Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

[GeneralStark]

The slide to the finish has started here....sugar down to about 1.6 from 1.9 this weekend. Sap is still running pretty well and I have pulled in over 2 gpt since Sunday afternoon. Running RO to make space in tanks and will boil tomorrow. At .33 gpt for syrup and will hopefully go over my usual .4 this week...

[Tucker08]

Are you seeing buds on the sugar maples? I am hoping we will go to the 20th up here at the border. Sap should run well today and I am still at 2%.

Spud

Seeing swollen buds on the sugar maples and the red maples are very large. Last boil tonight. Should be some real, real dark stuff coming off!

As Dr Tim pointed to, those 70+ degree days with hot sun early really moved things along for us.

Couple that with the drought over the last two years / two mild winters and sugar content was really poor as well.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[steve J]

I think I am done last two days I have had to boil a lot for little syrup clearly the sugar content must have dropped. Been sos so year!

[MJPJ Sugars]

Looking for a little advice, if anybody is kindly inclined.

I'm at 30 taps now -- running a mid 80's half-pint/2x4 arch -- an old converted barrel arch with a 4-chamber pan. Certainly a nice step-up from the turkey frier we used our first year (this is our 2nd year with the arch).

If I'm burning my arm hairs and eyebrows, I can evaporate 6 gallons an hour. But on average from striking the match until we draw-off the last 2 gallons (to finish in the house), we're maxed at 5 gallons an hour. So a few decent runs, 50-60 gallons of sap, and I'm 12 hours in the shack and and hour or two on the stove.

AND WE LOVE EVERY MINUTE!

But I think we'd like it more if I can get to 10 gallons an hour.

I see the new Leader Half-Pints with a Pan & Warmer for like $1200... cheap. Nice thing about the new stuff is that it comes pre-made to strap-on a blower. I spent $400 for a fantastic under-sink RO for our drinking water.... sure conjures thoughts for another in the garage for a few hundred gallons of sap per year.

How do I get to processing 10 gallons per hour on a Half-Pint/2x4 size allocation?

Thanks!!!!

JQ

[handtapper]

others might disagree with me but I dont think you will ever get over a honest 8gph on a half pint. That is pushing it full throttle with all of the variables titled in your favor (sap temp, humidity, good wood, blower etc etc). I think you need a small evaporator with a flue pan to reduce time.

[PARKER MAPLE]

others might disagree with me but I dont think you will ever get over a honest 8gph on a half pint. That is pushing it full throttle with all of the variables titled in your favor (sap temp, humidity, good wood, blower etc etc). I think you need a small evaporator with a flue pan to reduce time.

I Agee 100%
Then flowed by a RO then a bigger evap and more trees, 😀 You know how it goes 👍😄

[spud]

Sap ran a little all night and the temps went down to 33 for a short while. I have 2800 gallons in the tank. I'm hoping a large portion of the woods froze a little last night so I can get a good run today. I know thats wishful thinking.

Spud

[DrTimPerkins]

Only about 70-75 gal of syrup yesterday. Looking like about the same ran overnight....tanks a little under half full. Forecast for early next week doesn't look favorable.

[rhwells2003]

going on 2.3gpt in the last 48 hours. Looks like a possible freeze up tonight, Friday, and Saturday. Monday and Tuesday are a bit scary but if we can make it to Thursday theres the chance for a couple more freeze ups . . . . . . wishful thinking? I've passed my 20gpt yearly goal, now I'm getting greedy.

[berkshires]

Looking for a little advice, if anybody is kindly inclined.

I'm at 30 taps now -- running a mid 80's half-pint/2x4 arch -- an old converted barrel arch with a 4-chamber pan. Certainly a nice step-up from the turkey frier we used our first year (this is our 2nd year with the arch).

If I'm burning my arm hairs and eyebrows, I can evaporate 6 gallons an hour. But on average from striking the match until we draw-off the last 2 gallons (to finish in the house), we're maxed at 5 gallons an hour. So a few decent runs, 50-60 gallons of sap, and I'm 12 hours in the shack and and hour or two on the stove.

AND WE LOVE EVERY MINUTE!

But I think we'd like it more if I can get to 10 gallons an hour.

I see the new Leader Half-Pints with a Pan & Warmer for like $1200... cheap. Nice thing about the new stuff is that it comes pre-made to strap-on a blower. I spent $400 for a fantastic under-sink RO for our drinking water.... sure conjures thoughts for another in the garage for a few hundred gallons of sap per year.

How do I get to processing 10 gallons per hour on a Half-Pint/2x4 size allocation?

Thanks!!!!

JQ

Assuming you don't upgrade the arch, two thoughts:

1 - I think even a very basic RO would get you to 10 gph. This guy sells a compact unit for $350-$450 that he says will process 5-10 gph. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9JTHuGjxDo
2 - Drop tubes. You said you had "a 4-chamber pan". I'm assuming you're running a flat pan with dividers? I dunno if you want to risk messing up your dividers by adding drop tubes, but this would be a cheap solution you could do on say two or three of the four sections, and might get you from 5 up to 8 gph.

If you did both, it might get you to 15! Cut your sap in half with the RO and then get 7.5 gph with drop tubes. For a big run you might have to run the RO overnight to keep up, but I imagine that wouldn't be too big a problem, so long as you have a way to keep the sap from freezing. Unlike the arch, I guess the RO doesn't require tending.

Good luck!

Gabe

[madmapler]

Still collecting clear sap on the south border. Making about a drum per day of AR. No light, no dark all season so far. Sugar is getting low, about 1.3% but the best I get around here is 2% anyway. We had 34 deg. this morning. Cool daytime temps are keeping things going. A guy north of me near Springfield called it quits. Said he stopped getting sap. We've made about 1500 gallons with what's sitting on the truck right now.

[VTmaplehobby]

Looking for a little advice, if anybody is kindly inclined.

I'm at 30 taps now -- running a mid 80's half-pint/2x4 arch -- an old converted barrel arch with a 4-chamber pan. Certainly a nice step-up from the turkey frier we used our first year (this is our 2nd year with the arch).

If I'm burning my arm hairs and eyebrows, I can evaporate 6 gallons an hour. But on average from striking the match until we draw-off the last 2 gallons (to finish in the house), we're maxed at 5 gallons an hour. So a few decent runs, 50-60 gallons of sap, and I'm 12 hours in the shack and and hour or two on the stove.

AND WE LOVE EVERY MINUTE!

But I think we'd like it more if I can get to 10 gallons an hour.

I see the new Leader Half-Pints with a Pan & Warmer for like $1200... cheap. Nice thing about the new stuff is that it comes pre-made to strap-on a blower. I spent $400 for a fantastic under-sink RO for our drinking water.... sure conjures thoughts for another in the garage for a few hundred gallons of sap per year.

How do I get to processing 10 gallons per hour on a Half-Pint/2x4 size allocation?

Thanks!!!!

JQ

I completely understand where you are coming from. We keep up (barely) with almost 200 taps with a 2x4 Mason. Flat pan and no RO make for long nights. We added a 550 cfm blower and burn hardwood splits. The blower is the single biggest thing that helped our operation. We went from an "honest" 8 gph with a natural draft on 20 feet of pipe to a solid 15 gph with the blower. Hardwood split wrist size, firing on a tight schedule helps a lot too. Often have to dial the blower back to keep the stack under 1000. Also, insulating the arch really well with brick and 1" blanket helped some. The warming pans that are offered with these small arches don't amount to much IMHO. The one on the mason might add 25 degrees when the stack is pushing 1000.

As others have said a hybrid pan and a small RO are your best "bang for the buck" investments to cut down on time and wood. Even if you only go the RO route if you can RO one pass at a fast pace from, say, 1.5% to 3% you are removing half the water and therefore cutting your boiling time in half.

1632816329

[MJPJ Sugars]

Thanks for the tips & advice -- fantastic!! Really appreciate it!

Methinks the hybrid approach it will be -- a small RO (that bucket job looked really neat!) and at least a blower if not modifications to my flat pan as well.

Thanks again!!

JQ

[smokeyamber]

Looking like I am done this weekend... boiling the stockpile of frozen stuff. Sugar content is really low this year:(, I can only guess, but at only 3 gallons done so far I am boiling way too long...

Compared to 11 gallons last year I am calling this a middling season. I will run out of wood before I finish everything up, but I am happy with how the rig ran and will just start planning for an small R/O next year to deal with the low sugar issue...

Hope everyone else had a good year ! :lol:

[spud]

Sap ran all day but not great. I got a half gallon per tap today. Sugar is dropping to 1.7%. Dr. Tim do you think we will make it through the three day warm up starting Sunday? If so we could get another week or better.

Spud

[DrTimPerkins]

Sap ran all day but not great. I got a half gallon per tap today. Sugar is dropping to 1.7%. Dr. Tim do you think we will make it through the three day warm up starting Sunday? If so we could get another week or better.

Our sap sugar dropped to 1.9 Brix today also and ran about the same as you. It may continue to run after the warm-up if we get another freeze, but there is a good chance it'll be somewhat buddy if it does.

[GeneralStark]

Sap has been running well here. Into that no freeze, pure vacuum induced, steady flow into the releaser at 27+ inches kind of situation. Maybe a freeze Saturday night but either way going to ride this out until the syrup flavor goes off. New spouts on new drops on south side of tree that were tapped in January have slime, but are still producing, though nowhere near the spouts on the north side. Same with CV spouts on 2 or 3 year old drops.

Sugar still dropping but made about 35 gal. of DR with classic Dark Amber flavor tonight from sap that came in since Sunday afternoon. Finally seeing slime in tanks and a bit more niter. Boiling smells more earthy as well (love that smell). No peepers yet so still have at least a few more days...

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

Sap still running in Poultney, hi vac pulled in 300 yesteday sugar 1.2, little home made ro working hard. Making Awesome flavor B.

[wiam]

Pulled in about 1 gpt since yesterday am. We hit 1/3 gallons/tap on syrup last night. Sugar going down.

[tcross]

I've been getting good sap the past few days... sugar has dropped to 1.8-1.9. first time this year it's been below 2.25, guess that's not bad. I'm definitely getting some slime, however the sap seems pretty clear besides the film on the bottom of my tank from the last couple days. gotta polish that out this afternoon! starting to get a bit more niter as well. I'm gonna boil what comes in tonight, clean up and hope for one last good run come Sunday/Monday!. good luck in the final stretch all!

[madmapler]

Still pulling in a steady flow of clear sap. Made 70 gallons of AR last night leaning toward the light side. Every barrel I've made this year is the same grade. Weird.

[MJPJ Sugars]

@ berkshires...

I sprang for the bucket RO! Gotta say, Carl (from the Craigslist ad) -- absolutely fantastic with which to work/deal! Fast, courteous, generous, & knowledgeable. Some end-of-season deals going-on if anybody else is interested.

Unit gets here tomorrow - I grabbed a couple more tanks, and will put it through it's paces with this week's 60 gallons or so I have in the cooler. Wish me luck! :)

I'll post a note with the results.

Thanks again!!

JQ

https://syracuse.craigslist.org/for/6041111228.html

[spud]

Sap ran steady but slow all day. In the last 24 hours I have gotten .75GPT. I am at .41sugar to date.

