Western New York

[Framerjeff]

Elky 81. Funny that's the exact pan I have been looking at. They have one fully set up temp and valves both ends with warmer also for around 700..How's your gallon per hour rate? Just bought some bottles from Smoky lake. Best price I found. Some we're broke so I called and they are sending replacement right out. Seems to be great company to do business with

[Elky81]

Framerjeff- Monday night was the first night I got to fire up the new arch I made with the pan. I was using steam pans before and getting about 4 gallons an hour. With the new badgerland pan it was right at 11-12 gallons an hour! I don't have a blower yet on my arch and still have some fine tuning to be done but was very impressed.18124

[mudr]

Obviously, the snow is starting to hit now. This is the 3rd noreaster in 2 weeks. News said there might be another one Tuesday/Wednesday next week.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[MapleMark753]

Ya, snow hit here too. Maybe five-ish inches so far. We'll see.
But yesterday... I do sap bags here, and they were all half ice. But half sap too. So a few hundred times I collected. Took each bag off, held it against my thigh and tapped the other side of the bag with the flat of my hand. That broke up the ice fine. Then into collection buckets, then through a strainer into collection tank. Ended up with enough to boil several hours, which was good. The real good part was that the remaining raw sap was 3.8 percent on a refractometer. I couldn't believe it, but it was so. (ya, on the other end it'll be lower percentage on the next collection but thats what the RO is for). I DID re-learn NOT to break up the ice when the lower bag corners are frozen. The sharp points of ice did what sharp points of ice do...(but only a coupla times)

[Framerjeff]

Thanks elky81. 10 was the number I was looking for. 11 12 is bonus looks like I'll be upgrading for 2019.

[backyardsugarer]

Almost to 200 gallons produced and bottled. Should get there Saturday morning. Going to save whatever I get today to boil for open house. People love the smell and to buy hot off the bottling line. Candy and cream made and the weather looks decent so we should have a nice turnout for maple weekend part 1. Good luck to my copetition Greg Keyes at Trout Brook Sugar House. He does it the right way and is very helpful.

[wnybassman]

***yawn***

[wnybassman]

OMG there is this strange clear liquid running out of the trees this afternoon!!! Woo-Hoo!!

[Urban Sugarmaker]

It was running a bit today but not enough to collect. I will collect Sunday and boil Monday. Took some time today to clean the pans with vinegar and boiling permeate. I might have 2 weeks left if the flavor stays good.

[wnybassman]

I emptied the buckets late in the day to get the ice blocks out of them. lol Have about 150 gallons in the one bulk tank and decided to leave it in there overnight hoping the warmer sap that ran in today keeps it from freezing too bad. Already a fair amount of ice in it from the little bit of sap that ran on Thursday. Will try tomorrow mid afternoon to start getting it out of there. One insane week and I could be where I was last year.

[plattmaple]

The sap finally ran here today, although not very much. I still can't believe we haven't made one drop of syrup in march! I started making syrup in 1984 and I can't remember a year like this year. It is a bummer sitting here with no sap, but reading about other areas getting good runs with lower temperatures than what we have. I am right on the N.Y/P.A. border & both north & south of us they have been getting sap. At least we have had time to get everything cleaned up & get ready for some big sap! If you can believe the forecast, it looks like maybe this coming weekend will be it.

[loggerhead]

In Allegany County here, and things have been locked up here too. A bit of sap this afternoon (and hopefully into the evening) but far from enough to boil.

[wnybassman]

Decent run here the last two days. Went through 220 gallons of 1.8% sap this afternoon and drew off about 5 gallons of the lightest syrup I've ever made. Anxious to grade it when bottling.

[bowtie]

My yard trees gave 11 gallons off 9 taps today at 3.4-3.5 and still dripping decent. Today really feels like a maple day, really wishing I had new evap and sugar shack ready to go but I guess it will have to be next year. Hoping to get started on ground work for new shack by the end of the month if Mother Nature cooperates.

[Framerjeff]

45 gallon off 40 taps last week. Made another gallon over weekend. Dark Amber

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Boiled 125 gallons from yesterday today. I had cleaned the pans and for some reason the sap was going crazy in the syrup pan. Loud popping and bursts of syrup splashing. Made a mess. I have had this issue before with gases bubbling up under a layer of sugar sand. It makes the "pop" noise but today was crazy with the syrup going everywhere. Lol.

Anyway, made some really light syrup today. Might be golden.

[lyford]

Collected 195 gallons from 140 taps, mostly reds all bags and buckets, since Saturday afternoon, finishing that now then gonna go collect again, finally feels like a normal syrup season. Wasn’t even thinking we’d get a run today but word is it’s flowing hard. Good luck everyone

[wnybassman]

Boiled 125 gallons from yesterday today. I had cleaned the pans and for some reason the sap was going crazy in the syrup pan. Loud popping and bursts of syrup splashing. Made a mess. I have had this issue before with gases bubbling up under a layer of sugar sand. It makes the "pop" noise but today was crazy with the syrup going everywhere. Lol.

Anyway, made some really light syrup today. Might be golden.

I collected another 65-70 after work tonight, which mostly ran after I collected last night I assume. Concentrated and boiled that off tonight and had the exact same thing going on with the syrup pan popping and banging. Also making pretty light stuff, by far the lightest I've ever made. Looks like I am drawing off a wheat beer. lol Gonna bottle tomorrow so I'll know for sure.

[Richmaple1]

Seems like the trees are so cold in the morning, despite blasting sun all day, they don't start dripping til late afternoon which isn't producing a ton. Getting some though, looks like the end of the week is gonna be really good. This is my first year, but I assume that this is the wheelhouse of the season, and should expect it to really flow like crazy! I am still waiting to get some really dark syrup, most of the stuff I have made so far would be a lighter amber, doesn't taste significantly mapley.

What makes the syrup get really "mapley" tasting? none of mine so far tastes like the dark stuff I would usually buy. It has a good flavor, but not the same.

[Framerjeff]

18224. The new universal grading system

[Waynehere]

We have not boiled since end of Feb. This cold pocket hanging over us really needs to move off. In the teens at nights and only low to mid 30's in the afternoon. By the time it decides to wake up and run a little, night time shuts it down again.

[Buddy 58]

Same over here in northern broome county . Took ice out of tanks this morning hoping for something to happen today . This cold is getting to be a pain in the A-- !

[backyardsugarer]

Great maple weekend #1. Lots of visitors especially Sunday. Need to make more candy and cream this week. Managed to gather 300 gallons so far and it is running on vac a little today. going to RO and boil and hope for a couple of draws. Weekend looks better weather wise. Soft woods have swollen buds so keep and eye on that or you might be getting buddy sap next week. Luckily I have all hardwoods and they are still not close to budding.

[Kettle Ridge]

Speaking Request in Rochester

Gates Public Library on Elmgrove Road is looking for a local maple producer to provide a presentation on maple sugaring, either on March 31 or April 21. If you would like to do this, please directly contact the Assistant Library Director Anna at 585-429-8219 thx

[wnybassman]

Current status..............

18250

Building up the ice for next weeks warmth :D

3/16ths ran good for about two hours yesterday before freezing back up. Running a little longer today. Most buckets doing squat, although a couple seem to be in a different climate and running great.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I finally got caught up on bottling today. Bottled just over 10 gallons of golden (75% light transmittance batch and one at 76%, so on the dark side of golden). Rest was a "light" amber rich.

Should be boiling tomorrow if I have enough sap.

[MapleMark753]

We've been getting sap, but no great runs like other years for sure.
On the other hand, the sap sugar content is consistently above every other year, so far. As high as 3.5 or 3.6 on raw aggregate sap (not all runs are this good). The only thing I think is that the thinning we began six years ago is now starting to pay off. I don't know the science real well, but we just have taken down weaker trees and exposed the crowns of the remaining good crop trees to more sunlight. Apparently they have responded. I HAVE noticed the maples beginning to fill in the "vacant" sky opened up. I'm not certain of this (could be other things?) but it sure looks to be so.
take care, Mark

[wnybassman]

Pumped 170 gallons out of my woods tank just before dark tonight, which accounts for what has run the last three days. Each day it ran just a little better, even the buckets did a little better today. Not a ton of sap, but it is over 2%.

I think I have figured out my Honda WX10 problems. It has been bogging, and sometimes quitting, and generally running inconsistent. Read a post on a message board yesterday with people with the exact same problem, and over tightening the gas cap seems to solve the problem. Might have solved mine too, pumped out all that sap tonight with zero issue.

Hard to believe by this time next week we will be hoping for a freeze again. Frickin' weather lol I'm ready to be flooded though!! We're running out of March.

[wnybassman]

Visitor today!! Brad (mudr) stopped in on his way by and visited for a bit. Great to meet you!

Processed off that 170 gallons from yesterday and drew off nearly 4 gallons. Still pretty light, maybe even lighter than the last.

18279

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Processed off that 170 gallons from yesterday and drew off nearly 4 gallons. Still pretty light, maybe even lighter than the last.

18279

Looks great!

