Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

[GeneralStark]

I would think it would be running down there in Orwell as the sap has started picking up here. It is over 40 with a few breaks of sun and the sap is flowing alright. Nothing too crazy but pick up .25-.5/tap if it continues the rest of the day.

[Stamford sugarmaker]

Thanks Gen Stark and Randy,

My spouts were used only for a couple of weeks last season, so fairly new.

I'm curious as to why that is so critical? It seems 5/16 is a pretty darn big hole to get restricted by seeping sap. I washed the taps last season but do they build up residue to restrict flow?

Peter

[Randy Brutkoski]

Pumped out the little sap i had at all off my dump stations and got 1000 gallons of sap that tested 3.1%. And i am surprised that i didnt have much ice left in my tanks. I recalabrated my digital sap hydrometer because it read so high and it was right. There is still a little ice in tanks so this is probably the reason.

[spud]

I have two thousand gallons in the tank. I shut the pump down this morning. Ten day forecast not looking good.

Spud

[drewlamb]

Stamford - Not about physically restricting flow, rather it's about restricting bacterial growth. Most tap hole dry out is from bacteria growing, damaging and "drying out" living cells along the tap hole. New spouts and drop lines start without these unwanted guests and so produce more sap through a season. It's my understanding that "dry out" is really a misnomer. I'm all buckets and so have learned individual tree flow in my bushes well over the years. New spouts always run better and last longer before drying out than old taps. Also, once the bacteria is on there, it is extremely difficult to get rid of season to season, weather by boiling, chemical cleaning, heating, or whatever. Old spouts do well enough over a season if you don't tap too early. BTW, DON'T put your aluminum taps in the oven at 500 deg to sanitize! Learned this last year. There are enough impurities in the aluminum, which should not itself melt, to cause the metal to deform and blister.


Thanks Gen Stark and Randy,

My spouts were used only for a couple of weeks last season, so fairly new.

I'm curious as to why that is so critical? It seems 5/16 is a pretty darn big hole to get restricted by seeping sap. I washed the taps last season but do they build up residue to restrict flow?

Peter

[GeneralStark]

As drewlamb clearly stated it is about bacterial growth. You cannot clean a spout. This is why the trend in the industry is to use new plastic in the tree every year.

Pulled in about 225 gallons yesterday from 485 taps. Not too bad and now we have about 325 to boil for the open house. Pump has been on for 3 days now. It is trickling in and if the sun comes out this afternoon it may actually run a bit. Marginal freeze last night to lines never really froze up. 35 degrees now.


Thanks Gen Stark and Randy,

My spouts were used only for a couple of weeks last season, so fairly new.

I'm curious as to why that is so critical? It seems 5/16 is a pretty darn big hole to get restricted by seeping sap. I washed the taps last season but do they build up residue to restrict flow?

Peter

[wsugar]

Don't get to nervous yet. Not to long ago I didn't tap any trees till March 23rd
using my time to make the tubing better and add more taps. My wife made me get more rolls of tubing and I made more drops. So back in the woods I go and add some more taps. I've always made syrup in the middle of April. Maybe we will be turkey hunting and sugaring this year

[GeneralStark]

Pulled in another 150 this afternoon. As soon as the sun started to filter through the clouds it really started coming in. Without vacuum the lines probably would have never thawed.

[sjdoyon]

Received another six inches of snow yesterday. Shoveling continues on the top of the sugarbush (2,400+) elevation, shoveling tunnels for the mainlines since they are 2 feet below snow level and sitting the laterals on the snow. Very odd to see some of these trees running with five feet of snow base. Thinking when the nice weather does show up, might have some sap coming into the sugarhouse. Next five days, forecast is for another cold front (hopefully the last) since we are expected to be -15 Sunday and Monday. Next Friday supposed to be the beginning of the warm weather. We can only hope.

[Homestead Maple]

Received another six inches of snow yesterday. Shoveling continues on the top of the sugarbush (2,400+) elevation, shoveling tunnels for the mainlines since they are 2 feet below snow level and sitting the laterals on the snow. Very odd to see some of these trees running with five feet of snow base. Thinking when the nice weather does show up, might have some sap coming into the sugarhouse. Next five days, forecast is for another cold front (hopefully the last) since we are expected to be -15 Sunday and Monday. Next Friday supposed to be the beginning of the warm weather. We can only hope.

You'll have to add a 3 foot extension to you spout puller when you pull taps at the end of the season!!!

[doocat]

You have got to take some pics for us to see that snow. We have snow in the woods but very little left. I am sure the only reason we still have any is because of the frost keeping the ground cold.

Craig

[802maple]

I would think it would be running down there in Orwell as the sap has started picking up here. It is over 40 with a few breaks of sun and the sap is flowing alright. Nothing too crazy but pick up .25-.5/tap if it continues the rest of the day.

I am not surprised that it isn't running in Orwell as well as it does for you Matt. They didn't have very much snow cover in the early part of the winter and probably the frost is very deep. At the same time you had a small amount of snow and it kept the frost from sinking in as deep. With the roots froze hard , you won't get much sap, no matter how warm until they are able to pick up moisture. Good luck this weekend with your open house, I might try to hobble in, as long as you have handicap parking for us disabled. lol

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

I am not surprised that it isn't running in Orwell as well as it does for you Matt. They didn't have very much snow cover in the early part of the winter and probably the frost is very deep. At the same time you had a small amount of snow and it kept the frost from sinking in as deep. With the roots froze hard , you won't get much sap, no matter how warm until they are able to pick up moisture. Good luck this weekend with your open house, I might try to hobble in, as long as you have handicap parking for us disabled. lol
hey 802 long time buddy, firing up the tsunami this after noon if you happen to be going for a ride stop by

[802maple]

I don't ride to far until I get healed up, but maybe in a week or two.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

I don't ride to far until I get healed up, but maybe in a week or two.

Those guys in orwell arent using HE so sap isnt flowing for them.
When you feel better let me know

[GeneralStark]

I am not surprised that it isn't running in Orwell as well as it does for you Matt. They didn't have very much snow cover in the early part of the winter and probably the frost is very deep. At the same time you had a small amount of snow and it kept the frost from sinking in as deep. With the roots froze hard , you won't get much sap, no matter how warm until they are able to pick up moisture. Good luck this weekend with your open house, I might try to hobble in, as long as you have handicap parking for us disabled. lol

That's the thing. We had no snow here for most of the winter, but I think we have groundwater coming off the mountain and despite the frost in the ground the trees are getting water.

Open House went very well with many visitors. We had a couple come all the way from NYC to see our operation just based on our website. We boiled off the 500 gallons collected this week and made just over 10 gallons. Up to 16 or so. The new rig is working well, though we still haven't really boiled hard with it.

I have been using vacuum for several years but for several reasons have never had consistent high vacuum 24/7. The pump has been on for the last 4 days and now I can finally see what high vac. is all about. Yesterday, the sap was coming in at 32.5 degrees and once the sun came out it started gushing. Same thing today. It is amazing how quickly the lines thaw with vac.

Hope you are healing well Beanie, and we have a spot right next to the sugarhouse for you when you can get down off the mountain.

[Tucker08]

Had a good maple weekend day. The benefit to being a small operation yet still OCD on the taps I have was a plus, as I had sap for the better part of the day. Had about 50 people thru and sold a bunch of our blueberry jam and some syrup. A real plus was the hot dogs. Drew off some sweet and let them simmer. Sold about 40. One group of little old ladies got two a piece. Said they were the best dogs they ever had! Darn right they were.

Have about 350 to boil tomorrow. Today was a decent run for us. Maybe the best one yet. Gonna be huddled in thy sugar house tomorrow.


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[Randy Brutkoski]

I as well had a good turn out today. A little over 100 people showed up. The maple soaked hot dogs, cotton candy and the nuts were real big for us today. One group from hawaii. Sap ran a little today. Got about 2500 gallons today.Not much sap this year but at least the sugar content has been great. We should have another nice turn out tomorow.

[Randy Brutkoski]

Oh, and also i took care of 2 more grey squirrels today. About 20 in the last 3 weeks at my sugarbush.

[wsugar]

Can't believe the people yesterday we have a small sugarhouse so people were lined up but a great day. We sold a lot of product. We didn't have a lot of sap but ended up with another barrel. More sap to process today. Hey it's getting light I'm headed to the woods for a couple hours

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Can't believe the people yesterday we have a small sugarhouse so people were lined up but a great day. We sold a lot of product. We didn't have a lot of sap but ended up with another barrel. More sap to process today. Hey it's getting light I'm headed to the woods for a couple hours
go ahead make all that light delicate stuff, you know where to come and get the Dark Robust caffeine free stuff:lol:

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

I as well had a good turn out today. A little over 100 people showed up. The maple soaked hot dogs, cotton candy and the nuts were real big for us today. One group from hawaii. Sap ran a little today. Got about 2500 gallons today.Not much sap this year but at least the sugar content has been great. We should have another nice turn out tomorow.
what time you starting today?

