tapping central pa

[molineutu]

I am on the fence about tapping this coming weekend.
What are the thoughts of other central pa sappers?

[Sandersyrup]

I tapped my soft maples Feb 1st. 18 taps. I've received about 7 gallons of sap and its all frozen solid in my collection tank.

I will be putting in about 30 taps on hard maples this Friday.

I was 1/3 way done with my entire season by this time last year. I'm really hoping things don't get to mild when the cold snaps.

John

[KV Sappers]

I was going to tap Friday, but looking at the forecast I'm holding off till the 17th.

[Etown Maple Syrup]

Good Morning, I also put a few taps in around Feb 1 just to feel like I did something and they did begin to drip, but froze in the buckets. I did get the evaporator bricked and fired up for a test boil. That went well. After that all the snow and cold temps have given me a chance to watch the Olympics. Anticipating 12 inches of snow on Thursday, so... hopefully tapping the rest near the 16th. It will be hard to get the four wheeler through the snow that falls on top of the snow that is there. I may have to wait for a meltdown which is into the next weekend.
Ross

[happy thoughts]

Good Morning, I also put a few taps in around Feb 1 just to feel like I did something and they did begin to drip, but froze in the buckets. I did get the evaporator bricked and fired up for a test boil. That went well. After that all the snow and cold temps have given me a chance to watch the Olympics. Anticipating 12 inches of snow on Thursday, so... hopefully tapping the rest near the 16th. It will be hard to get the four wheeler through the snow that falls on top of the snow that is there. I may have to wait for a meltdown which is into the next weekend.
Ross

You guys in S central PA are getting clobbered with snow this year. If it makes you feel any better, lots of snow on the ground is supposed to make for good sap flows. Ross, your forecast looks awesome for the next week and beyond. Hope you can get those taps in and have a terrific season.

Anyone thinking of tapping in N central PA? I hope to be tapping this weekend here in the Endless Mountains. Looks like the warm up is coming just when I thought this was going to be a really late season.

[Sandersyrup]

It does look like a great week for sap coming up! I'm just nervous spring is going to hit full force afterwards and we wont get the trees recharged!

I have 30 new sugar maple taps going in this weekend and I want SAP!

Somebody tell me were going to have some freezing nights after some of the forecasted 50º days and 40º nights!

[umpwood1]

Molineutu... Did you do any upgrades for this year ?
I think I am going to tap tuesday, unless the forcast goes in the pooper. Looks good for next weekend, but this snow is going to be a killer.
Have a great year and stop if you get a chance.
Regards,
Woody

[molineutu]

Umpwood.. no upgrades so far this year..
Yes I am going to see how this week goes if I tap or not..
Where I tap is in between two creeks.. I checked two weeks ago and the ice was 8 inches thick.. this is keeping the temps lower than normal. Tuesday night of last week it was 24 degrees below zero and three other days around 6 below.
I would really like to come down when your boiling to see how well your evap works. Always looking for ideas..

[jpcole]

We have -14 F this morning in Potter Co. I think I'm going to sit this run out. 5 warm days this week but the nights are still to cold. My guess is one or two days with a sap run then cold again.

[Dave Y]

I think there will be just enough sap to get the equipment dirty.

[Cabin]

I think there will be just enough sap to get the equipment dirty.

That's a good thing, right?? Well I thought I was being smart and placed the buckets out near the trees I wanted to tap. Now they are under 24+ inches of snow and I was tapping yesterday wearing snow shoes! I found all but three. Managed to get a total of 19 taps in so far. Now I have to clear the snow from the arch and wood piles put up the tarps and get ready to boil.

[Gary R]

You can't make syrup unless you get things dirty. We didn't get the snow like you guys. I am almost out of syrup. I hope to be drawing some off Friday or Saturday!

[Dave Y]

If I am going to dirty things up it better be for a barrel of syrup or it is not worth burning the wood.

[molineutu]

Well another 6 inches of snow for me today. That puts us close to 24 inches on the ground. And they are forecasting more for next week.