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Popping away again last night. It calmed down after the first hour. Fortunately, boiling for a few minutes with permeate dissolved this stuff quickly. 18280

[wnybassman]

Popping away again last night. It calmed down after the first hour. Fortunately, boiling for a few minutes with permeate dissolved this stuff quickly. 18280

I was popping today too. Upon start-up I had a freshly cleaned front pan and near-up that was heated and filtered sparkly clear back into that clean pan. Started popping and banging right off the bat and continued for most of the boil. Mellowed towards the end.

[plattmaple]

Just finished making syrup for the first time in the month of march this year. Still can't believe that we have gone this long since our last boil. We have been saving sap since Wednesday because it's just barely run, but at least we did get something. On the positive side though the syrup we made today was by far the lightest that we have made this year. It was right on the edge of GD/AR. And our sugar content is finally testing around 2%. We are hoping that will continue through this coming week. I'm getting nervous about the warmer forecast since it's so late in march. We still have lots of snow in the woods, so hopefully that will help keep us a little cooler than forecasted. Good luck to all.

[wnybassman]

Pumped another 175 gallons out of the woods late this afternoon, a tad lower sugar at 1.75%. Started the RO at 5:30 and killed the fire at 11:25 and in the house by 11:30 with about 3 1/2 to 4 gallons drawn off. Seems to have darkened slightly. Surprising how well it ran yesterday and today with it being rather chilly. Getting ready for the final push.

[bowtie]

Talked to a big area producer, 30k taps, they were testing around 1% , and have only made about 4K gallons so far. Seems a lot of the bigger producers are down this year. Time is against us, ready or not in about 10-14 days it will over for this year.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Well that’s a terrible yield for 30k taps. Hopefully it picks up for him and they have a strong finish.

[plattmaple]

I can only hope we have 10 to 14 days left. They are calling for temps close to 60 tue & wed & no freeze for 4 days. I just hope we can at least one or two big runs this week.
Our production totals are way down this year too. We have only made 190 gal off 2200 taps. Our sugar was testing 1.4 & not making any syrup in march till the 24th didn't help. I'm hoping we can at least make another 100 gal. That would bring us up to about half of what we wanted & should have made.

[wnybassman]

Caught up on bottling today, another 6 1/2 gallons of very light amber (66%). I guess I was wrong about it getting darker!! Up to 40 gallons made so far, I am predicting about 60-65 gallons for the season all said and done. We'll see how the week goes I guess.

[82cabby]

WnyBassman, you running vacuum ? I'm an hour west of you in West Falls with 93 taps and have only made 5 and a half gallons ! I'm running about 60 gallons of sap to a gallon of syrup and on a good year I get about 10 gallons of sap per tap. There isn't much I can do about sugar content so I figure I need to seriously increase my volume of sap. Any hints?

[wnybassman]

WnyBassman, you running vacuum ? I'm an hour west of you in West Falls with 93 taps and have only made 5 and a half gallons ! I'm running about 60 gallons of sap to a gallon of syrup and on a good year I get about 10 gallons of sap per tap. There isn't much I can do about sugar content so I figure I need to seriously increase my volume of sap. Any hints?

A majority of my taps are on 3/16ths with really nice slope. Most of the longer runs are pulling 26+ inches of vacuum. I added it up last night and so far have processed 2150 gallons of sap from 200 taps. Not included is the 175 gallons of sap I dumped back in February because it spoiled on me during that warm spell. I have 100 gallons in the tank now and suspect I'll collect another 200 after work tomorrow.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Boiled 200 gallons tonight. I am right at 2000 gallons on 169 taps all on gravity. No complaints and still going but a number of buckets have already quit. They went in 2/14 so not bad considering the ones that dried up are all southern side tap holes.

Still making amber and hoping to make some nice dark before the end. I'm going to try to make it to April if the flavor stays right.

[82cabby]

A majority of my taps are on 3/16ths with really nice slope. Most of the longer runs are pulling 26+ inches of vacuum. I added it up last night and so far have processed 2150 gallons of sap from 200 taps. Not included is the 175 gallons of sap I dumped back in February because it spoiled on me during that warm spell. I have 100 gallons in the tank now and suspect I'll collect another 200 after work tomorrow.

Nice! I'm jealous of the volume you're getting. I really need to come up with something better next season.

[Framerjeff]

I have 40 taps/ gallon jugs Webster/Penfield. 330 gallons boiled this season. 5.5 gallons Amber / dark made .011sugar content 52 hours boil time Most I have ever made. lowest sugar content I have ever boiled but still my best season. Weather the last 3 weekends bright and sunny perfect for sitting out by the steamer!!!

[Troutman10]

Expecting an epic day for sap today. Anyone else have sap reports yet? It'll be interesting to see what the trees are producing today.

Framerjeff, Def great time to be out boiling lately!

[Waynehere]

Ours are just starting to break loose. Will be interesting this week for sure as I can see some budding out already. :(

[calvertbrothers]

Caught up on bottling today, another 6 1/2 gallons of very light amber (66%). I guess I was wrong about it getting darker!! Up to 40 gallons made so far, I am predicting about 60-65 gallons for the season all said and done. We'll see how the week goes I guess.

I’m tapped down in arcade and only made 15 gallons on 400 taps on vacuum. I hope the season is just starting. My woods have been froze for weeks now and just putting up the bulk of my buckets we still have 2 feet of snow in the woods. Funny one 20 minuets away can make a difference

[plattmaple]

Another disappointing day of not much sap. Really thought it would run good today with full sun, 25 low, 50 high. Only pulled in 250 gal. Off 1500 taps & nothing off 700 taps. Seems like it just won't run in our area no matter how the weather is. I've talked to 5 other producers and they are getting the same thing, and one of them just tapped a little over 3 weeks ago. The only lines we have running at all are our 3/16 lines. I guess we just have sit here and wait!! Lol

[Framerjeff]

Expecting an epic day for sap today. Anyone else have sap reports yet? It'll be interesting to see what the trees are producing today.

Framerjeff, Def great time to be out boiling lately!.

Yes Sir. And another great day today. Drained my jugs Friday night. Was going to go back Sunday morn but didn't.. all 40 were full this am. (Gallon jugs) grabbed that and went back tonight and got 30 more gallons. I think for me the end is near. Another few days of warm and my soft maples will be done for season

[wnybassman]

Processed another 225 gallons after work tonight. I was really really really hoping it would drop below freezing tonight but I don't think it will. Still 37º here going on midnight. So it will likely run all night, and should have 250+ gallons by morning. Not sure what to expect the rest of the week. The next freeze seems soooo far away, and I wager it will extend out even farther by the time we get there.

[wnybassman]

Woke to another 200 gallons in the tank. We did get a slight freeze last night, areas that were too muddy to walk through yesterday were firm and crusted over this morning and able to be walked on. Hope it was enough to keep things going another day. Hard to say when we'll go below freezing again, depends on which source you look at. Friday night seems to be the common night, but a couple are saying not until Sunday night. Windy!!

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I did about 10 gallons of bottling today. Finally going back to amber from a "dark" golden and yesterday's batch tastes amazing. I decided to let the last of the sap flow today and I'll go collect tomorrow morning and boil. I think my tubing will last into April if it doesn't go buddy or metabolic and we get another freeze. I'd really like some dark syrup.

Ready to be done and feeling grateful for a "full crop".

[wnybassman]

The flow slowed way down today. After I ran what I collected this morning I went out and gathered again. Only 85 gallons tonight. Hoping for another 40-50 overnight to make it worth running tomorrow. Still don't know what to expect the rest of the week. Still snow pack in the woods, but I don't believe there is any frost under it because it all fell on warm ground weeks ago. Much warmer temps tomorrow should get some going again, but I am not expecting much. Mid 20's low early next week, but will it be too late (for me).

What I made today puts me over what I made last year, but should with 25% more taps I guess. lol Not sure what I should call "full crop".

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Not sure what I should call "full crop".

To me, "full crop" means 1 quart per tap for the season on syrup, and 10 gallons per tap on sap. I would expect more on vacuum. Obviously, a ton of variables.

[Richmaple1]

Not sure what to expect this week, I am mostly working on keeping cold what I have already, since I can only boil on the weekends. Been shoveling snow around the storage buckets and dropped a few ice bags into the collecting buckets today.

DIdn't seem to be racing this morning, so it might slow down and dry up today until another freeze comes. I don't think it froze here in Henrietta last night.

[wnybassman]

Stayed right around 40º here last night. Flow slowed yesterday, but did end up with 180 gallons to process today. Also caught up on bottling again, another 8.5 gallons of 62% amber. Buds on trees are about as tight as I've ever seen them. Next week looks like it could be a good week. Can't get to Friday night soon enough!

[Framerjeff]

Since Mondays 70 gallons I am now at 135 and they are still dripping although slowing down Wish I had the new evaporator now gonna be a busy weekend for sure

[Elky81]

Ive got 110 gallons to cook down tomorrow. I'm holding out for one more week, I just hope the trees can as well haha.Then it's on to tapping birch trees.

[wnybassman]

Collected another 170 gallons this morning. Ran better than I thought it might. If this rain lets up I'll see what ran today. The one line that passes by the shack had bubbles passing by all day.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Got the final 60 gallons plus another 40 from a friend. Syrup darkened up a lot but the steam is still smelling great. I will keep going for one more run if I can. Getting tired.

