on Thursday to be ready for big sap flow on Friday. What about you all?

[tbear]

I hang aluminum buckets so my season is shorter than those with tubing. Looking at Accuweather, Feb. 26 looks good. I'm afraid to tap too early and have the holes dry up before the main flows start. But then, I'm afraid to tap too late if the weather gets too warm too quick. It's always a crap shoot. We'll know in April if we tapped at the right time! Good luck Everyone! Ted

[upmep]

pete and tbear, I just talked to a guy who lives close to me and this is the first time he has tried to make maple syrup. He put his taps in about the middle of January and he said he has gotten sap a few times already. From the weather for this weekend and next week I think I am going to tap either Friday or Saturday. I will be tapping mainly silver maples. I will keep you posted on what happens and looking forward to hearing how you guys do. upmep

[150ish]

Tapped Saturday 2/4 and collected 435 gallons total from 180 taps on Monday and Tuesday.It's the best run I have had and the next 10 days are looking very good. Best of luck to everyone this season

[tbear]

Hunter and I tapped in today. Right or wrong...here we go! Ted

[upmep]

tapped last Friday and Saturday and collected about 60 gallons on 50 taps since then. upmep

[tbear]

How deep to you drill your taps in Upmep?

[upmep]

tbear, I drill in about 2.5 inches. How about this weather. They are talking 60's on the weekend. Is that going to end it for this year? If this keeps up we will be able to plant orange trees in Iowa. upmep

[tbear]

Same depth as me. I hope the trees run again after the warm spell as I'd like to make it to 15 gallons this year. I probably won't but it's a goal. So far this week we've boiled 180 gallons and have 115 ready for tomorrrow. First two batches graded out as "Golden". Pretty stuff. Oranges in Iowa, rodger that! Ted

[IowaSap]

Well this is a first! Put in a 100 bags on February 16th!!!!:o. They were all running like a phaucet. Never tapped so early! Going to the state wrestling meet today. Hope they don't run over. Good luck boys!

[PKerns]

We tapped last Friday and Saturday and we've collected and boiled about 200 gallons from 130 taps since then, today we do a big boil after lots of sap flow yesterday. I'm hoping that this weekend and early next week won't wake the trees up. On Friday the 24th it's supposed to go back down below freezing. I hope it does and we get another run!!!!

[upmep]

Maybe everyone has already answered this but I was just wondering what kind of trees everyone taps? This year I'm tapping probably 95 percent silver maples and one box elder. I have tapped a sugar maple in years past in my daughters yard, and they do run different than the silvers. It seemed to keep running longer than the silvers and seemed to produce more sap. They say black maples act more like sugar maples and there are some of those in Iowa. It would be nice to have some of those to tap, but you go with what you're given. It takes me about 55 to 60 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup. How is everyone else doing on that. I don't get real exact on finishing since all I have to please is myself. I usually try to finish around 119 temperature. It will be interesting to see if they are still running today. upmep

[tbear]

I tap mostly silvers but do tap a few sugars. Collected another 35 gallons today, blows my mind, what with no freeze and 70 degree temps. Ted

[IowaSap]

Up
I moved away from soft maples. I'm 100% hard maple now. I think they gave more sap but my hards give more sugar. Probably a wash if you don't count the extra boil time. My sugar % varies s
From year to year. Last year was about 35 to 1. Never came close to that on softs.

[PKerns]

We tap only sugar maples, although a friend told us last weekend that we had tapped an Ash on accident. We have tapped boxelders before and mixed sap with no effect on flavor, but now we just tap maples. I calculated last year we boiled about 50:1 sap/syrup but I think we missed some early sweet. Just today we drew off 2.5 gallons syrup, no sap flow, hoping this weekend cold spell comes early.

[tbear]

Well boys, what do you say? Did this last warm week kill the tap holes (buckets)? We'll know for sure in a few days but the suspense is killing me! Ted

[IowaSap]

Pulled 50 gal. Today. Their running but slow. 150 gal so far. I usually am tapping next week. Hope it takes off!

[tbear]

Collected 50 here too IowaSap. Trees weren't running this evening. Looks like Thursday and Friday should be good. Curious to see if the predicted rain (possible storm) tonight and tomorrow will start the sap flowing again. Ted

[150ish]

Plenty of sap but the buds are out now on the sugar and blacks. Short but sweet season,ended up with 24 gallons.If we didn't have the warm week I think it would have been a great season.

[IowaSap]

Got a good run today. Pulled 170 gal on 100 taps. Hopefully just getting rolling here!

[PKerns]

Good runs here too, got 100 gallons on Monday and another 50 gallons on Tuesday. It's getting cold here tonight and tomorrow night, down to 20 maybe so hopefully we have a few more days of sap flow. I really hope the buds on the trees don't break soon, 150ish said the buds are broken in Mt. Pleasant, well we are miles and miles and miles north of Mt Pleasant!!!! gosh, I hope.

[150ish]

Good luck up there PKerns.It's a shame to watch it run here and not be able to boil it.My last boil was Monday night and it started off ok with the sweet in the pan and then all of a sudden the nasty smell of dirty socks filled the sugarhouse.

[tbear]

Collected a little (15 gallons) this morning and did a test boil. We're done here. Pulling buckets tomorrow. Ended up with just under 10.5 gallons, 3 of which graded GOLDEN. Pretty, but I still l ike the AMBER best. How's everyone else doing? Ted

[IowaSap]

Pulled 245 over the weekend. Everything is still crystal clear here!

[tbear]

That's what surprised us, the sap was clear and looked/tasted/smelled good. Test boil revealed a "woody" smell to the steam and the syrup had an unpleasant taste/aftertaste. We dumped the sap we had collected and pulled taps. Good luck! Ted

[bnbmaplesyrup]

Hey guys

Sorry so late getting an update on here - We tapped 2-9-2017 we put out 220 taps. We ended up pulling the silvers the week of 2-20 as they had budded out. We are still collecting on 77 hard maples. We are right at 24 gallon made for the year. Yesterday was our best day we collected 170 gallon. We are hopeful that we get some cold weather again to extend the season. Good to see what everyone is doing.
Bill

[upmep]

I pulled my taps last weekend and wanted to put an update on. I ended up with about 3 gallons of syrup and I think I had around 55 taps maybe. It did well then it would get warm. It looks like it will barely be above freezing for the next few days. I wonder if it will start flowing after this again? The buds have swelled on the silver maples though. It would be interesting to tap some trees I haven't tapped yet to see what happens. The trouble is getting time to do everything. It has been a different year though hasn't it. Looking forward to seeing how everyone else has finished up. I'm not ready to give up yet but the trees decide in the end. upmep

[IowaSap]

13.5 gal bottled. Got another 4 ish to finish up. Still have bags hanging. May get a big run after this snow. Well see!

[tbear]

We're ready to go, we have a new 2x5 flat (batch) pan and corsair arch from Smoky Lake, a new sugar shack, wood split and stacked, buckets , spiles and storgae tanks on standby, just waiting on the weather. Ted

[TheMapleNews]

We will add a Tapping Iowa 2018 thread! Great to see maple sugaring in corn country!

[tbear]

Thanks so much! It's a shorter season here but every bit as much fun!