Red Roof Maples 2014

[Russell Lampron]

Hello everyone, it's 2014 already and sugaring season is only about 5 weeks away. I have been busy adding on to my sugar house and still have a lot to do before the season starts. Just getting to the wiring now and still have to plumb in the heater and RO. The crappy weather on the weekends has made it hard to get things done. I have pics on my phone to post but figured it would be easier to start the thread on the laptop first and figure out how to post from my phone later.

I haven't even been in the woods to check the tubing yet. I hope it doesn't need much work. I'm not adding any new taps this season so it will only be repair work when I get to it. So far we haven't gotten a lot of snow and I hope that we don't. Having to walk all of the lines and do the repairs on snow shoes will suck.

[Jim Brown]

Good Morning Russ Hope all is well!


Jim

[Hop Kiln Road]

Russ - It's about time you surface! Just how big an addition you talking here, a Cupertino type amphitheater?

[Russell Lampron]

Hi Jim and Bruce,

All is well here. In fact other than being behind on getting things done they haven't been this good for some time. I'm going to try to post some pics so here goes. 83598358836083618359835883608361

[Russell Lampron]

Oops! Looks like I posted the pics twice. Did it from my phone and everything is so small it's easy to tap something twice.

[heus]

Russ nice to hear from you. I learned a lot from your posts my first couple of years on the Trader.

[NH Maplemaker]

Hey Russ, Good to see you back!! Nice looking addition you got going there! 3% has been helping with a new sap pump room for 2014! Well I should he is building it since I run my hand through the table saw!


JIm

[NH Maplemaker]

Hey Russ, Good to see you back!! Nice looking addition you got going there! 3% has been helping with a new sap pump room for 2014! Well I should he is building it since I run my hand through the table saw!


JIm

[Hop Kiln Road]

Russ - Nice concrete! But doesn't look big enough to hold all your fans.

[Amber Gold]

That's quite the addition. You about tripled your floor space. Looking great. Someday, we'll put an addition on our sugarhouse. For now, we'll just keep expanding and getting cramped. Something will have to give at some point.

[red maples]

Hey Russ, looks good, I am sure will love having more space!!! Good luck gettin' R done.

[Russell Lampron]

Hey Russ, Good to see you back!! Nice looking addition you got going there! 3% has been helping with a new sap pump room for 2014! Well I should he is building it since I run my hand through the table saw!


JIm

Ouch! Jim, Dave was telling me about your accident. He said that you were still going to make syrup this year if there is anything good that can be said.

More floor space, not quite triple but close. Heated and insulated canning and RO room. More space between the evaporator and the wall. Woodshed that will hold enough for 3 or more seasons. Still not big enough!!!

[Amber Gold]

It never is...

[Mark-NH]

Nice job Russ. I bet you are chomping at the bit to try the new space out.

[Sugarmaker]

Russ,
Good addition to the sugarhouse. You will like that and quickly fill it up.
Hope things are good!
I am spending some quality time on the web sites today. Cheryl and I both have nasty head colds and are missing our local maple meeting today:(
Regards,
Chris

[Russell Lampron]

I hope you and your wife feel better soon Chris. All of the walls are insulated and we've been able to work in the addition with the aid of a small electric heater. The electrical is all roughed in and we are working on the interior wall coverings now. We got the ceiling and one wall done this weekend and now that we can heat it my son in law is going to cut more wall panels tomorrow so that we can put them up when I get home from work. The plan is to have all of the wall panels up by the weekend. After that it will be time to finish the electrical and put in the permanent heat. I am going to heat it with a Modine heater hooked up to my outdoor wood boiler. When the room is done I will plumb in the RO and then get ready to tap.

[Russell Lampron]

The wall and ceiling panels are done. Now to finish the electrical and install the heater. 850485038505

[GeneralStark]

What are you using for panels? FRP?

[Russell Lampron]

What are you using for panels? FRP?

Yes the panels are FRP. Waterproof and washable but the dust from cutting it is a pain to deal with.

[Russell Lampron]

Congratulations Brad Rice aka red maples!!! Brad took second place with his syrup in the annual Carlisle Award contest for the best maple syrup in New Hampshire.

As cold and windy as it is I am glad that I am working inside the heated addition today. The plan is to hang and plumb in the Modine heater so the heat will be permanent. We're going to try to get the lights hung and wired and the wall outlets installed today too.

[red maples]

Hey thanks Russ I was very surprised!!! Didn't expect anything!!! Everything looks great on the addition. I need to do a little wiring myself... inside.... its nasty outside, don't wish that on anyone!!!

[tuckermtn]

not to hijack thread - congrats Brad on the 2nd. place! Who won the carlise?

[Russell Lampron]

Hey thanks Russ I was very surprised!!! Didn't expect anything!!! Everything looks great on the addition. I need to do a little wiring myself... inside.... its nasty outside, don't wish that on anyone!!!

You should see the room now. We got the wall outlets in and the thermostat and zone valve control mounted. We got the plumbing at the outdoor wood boiler hooked up and hot water running in a loop into the addition. We also got the heater hung up and ready for the final wiring and plumbing. About the only things we still have to do is mount and wire in the lights and install the outlet for the RO.


not to hijack thread - congrats Brad on the 2nd. place! Who won the carlise?

Not a hijack at all Eric. I brought up the subject. I was expecting Brad to start his 2014 thread and tell us about it there but he didn't so I posted it here.

[SWEETSAP]

Hey Russ, Thanks for the tour and info last season. We built up an air injection system off season and are eager to do the final setup. Time seems to slip away quickly this time of season and as always we are way behind.

[Russell Lampron]

Hey Russ, Thanks for the tour and info last season. We built up an air injection system off season and are eager to do the final setup. Time seems to slip away quickly this time of season and as always we are way behind.

I was way behind but am getting caught up. The new addition is just about finished. It looks a lot different here now. The next project will be moving the bulk tank and plumbing the RO. I haven't been in the woods yet but I think I will bring my drill with me and tap the trees as I make repairs.

[I'd Tap That]

We'll be ready!

[red maples]

I am finally getting caught up still lots to do but with this mild weekend and back to freeze for next week I have at least another week to get everything done. kinda back to a classic NE winter and tapping looks like it might be right around Valentine's day. Going up to get the tank this morning from larry moore's place. after that's in things will go quickly.... fingers crossed.

[Russell Lampron]

We'll be ready!

Welcome aboard Jay. Without your help we would still have a lot to do. We're almost ready to bring the RO down and start plumbing it in.


I am finally getting caught up still lots to do but with this mild weekend and back to freeze for next week I have at least another week to get everything done. kinda back to a classic NE winter and tapping looks like it might be right around Valentine's day. Going up to get the tank this morning from larry moore's place. after that's in things will go quickly.... fingers crossed.

Better hurry! The season is only about 2 weeks away. Maybe 3 weeks if we get another cold snap.

[Russell Lampron]

I came home today to find that the boys were busy while I was at work. Richard and Jay moved the bulk tank to it's new home at the end of the sugar house and moved the permeate and recirc tanks into the woodshed where they will be for sugaring season. They also hung a new halogen light over the front pan to replace the clip on work light that we used to use and moved the RO machine into the addition so that we can get it plumbed up. Things are coming together here and we should be ready to start tapping on the 15th. O geez I forgot to mention that they also got the door for the attic hung.