Spud

[DrTimPerkins]

Sap sugar still not bad. A little more niter, but not terrible. Grade dropped to DR. Made another 73 gal of syrup today. Total of >2200 gal, or 0.45 gal/tap at the end of the day. Hoping for at least one more freeze (Saturday night?) to bump up the flow and perhaps the sugar content. Temperatures not looking good for Monday and Tuesday.....it won't last long after that.

[GeneralStark]

Pulled in over 1 gpt since yesterday. Flow slowed a bit since yesterday and I am wondering if that is due to the woods still being cold as it ran much better yesterday when the sun came out . Definitely still frost in ground...

Drained syrup pans to soak overnight and the niter has finally showed up, but still not real bad. Going to run ro tonight to make space so tanks don't overflow overnight and then boil tomorrow evening.

I made a copper pipe pan scraper yesterday and I am sold. If you have not tried this....do it.

[DrTimPerkins]

I made a copper pipe pan scraper yesterday and I am sold. If you have not tried this....do it.

Post some photos please.

[to100]

This sure has been a different year. In the past I had good sap flow, but this year I am only half of last year. It has been just dripping after my first week or so. I have 18 taps on 2 5/16 lines. The only thing I have done different is use new Leader check valve spouts on gravity. I have only gotten a couple of gallons since Monday evening. I was getting 1gpt or better.
I made 20 gallons last year an so far 10 gallons this year. My sugar count is higher than last all season.

Could my check valves be sticking? My slope is more than minimum.
After I put them I should have only put some on one line, and new tree saver spouts on the other.
Any thing I could have differently?
Thanks

[GeneralStark]

Post some photos please.

Will do tomorrow. I'll post them to the thread. For those of you that have not seen it, here it is: http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?30319-Scraping-syrup-pans/page3

Freakin' brilliant!

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

All done sap smelled funky coming out of preheater, had rear flu temp to 620 Celsius. Gas a fication was working tonight blue and purple flames in wood area. Syrup total to come later.

[Meuphrat]

We started to get our first whiffs and tastes of the buds down here in Dummerston as of our boil last night.
Good luck to everyone north of us.
Mike
The Bunker Farm
Dummerston VT

[DrTimPerkins]

Any thing I could have differently?

A couple of thoughts. First, this has been a very unusual year. Some producers who tapped very early (with vacuum) had record yields. Others who tapped later, even with vacuum, are short. A lot depends upon location (elevation, aspect) in addition to when you tapped.

Second....how old is your tubing system? That can have some influence depending upon other things as well. Slope won't have much of an effect with 5/16" tubing. On gravity, sap will not run after a few days without a refreeze (which we've not had for a few days) regardless of the spout you're using. With a gravity system, annual variation in sap yields tend to be far higher than with vacuum.

Third.....last year was a record production year for most areas in the northeast. Unlikely you're going to match that again right away.

[rhwells2003]

In the last 6 days I have gotten about 5gal/tap. If this is the end that's how I like to go out! Sap still looks good, starting to get a little slim in my releaser. The guy I sell to is still making good syrup. Possible little freeze up tonight, and a better one Saturday night, then hit it hard to the finish! If I could pick up another 3gal/tap before we call it quits I'll be on par total wise with last year BUT with WAY better sugar this year. Should be good

Dr. Tim you mentioned earlier about the ones that tapped early are looking decent. I think your spot on. I picked up 1/3 crop just in the last 8-9 days of February.

[WestfordSugarworks]

our 3,000 taps in our home bush were all in by January 9th and we got a nice early run in that second week of January. We've been pulling 27.5 or higher the whole season on 2nd year setup, short laterals, few taps per lateral. Doing the best we can but still aren't where we would like to be for yields. We never really opened up here. Hopefully we can make it for another 5 or so days and get us up to the .5 gal per tap mark. Guess it's just nature.

[spud]

We should be able to go till Easter Sunday for sure. The weather keeps changing every time I look at it. There is now only partial sun on Sunday and Monday and then back to cooler nights and cloudy days. The nighttime temps predicted for my town have been about 4-5 degrees warmer then what I have been getting in my woods. If they are saying 36 for a low I am getting 31 at my house. Their weather station is at 550 elevation and my woods ranges from 1000-1250.

Spud

[n8hutch]

I Hope you are Right Spud I have no signs of budding at all not even on the soft Maples. Hopefully I can squeeze one more week out toof. Latest I've boiled in the past has been April 15th.

[MJPJ Sugars]

My bucket RO in action for the 1st time! Home with a sick little one today, so I couldn't run for the plumbing from the tank that I had in-mind, but I'm making due. Concentrating about 1.5% to just under 4%, and I am absolutely thrilled!

Tank on the left is raw sap, tank in the cart is concentrate, & the barrel is catching the water.
16357

[spud]

My bucket RO in action for the 1st time! Home with a sick little one today, so I couldn't run for the plumbing from the tank that I had in-mind, but I'm making due. Concentrating about 1.5% to just under 4%, and I am absolutely thrilled!

Tank on the left is raw sap, tank in the cart is concentrate, & the barrel is catching the water.
16357

Thats pretty cool. Lets keep this season going two more weeks.

Spud

[MJPJ Sugars]

Thats pretty cool. Lets keep this season going two more weeks.

I'm in! :cool:

[berkshires]

My bucket RO in action for the 1st time! Home with a sick little one today, so I couldn't run for the plumbing from the tank that I had in-mind, but I'm making due. Concentrating about 1.5% to just under 4%, and I am absolutely thrilled!

Tank on the left is raw sap, tank in the cart is concentrate, & the barrel is catching the water.
16357

Sweet! I'm glad this worked for you! If I had power at my sugar shack, I'd probably get one of these myself. That and a squirrel cage blower for AUF. Ah well, I make do.

Cheers!

Gabe

[spud]

Woke up this morning to 5 inches of snow and it's still coming down. The temp last night hit 27 degree. Looks like sugaring is alive and well for a while. Sap may run a bit today with it only going to 38 degrees. Tomorrow it's full sun and 54 and the sap should run very good. Hoping to make it through the 4 day warm up thats coming up and then sail to the 20th.

Spud

[WestfordSugarworks]

Woke up this morning to 5 inches of snow and it's still coming down. The temp last night hit 27 degree. Looks like sugaring is alive and well for a while. Sap may run a bit today with it only going to 38 degrees. Tomorrow it's full sun and 54 and the sap should run very good. Hoping to make it through the 4 day warm up thats coming up and then sail to the 20th.

Spud

Best of luck Spud. We got a little freeze last night too and we will be getting one tonight as well it looks like. Hopefully the weather is colder than expected and we can all get a few more days out of it.

[GeneralStark]

Had a solid freeze and an inch of snow overnight here. I did pull in about 300 gal. after 5 or so until it froze. Sugar down to about 1.4. I boiled last night and made another 22 gal. of DR. Great tasting dark syrup. Boiling still smells great and the sap has not been too slimy. The niter is showing up but still not too bad. I am currently at .41 gpt and am 10 gal. away from my record. Tapping early is going to be the new norm I think...

[WestfordSugarworks]

Sap really hammered in at our Westford bush today. Definitely a top-3 run for the season (i don't know how). Started running around noon or a bit earlier maybe and we've pulled in 2400 gallons from 3,000 taps since then. We are about 180 gallons away from hitting 0.5 gallons per tap. i think we'll get there before the sap turns. Good luck to everyone

[wiam]

Got down to 30 early morning. Started running by 8:30. Can't believe how well it ran today with temps in mid 30's and wind. Down to 31 now and still running a little. Should get a decent freeze tonight and more sap tomorrow.

[spud]

Sap never ran for me yesterday. It is 27 degrees out but here comes the sun in 30 minutes. Im hoping it's going to be a very good week despite the warmer temps. My weather is showing three cold nights in the next 9 days. We could make it to next weekend for sure. My pond still has three inches of ice on it and no peepers in sight. Good luck everyone. Way to go on the .5 Westford. I hope to be there mid week but the sugar is dropping up here. General I hope you hit the big .5+ also. I am very happy to see the early tapping payed off for you. I am at a .42 right now.

Spud

[JoeJ]

22 degrees in Essex this morning. Sap ran 1/2 gpt yesterday. Unfortunately, sap is now 1.05% if I look at the hydrometer real close. Sugar content has fallen rapidly from 1.7% on Monday to the 1% yesterday. With the poor sap flows this last week, production will not hit my goal of .5 gpt of syrup. At .39 gpt now.

Joe

[MJPJ Sugars]

It is 27 degrees out but here comes the sun in 30 minutes.

Exactly the same here... not a cloud in the sky. Shadows now pointing dead-West -- fingers crossed! But I'll be surprised if we don't see swelling buds by the end of the week. A couple days in the 40's last year starting on the 8th, and the sap was buddy, so if we get a good run today, I'll take it and run! (Edit at 11:00 AM -- Sap running strong!)

BTW -- I was able to process a little over 7 GPH in my new Bucket RO on Friday -- took about 55 gallons of sap down to about 25 gallons of concentrate -- only 5 hours in the shack for the boil! (My shortest boil ever). Got a beautiful deep amber, great flavor syrup. Now I can't wait to expand next year!!!

[GeneralStark]

Sap ran well here yesterday. Pulled in over 1gpt before it froze last night sometime after midnight. Sugar at 1.3 and the sap that came in after the lines got ice scrubbed was perfectly clear. Going to boil this afternoon to make room in tanks as I have to work all day tomorrow. Not sure the sap will keep too well with a sunny day in the 70's but we'll see. Tuesday boil could be the last as many signs of spring that tend to correlate with off syrup are happening here. I'm in it til the end though...

[DrTimPerkins]

Sap never ran for me yesterday.

We boiled Friday afternoon -- made about 75 gal of DR. Sugar content still not bad. Niter is picking up some. Drained the pans and flooded them with hot permeate.

We had a little bit come in yesterday....but not much. Seems to be opening up better this morning though, and hoping for a real big day to push us over the 0.5 gal/tap mark. Might not be today, but should be by tomorrow afternoon. Sap is getting a bit milky looking, but no real big yeast bubbles or smell yet. Should make some good strong, dark syrup.

Might be hard to get past the next couple of days given the forecast, but we'll see what happens. Anticipate boiling with a t-shirt on tomorrow.

[GeneralStark]

Another 22 gal. of DR with great flavor. Sap ran strong all day once it thawed out and it's still coming in at 1.3%. Have had some big yeasty bubbles, basketball size...Washed out all the tanks and going to see what happens tomorrow. Will either keep the sap and boil it Tuesday or will dump it and boil out the evap. No way I will get through this week even if there is another possible freeze after the warm spell. Way too many signs of spring...including ticks are out.

We're into the frog run here...peepers and wood frogs are singing in the wetland below...

[madmapler]

I'll be done tomorrow. We made 30 gallons of dark this afternoon with 1% sap. I'll leave the pumps on until it warms up tomorrow and then collect and get it in the evaporator. It'll be close to 1600 gallons for the season but no cigar I'm afraid. They're saying 77 DEG. tomorrow and 80 on Tuesday.

[MJPJ Sugars]

I'll be done tomorrow.

Same here. 1.27 gallons per tap so far today at about 1.25% sugar. We pulled about 25% of our taps tonight -- buds seemingly popped like popcorn today. Will grab whatever looks good from the remaining taps tomorrow as we're wading through the mosquitos.

