Michigan April 'Late Season' Sap Reports

[DonMcJr]

I'll start. Low of 26 F last night and high of 46 F today. The Tube Line flowed about 10 gallons today and sap still looks clear and good.

I'm at the point where if I don't boil every day I get close to running out of Storage and I have 150 gallons storage for 41 Taps...

Some trees are very close to Budding so not much longer left...

[hfitch]

I pulled today. My trees are going to pop any day now and my sap is starting to get cloudy and off colored. Still have 20 gallons of sap to boil down and that will be added to the 9 quarts of almost syrup I have in the freezer. I'll be finishing it all off on Thursday. Thinking I'll get around 3 gallons of syrup, give or take, for the year. Not bad for the first year, already looking forward to next year!

[Run Forest Run!]

That's a lot of syrup Heidi. Congratulations on a super season!

[DonMcJr]

Yes Hedi good job on your 1st year! I'm at 9 Gallons, 50 oz and counting...

How'd the Steelhead Trip go?

[Tweegs]

I suspect my last boil will be tomorrow.

Picked up 200 gallons yesterday, but that was from both Sun and Mon. Sap is getting cloudy and has a hint of yellow (boiled a bit down on the stove last night, looked, smelled and tasted fine). Buds are swelling, peepers are peeping, temps signal shut-down beyond Thursday. It’s all I can do to keep the sap picked up and enough wood cut to boil it. I’m beat.

Should have plenty of wood to get through tomorrow and maybe a short boil Thursday night if need be, but I’m pretty sure I’m pulling the plug this weekend.

50 gallons bottled up so far. What’s in the main tank, whatever sap we get today, and what is left in the evaporator should push me up to around 60 gallons for the season.

[Roy Coates]

Im watching, listening, reading, learning and still hoping for this final week of sap production. Everyday the temps in my area are dropping below freezing except sat. My sap is slow and still clear. We shall see

Extended Forecast for Ortonville (KMIORTON4)
Tuesday ………Wednesday………Thursday……….Friday ……….Saturday………Sunday .Monday
41 | 25 °F…….43 | 28 °F ………59 | 27 °F…….54 | 27 °F…..57 | *37*°F…52 | 27 °F 52 | 28 °F

[Jonnyp390]

I pulled most of my taps yesterday. Left a few yard taps in to see if a can't get a couple more days of sap coffee for the wifey. Did our last boil of the season yesterday and it was wonderful. We did 10 or so boils this year, went through 250 gallons of sap, and after I finish this last batch today we should be a little over 5 gallons of syrup. The 1950's Eureka screen tent that served as our sugar shack was the place to be this March and every time we boiled we were able to share the experience with family and friends. We gave away 25+ bottles of syrup (you never know how many friends you have until you start making syrup) and hopefully have enough saved to get us through a year of Sunday morning pancakes. I had high hopes for the year, and looking back now, I think we surpassed every one of them:) Now I have 3 days to get cleaned up and get the boat prepped, cause the end of the sugaring season signals the start of another great Michigan tradition - jigging for Walleye on the Detroit River!

PS - Can someone help me figure out how to add my signature line to the bottom of a post? Thanks

[David in MI]

Im watching, listening, reading, learning and still hoping for this final week of sap production. Everyday the temps in my area are dropping below freezing except sat. My sap is slow and still clear. We shall see

Extended Forecast for Ortonville (KMIORTON4)
Tuesday ………Wednesday………Thursday……….Friday ……….Saturday………Sunday .Monday
41 | 25 °F…….43 | 28 °F ………59 | 27 °F…….54 | 27 °F…..57 | *37*°F…52 | 27 °F 52 | 28 °F

Roy, we're probably not far from you over in Groveland Twp. off Bald Eagle Lake Road. Our trees are primarily on Northward facing slopes and we didn't get a good run until March 16. In fact, we still had lots of snow in our woods until last week so I'm hoping we have several good runs this week. The weather appears poised to give us a nice run every day.