[wnybassman]

Got the final 60 gallons plus another 40 from a friend. Syrup darkened up a lot but the steam is still smelling great. I will keep going for one more run if I can. Getting tired.

I am almost ready to be done too..........and have a life again. lol I checked before dark and found about 100 more gallons in the tanks. Slightly cloudy, but I think that is from the ice that has been in there for a few weeks now, and still some floating in there tonight. Hopefully it lasts until I get home from work tomorrow. Weather looks perfect for another week or so, we'll see how it goes. I have a few buckets that really should be scrubbed out a little before it runs again.

[mudr]

Seriously think my boil last night was my last. Out of evaporator wood. Trees didn't really produce with this run all that much. My wife is ready for the season to be done. And I'm going on day 4 of peepers.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[Troutman10]

Def my last boil today. Only have about 25 gallons to go then time to pull taps with my son. He enjoys running around the woods while I'm gathering. Gets some energy out of him too. Heard peepers for the first time last night here. Been an ok season for me. Learned more about my evap this year compared to last year. Think I'll increase my taps next year but wait a little later to tap since I'm on buckets and sap sacks. See how that changes my yeild and spout life. Fun following along this year. Looks like our wny group has been successful being that we got over 100 pages this year. Plenty of devoted producers here in wny area!

[wnybassman]

Collected another 165 gallons after work today. Sugar dropped, down to 1.3%. Sap slightly cloudy, but not bad. RO'ing now. Great freezes starting tonight. I got another week in me. I'd like to hit my normal .34gpt average I usually get.

[Masnart]

This has been a lot of fun! Really small and learning the finer points of producing. I started sugaring to have something to do while waiting to get into the yard gardening and its turned into an obsession. What a blast!

[barnbc76]

This has been a lot of fun! Really small and learning the finer points of producing. I started sugaring to have something to do while waiting to get into the yard gardening and its turned into an obsession. What a blast! I said the same thing when I started, needed something to do in between hunting season and gardening
, now 4 years later I had to also add grafting/planting Apple trees and beekeeping. Love the sweet maple syrup. Have fun

[Framerjeff]

Added a fourth steam pan to my 300 gallon oil drum arch changed flue from 6 to 8 inch mounted on back end of drum with 90 degree elbow. Filling her up with wood in am. 150 gallons of 1.6 to boil down. Gonna be a long day 15 hours is my goal finish up Sunday Don't think I'll hit 3 gallons but I'll be close

[barnbc76]

Last boil today and bottled last week's, made some nice syrup. I think we will finish around 6.5-7gal for the season.

[wnybassman]

Crazy times!! Collected 145 gallons right after work. Decided not to process because A) I don't have any more syrup holding/draw off pans left and B) I didn't want to get caught up in the wind storm while boiling tonight. So I decided to catch up on bottling. 7 more gallons of 56% amber. Didn't know if I would stay in amber this time or not. The plan is to wake at 3:00am, start RO'ing while I go collect whatever else is in the tanks by that time and hopefully start evaporating by daybreak. I have my first dinner tomorrow to be at by 1:00, and another at 5:00. So no other time to process this stuff.

[Framerjeff]

4th pans the charm. 96 gallons 10.5 hours. Little under 2.5 gallons at 53%. Started raining just as I got all into garage. Easy day tomorrow with only 55 gallons. Happy Easter everyone

[plattmaple]

Pretty sure our trees are done for the year. I was really hoping we would get at least one more decent run. Only 150 gal from 2200 taps is not really a run. Probably our worst year in a long time. 226 gal of syrup made. There should be 15 to 20 gal trapped in the evaporator that we will finish off on the finish evaporator so we should end up around 240 gal. Weird year for sure. We made 30 gal in January, 164 in February, & 31 in march. We didn't make a drop in march till the 24th then we only got little runs. Anyway, I think we will hold out for a few more days since the forecast looks favorable this coming week. Maybe we will get a couple of decent runs and make more syrup in April than we did in march. LOL!!

[wnybassman]

Crazy times!! Collected 145 gallons right after work. Decided not to process because A) I don't have any more syrup holding/draw off pans left and B) I didn't want to get caught up in the wind storm while boiling tonight. So I decided to catch up on bottling. 7 more gallons of 56% amber. Didn't know if I would stay in amber this time or not. The plan is to wake at 3:00am, start RO'ing while I go collect whatever else is in the tanks by that time and hopefully start evaporating by daybreak. I have my first dinner tomorrow to be at by 1:00, and another at 5:00. So no other time to process this stuff.

My plan worked. Heavy rain just moved out as I walked out the door, flipped the switch on the RO at 3:15am then went and collected another 115 gallons from the woods tanks to make a total of 260 for the morning. Pretty low sugar again, not sure if that will come back this week or not. Now to relax and eat the rest of the day :D

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Still going. Collected 145 gallons of somewhat cloudy sap this afternoon. I will boil it tonight because I'm afraid it won't make it another 24 hours. More than half my buckets have stopped but the surprisingly the gravity tubing is still cranking. Guess I will keep at it for another week, but then I think I'm done. I can start cleaning buckets and get things organized for next year.

[wnybassman]

Still going. Collected 145 gallons of somewhat cloudy sap this afternoon. I will boil it tonight because I'm afraid it won't make it another 24 hours. More than half my buckets have stopped but the surprisingly the gravity tubing is still cranking. Guess I will keep at it for another week, but then I think I'm done. I can start cleaning buckets and get things organized for next year.

Oddly, my buckets had a better per tap average the last 48 hours than my 3/16ths did. Several that were virtually "dry" for most of the month were nearly filling buckets the last couple days. I give up on trying to figure this stuff out. lol

[Noseguard76]

scorched my pan on Friday. Did it again. Last year I left for a minute to bring in a couple of buckets. This time I drew off a gallon then flooded the pan before I left it for 10 minutes to bring in some firewood. Guess I should have drawn off some more after I flooded the pan to get near finished sap out of the 4th raceway. I'm done for the season

[wnybassman]

195 collected tonight to start processing in the morning while I go get what runs overnight. 1.3% or so.

[bowtie]

Still running decent from my yard trees, one is drying up and getting milky. Still I will most likely pull my few taps tomorrow, getting to expensive on the propane . Can't wait to get new evap and get my new sugar house started now that the weather has broke, hopefully.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Syrup has turned quite dark and flow has slowed way down. Flavor is still good but I'm smelling that late season smell in the steam. Maybe one more boil but definitely going to need to test boil it first on the stove. I started pulling bucket taps today. Most have stopped running.

[Richmaple1]

Its been fun! My first year doing it, and I thank all of you for the information and posting! Finished my last boil this weekend and got the darkest and best tasting syrup of the season.

I got about 2.5 gallons of syrup from 8 taps. That seems pretty low right? Is the standard ratio 1 gallon of syrup from 1 tap? Some trees produced so much more than others, so I'm looking forward to next year as I refine my tree selection, since I will be able to mark them in the summer when the leaves are out!

Thanks everyone! Its really an addiciton, as exhausting as it is!

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Its been fun! My first year doing it, and I thank all of you for the information and posting! Finished my last boil this weekend and got the darkest and best tasting syrup of the season.

I got about 2.5 gallons of syrup from 8 taps. That seems pretty low right? Is the standard ratio 1 gallon of syrup from 1 tap? Some trees produced so much more than others, so I'm looking forward to next year as I refine my tree selection, since I will be able to mark them in the summer when the leaves are out!

Thanks everyone! Its really an addiciton, as exhausting as it is!

2.5 gallons from 8 taps is great. They say 1 quart of syrup per tap on gravity is a good yield. It's what I always aim to achieve. Some folks get more, some less. Just depends on weather, when you tap, and the trees. Using new spouts or sanitizing them very well before the next season's use helps a lot too. You are at 0.3125 gallons per tap. Nice.

[Waynehere]

Its been fun! My first year doing it, and I thank all of you for the information and posting! Finished my last boil this weekend and got the darkest and best tasting syrup of the season.

I got about 2.5 gallons of syrup from 8 taps. That seems pretty low right? Is the standard ratio 1 gallon of syrup from 1 tap? Some trees produced so much more than others, so I'm looking forward to next year as I refine my tree selection, since I will be able to mark them in the summer when the leaves are out!

Thanks everyone! Its really an addiciton, as exhausting as it is!

Actually most strive to get .25 gal/tap. I actually got .5 gal last year, but that was a great year for us. You are at .3, so that is great... :)

[Waynehere]

We have slowed way down. Tonight might be our last boil as it took 4 days to get enough to fire up the RO. This week looks iffy weather wise.

[wnybassman]

Had a total of 315 gallons of sap to get through today. Got done with that and decided to catch up on bottling again, 8.5 gallons of 41% robust.

Not sure where I am going from here. If I had 100+ gallons by morning I'd like to run that and call it a year, but the wind coming our way says I shouldn't light a fire tomorrow. lol Not sure I want to wait out another cold spell. Might just drain the flue pan Thursday and hand feed it into the syrup pan while pushing permeate through the flue pan.

Had a "dumb moment" today. Got done concentrating today and wheeled the RO over to where I do the rinses. Plugged it in and it wasn't pumping, just slurping and spurting. Messed with it for 15+ minutes, changed the prefilters a couple times thinking they were defective, still a no go. Finally unscrewed the prefilter one more time and discovered the o-ring seal wasn't here. Went over to where I concentrate and found it on the ground. DOH!!!!!