[adk1]

Sure is nice to have good help!

[maple flats]

You sure have real nice looking sugar house there. Nice job.
The magic formula on sugar houses (or storage barns) is to determine the largest size you will ever need, double it and you'll have half enough.
I needed more room about 4 yrs ago, Hope to add this summer. Unfortunately I didn't use the formula when I built mine.

[Russell Lampron]

You sure have real nice looking sugar house there. Nice job.
The magic formula on sugar houses (or storage barns) is to determine the largest size you will ever need, double it and you'll have half enough.
I needed more room about 4 yrs ago, Hope to add this summer. Unfortunately I didn't use the formula when I built mine.

I outgrew mine before I even put the evaporator in. Even now with the added room I don't have room for a bigger evaporator. I hope that with a bigger RO that my 2x6 will be able to handle 1500 to 2000 taps. If not another remodel will be needed.

[Drew Pond Maple]

Russ, I'd love to check out your operation someday while your boiling,(maybe even have a boiling soda). I just got into this addiction a few years ago and have been following your threads. Just looking for ideas and advice on vacuum and ro's. I've seen Howards shack up on the ridge, pretty impressive watching that releaser dump. I grew up in Penacook so I'm familiar with Loudon.

Are you related to Matt Lampron?

[Russell Lampron]

Mike we boil just about every night when the season gets going. It would be better if you could come in the afternoon on a weekend day to see the operation and stay long enough to see us boil. I'm probably related to Matt in some distant way but don't know him.

[Russell Lampron]

Things are shaping up here and we will be working in the woods today. The sugar house addition is done except for the plumbing for the RO. That is roughed in and just needs the finishing touches.

We hauled the last of last year's syrup to Bascoms yesterday and picked up supplies for this year. Now the problem. I had to leave 3 of my 15 gallons kegs there because they didn't have anyone there to empty and wash them. I would have brought them home dirty if they could have at least emptied them. Now I have to find someone that is going to Bascoms in a couple of weeks to pick them up for me or drive back out there to pick them up myself. The guy that weighed and graded my syrup said that it could be 2 weeks before they are ready to be picked up! Whats up with that? I used to be able to bring them in, get them emptied and washed and then bring them home the same day. Guess I should have packed that syrup in plastic and taken the 5 cents per pound hit on the price.

[Greyfox]

Russ, a buddy and I are planning on taking a trip to Bascoms in a couple of weeks; he needs new grates for his evaporator. I'll give you a shout when we're going and see if you still need them picked up.

Doc

[Hop Kiln Road]

Russ - And I've got a new Smokey Lake syrup pan floating around NE somewhere and it might end up in Alstead.

Doc - They've got a good selection of used grates (cheap) up in the warehouse, piled under a staircase.

[Russell Lampron]

Russ, a buddy and I are planning on taking a trip to Bascoms in a couple of weeks; he needs new grates for his evaporator. I'll give you a shout when we're going and see if you still need them picked up.

Doc

That would be great. Let me know when you are going and I will give them a call to let them know that you are picking them up.

[Mark-NH]

Russ, I work about half an hour from Bascom's and can shoot over for lunch anytime. I could at least get your kegs to Sunapee. Just let me know if you need me to do that.

[eustis22]

how cheap are the used grates?

[Russell Lampron]

The season has started here at Red Roof Maples. We got about 500 taps in yesterday and have about 200 to go to finish the tubing. It was slow going in the woods. There was a lot more snow than I expected. With what has been on the lawn and in the field for most of the winter I wasn't expecting to be sinking up to my knees or deeper. We got the hardest areas to tap done though and will have the rest tapped before the warm up this week.

I picked up another 275 gallon cage tank yesterday and will get that and the other 2 plumbed in to finish the RO plumbing. I may even put the membrane into the RO today. Got a lot of cleaning and picking up to do in the sugar house and a couple of small jobs that need to be finished but will be ready to turn on the vacuum and make syrup when the sap starts flowing.

[Hop Kiln Road]

(Expanded) Red Roof!!! "Just last weekend my homemade mainline tool bent and broke so I will be replacing it with a factory made one." Why I spilled my coffee on my bathrobe! I mean the Vermonters are getting nourishment from 30p and saving on the cost of lunch, and now this.

[Russell Lampron]

We put on the snow shoes this morning and finished tapping the tubing. We have 712 taps total on the tubing now. Looks like we have a few places where we can cut in some drops and add to that total a little bit.

[Russell Lampron]

(Expanded) Red Roof!!! "Just last weekend my homemade mainline tool bent and broke so I will be replacing it with a factory made one." Why I spilled my coffee on my bathrobe! I mean the Vermonters are getting nourishment from 30p and saving on the cost of lunch, and now this.

The Vermonters can have their 30p, I don't like the taste of it myself.

[Russell Lampron]

Picked the last, I hope, of the supplies needed to finish plumbing the RO tonight. Richard will get the last of the connections made and we will be ready to squeeze some sap. If the weather liars are right the vacuum pump will be sucking Wednesday and hopefully by Sunday we will have our first boil. I can't wait to see how all of the new plumbing and stuff is going to work out. It's going to be nice to have some room around the evaporator with the filter press and canner in the new room and the wall back away from the front of the evaporator. It sure feels good to go into the new heated addition on a cold day like yesterday even though it is only 40* in there.

[Russell Lampron]

I got the RO all plumbed and ready to do some squeezing!!!

88188819

[Hop Kiln Road]

Real Sweet!

[red maples]

looks good not enough valves ...need to put in more valves!!! must have 20 + valves... Ha

[Amber Gold]

Now that your RO room is bigger, it looks a little empty...need a bigger RO...

[Russell Lampron]

Now that your RO room is bigger, it looks a little empty...need a bigger RO...

You're right on the bigger RO thing. A Lapierre 600 will roll right into the same spot and hook up with no modifications to the plumbing. I would only have to set the tower off to the side and run hoses and wiring to it.

The new room is also going to be my canning and filtering room as well as my sales and syrup showroom. Everything is ready to go just need to remove the carpentry tools and bring in the filter press, canner and finisher. Already got a SS table and need a SS sink.

You guys will have to come up and check it out. The new add-ons are really sweet, pun intended!!!

[red maples]

yeah they look good maybe next week sometime... when everything is frozen up!!!

[Russell Lampron]

The current run got off to a slow start Thursday and Friday but the sun came out and the sap flowed today. Correction......the sap is still flowing today. I've got over 500 gallons of sap in my bulk tank and will be boiling late tomorrow afternoon or early evening. Got a lot of picking up and putting away to do to get ready and will also have to pump up tomorrows run to boil everything in before the freeze up next week. Looks like I am going to have enough sap to make a decent amount of syrup on this first boil for a change.

[Russell Lampron]

8865

Had the first boil of the season last night. It was a record setter with 6 gallons of medium amber made. Usually I only have enough sap to sweeten the pans and get a small draw off.
The doodlebug got a new paint job last summer and is also towing a bigger tank this season.

