Western New York

[mudr]

For me, the forecast is calling for above freezing tomorrow with no freeze for 5 days.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[MapleMark753]

Yeah, for our area it looks pretty good for a good run this weekend, maybe more. Even if we don't get the freeze after the first good run our trees seem to go for two days, then shut down if no freeze. Probably just takes them that long just to really thaw out after a hard cold period. We're usually 3 degrees colder at night than the forecast for here so we'll see.

[mudr]

Funny what you say, we typically get cooler than the forecast suggests at night. More so in winter than the other seasons though. I'm 25 min from you, in Elba.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Tickle]

looking good here in lockport 40 day 32 night lets hope it doesn't change, just put out 17 more tonight still need to get 8 more in for total of 50 then let it flow

[lyford]

Just put in 70 sacks/ buckets gonna do 30 more first thing in the morning. Better than half were wet. Good luck this weekend everybody.

[wnybassman]

Put out 55 buckets today for a total of 140 taps. The most for me by far. Some dripped good enough to put a couple inches in the bucket before dark, others were still dry. Already a little colder tonight then they said, down to 28º right now.

[Troutman10]

Finished getting the setup ready for tomorrow. The sun was quite warm today. Drove by quite a few places that had taps (Yates and Ontario Counties). Also saw some trees dripping that were cut by utility crews.

[barnbc76]

Ready to go, tapped a few more trees, now just waiting for the big run so i can fire up!

[bowtie]

Didn't get the run I thought I would today, my trees in the woods gave me only 40 ish gallons from 195 buckets, while my 7 buckets in my lawn gave me about 13 gallons. Hoping the woods trees will run through the night. A lot cooler on the hill, still about 1-2 inches of snow up there, but on the way home my truck
hit 66-67 in wellsville. Had about 1 hr and 15minute boil. Only fired it up because of high temps, seemed likely me a lot of sugar sand in what I boiled. Going to interesting year. May have to put out more buckets if things don't pick.

[treehugger89]

It's not going to freeze tonight, hopefully all of 219 taps will give me plenty to boil. 124 taps on 3/16th, looks to be a good year.

[mudr]

Just filtered and bottled a hair shy of 3 gallons. Got the new pan sweetened in last weekend's boil, this was my first time to draw off. My sugar seems to be running 2 or a hair above. This was my first time ever making golden/delicate. Everything the past two years has been dark/extra dark. Wonder if it had anything to do with batch boiling in steam pans.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[wnybassman]

Collected right around 200 gallons today. My syrup looks lighter as well, although I have not finished/graded/bottled anything yet. Boiling now, but gonna be a full day tomorrow too!

[barnbc76]

Perhaps God thinks its funny every time I think it's going to be big its not, then he surprises me with more another time. I did not get much last night as it dropped below freezing again, but ended up testing my new rig with 32 gal. Boiled it down to 4gal took about 4hrs so around 7gal/hr. Very happy with everything, last min my brother rigged up a blower to fit and man that worked so much better.

[Marlin]

A good day today in Rochester area! 1.25 gal/tap.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Up to 140 of my own and 21 from a friend. Going to add another 25 or so in the coming week. I got 130 gallons today and still making light. I am a little paranoid about the temps in the 60s. Seems like it's more fun to boil when it's snowing.

[Troutman10]

Just filtered and bottled a hair shy of 3 gallons. Got the new pan sweetened in last weekend's boil, this was my first time to draw off. My sugar seems to be running 2 or a hair above. This was my first time ever making golden/delicate. Everything the past two years has been dark/extra dark. Wonder if it had anything to do with batch boiling in steam pans.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Same here for me mudr. Never boiled on anything where sap didnt burn to the sides of the pans like it does on steam pans. Today is my lightest syrup ever. New setup was considerably more efficient compared to last number of years.

On another thought, itll be interesting to see what the trees give me today. Im expecting a slowdown or think theyll stop. Glad to hear everyone is doing well.

[wnybassman]

I am a little paranoid about the temps in the 60s.

I know, it turned into 2016 all of a sudden.

[wnybassman]

Smaller trees all but stopped, still a little bit of flow from the biggest. Between last night and today I boiled 180 gallons, and there is about another 100 in the tank for tomorrow. My dad is coming over to run the evaporator while I bottle up what I've drawn off so far. Drained the syrup pan and got that soaking now. Already gunked up pretty good.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Got another 155 or so today. Syrup is still pretty light. Has anyone noticed a big difference in the Accuweather vs. Weather Channel 10 day forecasts? Accu shows a lot more freezing.

[bowtie]

Gathered 160 gallons from my 200 taps , some where running decent others not at all, boiled down in 4 ish hours, the last 45 minutes stinks letting it all cool down enough so I don't worry about scorching. Drew off some unfinished sap/syrup but with the 210 gallons of sap I have run through I am just getting the gradient set up. Hope I can get at least 100-150 gallons tomorrow would like to actually make some syrup. Lol

[wnybassman]

Accu shows a lot more freezing.

AccuWeather always seems to show perfect sugaring weather 7 to 10 days out. Then when that 7 to 10 days out gets here, we get a week like this upcoming week. lol They dangled that carrot for us all of last year too.

With that said, 7 to 10 days out looks pretty good. So I should probably get the boat out of storage. :D

[mudr]

Had a huge run over the weekend but had some technical failures. I got the tractor stuck pulling out first load of sap. Unfortunately lost that load of 120 gallons. :( I was just happy to make it home after screwing around for 3 hours getting un-stuck.

Took a different route this morning and got 150 gallons out fairly easily. Boiling now.

Not sure what is going to happen today/this week. I'm not expecting much. I'm far enough inland from the lake to not get the cooling effect, but not south enough to get elevation to get cooler nights.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Tickle]

Have collected 35 gal of sap off 40 taps now I am all in with 50 and started to boil today around 11:30am ,hope to boil 35 gals plus what I ever I get today by the time I have to go to work tonight , last night got into the 20's so should be a good day today and below freezing tonight so tomorrow should be good

[Waynehere]

Collected 400+ gal late on Sat, and then a total of 650 yesterday from 300 taps. Sugar is still only 2% from our big old trees that in the past 10 years have always produced 3-3.5%. Getting discouraged as that was all we got last season. Anyone else seeing low sugar content from your trees?

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Collected 400+ gal late on Sat, and then a total of 650 yesterday from 300 taps. Sugar is still only 2% from our big old trees that in the past 10 years have always produced 3-3.5%. Getting discouraged as that was all we got last season. Anyone else seeing low sugar content from your trees?

I've been seeing better than average sugar at 2.8-3.0% when it usually isn't better than 2-2.2%. I think if 2% is the best you get, you are still doing fine. Not sure how your rainfall was, but we had a drought here this past summer. I heard that can affect things.

[Tickle]

1.4% silvers and reds, no sugar maples

[mudr]

Averaging around 2.25 so far across the various collections.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[treehugger89]

Finished staturday putting all the 225 taps in. Just fired up my new homemade 2x6 today. Getting 20 gallons to the hour. Sap running 1.8%

[wnybassman]

29º when I got up this morning. Boiled off the 115 gallons before I collected, and got about 70 more today. The freeze made for a run today, but not a great one. Already below freezing now and supposed to go down to 24º, should be better tomorrow. Busy mail day tomorrow, so I won't get home until late. Sugar has been around 2%, same as usual. Also thought I was making lighter syrup, but it's been on either side of amber rich, same as usual. I hate calling it dark robust when it is just a frog hair darker than the amber rich, but it is what it is.

[MapleMark753]

Lots of boiling, but that's a good thing! Our sap is noticeably higher in sugar content this season. I'm thinking it MAY have something to do with the drought and much sun last summer, but am unsure. We are used to doing one pass on the RO, and then boil, and that sap behaves in a certain way in the evaporator. Its tending to foam real quickly this season, don't like using a lot of defoamer, but you gotta do what has to be done. Never had overall raw sap at just under to just over 3 percent before, ever. Usually its just under to just over 2. Several day warm up starting today with no freezes, we'll see!
take care, Mark

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I got 130 gallons and with the short freeze the sugar went up to 2.3. I have also been getting better than usual sugar content. One pass with the RO and I am boiling 8-9%. I am getting foamy crud where I feed the pan but nothing terrible with the defoamer usage. Just bottled close to 10 gallons of golden delicate tonight. My first ever golden, so I am stoked. I think it has a lot to do with new tubing and I really thoroughly washed buckets after last season.

Thrilled with the filter press too. It's so fast and product is beautiful.

[wnybassman]

I got 130 gallons and with the short freeze the sugar went up to 2.3. I have also been getting better than usual sugar content. One pass with the RO and I am boiling 8-9%. I am getting foamy crud where I feed the pan but nothing terrible with the defoamer usage. Just bottled close to 10 gallons of golden delicate tonight. My first ever golden, so I am stoked. I think it has a lot to do with new tubing and I really thoroughly washed buckets after last season.

Thrilled with the filter press too. It's so fast and product is beautiful.