[MapleMark753]

Well, we are done for the season. Now, clean up for a coupla weeks or so. Last boil was on the 2nd, and it was Very Dark. Good syrup, but took two filter tries with the cone filter deal we use.
I don't like clean up so much, but I do like actually seeing the crud and niter in the evaporator just sort of dissolve away with simmering permeate and vinegar!
And, I do like reading about others "dumb" moments. Its a good laugh, usually only because I can remember when I did that too. Anybody who has not had multiple dumb moments just hasn't done this long enough I think :lol:
take care Mark

[Waynehere]

Was our last boil last night. Ended up with about 80 gal for the year, which is average. Still have about 40 gal to bottle yet, but will wait till warmer weather comes.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Bottled close to 15 gallons today. I still have the sweet in the pans and possibly one more sap run if it's not spoiled or buddy. Officially past 1 quart per tap. The syrup I made 4/1 and 4/2 darkened a lot. I thought sure it was very dark and then it barely graded as dark after filtering. Anyway, I think I have one run left in me.

[bowtie]

I'm done for the year, just turned off the propane after getting a nasty smell off pan and finisher, my wife thought it smelled like wet tree bark, I think it is metabolic, trees are not budded in the slightest. Wasted a lot of propane it, I start it and walk away checking every 15-20 minutes or longer, so I wasn't paying close attention to it.thought it was smelling funky but I think all steam off evaporators has a weird smell. I have a very sensitive sense of smell so i rarely get the sweet maple steam smell even when everyone else around tells me it smells great. Well time to get new evap picked up and bigger sugar shack started,and then garden,food plots,wood cut, clean up maple stuff, trees planted and on and on, sometimes I think I need throttle back on somethings, oh yeah it's fishing season and I also want to get into beekeeping this year. Lol like I need another "hobby".

[Kettle Ridge]

sometimes I think I need throttle back on somethings, oh yeah it's fishing season and I also want to get into beekeeping this year. Lol like I need another "hobby".

Congrats to you and others for making it through another boiling season. Beekeeping is a great hobby - and doesn't require propane! Watch out for black bear however, which I understand is a bigger issue in your area than mine.

[wnybassman]

We just got our power back from being out since noon yesterday. Had to dump 120 gallons of sap today that I collected yesterday. Too windy to boil yesterday, and no power for the shack until tonight. Sap does not have a very long shelf life right now. Walked the lines and had a dozen or so branches pinning the tubing to the ground, nothing came apart though. A big ash tree needs attention, snapped 8' off the ground and leaning against a small maple. Hopefully it will just come down during the next wind event. Taps are still in, planned on quitting but I guess we'll see what's out there after work tomorrow.

[concord maple]

Going to hang in there through the middle of next week to see if we can get one more run after this weekend's freeze.

[wnybassman]

I guess I'm done, nothing ran today. Will finish off the evaporator contents tomorrow after work or Sunday

[Troutman10]

Finishing off my final sap to syrup. Looks like 8 gallons on the year for me (with some leaky taps). Likely will stick to same tap count or go up to 40 for next year. Might look into finisher/bottler for next year to see if I can break the 10 gallon mark. Hope everyone had a fun and successful year!

[82cabby]

Trees on buckets are done. They have either shut off or gone buddy. The tubing is still ok... maybe one more boil before i drain the pan.

[peterjd89]

I'm in Chautauqua county and my big woods that faces south on vacuum had 600 taps tapped around feb 10 is just about done my little woods with 150 taps faces north and is on 3/16 tapped in March might be done on Friday I only need 20 more gallons to fill my last drum hope everyone had a good year

[wnybassman]

Done! 3700 gallons of sap turned into 63 gallons of syrup of various grades. What a strange year! Boiling in shorts in February and pulling taps today with frozen snow covered ground. Here's is a shot of the different bottling sessions of the season and how the color changed. All that's left is the clean up!!

18499

[Framerjeff]

Done here in Webster. 40 taps overall (not all out for whole season). Ended up with 495 total gallons and made just a few ounces under 8.5 gallons. Sap average was .0147 on the season Just did the math on yours Noel and looks like exact same!! Anyone else have exact totals? Would like to run comparison

[wnybassman]

Done here in Webster. 40 taps overall (not all out for whole season). Ended up with 495 total gallons and made just a few ounces under 8.5 gallons. Sap average was .0147 on the season Just did the math on yours Noel and looks like exact same!! Anyone else have exact totals? Would like to run comparison

The RO I bought mid season this year was definitely the MVP of the year. I ended up dumping additional sap during the season also. About 175 gallons back during the extreme warmth in February that I could not keep up with and spoiled on me (which prompted me to buy the RO) and about 120 gallons the other day after the wind storm because we lost power for a couple days and that also turned on me.

That was an awfully close ratio!!

[MapleMark753]

We got zero Golden this season. Lots of Amber. Some Dark. A bit of Very Dark.
Tried to attach a pic of the variation of colors we got this year.
take care Mark18501

[grizzlym]

I am going to hold out for one last boil this week. Six spiles pulled out in the wind storm so I will continue on with 49. So far on 55 taps I have 1029 gallons and 22 gallons made. Should get another 1-2 gallons out of the pan. The last week of March I couldn't keep up and dumped over 100 gallons of sap. With everything said and done I hit my goal of 20 gallons. So pretty happy with the season.

[concord maple]

Seeing who is still tapped hoping for a run starting tomorrow. Turned the vacuum pump on late this afternoon but not much happening.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Boiled 90 gallons tonight. Tomorrow is it for me. I'll finish what I have and start cleaning up. Not sure it was worth hanging in there for a couple extra gallons of dark. Been a 58 day season for me.

[phil-t]

I did 60 taps (8 on 3/16 gravity) the rest were buckets. I got 425 gal. of 3.5% sap from Feb 11 through Mar 12 (pulled my taps early because of prior committmets). I ended with 12 gallons + a qt. of amber syrup. Was my 1st real season with a half-pint. I am happy, learned a lot this season and making plans for next year. :)

[wnybassman]

Anybody else have weird sugar maple buds this year? Although I am all done and cleaned up I am still keeping tabs on the buds. They look they are shriveled up and dead looking. Barely touch them and they fall right off. In many cases they look to have a tiny sliver of green going to them, but still feel awfully fragile.

[peterjd89]

Last boil for me processed over 11000 gallons of sap and between the cows and sap I'm over it gotta go back to work Monday probably could get 2 more days of sap but I'm over it also looking for an ro if any one has one for sale

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Finished 4/11. Should have quit 4/2 because it wasn't worth waiting a week for a final boil. Oh well. Anyway, great season but a weird one. Plenty of sap but it took 58 days to get it all. I'd rather have 4-6 week season with the same amount of sap.

Broke over 60 gallons this year and made all the grades. I'll be adding more taps this summer and planning some other upgrades.

[jimsudz]

Finished up the 2018 season on 4-21-18. Latest I've ever made syrup. Now is time for clean up. 170 g of syrup on 550 taps.

[calvertbrothers]

Last boil for me processed over 11000 gallons of sap and between the cows and sap I'm over it gotta go back to work Monday probably could get 2 more days of sap but I'm over it also looking for an ro if any one has one for sale

I have a MES 300 dolly for sale. It just has one season on it. If your still looking for a ro. I’m expanding so I will be needing a bigger one. It processes 300 gph

[wnybassman]

It's looking like another one of those winters.........

[Ridge Creek]

For sure. Usually wait till mid Feb. but think tapping sooner is a better gamble.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Going to wait at least until Feb 1 but I guess the weather will tell. I have been burned before tapping too early. But this year I will have vacuum and I am trying the Zap Bac spouts. I hope that will compensate for some of the crazy weather.

[wnybassman]

Looks like winter will be returning in a couple days, and sticking around for at least a little while. Let's hope it's a good solid month or more!

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Looks like winter will be returning in a couple days, and sticking around for at least a little while. Let's hope it's a good solid month or more!

I heard it might stick around for a while. Good. I'm not ready.

[Michael Greer]

On Saturday (1/5/19) it was warm in Potsdam and there were sugar spots all over the hood of my truck.

[millscrest]

With the projected warm up coming this weekend, is anybody going to tap. I checked our 15 day forecast and looks like at least a 7 day stretch of sap running. Maybe I am just getting the itch.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Planning to sit this one out mostly because I am not ready but also because I want to see what the forecast looks like beyond this warm spell. I don't want to get started then be frozen for weeks.

[mudr]

I'm basically in the same boat as Urban. It looks like this is going to go warm and stay above freezing for a few days, but then it appears the longer (less accurate) forecast after that is back down to consistently below 32. I'm sitting this one out. And it has nothing to do with the fact I still have some prep to do. Nope. Not one bit...

[wnybassman]

Ditto Ditto to the above, but I am 100% ready lol

[snakes14009]

This will be my first syrup season in about 25 years and we are supped to have 4 days of above 35 degrees, so i am drilling holes Sunday. My evaporator might not even be finished yet but it will be by the time i get enough to boil.