[red maples]

I ended up with about 350 ish gallons of sap. sugar not so good either. only about 1.8 or so. So pans are sweetened. Loved watching the RO I just stood there and watch the water come out for about 20 minutes just amazing. Loved turning that into 60ish gallons!!! can't wait to get more sap!!!


This long freeze up is killing but at the same time it gives me time to get in more taps and do the stuff I didn't have time to do.

[Russell Lampron]

I ended up with about 350 ish gallons of sap. sugar not so good either. only about 1.8 or so. So pans are sweetened. Loved watching the RO I just stood there and watch the water come out for about 20 minutes just amazing. Loved turning that into 60ish gallons!!! can't wait to get more sap!!!


This long freeze up is killing but at the same time it gives me time to get in more taps and do the stuff I didn't have time to do.

I started out with close to 800 gallons of raw sap. I was too busy to check the sugar content of the sap we gathered on Saturday but the sap we gathered Sunday was 1.8% like yours. I don't know how many gallons of concentrate we made but figuring that it took about 4 hours to boil I'm thinking that it was about 160 gallons. At one point early in the boil the concentrate was 8% but we continued to recirc while we were boiling making it sweeter as the night went on. As usual, about the time that we had the evaporator sweet and the draws getting more consistent we ran out of sap and had to shut down.

I strained my back on Sunday so this long freeze up is giving me some time to get rested up and ready for the thaw. If I had to gather sap and boil now it would be tough.

[Russell Lampron]

Went down to the sugar house this morning to jug up the syrup that we made last Sunday. All I can say is wow!!! What a difference it makes to have good lighting. I can actually see the syrup level in the jug and didn't overflow any of them.

Richard cut a hole into the new attic storage space this morning so that we can get to it from inside the sugar house. All of the cases of new jugs are up there now freeing up floor space in the new canning room. The new addition and other upgrades are sure making the processes more user friendly.

[PerryW]

you boys down south making any syrup yet? I was thinking I might go down and shovel out the sugarhouse this week.

[Russell Lampron]

you boys down south making any syrup yet? I was thinking I might go down and shovel out the sugarhouse this week.

Old man winter has still got a pretty firm grip on things down here. It looks like we could get a little sap this coming weekend for the first time in 2 weeks.

[maple maniac65]

Tapped in Sugar Hill this weekend got about 730 in. Snow was about knee deep without snow shoes. Don't think I will be boiling until the 15th.

[Russell Lampron]

I'm hoping that I can boil again this Sunday. It looks like we are going to get some upper 30's for daytime highs starting Friday.

[Russell Lampron]

The first project this coming Saturday is to tap the buckets. With a high of 45* in the forecast for Saturday it looks like we could finally be getting some sap weather. If not it is time to get the buckets tapped anyway.

The temps for Friday and the weekend look better every time I check the forecast. Lets hope the weather liars are right for a change. Oh wait a minute, they have been right recently. It has been colder than normal just like they said it would be.

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

I keep doing refreshes too and I'm glad to see they keep getting warmer and the amount of days has increased too

[PerryW]

The first project this coming Saturday is to tap the buckets. With a high of 45* in the forecast for Saturday it looks like we could finally be getting some sap weather. If not it is time to get the buckets tapped anyway.

The temps for Friday and the weekend look better every time I check the forecast. Lets hope the weather liars are right for a change. Oh wait a minute, they have been right recently. It has been colder than normal just like they said it would be.

The high here in Littleton area: Saturday is forecast for 39, with 35 on Friday and 34 on Sunday, then it drops back down again. Only get a few gallons of nuisance sap at best. Probably not tap till next week at the earliest. I did lay out 75 taps of of my take-down tubing but ain't drilling.

[Russell Lampron]

Got the 100 buckets tapped today. It stayed cloudy most of the morning and the sap didn't start running until almost noon. The vacuum only pulled in about 100 gallons yesterday and today to add to the 175 gallon block of ice in the tank.

9072

[Russell Lampron]

It never got above freezing here but the sunny cloud free sky warmed the trees up enough to run the vacuum for a while. I didn't get much sap but was able to go through the woods and fix vacuum leaks. There were a lot of loose adapters and a couple of squirrel chews that we fixed and now we are pulling 24.5hg. The buckets didn't run enough to say so, some not at all. I hope the weather breaks soon. I am just about out of wood for the furnace and I need syrup for Maple Weekend.

[white mt]

Hi Russ not much happening hear to speak of. Feels like this season will never start and the clock I ticking .Happy thoughts Happy thoughts.

[Russell Lampron]

Pumped 375 gallons last night to go with the 200 that I pumped the night before. Last nights total included the 150 gallon remnants of the 175 gallon ice block that was in my tank. That made the total for yesterday's run about 225 gallons despite the near 50* temp and light freeze the night before. The spouts were wet on the buckets and the sap barely covers the bottom of the buckets that were tapped Saturday.

I'm boiling tonight for the first time since February 23rd. This is the longest amount of time between boils in the history of Red Roof Maples. The 10 day temps don't look that impressive either. I may or may not have sap to boil on maple weekend.

[white mt]

No boiling hear yet at all. had vac leaks to chase yesterday some sap after but dumped it . I need more to get going than what I had .That was hard to do dump sap in a year like this . With a freeze up on the way again. I have to say with the long range forecast Im starting to worry about the out come of this year.

[Russell Lampron]

What do you guys up north do for syrup for maple weekend. It seems like every year you guys are just getting going and can't have much syrup to sell.

I made 9 gallons of medium amber last night. That was despite the fact that the sweet was frozen in the evaporator since Feb 23rd and some of the sap was frozen in the woods tank for that long too. I haven't been checking the sugar content of the raw sap but the amount of syrup made looks like it is in the 1.7% range.

[Amber Gold]

Russ, making just over a DA into a Grade B, but it doesn't taste like a Grade B. Same thing happened last year, but new evap. and new RO for this season...only thing the same is the operator. We haven't had good runs and the opportunity tor run for a while, so maybe the short run times are the issue?? If this keeps up, I may be looking into a Bubble Master 2.0 for next season.

I'm also worried about making enough syrup for maple weekend. Even though we've been able to make a bit, we're well shy of where we need to be.

[Homestead Maple]

[QUOTE=Russell Lampron;246092]What do you guys up north do for syrup for maple weekend. It seems like every year you guys are just getting going and can't have much syrup to sell.

Boil water!! It doesn't look like there will be any sap flow for awhile yet Russ. I haven't finished tapping yet and today isn't a good day for tapping.

[Russell Lampron]

Boil water!! It doesn't look like there will be any sap flow for awhile yet Russ. I haven't finished tapping yet and today isn't a good day for tapping.

Oh I hear you there. It's too cold and windy to do anything outside.

Do you save syrup from the season before to have something to sell? I've done the boil water thing before. For the most part the people knew we weren't boiling sap but a little syrup in the front pan to make it smell good and they were happy.

[Russell Lampron]

Russ, making just over a DA into a Grade B, but it doesn't taste like a Grade B. Same thing happened last year, but new evap. and new RO for this season...only thing the same is the operator. We haven't had good runs and the opportunity tor run for a while, so maybe the short run times are the issue?? If this keeps up, I may be looking into a Bubble Master 2.0 for next season.

I'm also worried about making enough syrup for maple weekend. Even though we've been able to make a bit, we're well shy of where we need to be.