[wiam]

No peepers here yet. Made 51 gallons today. Brings us to .4 / tap. Started as dark then came back to amber. No off flavor yet....

[spud]

In the last 24 hours I have gotten 2gpt at 1.3%. Should continue to come in steady but slower today and tomorrow. Might freeze Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night up here on the hill. Still a thin layer of ice on the pond but that will be gone today. If I keep shooting the pond with my shotgun the peepers will not come out.:lol: Should be a interesting week just seeing how long we can continue. I am at .45GPT and really hope to hit .5.

Spud

[JoeJ]

Sap ran 1 gpt yesterday. First time since March 21. Sap made some good flavor DR. Finally got to .40 gpt of syrup. Only problem is the yellow slime that plugged the bag filters pretty quickly. Today might be the end for me.

Joe

[DrTimPerkins]

Made ~55 gal of DR yesterday afternoon, putting us at 2,328 gal or 0.475 gal/tap. Niter picking up some, but still not terrible.

Sap started coming in really hard about 6pm as we were cleaning up, then slowed down around 2pm, but still coming in quite well. Sap filtered hard for an hour or so until the lines were scoured out. Sugar content came up a little bit to 1.8-1.9 deg Brix. RO is running now. Will boil this morning, then clean pans around lunch and probably start the RO and boil again this afternoon. Expect it to run fairly well today with the warmth. Still some snow on the ground here, but it won't last through the day. No peepers yet - still ice on "Lake Huroc." We've got today....maybe tomorrow....who knows for sure, but the end is in sight. Of course the end of maple is simply the beginning of birch.

[sugartree310]

Ran good for us also yesterday , made another 75 gallons last nite of a really strong flavor DR , we are 24 gallons from going over 1000 gallons for the first time . Today may be it for us we will see. Really happy with our season

[GeneralStark]

I'm done. Red maples have popped and several sugar maples by the sugar house visibly budded, and the sap stinks. I don't want to run the risk of contaminating what is in the evaporator...Will boil it out tomorrow. Going to make permeate tonight with the sap I have to be able to wash, rinse and then preserve membrane. Tap pulling should start Wednesday. It has been a great season so not feeling the need to push it any further.

I hope all you in colder areas get through this warm spell. 75 here today.

[DrTimPerkins]

Made about 150 gal of DR this morning from what ran in over night (very early start). Sugar content came up a bit. Niter getting worse, but not terrible. Altogether that puts us a tad over 0.5 gal/tap. We stopped the RO for a rinse and drained the evaporator to clean and to have a bite of lunch. Will probably boil again this afternoon for a short time, and then see what we've got tomorrow morning. Buds still tight here so far, but give that it's close to 70 deg F out there it won't last long.

Afternoon Update
2nd boil was only about 1.5 hrs. Total seasonal production at ~2,481 gal on 4,900 taps, or ~0.51 gal/tap. Will probably boil again tomorrow around noon, then finish off what is in the pans. That'll leave us around 0.54 gal/tap for the season unless it goes for two days....which seems a bit doubtful given that the peepers started singing this afternoon and the sugar maple buds are just starting to swell. Not a hint of buddy flavor in the syrup yet though.

[tcross]

I'm done here as well. reds have popped, but the sugars are still pretty tight. All my tanks are full so the pump is off. I won't be able to boil it fast enough before it spoils. all the 4 gallons jugs of ice I put in the tank this a.m have melted... it's 75 here and sunny! been a good year... should put me a hair above 50 gallons... not to shabby for me! i'll boil late tonight and all afternoon tomorrow with hopes the sap doesn't spoil in-between! I need a faster boiling rig! clean up starts Wednesday!

[MJPJ Sugars]

We pulled them all tonight -- some type of bees awoke and attempted to colonize the buckets -- we dumped most of what ran today. The older trees were actually still running pretty hard -- but the buds seemed to double since yesterday.

Thanks to everyone in the community here for the information, knowledge, and entertainment this year! What a delightful and fantastic resource you are. Hard to believe it's over....

[Sugarmaker's dad]

This has been an amazing run to end the season. After the hard freeze Saturday night, the sap started running hard Sunday morning at 10:30. Between 10:30 Sunday morning and 10:30 this morning we had 26,500 gallon of clear sap. Still running tonight. Over 36,000 gallons for this run! Should hit 60 barrels before it is all said and done.

[wiam]

Made almost 50 gallons of Dark today. Still no off flavors. We will try again tomorrow.

[spud]

In the last 24 hours I have gotten 3 quarts per tap. The word around my town is we are going to try to make it through this warm spell. We have 6 freezing nights in the next ten days. Still ice on the pond (but I would not want to walk on it). Sap is testing 1.2%. I would love to go till the 20th but that might be wishful thinking. Good luck to all that are still going and to our friends across the border.

Spud

[sugartree310]

We are done for the season , made another 40 gallons last night and part of that was from pushing the sweet out with water. Sap was 1.2 and pretty much came to a halt yesterday afternoon . Had not turned yet still great tasting ,Heard the peepers last night , that's a sign . Was a great season we tapped in early January and used CVs. We made it over 1000 for the first time . Now to clean up and pull taps . Good luck to those still going

[rhwells2003]

We pulled in another gal/tap yesterday, and my step daughter and I gathered her buckets. We picked up 16gal out of 10 buckets. Thought that was pretty good with it being so warm. I checked my tank this morning and we had gotten another 1/2gal/tap over night but its definitely a different color then yesterday. It didn't really look very good. I told the guy about it that boils our sap and he'll take a look at everything they brought in over night and make a determination. He sounds like he wants to try and make it through this warm up too, even if that means dumping some sap to try and bridge the warm gap. We'll see. I figure what they picked up last night put me up over 11,000 to around 11,300. Puts me at around 25gal/tap. No complaints from me, that's more then last year and better sugar content. I'm a happy sap sucker :)

[bairdswift]

West Fairlee vt: made 70 Gallons last night off 1200 taps. 16 degrees yesterday and 29 this morning. Wicked run today. 800 gallons before 3pm.releser dumping ever 3.5 min. Sugar dropping. It's not over yet but it's close.

[DrTimPerkins]

Made another 90 gal dark syrup with very nice flavor today. No hint of buddy off-flavor, but the wet sock smell is there very faintly. Sugar down to 1.6 Brix. Niter not bad. No hard freezes in our forecast. Taking it day by day, but it seems like the end is close.

[GeneralStark]

Looks like being at elevation and/or east of the greens has kept some going. Here....not so much. It has been hot and I have never seen sugar maples break bud so fast. I'm very glad I did not try to boil the sap that came in Sunday night and Monday as when I cleaned the tanks last night, the sap was ropey and offensive and surely would have made nasty, buddy syrup. I was able to get it thru the ro to make permeate but the prefilters were disturbing when I removed them.

I boiled out the evaporator today and made over 10 gal. of good DR. Also washed the RO and am almost ready to put it to bed. Debating getting a new membrane to replace the 14 year old one currently in the machine. Will think about it for a bit.

Anyway, totaled up all the syrup I made and I was off in my rough estimates during the season. The final conservative total is 350 gal., all table syrup no commercial, from 740 taps or .47 gpt. Very happy with that. I learned lots this season including tapping in January is the way to go from now on. Time to start thinking like sugarmakers in PA and Ohio....

[VT_K9]

We finished up today. The sap was very cloudy with about a 1.1% sugar. As the day went on with boiling the dirty sock odor started making it's appearance. We finished the year at 95 gallons with just shy of 400 taps. We missed four good days in February due to other projects and not being ready. Last year we had 104 gallons. Overall we are happy. Time to clean up and work on next years plans...300-400 more taps.

[rhwells2003]

I'm done too. Pulled the plug last night. Guy that boils my sap said they tested the pH of my sap, his sap, and the other guy he buys from. His own was pretty bad, mine was borderline and the other guys was barely ok. He boiled out the rig last night and I drained 500gal of sour sap. Good season, still bitter sweet when it ends.

[DrTimPerkins]

We too are finished. Boiled some test sap that came in overnight and picked up the first signs of pre-bud. We aren't really interested in making commercial syrup, so now it's time to drain and clean the tanks, boil out what is in the pans, and get some rest (just in time for Easter). Final totals not quite in yet (still have about 30 gal to finish and filter and the pan sweet to boil down), but it'll likely come in somewhere close to 0.54 gal/tap, which is close to our long-term average of 0.59 gal/tap. The vast majority of that was AR, with a bit of DR, and perhaps a couple of drums of VDS.

A little over 2 weeks to pull together talks for the manufacturer open houses in Swanton. I'll be at Lapierre (high brix) both Fri/Sat mornings, then H2O around noon (high sap yield practices) each day, then Leader in the afternoons (Biological/Environmental effects on sap flow and sugar content). Hope to see a bunch of folks there.

Hope to get the summer camp opened up this weekend and start getting the boat and dock ready. Sugaring is DONE!

[SB Stonehouse]

First post, but have been following this thread all year.

Finished up on Sunday w/ 102 gal total made (all but the last 20gal were a nice AR) on 340 taps. All taps are 3/16 natural vac (15 - 28" depending on the line). Sap was still running clear yesterday when we pulled the taps, but sugar was down to just over 1% at the end, making for a lot of boiling without an RO. Starting 3/28 we averaged 1 gal / tap a day for 2 weeks straight - it never stopped running on the natural vac! Need an RO next year to cut down the boiling time as a single day off meant 10-12 hours the next day.

[wiam]

Calling it quits. Had a slight off flavor last night. Will boil down sweet this afternoon. Be around .45 gpt.

[spud]

Dumped 2800 gallons this morning. Washing tank and hoping for a Frog run tomorrow and this weekend. It froze in the woods last night and I had ice in the releaser.

Spud

[WestfordSugarworks]

Been dumping sap for two days at both bushes. We are going to try to collect tomorrow and boil at our home bush, and the guy who buys our sap is going to try to do the same at our big bush. Looks like we might freeze tonight so hopefully the sap runs clear. We had a lot of foam when we boiled on Tuesday but the syrup tasted fine even though the concentrate smelled and was like 80 degrees. It was filtering fine too. The RO wasn't happy to process it though. Hopefully the sap is good enough to RO tomorrow and boil.

[rhwells2003]

sooooo I know I said I was done a couple days ago, but it was 30 degrees at the house this morning and everything was froze up. I'm going to collect again today and see what we get. Could be the last frogger of the season

[GeneralStark]

I have been pulling taps with the vacuum on and continue to get large quantities of sap....but would not want to try to make syrup with it...

[spud]

I shut the pumps off today. The sap has slowed down a lot and its time to call it quits. It was a very good year and I finished at .48 GPT. I will be planting 100 more apple trees next weekend. I hope all you Traders have a great summer.

Spud

[rhwells2003]

When people start selling their syrup let us know what everyone's getting/pound. I kept hearing before and beginning of the season that it was going to be around $2/lbs. But I've heard people whispering about lower, and the guy that boils mine thinks it will be similar to last year and be a touch over $2

[DrTimPerkins]

It was a very good year and I finished at .48 GPT.

So close Spud....so close.

[spud]

And yet so far away. :lol: It was a great year.