[wnybassman]

The forecast changed today in the cooler direction. Still warm Sunday thru Tuesday, but only showing two nights above freezing now instead of four or five.

[snakes14009]

I tapped yesterday (2/3) at about 3pm. Collected at about 8pm (2/4). 3 silver maple taps maybe 1/2 a gallon. 5 reds about 4 gallons, 13 sugars about 10 gallons.

[millscrest]

I tapped 300 on tubing on Sunday afternoon and just finished boiling 275 gallons tonight. Glad I tapped and got in on this run. Yahoo.

[wnybassman]

Hope I don't regret sitting this warm spell out. Will be going in on the next one though.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Definitely missing some sap this week but if the next warm up is not for another week or two then I know I should make it until the end of the season if it's the last week of March (hopefully). In the last couple of seasons there has been a weird warm up in February and much colder going into March. Wait and see I guess.

[Michael Greer]

Here in St Lawrence County, we traditionally see a big thaw and return to winter in mid January. The last couple of years have seem more thaws, and this year we're on our way to a SIXTH thaw cycle, despite having some really cold weather in between.

[Tonk8it]

All my gear is ready to go except a new drill bit. My RO Bucket kit came today so when I get home I have something else to play with! Going to end up with 50 taps this year.

[snakes14009]

I have 21 taps since Sunday afternoon and I have collected about 35 gallons so far I know it is going to shut down this evening. My 3 silver maple taps have maybe give a gallon all together...if it continues thru the season I will put the taps some where else. 21 taps with probably 200 potentially... can't wait to be running them all.

[mudr]

I think I might tap today. If all goes as planned, which always happens, I will tap today. Let the lines flush part of Tuesday with a small run, then cool down Wednesday, then it should run well Thursday through Saturday and allow me to boil through the weekend. I like weekend boiling. :)

We are halfway through Feb, so this will keep taps flowing through the end of March. We will see if this is a good decision come April.

[wnybassman]

I think I might tap today. If all goes as planned, which always happens, I will tap today. Let the lines flush part of Tuesday with a small run, then cool down Wednesday, then it should run well Thursday through Saturday and allow me to boil through the weekend. I like weekend boiling. :)

We are halfway through Feb, so this will keep taps flowing through the end of March. We will see if this is a good decision come April.

Although tapping when it is sunny and calm sounds inviting, I'd rather wait until mid-week when "Breezy. Snow then Wintry Mix" is the description of the day. :D

[mudr]

The fish wont be biting today, drill holes in trees not ice today! Haha

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Planning to drill holes 2/14. Day off for me and hopefully a good opportunity to work out any issues. Setting up a woods is always more work than it sounds like it will be.

[georgelineman]

88 taps in and ready to go for 2019. Eastern Orange County, NY Anyone else in Orange County NY?

[Chickenman]

Just finished putting out 30 more taps for a total of 44 on bags. Have 14 more that I could put out. May wait a few more weeks for those. Early ones have CV spouts. These ones are clear seasonal. Want to see if I notice any difference.

[wnybassman]

The fish wont be biting today, drill holes in trees not ice today! Haha

Probably shoulda. Weather is looking brutal From Tuesday morning through Wednesday afternoon.

[stewardsdairy]

1500 taps in this weekend. Need about three more good nights after school to finish. Looks like there may be run this Thursday or Friday that I will hopefully be ready for.

[wnybassman]

I put in 140 of the 3/16ths taps after work today. Only one line I couldn't get done because it was on the ground, separated at a T where a branch must have come down on it last week in the wind. Hopefully I can get that fixed up before the soaking rains start tomorrow. Probably wait a week or so for the buckets.

[wnybassman]

Suddenly second guessing my decision to tap. lol

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Suddenly second guessing my decision to tap. lol

Nah. I still plan to tap tomorrow even though it might freeze up for a week. It's a chance to work out any bugs early before the big runs. Holding off on buckets though.

[mudr]

I'm not sure I'd say I'm second guessing, but I am pretty frustrated with how the forecast has changed.

[Chickenman]

I don't know which is worse waiting for the weather to stabilize to tap or waiting for it to get warm so we can collect from the taps that are out. I've collected about 100 gallons of sap, made 3 quarts of syrup and have 50 gallons of 5 gallon ice cubes, and 44 empty bags swinging in the breeze.

[wnybassman]

Nah. I still plan to tap tomorrow even though it might freeze up for a week. It's a chance to work out any bugs early before the big runs. Holding off on buckets though.

I do hope it at least loosens up enough to flush the lines. Talking a lot of wind through this little warm spell the next two days, so I am not expecting much.

[Userj8670]

I tapped on 2/3 - all drop lines and buckets. Collected about 55 gallons total. 7 of which to fill the evap. I am newer to the hobby and have seen talk of tapping to early?

Roughly 50 taps

[mudr]

I tapped on 2/3 - all drop lines and buckets. Collected about 55 gallons total. 7 of which to fill the evap. I am newer to the hobby and have seen talk of tapping to early?

Roughly 50 taps

Generally speaking, when you tap a tree it is analogous to you getting a cut on your body. Just like your body creates a scab to close off the wound and prevent future infection, the tree will seal-off the taphole. Once you drill that hole, the clock starts ticking. In a typical bucket or gravity tubing scenario you have about 6 weeks of usable taphole life. If you tap too early and then an extended cold spell hits, you run the risk of missing some good later season runs. This is why folks stress on tap timing. And to be honest, you don't know what the "correct date" is until after the season is done!

One interesting read (there are others): http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/tapping.pdf

[Userj8670]

Thanks for the reply! Seems that i might have jumped a little early - what SAFE recourse do I have?

Jim

[lyford]

Userj8670, At this point I'd just leave em and see how things turn out. You could always tap new trees (if you have more trees available) later in the season if you are seeing your original taps drop off in sap production. Some people will also ream the original holes when production drops off. I've personally never done this, but generally results aren't great and are short lived.

[mudr]

Thanks for the reply! Seems that i might have jumped a little early - what SAFE recourse do I have?

Jim

I wouldn't worry about it, not much to do now. I think many of us are in the same boat, and we don't *know* if it was the correct decision until after the season.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I put in about 70 yesterday with minimal flow. I hope the trees loosened up overnight with warmer temps. This is a new bush with a shurflo setup. Very little slope so it's kind of an experiment. I will get the other 100 or so done soon and waiting on buckets this year until we get more consistent warm ups (if that's even a thing anymore).

[wnybassman]

Just before dark last night I closed the valve on the tank as it was a small steady stream. I went down to the tank after work today expecting anywhere from 40 to 200 gallons. It was right about at 180 gallons. A little over a gallon per tap in less than 24 hours. Glad I got the evaporator ready last night. The RO is NOT however!! I am going to fire up around 5:00 am tomorrow and run it for a bit before my dad gets here, and I have to go to work. Didn't check the percentage.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Got about 75 gallons and my Shurflo was up to 13 inches, so about 1 GPT. Sap is at 2.3%. I'm still working out the system and had some hiccups but the new oil rig boils great. Flip on a switch and go. Just need to get my shurflo to 20+ inches like others here have done. To be fair, my bypass line is not running yet. I heard that helps.

Gotta get the next 90 or so in and then the buckets. Should hit 200 taps this year with 160 of those on some vac.

Maple season is here in western NY again.

[wnybassman]

Had enough to sweeten the pan and even draw off about a gallon. Gotta get the RO going, hard going back to the old way lol

[barnbc76]

I'm working on getting the components to build one, can't wait to test it.

[82cabby]

Put everything in today. 108 taps total. Missed the early runs but didn't have time to boil anyway. Nothing running today at all, every hole was dry, which is good because my next chance to fire things up is next Saturday. Looks like we might get a run late in the week though.

[wnybassman]

I guess I am all in now. Put out the 40 buckets and ran another short tubing line at the neighbors to catch trees that aren't accessible for buckets. Sitting right around 210 taps for the year. Will flush the RO Thursday morning and hopefully that will be ready to go.

[millscrest]

With the down time this week with the weather, it was a good time to clean the tanks out and clean the pans up after making 18 gallons so far. Getting ready for hopefully a good run over the next 3 or 4 days. I am sure after the forecasted high winds on Sunday, there will be a lot of trees down on the lines. I guess that's part of the season.

[treehugger89]

Tapped 2/14 with 266 on 3/16.

[82cabby]

Trees started running slowly late this afternoon. Don't think its going to amount to much given the forecast, but here's hoping!

[Chickenman]

Trees started running slowly late this afternoon. Don't think its going to amount to much given the forecast, but here's hoping!

Same here in Chautauqua County. With the winds they are calling for, I'm going to leave the sap in the bags as ballast unless it gets to warm.

[wnybassman]

Trees started running slowly late this afternoon. Don't think its going to amount to much given the forecast, but here's hoping!

About the same here. I was hoping for a little more out of this warm-up, now I wish it wouldn't run at all with this wind coming and onset of cold again. Hoping to have enough by morning to process before noon.

[mudr]

Same here. I was all giddy at the beginning of the week given the forecast. Second weekend in a row that it hasn't panned out like I had hoped.

My one saving grace is that I finally got the kinks worked out of my vacuum system. Been running like a top for 3.5 hours now. Only pulling 16 inches, but it's working and I dont want to upset the dairy releaser by upping it too much. Really hoping to have 125 or so gallons to collect first thing before the wind. Would be really happy if 150 or above (130 taps), but I'm keeping my expectations low.