[Tucker08]

Firing up at about 10am. Will go all day. Anyone feels like coming for a ride, come on down!


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[Randy Brutkoski]

Fire in the hole.

[GeneralStark]

Turned the pump off this morning after running for four days and collected about 500 in that period. Pulled in another 100 after shutting down last night. Will let that freeze in the tank til the next run which looks like it will be later next week. Forecast suggests some real sugaring weather is coming after this cold snap.

[Randy Brutkoski]

Made 2 barrels today. Another good turn out at the sugar house for the open house weekend. Now the waiting game begins,

[Thad Blaisdell]

Fire in the hole.

I recommend perpetration H

[wiam]

I recommend perpetration H

And he's back

[Randy Brutkoski]

his wife is giving him 1 hour a day to be on the computer. thats what chumlee told me.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

his wife is giving him 1 hour a day to be on the computer. thats what chumlee told me.
Supervised!

[Randy Brutkoski]

Don't get to nervous yet. Not to long ago I didn't tap any trees till March 23rd
using my time to make the tubing better and add more taps. My wife made me get more rolls of tubing and I made more drops. So back in the woods I go and add some more taps. I've always made syrup in the middle of April. Maybe we will be turkey hunting and sugaring this year

Your wife made you go out and get more tubing huh. I believe that. I thought all the taps you have allready added in the last 2 years were highly classified from her.

[wsugar]

Hey she doesn't want me sitting on the couch. We made another barrel yesterday and had a good turnout in the afternoon. I have to put up some more main line and get these taps in by weekend the weather actually looks good for a bit

[sapmaple]

We had a good Maple open house weekend despite the cold temps. Quite a few people both days. Good thing we got a run Sat. afternoon from 3pm to midnight or so, so we had sap to boil on Sunday afternoon We have about 500 gals so far only 15% of what we're looking for! This coming weekend looks good for temps so we're ready to rock and roll from then to the end sometime in April!!!!!!!!!!

[Tucker08]

The 2x6 was rolling pretty good this weekend. Finished 14 gallons, 10 of which was yesterday alone. Many visitors, too. Just passed the 20 gallon mark for the season.


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[GeneralStark]

Another micro run here this afternoon due to the warmth of the sun. Pulled in another 50 or so gallons. Buckets haven't done squat in days. Also finished tapping and the final count is 550 for this season. Could add some more but looks like it will shortly be time to focus on making syrup. Taking advantage of the cold snap to make some final adjustments in the sugarhouse before things really start happening.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Hey she doesn't want me sitting on the couch. We made another barrel yesterday and had a good turnout in the afternoon. I have to put up some more main line and get these taps in by weekend the weather actually looks good for a bit
just make sure power gets hooked up to vac house, we if need a hole to put dave in i know where there is a excavator:lol:

its actually pretty solid by vac house, if you drive truck in, dont get in line between pole and vac house will need a crane to get you out, 12 tandem loads of shale in there.

[PARKER MAPLE]

I'm am all set now, I believe the tubing is as tight as it's going to be for this season. The last warm spell I was pulling 20" on it so I'm pretty happy. Took Kevin Sargents advice and ran 1.5 PVC for new 30cfm pump to releaser. Looks good and ready for opperation. Flushed out the new pre heater as well, going to boil water and do a wash if the pans this week. Also order an auto draw off from smokey lake to make everything run smooth in sugar house. Can't wait to use new Wes fab filter press as well. Man I guess all i need is sap. Lol . Looks like we tapped in just under 1400 this year.. Should be fun when it get here Friday. Good luck to all fellow sugar makers

Parker Maple

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Moved old milk house from farm to 1/4 mile down road.
Vac shack now
9455945694579458

[Randy Brutkoski]

I think today is donut day for green mountain power employees, it happens once a month with all of the extra $ coming in from the extra storm surcharge that we all have been paying for months. So you might have to wait another day or 2 for your power install.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

I think today is donut day for green mountain power employees, it happens once a month with all of the extra $ coming in from the extra storm surcharge that we all have been paying for months. So you might have to wait another day or 2 for your power install.

When I was there yesterday morning Ryan wasn't there yet johny said he was stopping at Duncan bit I didn't know what was goo g on. So that's where all the storm surcharge money is going

[maplwrks]

Just keep paying your bills---We all like donuts!!

[Tucker08]

I'm am all set now, I believe the tubing is as tight as it's going to be for this season. The last warm spell I was pulling 20" on it so I'm pretty happy. Took Kevin Sargents advice and ran 1.5 PVC for new 30cfm pump to releaser. Looks good and ready for opperation. Flushed out the new pre heater as well, going to boil water and do a wash if the pans this week. Also order an auto draw off from smokey lake to make everything run smooth in sugar house. Can't wait to use new Wes fab filter press as well. Man I guess all i need is sap. Lol . Looks like we tapped in just under 1400 this year.. Should be fun when it get here Friday. Good luck to all fellow sugar makers

Parker Maple

Nice work. We will be done down here well before you. I will stop up. Looking forward to seeing your set-up!


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[sapmaple]

Mike I got you covered , just got my GMP bill and got slapped with a 25.8 Demand prod charge almost $300 for that, I only ran the RO twice on that billing Used only another 100 KWH then last month with NO RO used , but my bill was 5 times as big Grrrrrr! sure hope I can make some syrup just to pay GMP

[maplwrks]

I think you will find that the demand charge will stay with you all year.......

[KevinS]

I think today is donut day for green mountain power employees, it happens once a month with all of the extra $ coming in from the extra storm surcharge that we all have been paying for months. So you might have to wait another day or 2 for your power install.
Storm surcharge?
Is this a extra add on from when the hurricane hit or is this like Maryland's "rain tax" ?

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Storm surcharge?
Is this a extra add on from when the hurricane hit or is this like Maryland's "rain tax" ?
It's another tax the the libtard bosses of gmp have devised up to pad their pockets, just like the 3 dollars on every ones bill to pay for the welfare rats.

Today driving through rutvegas I spotted an Orwell sugarmaker tank in back of truck empty, Dunkin donuts wrappers on dash board and a big sign on back of truck "looking for HE fill station please help"
He was headed down west street towards Leader I think. :lol:

[GeneralStark]

I hope we get some sap soon. All this talk of donuts is making me hungry.

[Randy Brutkoski]

Are you talking about the guy that had his scooter or a mopad or something like that for sale on his front lawn a couple of years ago. I have been trying to talk him in to buying a helium injection starter kit. I have noticed in mine that if you use a whip style instead of a manifold for your dry line to your branch lines it has the best results, I think the helium and air must mix or something in that whip and it really makes that sap go down the wet line. I am sold on it.

[adk1]

Wow this topic is way over my head...

[maplwrks]

What a couple of t-holes!

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Yea randy that's the guy with the scooter. I think he still has it in his garage just couldn't part with it .

[Randy Brutkoski]

Sorry Mike, I couldnt resist.

[wsugar]

I think today is donut day for green mountain power employees, it happens once a month with all of the extra $ coming in from the extra storm surcharge that we all have been paying for months. So you might have to wait another day or 2 for your power install.

If you want I an turn off your power and save you that surcharge:lol::lol:

[maplwrks]

I am going to put that f#$%^& moped on top of your sap tank!@!

[maplwrks]

Ryan--I have a switch here on my computer that might make them appreciate us a little more!!

[Randy Brutkoski]

I see you gmp employees are well rested after the big day yesterday. I saw 2 gmp line men at benson village store yesterday buying lunch or something and i noticed one of them had some donut holes and i had to ask, I thought today is donut day for you guys, and he just kind of smiled, he knew what i was talking about.

[Randy Brutkoski]

Keep your finger off that red button.

[maplwrks]

As Ryan says---CASH OR CANDLES!! Whattayawant??

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Well got delavel 75 running what a difference over the sap sucker. Trying to get line high enough for releaser now. Just got in all set up on temp gauge to start tomorrow

[Tucker08]

Looking for guidance from you experts. When I draw off at the end of the night sweet for the next day to switch sides, at what point should I put it back when I fire up? When it starts to boil?


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[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Looking for guidance from you experts. When I draw off at the end of the night sweet for the next day to switch sides, at what point should I put it back when I fire up? When it starts to boil?


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I let mine start to boil, leave the plug in and start gradually adding it in to keep your normal level. I like to heat mine back up on a turkey fryer so I'm adding it in hot. Add it gradually because if you just dump it in it will go backwards into next one or two bays and you wil start making syrup in them.

[spud]

Sap is running 175 GPH. Not much but it might be enough to buy more pound cake and coffee.:)

Spud

[Randy Brutkoski]

Must be you dont have much frost in the ground. I am way south of you and nobody, i mean nobody is getting sap anywhere around here. Frost is deep.