Do you want my roll of Golden grade stickers? I'll never need them lol

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Do you want my roll of Golden grade stickers? I'll never need them lol

That's okay, I'm sure my roll will go back into its storage spot for a few more years after this.

[Tickle]

Collected another 19gals today , boiled right away to warm to let it sit ,some taps running good others slow or not at all

[wnybassman]

Today my dad boiled the 81 gals I collected yesterday. When I got home I collected another 120-140 gallons. He'll be busy tomorrow :D

[wnybassman]

AccuWeather always seems to show perfect sugaring weather 7 to 10 days out. Then when that 7 to 10 days out gets here, we get a week like this upcoming week. lol They dangled that carrot for us all of last year too.

With that said, 7 to 10 days out looks pretty good. So I should probably get the boat out of storage. :D

Coming to prove that again. As the cold weather is getting closer, it is not looking as cold.

[bowtie]

Collected 100 gallons yesterday and 80-85 today, that puts me at a tad under 2 gallons of sap per tap so far, with 60-70 tempsfor the next three days at least i doubt I there will be anything running. I have bottled 4 gallons of golden delicate so far. Will probably empty my pans and finish it all down on my finisher and start fresh on the next run,hate to leave anything in pans in this kind of temperatures. Hoping the season will average out after this week. Still would like to make around 50 gallons this. I have still have not made up my mind if I will put out 100 or so more taps this weekend.

[barnbc76]

Collected 42gal between today and yesterday, boiled it down then filtered got 2.7gal thus far of beautiful golden syrup from 100gal sap...wow filtering took 3 1/2 hrs just crazy.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Another 145 gallons tonight and still making light. I will gather the rest tomorrow but I don't expect much more over the next few days anyway with temps in the 60s. I need a break anyway. Hopefully the trees don't bud in February. I'd like to make at least 30 gallons this year and that would even be sub par. But it's just for fun so I can't complain.

[bowtie]

Not sure about my woods trees but my yard trees ran all night, almost full, guess I will boil again tonite.

[Tickle]

Still running here ,but slowing down

[wnybassman]

Still running here ,but slowing down

Ditto that

[Waynehere]

Collected 500 yesterday and 300 today. Finally slowed down. Will wait till weekend to run on pumps again. 5 days of boiling. I am ready for a break.. :) Made 62 gal this year. Made 80 last year.

[bowtie]

Collected a little over 70 gallons today. It's crazy to think with 200 bucket taps I will be lucky to make 40 gallons , though shooting for more, and waynhere has already made 62 gallons on 300 ish, just goes to show the power of vacuum and good trees. I have only bottled 5 1/2 gallons so far, should have 4 more by tomorrow after emptying pans and boiling down, then I am going to give the pans a quick cleaning and maybe even rinse my buckets and wait for the next run.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Yup still running. Will have to boil again tomorrow which will make 6 consecutive days of boiling. Really need a break to sleep and get caught up on bottling and cleaning. Hopefully we can get through this heat wave and get close to a normal harvest.

[wnybassman]

I fired at 4:30 this morning and ran until my dad showed up so I could go to work. He ran out of sap about an hour before I got home, so had to shut down after 120 gallons. I got home, collected another 80 gallons and boiled that off. So, today was my first ever 200 gallon day. I'll have to see what the stuff looks like tomorrow to see if it will be worth while boiling. I'll be bottling tomorrow after work also.

Ants are HORRIBLE this year!!

[ArcadeMaple]

Yup still running. Will have to boil again tomorrow which will make 6 consecutive days of boiling. Really need a break to sleep and get caught up on bottling and cleaning. Hopefully we can get through this heat wave and get close to a normal harvest.

Home-built RO - single XLE 4040, PLC controlled
What model PLC are you using?

[grizzlym]

I agree with the Ants. But only in my blue buckets. The old buckets were fine. Also up to 63 moths on 73 taps. Now I just need to find a market for my maple sweetened moth candy.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Home-built RO - single XLE 4040, PLC controlled
What model PLC are you using?

https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/Shopping/Catalog/Programmable_Controllers/CLICK_Series_PLCs_(Stackable_Micro_Brick)/PLC_Units/C0-00AR-D

Works great!

[Urban Sugarmaker]

What do you guys think of this warm spell? I see a cooling trend in the 2 week forecast but here there is still Friday and Saturday to get through at > 60F. I know it's still early but another week or two of this and I'm thinking it's probably going to be done.

I'm at 165 taps and have gotten almost 800 gallons. I'd consider that close to 50% crop for a gravity/buckets.

[Tickle]

i cant believe how warm it is today , thought i would take a walk and check on thing and low and behold some were dripping ,then i looked up and saw some of the trees with buds opened up on them not sure what to make of that , i am truly puzzled

[wnybassman]

This weather is surely a pain in the ***. Haven't gathered yet tonight, but will in an hour or so. Won't be a lot, but will run it down to the milk tank and if it still looks good tomorrow, I'll boil it. Gonna go downtown afterward and put 50 gallons of water in the truck tank to wash it out.

Just coordinating to get everything cleaned out, and keep stuff from spoiling. So much easier when it just gets cold between runs!!

Bottled 8.5 more gallons tonight. Still have that to clean up too. Plus I want to clean my pans before it runs again..

[wnybassman]

What do you guys think of this warm spell? I see a cooling trend in the 2 week forecast but here there is still Friday and Saturday to get through at > 60F. I know it's still early but another week or two of this and I'm thinking it's probably going to be done.

I'm at 165 taps and have gotten almost 800 gallons. I'd consider that close to 50% crop for a gravity/buckets.

I've boiled 805 gallons off 140 taps. Bottled 16 3/4 gallons of syrup now and have 2 1/2 gallons of syrup "trapped" in the evaporator. I'm also about halfway to my goal this year. A couple cold nights over the weekend, but already showing above freezing night temps for much of next week.

[barnbc76]

30 gals between yesterday and today, boiled it down but since i had no help today i can't bring it as close as i would like. 130 gal thus far on 25 taps, just shy of 3 gal, plus whatever this batch makes I've almost eclipsed what I did all last year in just over a week, what a difference a real pan arch setup is, quality is much better too.

[bowtie]

I really don't believe it is done or even close, it may take a week or so off but I have never heard of the season being over this early here in why. From what I have seen on the 15 day forecast it looks like march is going back to normal temps if not a tad below.
I collected about forty gallons today, puts me at 500 or so from 200 taps, not a good ratio, have an evaporator "full" of partially boiled sap/syrup and some on the finisher, with 6 1/2 I have bottled I would think I will have about 10ish or so gallons of finished syrup. If some of you are right and the season were to end prematurely it would make for a poor year, but think of the guys that do this for a living not good for them. I will be cleaning and finishing tomorrow and hopefully Saturday will be rinsing buckets and rehanging them and tapping about 50 more trees, all the while checking the trees for budding.

[wnybassman]

I was done the first week of March in I believe 2012. Two nights below freezing the entire month. I was catching bass on topwater frogs the last week of March. Never say never........................

With that said, I'm an idiot! lol Fired up the evaporator at 9:00 tonight. 30ish gallons that wasn't gonna wait til tomorrow.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Finally slowing down. Got 90 or so gallons tonight but it was actually the same as last night at 2.5%. Another 10 gallons to bottle Friday night. I tapped the first 94 on tubing on 2/11, and the rest on buckets 2/18 for a total of 145 taps plus 24 from a friend. We are at almost 900 gallons since 2/11 and today is 2/23. If you figure 10 gallons per tap on gravity, I'm about 50% or average crop. Finally tonight my syrup is darkening too. I actually prefer the smell of the steam with darker syrup.

Anyway, I don't think it's over yet but I did notice my best, healthiest producers have fatter buds than the rest. Time will tell. Please cool off. Having too much fun despite working full time and boiling 6 nights straight.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I took a break tonight and decided not to check the taps until Saturday morning. I want everything empty before the freeze. Bottled up another 9 gallons tonight. Finally caught up once I do a little cleaning. It looks like winter is coming back and things might turn out okay.

[bowtie]

Collected 45ish gallons today, still have sweet in evaporator, and have made 9 gallons total, maybe 2 left for in evaporator. Thought I was going to clean today but with the small run and 70 temps I boiled it down, now with freezing temps tomorrow night I might not get a chance to clean everything before next run.
I did see a flock of red winged blackbirds today and in one spot heard a spring peeper. Hit at least 75 here today and it's going to snow tomorrow night, crazy weather.

[Troutman10]

Boiled thurs night. I'll have about 2.5 gallons total after today (similar #s to you barnbc). The silver in my yard is flowered as of yesterday, geese are in the swamp across from my house. More of this weather and the peepers would def be out in full force. Releived to see this freeze tonight. I think we made it by the skin of our teeth. Maybe its just a little break before big things to come. Good luck guys.
15699

[Chickenman]

I dumped 40 gallons of smelly sap. Had a sweet alcohol smell. My food service back ground says when in doubt, throw it out. Silver maples are done. Sap yellow, buds have popped. Reds, big leaf and sugars still going. Hope this Hot spell is over and cold returns. But I am worried about the peach trees in the area. This weather has them all confused.