[David in MI]

PS - Can someone help me figure out how to add my signature line to the bottom of a post? Thanks

Make sure you're signed into the forum; in the upper-right hand corner look for the link to "settings" and click it; next page, left side of the page you will see a link for "edit signature."

[DonMcJr]

I pulled six of my Taps that were Reds that weren't putting out enough. Had one bucket from a tree in the woods that smelled like Wine??? Anyone ever get that?

[hfitch]

thanks guys!! Steelheading trip was slow but great Don! I got one Saturday, but that was it for the trip. Smoked her yesterday with a new brine I found on another forum. It was incredible! Best brine I have ever used. Can't wait to try it on some suckers soon : )

[Roy Coates]

I pulled 25 gallons of clear sap this morning, this ran yesterday as I wasn't able to collect it until now. I had one tree give a very slight yellow tint to the sap, That I pitched on the ground. I am boiling a small amount down to check it. I see slightly swollen buds yet I have been seeing that since I started to tap.

[shane hickey]

I started to pull yesterday doing 1 woods at a time syrup starting to get real dark should be done boiling for sure on Friday

[DonMcJr]

Roy, we're probably not far from you over in Groveland Twp. off Bald Eagle Lake Road. Our trees are primarily on Northward facing slopes and we didn't get a good run until March 16. In fact, we still had lots of snow in our woods until last week so I'm hoping we have several good runs this week. The weather appears poised to give us a nice run every day.

Bald Eagle Lake! Man do I have some memories from that lake! My Grandparents had a Cabin on Island Drive on the lake for Years!

[Tweegs]

Yea Shane, my last batch was all dark, too.

Walked around and kicked a few buckets, checked the woods tank. Bet I don’t have 50~60 gallons out there. Going to wait until the morning to get it, take advantage of that ice R.O.

Finished cutting up one tree I had down, tomorrow I’ll boil until I either run out of sap or wood, but that’s it for me. The sap is on the edge now and I don’t think I’ll get another run before the buds pop, the temps aren’t favorable looking out a ways.

May get some B grade out of this next batch. Wouldn’t hurt my feelings none, been wanting to try making some sugar.

[shane hickey]

Yea Shane, my last batch was all dark, too.

Walked around and kicked a few buckets, checked the woods tank. Bet I don’t have 50~60 gallons out there. Going to wait until the morning to get it, take advantage of that ice R.O.

Finished cutting up one tree I had down, tomorrow I’ll boil until I either run out of sap or wood, but that’s it for me. The sap is on the edge now and I don’t think I’ll get another run before the buds pop, the temps aren’t favorable looking out a ways.

May get some B grade out of this next batch. Wouldn’t hurt my feelings none, been wanting to try making some sugar.

All in all its been a great season ill try to stay on here in the off season but crop season is rite around the next corner

[David in MI]

Bald Eagle Lake! Man do I have some memories from that lake! My Grandparents had a Cabin on Island Drive on the lake for Years!

Bald Eagle Lake is really quite a nice little lake. Last fall we purchased a small adjoining lot that will give us lake access this summer so we're pretty excited about that. Island Drive isn't too far from us. In fact, we purchased our property from one of the guys who developed a fair amount of the land around that lake. Small world, eh?

[tcad]

starting to turn cloudy.... hope for one more boil!!!!

[DonMcJr]

Sap's flowing in my gravity line today and still looks clear. I have one more boil until I run out of wood and then pull taps. Probally gonna do the last boil Friday.

[jnmartin]

I'm still hanging in there Don, at least for a few more days. I tapped 21 sugar and black trees late. They seem to have done well here in SE Roscommon Co, at least until 4 or 5 days ago. Since then basically zip till late yesterday and then today has been fair. I looked at the bags earlier and I expect to collect 18-20 gal before dark. The reds are mostly fully budded out here but the sugars I have tapped aren't swelling yet. I have had several bags last week with slightly tinted sap but it tasted normal and the resulting syrup was good though it was a little darker it seems. I'm thinking if I can get another 50-60 gal of clear sap I'll pull the taps and be very satisfied with our rookie year making syrup. Well truly, if I quit today I would consider it a great success and more fun than I've had since I hid my electronic varmint call in the garage and turned on a pig in distress sound just as my wife got out of the car and closed her car door. Come to think of it, that didn't end up being so much fun after all.... So glad she's a good sport.