Spud

[Meuphrat]

Are people seeing an extra ordinary amount of flower buds this year?
I'm curious what causes a buds to go flower or leaf? I've heard that after a big seed year comes a low sugar content spring. Anyone have any insights?
Wondering if the drought last year could be a cause?
I poked around for a thread that answers these questions and couldn't find one. If the info is out there feel free to just direct me.
Mike
The Bunker Farm
Dummerston, VT

[GeneralStark]

Do you mean on sugar maples?

[Meuphrat]

Do you mean on sugar maples?

Oh Ya. I should have specified. :)

[DrTimPerkins]

I've heard that after a big seed year comes a low sugar content spring. Anyone have any insights?

http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/Does%20Masting%20Really%20Lead%20to%20Lower%20Sap% 20Sugar%20Concentrations.pdf

We are currently conducting a study on this (seeding) and other biological and environmental influences on sap sugar content and sap yield. I've spoken about it once (North American meeting last fall in Burlington) and will be again at the Leader Evaporator Co. Open House this Friday/Saturday. It'll probably end up as a paper in the Maple Digest sometime in the next year or two.

[Meuphrat]

http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/Does%20Masting%20Really%20Lead%20to%20Lower%20Sap% 20Sugar%20Concentrations.pdf

We are currently conducting a study on this (seeding) and other biological and environmental influences on sap sugar content and sap yield. I've spoken about it once (North American meeting last fall in Burlington) and will be again at the Leader Evaporator Co. Open House this Friday/Saturday. It'll probably end up as a paper in the Maple Digest sometime in the next year or two.

Awesome!
Thanks Dr. Tim!
Can't wait to see the study.
Seems like one of the main points of the article you linked was the need for producers to keep good records. Has anyone come up with a standardized way of sugar season record collection?
I would be interested in seeing a list of all the useful variables that producers could keep track of day to day during sugar season as well as off season variables.
Again thanks for the info.
Mike

[woodfordmark]

okay, I screwed up!!!....usually after the season I clean my plastic holding tanks but this season I dropped the ball and now they are a mess....what's the best way to clean them?
any idea's or suggestions???

[wiam]

okay, I screwed up!!!....usually after the season I clean my plastic holding tanks but this season I dropped the ball and now they are a mess....what's the best way to clean them?
any idea's or suggestions???

Really good pressure washer.

[woodfordmark]

did the pressure washer today, got a lot of it but not all of it...didn't know if soaking it with baking soda would help....thoughts?

[doocat]

We climb in with a scrub brush and they clean up pretty. Our tanks have 18" manholes!

[sjdoyon]

Sugarbush/house operation for lease, 2018 season
Turn key 13,000+ tap sugarbush with sugarhouse for lease during the upcoming 2018 sugaring season. Business is located in the NEK of Vermont, along the NH and Canadian border. Previous productions have been in the 6,000 - 6,400 gallon range. All equipment is onsite, in a slightly remote area (approximately one mile from main road). Access by snowmobile or ATV with tracks until snow has melted.

Looking to lease the operation for the 2018 season with the potential to lease additional seasons.
Individual must have experience operating a Lapierre RO and at least 3-5 years of sugaring experience.
Fall maintenance will be needed. Consistent boiling usually begins early April and typically ends first week of May.
Only serious candidates should inquire via private message.

[spud]

We got 1000 tapped on Wednesday and Thursday. Should be able to tap again on Tuesday of next week. We got a foot of snow last night so it will be a little slower working in the woods. I would like to be all tapped by the middle of the month.

Spud

[WestfordSugarworks]

Have approximately 3,000 of our 15,000 taps in. Added 2,000 new taps this fall at our Jericho woods. We installed the droplines with spouts already attached (significant pain in the a** and would not recommend, I believe it results in more total labor even when considering the saved time with not having to attach spout when tapping) but that did make it pretty fast to tap those 2,000. I tore my meniscus tuesday night but will be able to start tapping again tomorrow afternoon, the knee is feeling better. Have a friend helping this year as well as my uncle who volunteers for us and my dad who taps on weekends. I had hoped to get all tapped in by the end of my winter break (January 16) before I go back to UVM but that may not be feasible. Was hoping that we could get all tapped in before getting a sap flow but we are forecast to be 42 degrees here on Thursday. Maybe it won't run with it having been so cold. We didn't get hit bad by the windstorm in our Jericho woods but spent approximately 150 hours to do cutting and repairs in our Westford woods to deal with wind damage there.
P.S. I saw a barred owl on my first day of tapping on December 29th and take that as a good luck sign for the season.Good luck to you Spud and all other sugarmakers.

[spud]

Thanks. I hope spotting the owl helps the season. I spotted one a while back so maybe I will have some good luck also. We stopped putting our spouts on our drops in advance. At first I thought it was going to speed things up but after doing the math I found it did not pay. I tap 100 per hour even though I have to cut last years spout off. That seems good enough for me. I'm only good for 4-5 hours per day because of my low back issues. I'm going in for another round of steroid injections on Jan 22. I don't think I will get any sap this week even though we have two rainy days in the 40s. I am tapping the back side of my woods now because it gets a ton of snow. I'm trying to get that section done ASAP. I should get to the S/E side by the end of the week if all goes well. Still hoping for that week of 40 degree days by the end of the month.

Spud

[PARKER MAPLE]

Well fellas I have to say, I am totally surprised that this tread is almost to the day 4years old and still going. Thanks for all the great info here. I look forward to everyone's 2 cents every time I click on here. May you all have the best season ever and record breaking sap flows this year.
Good luck
PM

[spud]

Yesterday was brutal in the woods for me. The snow is very deep now but I hope this two day warm spell takes care of that problem. Although the sap may run a little on Thursday and Friday i am just not ready to turn the pump on yet. I hope to be done tapping next week sometime.

Spud

[GeneralStark]

IN addition to holiday markets and our usual holiday shipping rush, I have been working on an addition to the sugar house for tank storage. I am hoping to finish setting the tanks and most of the plumbing during this warm spell the next couple days. I'll finally have enough storage and a much simpler valve configuration in my heated room so I can control everything from there. I also won't have to worry about coming home or waking up to overflowing tanks...

No major changes in the woods this year. Just trying to make as much syrup as I can from what I've got. Will be using CV2s or a new drop and smart spout again this season. May start tapping next week but hoping to be ready to make syrup by Feb. 1st. Putting in a new membrane to replace the 10+ year old original that is in the ro. That should be real nice...

I'm looking forward to hearing of others' progress as the season progresses!

17037

[spud]

I'm still plugging away at the tapping. The sap was running yesterday and will run all day today. My vacuum is not on at this time. I still have a few fixes to do with mainlines. Sap was testing at just 1.3%. I will be ready for the next run in a few weeks. Supposed to be in the 40s in about 10 days. The season could be all done in March or it could go till April 20th. I just want to be ready. This rain is melting the snow so now I can drive my 4-wheeler in the woods again. That should speed up the tapping a bunch.

Spud

[spud]

The talk around my area is those who were tapped got 2 GPT. Unfortunately for me I missed out on the run. Looks like next weekend could be another chance to get early sap. Good luck everyone.

Spud

[VT_K9]

Crazy as it sounds we have six telephone poles we are going to try to set in the ground in the next couple of weeks. We have one vacuum line and pump line to repair from storm damage. The poles are for a new 1200' mainline, pump line, and future vacuum line (we are going to run a sap puller this year). If the ground doesn't cooperate for the install we will have to rig the lines lower this year until we can put the poles in. We want the lines high near some trail crossings which will be fine with the lay of the land.

Mike

[GeneralStark]

I started tapping today.... taking advantage of easy moving in the woods with crampons to get the steep and rugged areas done first. Still working on finishing up plumbing tanks in the addition as well. The forecast is all over for northern vt though south of us looks to get warm for bit...we'll see what happens here. IT would be nice to make some January syrup as the strategic reserve is dangerously low....

[spud]

When it rains it runs. Should see mid 40s on Tuesday and rain. We are going to have 3-4 days in the 40s starting next Saturday also. With more rain on the weekend this could mean some sap is coming. I just replaced several valves at my booster tanks and I am ready to roll. I need one warm day just to check for leaks. I usually miss a few trees when I tap so I want to find them ASAP. We still have a lot of winter to come but it would be nice to get 5+ GPT before that happens. Not many Vermonters posting here lately. I think everyone is in the woods tapping away. Good luck to all.

Spud

[VT_K9]

We put four of or six telephone poles in to support raised pump and vacuum lines over a trail. I pushed the snow off the top with the excavator blade and then dug. There was only about 6" of frost. Easy digging until I found the expected buried rock gardens. One pole went in about 4-4 1/2' and the others were more than 5'. We tamped 5 bags of concrete around the poles at the bottom and then back filled. It went pretty smooth.

Mike

[spud]

Sounds like your almost done and ready to roll. With such a small amount of frost in the ground the bigger trees should run early also.

Spud

[tcross]

i took advantage of the warmer weather this weekend to do repairs. changed out 200 drops, fixed 4 sections of main the yellow belly sap suckers had drilled holes in and replaced a few leaky saddles. I'm ready to go... just not this early for me. beautiful out yesterday!

[woodchuck]

I took last year off to cut in a road. One year off means three times as many fixes. Rigged the mainline run this weekend to accommodate the road. Its only a hobby to me and my family but, we missed it.
Good luck to all.

[spud]

I took last year off to cut in a road. One year off means three times as many fixes. Rigged the mainline run this weekend to accommodate the road. Its only a hobby to me and my family but, we missed it.
Good luck to all.

Welcome back.

Spud

[GeneralStark]

I have over half my taps in and took advantage of the warm weather today to get the vac. pump and releaser operational for the season. A few minor glitches but closed the valve on the sap tank and have been pulling in just under 1 gpm since 5 pm.... I installed a water meter on my releaser pump out line so I can better keep track of sap flows. I was able to fix a bunch of leaks and get the vac. to 26" on the taps I have hooked up. Still a few more leaks out there and if the forecast is right I should get some more sap and be able to leak check this weekend. Also hoping to get the RO rinsed and then change out the old fluid systems membrane for a new Max 40 the next time it warms up...

Also hoping to get more taps in while it is frozen up the next few days. I know winter is coming back but it will be nice to have everything tapped and equipment dialed before we get the big runs....

I hope everyone else is making good progress as well.

[spud]

I turned the pump on yesterday afternoon when the wind slowed down and the temp hit 40. The sap ran late afternoon until about 1:00am this morning. In all I got .5 GPT and it's testing at 1.2-1.3%. I was able to find one tree i missed while tapping. Vacuum was running at 26 so I know there is a few more leaks somewhere. Saturday is going to be warm and I hope to find the rest of the leaks.

Spud

[blissville maples]

What will you do with the sap, boil or wait until this next warm up Saturday? Looking like return of winter first week of February, I guess it's time to start my test tree spit out 1.8 which is about .5 higher than I expected and had been hearing

[spud]

The sap I have will stay in the tank until Saturday. I think by Sunday all sap will be boiled. I sell my sap to a large operation not far from me. I think my sugar will start going up in the next few runs.

Spud

[GeneralStark]

I ended up pulling in almost 1 gpt (330 gal. from about 400 taps) between 5 pm yesterday and whenever it froze last night. I'll hold this sap and see what happens this weekend and if I collect enough will probably boil on Monday...

