Eastern Ontario 2014.

[DrewCP]

Figured I'd start a place for us Eastern Ontario folks to chat.

Still another 3 weeks before we actually start to think about tapping. I'd say we will be looking at Mar 8 at the earliest. We have an insane amount of snow in the bush.
On the plus side we have all our wood secured. Close to a cord of cedar and 20 pallets ripped down. More than we need in a season, maybe 2. Also just got word that our new stainless / welded 5'x2.5' flat pan will be ready next week. Pretty excited about the pan. It is the first new pan we have ever had.

Hope everyone had a good off season and wish everyone a great trouble free season.

[butler]

I live in renfrew....seems like the season is coming really fast....trying to get 600 taps this year. In the process of adding new tubing an setting up new tools for us...filter press etc....there were spots over my waist in snow in the bush while setting up the tubing...crazy! Hope everyone has a great season.

[Eric in Kinburn]

I started snowshoeing my trails today. All my wood is ready from last year since I couldn't tap at all in 2013. Looking for a better way to carry the sap this year likely using an ice fishing sled and some sort of container yet to be found...until I can afford an ATV with tracks...I'll keep dreaming about that one for a while I think. I have to secure the platform where my sap tote will sit on as I found it a bit shaky today. I sure don't want that to collapse with a full tote on.

If anyone has suggestions for a sap container to put on the sled similar to the one describe by article number PCO050 at the following page that would be great. I find that one a bit pricey and I would have to pay a lot in shipping I think. I'm near Ottawa so any suggestions welcome.
http://atkinsonmaple.com/catalogue/tanks_barrels/storage_tanks

Have a good season everyone.

[Bruce L]

Had my brother-in-law up Friday doing some wiring at the vacuum pump house for me to run a fan on the pump to keep it cooler, and a wire to run a remote jet pump to bring the sap up to the sugarhouse when I need it so I don't have to run down and start a gas pump while I am boiling. Snow up to your crotch in some places, have fixing to do once all the lines appear from chewing over the winter, and cutting wood to heat the house, wood pile getting lower than I would like with sugarmaking coming on.

[Run Forest Run!]

Hey Eric. I checked out your webpage and was blown away! You should be very proud of your sugar house, not to mention all of the accomplishments with your woodworking and your pine floors. Wow! Have a great season in your fantastic cabane à sucre.

[BrutemanAl]

Hi everyone , I'm looking forward to this season, have not started to really get anything ready because I only tap about 12 tree's or so, not sure how I am going to get into the forest this year,last year I was able to use my atv,but we have to much snow right now and under the snow is 2" of ice then more snow ( in my back yard we have almost 3 feet on top of the ice ),the tree's I tap are on an old couple's property just across the road from me and 2 yrs ago I walked in to the bush and collected the sap one early morning ( didnt want to disturb sleeping neighbors with my atv) and that was the 1 and only time I will be walking in to bring sap out lol. I'm not even sure what kind of damage maybe done in the forest from the ice storm back in Dec,all I know is there was allot of cracking and snapping over there a day or so later.

My luck will be all the trees I tap will be damaged lol, fingers cross.

[Kyle Baker]

I'm just getting my new homebuilt arch finished up to hold my new pans. 2'x3' pan + 2'x1' finishing pan. Then I've gotta get my wood in order! Likely I'll buy a load of slab wood from a local sawmill. I think some folks were gonna tap for the highs this week but I'm not ready. Hopefully i have until march :)

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

[Run Forest Run!]

Al, I'm in a similar position as you are. I have tons of snow with a deadly layer of ice hidden in the middle of it. Once you step through all of the snow on top, you are in for a slick ride once your boot touches the ice. Once I decide to make my way down to the trees I have a lot of limbs and branches that I need to drag out of the way from the devastation of the December ice storm. Those of us that were in the path of the ice storm need to remember to look UP when collecting sap on breezy days as there as still lots of broken, dangerous limbs hanging in the trees that are waiting to fall to the ground - or our heads!

Perhaps if we get some of the mild temperatures that are being forecasted for later in the week, things will start to pack down to make it easier to walk through. But in the meantime, we've got another storm tonight. We really need another 10cm like we need a hole in the head. I doubt I'll be placing spiles anytime soon.

One last thing, have you considered buying a second propane burner for this year? It really helped me to have two, and at Home Hardware the units are quite reasonable. Of course, I have to thank you again for explaining to me why mine wasn't working properly. Once I got that figured out, I was glad to have two working at the same time.

Have a fun year. :)

[Galena]

I'm just getting my new homebuilt arch finished up to hold my new pans. 2'x3' pan + 2'x1' finishing pan. Then I've gotta get my wood in order! Likely I'll buy a load of slab wood from a local sawmill. I think some folks were gonna tap for the highs this week but I'm not ready. Hopefully i have until march :)

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

Kyle, mind if I ask which sawmill and if you get a good price? I am running perilously low on firewood. Bought 10 cord for this winter, thought it would be enough, I've got by with heating the house on 7 cord....but this year...NOPE!!! Down to about last 2 cords.

[Kyle Baker]

Galena, I've burned through wood like toothpicks this winter as well. Brutally cold!
One mill is called scouten white cedar near franktown and it's $40 for a huge load of cedar slabs. The other place I don't know the name of yet but is fairly close to my house and apparently is around $20 for a truck box full of slab wood.

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

[BrutemanAl]

Hey karen , yes I have thought of buying another burner system for this year , probably will pick one up in the days to come , we got hit with the storm last night also,so far we have over 10 cm of new snow this morning with more to come according to what I have heard ,even had some thunder and lightening last night , kind of weird to hear that when it was snowing lol.

[ennismaple]

We got a bunch of prep work done this weekend. Vacuum pumps are in place, The Beast is put back together and the camp is partly cleaned. My 9 year-old son helped me put in 100 taps on Saturday afternoon but it was too cold otherwise to tap. We'll go at it hard this coming weekend but it'll be slow going on snowshoes. I'm hoping we can get it all tapped by March 1st and be ready when the weather cooperates.

[Maple Restoration]

Nice to see everyone south of me getting a jump on thing, if the weather holds for this weekend we may get our 600 taps done before next weeks freeze. We wish you all the best for this season!

[Kyle Baker]

Ennismaple, its good to hear that most people local to me like yourself and a friend at work from Lavant way aren't jumping the gun for the weather this week. I know of a couple folks who are chomping at the bit to collect this week and boil early. I'm not near ready, so my hopes are to tap the first Saturday of March. Maybe by then I'll have my wood in order and my new evaporator completed.
Lets hope to have a great season this year!

[DrewCP]

Galena, I've burned through wood like toothpicks this winter as well. Brutally cold!
One mill is called scouten white cedar near franktown and it's $40 for a huge load of cedar slabs. The other place I don't know the name of yet but is fairly close to my house and apparently is around $20 for a truck box full of slab wood.

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

Hey Kyle, Is that the guy off 29 near Toledo? Have seen a sign on the side of the road advertising slab wood for sale.

[Kyle Baker]

Ya he's one of them. Is his sign up these days?

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

[ennismaple]

We're gonna hit it hard tomorrow. I hope we can get up to 2,000 taps in as the weather looks promising. Sunday looks to be too cold - and we'll get a late start after we watch Team Canada kick some Swedish butt!!!!

[DrewCP]

Ya he's one of them. Is his sign up these days?

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

Haven't been to BrockVegas in a month or so. Not Sure.

[DrewCP]

We're gonna hit it hard tomorrow. I hope we can get up to 2,000 taps in as the weather looks promising. Sunday looks to be too cold - and we'll get a late start after we watch Team Canada kick some Swedish butt!!!!

Good luck tapping. The rain took a lot of the air out of the snow but there sure is a pile left. 2 week forecast looks cold! Not sure what to think on the Canada Sweden game. Cool because it's for the gold but it's no Canada vs. USA or even Russia thats for sure.

[Galena]

Hey Kyle, Is that the guy off 29 near Toledo? Have seen a sign on the side of the road advertising slab wood for sale.

Hey guys, if one you happens to be by that way and sees the sign, could you please fire off the phone # to me? Please? Pretty please? I know where Toledo is but the 29's a kinda long road and I don't want to drive it all looking for it....not with gas at $1.299...:-/

Thanks!

[Kyle Baker]

I'm not far. I'll poke out and have a gander.

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

[Yellzee]

First time since hunting I went out to check on the status of the pipeline and would love to thank the person that took down one of my mainline pulls.... I'm guessing so they could drive a 4-wheeler down the trail in the fall..... about 100 yards of mainline under 2 feet of snow and that miserable layer of ice... that was a great way to spend 3 hours digging.... especially after I got the tractor stuck trying to get back there.

evaporator unhooked, no time to work on anything this week... I think I'll be tapping late and hoping for 2 good weeks.

less sarcastically.. whoever posted the tip to push all your lateral lines as far up in the air as possible to keep them out of the reach of turkeys and deer thank you very much!!! I see almost no animal damage out there. what a huge time/$$ saver for such a simple thing.

[ennismaple]

We got 2300 taps in on the weekend. Walking in the woods sucks. Snowshoes just slide around on the crust in the middle of the snowpack. Without snowshoes you punch though the middle crust, most of the time, which is hard on the back. In some places the snow is mid thigh deep

[TurkeyJohn]

First time on the Forum, and have to admit, looks really good with tons of great info. Wish I had of found this last year when we started tapping. We just stuck in 10 taps over the weekend and it did run a wee bit before it froze back up on Sunday. We're here in Kingston along the Rideau canal and really looking forward to a great season. Went all out and went with a barrel burner this year rather than my cinder block set up from last year. Optimistic it boils down in less time than last year. Thanks for all the info and great being on board with such a fine forum.

TurkeyJohn

[Big_Eddy]

Spent most of Saturday afternoon sitting on the tractor blowing snow out of my access trail. 1000' cleared, but it was heavy going. There's a 2" layer of ice about 2' down, then another 6" of snow below that. The blower was riding on the ice, but the tractor kept breaking through. Went through a few shear pins when I picked up hunks of ice. But I can get in and out now and what was left behind in the "trench" has hardened up.