The wicked dark syrup thing happened to me last season. The very first boil was dark amber and all of the rest until I made the Bubblemaster was commercial by Bascoms standards. The first batches didn't have any maple flavor at all. Normally I don't mind making dark syrup but the flavor was the issue. I couldn't sell that tasteless crap to my dark syrup loving customers.

My first syrup this season was almost light amber but I lost some color because I was having trouble getting the gradient to move across the pan. It would show syrup at the thermometer but it was well past that in the middle of the pan. Last night I didn't even watch the thermometer I only watched the bubbles in the pan. When they started getting big and breaking in the last channel I drew it off. I think it was medium because the sweet sat in the evaporator for 3 1/2 weeks. I hope to get sap enough to boil again soon. I would like to make some light syrup just because I haven't since 2011.

[Russell Lampron]

Some pics of my front pan last night. It was getting very light when I ran out of sap.

91719172

[Homestead Maple]

Oh I hear you there. It's too cold and windy to do anything outside.

Do you save syrup from the season before to have something to sell? I've done the boil water thing before. For the most part the people knew we weren't boiling sap but a little syrup in the front pan to make it smell good and they were happy.

Yes, I have some syrup left from last year, around 30 gals. Don't usually sell much, people just want to see what the process is all about and have their questions answered. I enjoy the company.

[Russell Lampron]

Saturday's run produced only 385 gallons of sap. It was pretty sweet though and we made 9 gallons of medium last night. The flavor is really good this year and the color is holding even though there have been some long waits between boils. Looks like we are into the deep freeze for a couple more days before it starts to warm up again. The temps look good starting Thursday and we should be in good shape for maple weekend.

Now to find some firewood for the outdoor wood boiler!

[maplestudent]

Just wanted to say that I love the picture of your Doodlebug tractor. My grandfather had one when I was a kid. Brings back some memories......Thanks!

[Russell Lampron]

Tomorrow is the first day of maple weekend and I am just about ready. I have managed to get 525 gallons of sap collected to boil despite the cold temps. I've got it running through the RO now and hope that I can get the feed tank valve open in the morning.

[Homestead Maple]

Tomorrow is the first day of maple weekend and I am just about ready. I have managed to get 525 gallons of sap collected to boil despite the cold temps. I've got it running through the RO now and hope that I can get the feed tank valve open in the morning.

I dunno, you may need the hair dryer for that one. I hope you sell a lot of syrup tomorrow. I finished tapping tonight after work. I'm glad I only had a few left to do because the recent snow has made it even worse to get around in the woods. Even with snowshoes I'm up to my knees.

[SSFLLC]

Same thing here Russ. Hope the valve will open. I've got 200 gallons of 12% should get me through most of the day if I have Michelle boil.

[Russell Lampron]

Same thing here Russ. Hope the valve will open. I've got 200 gallons of 12% should get me through most of the day if I have Michelle boil.

I'm planning to light the evaporator at 10:00 and figure that I will have about 150 gallons of sweet stuff to boil. Not sure what the concentrate percentage will be but it will be sweeter than raw sap. I'm hoping for a good run tomorrow but it doesn't look to promising with an overnight low of 17* and an inch of snow in the forecast for tomorrow morning. I'm not sure if I will have enough sap to boil on Sunday but if I don't I won't.

Good luck with your open house Kieth. I hope that you have a good turn out.

[SSFLLC]

Thanks Russ hope you have a good turn out also. I'll send people leaving here to your place. You will have a better selection of candy ect.

[Russell Lampron]

Thanks Kieth, I'll send people your way too. They may get side tracked when they get up on the ridge though!

[TapME]

I hope all of the NH maple guys have a good weekend. Hoping to take a ride over that way in the next couple of weekends. I would be nice to see you again Russ. May u sap flow well.

[Russell Lampron]

I hope all of the NH maple guys have a good weekend. Hoping to take a ride over that way in the next couple of weekends. I would be nice to see you again Russ. May u sap flow well.

It would be nice to see you again too Lou. We have made a lot of big changes here since you were here last. Hope you have a good Maple Sunday.

[Russell Lampron]

The sap has been running sweet here this season. I made 14.5 gallons from 525 gallons of sap yesterday and had similar results from the boil before that. As usual I never think to check the sugar in the raw sap before I run it through the RO.

We had a good turn out for day 1 of Maple Weekend yesterday. I had to can up the syrup I made yesterday to restock the shelves for today. I didn't get in from the sugar house until 9:00 last night after being up since 3 am running the getting ready for yesterday's open house. I ran and washed the RO overnight so that we wouldn't have to listen it to during the open house. My wife thanked me for putting the addition on the sugar house when it started snowing yesterday afternoon. This is the first year that we have been able to set up the sales area indoors.

[SSFLLC]

Hi Russ sounds like open house was good for you. I think the biggest problem with the turn out is all the people were talking about the sugar houses that were boiling water. They all said that part of the reason they come out is to see the syrup draws people get on the differant rigs they run. My son will be back monday night with your drums.

[Russell Lampron]

Hi Russ sounds like open house was good for you. I think the biggest problem with the turn out is all the people were talking about the sugar houses that were boiling water. They all said that part of the reason they come out is to see the syrup draws people get on the differant rigs they run. My son will be back monday night with your drums.

I had a better turn out yesterday and yesterdays customers spent more money. Today some of the visitors were sidestepping the sales room and leaving without buying anything. Others were indulging in the free stuff and then leaving without checking out the rest of the sugar house while still others were commenting that they had bought at the other sugar houses and didn't buy anything here. Our total for this year was about $350 less than last year which isn't too bad considering that we had record sales last year.

I boiled concentrate all weekend and made 20 gallons of syrup. The people that came after we finished boiling didn't seem to mind watching us run it through the filter press and getting samples of the hot syrup.

[Russell Lampron]

Another Maple Weekend is in the books and as usual I'm exhausted. It's a lot of work but it is the time of the year when I move the most product.

I made 20 gallons of syrup over the weekend and am now at 44 for the season. Last year I made 210 gallons so I have a lot of syrup to make to catch up. I hope that I can come close.

Kieth now that you mentioned it, a lot of people took pictures of the syrup coming out of the draw off and some waited for another one when it was getting close. I always like to see that myself especially when it is a manual draw off not an auto draw off.

The sap continues to be real sweet this season. I made 5.5 gallons of syrup with 150 gallons of sap today, pretty impressive for mostly red maples.

[Amber Gold]

Glad you had a good MW. Turnout for us was down a bit from last year, and so were sales...wondering if it was the forecast and cold weather. Sap's been sweet here, and it's nice since we're not getting much sap to at least make a lot of syrup from the little we are getting.

[SSFLLC]

I think it was the bad news and some sugar houses boiling water. We had a lot of customers complain about that. Weather maybe a little but no one was complaining about that. Its though for me and Russ as we have a lot of bigger sugar houses in between us that sell there product for less just to get people there and then put there prices back up after.

[Russell Lampron]

Glad you had a good MW. Turnout for us was down a bit from last year, and so were sales...wondering if it was the forecast and cold weather. Sap's been sweet here, and it's nice since we're not getting much sap to at least make a lot of syrup from the little we are getting.