[drewlamb]

Hey everyone. Was at the VSMA/UVM Ext. maple conference in Hyde Park yesterday and it got me pumped up for the season. So good to get back on maple trader and see what folks are up to. Had a busy year with sugarhouse remodel for new RO and about 800 new taps. Will start to haul sap with truck and 1000 gal trailer this year for new taps so keeping my fingers crossed for hopefully smooth system changes. Still moving sap from other 1200 taps with tractor and trailer. Definitely feeling a little nervous. No tapping yet for me - will probably wait until mid-Feb. I generally prefer to tap a bit later feeling that my end of season runs will be a little stronger. Maybe an overly cautious holdover from my bucket days when tapping timing REALLY mattered. Then I was perfectly willing to miss the first couple runs to have something in Mid April. I do use all new spouts each year so maybe it doesn't matter that much. Whatever. I'll have more help then anyway. How has your experience been with late season runs when you tap this early? Also, wondering with these first small runs if you'll run your RO with so little sap or just boil raw.

Hope everyone has a great season!

[GeneralStark]

My experience with tapping early has been that I still get over 1 gpt/day at the end of the season without a freeze for several days despite having tapped in January. I never have trouble getting sap in April...it's just that the sap is usually buddy. I'm in a very warm part of the state, and some times I feel like I am sugaring in Pennsylvania and not in VT. I doubt there are many producers outside of the Champlain Valley that have hickories (smooth bark and shag bark), oaks (red and white) and walnuts in their woods...

I do use a new CV2 spout on drop lines older than one season or a new smart spout on a new drop. I get lots of wildlife damage so drop changes are frequent. I also run my vac. pump 24/7 (unless it freezes for several days) and use an electric releaser so my taphole sanitation practices are pretty darn good. I also am set up to hold sap and let it freeze in the tanks if there is not enough to run the RO and make permeate.

I do what seems to make sense to me in my situation and it seems to have been working for that last few seasons. I have all this expensive equipment in the sugarhouse and it could either be sitting there in January doing nothing, or it can be making me money. On that note, I spent the weekend chasing leaks, finishing plumbing permeate tanks, changing the RO membrane, and rinsing and washing the RO. I pulled in over 500 gal. from about 475 taps and with that I have close to 900 total in the tank from this week. A little is ice so not sure how much I will process in the end. My plan is to start the RO shortly and see what the new membrane will do and then boil later today. Looks like we are going to be frozen up for a while now...

[blissville maples]

Couple years ago I tapped test tree day after Christmas as it was in the 30s, was a new drop into a one gallon milk jug. That tree ran into the 2nd week of march woth no issues at that point it stopped quite quickly and gave literally no sap. It produced for about 10 weeks I was rather surprised. I've never tapped this early so I'm a bit worried if the season goes to april- time tells all.

[GeneralStark]

Things went smooth. The new membrane is a tremendous difference. The machine went from 400 gph with warm sap last season to over 600 gph with 33 degree sap....

I boiled this evening...sweetened the pans and made about 5 gallons of light syrup. It sure was nice to be drinking fresh syrup off the evaporator again...

[wiam]

Things went smooth. The new membrane is a tremendous difference. The machine went from 400 gph with warm sap last season to over 600 gph with 33 degree sap....

I boiled this evening...sweetened the pans and made about 5 gallons of light syrup. It sure was nice to be drinking fresh syrup off the evaporator again...

Which membrane did you go with?

[GeneralStark]

Which membrane did you go with?

I ended up going with a Hydranautics Max 40. Mainly because I had a credit with a local dealer for some syrup and that's what he sells... Also considered a MES or CDL...

[WestfordSugarworks]

Finished tapping today. Started December 29th. About 14,500 for this year

[spud]

Glad to hear your done. What a feeling that is. Good luck with the season.

Spud

[drewlamb]

Finished tapping today. Started December 29th. About 14,500 for this year

Wow. A real accomplishment with that many. Interested to know how you split up the labor. How many helpers? What roles does everyone have? Do you work in teams?

[spud]

Looks like Wednesday we could see a little sap. I had to replace some parts on my releaser so it would be nice to test it before the main sugaring comes in about a month or so.

Spud

[blissville maples]

Well drilled my last 300 of 3300 taps today, can't wait for this coming weeks warmup. Holes loosened up some today, maybe see a small amount of sap tomorrow. Ready now, first year I've ever been ready prior to first February run!!

[spud]

Now the weather man/women is saying there will be 4 days in the 40s in the next ten days. We also have rain coming so that will help melt a bunch of snow. Southern Vermont could get some real nice runs.

Spud

[GeneralStark]

I should be done tapping today or tomorrow. The trees just started to thaw on saturday but then it froze up again. Had a little bit of sap come in last night as well when it finally warmed up but looks too cold for the next couple days. Looks like it may warm up a bit later this week though...

[billyinvt]

Time to put it in gear. Weather forecast is starting to look like we'll be boiling by early next week.

[tcross]

Tapping Saturday with hopes of being able to flush the lines out Sunday/Monday and have a boil mid week this week! temps look good if they stay as predicted.

[spud]

Will be starting pumps in an hour. I hope we can get some sap today. Yesterday was a bust and not much sap came in. I replaced my float in my big manual releaser. Yesterday after the sap would dump my float would not drop back down into place. That was causing a loss of vacuum to my woods. I sprayed silicone spray on the rod and where the rod slides through the white bushing and that seemed to fix the problem. Now i'm afraid to leave the releaser in fear it will stick again. Has anyone had this problem? I cleaned the rod and all the releaser when I changed the float. Thanks

Spud

[Parker]

Not sure what make releaser you have but with the lapierre singel barrel releasers there is a swinging plate that the float rod hooks into that has a spring hooked to it that slides aginst another plate with the air ports in it.......if those plates ars not luricated or that spring is set too tight or the bolt that holds the plates together is too tight the float wont drop back all the way down.....
Also if you use a lubricant that is stiff when its cold it will gum up the works
Good luck with it

[tcross]

i had the same issue at the beginning of last season Spud. I have a hobby mechanical releaser, I'm sure yours is a quite a bit bigger, but probably same concept. my float wouldn't go back down either. I had cleaned it in good shape before using it, but neglected to re lubricate all parts. once I did that, I never had the issue again all season. I set mine in place on Sunday and gave it a good lubricating, with hopes I won't run into the issue again this year.

[markcasper]

Not sure what make releaser you have but with the lapierre singel barrel releasers there is a swinging plate that the float rod hooks into that has a spring hooked to it that slides aginst another plate with the air ports in it.......if those plates ars not luricated or that spring is set too tight or the bolt that holds the plates together is too tight the float wont drop back all the way down.....
Also if you use a lubricant that is stiff when its cold it will gum up the works
Good luck with it

I learned this for the first time last year! I know exactly what your dealing with. I use the food grade oil on this part, no grease, oil only. I took apart the valve assy. a few weeks ago on my hobbies and found the O ring on the plunger is all cracked. This is the one that would be subject to outside and inside air/vacuum.

I ended up taking the bolt right out and dissecting it in terms to those sliding plates. Dirt comes in over time and don't matter how much you lube it, there comes a time when dirt is attracted to lube and then your asking for a seize up. But the taking it apart, remembering how you took it apart, clean with a soft paper towels, put back together and worked like a charm until the next day when the float slides down the stem b/c the snap ring wore off on the bottom of stem.

[doocat]

Spud, we had same problem on two mechanical releasers we ran. At leader they have small white packets of food grade clear grease. Every day we check the releasers, wipe down the rods, and apply a small amount of lube. Never had a problem again. Key is cleaning the rods first.

Craig

[spud]

Thanks everyone. I went out this morning and cleaned the rod and sprayed it down again. When I turned the pump on the releaser filled right up and dumped without any problems. I hope it's smooth sailing from here. I will be spraying the rod and other moving parts each day.

Spud

[GeneralStark]

Certainly not breaking any records here but the sap started running yesterday afternoon when the sun really came out. I finished tapping and fixing a few areas where I had some red squirrel issues. I'm letting the 150 taps that run into a sap lifter rinse before turning that section on later today. I'll have all my taps plugged in earlier than ever this season.

Good luck everyone. Looks like the season is about to start!

[spud]

I got 1200 gallons so far today coming into my sugar house. Sap still coming in very slow. My vacuum dropped to 25.5 at the releaser. I plan to find the leaks next week. Today I had to spray 350 more fruit trees with deer repellent. I plan to let the pump run till morning. Who knows maybe I will have 1500+ in the tank by then. Sap testing at 1.3%.

Spud

[EBG18T]

Hopefully going to start drilling and replacing taps this weekend. Been moving & splitting wood the past few weekends.

[spud]

It's 34 degrees here at my place this morning at 7:15. I went down to the sugar house to shut my pump off and the sap is still running 150GPH. I have 3000 gallons in the tank now. looks like we are going to have 3-4 good days of sap runs starting Monday. Hey DOOCAT does that grease work good even when the temps get cold? Although I spray my releaser rod I'm thinking of putting some of that grease on the inner part of the white bushing. The releaser has been working great all night.

Spud

[GeneralStark]

Pulled in about 900 gal. since Wednesday and it is still slowly coming in. The peak was yesterday afternoon when the sun came out for a bit.

I figured out that the float in my sap lifter is leaking so it was not working correctly...it was filled with ice so I thawed it out, drained it and then lifter was working good as new. Then it was filled again this morning so same drill... I need to get a replacement or figure out a fix... I'm looking forward to doing away with that thing for next season.

[spud]

I would just replace the float. I just had the same problem with my float being full of sap. I drilled a very small hole in the float and drained it. I put silicone over the hole and the crack where it was leaking. I'm keeping it as a spare but feel much safer having a new float in my releaser.

Spud

[smokeyamber]

Tapped in last night, temps in the 40's in Central Vt. Every tree was dripping FAST. Now I need to get storage online... evap put back together .. cut more wood... oh, well LET the FUN begin !

[doocat]

Spud, Our releasers were in sheds, not heated, but inside. Not sure if they were outside in the very cold air if it would stiffen up. Worked great for us.

[Ultimatetreehugger]

Got my first run yesterday only 150 gallons at 1.2%. Didn't get a lot but had enough sap to check for air leaks. 3/16ths is surprisingly easy to check for leaks on.

[WestfordSugarworks]

Wow. A real accomplishment with that many. Interested to know how you split up the labor. How many helpers? What roles does everyone have? Do you work in teams?

Thanks. Sorry to respond so late.

This year there was my friend, my dad, and myself who helped tap, along with my aunt and uncle who volunteer to help us out and do a couple thousand or so every season. We are lucky to have free help from family and friends who enjoy being out in the woods. My dad, my friend, and I all work independently, all working one mainline at a time. Maybe have one person work the taps closer to the main and one work the farther away taps from the main on mainlines with longer laterals. But for the most part we work independent, I think that helps to reduce the chance of missed drops. My friend and I averaged around 500 taps or so each in an 8 hour work day which is what I try to shoot for.

My aunt and uncle work together, usually one puts on the spout and one drills. I'm not a fan of this approach for a number of reasons, but they enjoy helping us out and like to be close by when they are working, plus they are volunteering so what can I say.

I find tapping while within hearing distance of another tapper is helpful to keep your energy and speed up. It's also good to be able to listen to the sound of the other workers drilling, gauge their speed and quality of the job they are doing if possible. Look over once and a while to see that they aren't missing any trees. It's really difficult to manage employees in my opinion, to be assertive and respectful when telling someone what they need to do differently and also remember to remind them of what they are doing well to keep spirits up.