[lakeview maple]

500 plus taps on a really steep grade and 20 gallons of sap all day, Im going t hire a bunch of kids to go squeeze the trees. LOL this is craziest weather Ive seen in quite a while .I hope it gets better,Al

[GeneralStark]

Started the pump Thursday am and for the next 24 hours it trickled in. Maybe 50 gallons. Yesterday afternoon it picked up and then ran all night. Hard to tell exactly how much I have collected due to all the ice in the tanks from the last week's micro runs, but probably about 250-300. Going to boil today and likely tomorrow as well to get ahead and ready for this week. We'll be busy this week I think.

[sjdoyon]

started running around 3pm yesterday afternoon, had over 2,000 gallons come in. Sap is starting to run this morning, looks like it will be a good day.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

4 days 250 gal woohoo just gathered pumping off going to 're oring RO and give it a try tonight bring food and beer

[Tucker08]

Very poor run down here, not much happened here today. Disappointing. Boiled 150 gallons last night thinking I needed to get ahead of it for today not going to need to boil today, might not be able to tomorrow


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[Flat Lander Sugaring]

RO is fixed orings were pushed out of there seats. 2% permeate just finished procesing going to start our huge run that we had in last 4 daysto

FIRE IN THE HOLE !!!!!!!!!!!**

[GeneralStark]

Made over 15 gal. today which brings the total to 30+ all "golden delicate". Sap ran pretty well this afternoon when the sun came out, the heaviest flow I have seen this season. Slowed way down but may run all night if no freeze. Interesting weather forecast for the 48 hours....

[woodchuck]

First time this year the releaser cycled. 140 gallons from 200 trees on Vacuum and another 30 from 50 buckets. It seemed to slow way down so I killed the pump. Neighbor has 350 taps on the shady side and got zilch.

[Randy Brutkoski]

Collected 3000 gallons today, and still coming in but very slow which tells me the ground is still very froze, bring the rain.

[Potters3]

Had a fair run yesterday made around 8 gallons of syrup last night. Just came from the shack and it looks like it has pickup this morning with 3' plus of snow in the woods we need some sun to get the frost out and let the trees run. BUT it looks like this weekend was a great start small boils get all the equipment dialed in , walk lines fix vac leaks and hopefully get ready for the monster runs this week.

[spud]

I got 3300 gallons yesterday and it ran all night. At six this morning it was running 175 GPH. It has been raining very very hard for hours.

Spud

[bairdswift]

I got 3300 gallons yesterday and it ran all night. At six this morning it was running 175 GPH. It has been raining very very hard for hours.

Spud
Spud, how do you move your sap? How big is the tank? How far do you go with it?

[GeneralStark]

Sap ran lightly all night despite just under freezing temps. and freezing rain. Not sure it will do much today with the cold temps but we'll see. Looks like Tuesday may be the next good run as the sun is forecasted to show itself.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Made a few gallons off the 2% permeate, going to fire up the Tsunami around 1 today finish off the huge run we he yesterday (sarcasm).
Our diagraphm pump pulled in more sap than or old milk pump go figure

[wsugar]

Sap ran pretty good. I worked on leaks yesterday and let the r o boil got up this morning and rinsed ro I had more leaks the big trees are running now. I got the vacuum back to 26 taking a break and will be boiling

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Sap ran pretty good. I worked on leaks yesterday and let the r o boil got up this morning and rinsed ro I had more leaks the big trees are running now. I got the vacuum back to 26 taking a break and will be boiling


U must have better trees hardly anything here
Five o clock somewhere fire in the hole

[wsugar]

U must have better trees hardly anything here
Five o clock somewhere fire in the hole

Sap always runs better in Poultney than in Benson

[Tucker08]

Still nothing.


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[steve J]

Only thing flowing for me the last two days are my 3/16th lines and only one of these is moving very well. 5/16 and buckets mostly dry the temps last two nights have not gotten down below freezing up there but tonight will and I expect it to break loose tomorrow.

[Randy Brutkoski]

Sap coming in fair today. One of my pumps burned up. Motor went on my 3 horse liquid , going to get it fixed tomorow

[GeneralStark]

Boiled just about 300 gal. in just under 3 hours and still not maxing out the rig. All the sap boiled came in overnight and today as I boiled everything in tanks yesterday. Running surprisingly well today, but just on the verge of freezing up now. Closing in on 40 gal. so far. All golden delicate with a nice buttery flavor.

Won;t be able to boil again til Tuesday so we'll see what comes in the rest of today and tomorrow, but Tuesday on looks real good.

[wsugar]

2 barrels today

Not bad for me

[doocat]

Randy, it must be the year. We had a 3 hp liquid ring motor smoke. Non repairable, had to buy a new/used motor. Actually we rebuilt the pump while it was apart and the thing is pulling 28 on about 1600 taps now. It's only money right....

[Randy Brutkoski]

I knew that donut comment was going to haunt me. I think green mountain power sent a power surge to that trash can that is on the utility pole above my vacuum shed.

[spud]

Spud, how do you move your sap? How big is the tank? How far do you go with it?

My sap gets trucked 15 minutes away from my house. The trucks hold 3500 gallons each. They run two trucks all season and pick up sap from about 8 locations. Although I have 7500 gallons storage (two tanks). I call for pick up when I know there is 3500 gallons in my tank. Based on what GPH I am getting I sometimes wait to call until 5:30-6:00am so they can come when my driveway is still froze. The people I deal with are about as nice as can be. They run a top notch 70,000 tap operation.

Spud

[spud]

I got another 3600 gallons today. Sap stopped flowing at about 7:00pm. Looks like good weather to come all week.

Spud

[vermontpure]

Made my first gallon today. Nice fancy batch but it's sweeter than I've ever tasted. hopefully more to boil this week.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Made another 8 gal or so. All tanks are cleaned and washed.
Total for year approx. 30 right now

[VT_K9]

We made about 3 gallons today. I have another 2-3 of sweet (almost syrup) waiting to be reloaded once the pans are running with more sap. The RO really cuts down on boiling....wood use....work cutting and stacking more next year. I last checked the sap puller at about 7:30 tonight. 90 gallons gathered so far today.

Mike

[Randy Brutkoski]

I have enough sap right now to make about 200 to 250 gallons tommorow. That will double what i have made so far.

[Brokermike]

The flood gates are about ready to open down here. Sap started running at some point last night, despite the cold temps.

[GeneralStark]

I will be very surprised if we get any sap today. Still below freezing with a stiff north wind and almost 1/4" of ice glaze coating everything. The forecast is certainly looking good starting tomorrow for the next week.

Had a small issue with the electric releaser yesterday. Because the tubing is so tight the pump starves for air and starts to cavitate, so I have been cracking a valve on the releaser canister to let in a little air. Because it was so cold yesterday, but the sap was running, the spray from the submersible pump was freezing up the vacuum inlet so I had to shut off vacuum to thaw it out with some hot condensate from the evap. Same thing happened again later as everything was freezing up.

This morning I T'd in a ball valve to the vacuum line between the pump and releaser to keep the incoming air closer to the pump and not in the releaser. Hopefully this homemade vac. regulator will work. Been running at about 27.5" generally.

Also working on moving wood around to get ready for lots of boiling this week. I have done a test boil with water for several hours, sweetened the pans, and made almost 40 gallons so far with just over one cord. I have about 5 cords left cut and stacked ready to go, a huge slab pile and about 15 cords in logs. Going to buck up the slabs and start on the logs during breaks in the action just to be sure I have enough wood for the season. I don't want to have sap to boil but no wood. Need to make every drop I can, even some commercial at the end.:)

[VTmaplehobby]

Still waiting for it to run here, must be with all east facing slopes we need the morning sun? I thought for sure we would run Saturday, but 2 gallons just isn't worth the fire... So close yet so far away. Fingers crossed, doing the sap dance. All but bought the beer. LOL

[Thad Blaisdell]

Made my first 50 gals this morning. Big deal. Is this season ever going to start

[sjdoyon]

Boiled over 4,000 gallons on Sunday from Friday/Saturday runs. Have three barrels done, no more goose egg. Tuesday should change all our fortunes.

[Randy Brutkoski]

Made 150 gallons tonight with releasers failing all day. Still cold.

[VT_K9]

I had run the sap puller nearly 24 hrs a day between Thursday and Sunday morning when I emptied it. Had nearly 400 gallons of sap. Ran it Sunday and Sunday night. I left it running over night because it was warm, at least about 9pm. When I woke up Monday I could hear the wind and saw ice in the driveway. Upon checking on the sap puller I found 125 gallons of sap gathered. I turned the unit off to give it a break along with the generator. It did not seem to warm up at all, but I found 165 gallons in the tank at about 8pm on Monday. I guess I should have turned it back on. The weather looks great for the rest of the week. Good Luck. Mike

[bairdswift]

Vt-k9 my bush sap ran 125 gal.from 5pm-9pm yesterday. Windy and 35* weird....but nothing until 5pm

[spud]

I got 3000 gallons of sap yesterday. This morning it has already started to run at 9:45am. Should be a good day for all of us.