The sap has been sweet here as well. Over the weekend I made 20 gallons of syrup from 675 gallons of sap. Sunday I made 5.5 gallons from 150 gallons of sap. Combined it was about 2.5% sugar Sunday alone was over 3.1%. Not bad for a bunch of red maples.


I think it was the bad news and some sugar houses boiling water. We had a lot of customers complain about that. Weather maybe a little but no one was complaining about that. Its though for me and Russ as we have a lot of bigger sugar houses in between us that sell there product for less just to get people there and then put there prices back up after.

None of the people that I talked to over the weekend said anything about other places boiling water. I'm sure that it was happening though. I do think that if the weather was nicer the turn out would have been better.

Have you checked the prices at Maple Ridge? My daughter bought a bag of maple coated popcorn. I know the price was $7.95 but don't remember if the weight was 3 oz. or 3.5 oz. They were also selling 3 oz bags of maple coated nuts for $7.95. I was selling a 6 oz. bag for $7.00 here. My wife told someone about that when they complained about my price. They bought some from me!

[Dill]

We sent anyone who would listen upta the Loudon maple loop. Hopefully some of them made it over. Only had a couple stop by that had already been to other sugarhouses, I didn't hear about boiling water either.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Russ,

Glad you are getting good sugar. I made about 8 gallons from 535 last friday. Sugar is low this year. Running about 52 to 1.

[Russell Lampron]

Russ,

Glad you are getting good sugar. I made about 8 gallons from 535 last friday. Sugar is low this year. Running about 52 to 1.

I am amazed at how much syrup I am making with such a small amount of sap. I usually average about 55 to 1 on a normal season.

I've been following your thread and you are doing alright considering how long some of your taps have been in. New spouts and tubing make a big difference.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Yes, I am now a believer in new spouts and drops. Take me about 10 to 15 hours in labor to change all of them out and about $ 300 but they run more and better quality sap so I hope to do it every year. I enjoy reading your post too. I am normally about 48 to 1, so I am 11 gallon shy of what I would normally make or about $ 600. Ouch! But that's making syrup. Just thankful to be able to get as much sap because weather hasn't been good for sap production. I always enjoy reading your post too. March is a record month for me, the most I have ever made in a month. February is what was tough. Still looks like one more run, so maybe can top 100 gallon of syrup in a month. At 89 so far for month.

[Russell Lampron]

Brandon I hope you get enough sap to make that 11 gallons you need by the end of the month. Some records are fun to break but I will be breaking one in the other direction if we don't get sap soon. This has been the worst March that I have had since I started sugaring in the spring of 2000.

The weather hasn't been good for sap production here either. They are predicting a low of 2* tomorrow night, it was 4* this morning and 7* Monday morning. There have been too many single digit lows here for the end of March. Normally we are getting lows in the 20's and some in the 30's at this end of the month.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Russ your March is like my Feb. One of the worst I have had and extreme bitter cold many nights below zero or single digits which is abnormal for us. We see that in Jan, but not that much in Feb. Hopefully your April will be like my March. We never did get a big run or any run that lasted more than couple of days really. Just go cold to warm to cold but at least we have gotten plenty of freezing.

[Russell Lampron]

We've had plenty of freezing here for sure. When we get a sunny day the temp never gets above freezing and when we get a day above freezing it's cloudy and windy.

It's looking like we could get some sap this weekend if the trees will run in the rain. Sometimes they will and sometimes they won't. We are hoping for some decent sap weather and all I need really is 2 good weeks. I'm almost a 1/4 of the way to a qt of syrup per tap and would be there if I finished what is in the evaporator. Not good for the last week of March but this weekends higher temps and rain could finally get the trees thawed out so that they will run when the temps are right.

[Amber Gold]

Crossing my fingers XXXX

[red maples]

mine too...

[Russell Lampron]

It took too long for things to get thawed out to get much sap today but some how I have managed to get 225 gallons of sap from the vacuum since Saturday night. It looks like the thaw is coming and we might get some sap over the weekend.

It's been such a long time since I've seen a good flow of sap coming into the releaser that I don't remember what that looks like!!!

[red maples]

same here. 225 gallons that's pretty good. I didn't even touch that. I got maybe 100 if I am lucky. I have to clean the releaser out its acting up a little not sure why. Maybe I missed some grease somewhere we'll see. Temp at the house says 35 last night but it was 33 when I went to bed and the releaser was frozen so I shut it down. maybe its just a little warmer at the house. So in all of my forecasts I don't have a freeze for the next 10 days... not good!!! here it is again... WE'LL SEE!!!!

[Russell Lampron]

Just checked the 10 day forecast and there aren't many nights below freezing and a lot of clouds, rain and showers. My gut feeling is that with all of the snow and ice in the woods there is enough cold there to keep the season going. The way that the forecasts have gone this season I wouldn't be surprised if we got some colder nights than they are predicting.

[Amber Gold]

I like Russ's prediction better, and I'm in agreement. Gotta think positive in this business and cherry pick your forecasts.

[palmer4th]

Hold up guys how could WMUR be wrong!? I don't know if your aware but they are the number one new/weather channel in the WHOLE state!!!! Plus with a track record like they have who would ever second guess them! Haha

[red maples]

I like that too russ.... I am banking on that snow pack in the woods to keep the trees from maturing. and as we all know sometimes we get those colder nights some time!!! the buds are tight still lets hoep they stay that way for a bit longer!!!

[red maples]

Just curious how did it run for you today. Thought I'd get more than i did. Only got about 200 gals since 8ish am

[Russell Lampron]

Just curious how did it run for you today. Thought I'd get more than i did. Only got about 200 gals since 8ish am

Not that good, maybe 150 gallons since last night. We pumped the tank out tonight for the first time since last Saturday night and we got about 375 gallons. The sap was still coming in and if we can get 25 gallons an hour overnight we could have 200 gallons in the morning. I don't think 25 gallons an hour out of 700 taps is too much to ask for but this season it could be.

[red maples]

OK good I don't feel to bad then... well I do because like everyone else I wanna make more syrup but I thought we might get a little more sap today since it was 51* here. its still coming in here too see what we have by morning. road sides are doing good although it took all week I got 55 gallons out of 62 road sides!!! can't say that for woods though.

[Russell Lampron]

I tapped my buckets on a Saturday 4 weeks ago and have gathered them each Saturday after that only because what had ran in for the week. I am gathering them again today to continue the pattern. Both times I got about 60 gallons from 101 taps. Even tough I haven't much out of it either, I'm glad that I have most of my taps on vacuum.

[red maples]

Oh same here I hate collecting buckets!!! When its running I like the sugar content of those big maples though. I wish I had more of those on my Vac lines but like you its mostly reds. I am sure if we had more sugars on Vac we would have sap like Josh gets!!! But it is what it is and it makes dam good syrup. I need to think about a bubbler for next year though I haven't made anything but grade B this year and I am not expecting anything but GR B especially going from frozen with low sugar to no freezing nights not expecting a lot of sugar by Monday or Tuesday. At this point I have nothing for judging. Oh well. For this year just as long as I can make syrup I will be happy.