But I'm not fan of paying employees (or myself or dad) to put spouts on first, then having another paid employee come back and drill and tap in. I figure it takes me like 5 seconds to detach the dropline from the pin and grab a spout and wiggle it onto the drop. Same with our other paid tappers this year, it goes pretty quick when putting a spout on. A significant amount of time is spent walking between trees when tapping (luckily we didn't have much snow this tapping season), so in my opinion it makes little sense to pay people to put on spouts without tapping at the same time. Wasted money in the form of time spent traveling between trees. Furthermore, when it warms up any frozen liquid in the bacteria-contaminated dropline immediately drains and sits in the spout. So better for us to have each person do every aspect of tapping on their own.

Lastly, my dad and I do all of the walking of lines by ourselves. I go to UVM so am out in the woods between classes as much as possible, and he walks after work and on weekends if he doesn't have to be in the sugarhouse running the RO. Historically i've done most of the walking as he simply doesn't have time. We have been lucky to be able to walk lines a lot early in the season and then have high vacuum hold without too much more maintenance for the rest of the season. we don't have bad animal damage so that's a godsend. We've probably walked lines for about 40 hours so far this season and now vacuum is up above 27" in both bushes and we are in good shape for this week.

Finally I feel like it's not a race against time anymore, for the first time since we started the new install this fall. All tapped in, lines tight, hard work has paid off and now we just hope for no more leaks, good weather, functioning equipment. I don't know if anyone else feels this way but when we work so hard to get our operations in good shape I think we should take a break and be proud of our accomplishments. It's easy to always look at the next thing that needs to be done, but I find it important to stop and just be happy to have accomplished so much thus far this season.

Good luck to everyone, should be a good seven days ahead of us.

[woodchuck]

We got the season back on track today. My son and a friend came over and we tapped our vacuum line trees. We got into a good rhythm of replacing spouts, drilling holes hammering taps. I had repaired chewed drops, breaks, and pinched manifolds last weekend. My wife and her friend took care of the buckets. Great day to be outside!
Tomorrow I will plumb up the new Ariblo and hopefully pull, at least some cleansing sap.
Look like a wild week ahead!
Best of luck to everyone!

[blissville maples]

Get ready!! Going to be an extremely busy few days for everyone. We had 60s in January, maybe 70 wensday, 80s in March again? This could be not good, freezing nights seem to perish with the arrival of warm spells this year.....

[spud]

Sap is running 200 GPH into my sugar house. There was too much wind today to allow the sap to really run hard. I was able to find and fix a few leaks in the woods today. The big leak was an end cap and clamp that came off one of my mainlines. I am now running 28 Inches of vacuum. Should see 1+ GPT each day for the next few days. I welcome the rain so all this snow will melt.

Spud

[blissville maples]

Sap is running 200 GPH into my sugar house. There was too much wind today to allow the sap to really run hard. I was able to find and fix a few leaks in the woods today. The big leak was an end cap and clamp that came off one of my mainlines. I am now running 28 Inches of vacuum. Should see 1+ GPT each day for the next few days. I welcome the rain so all this snow will melt.

Spud

Spud- how many taps on the 200 gph?

[tcross]

i was unpleasantly surprised to wake up and see no sap coming in. I got about a hair less than 1/2 gallon per tap here from 11 a.m through the evening. hopefully it picks up today!

[DrTimPerkins]

About half full tanks overnight in Underhill. Warmed up to about 38 deg F yesterday afternoon, but dropped to 35 by 5:30pm before rising slowly overnight. Lots of wind here too, which must have broken something...vacuum dropped to 13" Hg overnight. Trees are starting to "wake up", but sluggishly. Not unusual for this time of year. Will fire up the RO and concentrate what came in, but hold it in the bulk tank over overnight, then RO again tomorrow morning and probably first boil of the season tomorrow.

[GeneralStark]

Second boil of the season last night and made about 15 gal of nice AR. That was with about 1000 gal. from last week and the weekend, in addition to another approx. 400 from yesterday. Sugar at about 1.5

Will be interesting to see what the next 36 hours brings and if the warmth will be enough to really get things moving. Still lots of ice in the ground. Most of the snow is now gone but I still need crampons in the woods.

[WestfordSugarworks]

Checked every mainline for leaks on our big bush yesterday and fixed every leak I could find except one mainline that I didn't have time to walk because got the call that our back pan has a leak (again, this happened two years ago). Called a bunch of people to help lift it into truck and brought to Leader to be repaired, hopefully by tonight. Sitting on a lot of sap and it's a time crunch to get fixed so we don't overflow or spoil. Besides that we're in very good shape, high vacuum, things working as they should.

[spud]

Sap has been running all day yesterday and last night. Since yesterday morning at this time I have gotten 1.5 GPT. Sap is testing at 1.6%. Vacuum holding at 28 inches. I would like to see it pick up today. Right now it is 59 degrees at my house.

Spud

[tcross]

sap flowed very well up here last night. same as Spud... 1.5 gpt and still coming! testing 1.75. i'll take that for mid/late February! looks like it'll stop over night and pick back up come Friday.

[rhwells2003]

Finished tapping this weekend, got vac on Monday morning and dumped for 8 hours. Finally started collecting at 7pm Monday evening and in 36 hours I've gotten about 1.75gpt. Hopefully before it shuts off tonight I'll have 2+gpt in 48 hours. good first run for me.

[sapmaple]

First boil yesterday Sap is 1.5-1.7 sweeten pans and made 100 gals. have small crack in one of the RO post hope to get fixed on Thursday My biggest problem is the drain in the RO room is clogged spent 5 hours on it still can't get it GRRRRR! At least the drains on the sides of the arch work so had to leave door of RO room open and the water flowed out and down that drain should have 12000 plus gallons of sap today Oh loving my new monitor equipment in woods and sugar house

[blissville maples]

Trees certainly woke up over the course of the last two days I have a remote Sugarbush with large old growth trees from 7:30am Tuesday to 7 p.m. Wednesday they spit out 2100 gallons on 900 taps 28 inches!! First time with high vacuum on this Sugarbush I'm certainly impressed and excited for the major runs.....
125 gallons in Barrel so far all Amber

[GeneralStark]

Still nothing record breaking here with a bit over 2gpt in 48 hours. I boiled about 1500 gal. last night and made 20 gal. of DR, just over the line from AR. Classic dark amber. My sap hydrometer I realize is way off and my refractometer filled with sap so I am not sure the sugar content. Things working well in the sugarhouse. Now that we are through the warm-up and the early season tubing slime sap, I'm going to clean the flue and syrup pans in preparation for the next phase of the season.

I realized yesterday that a bunch of CV spouts that were tapped in January needed to be reset with a tap or three. Mainly in an area with low slope and some inverted lats. I have not had this much of an issue with these spouts in the past, but we have had some back and forth weather. Not so much of an issue with smart spouts...

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

First boil last night.
425 gal 2%
With High Pressure pump rebuilt I was doing 3.0/3.5 Perm and 1.0/1.25 Con. One pass to 8%.
So Home made ro doing 240 GPH at a cost of $3600, I have to say not bad at all.
made around 3/3.5 medium / dark amber.

[rhwells2003]

Pulled in another 1.75-2gpt from Saturday & sunday afternoon through the night to Monday morning. Maybe a total of 36 hours of vac time. Not bad for two days that never got higher then 38 degrees. Should run good this week.

[GeneralStark]

A decent run here this weekend. Pulled in 910 gal on Saturday before it froze up and about 1100 gal. yesterday and overnight. Pretty marginal freeze here last night as it was still trickling in this am at 6:30. I was very surprised at how well it ran yesterday given it was so cold. Must have been the sugar snow...

After the last boil I ran the contents of the flue pan through the filter press and then cleaned the whole rig. Boiling later today...

[WestfordSugarworks]

Ran pretty well today. Best of the season so far I think. Good vac in both woods and had a good first boil, finally our evaporator is all fixed.

[spud]

Still having some pump issues but was able to get .75 GPT yesterday. I'm sure I lost at least a quart a tap. Sap is now testing at 1.1%.

Spud

[blissville maples]

Very nice run overnight Sunday into Monday suagr was 1.9 then back down to 1.7. stockpile 2500 gals Sunday night, added about 3200 monday.....our new 3x10 inferno with steampan was pumping out 17 gals an hr,- incredible, a whole new dimension for us. Made 82 gals light Amber.....in just over 5 hrs.

[DrTimPerkins]

Sap ran some on Saturday. Not quite as well on Sunday. Picked up a good bit yesterday.

Ran the Lapierre HyperBrix RO yesterday to generate 349 gal of 30 Brix concentrate...stored safely away in the refrigerated bulk tank for processing. The RO is running now with the sap that came in yesterday afternoon and overnight (froze up around 8-9pm). Will start the evaporator in about an hour -- should be about a 200-225 gal syrup day.

Vacuum in the research area is 27" Hg. About 24-25" in the woods down the drive. Only about 20" in the main bush, but some of the crew will be out today tracking that down (3 trees down on the mainline from the wind this weekend -- was pretty wild up here on Sunday afternoon).

H2O Smartrek system for monitoring is working well.

[GeneralStark]

I think this is going to be a good run. Already 400 gal. since things really thawed about noon.

I made about 50 gal. last night from 2500 gal. that came in this weekend and monday. Still not sure the sugar content but it is getting higher. Ratio is about 50:1 now vs. 60:1 earlier in the season.

Grade started DR from the sweet in the pans but then transitioned thru AR to the line with GD. Major flavor change too which was cool to see.

[spud]

Pump is still loosing its prime at times. It will run anywhere from 30 minutes to 5 hours. Even with all the problems today I still have gotten 3/4 of a gallon per tap today so far. Still coming in at 400 GPH. Should run all night. Sap is now testing at 2.2%.

Spud

[DrTimPerkins]

Another 250 gal of concentrate to go with our 349 from yesterday. Made 210 gal AR today (light transmittance 2% shy of Fancy). Crew got the vacuum up to 25” Hg. A bit more work, but getting close.

[woodchuck]

The last four days have been good to us. The overnights were in the upper 20s. Pretty steady average at 1.25 gallons per tap. Pulling 26” on the line of 1.5 to 1.6 SC.
The buckets bring it up to 1.6-1.7. I’m not thrilled with the SC but, I have to remind myself its still February.
Good luck to all!

[WestfordSugarworks]

Very good sap runs today. I think we did at least 1.5 gpt in both woods since this morning when it opened up. Good second boil, made a bit more than 80 gallons. DR but close to AR. Hope to make GD soon, haven't made any since 2016.

Fernco fitting blew off where our sap pumps connect with the line that exits the releaser and goes to our tanks in our MES releaser. That happened this morning when all the sap that was frozen in the lines and had thawed suddenly let loose into the releaser when the last of the ice jams gave way. We have chronically leaky boosters and valves that I believe causes this freezing.

Anyway, what happens is the clamp comes loose on the Fernco, sap pumps can't pump nearly as fast, releaser gets filled with sap and trips moisture trap. Anyone have similar issues with Ferncos coming loose inside releaser? We just have each connection single clamped with normal hose clamps but we need a more reliable type of clamp, one that won't come loose from prolonged exposure to high vacuum, sap, etc. Any ideas?