[bowtie]

Checked out my fruit trees, nothing happening with them, even if they push early it's not the buds but the flowers you have to worry about and they won't bloom even with an early spring until April. My reds in the woods are still fine and I suspect I will be gathering for at least 2 more weeks maybe longer. Having woods trees,with elevation should actually help me this year.

[wnybassman]

All buckets and tanks cleaned. Will clean the front pan tomorrow, and tidy up the shack. Will be all ready for the next one.

[wnybassman]

What a beautiful morning here in northeastern Wyoming County!!

[treehugger89]

Loving the fresh powder, maybe 1/2". Finally some cold weather.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Looks like we need to get past Wednesday, then it's back to normal early March weather. Sugar maples here are still tight but the reds and silvers have bloomed.

[Tickle]

so now i am wondering how the sap will from some of my silvers that budded out the other day ,will this cold snap kill off the buds and produce good sap ? or will the sap be fine regardless of the budded tree ?

[MapleMark753]

I dunno about the Silvers, maybe others will chime in. I have Silvers too, wouldn't mix the sap until I'd boiled down a sample of the Silver sap first.
Had two things happen recently. One, my sap pan spoiled in the heat this last week, syrup pan was fine. Bummer but a good lesson about even pretty concentrated sap in warm weather. I drained it cuz it looked different, boiled it, and it smelled well, fruity as best I can describe it. Fermented I guess. Won't make that mistake again. Good side of that was that it loosened the niter in the flue pan, rubbed right off. Second, I was dumping some sap out of my bags, shaking them out, etc., and noticed a sapsicle/icicle on a tap. Just knocked it off with my finger, and through a pinhole in the ice, sap spurted out of the tap in a small stream just like out of a hose but in miniature. Slowed in a few seconds to a steady drip like usual. Good visual on the natural pressure built up when sap wants out.:)

[bowtie]

I am thinking tomorrow could be my best run, tonight it's is going down to upper teens or lower twenties and tomorrow highs in the upper forties. who knows though, with the wacky up and down temps it might not run at all, maybe the trees are just as confused as we are, lol.

[wnybassman]

I am thinking tomorrow could be my best run, tonight it's is going down to upper teens or lower twenties and tomorrow highs in the upper forties. who knows though, with the wacky up and down temps it might not run at all, maybe the trees are just as confused as we are, lol.

We've already seen our low at 28º and it is back up to 31º. Looking at the hourly it is supposed to rise a little overnight. I'm betting mine will start cranking late afternoon tomorrow and the best run will be overnight tomorrow night as the low is supposed to be 34º. Looks like a collection before work on Tuesday for me.

[bowtie]

Wrong again, my woods trees have just started to drip most only had an inch or so in them, did not bother to collect as it would not be enough to boil and with it being cool enough tonite I will just collect tomorrow and have hopefully a longer boil.

[mudr]

Just collected. 160 gallons off 130 taps from yesterday when it started (midday?) Through now. Little cloudy, but no off flavors and still some sweetness. Hope to get most of it boiled down tonight after kids go to sleep.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Marlin]

Running well here in Rochester area -- collected a little over 1 gal/tap in last 24 hrs.

[Waynehere]

Ran some here in the southern-tier, but not enough to start up the arch. Running good now and looks like we will have an all day boil tomorrow.

[wnybassman]

Had a little under a gallon a tap run today. Some smaller woods trees I expected more out of, but couldn't tell if they were winding down or just loosening up. Big trees still flowing good. 1.9% averaged. Fired up tonight to run 45 gallons through, mainly just to get the sweet that has been sitting there a few days pushed through. Got some darker syrup coming but hopefully it lightens back up. My dad should have a good full day of boiling tomorrow after I collect again before work in the morning.

[barnbc76]

Just finishing up the 35gal I got today most of my silvers are buded but it tasted ok only had to dump 1 bucket fortunately I am mostly sugar maples here.

[lyford]

Ended up with about 1/2 gal per tap yesterday, cooking that now. I checked a couple close by the house and they had barely anything at 3pm. Just wondering how everybody else did today, I just hope the tap holes are t bunking up already. I am on buckets and bags.

[wnybassman]

I am not liking the looks of these buds.

[mudr]

I am not liking the looks of these buds.
Assume you are on reds and silvers?

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[wnybassman]

Assume you are on reds and silvers?

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Mostly sugars, some reds, no silvers

[lyford]

Buds on sugars? Not cool, I only tap about 20 sugars and those buds are still small, the reds have swollen some, and I've seen a few silvers around that are in full bloom.

[wnybassman]

Well, they are not open, but very very swollen and soft. Showing a little green too. That is from my big yard tree that I can reach the branches on.

[mudr]

Dang

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[MapleMark753]

Our Sugars and Black maples still have small and tight buds, no sign of swelling as of yesterday. :D Our silvers have budded, like others have noted too.

Question: Has anybody ever made straight up dark, no off flavors, BUT with nearly zero maple flavor?:confused: Happened for the first time ever here. Don't know what to make of it really. I will jug it up today, and mark each with a small symbol on the bottom and in the log book.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I tap a few reds and they are done for the season for me. They might still be okay but I'm not risking it. Many of the sugars are still tight but a couple have swelling buds and one is definitely budding. I tried to take a picture but the camera on my phone wouldn't focus on it.

I am over 1100 gallons of sap this season which is about 65% crop if you figure 10 gallons per tap on gravity. I think I will get a good run next week but after that the forecast is not showing any freezes and there's more weather in the mid 50s.

15807

[Revi]

Wow! I used to live in Western NY, and the trees didn't bud until at least the beginning of April. What has happened? I used to live in Alfred, NY, (which is higher up in elevation) and in Syracuse. Is this normal?

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Wow! I used to live in Western NY, and the trees didn't bud until at least the beginning of April. What has happened? I used to live in Alfred, NY and in Syracuse.

Too many days in the 60s. Again, only one tree out of 80 is budding. The reds don't surprise me at all but that one sugar does considering the others seem to know it's still a little early.

[YBSean]

Weather extremes are the new normal and that's not the only change in Upstate NY. We are at 1,600 ft elevation on the Allegheny Plateau and have pulled 2 ticks off us this year, 1 biting, while collecting sap in February with snow on the ground!

[Marlin]

I tap a few reds and they are done for the season for me. They might still be okay but I'm not risking it. Many of the sugars are still tight but a couple have swelling buds and one is definitely budding. I tried to take a picture but the camera on my phone wouldn't focus on it.


Probably a good idea since you have the option. I have mostly reds, so I can't do that, but in the last 3 seasons they have never gotten "buddy" -- they always just dry up first. The sugars keep going and might get buddy, but I don't have enough of them to make it worth continuing when the reds are done, so I pull all the taps at the same time.

Of course, my operation is pretty small, so maybe I'm just getting lucky with the few trees that I have.

[grizzlym]

Who has the tank on route 98 in Attica, near the cemetery? My brother said it was flowing over this morning. Hopefully someone pumped it before I posted this.

[mudr]

Who has the tank on route 98 in Attica, near the cemetery? My brother said it was flowing over this morning. Hopefully someone pumped it before I posted this.

That's dbeitz or sudz territory I think.

I had peepers singing up at my place in northern Genesee County this morning. Tonight's 28 degree weather should quiet them down.

[bowtie]

collected and boiled off 170 ish gallons yesterday,still running some today. not sure what i will get today but not looking at another run until sunday maybe.

[Chickenman]

Well here in Chautauqua county, NY, things have really slowed down. Was expecting to collect 50 gallons or more, but only got about 25 or 30. Some of my pails were bone dry yet the tap 6 inches a way gave me close to a gallon or more. My Reds are starting to give a off color sap (tan to redish tint). Hope were not done yet, last year I was boiling up to Easter.

[wnybassman]

Don't know what to think here. Battling this weather is tiresome. Sap in buckets was putrid when I got home from work. The sap I collected before work (only 20 gallons or so) turned bad during the day. I drained tanks and rinsed as best as I could in this freaking wind. Will clean buckets later in the week, I figure a little weight in them right now is a good thing. Bottled 6 more gallons tonight, just on the lighter side of Very Dark so I can still call it Dark Robust. Very tasty though! Up to 23 gallons on the season. Hoping this next run is all good stuff and I can break 30 gallons. Ain't looking good after that. Driving to PA tomorrow to pick up a milk tank.

[Waynehere]

So we collected about 1200 gal sap at 2% this past warm spell and made 21 gal syrup. Cleaned up our tanks and waiting for the next warm up. Still doing a shade dark on the medium side. Should slide right into the dark I am guessing next week, but all week looks good for the sap to run.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Not sure what to think either. There's a nice warm-up starting Sunday, but after that no really good freezes and 61 on Tuesday. I could be happy if I get another 400-500 gallons of sap. Wouldn't be a full crop, but enough to satisfy me.