[Tweegs]

Had more sap than I thought.

Boiled 310 gallons today, drew off about 6.5…getting really dark, but I don’t think I’ve hit B yet.

The ice R.O. put my buckets at 2.5%, was afraid to test the woods tank, guessing about 1.5% based on the amount of syrup I got.

Sap ran good today, supposed to freeze again tonight…maybe I’ll try to get 1 more boil in. I’ll collect tomorrow, but if the sap is under 1.5% I’m not going to waste my time (or wood).

[DonMcJr]

I'm finishing batch #7 on the stove right now then one last boil Friday til I run out of wood then it's pull taps and clean pans and get ready for Surgery Monday...BLAH!

[Roy Coates]

got another 45 gallons of clear sap today, buds are swelling, hoping for 2 more days based on overnight temps.

[firetech]

Boiled 850 gals off tonite. 325 gals dropped off from my sap suppier, I'll make another trip thru every thing tomorrow. This is coming to the end. The syrup is boiling differntly, smell differnt, I'll call it B but still tatses ok

[Tweegs]

Sure was boiling different. Lots of thick, foamy type bubbles in the last channel that defoamer wouldn’t touch. Was easily bubbling up a half inch higher than the prior channel, which was foaming higher than the channel prior to it. Almost like the syrup was flowing backwards, scared the beejeebers out of me, adjusted the float to put another ¼” in the pans.

Lots of sugar sand, plugged 2 of the felt cone filters and almost 2 dozen paper filters just trying to get 6.5 gallons through and still didn’t get it all. We’re going to reheat and filter that entire batch again tonight.

[DonMcJr]

Mine's been foaming a lot and I skim it off. Also a lot of niter on my filters...pain in the butt to clean filters...

[Lethalbowman]

Sap is still running clear here in the Traverse City area. It had shut down for a few days but started up again for me yesterday. Hope to do 1 last boil this weekend. The weather is warming up and our snow pack is finally melting. Almost time to start a 3-season room addition on the back of our home so it's a good thing the sap run is coming to an end.

[David in MI]

We hit a new record for a single collection last night with 817 gallons!! (old record was last week at 680 gallons). Sap was at 1.7 brix.

[Pweideman]

In less than 24 hours I have collected twice will collect again soon and maybe 4 times.
Total of 188.5 gallons on 46 trees (less than 24 hours) so far and should end the day with a total of 250 gallons. I am not really set up for this but not complaining. In fact, I added 4 more trees this afternoon that almost run and don't drip. I lost 35 gallons of sap off the front of my tractor when I sunk in the mud- don't ask, it was not a happy experience.

My silvers are running from 2 to 3%. Very pleased with that.

Paul

[Roy Coates]

I got another 45 gallons today still clear. two of my 12 trees are very close to budding as I can see they have swelled in the last 24 hours. watching, waiting and boiling like a mad man

[DonMcJr]

Yesterday and today I got over 50 gallons from my 15 tap tube line...probally more like 70 gallons...and I have to quit boiling Saturday for my darn arm surgery Monday!

[Tweegs]

For Pete’s sake, I thought I was done.

Picked up 250 gallons of just a liiiiitle cloudy sap at 2%. Still running strong.
Don’t know how long the sap will run tonight, but expect up to another 100 gallons. Not supposed to freeze, so it could shut down at any time and that will be it.

Called in the wood cutting Calvary. Should be around a 9 or 10 hour boil and I have about 2 hours’ worth of wood.