Spud

[maplwrks]

I got 1500 gallons off 1000 taps yesterday / last night. Sap is going now--headed home to make some surp!!

[GeneralStark]

Wow. Ran the pump all day yesterday and not a drop here. Never got above 31 with a stiff north wind. Things will be different today however....

[Randy Brutkoski]

Just shut the incenerator down. Collected just under 11000 gallons today. Made 4 barrels and concentrating the rest of it right now. Started at dark amber but came back half way through it tonight to med.

[syrup2nv]

12000 gallon in. After blowing the fuse on a nearby transformer and GMP having to send a truck to fix, managed to make 3 drums of medium. Concentrating through the night. Trees still producing 300/hr. @ 2am. Was hoping for a freeze.

[spud]

Got 6900 gallons yesterday. Sap ran all night at 200GPH. Sap testing 2%. Never froze last night and the wind is now picking up. Still should be pretty good today.Vacuum playing tricks on me and jumping 2-3 inches. Dr.Tim said it was due to tree gases and micro leaks. Lets hope more tree gas because I don't want to go in the knee deep snow looking for leaks.

Spud

[PARKER MAPLE]

Yesterday was an epic sap run day.. Let today be another one. Vac ran all night going to check it now

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Gal a tap yesterday collected 15000 gal made 6 gal medium robust still have some to boil one pass 2.4 to 4.8/4.9 second pass takes it to 8.1. Up around 35 gal now

[Brokermike]

12000 gallon in. After blowing the fuse on a nearby transformer and GMP having to send a truck to fix, managed to make 3 drums of medium. Concentrating through the night. Trees still producing 300/hr. @ 2am. Was hoping for a freeze.

You might be surprised. Froze at my house. Got done boiling at Scott's about midnight, filled the wood boiler and it was sitting at 32. Woke up at 6 and there was ice on the mud. I bet it froze in Rupert.

We'll be by with sap this week.

[sjdoyon]

had over 6,000 gallons come in by this afternoon, still running, should be a good day tomorrow. Temps down into the mid 20s this morning, should be the same tonight.

[GeneralStark]

Pulled in about 1400 gal. around 2% in the last 30 hours. Boiled 300 last night and another 400 tonight. Made about 17 gallons and up to about 55 for season. Sap is still running and at least I have some room in the tanks now. Came very close to overflowing this afternoon as I had to work today and couldn't boil til almost 5.

Supposed to freeze tonight and I hope it does. Hope to get caught up tomorrow. The season is finally here.

[syrup2nv]

13000 gal of sap. Made 260gal of Medium. RO'ing as I type for the morning.

[spud]

I only got 3300 gallons yesterday but we froze good last night. I hope today will bring more. Testing 2%

Spud

[maplwrks]

I've had a good friend boiling for me the last 2 nights. He doesn't understand all the technology that we have, but enjoys boiling the 25% sap I put into the rig! Does my heart good to see his smile and his eyes light up while running the rig. I learned a lot about the maple gig many years ago from him, and love having the chance to give a little back to him. He so looks forward to coming out each year for this. Many Thanks Eddie!! Hope he can come out and play a few more days this year.
Sap slowed down a little yesterday, but we still had a good run---made 45 gallons of Amber Rich syrup last night.

[steve J]

Yesterday stunk for me as the overnight low was only 36 trees did not reset. When I left there this morning to come to work for a few hours it was 30 I hope that was enough for a recharge. April first was great day thou

[Geroldn]

Tuesday and Wednesday I boiled about 150 gallons of sap and finally got my first draws, about 2 1/2 gallons of near syrup for finishing.

Northfield, VT

2013 6 buckets, 6 sap sacks, concrete block fire pit in the woods and 20 gallon agway galvanized watering pan for boiling, produced 2 gallons of 'campfire' grade, Kubota L3200 for woods work
2014 2x4 WSE evaporator, 20x30 barn/sugar house, 116 taps on gravity tubing, 3 buckets, 6 sapsacks

[sweetvt]

I've had a good friend boiling for me the last 2 nights. He doesn't understand all the technology that we have, but enjoys boiling the 25% sap I put into the rig! Does my heart good to see his smile and his eyes light up while running the rig. I learned a lot about the maple gig many years ago from him, and love having the chance to give a little back to him. He so looks forward to coming out each year for this. Many Thanks Eddie!! Hope he can come out and play a few more days this year.
Sap slowed down a little yesterday, but we still had a good run---made 45 gallons of Amber Rich syrup last night.


Mplrwks, That "old friend" talks about going out to help you all year long, He always brings it up about how much fun it is to see your rig boiling that high octane sap... he says, all you do is flip the switch and start drawing syrup, just amazing ! It really is something he loves to do, thanks for having him out to get his fix of maple every year.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Am I allowed to come to your sugar house mike?:-D I promise not to say anything about the secret stuff going on

[Randy Brutkoski]

Made 4 more barrells today.That puts me at 770 gallons made so far. I have had about 100 taps i had to pull in the last few days because they dried up. But the weather looks really good coming up.

[spud]

I got 4200 gallons today testing 2.1%. Total syrup made from my sap is 748 Gallons.

Spud

[maplwrks]

Randy---how things holding up??

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Mike,

How are things going with you this year?

[Randy Brutkoski]

Chasing leaks every day. No vacuum on 1 bush, motor burned up, new 1 should be here in a couple days. R.O. is dialed in perfect. 20% first pass and it is keeping up with my rig.

[GeneralStark]

Only about 50 gallons left to boil from the big run tuesday into wednesday, then onto the 300 or so I pulled in yesterday. Up to 70 gallons so far, all golden delicate.

Not the most impressive run yesterday but the clouds and the wind kept things cool I guess. Will be interesting to see what happens the next few days with some rain and no freeze tonight predicted. Could get another 2 day gusher.

Had a minor malfunction with the rig Tuesday. Went to pull the air control for the door and it came completely off. Fortunately I was able to wire tie the armature open to keep boiling with full air. CDL had someone here the next morning and he replaced all the cables for all three controls as there have been a few issues on other rigs.

[maplwrks]

Hi Brandon--Things are going well for us this year. Vacuum is the highest I've ever had, but the sap won't run. The ground here is frozen real deep, though it is softening. I am at 138 gallons and will make another 20 or so this afternoon. Sap is running pretty good right now---hope to have a lot of sap to boil tomorrow.

[sjdoyon]

another morning at 10 degrees. Supposed to be the same tomorrow. Taking up to noon to get warm enough to get the sap running. Supposed to get temps in the 20s at night for the next week so hopefully things will run a little better. What a tough spring.

[VT_K9]

Made about 13 gallons so far. Have 385 gallons of sap waiting for the R/O. Hopefully tomorrow will bring in about 200 gallons more. I am looking to see how long 500-600 gallons of sap will take us to process. We did 400 gallons of sap in about 5 hours on Thursday and ended up with about 8 gallons of syrup.

Mike

[spud]

Had a very good day yesterday. sap started running about 10:00am and I got 7000 gallons so far. Sap was still running 200GPH at midnight with a very hard rain. I have not checked it yet this morning and it is now 33 degrees outside. I hope I got a little freeze so the trees will recharge.

Randy,

I am sorry to hear you are having a lot of troubles. Are the tree rats everywhere in your woods? I hope you get your pump back up and running very soon.

Spud

[Randy Brutkoski]

Thanks spud, My brother got the inches back up to 26 at my 4 releasers yesterday. He used 110 connectors. A spot i went through 2 weeks ago. Now i am having alot of trouble with my double releaser. Where the float bar comes up, The glue crapped out. Glued it again but when it dumps and goes to the other side there is so much air pressure going the other way that it will come unglued after a few hours. A year of huge headaches. I will be over 1000 gallons today and that big frigan black cloud is still following me around.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Mike-- hope it turns for you guys soon. I know what tough years are like and when it goes from cold to warm. I pray for your sakes it doesn't. I made syrup up to the first of April which is about 10 days past normal end of the season so hope you guys can go up into May. Seems like some of the guys in Ohio and PA had a good year so hopefully it is coming your way.

[spud]

I was able to get 1800 gallons today before it froze up. Tomorrow should be a very good day. Hey Randy is it possible to go get a new releaser so no production is lost? You can pay the dealer after the season is over. Then you have the off season to fix the releaser you're having trouble with. Once fixed keep it for a spare.

Spud

[Randy Brutkoski]

Made 4 more barrells today. That puts me over 1000. Should make another 1000 this coming week.

