North vs South Facing Woodlots?

[syrup2nv]

How many people are tapping North facing wood lots and running them on "High Vacuum" (25"+)? GPT, Avg. Sugar %? Also, do they "run" when your (or others) South facing tree do?

Thanks for any input.

[GeneralStark]

I hate to be a pain but there are so many threads already on this subject. Here are two:

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?13519-Tap-Or-Not-To-Tap-Steep-North-Face-Slope/page4&highlight=south+aspect

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?14581-north-slope-vs-south-slope&highlight=north+facing+south+facing

[spud]

How many people are tapping North facing wood lots and running them on "High Vacuum" (25"+)? GPT, Avg. Sugar %? Also, do they "run" when your (or others) South facing tree do?

Thanks for any input.

The back section of my woods faces the North. The sugar content is the same as the South facing trees. Because I tap early January the North facing trees do not run on the early runs. I think PMRC said at one time there was no real production difference between North/South. What I have found in my woods is not only does my South facing trees run sooner but they seem to keep running right to the end with my North facing trees. I could not tell you for sure if my South facing trees produce less per tap late in the spring but they don't seem to. Based on my woods it would appear South facing woods would give a bit more sap overall in the course of a season. No matter how they face though I would tap every maple tree you have.

Spud

[unc23win]

I would agree with Spud tap every tree you have the north facing might take a little longer to get going, but still worth it for sure. I know another producer right by me has more north facing with the main difference no vacuum they didn't seem to get going until the last week or so when they ran like crazy then it was over that's another advantage of vacuum.

[BreezyHill]

We have one north facing bush of 300 taps. It does typically take longer to get running but due to the prevailing winds it often out produces the south facing bushes. It is also higher in elevation and runs slightly,(30-60 minutes daily). Sugar content is similar.

The breeze/wind on our place is more of a determining factor than north/ south orientation.

After a super cold night with a warm front moving in, the breeze will get bushes going and others will take much longer to get runnin.

My experience is vac level is more of a factor than orientation. High vac gets the bush running at a lower temp. Had to change out a motor last season and ran a smaller unit for an hour and the lines were hardly running. Fired up the new motor, the lines were half full in about 30 minutes. Neighbor running on zero tanks was hardly getten sap and we were overflowing tanks.

Happy Holidays guys! May this be your best season yet!

Ben

[Mark]

Depends on the season. My bush is mostly north facing and it seems to produce more on the warmer seasons. Last year was way too cold for me and it seemed like you could not get it going and then it is over quick.

[syrup2nv]

Thank you for the input. I'm currently finishing up a 2000 tap expansion and they are mostly NNE facing. The 1500 I have on the other side of the property are SSE. The SSE side usually is running into the releaser pretty decent by 9am and not stopping until freeze up. Last season averages were 26.5gpt and 1.7% sugar. I threw the towel a little early and didn't get the last 3-4 runs. Im hoping this season I will surpass 26.5pgt, and step up into the 30's!

Also going to make syrup until it goes to mersh this year!!