On this boil, Ladies and Gents, sure to be the last of the season, I think the beer WILL flow. :lol:

[Cake O' Maple]

The last forecasted overnight freeze here was supposed to be last night, and I'm having trouble keeping my sap cool enough to keep it fresh. Having problems with one of my propane burners, so boiling is about 1/2 what it should be...sigh.

High yesterday was 45 and today 56, and hadn't been able to gather yesterday. I figured when I gathered today, I would probably be dumping a lot of sap, if not all of it. Planned on pulling all buckets as I gathered and/or dumped. I gathered 117 1/2 gallons from 55 taps of good sap!! So if I get my burner fixed first thing tomorrow, that's a extra 11-12 hours of boiling I hadn't planned on.

Am happy, am tired.

Should work tomorrow, but it may be put off until Saturday. Already behind on charting for work. Ye gads. I believe I need a flue pan next!

[BoarsNest]

Talked to my cousin and the bags in his yard are full. Hope to have 400+ gallons in the woods when I get there tomorrow. Should be one long final boil hope to hit our 50 gallons. Still need to figure out how to make that evaporator into a still for the other 10-1/2 months of the year. Maybe I will resurrect the flat pan and make beer. So many options and not enough time to plan.

[JBIV]

Yesterday and today I got over 50 gallons from my 15 tap tube line...probally more like 70 gallons...and I have to quit boiling Saturday for my darn arm surgery Monday!


Good luck with the surgery Don. I hope all goes well and you heal up fast.


My 300gal sap tank is full to the brim and I have 24gals in buckets. I'm taking the day off from work tomorrow to start the last boiling weekend.

[firetech]

We pulled 1300 gals of sap yesterday. Just thankful for what we have. Pushing 300 gals of syrup. Tweegs get in the truck,drive up here and get a truck load of wood from me. No fuss no bother. 2yr old ash cut to 30inches all split ready to go.

[Tweegs]

Appreciate that Firetech, and if I didn’t have all this help coming over in the morning I’d certainly take you up on that. Got 5 guys and 2 saws, all are eager to earn a quart.

3 good size dead and standing ash right on the edge of the field, all I have to do is drop them, they’ll take care of the rest. Should be enough wood there to see me through.

[sutphenj]

Disconnected my "mainlines" from the bulk tank in the bush this morning. Sitting on 250 gallons of sap from the past two days and debating whether or not I fire up this weekend. Thought I called it a season last sunday. Total tally for the year is 20 gallons of syrup off roughly 85 taps.

[DonMcJr]

Well I've been boiling all night since 9pm. Got through close to 100 gallons and have about 8 split logs left. Then cool down and the rest on the turkey fryer tonight.

Hate to tell everyone this but my gravity line started streaming in about an hour ago and it sounds the strongest its been yet and its all clear! Someone come get this sap dont make me dump it tomorrow, lol!

[Tweegs]

Well I've been boiling all night since 9pm. Got through close to 100 gallons and have about 8 split logs left. Then cool down and the rest on the turkey fryer tonight.

Hate to tell everyone this but my gravity line started streaming in about an hour ago and it sounds the strongest its been yet and its all clear! Someone come get this sap dont make me dump it tomorrow, lol!

Noooooooooo! :lol::lol:

[shane hickey]

Today will be my last boil around 6000 gallons then im done for the year.
Makeing b grade dark but it taste good

[michiganphil]

I gathered a little more than a gallon per tap yesterday, it was still running clear & it was @ 2.4%.
To date, my crop is sitting just shy of 3 quarts of syrup per tap. This is coming from roadside taps on buckets, I can't believe it! A GREAT SEASON IT'S BEEN!

I was looking back through my posts, and 3/18 was when I noticed the buds on my trees swelling. Well...fast forward to now, there really has been no significant change with the buds and the trees just keep producing. I am starting to wonder if will end?? The extended forecast shows no freezing nights, so I'm thinking this is it.