[chevypower]

We made three more barrels today which put us at around 720 gallons on the year. All a nice medium, flirting with Fancy at times. We still have a lot of ground to make up so hopefully mother nature cooperates.

[spud]

We made three more barrels today which put us at around 720 gallons on the year. All a nice medium, flirting with Fancy at times. We still have a lot of ground to make up so hopefully mother nature cooperates.

Hey ChevyPower sounds like things are going well. I really think we have 3 weeks to go. Snow was still two feet deep on the back side of my woods yesterday. Last year we ended on the 20th but I think mother nature is going to give us an extra week this year. The 10 day forecast looks great. Good luck to you.

Spud

[chevypower]

I hope your right, but I'm not so optimistic.. Sap flow slowed down quite a bit yesterday so hopefully the cooler weather last night will give the trees a good charge. Good luck to you also.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Alll aboard sugaring train heading to Thads choooooo choooo

[wsugar]

16 more taps this am. Over 600 gal so far and should make another 100 gal today.

Hey rusty I will gather your sap while you are gone today!!!😄😄

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

16 more taps this am. Over 600 gal so far and should make another 100 gal today.

Hey rusty I will gather your sap while you are gone today!!!����

Be careful pulling up on Brian's property, hue is carrying, some stole his log splinter next to vac shack, looking to have some Shari law revenge.

[spud]

I got 7500 gallons again today. Sap is still running a bit tonight but should freeze up later. Hope to have another great day tomorrow.

Spud

[GeneralStark]

Up to 105 gal. and sap is still coming in. Was able to get caught up and boil all that was stored and most of what came in today. Sugar has been 2.2 - 1.8 with high after a freeze and low after no freeze. Yesterday syrup went to amber rich. Cleaned syrup pans this am and went back to golden delicate. Should get interesting this week with a freeze tonight and maybe wednesday. May start getting some darker syrup. Have enough wood to make 150 so need to finish cutting slab pile, and get into some logs as well.

With brand new tubing and some taps only in since late march, should be able to weather some warm days. Long range has several freezes next week.

[Randy Brutkoski]

Made 3 barrells today. Puts me at 1120. Sap didnt run real hard for me today.

[VT_K9]

Processed 700 gallons through the R/O and evaporator. Made 12 gallons today. Started at 7:45 and finished about 2:15.....much better than the pre-R/O times.

Mike

[syrup2nv]

175 gallons made today/evening. 1600 for the season. Looks like tomorrow should be a 200+ day. Currently 28 and falling.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Uhh burned pan over weekend lost 4 gal syrup cleaned up with wood chisel red scotch brute fired here back up finished night out.
Made 10+ gal last night almost another melt down firing up again tonight

[GeneralStark]

Pulled in about 800 gal. from yesterday am to now. Not sure if we had a real freeze last night though there was some ice on the ground. Boiled this afternoon and made about 10 gal. First five still golden delicate but not sure about the rest. Sugar dropped to about 1.8 in today's sap. Still running but has slowed down quite a bit. Will boil off the rest tomorrow and clean everything up in hopes for another freeze wednesday night.

Vacuum has been key this year. My buckets are pretty much done and have probably produced about 4 gal./tap, maybe a bit more.

[Randy Brutkoski]

I took a day off from boiling and fixed some leaks and collected all day. Got about 5000 gallons of sap. Pulled another 30 taps today due to dead, dry holes. The pumps stay on tonight, should be a big boil tomorow.

[VT_K9]

Collected about 440 gallons of sap and turned it into 110 gallons of 6.25% sap ready to boil first thing in the morning. My Father and I spent the evening draining the evaporator and washing it with permeate. Removed a lot of crude. We warmed the sweet sap and filtered it before putting it back in. It made a difference.

Mike

[GeneralStark]

Despite heavy south winds, thunder, lightning, and heavy rain the sap flow picked up overnight and I pulled in another 250 gallons. Sugar down to 1.5% but it is time to start making some darker syrup. Forecast is looking interesting with a possible marginal freeze tonight, a more likely freeze tomorrow night, but then warm for several days and next possible freeze next tuesday. Not sure the syrup flavor will stay good through the warm up but we'll find out.

Time to cut some slabs and then get to boiling. Been pretty lucky with leaks during the season and have only had to fix two squirrel chews. Pump has been on for the last week and vac. is 27 " in the woods.

[maplwrks]

Got 1 gpt yesterday which was pretty good with the temps we had. Boiled 25 gallons of nice dark syrup, bringing us close to 300 for the season. Weather doesn't look that promising for the next week, maybe a freeze tonight. Going to start hanging more mainlines on thursday, while it is nice and warm.

[spud]

Sunday night I thought the sap was going to stop due too freezing up. It never froze hard and the sap ran a bit all Sunday night. I wound up getting 9000 gallon from 6:00am Sunday to 6:00am Monday. Then the sap kept running yesterday and I got another 5750 gallons. Today the sap is still running at 375 GPH but the sugar and sap quality are going down. Sugar is 1.7-1.8% but it is going to freeze hard tonight. By the time it freezes tonight I should another 5-6000 gallons in the tank. Hurt my back yesterday checking lines. Did find some leaks and vacuum is back up. I still think we have two more weeks in my area. I don"t believe the 10 day forecast and still think there will be some good cold nights to come. The CV2 spouts are working great. My sap runs are bigger now then ever before and I think the CV2 spouts have something to do with it. Even with sugar dropping yesterday I think I have about 1400+ gallons of syrup to date. I'm not stopping till the birds start building nest in the trees.

Spud

[Scribner's Mountain Maple]

I hope your right Spud. The season started here in Duxbury only 10 days ago, so I'm hoping for another 2 weeks also. We still have lots of snow and the peepers are a ways a way from peeping I think.

Ben

[Randy Brutkoski]

Made 3 more barrels yesterday. Could of made another one but didnt feel like building another press. Darkened right up but good flavor and it is still going through the press. I have a feeling the syrup is going to go to rope soon. Vacuum levels are dropping due to holes drying up.

[Randy Brutkoski]

The helium injection isnt working like i thought it would. I dont think it hurt me but i will try it again next year. Where it was going in near my whips at my branch lines, it was causing some icing on the 35 degree days.

[wsugar]

Randy it's got to be much different in where you are sap is running good and vacuum is holding well. The syrup is almost fancy there is snow in the wood. If we make it to next week I think we have a chance to make more syrup.

[GeneralStark]

Boiled yesterday and made another 10-12 gal. Up to about 125 for the season so far. Been hoping to make at least 150 and I think I will get there.

Started making the darkest syrup of the season so far. Amber rich, right in the middle of the scale. Crop has been mostly fancy so far so time to make some dark syrup.

Snow is mostly gone here, but it seems like there is still frost in the ground. With a solid freeze tonight should have at least one more good run through the weekend.

Pulled in another approx. 300 gal. since 4pm yesterday, but sugar is down to about 1.4

[maplwrks]

Trees are still chugging along--1 GPT everyday since Saturday. Made 40 gallons of Grade B last night. Trees still looking like they want to play, so play we will. I hope we freeze tonight to give them a recharge.

[spud]

Sap ran all night a bit and I woke up to 3500 gallons in the tank. Trees froze at 9:00am this morning and then one hour later we have blue skies and full sun. Sap is now running at 600 GPH. Sugar this morning was 1.6%. Two more weeks for sure.

Spud

[Brokermike]

Spring Peepers Down here, a sure sign things are on the tail end

[PerryW]

Spring Peepers Down here, a sure sign things are on the tail end

wow. are you sure they are peepers? Now I know Shaftsbury is in the banana belt of Vermont but people are still boiling on southern NH. Here in northern NH, we can still drive on the ice.

[Justinmaple]

Spud,

It's amazing how you always seem to have thousands of gallons of sap! You've had "runs" in Richford on days where guys in southern VT weren't getting much. That's remarkable since Richford borders Canada. You're full of it!

[Brokermike]

wow. are you sure they are peepers? Now I know Shaftsbury is in the banana belt of Vermont but people are still boiling on southern NH. Here in northern NH, we can still drive on the ice.

We boiled last night, definately heard some peepers. I remember the same thing 3 years ago. Of course it was 70 in march back then

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Just checked total for year I'm close to 80 got .5693 gph today on 400 taps boiling tonight having a bunch of jogging drunks coming by from the local bar this should be good

[spud]

Spud,

It's amazing how you always seem to have thousands of gallons of sap! You've had "runs" in Richford on days where guys in southern VT weren't getting much. That's remarkable since Richford borders Canada. You're full of it!

Not sure what to tell you. Today turned out to be a pretty good day again and I got 4300 gallons. I froze up tonight at about 7:30 and it is now 27 degrees at my house. Tomorrow should be a very good day for sap. I really do believe that the CV2 spouts are making a big difference in amount of sap per run. I chart everything and my runs this year are about 1400 gallons more. People in the South are most likely drying up (unless they are using CV2 spouts).