[Russell Lampron]

A bubbler would really make a big difference for you Brad. I made the lightest syrup of the season last night, medium amber which was just under the light amber sample. I was getting nervous near the end because I was wondering what I was going to do with 12 gallons of light that tasted like medium. I had a customer stop by yesterday that was looking for dark syrup. All I had was medium and he bought it anyway. I hope he likes it well enough to come back when he needs more.

The sap didn't run as well as I thought it would yesterday. There was barely a trickle coming out of the mainlines into the releaser. After gathering up and all of the sap that we could we had just over 600 gallons of sap for a weeks worth of runs to boil last night. It wasn't as sweet as the sap we had last weekend but we still made 12 gallons of syrup with it. We could have kept firing with caution to get another draw off but didn't want to risk scorching the pans. As bad as this season has been it would have sucked to lose a batch because we were being greedy.

[Amber Gold]

There's nothing special about my trees other than the 26" of vac. they're under! They can't help but run under those conditions. I'd say 50% of our trees are red maples, and not many of them are doing anything for me this year. The sugar's get more sun and I think are more forgiving than reds on the conditions they like to run. I can't wait for the rest of the woods to thaw out.

One thing that's got me wondering is the taps have been in for 6 weeks already. I wonder what condition those tap holes are going to be in when things (hopefully) start running well.

[red maples]

I know... I was just waiting for you to chime in. things should be thawed out now. the funny thing is we have been complaining that everything is frozen frozen frozen... now we can't get a freezing night???? that would get things going REALLY GOOD!!!!. tonight!!! sap is just coming in slow and steady only about 100 gallons last night but hey that about 2 more gallons of syrup that I wouldn't have had otherwise. This season 2 gallons is tough to come by!!! nasty out there today!!!

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Guys, that is the way it has been down here for 12 weeks. Little run here and little run there. Had couple good runs and few decent ones but never had a big run. Leader seasonal spouts and new drops saved my rear from tapping too early. Tomorrow is my last day. Trees about quit running and 70s and 60s rest of week and no freezing in sight.

[Russell Lampron]

Josh if you are using check valves your tap holes should still be open enough to run good when we have the weather. The sap ran a little better here today than it did yesterday and even the day before that. I've got 400 gallons to boil tomorrow night after we squeeze the water out of it tomorrow.

The buckets aren't doing anything. I'm thankful that I have vacuum and this season that is especially so. If I was all buckets and gravity tubing I probably wouldn't even have my pans sweetened yet. As it is I set a new record for the month of March. I only boiled 5 times!!! That is the worst by far than any March since I have been making syrup. I would have only boiled 4 times if I hadn't boiled on the Sunday of maple weekend.

Brandon that 12 weeks is amazing. If you were using old taps or buckets they would have shut off long before now. I don't think we will be going for 12 weeks here. The overnight lows don't look good in the 10 day forecast. Like Brad said we aren't getting any freezes and this is after it has been one of the coldest Marches on record.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

12 week old taps are done. Still getting little off of 9 week old taps. Hopefully weather will give you few more freezes.

[Russell Lampron]

Finally had something that resembled a sap run yesterday! We pumped up 450 gallons which was the best run we've had in a 24 hour period this season. We boiled the 20% concentrate from the previous day and will be boiling again tonight. That will be the first 2 days in a row boil this season as well. It is 26* out there right now with a high of 51* and a low of 27* in the forecast. Looks like a sap day today and another one tomorrow before we don't get any freezes for a few nights.

Good luck to everyone that is finally getting some sap. It has been a tough season so far.

[red maples]

I was hoping for more yesterday but I guess we didn't get enough of a freeze only 250 gallons less than 1/2 gpt. Shut off the vac pump at 10:30 last night 35* out and hardly anything at all coming into the releaser. Woke up to 27* this morning hoping for a good day!!! maybe I'll break my season record of 400 gallons that happened on maple weekend.

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Good luck Brad

[Russell Lampron]

The sap ran a little bit better yesterday than the day before. There was 475 in the woods tank up from 450 the day before. I also got 100 gallons out of the buckets and most of that sap was from the last 2 days. Looks like I'll be boiling again tonight to make it 3 days in a row. I'm up to 71 gallons now and it went to dark amber last night.

The mud is getting deep here and the ice is breaking up on my haul road making gathering a challenge. I moved my dump truck so that it would be easier to back my sap trailer up to my bulk tank and buried it to the axle in the field. It was easier to get the sap trailer backed in though and I don't need the truck this time of the year anyways. I'll get it out when the mud dries up.

[Amber Gold]

That sucks. PSNH is doing work in front of my house replacing poles/lines. The day after the rainstorm they decided to park all their equipment in my front yard and made a mess. Made a phone call and they're taking care of it.

Been boiling 17-18% the past two nights...sure is fun making 8gph of syrup. On a single post machine, do you see an issue going higher than 18% recirc'ing? Making grade B anyways, so not likes it's going to impact the grade.

[Russell Lampron]

Josh, when I get up to 18% with mine it doesn't take out much permeate. It gets to a point where you have to decide if the electricity used and wear and tear on the machine is worth the higher percentage concentrate. Mine cleans up and the flow rates come back with a soap wash so the membrane does handle the punishment. I usually try for 14% to 18% and then figure it isn't worth it to try to go higher. If I had a bigger RO that could get it through faster I would definitely try it.

Was light was 3 nights in a row and I have 475 for tonight to make it 4 in a row. Two more boils and I will tie my total for March. Today looks like another good for sap flow. I froze up earlier last night than it has all week so today could be the best run of the week.

We've got the tubing pretty tight now as far as leaks go and are maintaining 25" of vacuum.

[red maples]

once I get it to 9-10% and if the flow goes down I run a quick 25-30 gallons of perm. through it, the flow comes back up and it goes to 12% much quicker.

[Amber Gold]

Brought it to 18% again last night. Get about 2gpm conc./perm. at that high. Finished the night and the prefilter was completely fouled. 18% is better than 14%.
Brad, you don't have a recirc. pump on yours, so I'm not sure how high you can go without fouling your membrane.

[Russell Lampron]

Even with the recirc pump on mine it gets pretty slow once I get over 14%. The sweet gets pretty hot too. I've had the RO shut off because it reached the max temp for the machine when recircing.

I'm making grade B now even with the bubblemaster. I need some anyway so it's no big concern. I've made a lot of medium and about 20 gallons of dark so the variety is a pretty good mixture. I'm going to be boiling again tonight for the 5th night in a row. The 5 boils in April matches the total number of boils for the month of March.

[Hop Kiln Road]

H20 concentrators do have a recir pump and no feed pump, that's the beauty of the unit. Red Roof said never buy a RO without one. And the price is nice. I run to 12% and only reach 240 pds so like Brad says, a quick rinse and away you go.

[Russell Lampron]

I was having problems maintaining the flow rate with my XLE membrane and don't have time to do an acid wash to clean it up right now. I bought an NF 270 membrane a couple of seasons ago and had in a closet waiting for the sap tsunami that never came. To make a boring story less so I swapped in the NF 270 and then proceeded to squeeze the permeate out at more than twice the flow rate and half the pressure than before.