I figure it will be 2 weeks before we tap - but I will need those 2 weeks to get all the "storage' items out of my sugar shack.

Not ahead on wood this year, so planning to cut some more next weekend.

[Yellzee]

Hey big Eddy,... I still have that tweaker of yours, I think your road is open again so will try to remember to throw it in the truck and head that way to drop it off.

I was trying to use the blower and had the same problem, combine with being on semi swampy ground underneath it just wasn't working for me. I think I need someone with a snowmobile to come by and pack the snow down.

[DrewCP]

Still hoping to tap on Mar 8. Forecast is not looking helpful at all. Low of -10 to -20 and nothing above -3 as a high for the next 2 weeks. I've got Mar 13-19 booked off. Hope to boil at some point during that time. Things can change pretty fast though........

[Yellzee]

I predict this time next Tuesday we will all be wondering how the forecast could have changed so much! :lol:
Charge your batteries and be ready for action.

I am going to head to the beer store and stock up on syrup making supplies.

[Bruce L]

Wife heads out to go on a cruise with her sisters next Thursday, have to drive her to the airport at 3:00 a.m, that is the day the weather will break. She wanted me to go, but between sugarmaking and a cruise----------easy decision

[Kyle Baker]

Welcome to the forum TurkeyJohn! Good luck this year

[TurkeyJohn]

Thanks Kyle,

Great info on here,

Nice to know I'm not the only nut out here like my wife says I am.:lol:

TurkeyJohn

[Galena]

Thanks much Kyle...and am I the only one suffering from cabin fever at the moment? I had my spiles in this time last year, but no sign in the immediate forecast for favourable conditions. At least not that I've seen :-/

ETA: Welcome TurkeyJohn! This is a great place to be, that is when you're not out there collecting or boiling sap :-)

[Maplerock]

Hi TurkeyJohn,

Welcome. Where are you on the Rideau? We're on Whitefish Lake near Morton.

Cheers,

Jon

[BrutemanAl]

yaaaaaa just what we need more snow !!!! and still cold !!!! darn it !!! I wanna get into the forest !!!!

[Kyle Baker]

Drove out by Toledo and there's no sign up for that sawmill. May have to hunt for slab wood elsewhere.

[TurkeyJohn]

Hey Jon,

Thanks for the welcome,

Just north of Rideau Acres campground, north of Kingston, before Joyceville.

TurkeyJohn

[Big_Eddy]

Weekend update - cleaned out (most of) the sugar shack, prepped my tank trailer, collected some more syrup wood - then ran out of syrup things to do and went snowshoeing, XC Skiiing and snowmobiling. If we're going to have this much snow, might as well enjoy it!

8996

[Yellzee]

Big Eddy, you should snowmobile way over here and pack my trail down for me! I still need to move the evaporator back into place as I was planning to have a new one to install by now... ooopppss!!!

[Yellzee]

Put in my order for maple stuff at Squirrel creek farms in Bailieboro and will be stopping by tonight on my way to Peterpatch for son's hockey game. Hopefully stopping after it's closed and just picking up the box of stuff I ordered will save me several hundred dollars over my normal shopping bill there when they are open and I can see all the goodies!

[Bruce L]

Are 4 liter cans going to be a thing of the past? Just got my shipment delivered from Covell's, driver said they have quit making 4 liter cans?

[ennismaple]

Are 4 liter cans going to be a thing of the past? Just got my shipment delivered from Covell's, driver said they have quit making 4 liter cans?

I haven't heard that - but they did stop making the 2L cans a few years ago so it wouldn't surprise me.

[ontario guy]

Hi All,

I am out in Winchester south of Ottawa. I am going away skiing with the family next week, so that will be the biggest run of the year! haha... i will tap next Friday the 14th. I hope the weather stays cold till then.
I will have to collect on snowshoes for the first bit as well.

Good luck to all.

[Yellzee]

because I'm going stir crazy and they seem to have just updated the weather in the Belleville area (environment Canada) to above zero for Fri,Sat and Sun, with Mon and Tues at zero....I think I will tap on Friday if I can get out of work early enough to get at it and finish up Saturday.

Doubt it will actually yield any significant SAP but at least I will be tapped in and maybe trickle enough through the lines to get them rinsed out. Going to really inspect every T this year for any blockages... as seems like every year I end up with one or two plugged up causing issues. Might replace them all if I get ambitious. sure wish I had a tubing tool.. maybe I should have ordered that instead of the digital refractometer!

oops, Realized last night that I left the hose with quick connect fitting that I connect to my collection tank and run to my sled on the ground somewhere near the tank.... Will have to do a little snow excavation to try and find it!

[slw105]

Stll waiting for the weather to warm up here in Cantley QC, across the river from Ottawa. - 19°C last night and a high of -10°C today. Looks like we might see +2 for a few minutes Friday. So looks like Saturday is the day to tap. Hoping to tap about 40 - 50 trees this year so I can try out my new D&G 18X48 evaporator.

[keith]

Hello all, I have been following this website for a few years and last year I built my first barrel evaporater. It went great and I made 17.5liters of syrup!! I was hooked, and it's all I think about now!!!

This year I purchaced a 2x4 flat pan continuous flow evaporater, confiscated, my mom's shed (new sugar shack) and am eagerly waiting to put my 110 spiles in.

My question is if I tap on Friday and it runs this weekend and then freezes next week will my holes last the rest of the month, as last year I boiled into April. Thanks everyone
Keith

[Yellzee]

I think you will be ok. Especially at the cold temperatures forecast..

[ennismaple]

My question is if I tap on Friday and it runs this weekend and then freezes next week will my holes last the rest of the month, as last year I boiled into April. Thanks everyone
Keith

Your tapholes will be fine if it freezes next week. This is the "traditional" time to tap and you can get up to 6 good weeks of sap flow. We got half our tapholes drilled 2 weekends ago and will do the balance this weekend.

[keith]

Thank you both for the quick replys, it's nice to have a sounding board, especially since I'm a first generation mapler. Hopefully it warms up tommorow and I can tap in the afternoon!
Keith

[keith]

Well, not sure if it was the right move, but I put in all 107 spiles yesterday evening. The sap was running a bit and it looks like we may be getting three warmer days coming up in Ottawa. Fingers crossed.
Keith

[Eric in Kinburn]

I'm near Ottawa. Looks like there will be a couple of days above 0 this week, but I think I will wait until March 15 to start tapping.
What's everyone else doing?

[stoneslabs]

i'll be going the same direction as you Eric on tapping for the 15th, only 100 or do taps so not too bad. It's late this year but I hope it will be a good long run!

[Bruce L]

Drilled 135 late this afternoon, my Dad and I, but pretty slow going through the deep snow, should have had double that amount in this afternoon. Even if the sap should run probably won't see much until some snow melts, laterals under snow , mainlines under snow, etc.

[Kyle Baker]

I put 46 taps in today. Sap was running here.

[Big_Eddy]

We tapped about 85 this afternoon. All were dripping but won't amount to much. Probably put some more in tomorrow or Monday.

[Run Forest Run!]

The posts from today are the most encouraging ones I've seen all season. Ontario's trees might actually be starting to wake up. Bring it on.

[Vandy]

Put in our first ever 10 testers yesterday late afternoon! It was def running. Rest are going in this afternoon if above 0 or tomorrow am. Should get enough on Monday and Tuesday to do first boil :)

[TurkeyJohn]

Starting to run ever so slightly here in Kingston today, can't wait for more,

Turkeyjohn

[Galena]

Well, woke up this morning to the telltale sound of my tin roof *popping*, which means it's getting warm...and heard a robin singing...and while tapping #2, my superproducer, saw some red-breasted nuthatches supervising from a safe distance up. Oh yeah and the forecast was good too, and sunny weather always helps!

At least one of my trees was ready to go (tapping 6 this year, all sugars). Tapped from 11:30-1:30, as soon as I finished drilling the southernmost spilehole on #5 sap began to leak out, within seconds that sweet, steady plunk....plunk....plunk we all know and love began. Yayyy #5!!! :-) And a few minutes ago I went to see how things are going. Trees #7 and #2 also both have one spile apiece starting to drip.

Now let's hope the weather STAYS good, and that I can score some decent firewood...or I'll have a gigantic hydro bill :-/

Happy tapping all!!

[BrutemanAl]

I just made my way back from putting in 3 test taps ( 3 separate tree's), glad i took 3 buckets and spiles with me, as soon as i pulled the drill bit out of each hole the sap started running out , I jumped up in the air with excitement seeing the first hole with sap running out of it i ended up going waist deep in the snow and got stuck lol. It was running better than i thought it would, close to a drip every sec at least. Next weekend i will tap the rest .

happy sap'n everyone :)

[Big_Eddy]

Put another 65 or so in. All dripping a bit. Expect to be collecting tomorrow. Will need to clear out another 500' of trail or we will be hauling a long way to the tank trailer. Had planned to do that this morning but it was too nice a day and went XC skiing instead. Looking good for March Break week after all.

[Bruce L]

My Father wanted to relax for the Sunday, sharp cold wind here also so didn't do any tapping. Put fuel stabilizer in the sled, took it for a 15 minute ride, then put it away. Enough of winter, time for sugaring!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Yellzee]

I tapped yesterday afternoon but there was a pretty cool breeze. A few trees dripping slowly and an icicle was forming at the end of the mainline so it was running very slightly. Wow is it slow going In This snow!

Probably about 60 left to go. Curious to see what today and tomorrow bring

[DrewCP]

Woke up to a fresh 3" of snow. Forecast last night was for 1-3cm. Maybe they meant inches?