Spud

[DoubleBrookMaple]

On the mountain here, I didn't get runs until 9-10 days ago. The woods trees here are only yielding 1.5-1.7, and it is a long boil and a lot of sap to get a few gallons. MY yield came out just what the 86/% gave me. Pitiful to have to boil 57 gallons with the 1.5 stuff on my last batch. Very inefficient, and I go through a lot of wood!
Anyway....
I still have 60-70% ground covered with snow, and the trees will reset tonight after 3 nights above freezing (just 33 last night) Sap still flowing today some. If I can make it until mid week without trees budding I will get another good run then.
So far...

750 gallons sap boiled @ 20gph
12.5 gallons of Amber bottled

[Randy Brutkoski]

The sap ran ok today. Got about 4000 gallons from 5700 taps. tomorow should be a good run. closed off more holes today but i got the vac. back up to 25 inches.

[chevypower]

We made another 69 gallons today. Hopefully the freeze tonight will keep things chugging along. It started to darken up some yesterday, up until then it has all been very light. Our total so far is around 1095 gallons, still quite a ways off from last years total but hopeful we can at least get through next week.

[northwoods_forestry]

Not enough of a freeze here to keep us going. Looks like cleanup starts today. Will probably finish up the season at or near 75%.

[steve J]

I am headed up this morning I believe it was cold enough for one last run today will boil off that and start cleaning up.

[Hal]

Going slowly bananas here. Sap 1.75-2%, wood gone, and it was junk anyway, set fire to a tree behind the sugarhouse Monday night, grade off because I can't boil fast enough.

Cutting dead pine stubs in the morning, burning them in the afternoon, feeding the last of the dry wood to help them burn. My neighbor gave me permission to raid her fireplace woodshed, there is about a cord there that I cut in 1995. It should be dry enough to boil without even lighting it.

At about 2/3 of last year's crop now, may get a few more days.

[spud]

I am up to 7000 gallons today so far and it is still running 800 GPH. Now the weather man is saying 39 degrees tonight so it should run all night. I am getting more sap per run then ever before. It has to be the CV2 spouts and a few other changes I made for the season. Thank you Dr. Tim for some tips you have giving me along the way.

Spud

[wdchuck]

Same here- sap is coming in at record levels- overcoming a properly designed 2 line system, with the airline running a constant 1/3rd of a stream!

[Buffalo Creek Sugar Camp]

Spud-How do you monitor how many GPH the sap is running at? By timing the releaser dumping?

[Tucker08]

Got an ok run here today. Will boil every drop I have tomorrow and that will be it. Crossed the 40 gallon mark last night. Should close close to 50, which was my unofficial goal. All told, a poor year, but having too many taps for a 2x6 saved me. The cv spouts are my two bushes that are still performing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DrTimPerkins]

I am up to 7000 gallons today so far and it is still running 800 GPH. Now the weather man is saying 39 degrees tonight so it should run all night. I am getting more sap per run then ever before. It has to be the CV2 spouts and a few other changes I made for the season. Thank you Dr. Tim for some tips you have giving me along the way.

You're welcome. Always happy to chat. And yes....today was a "big sap" day in northern Vermont.

[VT_K9]

Had a good run yesterday and today. Processed 530 or gallons today. We're up to about 43 gallons of syrup. Ahead of our best year since I've been around, but we also have a puller with properly set up tubing. Since this morning's pumping we have about 300 gallons of sap and it's still running. The puller will be left running all night tonight. We also have had a darker than normal year. I have tried to vary how we boil after running the sap through the R/O and nothing seems to have changed. We have tried different firings and how full we fill the firebox. We have tried drawing off a little later than normal only to sped 5-10 minutes finishing. We tried drawing off a little early to spend about 15-20 minutes finishing. We finish on a propane burner in a large pot. May it's just the way the year is going.

Mike

[GeneralStark]

Had a pretty solid freeze last night and have pulled in over 1gpt since this morning. I was hoping that the sugar content would come up after a freeze from the low of 1.4 yesterday after several days of no freeze, but it is still hanging at about 1.4, maybe a little less even. I look forward to having an RO next year as boiling 1.4 sap is slow.

Really have firing the rig dialed in now and can easily maintain about 100-115 gph, even with a mix of good hardwood and wet popple slabs. Once this thing gets warmed up it can really boil.

The vacuum pump has been on non-stop about 10 days and I plan to leave it on through the weekend at which point I will likely be out of wood. Spent the morning running a woodsplitter and probably made another cord+ to get me through this run.

Supposed to get near 70 on sunday and over 70 monday so the end is near. I'm at 140 gal. now and will easily get over the 150 mark. Not bad for the first season in the new operation, especially considering I didn't have all taps in until 3/25, and considering the less than ideal weather.

Syrup quality has been excellent. Most of the crop has been golden delicate, with the rest at amber rich. The last batch canned today was starting to flirt with dark robust and I suspect we will get there tomorrow considering the low sugar and the warm weather. Flavor has been great in all syrup made. Not a huge fan of fancy syrup, but this year's has been really nice.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Made another 4-5 gal tonight collected another 425 today boiling it tomorrow. Saturday even looks good and I think next Tuesday night might be good l, go a little longer. Should be up around 85-90 gal

[Randy Brutkoski]

Sap ran real good today. Vacuum still hanging around 25 hg. About 10,000 gallons of sap today. Dark syrup but still has good flavor.

[DoubleBrookMaple]

Good day for me here as well. Up around 1000 gallons sap for the year! Long night, with temperature very slowly dropping to just 3-4 degrees below freezing for 9 hours (I have my own weather station here). I just read a publication on the UVM site on this ( http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmaple/maplesapexudation.pdf ), and a long slow freeze is a good indicator of sap the next day. Quick freezes do not allow for much exudation. I had my best day today, and will be boiling for the next two days at least. Snow still covers most of my bush, and the ground is still rock solid. I will see if I can get just one more good run next week when it drops below freezing again a couple nights. Last year I was able to go as late as most. I am going to push the limit, and see what unfolds with the trees budding. It will be an experiment for me. 5 days coming with 35-65 degree days that will be helping the buds I think. My tree tops are so high it is hard for me to tell, but I will gain some experience this year.

[chevypower]

We made an additional 92 gallons yesterday afternoon and at 11:00pm my brother went up to start the RO to make some room for the incoming sap. We should have a good day today, need to collect the buckets in the morning and then fire up the evaporator again.

[spud]

In the last 24 hours I have gotten 10,500 gallon of sap. The bad part is the sugar is only 1.3%. I too was hoping for better sugar because of the freeze we just had. The sap is making Medium amber and the flavor is great. Sap still running at 225 GPH this morning and it should run all day at a slower pace then yesterday. Weather man is saying 34 degrees for later tonight and I hope he is a little off and we get colder. If we can hold out till next Tuesday we could get some big runs again.

Jeremy, I measured my dumps from both releasers so I can keep track of GPH. This way I can let the sap driver know ahead of time when I should expect another load.I hope your having a great season.

Spud

[220 maple]

Spud,
We have a new producer down are way, he has the biggest double horizontals that Leader sales, do you have any idea how much sap dumps each time, he was guessing 20 to 25 gallon? my guess is probably more like 15 gallon, he told me on his best day he was getting 3200 gallons an hour? He has two releasers that size, one was dumping every 30 seconds. The other with less taps around a minute.
Just thought you might know?

Mark 220 Maple

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Boiled last night made 3 to 4 gal of dark robust with a hint of flowery taste. Processed another 425 going really hard through RO can only go from 2.2 to 4.2 o e pass then only to 5 second pass.Sap getting cloudy bit stStoll making syrup have to be right around 100 gal need more containers

[spud]

Spud,
We have a new producer down are way, he has the biggest double horizontals that Leader sales, do you have any idea how much sap dumps each time, he was guessing 20 to 25 gallon? my guess is probably more like 15 gallon, he told me on his best day he was getting 3200 gallons an hour? He has two releasers that size, one was dumping every 30 seconds. The other with less taps around a minute.
Just thought you might know?

Mark 220 Maple

Mark,

Go to ask.com or goggle and give them the measurements of the cylinder and they will tell you how much fluid per inch. Then you just need to know how many inches the sap goes up the cylinder before it dumps.

Spud

[spud]

I got another 4000 gallons today and it might stay running all night. The weather man is saying 34 degrees tonight but I hope it gets colder then that. The sugar today was 1.3%. I jugged up Med syrup last night and the flavor is excellent. I hope for another 10-12 days. One of my fall tapping trees gave me a gallon yesterday and over a quart today. The one tree is testing at 4% and the other tested today at 3.4%. I wish my whole woods was like that. These trees were tapped November 1st.