I had 400 gallons of sap to start the day and pumped up another 325 yesterday afternoon for a total of 725 for last nights boil. I'm at 111 gallons for the season now which is 6 gallons over the half way point of last seasons total. I need to make another 21 gallons to match the lousy season of 2012. I think I'll get there or pass it with a little luck in the overnight low department. A little freeze recharges the trees on vacuum while the buckets do nothing but hang on the trees looking rustic. Boy I'm glad that I have vacuum. Last night was boil number 12 for the season and I probably would only have boiled about 5 times if all I had was buckets and gravity tubing. I had 175 gallons in the woods tank last evening making the total for yesterday 500 gallons plus. I did things yesterday so that Richard and I can take the night off. We are both exhausted.

The weather liars had predicted that we would get a freeze last night right up until 9:30 and then changed the forecast to no frost. I woke up to 31* and a little frost this morning. Not much of a freeze but I'll take it. By the way I could tell by looking at the clear sky and stars that it was going to freeze last night. They need to dust off their crystal ball!!!!

[red maples]

That's not a bad amount of syrup considering the season. Russ how many taps are you up to this season?

[Russell Lampron]

Brad I have 700 taps on vacuum and 100 buckets. Those numbers are the same as I have had for the last 5 years give or take a few taps. Started the season with 712 on the tubing and have since eliminated a hand full that were hollow trees and one that the top had broken out of last season. We hadn't removed the drop from that lateral and my son tapped it without looking up to see that the top was missing. We also added a drop here and there to add a tree that was now big enough to tap.

We collected another 700 gallons of sap today, 650 from the tubing which was close to 1gpt and 50 from the buckets. I think the buckets will be done for the season after the next freeze. Some of them are done already. For next season we are going to replace as many of the buckets as we can with some of that high vacuum 3/16" tubing.

[Russell Lampron]

I made another 15 gallons of syrup last night to put me at 126 for the season. Just need to make another 6 gallons to reach the total for the bad season of 2012. That will happen sometime tonight with the 500 gallons that I collected last night. For a while I didn't think that I would make 100 gallons.

We weren't supposed to get a freeze last night but everything is frosty this morning. We are supposed to get a freeze tonight and then I'm not sure how much sap we'll get after that. The tubing ran pretty good through the warm and rainy weather. I'm hoping that it does for a while after tomorrow. It would be nice to make 200 gallons although 150 will be more like it.

[Russell Lampron]

Forgot to mention in my post this morning that the grade went back up to dark amber last night. I haven't made anything that would be considered mersh this season. All of the B I've made is legit B that even Bruce would buy as B. No NH fancy since I installed the Bubblemaster which is kind of nice.

[red maples]

Lucky!!! we got close to a freeze here but we are almost done I am thinking.

[Russell Lampron]

We made 15 gallons more last night to put us at 141 for the season which is more than the 132 that we made in 2012. The color of the syrup coming out of the evaporator looked like mersh but when it came out of the filter press it was almost medium amber. There's a lot of bacteria in the sap now. We got a good freeze last night and the forecast looks good for the sap to run today.

[Amber Gold]

Mid-20's last night...gusher for today.

I'm thinking about a bubblemaster will be a good addition for next year. I can tap into the duct work on the high pressure blower. The blower should have plenty of extra air to power the bubblemaster too.

[jrgagne99]

Brought it to 18% again last night. Get about 2gpm conc./perm. at that high. Finished the night and the prefilter was completely fouled. 18% is better than 14%.


18% isn't really a whole lot better than 14%. Although it looks like a 29% improvement (18% / 14% = 1.29) it's really not. Let's say you start with 100 gallons of 2% sap. If you concentrate that to 14%, you've essentially removed 86 gallons of water. To get it to 18% you only need to remove another 3 gallons of water. If it means running the RO machine twice as long for a measly 3 gallons of water removal, what's the point?

That's why I like to think in terms of "water removed" not "concentration". In another example, if you concentrate 100 gallons of 2% sap up to 8%, that's 75 gallons of water removed. Concentrating to 16% isn't "twice as good", because it only removes an additional 12.5 gallons of water. Compared to the first 75 gallons, that's peanuts.

[Russell Lampron]

I've been concentrating to 12% since I installed an NF 270 membrane last Sunday and it boils pretty good. I am still able to draw off 5 or 6 gallons of syrup in an hour and get out of the sugar house fairly early. Last night's boil began as 925 gallons of raw sap and was turned into 15 gallons of dark amber in a little less than 3 hours from lighting the fire. The sugar content was down from the night before when 700 gallons of sap made 15 gallons of dark amber in a little over 2 1/2 hours.

[Russell Lampron]

Josh, you just have to figure out a way to filter the air before it goes into the Bubblemaster. I was thinking of running a duct off of my blower but didn't want to put all of the effort into fabricating an air filter not knowing if my blower is powerful enough to run the Bubblemaster. I think it is but I was pressed for time and didn't have the time to experiment.

[Amber Gold]

Russ, I can't believe you're bringing yourself to such low levels...12%...never thought I'd hear you say that after boiling 18%.

JR, I agree not much different until you have say 2000 gal of sap, then there is a difference between 14% and 18%...about 60 gal less water to boil, or one less hour in the sugar house burning wood. That adds up over the season. Also, now that I'm processing smaller volumes (say 1000 gal per day), I'm concentrating to say 16%, but by the time I dump the rinse water in the feed tank, it's maybe 10-12%

[red maples]

18% isn't really a whole lot better than 14%. Although it looks like a 29% improvement (18% / 14% = 1.29) it's really not. Let's say you start with 100 gallons of 2% sap. If you concentrate that to 14%, you've essentially removed 86 gallons of water. To get it to 18% you only need to remove another 3 gallons of water. If it means running the RO machine twice as long for a measly 3 gallons of water removal, what's the point?

That's why I like to think in terms of "water removed" not "concentration". In another example, if you concentrate 100 gallons of 2% sap up to 8%, that's 75 gallons of water removed. Concentrating to 16% isn't "twice as good", because it only removes an additional 12.5 gallons of water. Compared to the first 75 gallons, that's peanuts.

When youre talking in terms of only 100 gallons it might not seem like much but its relative to the amount of sap you have. when youre talking about 500 gallons, 1000 gallons or 2000 gallons it means that much more fuel consumption/ time spent boiling. now youre talking about instead of 12.5 gallons your talking 62.5 gallons @ 500 gallons raw sap, 125 gallons @ 1000 gallons raw, and 250 gallons at 2000gallons of raw sap. So based on your math if I had 500 gallons of 2% raw sap concemntrate to only 8% and didn't remove the extra 12.5 gallons. I would have to boil an extra 1.5 hours on my 2x6 to make the same amount of syrup I could have made in way less time why would I want to do that if I can just RO for a little bit longer to get less Concentrate to boil. That's the whole point of having an RO is to save fuel and make things as efficient as possible. When using a bigger RO, it takes way less time to concentrate.

I guess I should have read josh's post first. but Like he said you need to rinse the sugar out too. so that will drop the concentration too.