Haven't tapped yet. Does not take long to throw up our 50-75. No rush though. The forecast looks terrible. Short of 2 good looking days the rest of the next 2 weeks are dismal. Some lows in the -17 range and nothing above 0. Booked off Mar 13-19 to boil..... Maybe I'll tap on the 14 or 15.

[Galena]

Yeah, there's at least 3 inches out there....and I thought the forecast for after the cold tail end to this week was improving. Dang EnviroCan forecast!!! I just hope there is one helluva run this year when it finally goes, cause I have to pull spiles the last weekend in April.

[Galena]

Just heard on the radio that the Rideau Canal is now closed....so that's a good sign, I think, of upcoming good weather. Being some 60km SE of Ottawa we don't seem to get quite as much cold. At least that's what I tell myself!!

[Bruce L]

Got between 5 and 6 inches of the fresh 4 letter word starting with "S" last night , tried to get the generator down into the building to be prepared, it was dangling from the loader of the 4x4 tractor as it is a heavy beast, 12000 watts and 20 hp gas motor. Anyway, tractor got stuck, wasted 2 hours shoveling to get it out, and brought the generator home as we couldn't get near the shed to put it in. Think I'll skip trying to get it in for awhile and go back to wading through the deep snow to try and tap some more. Anyone complains about the cost of syrup this year won't be greeted kindly!!!!!!

[Yellzee]

This is way more fun thAn a cruise! Another maple first as I tapped trees with a headlight on tonight to try an catch tomorrows run( hoping). Some trees we're running pretty good. Think I am up to about 120 tapped in now. Legs and hips killing me from wading around but the snow really dropped today. Made up a new tool for inserting taps and t's that I should have bought years ago! What a difference! Found a nice younger maple that I just started to tap is rotten in the middle. Depressing!

[Vandy]

I'm all in at 90 taps. Got 3/4 gal in about 10 hours on 1 tap, some not much at all. Hope I have to gather 2 times tomorrow:cool:

[DrewCP]

Calling for another 4+ inches of snow tomorrow and temp around -10. Crazy. Looks like I'll be pulling another 11 hour all nighter in the BR-180 grooming snowmobile trails on Saturday night. Really thought I'd be done with that by now.

Kind of glad we are late anyway. Talked to my dad a week or so ago. The new pan I thought was ordered and would be ready soon was not really ordered...... Had to rush around to try and find one. No luck locally. One place claimed to have one "on the truck" but it never showed up. They said it would for sure be in next week. But they were sure it was on the truck last week too. Whatever. Emailed Atkinson's. Ordered a new 2x4 pan and some other goodies. Shipping cost to my door is $35. Blown away by their service. Everything done via email and online ordering. They truly understand the importance of keeping up with technology. I am that impressed and I usually hate everything equally. If I can't deal locally in person then you better believe I will be going directly to them again!

[Vandy]

Slowly dripping all night long.. Hopefully speeding up a bit with that sun out now!! Took a skidoo ride around my 79 acres and stopped at each of the 90 taps to check it out. I have perma grin on my face.

[Kyle Baker]

Haha Vandy, there's nothing like the first drips in your buckets :)

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

[TurkeyJohn]

Hey All,

Was hoping the sunny weather would have my taps all dripping like crazy, but now wondering if I put them in to early and they've dried up? Put them in about 10 days ago on that nice weekend. Could they have dried up and I need to redrill?

Let me know and good luck to all,

TurkeyJohn out!

[Run Forest Run!]

TJ, your taps are just fine. The trees are still frozen. Even my two fresh taps are dry.

[TurkeyJohn]

TJ, your taps are just fine. The trees are still frozen. Even my two fresh taps are dry.

Thanks Karen,

Makes me feel much better, would hate to miss out on the first run,

TurkeyJohn

[DrewCP]

Hey All,

Was hoping the sunny weather would have my taps all dripping like crazy, but now wondering if I put them in to early and they've dried up? Put them in about 10 days ago on that nice weekend. Could they have dried up and I need to redrill?

Let me know and good luck to all,

TurkeyJohn out!

As already confirmed, you'll be fine. Just too cold. The only issue you may come across is the odd "weeping" spile hole. I find that in temps below -14ish our taps always seem to pop a bit. Usually need to give them a few hits with the hammer to tighten them back up. That is the main reason that I have not bothered to tap yet.

[Kyle Baker]

I have 18 taps on silver maples at my house. They always tend to start later than sugar maples, maybe due to the size of the trees. Anywho, my wife informed me that today even with the mild temps there wasn't even a drop. I think my sugar maples at my other tapping site may have run, but wont know until I get off work and drive out there.

[TurkeyJohn]

Checked at lunch time and the only one with any juice is a fairly young Norway maple that I'm tapping for the first time. Have a couple of Silvers, not a drop. Other Norways & Manitobas on the back side of the house dry it seems, but a little juice at the bottom.

Thanks folks for the advice, just can't wait and with 20 cm of snow tomorrow, may end as soon as it has started, at least for now,

TurkeyJohn

[Bruce L]

Drilled lots today, lost count but somewhere between 4 and 5 hundred in so far, hope to finish one bush in the morning before winter sets back in. Fresh taps were running good, but after a while quit or slowed right up.

[Big_Eddy]

We had 50 gals of sap when we collected tonight. 150 trees on buckets. Those on the hill top in the sun were flowing alright. Those in the north slope not so much. Hopefully have enough by weekend to boil. Not looking like much the next few days.

[Yellzee]

Got maybe 25 gallons from 120ish taps. Put in another 10 or so and they weren't running. Sap sealed up in a drum in the shack waiting for more. On the plus side evaporator back In place and chimney hooked back up. Just need to connect float box and level. Down side the gravel it sits on is flooded with ice so once it thaws a bit I will have to re-level

[BrutemanAl]

I am only a small time sapper lol , I have 10 buckets in right now,all but 1 are dripping, collected 5 gallons early evening last night, I boiled it down,got 1 cup of yummy love.I plan on putting in another 5 or 6 this weekend and go from there.The sugar content in the sap was around the 3 mark on my fancy new refractometer.

[TurkeyJohn]

Way to go Al, so jealous of your run and the resulting syrup....

Had to retrieve my pails, wind blowing them around like crazy with this STUPID storm, nothing running anyway,

TurkeyJohn

[keith]

Well here in Ottawa we collected 55litres of sap on 107 pails, so nothing really. I'm a little disappointed after the warm day yesterday, but I guess spring isn't ready yet. We have a week of cold and then hopefully some more warm weather. I'm going to boil what I have as a batch in my evaporater, and hope not to burn anything, wish me luck!
Keith

[Galena]

Well here in Ottawa we collected 55litres of sap on 107 pails, so nothing really. I'm a little disappointed after the warm day yesterday, but I guess spring isn't ready yet. We have a week of cold and then hopefully some more warm weather. I'm going to boil what I have as a batch in my evaporater, and hope not to burn anything, wish me luck!
Keith

Nothing really?:lol: Trust me, you're doing fine!!! My woodstove has been sloowwly evaporating off the measly one gallon I've collected so far. Now it's down to about 1.5 l. Certainly not enough to make syrup yet, but just want to reduce it to a manageable amount til more sap comes.

I have all of 6 trees going, 18 taps. One tree is producing about 80% of all the sap so far, and all but two of them are producing. But not too worried, one of them is #6 who traditionally takes a little more time to get going. The other dry one is a little more of a dark horse, but I did tap #9 in 2011 and it sure pulled its weight then!

So for those of you who are worried cause of the weather...relax. Even though I have been entertaining the idea of buying a few dozen electric blankets, and a whole lot of extension cords so I could hypothetically warm up my trees...nah, and I don't really want a gazillion-dollar hydro bill!!!

None of us can do anything about the crapadelic weather. So my advice is to just be patient, and when Da Last(?) Big Freeze is over, check that your spiles are all still in (may need to tap them back in if the freeze pushes em out) and let your trees do their thing.

[daverobitaille]

I finished to boil last night. 40 gallons and ended up with 3L. I do not think the sap is at 3% yet for me this year. Not unusual to have less sugar on the first runs. Now frozen solid for the rest of the week. The long range does not look good for over a week. What a strange spring... Starting to wonder that when it will warm up it will be too quick and it will not freeze at night and cutting the season. I'll try to keep a positive attitude.
2 years ago I was done at the end of February and last year I was done by march 20th. did not really start yet! For many of us this is a hobby but I feel bad for those that are doing it for a living!
GO AWAY old Man Winter! Lol!

[Kyle Baker]

On 50 taps I might have 5 gallons of sap from the other day. Not even enough to wet my new pans. I guess it's not time for my old trees to thaw out quite yet. I probably should have waited another week to tap. Oh well!

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

[Yellzee]

well, being totally unprepared and making a horrible decision which roads to try to take home in yesterday's storm I almost got to miss the syrup season. Back road in my little car and I got stuck at the bottom of a hill in a 3 foot drift that went completely across the road. I was in the middle of the road still but quite stuck. Complete whiteout conditions so no way anyone would see me. I was wearing a coat with a broken zipper and had no hat, only a pair of work gloves... likely a mile walk to the closest farmhouse in gale force winds. By miracle a snow plow showed up about 5 minutes into the panic of figuring out whether to sit in the car until someone smashed into me, or walk to a house and lose my ears and hands..... Big Eddy I was stuck on Rose road... so you were going to be my next call for help!!! You'd think after this winter I'd be a bit better prepared. All this to avoid the 401 since I was worried it was closed and I'd be stuck out there for hours.

[TurkeyJohn]

Hey Yellzee,

Take better care next time, close call for sure and glad you lived to see another season.

As a former Stirling boy, would hate to read about you in the Intell today,

TurkeyJohn

[Vandy]

9170

From a total of 90 taps we made our first syrup Wednesday am.

Friday I put in 10 test taps, 9/10 flowed a bit right away.
Saturday I put in 25 more, not much flow.
Monday afternoon we tapped the rest, starting to flow a bit.
Tuesday at 6pm after not very much flow again, I surprisingly collected around 35 gallons, stayed up all night and made 4.5 liters of the best tasting maple syrup I’ve ever had! A bit heavy as my hydrotherm seems lazy but that's OK.. Now back to 5 foot snow drifts and no sign of sap flow for weeks…

Thanks to this site for so much great info!