Also, Emerald Ash Borer is officially in Vermont. It was identified in Orange and has apparently been present for a few years. http://digital.vpr.net/post/first-infestation-tree-killing-emerald-ash-borer-found-vermont

Don't transport firewood. It's how these terrible invasive insects often get brought into our woods.

[spud]

Running good for me also. In the last 24 hours I have gotten 1.6 GPT. Sap is running 200GPH right now and should pick up in a few hours. Sugar has gone down to 2%.

Spud

[GeneralStark]

Also, Emerald Ash Borer is officially in Vermont. It was identified in Orange and has apparently been present for a few years.

This is very bad news though not surprising. The fact that it has been in Orange for several years suggests it is likely in other areas but has not been observed.

The sap here slowed way down last night and we did not get a freeze. I was still able to pull in about 1000 gal. from about noon yesterday until this am. We'll see what happens today...

[EBG18T]

Things slowed down, no freeze last night. looks like we got about 0.75 gallon per tap today. Hopefully it picks up so I can boil this weekend.


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[to100]

A couple years ago there were traps or sticky board where hung in trees in our region, I think University research had a notice on trees about it.

[spud]

Yesterday I got about .75 GPT as it slowed down from the day before. As of last night the sugar had gone down to 1.9%. It's 29 degrees here this morning and I don't think it will warm up enough today for sap. Looks like Saturday it should start running again for me.

Spud

[GeneralStark]

I made over 20 gal. AR last night from about 1300 gal. of sap that came in Tuesday and yesterday. That puts me over 100 gal. so far this season.

Haven't had a freeze since Monday night and the sap flow pretty much stops overnight. Only 150 gal. since 4pm yesterday. It should pick up again today, as it did yesterday, when the sun comes out...

[hogisland42]

General what is this thing you call the sun? haven't seen it in awhile. Trees are definetly slowing down. Need a freeze pretty bad!!

[EBG18T]

Got zero sap today. Boooo.

I need another few hundred gallons to justify boiling Saturday. But with the front coming in tonight I have a feeling I wont have enough to boil and what sap I have is going to get poured out, again.


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[DrTimPerkins]

370 gal Syrup today from sap on Tues night and Wed. Mostly Fancy (Golden-Delicate). About 30% of our minimum expected crop. Not much sap run today. Probably slow for a few days.

[GeneralStark]

I have a feeling I wont have enough to boil and what sap I have is going to get poured out, again.



I'm curious as to what you mean by poured out...

[blissville maples]

We need some good freeze ups it has hit 30 degrees a couple nights but only for a matter of an hour or two.... Sap flow has been tapering off since Tuesday as has the sugar, we've produced half of our last year's total of 822(1000 more taps and more vac) all light Amber except our last Barrel was dark amber. Mostly south facing slopes and 15% reds mixed in- we generally don't see much fancy if any.

[peteinvermont]

I made over 20 gal. AR last night from about 1300 gal. of sap that came in Tuesday and yesterday. That puts me over 100 gal. so far this season.

Haven't had a freeze since Monday night and the sap flow pretty much stops overnight. Only 150 gal. since 4pm yesterday. It should pick up again today, as it did yesterday, when the sun comes out...

You're over 100 gallons of syrup from 750 taps General? Wow, that sounds like the start of a great season.

[GeneralStark]

You're over 100 gallons of syrup from 750 taps General? Wow, that sounds like the start of a great season.

I'm feeling good about it. I'm at about 30% of what I made last year. Hopefully we can all go until April!

[DrTimPerkins]

I'm feeling good about it. I'm at about 30% of what I made last year. Hopefully we can all go until April!

Agreed -- we're at 30% too, which seems great at this point in time. Glad to have a bit of cold weather to get some rest and let the crew have a day or two off though. Still fairly early.

[sapmaple]

30% here as well I don't see any big freeze ups or heat waves coming so should be productive at least through middle of March Hope there isn't to much wind damage after this storm gets out of here howling pretty good right now

[tcross]

it's kind of neat looking at the line of the storm. pretty much from Johnson, north, (east anyways) we haven't gotten anything. no wind, barely any precipitation... below Johnson it's pretty nasty!

[EBG18T]

I'm curious as to what you mean by poured out...

I didnt get enough to boil & the temps got too warm. So I waited a few days and then pumped the tank out onto the ground. It was starting to spoil.

Im going to walk my lines this weekend. I dont think I am getting as much sap flow as I should. But My sugarbush unfortunately needs afternoon sun which could be the culprit.


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[spud]

Sap is running 425 GPH here today. I was not exspecting that. Sap now testing 2.0%.

Spud

[spud]

Sap is running 500GPH at 7:25pm. It's only 33 degrees outside. Wow.

Spud

[JoeJ]

Sap started to run about 11:30 this morning and over the next 8 hours, the 2,348 taps ran 1.14 GPT. I just got back from hauling 2,130 gal back to the sugar house just to make sure there was enough room (hopefully) in the 3,894 gal tank to hold the rest of the run overnight. Looks like a long day tomorrow.

Joe

[MDR Maple]

85 gallons of sap was processed today over 12 hours, about 55
Stored from a few days ago and 30 that ran today. Today’s run was a little less than 1 gpt. My first real test of the RO Bucket and barrel evaporator. The RO seemed to make about 5 gph 50%. The evaporator made about the same but could likely do more.

[sapmaple]

This is a hell of a run looking like 3gpt in 24hr period. Sugar content is kind of sad 1.6to 1.7 Guess we need a hard freeze up and not just prologue 30 degrees I can see this is a high volume low sugar year

[EBG18T]

Only got about 0.75GPT yesterday. Going to tap some older lines (new drop lines) today that get morning sun.


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[WestfordSugarworks]

Joe, our Jericho woods hardly ran yesterday while Westford has run all yesterday, froze up last night, and running now. Jericho still not running really. Weird because Westford is generally a bit colder for us.

[spud]

Sap has been running 750 GPH since 10:00 this morning. Should freeze up by 7:00

Spud

[woodchuck]

We had good flow in short windows this weekend. 30 hours we were 1.3 g/t. Sugar was 1.8 with the help of 100 buckets. No complaining here. Stopped cold tonight at 5:00.

[wiam]

Not a drop from my trees today. Never thawed.

[EBG18T]

It was snowing on & off all day. Added another 100 taps today on an area that gets morning sun. My current area only gets afternoon sun & this weather has been keeping the flow low and inconsistent. Hopefully this addition will level off our flows.


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[GeneralStark]

My wife and I went to the Adirondacks for the weekend with some friends. We left at 2 pm Friday and everything was frozen up. Returned home today to find things frozen up and that we had collected 1700 gal. since we left. Looks like it thawed late morning Saturday and perhaps ran all night. Either way, over 2 gpt in a little over 24 hours.... I'll take it. Sugar at about 1.9 according to my brand new hydrometer.

[blissville maples]

It flowed so good Saturday.....best run of season at 35 degrees!! Went to releaser and they were running half flow before I even turned pump on, of course being stuck in a 3-4 snow drift for hr and half was handy......thank God for big storage tanks! Roots finally thawing out in woods that helps

[spud]

Sap started running this morning at 10:45. It is now running 500 GPH. Testing at 2.0%

Spud

[hogisland42]

yes I was surprised it was running so good today when I checked at lunch. The wind is pretty cool

[JoeJ]

Sap started to flow at 11:30 today. 2,348 taps ran even better than last Saturday. 1.28 gpt in 7 hours. The flow had slowed up at 8:00 when I took another 700 gallons back to the sugar house. The sap was tipping the scale at a whopping 1.3%. The highest I have had this year so far has been 1.7%. Pretty low for the start of the season.

Joe

[EBG18T]

Flow started at about 2pm, got about 0.50 GPT yesterday. The temp, clouds & wind aren’t helping my sap..


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[spud]

I got 4000 gallons yesterday between 10:45am to 6:00pm. Sap tested 1.9% for the day. Today should be a very good sap day. Today I should pass 50% of where i was last season. My kids were cutting pussy willows yesterday. I hope the season continues to mid April. Good luck everyone.

Spud

[EBG18T]

The black bears are out of hibernation. We had one at the bird feeders (destroyed) last night and found marks on the seed shed this morning. Appears they are up & hungry. Anyone have issues with black bears trying to get into the sugar shack when you have stuff left in the pan overnight?


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[tcross]

saps been running real strong here the past hand full of days. syrup color is lightening up as well. should be a great day for sap today! I have been starting to hear the redwing black birds the last couple of days. hope the robins hold off for another month or so!

[DrTimPerkins]

Been a bit too cold since last week for us up on the hill. We had ONE releaser dump yesterday at 5:30pm before it froze up again. Low 20s this morning, so won't thaw out until mid-afternoon, if at all.

[rhwells2003]

Another good day yesterday. Sap opened up at 10:30 and was froze up by 8:30, and we got 1.5gal/tap. Not bad in 10 hours. 20 degrees at the house this morning, should be thawed out in another hour or so. Should be another good day. I'm already at a half crop from previous years sap totals, but I'm hoping to increase on previous years by atleast 25%

[GeneralStark]

Pulled in about 500 gals yesterday once it thawed by about 2 pm. Was frozen again by 6:30. Most of it came down the dry lines...

We made almost 50 gallons AR last night from about 2400 gal. of sap. Grade went from right on the line with DR to almost on the line with GD. I'm really liking this new Hanna Syrup Grader. Makes grading really easy. Probably the most affordable tool for sugaring out there...

I'm also really liking this return to winter as it should help extend the season. Low 20s here this morning but the sun is just starting to peak over the mountain. Could be another good day....

[tcross]

by the looks of the flow currently, this will be the best run for me so far this year! I've been very pleasantly surprised how cool the temps have compared to how well the runs have been! I don't recall this happening before... however I'm sure it has.

[spud]

Yesterday started out a bit slow for me even though the sun came up early. I was beginning to wonder if I would get much sap at all. By noon it started picking up and by 8 pm I had one gallon a tap. It was a nice day to start pruning some apple trees. I have a slight correction from a previous number I gave the other day. I am now at 47% of last years numbers. Looks like no sap for at least 10 days but that could all change. Hoping the season last well into April.

Spud

[blissville maples]

Sap has been running so good and I'm so busy I can't even keep track anymore the gpt's per day. It all blends together. You'll have that when you're hauling from four different places. I can say that it is over a gallon per tap, way over..... Mostly all light Amber, looks to be another good year don't know how good that will be for next year's prices, I'm a little concerned

[GeneralStark]

Mostly all light Amber

What grading system are you using?

[DrTimPerkins]

Between the small flows on Saturday and yesterday afternoon we got about 5,000 gal of sap to RO this morning. Will send it off to the bulk tank and probably boil on Friday.

[GeneralStark]

It was slow to get going yesterday here as well but I did pull in about 1000 gal. before it froze up last night. I was also able to find a couple drops that had popped off during the last hard freeze that revealed themselves when the vac. dropped after everything thawed out. Back up to 27".

The niter started to show up during the last boil so I soaked the syrup pans and will clean them before boiling later today. Not sure what the next few days will bring but I'm not expecting much. But, it has run well every time it has snowed recently....

[spud]

The sap started running today at 2:00pm. Right now it is running 525 GPH. It may leek running for several hours. Very surprised on some of these sap runs. Seems way to. Old.