Spud

[GeneralStark]

Made another 7 gal. of Amber Rich today. Getting close to Dark Robust and will likely get there tomorrow with 60+ temps. Sap is still coming in though it has slowed down. Probably pulled in another 1 gpt in the last 24 hours. Sugar at 1.3 but I can't imagine it will stay there much longer. Was just up in Shelburne and I saw several silver maples that were budding. My reds are still producing sap so may get through the weekend but with near 80 forecasted for monday...its not looking good for going much longer here in Bristol.

[Randy Brutkoski]

Got 6000 gallons of sap today. It might be a small freeze tonight. Or maybe it will be a fake freeze for tomorow. At 1600 gallons made so far. Making a really good b right now. Almost got it back to a dark amber today.

[syrup2nv]

Sealed drum #60 tonight. Sap has almost stopped, though the pumps are still on. Looks like 3-4 nights in the 20's next week, let's hope the weather man is wrong about the high temps for sat and sun. Color lightened back up to Amber Rich today with great flavor. Most incoming sap today was 1.8-2.0. Last year we boiled 22 times, tomorrow will be #21 for this season.

[DucFight]

Syrup2nv, 2400 gallons on 3400 taps or do you buy sap too?

[GeneralStark]

Awoke to what I thought may be frost on the windshield, but it was just dew. 34 for a low which helps sap storage. Pulled in another 250 overnight. Going to boil most of the day today to try to get through everything I have stored. Sap has slowed down but still running.

[VT_K9]

We had a lite frost this morning. I collect about 40 gallons overnight with the sap puller running. I processed about 530 gallons last night and made 8.5 gallons of syrup. I just picked up 4 more 5 gallon containers to hold syrup. Still making dark syrup with great flavor. I am hoping for a good run today and everything works out through the end of the week.

Mike

[spud]

Sap has been running 350 GPH for the last 4 hours. Not much of a freeze at my house last night but maybe a little on the back side of the woods. Kinda cool today which is good. We will have another week or two of sugaring for sure in my area. Cold nights starting Tuesday.

Hey Mike do you have a lot of snow in Thetford? My kids were supposed to play baseball and softball there today but the games were cancelled.

Spud

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

140 gal of 1.8% plus what we gathered yesterday. All done approx. Another 6 to 10 gal dark rich robust. Filling 40 gal barrel for bulk plus 26. Washing membranes getting ready for storage. Hope it runs wednesday. Will know exact total soon bit thinking around 105-110.
Looking for driver to take me to randys or Ryan's can't drive myself.

[GeneralStark]

Still running and pulled in about 250 since 11 am at 1.2%. Making good flavored dark robust and will continue tomorrow.

[spud]

Got about 3000 gallons today and still running 150 GPH. Don't expect much for the next few days but hope we are back in it by mid week. Still had 1.3% all day.

Spud

[Randy Brutkoski]

made another 3 barrels today. might go until june.

[bairdswift]

Spud,I also live in thetford. Few miles.from Mike but we have never met. The snow around here is leaving fast with the rain today but still a lot in the woods on the north facing slopes.

[spud]

Spud,I also live in thetford. Few miles.from Mike but we have never met. The snow around here is leaving fast with the rain today but still a lot in the woods on the north facing slopes.

I have the same thing going on in my woods. Snow on the back section but melting very fast. Do you think you will get another week? I have been to your area a few times over the years and it is really nice. Hope you have a great season. My sap ran a bit all night and I got another 1200 gallons. If Randy is going to pull spouts June first I think he's quitting too soon.:lol:

Spud

[wsugar]

Sap is still running good. Tapped another eight trees yesterday I'm out of line now so I guess I'm done until next season. The syrup grade is holding in there I think after boiling today I'm going to flush my main lines with water and pray for a few more runs this week. I need to make @ 500 gals more

[Hal]

Declared victory and pulled out. Shut off the
vacuum pump at nine last night, burned the last
stick of wood at ten, dumped the last fifty
gallons of nasty sap on the ground and locked the
sugarhouse.

Not a bad season, but a rough one, I will wind up
with about 250 gallons, down from 300 last year,
but way more than 150 from two years ago.

All done in fifteen days of twelve plus hours per
day. My wood didn't burn as well as I thought it
should, the sap wasn't very sweet, so I wound up
cutting wood in the morning ans burning it in the
afternoon and evening.

I AM NOT NINETEEN YEARS OLD ANY MORE!!! And I
really feel it.

Today I hope to finish my taxes, do my March
snowplowing bills and not move my body more than
absolutely necessary.

Next week I still have to clean everything up,
break down the drums and fill retail containers,
etc., etc. Right now I'm not sure where to get a
little more wood to boil out the pans.

Two weeks to clean up, then the weekend of April
25-27 for the only real time off before summer
craziness starts. We are going to the New England
Folk Festival in Mansfield MA. Two days of music
dancing and performances. We've been going every
year since 1985, can't miss it.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Thought we were wrapping it up buy Nooooooo trees let anotther 250 gal gp over night, just when I thought I could givey kidneys a break

[VT_K9]

Spud, the baseball and softballs fields are likely too wet. The snow is receding slowly, but everything is wet.

We processed about 300 gallons of sap from yesterday and last night. Turned the puller off for the next 2 days. I will give it a shot tues-thurs when the weather forecast indicates there maybe one more chance to boil. We are up to 58 gallons...a new record. Todays 4 1/2 gallons were very dark with a strong flavor. I noticed a ran a little today under gravity, but with the warmth it was not work running the puller and trying to store it.

Mike

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Chooo choo the tsunami has started

[GeneralStark]

Threw in the towel today. Sap still running on vac. but getting tough to store and boil it. Sugar at 1%. Boiled off the last 300 gallons today and then pushed the last syrup out with water. Pans are soaking, pump is off, and sap has stopped coming in. Out of wood and not cutting any more. Final count at about 170 gal. The last twenty was nice dark robust with the last five approaching very dark. Detected the dirty sock pre-bud aroma this afternoon but the syrup still tastes ok.

First boil was 3/12 with about 200 taps plugged in and didn't get to 550 taps until 3/25. Final boil 4/13 so just over one month. Very happy with season despite challenging weather. Put up a new sugarhouse, set up the woods, and learned lots. Need to go over the numbers and records to figure out all the details but for now it is time to rest.

Good luck to everyone still going!!

[Scribner's Mountain Maple]

Not giving in here in Duxbury. Sap is clear, and temps haven't gotten that warm yet. The rain took a lot of the snow with it. But the Sap ran good today. near a GPT. 1.25 % sugar. Made 130 gal of light colored Dark Amber yesterday. Looks like another week here in the mountains.

[DoubleBrookMaple]

Collected 150 gallons of sap late yesterday, and boiled off today along with some leftovers from last boil. Yielded 4 gallons of amber. Still all amber for me. Sap was still running today a little, and with 3 sub-freezing nights coming up tuesday night, it looks like I will get one more good run. I am over 20 gallons.
Snow is nearly all gone now.

[syrup2nv]

Syrup2nv, 2400 gallons on 3400 taps or do you buy sap too?

Yes I buy sap. Though most all of my sellers have given up. My woods are still producing 1.3% sap. Making Amber Rich color with strong maple flavor. Just under 2600 as of today. The forecast looks good starting Tuesday through Thursday. Could be some monster runs.

[spud]

In the last 24 hours I have gotten 5000 gallons of sap. Testing 1.2% but still making good tasting dark amber syrup. Sap running right now at 250GPH. Tuesday were back in business for sure. I have been told to never shut your vacuum off at this time of the season or you will not be able to regain for the next sap run. Not sure if that is true or not but I am not taking the chance. My pump has been on for almost a month.

Spud

[wdchuck]

Sap still coming in steadily , but a long ways from a gusher like it has been. Spud- I am a firm believer in running vac until the sap stops, whether its from freeze up or its just plain done. I've been told that if you turn it off and allow the vac level to return to 0, you wont get the sap flow back up to what it was. Don't know if its true or not, but I'm not going to risk it now that my pumps are dependable enough to run for a week straight, and electricity is relatively cheap. 2000 gallons to turn into a drum- not too half shabby for a whole weekend without a freeze!

[DoubleBrookMaple]

Finally got some "dark - robust" today that I had boiled yesterday. I had posted amber, but after filtering and bottling today I found it to be dark. It would have graded as dark amber. Very good flavor! I will make some folks very happy.

[Randy Brutkoski]

Almost all the guys around here are all done but not me. I made 3 barrels yesterday and 2 more today. It is C for crap but i want it. Sap is running pretty good but i dumped 3000 gallons on the ground due to it looked like cottage cheese. My pumps are on but my valves are open. It hit 82 here today.Come on cold air.

[VT_K9]

I did not run my sap puller today. I plan on starting it back up tomorrow. I should be able to store/process as I am able to over the next couple of days. I had not heard about not shutting vac/puller off and then not getting it to start back up. We will see.