[nymapleguy607]

Boiled about 2000 gallons since monday night, sap started out cloudy, went clear and clouded back up last night. We had 2.2 sugar to start and finished with 1.3. The RO is earning its keep. We made 33 gallons of syrup and it was just on the border of amber rich and dark robust. Time to clean up the tanks and start fresh sunday or monday.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Here are my updated pictures. I got my camera to focus on the swelling bud. This is the one sugar I have tapped that I will not be collecting any more sap from. Many trees are still tight but others are starting to swell.
158271582815829

[wnybassman]

Here are my updated pictures. I got my camera to focus on the swelling bud. This is the one sugar I have tapped that I will not be collecting any more sap from. Many trees are still tight but others are starting to swell.
158271582815829

My yard tree is not quite as advanced as that first picture, but after this next warm-up who knows. Woods trees do seem a bit tighter. Hoping syrup goes a bit lighter to stay in the dark robust range.

Quick road trip to PA today to pick up milk tank #2. Will be used next year at the base of our new property for collection of about 120-140 taps on 3/16 tubing. I was hoping to find a nice "squatty" one like this for maintenance purposes, and I did. Even has the valve and nut wrench!

https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/17098674_1854405114829708_4003278639155627015_n.jp g?oh=4d2ea2ba05f3e0011b22b2027d848581&oe=596C4D20

[bowtie]

Did not get to collect yesterday, and today the sap is frozen solid. Would guess I would have got 100ish gallons, now I will wait until Sunday or Monday when they thaw and hope the sap is good. My woods trees are tight for the time being. Still have some syrup to bottle and some to finish along with what is in evap.,may light a fire tomorrow and then empty pans and finish all at once. My last batch was right on the edge between rich and robust. The ten day for me looks decent past Saturday, actually when temps are predicted to be 40-42 my woods/hill trees will barely run, really 45-48 to get them dripping well.if the buds hold past Tuesday I might alright for awhile, like said before maybe having "late" trees will pay off this year.

[BristolHills]

Urban, great photos, mine in the Bristol Hills are still tight as of yesterday. Hope this cold will slow them down. New 3/16 tubing on hill side really working well. Didn't loose any lines in the wind storm. Lost a big sugar maple on the hill though. It gave its self up to fuel the fire for next year.

Id like to stop up to your facility one day and pick up an idea or two. I make around 6-10 gallons a year

[bowtie]

The spring peepers may have been out earlier but they are surely going to be wishing they would had stayed in the mud after tonite and tomorrow night , lows in the single digits. Hell I only 2-3 nights below zero all year, so this qualifies as cold this year.

[mudr]

Yeah, I had those peepers on Monday or Tuesday. Forget which day. They will be reasonably ok, as spring peepers are able to concentrate solutes into their blood stream to act like antifreeze and allow their body temperature to go below freezing without breaking any cell walls. That said, I'm not sure how well they do with fluctuating temps. As in, if they come out of hibernation are they able to re-concentrate solutes. That drastic swing might hurt them. I know the leopard frogs probably got hit, too.

[Aa2tn]

If they were in the water, unless it froze all the way to the bottom they should be fine anyway, correct? .......

[bowtie]

They should be out tomorrow night with the warmer temps, but I hit -2 at 6:30 this morning.

[wnybassman]

Made use of the day to get ready for the next round. Started the morning by heading out with a hot bucket of water to clean all the frozen spoiled sap pucks out of the buckets. That was almost as much fun as it sounds. lol Then cleaned up the shack, made up a tool to clean the areas of the flues I can't get to with the flue brush, then finished cleaning the front pan that has been soaking in vinegar for a few days now. Left the evaporator with the stack of kindling already in it, ready to light.

Bring it on!

[MapleMark753]

Never did see zero last night and this morning. Did see 1 and minus 1 though, lol... Permeate tank was a challenge today. The lightbulb hanging in front of the valve did do its job, still water not ice there. The rest of the tank did freeze pretty good though. Using a radiator next to it tonight n hopefully it'll thaw by tomorrow.
Shoveled some ash out, put some puck lights where I've noticed just a bit more light is necessary in the shack, and got the wood ready. We'll see tomorrow.
For those of you who are on either bags or buckets, whats YOUR indicator that sap may have spoiled hanging on the tree? I've just gone by visual and smell test and dumped or not dumped by that. May be some dumping tomorrow, but I'd rather do that than try to boil bad sap. Dunno yet, stayed frozen today.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Never did see zero last night and this morning. Did see 1 and minus 1 though, lol... Permeate tank was a challenge today. The lightbulb hanging in front of the valve did do its job, still water not ice there. The rest of the tank did freeze pretty good though. Using a radiator next to it tonight n hopefully it'll thaw by tomorrow.
Shoveled some ash out, put some puck lights where I've noticed just a bit more light is necessary in the shack, and got the wood ready. We'll see tomorrow.
For those of you who are on either bags or buckets, whats YOUR indicator that sap may have spoiled hanging on the tree? I've just gone by visual and smell test and dumped or not dumped by that. May be some dumping tomorrow, but I'd rather do that than try to boil bad sap. Dunno yet, stayed frozen today.

I go by color and smell. If it smells sour and/or looks cloudy and yellow I dump it. My buckets were frozen solid so I think they are okay. The tubing tank is frozen solid so hopefully that will thaw a bit tomorrow.

I didn't get around to cleaning my pan with vinegar. Will need to do that this week for sure, but I have been reversing direction every boil and it helps out a lot. Other than that, everything is bottled, and all other equipment clean.

[wnybassman]

For those of you who are on either bags or buckets, whats YOUR indicator that sap may have spoiled hanging on the tree? I've just gone by visual and smell test and dumped or not dumped by that. May be some dumping tomorrow, but I'd rather do that than try to boil bad sap. Dunno yet, stayed frozen today.


Before work on Wednesday I collected everything and came up with about 20 gals of marginal sap. Got home from work that afternoon and that 20 gals looked and smelled horrible, and a half dozen or so buckets I checked just before that wind moved through were extremely cloudy and nasty looking as well. As that front was moving through I was able to drain out all my tanks, but not the buckets. So, basically I knew what most my buckets looked like just before they froze solid.

[lyford]

I think smell and taste are your best indicators. Sap that is cloudy or just a little yellow will make fine syrup so long as it tastes and smells alright. Syrup made from this sap may be a bit darker, but it'll taste good.

[calvertbrothers]

Has anyone else in Wyoming county and or Western NY have had low sugared sap this year? Normally I run 1.5%-2.0% and I'm at 1.2% and 1.3% I've been only making syrup for 7 years never seen it this low.

[Marlin]

This is the lowest sugar of the last four years for me. I'm also at an average of 1.2% (mostly red maples). My theory is that it was mostly due to the drought last summer. Swamp maples like water, and there was next to nothing for some prime summer months. I think the drought ran from July - Oct for my area, and ranged from moderate to extreme. No water = no photosynthesis = no sugar, and if a tree doesn't make sugar, it can't store it for next year. The leaves on the trees were noticeably smaller and there didn't seem to be as many.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I've seen a lot of people saying their sugar is low this year. Either mine is low too or my equipment is inaccurate, but my sugar started out at 2.8% on average and has settled to 2.2 which about normal for me. Definitely had drought stress here too. Based on the syrup produced it seems like the sap hydrometer and refractometer are accurate enough though.

[mudr]

Last I checked I was running around 2.0. There is a considerable margin of error in reading my short-stemmed sap hydrometer, though.

Looks like we are getting set up for three runs this week. Today into tomorrow, then one on Thursday, and one on Sunday.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Last I checked I was running around 2.0. There is a considerable margin of error in reading my short-stemmed sap hydrometer, though.

Looks like we are getting set up for three runs this week. Today into tomorrow, then one on Thursday, and one on Sunday.

I hope so. I put in another 20 buckets yesterday hoping to make up for those that might be slowing down a bit. A few sugars' buds are really swelling.

[mudr]

I hope so. I put in another 20 buckets yesterday hoping to make up for those that might be slowing down a bit. A few sugars' buds are really swelling.

same here.

[bowtie]

looking at forecast here today thru wednesday should be good, maybe thursday, after that it shows highs in the low 20's and some low 30's ,this weather is definitely messing with us. i have boiled once in the last week, last monday, and may get in 3 boils this week after that who knows, with the cold it may hang on or it might be done with next warm up. was going to tap more trees last week but held off, now i probably wont bother. just going to let it be what it is and start planning for next year and move on to food plots and gardening, and hopefully some crappie fishing.

[Waynehere]

My sugar has been low as well. Mine are all the giant yard sugar maples and I have always got 3-3.5%. last year and this though, nothing over 2%.

[calvertbrothers]

Thanks for the info guys.

[wnybassman]

I think the trees forgot to wake up today. 60ish gallons out of 140 taps. Hopefully they open up more overnight.

And what's this I see about possible single digit lows again Friday night?? WTH??