[sugarmangraham]

I collected about 100 gallons of nice clear sap yesterday. Had a couple of buckets that had a yellowish tint to them so I dumped them. I plan on boiling when I get home and I hope to get rid of it all before it goes bad. I plan on pulling my taps this weekend. I don't know about the rest of you guys/gals but my tank is running towards empty. I hope everyone had a great season.

[hfitch]

all done!! Looks like about 2 gallons. Already can't wait for next year!!!!! Celebrated today by dipping out a cup of syrup and made some maple nuts, with almonds. If you haven't tried this yet, it's a must do. Man oh man, are those things yummy!!

[DonMcJr]

Wow this weather and weathermen are crazy. Wasn't supposed to go below freezing tonight and not any more til next year. WELL... My weather station right outside my window says it's 24.8 F... I knew when I saw the wind was coming off Lake Huron the temps were gonna drop!

My Gravity Tube line ran all day and stopped when it went below freezing. Sap stil pretty much clear.

**** I have 20-30 gallons of Sap from my gravity tube line and 21- 5 gallon buckets in the woods that are probally all full...So that's 135 gallons of sap I am going to dump Saturday Afternoon if nobody wants it******

[Cake O' Maple]

We weren't supposed to freeze anymore, either, but we're there now, and if predictions are right, we'll have a 33 degree rise in temp from tonight to tomorrow! If it froze enough, that sounds like a run to me! Man, I'm tired. But I hate to waste potential syrup...

Good luck with your surgery and recovery, Don, and I hope you find someone to take your sap, or you end up with a new freezer to keep it all in.

[DonMcJr]

Bad thing is I dont think I can use my right arm for like 2 months at least so it would be a june boil lol.

Well tonight is the coldest night on record for my weather station. I got it march 25th and my new record low is 21 F. But the weather forecast says tonight is the last freezing night...

[fishman]

Boiled down 200 gallons in 20 hours yesterday. made 5 gallons right to the drop. biggest boil i have done. looks like a cool down today with up to 8 inches of snow predicted. Sounds like it may get good next week . I've had enough of winter.

[tberryer]

Well, this sure has been a fun month and made the end of winter worth it. This is my first year and started on March 13 with three taps. I'm guessing today will be my last day collecting sap, but I've received over 52 gallons of sap so far. I reduced the first 40 gallons to almost 1 1/2 gallons of wonderful syrup and expect to make nearly another 1/2 gallon by the end of the day with the balance of sap. I'm so grateful that you've all shared your journey to make this such a rewarding experience for me and my family. We will for sure be doing this again.

Don - you have been instrumental with all your feedback. Thank you and may your surgery and recovery go better than expected. I pray you find somebody to take that sap. I would if I had the space and all.

P.S. - You may remember that when I first started this project, I tapped a Walnut tree. It hasn't been a real good producer, but I do have about 5 gallons of sap testing around 2%+. I will let you know how all that turns out. I'm thinking about making root beer with it.

Tina

[DonMcJr]

Thanks tberryer and I am glad my information has helped you and others. As the surgery day gets closer I don't wanna do it but I know I have to to get better...blah!

[Tweegs]

Done!

Boiled down 300 gallons, made about 5.5 gallons of very dark.
Sap was cloudy but still tested at 2%, which is odd because the syrup count yesterday was about 55:1.

Ended up with just enough wood left over to give the pans a warm vinegar bath.

Pulling taps today, draining the pans, and beginning the clean-up.

69 gallons total (plus 2 or 3 gallons still in the pans) made from just over 3300 gallons of sap.

That’s a very good season here, given the number of low producing/low sugar content silvers I have (about 60).
Seems the sugars went nuts and carried the day.

Don, take care of that arm. Give us an update once you get that one armed, one fingered, keyboard typing thing mastered. :lol:

[splashjbs]

no but have drank a bucket of wine getting buckets boiled

[DonMcJr]

Well I pulled taps Saturday and cleaned up because I have my Surgery in 5 hours but just wanted to let anyone know that still has taps in that it's down to 30.4 F here right now!