Spud

[drewlamb]

Between the small flows on Saturday and yesterday afternoon we got about 5,000 gal of sap to RO this morning. Will send it off to the bulk tank and probably boil on Friday.

Tim, do you mean that you will RO and hold it until Friday? I'm using RO for the first time this year - unbelievable - but what I want to ask is whether it's ok to let it sit like that for a couple days. Unless I was going to fall behind, I wouldn't have any problem holding on to raw sap that long if the weather is cold. But I was under the impression that concentrate is more likely to spoil if not processed quickly. Could you share a bit of your experience with respect to how long you can keep it at different temperatures? Thanks.

[DrTimPerkins]

We have a bulk tank that keeps the 30-35 Brix concentrate at 25 deg F. It’ll last a good bit of time at that temp. Without it we would boil immediately.

[spud]

Yesterday to my surprise the sap started running at 2:00pm. Before long it was rolling and continued till 6:00 when everything froze up. In the 4 hours it ran I got 1700 gallons. Sap testing at 1.9%. Did anyone else get sap yesterday? I could not believe the sap ran yesterday. I give up trying to predict sap runs from here on out. It's crazy.

Spud

[GeneralStark]

Same thing here. Once it thawed early afternoon the sap ran as hard as it ever does and I pulled in about 500 gal. before it froze up. Sugar snow I guess...

Last night we made almost 30 gal. AR from about 1500 gal. from the last couple days. Looks like we may get a bit of a break today....

[tcross]

yeah, I was surprised to see the sap running well here to... for a few hours. started here about 1-1:30 and was all done at 6. pulled in a good bit in that amount of time though. I'm starting to not be surprised when the sap runs at 33 degrees in crap weather!

[rhwells2003]

I started my pump up yesterday when I left for work hoping it'd get up to 36ish degrees which for whatever reason seems like the magic number this year. At lunch time temp was 33 degrees so I didn't even go home and check it. Got home after work at 3:30 and to my surprise sap was dripping in but I had no vac at releaser. Quick check and one of my elbows was froze solid. After chiseling on it for 5-10min I was back up and running full vac and the sap was just puking in! Couldn't believe it. In the last two days I've had a little over 1500gal picked up. not bad for 515 taps. 425 of those gallons were off my new 3/16 set-up with 80 taps on it. No complaints here.

[EBG18T]

I am beginning to think I may have to switch to 3/16 fir my gravity lines next season


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[GeneralStark]

Pulled in another 700 gal in about 5 hours yesterday. At about 50% of what we made last year. The vacuum pump has been on for weeks and looks like it may be on until april...

[wdchuck]

Its always interesting to compare output by the different regions of Vt- We're at a little better than 30%- sap barely ran for about 2 hours yesterday, it just wasn't quite happening.

[alexa.holleran]

EBG18T, I switched this year and am blown away by the difference. I had planned to put in 120 this season but am stopping at 60 (okay, maybe I'll throw in another 10-20 in the next week of low temps and low flows...it's hard to resist!) because I have so much more sap per tap than I'd expected frommy 5/16" days.

[EBG18T]

Got zero flow here yesterday. But between yesterday & this morning we got another 10 inch of snow.


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[EBG18T]

EBG18T, I switched this year and am blown away by the difference. I had planned to put in 120 this season but am stopping at 60 (okay, maybe I'll throw in another 10-20 in the next week of low temps and low flows...it's hard to resist!) because I have so much more sap per tap than I'd expected frommy 5/16" days.

Are you just doing 3/16 drops? Or everything down to your main?


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[steve J]

Alexa I am also being blown away by sap and I have 20 buckets that I never hung because mine 3/16 lines are running so hard. I am also trying to come up with a new pan that might boil faster before the big run next week.

[rhwells2003]

Sap didn't run at all for me this weekend. course we never got about 32 degrees either, and added another 6-8" of snow. Hoping today things take off, then it looks like another cold snap and more snow.

[GeneralStark]

Pulled in 6-700 gal. each of the last three days. Today should be decent as well. Going to be a busy day getting ready to boil later...

[DrTimPerkins]

Sap didn't run at all for me this weekend. course we never got about 32 degrees either, and added another 6-8" of snow. Hoping today things take off, then it looks like another cold snap and more snow.

Same situation here in Underhill. Might get a little sap late this afternoon, otherwise just more snow headed our way.

[EBG18T]

Same situation here in Underhill. Might get a little sap late this afternoon, otherwise just more snow headed our way.


Sap didn't run at all for me this weekend. course we never got about 32 degrees either, and added another 6-8" of snow. Hoping today things take off, then it looks like another cold snap and more snow.

Same in Wolcott. What was in the 55 gal barrels was frozen solid. Nothing new appeared. :-(

Set up heat trace cable on my 3/4 inch line from head tank (outside) to float tank to prevent it from completely freezing solid again like Friday night.


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[spud]

Sap started running at 11:00 this morning. There is still a lot of the woods froze but I have been getting 275 GPH for the last three hours. Should run to 8-9 pm.

Spud

[tcross]

same here. started running around 11. lots of laterals frozen up, but should thaw out before the sap shuts off completely... for a while!

[wiam]

Same in Wolcott. What was in the 55 gal barrels was frozen solid. Nothing new appeared. :-(

Set up heat trace cable on my 3/4” line from head tank (outside) to float tank to prevent it from completely freezing solid again like Friday night.

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Many way a moderator can get it fixed so a quote/inch “ sign does not do that?

[woodchuck]

We pulled just over a gallon per tap in the last 24 hours. Even the buckets kicked in late today. Our south facing trees did well. Sugar was 1.6, which is becoming our norm ;(. Im going to pull until it freezes, then take the rest of the week off. We are just passed 4K gallons of sap to date.

[EBG18T]

Just pumped the barrels. Maybe 0.1 GPT today, kinda disappointed.


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[blissville maples]

775 gallons syrup, no official tally but around 35-40k gals of sap....will be fun hauling in snow today picking up last night remnants. Sugar still 1.7-1.9 depending on bush. Should make another 50-60 gals today.

Will we be sugaring into may/ June In the north I take it!!

[spud]

Got 1 gallon per tap yesterday. Sap ran until about 1:30 this morning before freezing up. Looks like no more sap for about 10 days or more. I shut the pump down this morning. I am at 53% of where I was last year.

Spud

[rhwells2003]

It pounded at my place yesterday. I took an early lunch, headed home and started the pump at 11. It was just starting to come in. By the time I got home at 4:30 it was pouring in, releaser releasing ever couple minutes. My daughter wanted to get her 13 buckets out so we tapped those at 5, they were dripping really good. I knew we had a week of cold so I didn't want a half gallon of frozen sap sitting in them for a week so we gathered them at 6:30 figuring things would shut off soon. We got 4 gallons in 1.5 hours. at 10 sap was still coming hard so I went and gathered her buckets again and picked up another 6gal. I checked the sap one last time at 11:30 and it was still coming good so I just let it go into the night. This morning I figure I picked up 700gal on my vac system (440 taps), 200gal on my 3/16" (80 taps), All in about 15 hours. Then 10gal on 13 buckets in 5 hours.

Last year I think I picked up around 8500gal. I'm currently at 6300gal, hoping we're only halfway done.

[GeneralStark]

It ran hard here yesterday as well with about 1.5 gpt from about noon until whenever it froze last night. When the lines thawed the sap was exploding into the releaser. I have been having this persistent issue the last week where because of the dramatic shifts between totally frozen and vigorous sap flows, every day I have to go find disconnected drops. Two days ago I had 25 drops come off overnight and the vac was down to 14". The VFD was shutting off the vac. pump on over amperage (which is good as it protects the pump) because the pump was working so hard. I have never seen this problem be so dramatic.... perhaps a drop or two here or there on occasion but not 15-25 every day for several days.

We boiled and made almost 50 gal from about 2500 gal. of sap. Half AR and half GD. Was starting to push it with niter at the very end. Cleaning syrup pans every boil now and will probably try to process less sap an once...

To top off a hectic day dealing with some other equipment and tubing issues, the motor on the filter press pump died. At first it smoked a bit and we thought it was the belt, but then it tripped on thermal protection. We got it going again but then no go after that... My friend had the brilliant idea of using a drill to turn the pump and turns out that works! We got 40 gallons through the press, albeit at about half the usual speed, but it kept us filtering through the boil.

18113

[BAP]

It ran hard here yesterday as well with about 1.5 gpt from about noon until whenever it froze last night. When the lines thawed the sap was exploding into the releaser. I have been having this persistent issue the last week where because of the dramatic shifts between totally frozen and vigorous sap flows, every day I have to go find disconnected drops. Two days ago I had 25 drops come off overnight and the vac was down to 14". The VFD was shutting off the vac. pump on over amperage (which is good as it protects the pump) because the pump was working so hard. I have never seen this problem be so dramatic.... perhaps a drop or two here or there on occasion but not 15-25 every day for several days.

We boiled and made almost 50 gal from about 2500 gal. of sap. Half AR and half GD. Was starting to push it with niter at the very end. Cleaning syrup pans every boil now and will probably try to process less sap an once...

To top off a hectic day dealing with some other equipment and tubing issues, the motor on the filter press pump died. At first it smoked a bit and we thought it was the belt, but then it tripped on thermal protection. We got it going again but then no go after that... My friend had the brilliant idea of using a drill to turn the pump and turns out that works! We got 40 gallons through the press, albeit at about half the usual speed, but it kept us filtering through the boil.

18113
What are you using for spouts that come out?

[GeneralStark]

What are you using for spouts that come out?

Smart spouts and CV2s both without barbs....and I forgot to mention that this issue has been mostly on 3/16 lines.

[spud]

A few years ago I got some CDL tubing that was extruded a bit to large. The tubing slid on and off the spouts way to easy. I had to replace those drops. On a few of them I cut about 4-6 inches off the drop and then the tubing went on tight.

Spud

[WestfordSugarworks]

General, we have been having issues with spouts pushing off from Leader dropline at our small bush. First year using CV2s and we've never really had this issue before. My theory is that we didn't push the spouts on far enough past the ring, and the ring on CV2s doesn't hold as well as other spouts. We don't seem to be having this issue on our larger bush where we mostly have CDL dropline. Pain in the butt but I think we found most of the hanging drops yesterday.

Really good sap flow yesterday, probably 1.5 gpt. Our Jericho woods really haven't been running as well this year. Usually Westford runs a bit colder but things seem switched now. Hopefully we go well into mid april, who knows though.

[Tmeeeh]

Lots of hanging drop lines here too! The stubby pops off the CV. 15 to 20 every day. A real pain in the legs. We've been using CV1s for years this is first year with some CV2s. Had this problem before but only one or two hanging after a hard freeze.

[GeneralStark]

The worst is when they don't hang and just pop off and from afar it looks like the drop is still connected. And yes for me this has been primarily with the CV2s though a few smart spouts have been culprits.

[BAP]

I had issues last couple years with my 3/16” using 5/16” drops with stubbys and the black cv adapters. When we had a freeze that was below mid 20’s, the stubby would pop off adapter. Last year I tried 25 of the polycarbonate adapters along with the black and they staid put. This year I used all polycarbonate adapters. I think the issue is because the 3/16” stays full of sap when freezing, it takes better fittings to stay together than 5/16” tubing