[Kyle Baker]

I haven't used a hydrotherm before but I was told they are slow to get a reading off as you have to wait for the thermometer to come up on it. Hydrometers are quicker, but they are only calibrated to work at a set temperature so it may not be 100%. Awesome haul for your first go Vandy! I guess my welds on your arch all held up to the heat! Lol

[Vandy]

I think I need a deeper cup also as it seemed to take longer to float also - only a few mm off the bottom of test cup when floating. I know next time to let it sit a bit longer..

Yep, welds were perfect!

[Yellzee]

Anyone not stuck at work today please feel free to update us if any sap starts flowing this aft when it warms up

[TurkeyJohn]

Going home at lunch, I'll take a look see then and check in from Kingston anyway,

TurkeyJohn

[Vandy]

I'm going out later this afternoon to check my saks and empty out any snow in the buckets.. Already had one sak fall off from the high winds..

[Kyle Baker]

Ya... I picked up a few buckets and emptied the snow out last night.

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

[Galena]

Ya... I picked up a few buckets and emptied the snow out last night.

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

Ditto. Dumped snow. Seeing that only 1 tree is doing the bulk of the work at the moment, and that the sap is frozen to the bottom, just had to shake out the snow. Surprised none of my empty pails got loose and went rolling all over the bush!

[Run Forest Run!]

OMG OMG OMG it's starting! :o I actually have sap dripping from my test taps!

[TurkeyJohn]

Too much wind and still frozen here in Kingston, maybe later,

WTG Karen!!

TurkeyJohn

[Vandy]

Too much wind and still frozen here in Kingston, maybe later,

WTG Karen!!

TurkeyJohn

+1, but starting to think about it in Portland. May run over night and into Sat...

Good thing I had real nice trails for those 4 -5 foot drifts to land on:o

[TurkeyJohn]

+1, but starting to think about it in Portland. May run over night and into Sat...

Good thing I had real nice trails for those 4 -5 foot drifts to land on:o

Hope so for you Vandy, if you're running in Portland, we should be here too!! Yeah, drifts are nice, tired of winter. Wish someone would tell old man Winter Spring is official in less than a week and that Christmas was almost 3 months ago already!!

TurkeyJohn

[Kyle Baker]

Getting a few taps running here on my big trees this afternoon! They've been bone dry up till now so I'm about ready to click my heels together :)

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

[Clamer33]

We had taps running late this afternoon in the Belleville area. Some of the five gallon buckets had about 1-2 gallons just from today. Hope tomorrow they will be nearing full. We have 300 buckets out and have only collected 110 gallons of sap from last weekend. Come out time is running out! April is starting to look a lot warmer on the long range forecast

[BrutemanAl]

My taps started to run yesterday again,not enough to collect though,hopefully it ran through the night and i will be able to boil some this afternoon, time will tell, I dont plan on going into the bush this morning because i have to go get my wife a bday gift this morning, not sure what i will get her yet,was thinking of snow shoes so she can go collect the sap for me lol.... just kidding

[daverobitaille]

Got to the bush this morning and collected 40 gallons of sap out of 80 taps. Got boiling right away as the temps will turn cold for the next few days. With this batch |I should have about 2 gallons of liquid gold so far this year. Hope you guys have fun! Now I need to go to the beer store to get maple syrup supplies! LOL!

[Galena]

Hey Al....you can always get me a pair of snowshoes, those little teeny ones...sick already of punching through rotten snow on my trails! And Dave, get some bottles of Sleeman Brown. Then you can put some light amber syrup in the bottles and fool your friends, just make sure they don't actually swig your syrup!

Now going out to collect a couple litres or so...and #6 still has not started yet, and even #9 is going now...c'mon, #6!!! Please! ;-)

[Vandy]

I've had to empty a few pails this am! Slow drip all night and day here. Will do another small batch tonight..

[daverobitaille]

Down to 10 gallons already. boiling good today. 30 gallons vaporized in 3 hours! Sorry did not get the beer you suggested! Good idea to fool a friend! Got to go watch the syrup now so I do not damage my pan!....Pancakes for dinner! Hummmmmm.....

[BrutemanAl]

I collected 6 gallons right now, going to boil it tomorrow, tree's were running good today,got a video of one of the lines i use and it is a constant steam of sap. Galena .... I ended up just going the fresh cut flower route, didnt think the snow shoes would go over to well lol

[Yellzee]

I didn't do nearly as well as some of you. Maybe 40 gallons on 120ish taps. Think I will boil the 70 or so total gallons tomorrow. Looking at the temps I will have to take it all out of the pan though. Had a lot of loose taps so tapped them all in again.

[Maple Dan]

Boiled today, whole 3.5 liters. Well it's a start.

[BrutemanAl]

Yesterday I put in some more taps and such and it was sunny out while I was doing it, as soon as I got the hole drilled the sap started running out,I only put in 5 more taps,not allot but it took me over an hour to do because of the snow and ice.... anyhow, figured I would wait till later in the afternoon/early evening to come back and collect what sap there was,went back a few hrs later and by this time it was snowing and getting colder, all my taps had stopped running. I said to myself.... this stupid winter needs to end !!! While collecting the sap it stopped snowing but stayed cloudy, then all of a sudden the sun came out and what i heard was.... drip drip drip drip,then the sun went away and everything went silent again,then the sun came out a few minutes later and the drip drip drip drip started all over again.

Not sure where I was going with this,it is just something I noticed and remember noticing it last year also.

I love being in the forest !!!

[TurkeyJohn]

Was a good day yesterday indeed. About a gallon in total from the 8 of 12 buckets that are running. Just in time for the freeze last night and next day or so. I think after we're on like Donkey Kong. Wishing anyway....

TurkeyJohn

[Kyle Baker]

I'm getting anxious. Boiled down what little sap I had on the kitchen stove last night... Maybe made an eighth of a liter of yummy silver maple syrup. Very low sugar content. Not overly sweet. My wife will love it!

[Yellzee]

And the fire is lit... Man its cold in the shack. Can't wait for it to warm up!92109211

[Galena]

It's sooo frickin stoopid cold!!!! Haven't bothered to try and make syrup yet, have only about 500ml of condensed sap from the last few days. Nice amount of sap out there, a few litres anyway, but frozen in the spiles and bottoms of pails. Crappy forecast for today in terms of run, but maybe the sun will warm the pails enough to warm the bottoms so I can shake out the frozen sap, then bring it in and let it thaw and evaporate.

Really hope it warms up, I want to do a photoshoot in the woodshed for a challenge and in order for the shot to be effective I can't be bundled up.

[Yellzee]

Boiled 5-6 hrs to get through what I had. Felt great to get started. Forgot what a pain it is to empty one of these continuous flow pans to avoid damage from the deep freeze coming.....had to wait forever for everything to cool down so I could drain it and by then the shack was really cold. Problems getting a good front pan boil today. At least I have sweet for the pans!

[Vandy]

I did another 35 gals including the rain and snow..

Talk about cold, my gravity feed 1/8 brass fittings were freezing up. Had to periodically get the hair dryer and venture out into the cold.

[Eric in Kinburn]

I'm in Kinburn just west of Ottawa and I'm officially tapping my trees tomorrow. This is the latest I've started and I don't have high hopes of amazing sap run. I don't think I will have enough sap to fire up the evaporator this weekend, but I'm finally starting.

[Big_Eddy]

Big Eddy I was stuck on Rose road... so you were going to be my next call for help!!! .

I know exactly where you were. Would not be the first extraction there. Would have come pulled you out. We were around. I took march break off to do syrup with the kids. By Thursday we were looking for things to do! Had all the boys home on the weekend to help. We collected 150 trees in about 10 mins there was so little sap.

I have about 90 gallons of ice in my tank now. Almost enough to sweeten my pans if it ever thaws out. I haven't lit a fire yet. Hopefully later this week will be better.

[Maplerock]

I tapped on Friday (14th) at 5:00PM with all 20 spiles running well (sunny, air temp 5-6 deg. C) and it stayed warm all night where I am. Set up my evaporator with friends Saturday (15th), collected the sap at 6:00PM that day as the temp. nose dived (some 2 gallon buckets were even full by then), and we boiled that night after a snow storm ended (now that was cold out in the open!). Got a litre of syrup filtered Sunday morning (16th). For me a successful weekend as I got the ball rolling, made more than enough syrup for a big pancake brunch on Sunday, taffy for the kids and their friends, as well as some bottles for my stash and give-aways. The only down side was that one of the little haulers tripped in the rough snow and dumped an entire 2 gallon bucket full of sap all over themselves. I am going to put in 5 more spiles this week. Good luck everyone.

[Galena]

Poor kid! Two gallons would be enough to give a helluva soaker. I hate spilling sap and with this nice deep snowpack finally starting to rot, punching through is bad enough. I have few enough trees (and a punky enough run so far) that I can collect with a 4-gallon pail with a tight-fitting lid. Don't know if it would actually stay on if I did go butt over teakettle though.

[SPM in King]

Just put in 80 taps...nothing happening in the King City area.

Steve.

[Run Forest Run!]

Hey Steve. I put in another seven this afternoon, and three were leaking right away. A couple of my taps from last week were also running. It won't be long now. :D

[Yellzee]

storm system moving in, pressure differential from the atmosphere, should be a bit above freezing (plus 2 already it says)... are we in for a monsoon of SAP or what are the thoughts out there?

Hockey tourney for the young lad this weekend so I can't boil... that probably improves the odds of it being a large run!

[Run Forest Run!]