[Russell Lampron]

We ended a disastrous last 2 days with a good boil last night. First the problems. Thursday I came home from work to find the vacuum level almost non existent. It didn't take long to find and fix a mainline that had pulled apart and get the vacuum back on. I'm not sure how much sap I didn't get because of it but I'm sure it was a lot because of how good it ran once the vacuum level was up. The second problem. I came home from work yesterday and got a call from Richard. The top of the tank had buckled and the releaser fell forward. We quickly disconnected and removed the releaser and pumped the tank out. While trying to figure out what to do I had Richard cut down a small tree to use as a lever to pop the top of the tank back up. While he was cutting the tree I climbed inside the tank and pushed the top up with my back. We used the tree that Richard cut to prop up the top of the tank and put the releaser back on.

Now the mistake. After getting the mainline fixed on day one I went down to the tank at 7:00 and what was 150 gallons 1 1/2 hours earlier was now just under 300 gallons. Thinking that there was enough room for an overnight run I went back to the house and called it a night. I went down to check the tank before I left for work and it turned out that there wasn't enough room in the tank and it had overflowed. I don't know how many gallons I lost but may not have lost any if I had pumped the tank before I came up for the night.

Last night's boil turned out to be a good one and we made 16 1/2 gallons of syrup out of the sap that we did get. The grade went back up to medium amber too if you consider that a plus. I could use some grade B but made 50 gallons of it this season so I may have enough anyway. The season total is now 157 1/2 gallons with sap in the woods tank, ice on the car windows this morning and some sun to start the day.

Yeah Josh it is unlike me to only concentrate to 12% but I put an NF 270 membrane in my RO and by testing the permeate with a refractometer I found a slight trace of sugar at 13% while there is none at 12%. I like the flows I'm getting with the NF 270 a lot better than what I was getting with the XLE even when it was new. The 12% boils nice and we didn't even boil for 3 hours last night and started out with 775 gallons of sap. The last 175 gallons didn't even make it to the RO for it's first pass until around 7:00 but that first pass was finished just in time to bring it to 12% and send it to the evaporator as we were running out of sap from the first batch.

[red maples]

Getting some good late season sap temps. good salvage to a very long season not so good season... I missed that down here. It is what it is.

[Russell Lampron]

Getting some good late season sap temps. good salvage to a very long season not so good season... I missed that down here. It is what it is.

The sap temps have been pretty good here and the syrup total has added up to a better than average season for me. I'm not sure how long it's going to run here before the buds pop but I may be calling it a season after today. It will depend on how good the sap runs today. If it looks like we can squeeze out another day I'll keep going. At this time of the season the flue can turn to jelly overnight and that will be the end even if we do get more sap weather.

[Russell Lampron]

I called it a season here last night and even though it started out slow the ending wasn't too bad. I finished the season with 165 1/2 gallons made, most of it medium amber with enough dark and B to have a good variety to sell. The sap was pretty sweet for most of the season with a 52 to 1 ratio for the season. I have had far worse with one season at 74 to 1. If I didn't have an RO that season I would have spent a lot of frustrating hours throwing cords of wood into the evaporator. As always vacuum was the season saver and plans are in the works to cut down on the number of buckets around here.

After my first full season using the Bubblemaster I am still really pleased with the results. My syrup color and flavor was excellent for what I have a market for and I didn't swap out my front pan at mid season. That means that I only have to clean one this year!

For a long time I didn't think I would be able to make 100 gallons this year but the month of April sure turned things around saving the biggest run for last. 2014 was the strangest season since 2000 when I started doing this. First I get a good run to get started in February and then I wait for more than 3 weeks to boil again. Only boiling 5 times in the month of March was a disappointment to say the least. It would have only been 4 times if not for maple weekend.

The new addition and improvements to the sugar house really made a big difference. It sure is nice to have some room around the evaporator and a nice bright room for filtering and canning. The woodshed also worked well with the sweet and permeate tanks under cover too.

Plans for next season include replacing one of my mainlines and moving another one. The one that is getting moved is to make it easier to add more lateral mains and taps in the future. I'm not sure when it's going to happen but a bigger RO is also in the plans on ASAP status. I don't know how much my present RO is worth but always have plenty of people say to let them know when I am going to sell it.

[PerryW]

Sounds like you had a pretty decent season considering other reports from NH and VT. Not looking great here but should easily make 2/3 crop just by boiling the contents of the pans. I'm gonna hang on till the next cool down and make some commercial if possible.

[Russell Lampron]

Sounds like you had a pretty decent season considering other reports from NH and VT. Not looking great here but should easily make 2/3 crop just by boiling the contents of the pans. I'm gonna hang on till the next cool down and make some commercial if possible.

It helped believe it or not that most of my woods is cold. I got freezes here that weren't in the forecast and that helped to increase my season total. This season comes in at 3rd out of the last 6 where I had the same number of taps.

[red maples]

yes April saved you. I did better in April as well but still didn't get the amount of better sap weather that you did. I am in a colder area here as well and all of the area surrounding me has reds in full bloom at least a week ago I just have 1 or 2.

[Russell Lampron]

I got the buckets all pulled tonight. Now to find the time to wash them and put them away. It's on to pulling the taps on tubing next. Probably start doing that Sunday. I think that I am going to just run the vacuum to suck the sap out as I pull them and not rinse them with water like I usually do. I want to see if that cuts down on the algae growth in the laterals.

My old tractor was running like #### tonight. The carburetor kept flooding every time I shut it off. Looks like I'm going to have to take it apart and clean it.

[red maples]

I just went right to bags this year. since they will be phasing out the use of older buckets anyway and I hate the lids on the new aluminum and plastic buckets besides new buckets being $30 each with the lid and sap sack holders being $6.75 with bag, holder and tap they are very economical. not very green since you throw away the bags but quick easy cleanup just rinse the holders take off the bags and your done. every now and again you have to change a bag during the season as they tend to get a squirrel chew here and there I even had a tree with barbed wire that didn't puncture the bag. I replaced maybe 3 or 4 out of 60 of them. not bad. but they can hold 4 gallons without falling off. and you can see in the bags. So you know when you need to dump it. My neighbors love them because like to see the sap in the bags. They are protected form rain so even if it rains you get minimal rain water in them. I really like them.

[Russell Lampron]

I just went right to bags this year. since they will be phasing out the use of older buckets anyway and I hate the lids on the new aluminum and plastic buckets besides new buckets being $30 each with the lid and sap sack holders being $6.75 with bag, holder and tap they are very economical. not very green since you throw away the bags but quick easy cleanup just rinse the holders take off the bags and your done. every now and again you have to change a bag during the season as they tend to get a squirrel chew here and there I even had a tree with barbed wire that didn't puncture the bag. I replaced maybe 3 or 4 out of 60 of them. not bad. but they can hold 4 gallons without falling off. and you can see in the bags. So you know when you need to dump it. My neighbors love them because like to see the sap in the bags. They are protected form rain so even if it rains you get minimal rain water in them. I really like them.

I like the idea behind the sap sacks but like tubing and vacuum even better. Buckets are a PITA and I finally have my wife's blessings to get rid of the darn things. She was always against having tubing in front of the house but she knows what a pain it is to gather the buckets.

[red maples]

Mine are all up and down my road so no tubing yes Def. PITA but when those big sugars are running they they run GREAT!!! I think I am gonna add on until I hit 100 then stop there. I def. like vac tubing better who doesn't its EEAASSYYY !!!!! Trust me I have tubing all around my house. my wife doesn't care. Once everything grows in you can't even see it.