[wnybassman]

Same here. I was all giddy at the beginning of the week given the forecast. Second weekend in a row that it hasn't panned out like I had hoped.

My one saving grace is that I finally got the kinks worked out of my vacuum system. Been running like a top for 3.5 hours now. Only pulling 16 inches, but it's working and I dont want to upset the dairy releaser by upping it too much. Really hoping to have 125 or so gallons to collect first thing before the wind. Would be really happy if 150 or above (130 taps), but I'm keeping my expectations low.

So much for trying to beat the wind. Still not sure what my plan is for the day.

[mudr]

Yeah, I will be playing chicken with the wind today. I might round out now and pump out/collect some now (5 am). Then fill the vac pump with gas and let it run. Looks like the winds will be steady between now and 10 am, with sustained 20, gusting low 30s. I will probably collect whatever left around 10 and then hide in the shack boiling the rest of the day

[Userj8670]

How did everyone fare with the wind?

Heading to the woods tonight after work to see what debacle awaits

[Chickenman]

Only lost 1 bag out of 60 on the trees. The rubber band broke. No lost of life or limb so all is good.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I was pleasantly surprised early this morning collecting sap. I got around 300 gallons and it didn't freeze enough to prevent pumping. Today was the first real boil. After working struggling with the wind and freezing temps, the RO is running and the new oil rig did very well. Drew off a few gallons of very light syrup. Sap was at 2.4% but that might be skewed by some ice formation. I didn't notice any downed trees either. A good day.

[Userj8670]

I was pleasantly surprised early this morning collecting sap. I got around 300 gallons and it didn't freeze enough to prevent pumping. Today was the first real boil. After working struggling with the wind and freezing temps, the RO is running and the new oil rig did very well. Drew off a few gallons of very light syrup. Sap was at 2.4% but that might be skewed by some ice formation. I didn't notice any downed trees either. A good day.

Do you have any vids of your oil fired Smoky Lake evap? I would really love to see it!

Where abouts in Rochester are ya?


I was SHOCKED to find all my buckets and lines exactly where I left them prior to the wind. Collected some sap tonight as well. All in all not a bad night!

[wnybassman]

I will be checking the woods tomorrow afternoon for damage.

This afternoon I finished processing the sap I collected just before the freeze up yesterday evening. It was a clown fest. Permeate line froze, permeate tank valve froze, head tank plumbing froze, RO pressure gauge froze. It was the most difficult two or three gallons of syrup I've ever made. lol

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I will be checking the woods tomorrow afternoon for damage.

This afternoon I finished processing the sap I collected just before the freeze up yesterday evening. It was a clown fest. Permeate line froze, permeate tank valve froze, head tank plumbing froze, RO pressure gauge froze. It was the most difficult two or three gallons of syrup I've ever made. lol

I second this. Ice chunks kept freezing the RO feed so we set up a tarp and a space heater next to the tank valve and ran it down into the basement from there. I also had frozen permeate return line so I had to do something different there too. A long uphill battle that ended well with syrup.

[stewardsdairy]

Gathered sap in blizzard like conditions Sunday night so I wouldn't have a solid tank of sap. Three hours of freezing fun! Boiled last night. First issue was frozen permeate line that had to be cut out and spliced back together to thaw. Delayed start up by an hour with the plumbing work. Boiling went pretty good for first time. Almost had a disaster when feed to syrup pan from flue pan clogged. Five gallon pail of water made good save. Ended up with ten gallons of syrup probably pushing golden. Now to the woods this evening to see what kind of disaster I'm up against. Hopefully nothing too major. Crossing my fingers. Looks like I'll have plenty of time to fix it with cold spell coming.

[Waynehere]

We had some problems this month getting things ready, but all of our lines are up on the trees, tanks are washed, ready to go. Just waiting for a warmer day to tap. Was thinking this weekend, but last time we had a really cold week, had to go around and tap on the spouts again to tighten them up. Might wait a while yet. We have to put up and take our lines down every season as they are mostly yard trees. Big PITA.

[wnybassman]

Walked the woods lines and yard buckets today. Two lids blew off buckets and one line pulled apart at a T although I am not sure anything fell on it. Didn't see any fresh trees or anything that came down anywhere. Not too bad all things considered!

[mudr]

At this point, not sure if I will be able to boil again for another week and a half based on weather. Don't really expect much to loosen up this weekend at 36 degrees for one day.

Really hoping things don't finally open up in mid March when I am out of town from the 12-15th. Had I known that there is always a 3.5 day trip in mid march I would have never accepted this gig!

[Tonk8it]

Spent Monday afternoon in the woods collecting sap. 70 taps and every 5 gallon pale was full but only 3 gallons avg in each bucket after the ice it was actually to much to handle and I stopped after 70 gallons as my gloves froze straight and the valves on my tanks started to freeze. I still have lots of frozen buckets out there. I did get a chance to run my RO Bucket and I can say for a little guy like myself I was very pleased with the outcome. Turned 75 gallons into 25 gallons with two passes. But now everything is frozen in the garage. I am at a standstill. With work this week I cant boil kind of stuck till tomorrow.

[wnybassman]

Sap ran a little today, especially the 3/16ths. Added a little thickness to the slab of ice in my tank I guess.

[jimsudz]

went and emptied my 550 g ice block today, if not plowing in the morning I will be making steam.Try out new RO also.

[mudr]

Sudz- you already got 550 gal from your aspens? :D

[wnybassman]

went and emptied my 550 g ice block today, if not plowing in the morning I will be making steam.Try out new RO also.How does one run an ice block through an RO?

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk

[mudr]

How does one run an ice block through an RO?

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk

Opens up larger pores in the membrane with that 1/2 auger bit he used to tap!!!!

I got a lot of laughs out of those pics you posted, sudz.

[wnybassman]

Warmed up just enough Fri/Sat to get a little tubing run each day, and loosen up the buckets enough to empty them. RO'ed 60 gallons into 20 gallons of 8% and boiled it. Good news is Accuweather is now saying warm-up might start happening on the 9th instead of the 13th.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Not enough to collect and boil over the weekend but I now have both sites up and running with vac. The warmer bush was just trickling yesterday 34F temps and ice in the lines and 15" of vac. I'm kind of afraid how much I'll get when it really runs.

[Troutman10]

Tapping on Friday after work or Sat sometime. Looks like the warm up I've been waiting for might be finally coming. Gonna be a short season for me as I've gotta shut down by April 1st due to a work trip. Good luck everyone.

[MapleMark753]

Was looking at Bascom's website for a few odds and ends during this extended freeze up and see a product I didn't know about before. The company is NUCAN, syrup containers, size and shape of a bottle (sort of), metal, seal top. My initial impression was just "hey, i kind of like that". They look about the size of a snapple bottle, just to give a comparison. NUCAN has their own website as well.. Anyone use these before? I'm considering buying some to see how they work out. They say that both Lapierre and D and G carry them too but haven't checked there. take care, Mark

[sugarman3]

Have used them,people seem to like them but I have found they dent very easily,so you need to handle with care,thin walls is what I think

[mbascom]

These are the cans MapleMark753 is referring to.
19627
19626

[raptorfan85]

Are the different colors for grading or just different styles?

[MapleMark753]

I did order some, so we'll see how it goes. A bit pricy per container, but on the other hand if people like them...
Hope the sap breaks loose on Sunday like it looks like its going to! We've only made just a little bit so far, but have a couple of evaporators full of concentrate frozen now but ready to thaw and go.
take care
Mark

[barnbc76]

I've been waiting and waiting now the time is coming and half my family is sick, I'm waiting to be next... I still have to assemble the new RO which I finally have nearly all the parts for.

[wnybassman]

I've been waiting and waiting now the time is coming and half my family is sick, I'm waiting to be next... I still have to assemble the new RO which I finally have nearly all the parts for.

I hate when that happens!! I've been getting stuffy and sinus headaches the last couple days. Usually means a change of weather is coming, AND I AM GOOD WITH THAT!! lol

[maple flats]

Here in Central NY it looks like go time starting tomorrow and running thru the first week in April. If the forecast for here is right, we will get a lot of freeze thaw cycles, I hope that is true and that it includes the rest of the northeast thru the mid west.

[mbascom]

Are the different colors for grading or just different styles?

I believe the original intent was different colors for the top two grades, but they do not have any grade printed on the can so it could be used for any.

[Richmaple1]

Finally - looks like its time to go! Been sitting with frozen buckets for 2 weeks, crazy. This is my second year, making really small batches on homemade evaporator. I have about 12 taps, and made about 3 gallons last year in West Henrietta.

Question, Last weekend we made the first boil, and kept checking it with the hydrometer for syrup. The Baume reading should be 32 when it is at boiling temp. How heavy is TOO heavy. The first attempt was like a 33.5, so it tells me it is too heavy, so we added water, brought it back to a boil, then it was too light, as in under 32. So we boiled some more, but literally only like a minute or two, and finally dialed it in so it was around 32.

It all seemed a little arbitrary, and when we bottled it and refridgerated, I flip the bottle around and it seems like it is maybe too watery, just seemed off on the vision test. Is the stuff you get from the store heavier than required?