Yellzee, thanks for sacrificing your weekend for the good of your fellow Ontario sugarers. Your absence will most certainly mean a monsoon for the rest of us. Way to take one for the team, both hockey and maple. Oh, and let me know when you plan to wash your car, I'll put out my rainbarrel the day before. :cool:

[Big_Eddy]

It won't be long now. :D

Karen - You had to go and say it - didn't you? Now next week's forecast has been updated and it's calling for another Deep Freeze. I'm holding you accountable!

Yellzee won't be washing his car any time soon. He's still trying to dig the snow out of the rad :)

I'm hoping to have enough fresh sap by weekend for my first fire. I can't count on the 90gals of ice that's currently sitting in my storage tank until it warms up some more. I love winter and even I'm saying "enough already".

At least when the sap finally comes, nobody'll be no complaining about not being ready.

[Yellzee]

Thanks Big Eddy, I appreciate the support... think I have most of the snow out of there now. that is crazy how cold next week looks... then a bunch of nights at zero... they are trying to intimidate us!!!!!

[TurkeyJohn]

Checked my buckets at lunch time, thought warmer would get things going. No sun, so no sap.:(

Hoping things get going soon, Have a few taps with sap oozing around them, did I split the wood when I tapped them in and should I retap??

TurkeyJohn

[Vandy]

Have a few taps with sap oozing around them, did I split the wood when I tapped them in and should I retap??

TurkeyJohn

No, do not re-tap. Yes you either split the tree or drilled in and out and made the hole too big. I did this too and will be more careful next year..

[TurkeyJohn]

Thanks Vandy,

Thinking tree was still frozen and tapped too hard, darn that enthusiasm!!

Good luck this season if it ever gets here!!:lol:

TurkeyJohn

[Yellzee]

Hey Turkey... ha

when it gets very cold like it has been after the sap runs you can also get some taps push out of the tree if the sap freezes and expands behind it.. especially if you didn't tap the hole somewhat downhill .... dont' be afraid to give the leaking taps another "light" hit on a warm day and see if it goes in a bit further.

I gave them all another light tap last weekend and found many that were loose.

I usually tap them lightly repeatedly until I hear a different sound that tells me they are set. Was trying to teach my 9year old this last weekend with mixed success.

Splitting the tree is painful... It's amazing to see the scars from trees I first tapped 6 or 7 years ago and how the split travels and stays with the tree. Those were bigger taps I was hanging buckets off so I really whacked them I guess.

[TurkeyJohn]

Glad it seems to only be 1 or 2 that I may have split. Hoping it's just them coming loose and not splitting, don't see any yet so may be I got lucky.

Thanks for the info,

TJ

[Yellzee]

if it really stays above zero tonight I think we may see some run overnight... once the trees actually thaw out a bit. Wish I had some pictures of what it looked like March 19 last year... I suspect I was driving through mud already to get to the pipeline.

I plan to have the kids set up their own 5-6 tap pipeline on soft maples near the house this Sunday afternoon. Under careful supervision they will install the lines and then when it gets warmer drill/tap all on their own. let them boil it on the turkey pot instead of just sitting bored watching dad run the evaporator, okay okay... watching their Papa run the evaporator while dad socializes with whomever stops by!

[TurkeyJohn]

Last year we had the TV with rabbit ears watching hockey games while we boiled down on the Bar B Q finishing our first little batch. No issues with socializing,

TJ

[Yellzee]

Some sap is trickling out of the line here. Hopefully it builds.

TJ it has been a topic on the board before, I have a dish on my shack and always watch playoffs during the season. Think if I ever got a really good evaporator that would stop. When we just did huge batches In The flat pan it was great.

[Eric in Kinburn]

I put 55 taps in yesterday afternoon. Some of the trees were dripping right away, but there wasn't enough today to collect. Looks like next week is not looking too good with temperatures staying below freezing all week. I will wait until that passes to put 20-25 more taps. Very slow going this year.

[Galena]

*eyeroll* Aww, no....as though today wasn't bad enough, being murky and damp cold - now there's another deep freeze coming? This is crazy, I'm starting to think of pulling my spiles (though of course as soon as I do, the sap will just come gushing out). I just hope like hell there is a sap tsunami on the way.

[TurkeyJohn]

Retrieved about 4 quarts this morning from last night, hopeful for more today though with continuing mild weather before the deep freeze,

TJ

[Vandy]

Some sap in my buckets/saks on some trees (half gal). Some really dark sap also? I'll probably collect tonight and save to boil it on Sat..

[DrewCP]

Still holding off for another week before tapping anything. Will probably tap Thursday Mar 27 after work. Looks like I will miss a run tomorrow but no big deal. I'd rather miss a 1 day run than mess around with popped spiles and 50 gallons of completely frozen sap. I can't believe we are to see a week of nightime lows from -11 to -17. Insane. Last year we were done boiling and cleaning up by the end of next week. This year we will be tapping that same week.

Good luck to everyone and stay warm!



Can't wait to get started. Young lad has his own collecting bucket this year.
9278

[Run Forest Run!]

Adorable photo DrewCP. Good luck this season - whenever that is...:)

[Big_Eddy]

Some Stats for the Quinte Area

2011
Tapped March 19th
First Boil March 20
Last Boil April 15
Season 23 days
10 Boils,
1.27l / tap

2012
Tapped March 3
First Boil March 4
Last Boil March 15
Season 13 days
6 Boils
0.3l /tap

2013
Tapped Feb 22
First Boil March 2
Last Boil April 8
Season 46 days
10 Boils
0.95l / tap

2014
Tapped March 8
First Boil TBD - April???

[SPM in King]

Looks like we had a bit of a run last night....maybe 50l from 80 taps. Tomorrow and Sunday look good. Perhaps we will boil next week!

Steve.

[ennismaple]

We've got only 3" of sap in the tanks from running the pumps yesterday and today. We were hoping to boil on Saturday - now it looks like we'll be doing more camp cleanup and commiserating!

[Bruce L]

Took water down and washed out the holding tanks yesterday, thought of taking water to put in the pans to do a spring clean up boil(bored) but now talking of another deep freeze coming. More tapping to do, repairs, changes etc.

[BrutemanAl]

We need sun !! Darn it , went back and checked everything yesterday in the early evening and I didnt have enough to collect, it was dripping a little but not enough to collect and boil, probably collect what I have either tonight or tomorrow and boil it.

On a side note I installed a back up Generator for a customer 2 days ago and they were the owners of the Warkworth Maple Syrup Bush ( sandy flats ) they just sold it back in Dec I think it was,talked a little about tapping and so forth. It was the highlight of my day lol

[Yellzee]

I bet the folks that bought that bush are a little scared of what might be a bad season for their first year!

I collected about 30 gallons last night, it was still trickling a bit. Hoping today might be a large day if that sun shines. Happy there is another snowstorm forecast for the travels to hockey tournaments tomorrow!

[Yellzee]

It's running9315 it's running!

[TurkeyJohn]

Thanks for the update Yellzee,

Sitting in my office, wishing I was watching the buckets fill up,

TJ

[Vandy]

Yeah baby it certainly is.

[DrewCP]

C'mon. Are you kidding me?


Alerts for: Smiths Falls - Lanark - Sharbot Lake


Warnings

1:15 PM EDT Friday 21 March 2014
Snowfall warning in effect for:
•Plevna - Sharbot Lake - Western Lanark County
•Smiths Falls - Perth - Eastern Lanark County

A heavy snowfall expected tonight.

It may be the first full day of spring, but it's no surprise that mother nature is still in a wintery mood. A potent disturbance currently over Minnesota is expected to carve a path across Southern Ontario tonight with the centre of low pressure likely to cross the Toronto area after midnight.

A period of heavy snow is expected beginning late this evening near Lake Huron reaching the Barrie area shortly after midnight and far Eastern Ontario later tonight. The snow is expected to be very heavy at times with snowfall rates of more than 3 centimetres per hour. Although the duration of snow is not expected to be significant, the accumulation of heavy snow will likely exceed 15 centimetres before it tapers off later tonight near Lake Huron and over Eastern Ontario Saturday morning.

Travellers are urged to use caution tonight into Saturday morning due to visibilities of 200 metres or less in heavy snow as well as significant and rapid accumulation on untreated roads.

[stoneslabs]

Well that's it! I'm going fishing tomorrow, the sap will come when it's ready... hopefully I won't be too intoxicated from fishing to start sugaring! :lol:

[Galena]

C'mon. Are you kidding me?


Alerts for: Smiths Falls - Lanark - Sharbot Lake


Warnings

1:15 PM EDT Friday 21 March 2014
Snowfall warning in effect for:
•Plevna - Sharbot Lake - Western Lanark County
•Smiths Falls - Perth - Eastern Lanark County

A heavy snowfall expected tonight.

It may be the first full day of spring, but it's no surprise that mother nature is still in a wintery mood. A potent disturbance currently over Minnesota is expected to carve a path across Southern Ontario tonight with the centre of low pressure likely to cross the Toronto area after midnight.

A period of heavy snow is expected beginning late this evening near Lake Huron reaching the Barrie area shortly after midnight and far Eastern Ontario later tonight. The snow is expected to be very heavy at times with snowfall rates of more than 3 centimetres per hour. Although the duration of snow is not expected to be significant, the accumulation of heavy snow will likely exceed 15 centimetres before it tapers off later tonight near Lake Huron and over Eastern Ontario Saturday morning.

Travellers are urged to use caution tonight into Saturday morning due to visibilities of 200 metres or less in heavy snow as well as significant and rapid accumulation on untreated roads.

Yeah same here, I'm about 40km from Smiths Falls so in the same band of crapola weather. Still, though I wouldn't say the sap was running today so much as it was enthusiastically dripping from all spiles. About 1.5 gallons from 6 trees so not too bad. Hardly nothin compared to previous seasons though!!!

[daverobitaille]

Went to the bush last night after work with my sun and we collected 30 gallons and it was still running. Get up this morning and WOW...Mr old man winter was back with 5 inches of snow here in Coldwater.
Still going to go collect this morning and hope to have another 15 gallons and if lucky it will run today. Should have my gallon of syrup tomorrow. I only have 80 taps this year.