[mudr]

I had like 25 on 130 taps, but running strong, at 530. I expect a good load tomorrow. Problem is, the lane is getting pretty rough and they are calling for some rain over night. Ugh.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[bowtie]

Same here, most were just starting to drip at 4:30 when I was dumping them today. I dumped ice and all, figured I would start fresh. I am try to collect it and boil it in the same day it runs. looking at the sap/ice I had in my buckets today and it looked "ickey",for lack of a better term, it had run last tuesday and was frozen since Wednesday but decided not to chance it, so it went back to nature. Hoping for a decent amount tomorrow, but with the way this year has gone nothing would surprise me.

[jimsudz]

Slow start here in Bennington also. p/u Cowlesville at 3:30 and only 125g from 324 taps. Vacuum taps were running but not like I thought. Should have plenty tomorrow.

[Waynehere]

Checked tanks and pumps at 5 and they were just starting to really pull sap. Now, I have to admit that I am a techie guy. I installed an outdoor webcam with night vision in one of my tanks. I absolutely love it. Now I can see from work if the sap is flowing. I have a shurflo hooked up with a bypass line to keep the pump wet, so the flow is deceiving, but to watch the puddle grow is amazing. :) This is a 500 gal tank.

https://www.microseven.com/tv/lv/4cjzg9ts1zk/waynehere.html

[wnybassman]

Checked tanks and pumps at 5 and they were just starting to really pull sap. Now, I have to admit that I am a techie guy. I installed an outdoor webcam with night vision in one of my tanks. I absolutely love it. Now I can see from work if the sap is flowing. I have a shurflo hooked up with a bypass line to keep the pump wet, so the flow is deceiving, but to watch the puddle grow is amazing. :) This is a 500 gal tank.

https://www.microseven.com/tv/lv/4cjzg9ts1zk/waynehere.html

That's pretty funny :D

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Checked tanks and pumps at 5 and they were just starting to really pull sap. Now, I have to admit that I am a techie guy. I installed an outdoor webcam with night vision in one of my tanks. I absolutely love it. Now I can see from work if the sap is flowing. I have a shurflo hooked up with a bypass line to keep the pump wet, so the flow is deceiving, but to watch the puddle grow is amazing. :) This is a 500 gal tank.

https://www.microseven.com/tv/lv/4cjzg9ts1zk/waynehere.html

Not crazy. I have a camera that I can access from my phone. It's set up to watch my RO while I am boiling.

Slow start here. Didn't get enough to use the RO so I'm just finishing the last of it as I type this. A little worried about boiling tomorrow in the wind with embers and all.

[nymapleguy607]

Checked tanks and pumps at 5 and they were just starting to really pull sap. Now, I have to admit that I am a techie guy. I installed an outdoor webcam with night vision in one of my tanks. I absolutely love it. Now I can see from work if the sap is flowing. I have a shurflo hooked up with a bypass line to keep the pump wet, so the flow is deceiving, but to watch the puddle grow is amazing. :) This is a 500 gal tank.

https://www.microseven.com/tv/lv/4cjzg9ts1zk/waynehere.html

What kind of outdoor camera are you using? I would like to have one but I dont have wifi around my tanks.

[Waynehere]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M6BPLTQ/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have a router in my sapshack and ran a 300' network cable down to it. It will also do wireless, but yes you need wireless available. Wish I had these in my other tanks. :)

[wnybassman]

100+ more overnight. Opened up as expected.

[dbeitz1891]

Trees running good after that hard freeze and sap has cleared back up, as of this morning were at about 2 gal per tap from this run.

[Waynehere]

Checked my tanks and found one that the feed line had fell out somehow. ****... Pumped the whole tank on the ground, usually 150-200 gal. :( Otherwise it did look like a decent run overnight.

[wnybassman]

About a 1.6 gallon per tap run here. Sugar tanked though, about 1.5. Yuck............

[mudr]

Pumping now. Probably 1.0 gal/tap. Cleared up nicely. Have to get hydrometer out though. Does not taste overly sweet.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[barnbc76]

Best run yet, i pulled 5 taps and then added 8 more. I've nearly maxed out storage, I think I have 70 gals at least. Time to really see how good i can push this new set up. Unfortunately i dont know when i will get the chance to boil. Should i wait till thursday when wind is down but risk it 50 degree day or try and boil tomorrow in 30+mph wind with a pallet windbreak only 4ft tall (not quite tall enough to make it really effective). It will likely take at least 10hrs or more any advice?

[lyford]

115 gallons off 100 bags/buckets sugar is down 1.6-1.7

[mudr]

I just went out to lock up the chickens for the night. Peepers singing loud and clear. This is my second time hearing them for the year, and my dad had them one other time.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[bowtie]

Collected 90 ish gallons from 190 taps in the woods , got probably 5 from the 6 taps in my lawn. Was running ok in the woods this afternoon. Depending on the weather tomorrow and Thursday may be it. With it getting cold again after that I think the next warm up may end it for most. My woods trees may hang on a little while longer but not sure I will continue if the sugar content drops much more.

[Tickle]

Boiling 40gal of sap right now ,temp outside is 45 and wind is starting to pickup a little ,needed to get it done tonight as I wouldn't be able to get to it till Thursday and figured it would go bad by then , I had buds open last warm up then frost on Sunday with temp of 6,all the buds looked dead, so far sap seems good and not sure what old buds will do , I do have about 3-4 trees that have already shut down for the year it looks like , will see what the rest do after this next freeze up ,I would imagine one more run then done

[wnybassman]

Collected 90 ish gallons from 190 taps in the woods , got probably 5 from the 6 taps in my lawn. Was running ok in the woods this afternoon. Depending on the weather tomorrow and Thursday may be it. With it getting cold again after that I think the next warm up may end it for most. My woods trees may hang on a little while longer but not sure I will continue if the sugar content drops much more.

I hear ya. I was hoping for higher sugar and lightening of the syrup, and the opposite occurred for both. Even the last collection this afternoon had slight cloudiness to it. Tough to keep stuff clean, and from spoiling, with these repetitive warm temps.

[Tickle]

Forgot to mention of the 40gals of sap collected this run ,sugar was 1% lowest so far ,on all reds and silvers ,50taps buckets and drop lines

[Aa2tn]

We got 315 gal off 260 taps today. One area nunning 1 percent and the other running 2 percent. Still smells and tastes good! ......

[Urban Sugarmaker]

210 gallons of sap today. It cleared up somewhat but I think the end is near. More and more trees have swelling buds, but no off flavors yet. I think I will get one more good run after the next freeze, but I don't think it's looking good after that. We've just had way too many warm days.

Syrup is all dark yesterday and today.

[Waynehere]

We got 500+ gal from 270 taps. Boiled in 300 and will have to get the rest tomorrow. Still running pretty good for us. 2% as usual. Sap is looking really good from the check valved taps, ans starting to get somewhat cloudy from the others. All dark syrup though.

Time for bed. :(

[Chickenman]

I think I'm done. Sunday was 9 degrees in the morning, warmed up to upper 30's, Monday was in the 40's and yesterday 50's. Checked my 39 taps and only about 20 gallons of sap from 10 taps. Most were dry. Will collect tonight but I think I'm done here in Chautauqua county. That warm spell in the 70's killed me. Oh well, overall happy ended up with 3 1/2 gallons of syrup and 4 lbs. of sugar. I really like my Mason 2x3 but still getting used to it.

[MapleMark753]

Yesterday I felt like throwing in the towel for the season. Fell in the mud in the woods carrying 2 5 gal buckets of sap. Tractor got stuck in the mud WITH a full load of sap in the trailer. Rained both times I did the collection but no other time. I mean soaking rain, not no little sissy rain. Back didn't give out but felt like it was gonna do so. OK, I'm done complaining, or venting, or expressing a sense of humor or whatever!
Today is definitely another day, and I got sap to go get. Sure, spring is just around the corner, but while that sun shines you gotta make hay. I hear of people with over a thousand sap bags, or two thousand even. My hats off to you for sure.
Made very dark yesterday, think its gonna get lighter today.

[wnybassman]

Another 70 gallons ran overnight. The 30+ leftover in the tank last night turned a little cloudy, but boilable, will do that first. Fresh stuff is clear. Almost fell on my *** at one of my woods tanks this morning, the pallet I stand on to pour sap was covered in ice. Didn't expect that, seeing they weren't calling for it. Told my dad if he gets uncomfortable boiling in the wind later, to STOP!!

[mudr]

Batten down the hatches, guys. Another batch of pretty strong wind on our way. I live where the letter V in "Batavia" appears on the map below. Pushing 70 mph peak gust. Yay.

https://www.facebook.com/NWSBuffalo/photos/a.286879488008413.84365.253013624728333/1573599886003027/?type=3&theater

[wnybassman]

Once I am not fearing for my life, I will go out and fix the tubing lines that have been knocked down by branches/trees. Maybe I can even track down some of the missing bucket lids too. Somehow my dad boiled most of the day without burning anything down.

[mudr]

This is a mess. Multiple semis have blown over, a train derailed, and countless trees over in the road near me. Tractor trailer ban on the thru way now. My power is out, and national grid online says we will get it back tomorrow at 3 pm.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[lyford]

Been boiling outside since noon, yeah it's a little windy. Killing my evap rate

[wnybassman]

Been boiling outside since noon, yeah it's a little windy. Killing my evap rate

Do you have whitecaps on the pans?