[Maplewalnut]

I feel your pain molineutu..we are closer to three feet in the woods east side of the state. Its getting ridiculuous now!

[daileytapper]

Weather forecast has changed again. No steady temps. Bouncing on the freezing line all March according to accuweather. Is our season ever going to start? At this rate, we'll be making syrup memorial day weekend! LOL

[molineutu]

We got more snow than expected yesterday. 8 more inches. Then this morning ice. My normal 7 mile trip to work takes at max 15 minutes, this morning it took over an hour. As of now My plan is to tap march 1st.

[Evets]

I got all 14 of my taps in today. Some of them on the sunny side of the tree started flowing immediately.

[umpwood1]

Sorta glad I held off. I am going to take the tractor to the woods today and try to make a path. It looks like at least another week till I tap. Getting set up for a school science fair this friday. I think it is going to be a short but great season.
Woody

[molineutu]

Fixed main line Sunday and did the final cleaning on the bulk tank. Main line is ready to tap when the time comes . Where I tap is at the confluence of two creeks, one big creek and one small creek. Thank goodness for an abandoned railroad bridge or I wouldn't been able to get to the shack because there was a major ice jamb. I still think I am tapping this coming Saturday. I am going to have good help and that's hard to pass up.

[umpwood1]

Fridays the day!! It's lookin' good for next week. I took off work a couple days, so let 'er fly.
regards, woody

[daileytapper]

Same here, looks like we'll be in the woods Friday! Finally.

[Slatebelt*Pa*Tapper]

Yup agree with ya'll. taps gonna go all in here tomorrow. Finished everything else today and we are ready for sap.

Looks like this whole week coming should hopefully get things flowin..with at least 15" of snow still left on the ground should be fun getting around.. :cool: but it ain't gonna stop the tapping..

Good luck fellas

[umpwood1]

Put in out 100 taps friday. Went out last evening to collect and ony got 40 gallon. Slow runnin' so far, hoping for some sun today.
Regards,
Woody

[molineutu]

Ran additional 1200 feet of wire and main line Saturday. Tapped and ran laterals on that line today. Man are my legs tired. I have about 20 more taps to put in to finish off this years tapping. Hopefully I will have a tap total by this time tommorow. Boiling this weekend for sure.

[slammer3364]

tapped Saturday,nothingh to speak of today though maybe Mon. and Tues Good Luck

[umpwood1]

Sure hope the sap runs like the dickens today. It's sure been a goofy year.
Regards,
Woody

[molineutu]

I agree umpwood. I am boiling tomorrow. As of last night I have collected a little over 100 gallons of sap so far.

[umpwood1]

Yes !!! Sap was runnin' like the dickens today. It was double drippin' almost all day. Can't wait for this weekend.
Regards,
Woody

[cablebandit]

Yup. I got 4 gallons out of my 4 meager trees over night. That's matches what i collected all last week.

[molineutu]

Sap ran four inches in an hour and a half into my 275 gallon yesterday. Going down to shack today after work to see how much I ended up with. I have a scout group coming on Saturday glad I'm going to have sap.was worried for a bit.

[molineutu]

When I was at shack last night there was 25 gallons in tank. Tonight there was 165 gallons in tank and I collected 65 gallons from buckets. One heck of a run.

[Turtlecreek]

I have been remaining quiet this year. I tapped in last week, a month behind schedule according to my diary! I have an extremely sweet pan t=right now and I have about 5o gallons of sap stored after tonights collection. I looked out in the woods tonight and was wondering why I had buckets on the ground, then I found out why, they were al full! After collecting, the buckets were emptied the trees were double dripping, should have full buckets tomorrow again! Bottom line tomorrow will be a loooooog night!

[umpwood1]

Moline..Have fun with the Scouts. I did a science fair presentation at our local school a couple weeks ago and have another May 2nd. Let me know how it goes.
The saps a runnin' down here. I got 150 gals yesterday, cookin this morning.
Regards,
Woody