[BrutemanAl]

I bet the folks that bought that bush are a little scared of what might be a bad season for their first year!

!

it could be a scary year, Mr Potter and his wife were telling me they had 5000 taps, and they supply allot of the big name grocery store's with syrup along with smaller markets and stores. He said they are getting some,but it has just been to cold.

[BrutemanAl]

I went and collected some of my sap late yesterday afternoon,got 7.5 gallons from 7 buckets, there was more in the other buckets but didnt have room to bring it back.I was going to empty my container and go get the rest,but as i pulled up to my garage on my atv I ran out of gas and didnt have any to put in it. So this morning I will go get gas and then head over and collect what is still there and start boiling it down.

[Vandy]

I collected about 40 gals yesterday and boiled some of it down last night. Hoping for a bit more today after the snow before the deep freeze!

[Big_Eddy]

I'm boiling today. 55 gals yesterday and hopefully I can thaw out some of the 100 gals of ice in my tank as well. It'll get me started at least.

[Clinkis]

Only blessing for me with this late start is it allowed my broken ankle a chance to heal. When i broke it 2 weeks ago i thought "no syrup for me this year!" which was devastating as my family and I look forward to it all year. But yesterday i stumbled around in the snow in a walking cast and put in 92 taps with the help of a couple friends. Was running well and was even able to collect 25 gallons. Not much but it's a start. This afternoon I hope to put in my last pipeline of 25 taps. Hopefully its not too late for everyone to have a good season!

[Galena]

Collected twice yesterday and got 1.5 gallons, better than a kick in the butt...letting it slowly evaporate down on the stove. This snow is INSANE!!

[keith]

Good to hear our neighbors in Ontario are starting to get some runs. We have been collecting a little everyday here in Ottawa and I have about 150-200 liters or so of sap, and have thrown out Alot of ice so hopefully, we get some good ratios. Mother nature dumped a pile of snow on us this morning so I'm off to plow snow but so I'll boil tonight and update everyone tommorow.

[BrutemanAl]

I'm boiling right now, went and collected the rest of my sap late this morning,got another 6 gallons and all the tree's were dripping really well. Also put in another 5 taps .

[Yellzee]

Father-in-law boiling all afternoon and now boiling and watching leAfs beat habs while boiling. Collected another 60 or so gallons today's/last night.

Need to go load the Sap trailer again before It gets dark.

Bought a vacuum/milking pump today so next years challenge is getting it running, making a releAser and running 1000' of mainline from the woods to the shack!

[Run Forest Run!]

. . . and watching leAfs beat habs!

I knew there was something more about you than just sugaring that I liked. lol Go Leafs! :)

I collected a whopping 6 litres of sap from my soft maples (at 2.5%). Obviously my trees are still sleeping soundly.

[Yellzee]

Anyone notice the night time lows on the 14 day forecast? Yikes

[Ren]

Yep, sure hope there wrong!

[BrutemanAl]

Got done boiling mine all down around 8 pm last night, ended up with 1.5 ltrs (around 6 cups) , looked at it this morning and there is allot of niter in it, I filtered it before boiling,filtered it 2 times before finishing on my stove and then filtered it another 2 times when all was said and done.

I put it in my fridge last night , can I slowly reheat it and re-filter it again do you think? Any suggestions perhaps?

[Yellzee]

Couple thoughts....1. Are you stirring the syrup or "squeezing it through the filter? I find you have to let it go through on It's own or the nitre sneaks through. 2. Yes you can reheat and filter, but since it's in The fridge I would say leave it settle a few days then pour the syrup off the top.

[BrutemanAl]

No i dont stir it as I filter it, I just let it go through the filter on its own.

[Yellzee]

Reading our shack log book last Night I noticed our normal end of season in the last 6-7 years is April 10-14. In most of those years there is a 4-7 day period of warm weather before some really good runs. So I have concluded that as a minimum we still must have 3-4 weeks left in The season!

[Kyle Baker]

I finally fired my new oil tank arch I built. Worked good. I can't give you a gph on it but it's a real step up from my old single steam pan rig.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/03/24/zesura6y.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/03/24/ha4e9uqy.jpg
I used a siphon to keep the pans level and it worked awesome. I've got a 2x3 sap pan and a 2x1 finishing pan. I had somewhere less than 40 gallons of sap over the last week and I finished just shy of 3 litres of unseasonably dark delicious syrup. I also boiled over on my kitchen stove for the first time in 3 years, so lost a bunch, and my hydrometer read heavy so it's gonna be thick. I hope it doesnt crystallize in my jars. I didn't have any sap left to thin it out.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/03/24/udemuzyz.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/03/24/ady3asa3.jpg

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

[Eric in Kinburn]

I collected about 12 gallons of sap on my 55 taps (not nearly enough to fire up the evaporator) on Saturday before temperatures dipped down below -15C. It won't get above zero until Friday here and I already see night time lows above zero next week which means the season will be absolutely terrible for us in Ottawa this year. Hope everyone else is having some success.

[DrewCP]

I collected about 12 gallons of sap on my 55 taps (not nearly enough to fire up the evaporator) on Saturday before temperatures dipped down below -15C. It won't get above zero until Friday here and I already see night time lows above zero next week which means the season will be absolutely terrible for us in Ottawa this year. Hope everyone else is having some success.


I'm seeing the same trend. We'll be tapped in by Thursday evening and hope to catch a decent run for the next week. Looks like we'll collect for 10 day's and then run it all on Sat/Sun Apr 5-6. Will be 1 single boil this year. We'll be fine. We only need enough to supply family and give away to friends and neighbours.

[Vandy]

Looks awesome Kyle!

I collected about 40 gals Friday and 30 sat. Boiled both nights and all day yesterday. Good times!

[Big_Eddy]

We boiled most of Saturday and all of Sunday. Total 260 gals of sap boiled off. Somewhere about 30 litres of syrup sitting ready for finishing and bottling. We kept going until about 9pm last night to get the last of the sap out of the bulk tank before it froze (again).

Did struggle with frozen lines and valves a bit, as it was below freezing in the shack and there was a lot of ice in my main tank to drop into the hose and plug my float valve. Glad I had my emergency pail handy.

We were doing well, over 20 gals/hr much of the time and hit 25 at least once.

I made almost as much syrup as we did all 2011, so it's not going to be the worst season ever.

[TurkeyJohn]

Hey Folks,

My little operation, burn barrel with a hotel pan in the side and chimney off the back. Boiled down about 15 gallons to little over a litre and half of syrup. We have soft maples, Norways, and Silvers so takes more to add up. Could have gone a little longer to get it little thicker, but happy with the result. Wife says too eager to finish, way quicker than last year, was usually boiling for 10-12 hours at a time, this year, 3 1/2 start to finish, sweet......

Good season to all now that it's here, though interrupted...

TurkeyJohn

[Yellzee]

Hey Kyle, nice rig, similar to mine... question.. are you getting a good boil in the front pan with it right at the front of the rig? MIne is just like that and I cannot get a good boil up there... I suspect the draft pulls the heat back so it doesn't go straight up. Considering putting in a small blower to see if that would help.

[Vandy]

Hey Kyle, nice rig, similar to mine... question.. are you getting a good boil in the front pan with it right at the front of the rig? MIne is just like that and I cannot get a good boil up there... I suspect the draft pulls the heat back so it doesn't go straight up. Considering putting in a small blower to see if that would help.

Too much draft. Slow it down and pile more wood at the front..

[Vandy]

We were doing well, over 20 gals/hr much of the time and hit 25 at least once.

Holy crap! That's ridiculus evap rate.. I think I'm lucky to be getting 3 -4 gals/hr - haven't been able to get solid reading yet..

[Kyle Baker]

Hey Kyle, nice rig, similar to mine... question.. are you getting a good boil in the front pan with it right at the front of the rig? MIne is just like that and I cannot get a good boil up there... I suspect the draft pulls the heat back so it doesn't go straight up. Considering putting in a small blower to see if that would help.

Hey, I had no problem keeping a good boil in the front pan. I actually kept better boils in the front than the big back pan. I have the space under the back pan choked down to maybe only a couple inches, so a lot of heat stays up front before being pulled back by the draft. The back pan boiled at the front of it very well, and even halfway back but the very back was fairly still. I may open up the airspace under it a bit to split the heat. I don't know what kind of boil of rate I should get on it, but I started around 9am and took it off around 7-7:30, and boiled in the neighborhood of 30-40 gallons of sap. Seems like a long time to me. Still better than last year though!

[Kyle Baker]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/03/25/dymunyje.jpg

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

[ennismaple]

Between Friday and Saturday's runs we had enough to boil Saturday evening. There were only a few kinks to iron out but overall things went well. The RO ran well, the new sap tank is great (3,000 gallons storage in the camp is awesome!) and we love the new cross-flow pan. The sap was kinda cloudy coming in so we made a low light (almost medium) but it tasted great.

With the new sap tank in the camp we re-plumbed to a rigid 1.5" pipe to feed the supply pump. Even with 2 Celcius sap we still pushed 625+ gallons per hour through the RO all night. Last year we had a 1.25" pipe and we struggled to get 500GPH with cold sap.

The PITA is the fresh snow got packed down into ice and we couldn't get pallets of wood to the door of the sugar camp. We don't have chains on the back tires and with all the weight on the front forks we just spun in place.

[daverobitaille]

Yes it was boiling great on Sunday. Now waiting again to warm up to get more sap. So far this year did not hit the ratio that I have more sap than I can boil.

I have 80 taps and a 3X2 Patrik Paneuf evaporater. On a good day I can boil 7 gallons\hour.

Dave

[Kyle Baker]

Is that a flat pan Dave?

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

[ontario guy]

HI all,

looks like this weekend is it for the ottawa area.. -5 at night +8 during the day. I have 66 our of 110 taps in and will put the rest in tonight and tomorrow. I gathered 30 gallons of sap from friday and saturday.