[Run Forest Run!]

This is a mess. Multiple semis have blown over, a train derailed, and countless trees over in the road near me. Tractor trailer ban on the thru way now. My power is out, and national grid online says we will get it back tomorrow at 3 pm.

Same here mudr. Power has flickered on and off, but so far we've got hydro. I wanted to boil today but didn't want to fill my pans with flying dirt and leaves. Hopefully things settle down to boil tomorrow because I don't want my sap to spoil.

[grizzlym]

Power out since noon. Maple tree tipped over, missed my new shack by a foot. Crushed my 2009 Silverado. Atleast I can still boil. Just can't drive to get refreshments.

[Run Forest Run!]

Power out since noon. Maple tree tipped over, missed my new shack by a foot. Crushed my 2009 Silverado. Atleast I can still boil. Just can't drive to get refreshments.

So sorry grizzlym! That's just horrible!

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I have sap to collect but I decided weight in the buckets would be helpful in this wind. Too dangerous to boil in this wind anyway so I am going to let the cold air on its way keep the sap cool until tomorrow.

Bottled up about 5 gallons this afternoon - all amber rich. I thought sure it was going to be dark so maybe there is still some life left in the season.

[Buddy 58]

how you making out ( Brockport ) your in the windy part of the state to !

[wnybassman]

Collected 50-60 gallons just before dark. Not sure it's going to make it until morning for my dad to boil. Already quite cloudy.

Fixed a sap line in the woods. A limb about the size of my leg pulled out a couple taps and ripped the tubing off one of the T's. Didn't like being out there. Lots of creaking and cracking, not sure if it was the trees, or my nerves.

Need to get ready for winter according to the seven day forecast :rolleyes:

[Waynehere]

Gathered 550 gal yesterday and 620 today. Windy in the southerntier, but not like up north.

[mudr]

Rochester had a peak gust of 81 mph. Genesee community college, which is 10 min sout of me, was just shy of 70. Yeah, not looking forward to seeing what the woods look like.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I have one tree down. After looking at it I only need to make a few cuts to free the sap lines. Looks like no real damage to the lines.
159611596215963

[lyford]

Got through about ~95 gallons in the wind yesterday, no white caps bassman but the flames did shoot out the front air intake of the arch a couple times. Got an average of 13 gallons per hr, not good but I got through the sap. Some branches down in the woods and one 7 inch diameter cottonwood down. I'd say we made it through relatively unscathed, especially being only a couple of miles from the the lake shore. Hope the rest of you fared as well.

[berkshires]

Some of you may be interested in this. It's a cool site with an interactive wind map: http://hint.fm/wind/

[Galena]

Greetings NY peeps, there is someone in Upper NY about to do something tremendously stupid.

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?30203-Heating-trees-through-a-cold-snap...&p=326109&posted=1#post326109

So if any of you know this guy, go do the right thing and stop him.

[wnybassman]

Done for a while I guess. Finished up the last 70 gallons of sap tonight, for a total of 357 gallons of sap for this latest run. Not too bad, but it's going to be dark stuff. Not even sure I'll be able to stay in the dark robust range. I may drain the entire evaporator tomorrow, boil it down, and start from scratch when it decides to be spring again for a half a shot if making anything lighter again this season.

[Waynehere]

We did 1400 gal this last run. Into the dark side, but still very tasty. I have lots of customers wanting for the very dark stuff. Don't slow down bassman. Once you find the customers that love the really dark side, you will have trouble filling their orders.. :) Here is to a happy almost end of the season....

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Wow, it's late (early) as I write this. Finished 185 gallons and that's it until the next thaw. Time to clean the pan again. The downed tree is out of the way and my mainline just sprang right back. Easy fix.

Another tree lost a limb and crushed a bucket. That was the only other casualty.

I'm looking forward to a break to get caught up on cleaning.

[barnbc76]

Had our longest day so far yesterday, boiling 89gal in 12 hours. Much darker now, I am quite happy.

[jimsudz]

Been busy cleaning up wind damage from Wednesday. Got it all cut up just waiting to hear back from insurance company. Had to take 500+g to the neighbors so it didn't spoil. Now I have to clean up for Maple Weekend.

[Run Forest Run!]

Jim, those photos are very scary. Thank goodness you weren't hurt.

[mudr]

I saw you posted those on your facebook. That stinks, but things could have very easily been worse. Best wishes.

[Ghs57]

Been busy cleaning up wind damage from Wednesday. Got it all cut up just waiting to hear back from insurance company. Had to take 500+g to the neighbors so it didn't spoil. Now I have to clean up for Maple Weekend.

Holy ****.

[bowtie]

Looks and feels like the dead of winter out there, and is supposed to be that way until at least Friday. What a roller coaster season we are having.so much for saving firewood.

[millscrest]

With this extremely cold weekend, I made a road trip to the Fingerlakes NY area this morning. I found a like new Sunset 545 gallon stainless steel milk tank with the working compressor and cooling unit. Not a scratch on the tank. Perfect shape!!!!!!. When I was talking with the now retired farmer he mentioned that he had 2 surge vacuum pumps with the electric motors on them that he would throw in on the deal as well. I also picked up 3 stainless steel milk pails all for $700. I feel I did ok. Can't wait until next year now. To cold outside to even was the road salt off the tank.

[MapleMark753]

We've been cleaning up storm damage from last week, like lots of others. Wind took down many trees but only one blocking anything so that's good. Roof partially blew off the shack when I was in it (:o), but it repaired pretty easy. I've never felt wind that strong, and I think it was close to record strength. I've heard 80 plus mph, but am not sure. Finished up some nice tasting Very Dark today, and had power so could clean up with hot water finally. Some in our area had power out for 4 days like us, others had no interruption whatsoever. Very glad that's over. Looking forward to the thaw this coming weekend. We'll see. We will be here and open for the Maple Weekend deal, but aren't officially participating this year. Good luck to those who are, hope it goes great for you.
take care, Mark

[wnybassman]

I spent the evening doing something else sort of maple related I have been putting off, but with this cold weather seemed like a perfect thing to do. Bottled up a five gallon carboy of cider I fermented with five pints of syrup this fall. Man, did that turn out good!! It was a very slow ferment over a two month period before it finally quit. Been chillin' ever since.

[Waynehere]

With this extremely cold weekend, I made a road trip to the Fingerlakes NY area this morning. I found a like new Sunset 545 gallon stainless steel milk tank with the working compressor and cooling unit. Not a scratch on the tank. Perfect shape!!!!!!. When I was talking with the now retired farmer he mentioned that he had 2 surge vacuum pumps with the electric motors on them that he would throw in on the deal as well. I also picked up 3 stainless steel milk pails all for $700. I feel I did ok. Can't wait until next year now. To cold outside to even was the road salt off the tank.

Holy Batman.... How on earth did you find this guy? I have been scouring Craigslist for a while now looking for something nearby. Great find man.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I spent the evening doing something else sort of maple related I have been putting off, but with this cold weather seemed like a perfect thing to do. Bottled up a five gallon carboy of cider I fermented with five pints of syrup this fall. Man, did that turn out good!! It was a very slow ferment over a two month period before it finally quit. Been chillin' ever since.

Would love to try that. An equipment dealer here made a distilled sap liquor with orange peels. It's very good.

[mudr]

That cider sounds good! I've never made a cider, but a fair amount of beer and wine.

For those of you who are local, 810 Meadery in Medina makes a maple mead, called "maple tap". Mead is just honey wine, and they add some maple for this batch. Pretty good combination. I may be a bit biased, however, as they use syrup from my uncle in-law. He's the guy that got me into this racket.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[berkshires]

I spent the evening doing something else sort of maple related I have been putting off, but with this cold weather seemed like a perfect thing to do. Bottled up a five gallon carboy of cider I fermented with five pints of syrup this fall. Man, did that turn out good!! It was a very slow ferment over a two month period before it finally quit. Been chillin' ever since.

Wow, that's a lot of syrup in there! That would up the brix by about 8 points! Finished product would be almost like a wine if it fermented out all the sugar.

I used to brew a lot of hard cider, so I'm curious - did you use a very dark syrup? Can you taste the syrup flavor much in the finished cider?

Gabe

[millscrest]

I found the tank on craigslist but he did not advertise a price. He is an older gentleman that had no idea on how to post pictures. I had to walk him through the process of taking a photo on his phone and he texted me the pictures of what he had on Saturday night. I about fell over when he sent me the pictures. I told him that I would make the 3 hour drive in the morning and buy what he had. He said that he wanted to sell some of his belongings before he decided to have an auction in the future. I am going back in a month or so when the weather is nicer and this time I am bringing 2 trucks and trailers. LOL.

[millscrest]

Hay Waynehere, I sent you a private message in your in box. Take a look and let me know.