Mike

[spud]

I got about 4000 gallons today but the quality is not real good. We may have to dump tomorrows sap and wait on freeze up again.

Spud

[DoubleBrookMaple]

I got about 4000 gallons today but the quality is not real good. We may have to dump tomorrows sap and wait on freeze up again.

Spud

That answers my question. I will dump all my sap tomorrow before the freeze up.
It reached 67 yesterday, and 69.9 here today.

[Thad Blaisdell]

Made 280 gal so far today and still need to boil again in 20 min. Should make another 100. I am hopeful for a good year yet. .4gpt or better is not out of reach for me.

[wsugar]

Almost all the guys around here are all done but not me. I made 3 barrels yesterday and 2 more today. It is C for crap but i want it. Sap is running pretty good but i dumped 3000 gallons on the ground due to it looked like cottage cheese. My pumps are on but my valves are open. It hit 82 here today.Come on cold air.
Hey two guys just south of you are boiling tonight and one made a barrel of syrup

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Made 2 gal tonight and friends son was in crocks stocking wood for me . Picking up all the sweet out of a 4x14 tomorrow big guys can't run with out big sap. I should be around like 107.

[chevypower]

So the sap ran very well yesterday, unfortunately it is testing around 1.2 -1.3%. It was pretty cloudy with a little aroma but we were able to make 90 more gallons today. Still a medium amber although darker with a stronger flavor. Most of the buds still looked pretty tight today so if we can make it to tomorrow night we should be good for awhile longer. Had to make a run down to Barre to get some more barrels as we were almost out. Our total to date is 1563 gallons which is only 411 less than what we made last year so if things go well this week we should be able to pass it.

[Randy Brutkoski]

I know you 2 are still going. I meant from me all the way past middlebury from what i am told. The sap is going to hammer this week.

[maplwrks]

Dreaming....i'm just dreaming....

[Randy Brutkoski]

I have been getting between 3000 to 6000 gallons a day since the last freeze. The sugar is between 1.4% and 1.6%.

[VTmaplehobby]

Done. Taps are all pulled. buckets washed. Even tore the shack down. Here's to next year. 2.5 gallons. One of medium, one and a half of robust. Best first year ever!!!

[Thad Blaisdell]

I have been getting 3001 to 6001 gallons a day sugar is 1.5 to 1.7. And by the way my dad can beat up your dad.

[Randy Brutkoski]

i am going to barre to start pulling taps tommorow.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

You would be getting close to 12000 a day of your sugaring supplier would get you the electric motor he said he ordered 2 weeks ago and a ordering confermation number .

[GeneralStark]

This guy past Middlebury is definitely done. I can't believe how quickly trees here started budding. Yesterday morning the red maples were very swollen and today they are starting to flower. Sugar maples are visibly swollen and aspens are starting to flower as well. It hit almost 80 here yesterday and the previous night didn't go below 60. Same last night as well.

This afternoon I'm draining the slime out of the pans and boiling some water to start cleaning the rig. Probably won't get to pulling taps until next week as I am taking a little "vacation" from sugaring this weekend. Good luck to all of you still making the C.

[wdchuck]

Boiling again today- 2500 gallons. Looks like we've got plenty more coming, our forecasts look solid for the next week!

[wiam]

This guy past Middlebury is definitely done. I can't believe how quickly trees here started budding. Yesterday morning the red maples were very swollen and today they are starting to flower. Sugar maples are visibly swollen and aspens are starting to flower as well. It hit almost 80 here yesterday and the previous night didn't go below 60. Same last night as well.

This afternoon I'm draining the slime out of the pans and boiling some water to start cleaning the rig. Probably won't get to pulling taps until next week as I am taking a little "vacation" from sugaring this weekend. Good luck to all of you still making the C.

Have not got to C yet. Last night it came back up to dark amber

[GeneralStark]

Have not got to C yet. Last night it came back up to dark amber

Sorry. I was referring to Champlain Valley sugarmakers as I can't imagine anyone in this part of the state is making anything but C. Good luck east of the greens too! Seems like you guys might get through the heatwave.

[PARKER MAPLE]

Round two anyone, I must say it is awesome to see this thread still going. Thank you to all the Vermont sugar makers. Hope your season turned out well. Mine was less the sub par. But next is only 10 months away. I havnt thrown in the towel yet going to try to make some more B grade this week. I have made a lot of improvement this year and its all functioning well. I added a filter press first and for most, I don't no how I ever got by with out this in the past. Then I bought a smokey lake outdraw off, which is pretty handy and takes a little pressure off. I also picked up a new vacuum setup for this year, which took up most of my time finding and fixing leaks. LOL I think I just found my last leak last weekend. I also just picked up a new to me RO machine. I didn't get to use it this year, but I cant wait to use it next... I finally feel like I have made some head way here in this sugaring passion and cant wait to see what it turns into.

See you at the sugaring open house

PARKER MAPLE

[DoubleBrookMaple]

My place reached 32 by 8pm tonight, and I am going for broke. Hoping for a good run over the next 3-4 days to see what I can cook up out of it all. I have some sap in my buckets and collection barrels from the last 3 days that I checked out today. It never reached 70 here, and it is slightly cloudy, and just a little off taste. It will freeze up in the buckets until Thursday, and we will see what it all turns out combined with the fresh sap. I never got anything below dark amber (barely that), and hoping for some B, or "very dark". Maybe this will do it.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

tanks washed, pump on hoping for good sap tomorrow.

[wiam]

Have not got to C yet. Last night it came back up to dark amber

I take that back. I did not draw when I boiled tonight but it does not look like B

[spud]

We got 4 inches of snow last night and it is 15 degrees. Yesterday I dumped 3002:lol: gallons of sap and cleaned the tanks. We are hoping that today or Thursday will give us big sap and the quality will be better. Keeping my fingers crossed. Would love to have another week of big runs and a few extra dollars in my pocket. My apple trees will be here on the 26th of this month. Got 150 more going in the ground. The buds are not out in my woods yet so I hope things will work out. Good luck everyone that is still going. Its just getting fun now.

Spud

[Randy Brutkoski]

I have to do some repairs to my new vac. shed as the wind blew it over yesterday. The pump was still running some how. I hope it is ok. I will know this morning. This has been a year of alot of headaches. Depression is starting to set in.

[Moser's Maple]

You would be getting close to 12000 a day of your sugaring supplier would get you the electric motor he said he ordered 2 weeks ago and a ordering confermation number .
i wonder if the supplier is the same that I have had so many problems with....... I just thought slow shipping, no tracking #'s, "lost packages" was just a New York thing

[PerryW]

I'm just over the river from St Johnsbury and I did the same thing last night. Dumped the buckets and washed tanks and we got down to 17 degrees. My trees have only been tapped about 3-4 weeks, so I'm hoping for at least some commercial.

[GeneralStark]

I'm just over the river from St Johnsbury and I did the same thing last night. Dumped the buckets and washed tanks and we got down to 17 degrees. My trees have only been tapped about 3-4 weeks, so I'm hoping for at least some commercial.

What was the sugar content of the last good sap you collected? The last run here went from 1.3 to 1 and the previous freeze didn't bring it up.

[PerryW]

In 25 years of sugaring, I have never bothered checking sugar content, but my last boil (last saturday) seemed like it was around 40-50 to 1.

[Randy Brutkoski]

The little time it ran yesterday, i got about 2000 gallons and today should be really good. The sap looks alot better now than the bermuda heat wave we had a few days ago. At 1 dumping location yesterday it ran a gallon a tap in 4 hours.

[spud]

Randy,

Did you boil this new sap and if so how is the taste? How did it run through the press?

Spud

[Randy Brutkoski]

I am going to boil today. In that warm weather i t wouldnt filter. I think it will today.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Boiled last night never boiled ropy syrup. Never will again pan has black burn spots all over the bottom, not worth it to me. Made 10 gal of mersh.
Collected 120 gal today on 400 taps, we are going to gather tomorrow finishboff at night call it a season. GMP is really putting the screws to us so going to cut our losses for the year and try to figure out for next year.

[Randy Brutkoski]

I know what you mean with green mountain power. Our house bill last month was $350. Greed.

[maplwrks]

If you don't like the bill, don't use the power!! Remember--Cash or candles!!!

[spud]

I know what you mean with green mountain power. Our house bill last month was $350. Greed.

If you would unplug your heart shaped vibrating bed and the disco lights your bill would go down.:lol:

Spud

[Randy Brutkoski]

That stuff in my bedroom is only 110, it shouldnt really make that much of a difference.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Enjoying see your guys updates in VT and WI that are still making syrup. Makes the time until I start again shorter. LOL. Keep on going and keep updates coming!

[maplwrks]

Randy---Leaving it on all day makes a difference!! I can just imagine Randy strutting around that bed, dressed like John Travolta, with with the disco ball spinning, playing old BeeGees tunes!! YUK!!!