[BoarsNest]

Gathered 674 gal of sap made over 8 gallons of syrup. Hauled 270 gal of sap and 20+ gal from the pan to a local Amish farm. Ran out of time. Still made it home to watch Michigan make the finals. Go Blue!

[whalems]

Pulled in over 1000 gallons again this weekend! Has been a great season so far. Up to 200 gallons+ for the season with sap in the tanks waiting on me this morning!

[5 Oaks]

Pulled taps at my house (Cedar Springs) on Saturday. Pulling taps tonight in Hersey. I don't really keep good track of the sap I collected, but I do see I have finished 7.75 gallons at this point, with 10 more gallons at home that needs finished up. Record year for my little operation. Can't wait for next year.

[Pweideman]

What is a good ratio of water to vinegar for cleaning my boiling pot? It is pretty black in some spots and I have 200 gallons of sap to boil yet. I want to start again with a clean pot.

Paul

[Butcher]

Believe it or not the sap is still running and at a pretty good clip and its 70 degrees outside, having a very very hard time getting thru the to, its clogged up real bad and probably doesn't help that the sap is pretty cloudy, gonna acid wash tonight that may help but my membranes are running at less than 50% not good. Were at 3200 gallons hoping to squeeze out couple hundred more but im about ready to throw in the towel.

[the g1]

We were getting 4000+ gallons an hour today. Made 10 more barrels today bringing the total to 6680 gallons of syrup. The weather is perfect in northern Mi.

[Butcher]

Wow g1. That's alot of sap, how many taps is that on, u must be way north to be making that much sap, all we have down here are a bunch of farmland and tiny woodlots, think ill move up by u.

[sugar daddy 1]

With all the snow in the UP and more on the way could be going for a few weeks. If you haven't see the big run yet it's coming.

[the g1]

Wow g1. That's alot of sap, how many taps is that on, u must be way north to be making that much sap, all we have down here are a bunch of farmland and tiny woodlots, think ill move up by u.
I live in Alanson Mi. We tap 28,000+ trees all on tubing and underground with 22 to 27 inches of vacuum. It takes 3 of us 3 full weeks to tap.

[maple man-iac]

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I just filled barrel 18. My 550 tap high vacuum woods was still producing sap at noon, more sap to boil tomorrow. My radio transmitter is sending bad data, I have no idea how full the tank is until I go empty it in the morning. I have good faith that the vacuum and releaser are working properly. 1200 taps total, the gravity is all done at this point.

[maple man-iac]

I'm still producing one gallon of sap per tap on my vacuum.

[maple man-iac]

Made approximately 25 gallons today.

[Lethalbowman]

I collected 3 gallons of slightly orange sap from my sugarbush last night. It smelled like normal sap to me but I just didn't want to risk adding it too the batch I hope to finish Friday morning. I will check my taps again in the morning to see if the trees were kind to me today. I intend to do a micro batch on the fish fryer just to see what the end result is.

[DonMcJr]

I might not be done! It's flowing pretty good today and looks clear...Cut and split some more woods I might get one more boil!

[Lethalbowman]

96889689 I was able to collect 25 gallons of sap for my final batch of the season before I pulled all my taps, buckets & jugs. My end result for this batch was some of the darkest amber syrup I have made to date. All I know is it sure does taste good. I was able to triple last years production so I am a very happy camper. Now I will be looking to see what I can do too improve for next years run while still keeping the budget as low as possible.

[Tweegs]

Nope…done.

Fired up Friday and immediately shut back down. The moment I hit a boil I got foam like I’ve never seen before, near overflowed out of the syrup pan. No amount of defoamer was going to squelch that beast. Smell wasn’t right neither, woody, off.

Killed the boil with the emergency bucket-o-sap, slammed the float, nothing to lose at that point.

Pulled the buckets, pulled the taps, called it a season.

Brought in about 600 gallons of sap on the buckets and we figure something around 2500 gallons on vacuum. Made 53 gallons.