[wnybassman]

Wow, that's a lot of syrup in there! That would up the brix by about 8 points! Finished product would be almost like a wine if it fermented out all the sugar.

I used to brew a lot of hard cider, so I'm curious - did you use a very dark syrup? Can you taste the syrup flavor much in the finished cider?

Gabe

One recipe I saw called for a pint per gallon, so that's what I went with. I used three "very dark" pints and the other two were "amber rich" I believe. A majority of the sweet that came through was appley, but I think I can detect a hint of maple to. That could be because I know it's in there also, I don't know. Most of what I have made the last couple years came out quite dry, which I am fine with, so I was surprised this ended up kind of sweet.

[bowtie]

sounds like a good use maple and cider, i dont drink, but it contains two of my favorite things. i would like to try to make cider sometime, like i need something else to do or spend money on.lol

[berkshires]

Anyone who's interested in making cider, I'd highly recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Cidermaking-P-Correnty/dp/093738142X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1489429773&sr=1-1&keywords=cider I was friends with the guy who wrote the book back in the day, and it's really excellent.

GO

[mudr]

Snow update- somewhere between 3 beers and 2 quart+1 pint of snow at my place.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170315/d36a6701deeb3a4dbe1c2e620548b873.jpg

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Aa2tn]

At this point we may well be boiling into the middle of April !!! At least the first week. What a strange year. I will need two more good weeks to get to an average year.

[Aa2tn]

Snow update- somewhere between 3 beers and 2 quart+1 pint of snow at my place.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170315/d36a6701deeb3a4dbe1c2e620548b873.jpg

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

mudr, I think that is closer to 4 beers as you have to set the beers down to the same level of the syrup!!

[mudr]

mudr, I think that is closer to 4 beers as you have to set the beers down to the same level of the syrup!!
I couldn't find any more empty cans. :(

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I couldn't find any more empty cans. :(

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

I bought a 6 pack of Sierra Nevada today as a result of this!!

[mudr]

Such a good beer. That is my go-to most of the year. Genny bock during jan-march. Then Sierra Nevada torpedo or another big ipa when it is really hot.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Such a good beer. That is my go-to most of the year. Genny bock during jan-march. Then Sierra Nevada torpedo or another big ipa when it is really hot.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

I love Genny Bock too.

[jimsudz]

Local micro brewery used some of my syrup to make some beer. It is the feature beer of the week. They call it Sudzy's Maple Ale. The brewery is called Windy Brew it is in Sheldon on Rt 20A. I may stop in this evening to try it out.

[wnybassman]

Very nice on the beer! A brewery over here (Dublin Corners) has one called "Tree Tapper" and also uses a local sugarmaker.

Trees loosened up today and gave up about 45 gallons of sap. Wasn't sure if I wanted to wait until tomorrow to start boiling or not, but saw it had some cloudiness to it after it was at the shack tank, so I fired up tonight to get rid of it. Hopefully the cloudiness is from buckets and the one poly tank that is difficult to clean out decently, and it will clear up on subsequent runs this weekend.

[wnybassman]

I thought yesterday's loosening of the trees would make for a better run today even though conditions were cooler and cloudier. I guess not. Not flowing worth a darn.

I'm seeing 62º for next Saturday. Could be the beginning of the end. I know my trees won't take a whole lot more warmth.

[Tonk8it]

Another new WNY maple guy here. Brockport NY. Fun to see others in my area doing the same things I do. I'm on borrowed land with just a few taps and in the middle of my own evaporator build.

[mudr]

Another new WNY maple guy here. Brockport NY. Fun to see others in my area doing the same things I do. I'm on borrowed land with just a few taps and in the middle of my own evaporator build.

Welcome Tonk8it. I'm just down the road in Elba, next to Byron, but work in the 'port. We have at least one other Brockport member here as well.

[wnybassman]

I can only watch Wayne's sap tank cam for so long before I gotta go pee. lol

[Tonk8it]

Welcome Tonk8it. I'm just down the road in Elba, next to Byron, but work in the 'port. We have at least one other Brockport member here as well.

Elba seems so far away. I just had a buddy move out there. I am hoping to meet some more experienced people in the area who want to share ideas. Boiling yourself gets boring and new bigger equipment when locals upgrade is something I am interested In. Right now I got to buy buckets after that crazy windstorm some of my stuff is missing!

[mudr]

It's about a 23 min drive.

Just picked up 60 gal (0.5 gallon/tap) of 1.5% sap. I gave it a taste, and it seems fine though ive never experienced the taste of buddy sap.

I plan to flood my pans and boil for an hour and a half (after kids go down for naps) to kill off any bacteria in the sap. The sap was still running, and with tomorrow's 44 degree forecast I expect more tomorrow.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Pan and RO are clean. Ready for the next run. Barely dripping at 1PM today so I'm thinking Mon. and Tues. will be busy. These larger trees are always a day behind. But, I got out to some ope houses yesterday. Nice to see what others are doing.

[Tonk8it]

My smaller trees have been dripping and my large trees are just starting. I think you're right Monday and Tuesday and I think I am done here my trees are almost full bloom.

I have a walk in cooler at my disposal so I keep it there till I can cook it.

Still haven't gone to my other property to find my buckets. I don't want to know how many I lost.

[wnybassman]

Had collected 80 gallons this morning and fired up late morning. Had a nice steady flow of visitors today, always nice! Sap has been running since 10:00 or so, so that will give my dad something to do tomorrow. Looks like I have Wednesday off from work, which might be very be good!

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Had collected 80 gallons this morning and fired up late morning. Had a nice steady flow of visitors today, always nice! Sap has been running since 10:00 or so, so that will give my dad something to do tomorrow. Looks like I have Wednesday off from work, which might be very be good!

Do you host for Maple Weekend?

[wnybassman]

Do you host for Maple Weekend?

No, just an open invite for friends and family today

[bowtie]

Just finished emptying pans and giving them a once over , had to start a fire just to thaw them, going to clean collecting tanks tomorrow, hoping to get something to boil in the afternoon. My few yards trees are just barely dripping. The stuff I pulled out of my pans is dark, I am starting to boil it down, but with 12-15 gallons it will take a while on my little finisher, not going to bother with my 2x4 finisher today, maybe tomorrow. At least giving the pans a quick cleaning today will help make the end of the season clean up faster.

[Waynehere]

Got 250 gal, mostly overnight. Boiled that in tonight. Hoping for a good run the next couple of days. Seems the trees were just starting to run good tonight, but think we will get a hard enough freeze to shut them down for the night.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I don't recall seeing this article posted before but this seems consistent with what most people are reporting about low sugar sap.

http://stlawrence.cce.cornell.edu/horticulture-natural-resources/thirsty-maples

[millscrest]

Nice article

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Went through 285 gallons last night. The sweet in the pan was dark and then it lightened back up. I think I am still making medium. Taps were still running last night so we will see what I have tonight. Looking forward to another hard freeze to catch up on bottling.

[Waynehere]

We boiled in 220 last night too. Went out and found just about all of my taps were loose, probably from the long deep freeze. Did a lot of tonking to tighten them up. Got another 250 overnight. Will see what the day brings on top of that. Tried some of the CV spouts on 2 of my tanks this year and already I am seeing a difference on the quantity and quality of the sap for those runs. My lowest tap count, about 56, is way out producing my 69 taps without the CV's. Hmmm....:o

[wnybassman]

I went about a full grade lighter, maybe more. I'm happy, never did that before.

[Waynehere]

Yep, so did we. Went from dark to a light medium. Shutting down for the night and will see what the weekend brings. Looks like warm weather for us all next week. Probably a season killer. Got another 450 gal in today.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Picked up 180 gallons of beautiful, clear sap today. Just finished. Back to medium but I won't for certain until it's filtered. Looks like one more good run coming here. I am very glad I staggered my bucket tapping. I am getting a lot more sap now than I would otherwise. The oldest buckets are really slowing down.

With the fat buds I am thinking this weekend might be it. No off flavors yet, but I have close to a "full crop" for a gravity setup I guess. Still haven't really made dark though. I think it's the new tubing and only a single pass through the RO. Last year I was doing 2 passes and I think it affects the color.

[wnybassman]

I had the day off today so my dad finished boiling the 100+ gallons remaining while I bottled what needed to be bottled up to date. Worked perfect, he killed the fire as I was finishing cleaning everything up. I had two pots of dark and one lighter (the middle one for this run) but blended all together kept it all in robust.

I think I've only got one more run left in me, and my trees. I'll be pushing 50 gallons if it is a halfway decent run.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Broke over 40 gallons bottled tonight for the season so far. I think I have only one run left in me too. I'm thinking around 45-47 gallons for the season on somewhere between 180-190 taps all on gravity by the end of this coming weekend. I guess I would consider that a full crop if a quart per tap is normal without vacuum. I'm ready to move on to spring and work on sales so I can justify more toys. I really want a bigger rig and a heated room in the sugar house for the RO.