[MapleMark753]

Just a very rough approximation is to put it in the freezer overnight. REALLY under brix will partially freeze, turn opaque, you will be able to see water ice in it. Others may chime in (hope so) but if you've got a good hydrometer and work with it right, and are calculating the right things...on brix is on brix. I guess what I'm saying is proper practices with a good hydrometer will give good results you can and will learn to trust. Good luck!
As far as "store bought" maple syrup is concerned, I've bought and tested a few, from different stores too, and it was ALL at about 66.7 brix. I'm certain there would be a bit of variance over time with any different samples, but thats what I got.
take care, Mark

[mudr]

Seems like things got just warm enough to thaw the lines and pull a bit of sap from trees, but the woods were still chilly and the clouds came in when I checked. Not going to have enough to collect later today. Hoping it warms up over night and I can run out to find a surprise in the morn.

[wnybassman]

Seems like things got just warm enough to thaw the lines and pull a bit of sap from trees, but the woods were still chilly and the clouds came in when I checked. Not going to have enough to collect later today. Hoping it warms up over night and I can run out to find a surprise in the morn.

I was hoping to have a good run overnight tonight but already froze up here. At this point I am not even sure I'll have enough by mid afternoon tomorrow to fire up.

[wnybassman]

This weekend didn't shake out as planned looking at the forecast leading into it. Never did get enough to boil this afternoon, but collected 130 gallons just before dark. That will get my dad started in the morning while I go collect what runs overnight before I go to work. Wednesday thru Friday looks good at this point. Need to get rid of this snow and frost!! Gonna need a crazy few weeks here to make up for lost time and attempt to equal last year.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Wednesday thru Friday looks good at this point. Need to get rid of this snow and frost!! Gonna need a crazy few weeks here to make up for lost time and attempt to equal last year.

Feeling the same way. Walking around the woods today the snow was soft and the sap was flowing a bit, but the ground was hard. This big thaw coming might be the ticket. It reminds me of 2015 when it was bitter cold all winter and almost all my sap came over 2 weeks. It was impressive. I hope it works out the same this year so we can call it a good year again.

[wnybassman]

Feeling the same way. Walking around the woods today the snow was soft and the sap was flowing a bit, but the ground was hard. This big thaw coming might be the ticket. It reminds me of 2015 when it was bitter cold all winter and almost all my sap came over 2 weeks. It was impressive. I hope it works out the same this year so we can call it a good year again.In most any given year I think I make 75% of my syrup in a week and a half to two week period. There is hope! lol

Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk

[mudr]

Leaving tomorrow (Tuesday) and get back Friday for a work conference in Syracuse. And as predicted, looks like things are going to let loose pretty hard starting Wednesday afternoon. Thursday might hit 60. Worst case scenario, my wife pulls off all the sweet (150 gallons concentrated down) from the 2x6 and finishes on electric stove in shack. Best case, father collects for me and wife runs the rig once while I'm gone.

After that I can boil Friday night and get caught up.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Finally boiled this evening. 265 gallons of ice cold sap. The trees didn't flow great with all that wind. If our forecast holds, it's a busy week ahead.

[Waynehere]

We finally collected 550 gal of 2.6% sap on the 11th. Let it run for a couple of days over the weekend. Froze up again now, but looking good next couple of days. RO ran good. Took 400 gal out, plus filled the pans for the first time which takes 50-70 gal. Boiled for 2.5 hrs. Started boiling at 8pm and in the house by 11. Love the RO.

4 years ago we tapped on March 7th and still made our average of 100 gal syrup for the season, so there is still hope... :)

[mudr]

Sitting at a dinner/evening meeting 2 hours from home. Dad texted me, hes pulling up around 80 gallons from the woods for me. Wife will be boiling it sometime here. Good to have family willing to fill in.

Dad fired up vaccum. Will probably pick it up Friday evening and boil.

[wnybassman]

Collected 200 gallons today, should be another 100+ by morning! I hear ya about family, my dad will be doing the ROing and boiling tomorrow again.

[Chickenman]

just got done cooling down. have 1.25 gallons to adjust and final filter but will wait for tomorrow as I see my bags are 1/4 full after emptying them at 2:45 today. Will be boiling again tomorrow.

[Troutman10]

Chicknman,
What's your setup for RO? My operation is a little smaller. I'm interested in possibly buying one and increasing taps. Any help appreciated!

[Urban Sugarmaker]

About 260 gallons today and flowing strong. Still making golden.

I put 40 buckets in and now I am questioning my sanity. I might have over 400 gallons tomorrow by early evening when I can collect. I wan't going to do buckets this year but I put them on the best producers. They all produce very good sugar and a lot of sap. One tree put out 5.5% (measured with a Misco digital refractometer). I was pretty amazed with that. Several others were in the 3-4% range so maybe the buckets will be worth it. The regular trees have been 2.3%.

[wnybassman]

I left my dad with 330 gallons of sap as I left for work today and returned home to an empty tank and roughly 7 gallons of syrup. That's the way to do it! :D Should be able to start him out with about 225 gallons tomorrow morning :)

[MapleMark753]

Had no idea at the start of today what kind of day it was going to be. But it was a good day. The sap was plentyful (not always so). The RO worked great. The evaporator (we just have a lapierre 2x5) worked terrific. The syrup is on the light end of amber (I need a lot of that so thats good too). Even the BAGS worked good, no new squirrel chews, and over 3 gallons (i think) in each. I forgot to eat today but I'm so tired I don't want to. We'll see what tomorrow brings. I do not know how people with over a thousand bags do it.
take care, Mark

[Urban Sugarmaker]

A 400 gallon day of crystal clear sap. Trees are slowing but I'll get the rest tomorrow night.

[Tonk8it]

Headed to the woods yesterday and collected till dark. I knew my buckets were going to be full but almost every 5 gallon pale was full and overflowing. 50 buckets with 75 taps flowing gave me 230 gallons I am over capacity for my little setup. I have it going through the RO now. Crazy day. Enjoy gentleman the time is here! Mud everywhere and it’s that thick cakey stuff I had to get undressed on the side of the road just to drive home. Fun day!

[Framerjeff]

38 trees tapped 2/20 (soft maple) only 80 gallons so far trees are just not running. Good news is the sugar is more
Than double last year.. Just not getting the sap like I was last year

[Tonk8it]

I finished 4.33 gallons today my biggest pull and batch ever! Made for a busy weekend.

[eranorion]

After reading a Tapping guide from the '40's saying never to rely on the calendar for 1st run, I saw the heat wave of 40 degree days coming, on Feb1st. I asked a fellow tapper who said I'd bee wasting my time. I put 12 taps on the small Silvers at work anyway and have thus far brought in 2.5 drums. This last week has made 10 gals. a day average. I RO'd 1.5 drums down to 3/4 drum to make room. After a cooler weekend, the Silvers had slowed to just 10 gals by today, Monday. I emptied the buckets today at 9AM, and by 3PM collected another 8 gals. The 30 taps in the Manitoba Maples around the house have only given me a drum since March 1st, but started dripping heavy this morning, right through the whiteout that descended around noon. This upcoming week looks like perfect run temps, day and night, so here's hoping......

[backyardsugarer]

800 gallons on a quick 5 hour run Monday. Should do a little better today with the sun coming out at it getting warmer than Monday. Can't believe how the sap thrashed on vacuum at 33 degrees and snowing sideways. I am on a pace to have a record year if the forecast holds. At 178 gallons (mostly golden) so far and 2 more weeks to produce. Briefly went dark with the warm up but trended back towards golden last night with clear sap. Pumps are set to turn on at 11 am today and should have great runs right into maple weekend part 1.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Surprised yesterday with 350 gallons. Even the buckets were running a bit. Still making pretty light syrup but it's starting to darken. It's going to be a busy week this week and maybe even next week.

[wnybassman]

Help!! lol Setting records today for us. Processed 355 gallons and drew off right around 10 gallons. Will probably set more tomorrow because I already have 340 sitting between two milk tanks and I am guessing 150ish will run over night. Syrup definitely darker.

[mudr]

Working on 260 gallons here, easily my best haul ever. Getting darker.

[Troutman10]

Have another 100 gallons to boil down. Gonna have to chip away at it here and there to keep up. Should be a busy week and a half looking at the 10 day. Have fun everyone!

[Urban Sugarmaker]

Another 370 gallons today. I'm just over 1000 gallons in 3 days and it's still running. I had a feeling this would happen. Syrup still looks light to me but it should darken soon.

[82cabby]

425 gallons on 100 taps in 48 hours. Yikes! That’s half of what I collected all last season. Sap looks nice and clear.

[Chickenman]

Stupid Lake Erie has been really messing with us here. My records show that I'm down on sap quantity despite having twice as many taps. Lake never froze over completely and I think that has been the major difference. Hope going to gravity tubing next year will help. The little that I installed I know is producing better then just buckets. It's early yet so we will see what the next few weeks bring. Noticed one of the silvers flower buds started to pop open. I hope this not a bad omen of what could be a short season.