Good luck to everyone for the weekend because i think we are going to get what we have been hoping for.

Mark

[Kyle Baker]

You think after this blast it may all come to an end? The weather going up to the pluses and staying there doesn't seem promising for a long season. Might be short and sweet. If so I should get some extra taps in and collect what I can! Then again, it could get cold again and continue on which would give me more sap than I can handle.


HI all,

looks like this weekend is it for the ottawa area.. -5 at night +8 during the day. I have 66 our of 110 taps in and will put the rest in tonight and tomorrow. I gathered 30 gallons of sap from friday and saturday.

Good luck to everyone for the weekend because i think we are going to get what we have been hoping for.

Mark

[Run Forest Run!]

Kyle, that's also going to be my strategy for this year. Put in extra taps and boil and boil and boil. If I get more than I can handle I'll be chucking out every bit of loose ice that I get and I'll be using my refractometer to make sure that I'm always boiling the sweetest buckets first. This season could be fast and furious, and if it is, I'll be ready.

[ontario guy]

i once saved all the ice and melted it. then measured the sugat at .5%, so it is not much if your running near 3%

i have seen years where is ends quickly but there is so much snow left that i don't think the cold weather is leaving us yet.

[Galena]

HI all,

looks like this weekend is it for the ottawa area.. -5 at night +8 during the day. I have 66 our of 110 taps in and will put the rest in tonight and tomorrow. I gathered 30 gallons of sap from friday and saturday.

Good luck to everyone for the weekend because i think we are going to get what we have been hoping for.
Mark


Please gawd I hope so, I have only about a month left before I pull my spiles (unless one of you guys want to stop by and collect whatever my trees produce). Fed up with getting nothing for 4-5 days, then some 1-2 days ad nauseum!!

[Yellzee]

oh boy, the environment Canada forecast has now changed the nightly lows to below zero for over the weekend and early next week with nice day time highs.... get ready Galena cause it's coming.

I need to get more taps in pronto..

[Clinkis]

Don't worry.....the forecast will change 10 times before next week! Every time I look the forecast changes! I've given up relying on forecast. The way this winter is going, by the weekend they will forecasting below freezing temps and snow! I hope I'm wrong but this frustrating winter has sucked the life out I me and everyone else! Here's hoping there right for a change!

[Bruce L]

Supposed to warm up today, but I don't think that is going to happen. Put all the fittings back onto the pans today, as I take them all off and home for the summer so there is nothing light to steal for scrap metal. Plan was to run a tub full of water through the pans and tighten up fittings when everything got hot, but might have to hold off another day for that.

[NTBugtraq]

Well, I was at 35F for a good 5 hours today, but no sap at the end of my mainline. I assume there's just too much sap frozen in it. I was expecting some rain, which I thought would be amazing...but alas, its snowing again. My trees have pumped sap on numerous days, probably even today, but unless someone can make a gator go on 4' of snow...;-[

Saturday is my new hope.

Cheers,
Russ

[Bruce L]

Maybe sap tomorrow if it warms up and starts to rain. Wife won't be wearing the Reeboks this year to gather, that's for sure

[NTBugtraq]

Its supposed to rain after midnight, and constantly through tomorrow, that should definitely de-thaw the mainline...here's hoping.

Cheers,
Russ

[Yellzee]

Just in from tapping another 30 or so trees. No sap flowing out of the holes.snow much lower and a lot easier to walk through. Young lad could do laps in the field in the four wheeler without getting stuck. Spring May really be coming!

[BrutemanAl]

The sap started to flow on my tree's around 3pm yesterday, not a huge amount, but some were dripping. Here's hoping for a good run the next few days... fingers crossed

[ridgerunner394]

just back from my ridge - maybe 2 gals of frozen and semi frozen accumulation from last 2 days (20 TAPS) - It's +4 and raining here now. Just picked up my new pan yesterday - feel like an expectant parent in the waiting room :{)

[NTBugtraq]

5 gallons this afternoon here, from 130 taps. Mainline is still partially frozen and sitting in snow (despite being on a wire 4' above the ground). Has been 37F since yesterday here (didn't drop at all overnight), so now its not the weather but the ground snow that's fighting me. Luckily I managed to get my 65 gallon storage tank set up today so tomorrow I can start drawing straight into it...for now, its 5 gallon buckets...as long as I remember to change them...;-]

Forecast is at or near freezing as highest through Monday...so the snow's not going to retreat much...sigh.

Cheers,
Russ

[Vandy]

Just checked mine. Surprised at not much there after today.

[Run Forest Run!]

I'm with you Vandy. I expected to see it really start to drip hard today, but it didn't. I think the wind shut it down.

[Clinkis]

Yes, very disappointing. Was +7 here and with low barometric pressure thought it would run great. Now calling for a high of only 2 here tomorrow so might be too cold. Sunday looks good but by end of the week forecast saying temps in teens and not freezing at night.....AHHHHH! Starting to wish I had left everything put away!

[daverobitaille]

Same thing in Coldwater here. Just picked up 9 gallons. I was surprised with warm weather like this. However the snow was supporting me so I think the ground remained frozen and it may take till tomorrow to start running. Same here, I just got a 60 gallons storage tank hopping I was going to boil Saturday morning...Hummm..I will have to wait for Sunday. Good thing I took Monday off!

[NTBugtraq]

So I expanded late this year, put the majority of my new 120 taps in over the last 3 weeks. But I read a report that suggested that taps fall off (don't produce as much) after being open for 2 months...so, any of you considering re-drilling your taps?

Cheers,
Russ

[cvmaple]

Some running a bit this afternoon, I'm hoping it runs most of the night and we can boil for more than a few hours tomorrow.

[Randy Brutkoski]

2 words. frozen ground

[NTBugtraq]

Ok, I have not been doing this for many years, but a week and half ago I disconnected a tee on my mainline...and out spurts a ton of sap....but nothing at my storage tank...so I'm not sure frozen ground has come into play on my lot.

Its currently 39F, higher than it had been all day...high hopes for tomorrow.

Cheers,
Russ

[Bruce L]

Took a tub(200 gallons) of water and dumped into the pans today to give a quick boil before the sap gets going, no sap running, but went back down at 7:00 to drain the pans and the sap was trickling into the tank, might be hope for tomorrow with the vacuum yet!!!!!!!!!!

[NTBugtraq]

lolz, ok, must be a 6th generation thing, you fired enough to get 200 gallons of water to boil...just for fun? You're my new idol...;-]

[Clinkis]

2 words. frozen ground there is little to no frost around here. A friend dug a pool the other day said there was none. Which really surprised me.

[Yellzee]

It is hard to believe no frost with 2-3 feet of ice still on the lakes. I can almost see my driveway again though!

[BrutemanAl]

I thought yesterday would have been better also, was a wee bit disappointed when I went and checked everything around 5 pm, collected about 6 gallons and boiled it last night, ended up with just under a ltr of finished syrup,all my taps were dripping pretty good,hopefully they dripped all night.

[Clinkis]

Weatherman said it was suppose to go down to -4 last night....and it only went down +1. So things didn't freeze which does not bode well for today. Keeping fingers crossed it may have ran through the night as well.

[Clinkis]

It is hard to believe no frost with 2-3 feet of ice still on the lakes. I can almost see my driveway again though!

I agree. Like I said I was shocked when he told me. He is in the construction business and said there is little to no frost anywhere around here. He figures because of heavy snow cover basically since first of December kept ground insulated. I would guess other areas with less snow cover would have more frost.

[BrutemanAl]

I have a question,I did a search for it and came up with lots of post's and replies,but it will take me years to go through them all and find what i am looking for lol.

Filtering has been a pain for me since starting this maple syrup hobby,have tried lots of different ways of filtering,coffee filters sometimes work for me,then the next batch I do it doesn't flow through them,but the batch before would run right through them and come out crystal clear,so I bought a Orlon filter cone to try out,last night was my first time using it,I put 3 pre-filters in the cone,when my syrup was done on the stove I wet the cone filter with super hot water and squeezed out the excess water,poured my boiling sap into the filter and it started to run through and eventually slowed to a drip,so I took out 1 pre-filter and let it drip some more and ended up over a few minutes removing the other 2 pre-filters and got all the syrup to eventually go through the cone filter. But it seems like there is allot of syrup still in the filter itself and I just didn't have it in me to run it under hot water to clean it right away, seems like a waste,I left it hanging over my syrup over night to see if it would slowly drip out so I am not wasting what is still in the filter fibers, so this morning I stuck the filter in a bag in the freezer till I could find an answer.

Am I doing something wrong ? After I filter it with the cone filter,do I just count my losses and rinse it? Do I maybe dip it in boiling sap to get the finished syrup out?

Any suggestions or help would be fantastic, I know this topic has been covered before and hopefully I don't anger anyone with my questions, I did do a search, but like I said, there is so many post's that come up it would take years to go through them all.

[Kyle Baker]

Hey Bruteman, you definitely lose a lot to the orlon. I used it all last year the same way as you, but though many would say not to, I would gently massage a bit of it out at the end, and never had any niter come through. I bottle in glass, so clarity is important and my syrup looks really clear. This year though, I'm thinking of using diaper flannel cut into squares that I can pin over a pot. The cones are a pain to filter small batches with for my setup, so maybe that would be easier. I have a friend doing it that way and gets very clear syrup. He'll start with about 5 layers and remove as they plug up.

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

[Galena]

I also tried a filter, the big flannel kind, and it just sucks up the syrup!!! So I've abandoned that, Especially as I make teeny batches every drop counts. I've gone to using cut-up squares of white cotton (trying to remember where I got it from...a clean, new white T-shirt washed only in hot water with no detergent, or similar) and they work for me. See no reason why Kyle's diaper trick wouldn't work too :-)

You can also ask Karen, aka Run Forest Run! She's a dab hand at this kind of stuff, been making all kinds of preserves for a good long time, and winning at fairs and the like with them. She may have been the one who told me about the clean white cotton for filters.