[wnybassman]

Still plugging away. Finishing up the 150 gallons collected today, another 30 to go. Running good right now, probably another 100+ by morning. 1.7% this afternoon

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Boiled 200 gallons last night. I think the leftovers I collect today is probably it. They were still flowing pretty good at 6pm last night when I collected. I test boiled on the stove because I was paranoid about buddy sap but it's still okay. A lot more trees have swelling buds now and looking at the forecast, it appears it's over.

Really weird season, but I should hopefully hit my 50 gallon goal tonight.

[millscrest]

With the up coming forecast, I called it a season today after the boil. :(. Time to clean the tanks, buckets and lines.

[wnybassman]

Boiled a 100 today, got about 45 in the tank and will add tomorrow mornings collection to it and call it good. Then on to the worst part of the season. lol

[Waynehere]

We gathered 500+ today. One of our 4 tanks was really nasty, so will keep that sap for the 2 month soak to clean the pans. Have another tank that is close to done, but the 2 that are on the CV spouts are really running strong... Will boil tomorrow yet and maybe even Monday. Then I think we will be done as well.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Collected about 145 gallons today. It's still tasting good but I can smell the change in the steam. More foam too. I'm pulling my taps Sunday and boiling the rest of what I collect. Then finish the sweet and start cleaning. Ugh.

[Waynehere]

We didn't get much of a run last night. Looks like we will be starting up at noon and chase the sweet out of the pans today. Been a record season for us. Plus I am tired of looking/buying more dry wood. :(

[Tonk8it]

Just a little hobby guy here but I Pulled my taps today. My trees are budding and one of my buckets was bad. Not to mention I am tired of hauling buckets. Looking for a quad to help me with the work. Honda Rincon, rubicon or foremans

[barnbc76]

I think i may be done today too. Boiled 70 gal down the past couple of days. Lost another .5gal not paying attention foamed over on the turkey frier, would have tthought i learned from the first time.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

All done here. Picked up 135 gallons today and chased the sweet with permeate. I am soap washing the RO now and I have about 4 gallons of sweet to finish and 5 or 6 gallons to bottle. I'm feeling pretty relieved to be done, but accomplished. It was a 43 day season for me and I think I will finish with around 52 gallons from around 2500 gallons of sap. Mostly amber, about 25% light, and we'll see how the rest grades tomorrow or Tuesday. I definitely hit 1 quart per tap which is what I wanted. It worked out despite the tremendous warmth. Makes me wonder what "normal" season is like.

Time to pull the rest of the buckets and tubing and start cleaning up. Then I really need to start selling more syrup.

[Waynehere]

We ended up with 145 gal syrup on 270 taps. That is .5 gal/tap? Wow, a record year for us as well. We started on Feb 4th and ended March 26, so about 48 days for us. That re-circ line on the Shurflo pumps and 100 of my taps were the CV style, so I am thinking they made the biggest improvement for us this year. Looking at an RO now... Went through way too much wood...

[wnybassman]

I just finished the last of it myself. 145 taps, 2198 gallons of sap, a tick over three full cord of wood and 49.25 gallons made. First bit was a lighter amber rich, most of it was dark robust and had a couple batches of strong dark mixed in.

My dad boiling while I was working really made the season for us. Would have never kept up otherwise. A little bit of clean up left and will start preparing for next year.

[stewardsdairy]

Finished up last night. Syrup turned buddy. Made 20 gallons of it last night and then drained the tanks.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

My total was 52 gallons on 190 taps. Not bad. But I think my sugar was lower than measured or my sap gallon count was way off. I estimated 2500 gallons of sap which puts me at 48:1. I made very little dark and my last batch was in the middle of amber rich for light transmittance.

I should be done cleaning up by Sunday.

[calvertbrothers]

Hey guys I'm Wyoming county around Warsaw area I'm still getting clear sap about 700 gallons a day sometime more. The guy I sold my sap to is shutting down for the season. His woods are done I live in a higher elevation and my woods are always cold. If any of you aren't tired of boiling and want to buy sap let me know or I'll be pulling the plug soon.

[jimsudz]

Gathering up everything this evening and going to boil this evening. There won't be much because 3/16 woods stopped running. Going to chase with water and have a beer or two and pull the plug. Not a good season for me.

[Aa2tn]

We finished up this week also, pulled all our taps, seemed like an average year. A little hard to judge with all the upgrades we did. We made 53 gallons off about 260 taps on gravity. Very happy with the new evaporator though. Sugar content was better than last year but still a little low. Time to plan the upgrades for next year! Maybe a shack expansion and/or a water jacket canner.

[treehugger89]

All done here. Finally started to pull taps. Buckets are all done. Lines need to be pulled and cleaned. Not bad of a year, wish I had higher percentage but better than last year. Some light and a little of amber with lots of dark. Finished with about 11 gallons of syrup from a total of 225 taps. Looking to upgrade to all vacuum and a press.

[calvertbrothers]

I'm no where near ready for Maple season yet but looking at the forecast for next week it sure looks like Maple season. Is anyone going to start tapping?

[barnbc76]

I tapped the end of Jan last year, that turned out to be about 2 weeks Too early. It's been a real Cold start to our winter, might be one that lasts a while I'm holding off.

[mudr]

I'm not going yet. If it were the first week of Feb maybe. But I think it will get cold again after this January the. Plus, I need to cut a hole in my roof, Put up stack, and then move the evaporator in my shack yet. Hope to get that done next weekend.

[wnybassman]

I am not going to get too excited about it yet either. Already see cold on the back side of it. Gonna take quite a warm spell to thaw out these trees anyway.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I feel like we always get a January thaw. I would like to make it at least until mid February. I messed up tapping too early with buckets 2 years ago in January. The season went well into March for me that year.

[mudr]

I took a look at some 10 day forecasts. Looks like a warm up in 8-10 days. Long enough to thaw trees even (if forecast does not change). Looks like a long stretch of cool, but not frigid weather after that so not sure if it is worth it. Problem is that far out is a crap shoot.

Seems like I get worked up every year when I see the big boys putting up syrup well before I'm ready. Merle posted on Facebook they made 50 gallons last night, but sap was thin. Said 65:1.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[bowtie]

I see a warm up at the end of the week but it's -1 f and falling fight now, last Sunday morning it was -16 f . Even after the warm and rain the ground has a decent frost in it. The really big guys have to tap at a certain date regardless of temps and conditions but I would think that waiting is the prudent thing to do around here for everyone else. I am not even close to being ready. Hell I haven't got my new evaporator yet. I wanting to go to tubing but a few things held me up this year so I will go with as many buckets as I have and try to get the tubing set up for next year. If the evap isn't ready I may not even boil this year. My 2x6 is up for sale and if it goes soon I will not have an evaporator in time anyway. We will see how it goes.

[wnybassman]

All of a sudden the forecasted highs aren't quite as high as they were saying a day or two ago. Monday still upper 40's but Saturday and Sunday have dropped back some. Was really leaning towards tapping Saturday, not so sure now.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

After the cold we've had I'm not sure it will start flowing right away. I am still trying to make it until February.

[millscrest]

I have to agree, still to early. The long range 15 day forecast is still to cold. But that can change as we all know. It is now a waiting game to pull the trigger.

[wnybassman]

Todays forecast has me leaning towards tapping again. They added another 40+ degree day for Tuesday and more 35+ degree days through Feb. 1st than under.

This is the worst time of year, deciding when to pull the trigger.............

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Todays forecast has me leaning towards tapping again. They added another 40+ degree day for Tuesday and more 35+ degree days through Feb. 1st than under.

This is the worst time of year, deciding when to pull the trigger.............

Yup...torture sometimes. I started getting things ready today. Just have to put up my laterals (owner has me take the down).

[wnybassman]

Looking at my records, I did not tap as early as I thought I did last year. I'm probably gonna hold off a little more, hopefully to at least Feb. 1st. This is definitely a different year than the last two. Instead of mainly warm with bits of cold, we have been mainly cold with bits of warm. Gonna use this warm-up to get even more prepared though.

[mudr]

Goal is to get everything ready this weekend so I just need to tap. I'm holding off on tapping for the weekend, I think the trees are still froze. Looks like a cool down mid next week, then warm again. I may tap mid week and try to hit that run. We will see though.

http://maps.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=14058

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Goal is to get everything ready this weekend so I just need to tap. I'm holding off on tapping for the weekend, I think the trees are still froze. Looks like a cool down mid next week, then warm again. I may tap mid week and try to hit that run. We will see though.

http://maps.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=14058

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

I'm with you Mudr. I mainly tap larger trees anyway, so I doubt they'd run much before the cool down. Great time to prep though. Also way too early for those I tap on buckets.

[sugarman3]

with all the cold weather,tree's are froze to the core,wait'in till presidents week in feb

[wnybassman]

Goal is to get everything ready this weekend so I just need to tap. I'm holding off on tapping for the weekend, I think the trees are still froze. Looks like a cool down mid next week, then warm again. I may tap mid week and try to hit that run. We will see though.

http://maps.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=14058

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

Accuweather has next weekend far cooler than Wunderground does. Once we get by this weekend there doesn't look like anything to get too excited about for another 10 days or so.