[Tonk8it]

I got my wife's classroom doing experiments this is the third year for the class tapping. They have to figure out yield of sap and syrup based on weather forecast, all in fun. From the past three years I have introduced 75 new students into sugaring. Three of them have stuck with it and parents are helping them make syrup!

I spent the better part of my afternoon pulling 241 gallons out from 50 buckets. Every single one was overflowing except 1 tree that has produced nothing but half a gallon. Processing now in the garage with my RO. Back out Saturday afternoon to collect again after these next two days? In a bit over my head. I really would like to buy a larger evaporator.

I am also on a flat pan that surely doesn't help.

Who has a 2x4 or 2x6 they would like to part with?

[wnybassman]

It was a crazy three days here. We went through 1,075 gallons of sap from my 210 taps and made 21 gallons of finished syrup from it. All caught up and cleaned up except the draining/cleaning of the pans getting ready for the next run. Just plain ran out of energy to get that done. The end of next week looks like it could be version 2.0 of what we just had.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

It was a crazy three days here. We went through 1,075 gallons of sap from my 210 taps and made 21 gallons of finished syrup from it. All caught up and cleaned up except the draining/cleaning of the pans getting ready for the next run. Just plain ran out of energy to get that done. The end of next week looks like it could be version 2.0 of what we just had.

Same here on running out of energy. I had 1270 gallons from Monday through Thursday this week and the sugar was never below 2.3. I'm cleaning pans tomorrow and gearing up for another big week, hopefully the last week. I'm tired.

[wnybassman]

Collected 275 gallons just before dark and everything was still running strong. Should get nice little runs Monday and Tuesday then a big burst. Several nights in a row above freezing after that, not sure where we're going from there.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I picked up 395 gallons today. Some of that was from yesterday and a little from the last run. Luckily no spoilage. I am still making fairly light syrup. It was running well when I pumped out around 3PM today. I am officially over 3000 gallons this season and I might even break 4000.

I think I might be done on Friday. Forecast shows no more freezes and the temps will be pretty warm. It would be nice to make some dark syrup.

[mudr]

Think things starting to turn for me now. 70 gallons from 130 taps today, with vac on 2/3 of the day. Things turned dark for me this week.

[backyardsugarer]

Nice Run Sunday but not the gusher I was expecting. Thinking my season will wrap up on Friday. I will save enough to boil for maple weekend part 2. Maple weekend 1 was a nice success. Sold out of Candy and cream. Also sold a lot of syrup ,dark was the big winner again. Saw long time customers and a lot of new faces. One more week and then it's clean up time. Good luck down the home stretch guys.

[bowtie]

Pretty decent run from my yard trees yesterday and today, about 2 1/2 gallons per tap and still dripping. they keep backing down the temps in the next few days, I would bet that if u want to keep going the trees will hold for at least 10-14 days especially if u have north facing woods.
Really looking forward to next year when i can finally get my operation going, new sugar house,new evap and switching to tubing. Also going to looking to lease a couple sugar bush to get my tap count up. Might not be the best time to do it but I am going to make a run at making this more than a expensive hobby. Not going as fast as I want but paying cash for everything so I will not have debt going into it.

[wnybassman]

Ran just about all night last night. Finally froze up about 6:00am this morning. Collected some yard buckets before work that were already just about overflowing and left my dad with just under 300 gallons to process. Got home from work and everything was concentrated and he had about 30 gallons left to boil. I collected everything that ran last night and today while he finished that up and the tank again has just under 300 gallons for him tomorrow :D Had to leave about 30 gallons down in the woods that didn't fit on the truck. Doubtful the run tomorrow will amount to much. Don't know how much after this weekend I want to do, although next week looks pretty good again. We'll see.

[Chickenman]

Things seem to have really slowed here in this corner. 2 silver maples are starting to bud. Flower buds swollen and starting to pop open. Reds have stopped but never really ran for me. Holding out for what I hope is a few more weeks. Cold here last night, noticed the sweet in my pan was slush before leaving for work.

[wnybassman]

Again I came home from work with my dad just finishing up what I had left for him. Cleaned the RO, I caught up on bottling because all the pots were filled, then I went to collect what ran today. There is another 210 gallons sitting in the tank for him in the morning. :D

I achieved "full crop" today at a little over 51 gallons bottled on the 210 taps. After this next burst I would think we will be easily at 70+ for the season. If so, will likely pull the plug over the weekend

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I picked up 190 gallons today and broke over 3500 gallons. After tomorrow, we "made it" since I was hoping for 3600 gallons. I think I'm at around 75 gallons made, maybe a little more. I am planning to finish this weekend.

[Tonk8it]

I am going to pull my taps on Friday afternoon. I start pulling 6 day work weeks and run out of time for the hobby. I would like to learn about running lines and walking the woods of a larger producer. If anyone has some time for a small time guy. Made just about 10 gallons this year.

[wnybassman]

Another 220 gallons collected just before dark tonight. Might have close to that again by morning the way it was running. Gonna be close to a freeze tonight, but I think we are going to fall a little short.

[mudr]

They are calling for 32 or 33 tonight at my place. I'm not on the lake, but closer to and at a lower elevation than batsman. Looks like a stretch of warmth coming next.

[wnybassman]

They are calling for 32 or 33 tonight at my place. I'm not on the lake, but closer to and at a lower elevation than batsman. Looks like a stretch of warmth coming next.We seemed to bottom out around 36 and has already gone back up a couple

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[wnybassman]

Got through 435 gallons today (220 collected last night and 215 collected mid morning today) in 11 hours. Looks like I crossed into robust, but will know for sure tomorrow. Should have 160 tomorrow morning and that will be it for this run. I decided to stay in for the freezes early next week to see what happens.

[wnybassman]

Woke up to temps just below freezing. Scrambled to get out the door with a couple pails of hot water to do a quick scrub on the buckets. Most buckets had a slight skim of ice forming on the old sap. All the tubing had hard icicles hanging off them. Scrubbed the woods tank as well. Sap is running slow right now, but running. Looks to be clear in the buckets by the house anyway. Might take some sap and get the evaporator up to a hard boil this afternoon to re-sterilize everything. Will probably be Tuesday/Wednesday before big boil of any kind.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I decided to call it quits this weekend. Work and other responsibilities were going to make a last boil on this coming Tuesday pretty difficult and I'd hat to find out it was buddy or metabolic. I also hate missing what could be good syrup. Lol.

It turned out to be a great season. 4000 gallons of sap, 2.2-2.5% sugar every run, and just over 100 gallons of syrup, mostly golden and some amber.

I'm a little burned out. Time to focus on cleanup and efficiency upgrades for 2020.

[82cabby]

I’m calling it a season as well. 1400 gallons of sap on 108 taps. Low sugar (under 2%) most of the time. Not done finishing yet so no final total for syrup.

[wnybassman]

I put 15 gallons of raw sap through the evaporator tonight. All this talk here about ropey syrup was getting me nervous. All seems well, and ready to finish this season in the next couple days. They ran a little today, but never got much above 34 or so.

[mudr]

I drained the big rig and have been slowly finishing the concentrate down on the stove. I think this is it for me. I am very happy about this season.

Next, clean up. And resuming a normal life.

[millscrest]

Time to call it a season. All the lines have been flushed, tanks cleaned along with the evaporator pans. The next project is to clean the sugar house.

[concord maple]

Staying in it until tomorrow or Saturday depending on the run. Boiled today from collecting yesterday and will see where collection tank in woods ends up with from today and tomorrow. Around 100 taps on vacuum.

[wnybassman]

Done. Earlier today I bottled 2 1/4 gallons of nice tasting dark and 7 1/2 gallons of slightly off tasting dark. I guess I didn't quit soon enough. So, totals for the year are 4,200 gallons of sap and 73 gallons of syrup. Mostly cleaned up, just a little left to do yet.

[Waynehere]

We are still waiting for the last run. The ground is so dry around us that I think the trees are thirsty themselves.... Maybe with this rain it might decide to open up again.

[82cabby]

Anybody bit on this warming trend? My plan was to wait till the 3rd weekend in February but I always start worrying when I see these 50 degree stretches.

[calvertbrothers]

Anybody bit on this warming trend? My plan was to wait till the 3rd weekend in February but I always start worrying when I see these 50 degree stretches.

Nope looking at the forecast it’s going to get cold.To early for me to tap, not going to let my gas powered vacuum run during a month and a half of cold weather.

[Chickenman]

Boiled today. had 75 gallons from my vacuum line and gravity line combined. Had rough time. I HATE STINK BUGS. They were in everything and everywhere. Burned a hole through my stack and just did not go smooth. Got to almost syrup to draw off but ran out of sap. I will drain pan in the morning and put this in the walk in freezer until the next run. Did I mention I hate Stink Bugs.

[barnbc76]

My neighbor tapped once in Jan. They never ended up running. I tapped Feb once and didn't get anything for a week and a half later...it just never seems to work out for me I will wait till beginning of march.

[treehugger89]

I tapped yesterday and boiled about 100 gallons today. Sap tested 2.2%

[Userj8670]

Anyone else on gravity thinking of tapping early given the weather? I can't tell if I should tap now (for fear of season ending early ) or wait it out til end Feb/March.

[82cabby]

I'm waiting till the weekend of February 22nd most likely. Perhaps the 15th but most likely the 22nd. I'm all gravity.