Anyhoo good luck...and as I'm marooned for the weekend, may as well trudge around and check my trees...think there's maybe a litre out there...*sigh*

[BrutemanAl]

I used to be a chef and not 5 mins ago I cut up a brand new white chef jacket I had bought just before getting out of the cooking industry, goingto give that a try tonight after i finish boiling, I will try a few layers and remove them as needed.

[Galena]

Oh cool, another former foodie! Once upon a time, a million years ago, in a land far, far away, I had a gourmet mustard business, I could talk food all day. Still have the apron I wore at shows and promos. Wouldn't use it though. But yeah, no reason that a brand-new chef's jacket wouldn't work well, let me know and maybe I'll get to Ottawa and Chef's Paradise for some whites ;-0

[BrutemanAl]

mmmmmmmm , me loves mustard ;)

[gregord]

Hey you two on about cutting up tee shirts and chef's jackets, go to Fabric Land or any sewing center and you'll have lots of choose fabric to select from. I've done this for years as I make small batches less than ten liter's at a time. I always filter with a coarse mat'l out of my finishing pan at about 90% syrup into my stock pot, and then into the house on the stove boil to 100% syrup and filter through a cotton lining and then a cotton felt at one time.

[Bruce L]

Another bust today, after starting up the vacuum pump, releaser dumped maybe 4 or 5 times, then not worth running the pump anymore for the little spurts of sap that were coming in.

[Clinkis]

Same here. Turn on sap sucker this morning with hopes of at least a small run. Probably lucky to have gotten 10 gallons of 120 taps. Very disappointing....yet again! Here's hoping tomorrow.....

[Big_Eddy]

Al
Don't waste the syrup in your filter. Toss the filter in your sap pan and pour your fresh sap over it to rinse out as much of the syrup as possible. "Recycling" at its best.
Always leave at least one of the pre filters in the Orlon filter. They will trap most of the nitre. Lift the inner most one out with the nitre trapped in it allowing any remaining syrup to pour into the next. If you use an Orlon without a pre filter it will plug fast and when you rinse it into your next batch you are also adding the nitre back.

[Yellzee]

Nothing here either, getting worried this may really be a zero syrup season

[NTBugtraq]

As far as filtering...Bruteman, you seem too obsessed. It took 1.5 hours to filter the 1/2 litre I got 2 weeks ago with a coffee filter...the syrup is fine...and its time I don't have to do anything with, so who cares how long it takes? If you're doing small batches, put them into the filters before you go to bed and check them when you wake up...?? Do you realize how fine the stuff is you're trying to get out? The most common way of filtering for eons has been to not filter, and let it settle, then pour off all but the cloudy stuff...worked fine for me last year with my 10 taps.

As for sap today, I have been getting at least 1 gallon/hour outta 130 taps. Not nearly where I want to be, but best day so far this year.

Cheers,
Russ

[Galena]

If I may speak up....if Al has had formal training as a chef then yep, I can understand the obsession with getting it all just right. I've started up and run a food business of my own, and helped start up a fine dining restaurant. Several years later I worked in the kitchen of a fine dining restaurant, and at that level you HAVE to be a stickler for the small details, I saw it all up close at this restaurant, which has had the same chef for 15 years now.

Soo, imho, if Al does seem to be obsessing a little bit much, it's probably his chef background kicking in. Just sayin.

To get back on the topic of sugaring...got all of just over 1 l today, 3/4 of it from #7, the only red I am tapping this year; all the others are sugars. It also seems to LIKE northeast winds. Strange but true. *cue Twilight Zone theme*

[NTBugtraq]

I certainly wouldn't suggest a Chef could obsess too much about cooking anything...but sap isn't just something you cook, the trees, environment, and climate all have a lot to say...obsessing about what those elements are doing, aren't something a cook can control. No offense.

Cheers,
Russ

[Run Forest Run!]

If asked to come up with an adjective that describes sugarers, obsessive would be right at the top. You're in good company Al. :lol: Another mystery of the universe . . . why does perfection always seem to be one filter away. ;)

[ARKmaple]

Filtering is one of those things I do not like to rush either. I take my sap down to near syrup at the bush. By the time I get it home it has cooled off so I filter it with some 75 cent cone filters I got from TSC. This gets ride of the bulky sediment. Then I take it down the rest of the way. When I do my final filter, I pour into a (clean new cotton) pillow case and let it hang from the rafters for the day or over night. Just an old trick my mother taught me.
Now to add to this conversation. My folks are telling me, that during the finishing they use to add an egg or milk to the syrup. But the good kind, they use to take the milk right from the bulk tank. This use to make the syrup very clear. There is something about adding eggs or milk to the syrup that makes me hesitant. Unless of course the eggs are cooked with French toast and the milk is in a glass on the side. Am I being a little to cautious and should go forth with the old methods.

[Clinkis]

I have a friend who uses eggs to clarify. He takes a small container of egg whites and dumps it in to his finished syrup when it's still boiling. It goes into clumps and all the dirt and crap stick to the egg. He then skims it all off and filters the syrup. It works well but I find it changes the flavour of the syrup. Definatly not something I would do but lots of the old timers used this method.

[BrutemanAl]

Yes I am obsessed with filtering or any cooking for that matter, if it is not 100% perfect then it is not acceptable to me,and yes it does come from being a chef, having spent 20 plus years in the industry makes you that way I do believe. I fully understand niter and what I am dealing with.I know there is allot of variables involved with the maple syrup process,and I can't change them,but I can work with what I have and find a solution to a problem I may be having,it may take days or even years,but with idea's and suggestions from others I will put them all together in a way that works for me.I have tried the coffee filter process of letting it sit over night on the counter only to wake up and find it all still sitting in the coffee filter with very little in the container,then my next batch I do the exact same thing and it will run through in a decent time and come out nice and clear.

On another note... I collected around 6 gallons yesterday and boiled it down, used some of my chef jacket I spoke about in a previous post, only used 1 square to see how it worked out... worked out perfectly, sap went through it at a good rate at first then slowly went to a drip as it cooled,I left it over night with a spoon in the dripping syrup to create a pressure point for it to drip and when I got up it was all in the pot.Transferred it to a mason jar and it is crystal clear.

Not to happy to wake up and see snow this morning,had high hopes this weekend was going to be a good weekend,not so much.Hopefully the sun comes out today and it warms up :)

Thanks for all the tips and advice on filtering, appreciate all the comments and I will get it figured out.

PS Eddy... I didnt waste the sap in my Orlon bag, when i brought my sap to my house to boil, I dipped the bag in the boiling sap to get the syrup out.I couldnt waste it,and just wash it down the drain, again it comes from being in the cooking industry, food cost's are a huge thing in the food industry and if I can find a way to not waste something and cut cost's I will lol

[Galena]

Hehe, I can fully relate to your chef thinking Al! After all, if the boiling and filtering is all we have control of in this somewhat crazy hobby, well then it's no wonder us foodies want it just perfect and no less! I see the same level of obsession with photographers, and especially the PhotoChop crew...anyone interested can check out www.worth1000.com for examples of mindblowing examples.

FWIW I find the coffee filters can be frustrating too. What I do is make a stack of coffee filters clothespegged to canning funnels. I take one filter/funnel, put it in a jar and pour through the syrup. As the nitre starts to build and clog, I lift the first filter and stick a fresh one underneath. Then I set the first filter atop the fresh one, and use a sharp paring knife to slice open the bottom. With luck the nitre stays stuck to the bottom and sides of the first one and the good stuff goes down into the fresh one. Then I remove the old one, unpeg and replace the filter so it's to go again. And I usually squeeze out the bottom of the used filter to taste the sap.

For the finishing run, though, I do use the plain white cotton squares, and they work a charm. One seems to be fine. And I was tickled pink to find my filters from last year stashed in a baggie in the filter, still all damp from last year's work, so will add them to the sap to leach out the numminess still trapped there.

re the egg whites/milk way of clarifying...my mentors use milk for the clarifying. I've also heard of butter and in older times, pork fat used in the same way. Personally I don't want to add anything to clarify, so generally I just filter it til it's clear.

In terms of production, haven't checked my trees yet today. Not expecting much but #7 was patiently dripping away on all 3 spiles last night, there may be some there.

[Kyle Baker]

It's interesting that egg whites was brought up. I was talking with my father in-law who was a chef that tought at the culinary institute out east. He asked me if anyone used egg shells to clarify syrup and remove impurities. Then the shell is easily filtered out. May be worth a try. Ive seen it used in camp coffee to remove impurities. I keep chickens and save shells to feed back to them so maybe I'll toss some in the next batch to see if they absorb some niter.

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

[BrutemanAl]

Just back from the forest and the sap is running really good right now,hope to collect it mid afternoon and start the boiling process.

[Run Forest Run!]

Al, *sniff*, I can see drips going into my buckets. *wipes a tear*. Is Christmas finally here?

[Galena]

So glad someone's getting something! Nothing here but heavy wet snow!!!

Kyle, the eggshell idea sounds brilliant, and I have also heard of using it for camp coffee. Should work, maybe just rinse out shells really well first so no albumen sticking? Would certainly mean basically no risk of taste contamination.

Dug out my syrup-sodden filters from last year, from the depths of the freezer...and guess what...they aren't frozen solid at all! Very pliable in fact. So waiting for a big ol sap run of a few gallons so I can chuck em in.

Meanwhile my first near-batch of syrup (just a little over 3 g reduced to about 3/4 l) is its usual pale gold colour, which is standard for my trees. Also has that same light marshmallow/vanilla taste to it, almost flowery. Strange but there ya have it.

[Vandy]

Just back from the forest and the sap is running really good right now,hope to collect it mid afternoon and start the boiling process.

+1.. Drip Drip Drip !

For my filter last time, I boiled a bit of water and passed it through/soaked it in. Wife used that water as stock for a maple potato leak soup:) Yummy!

[BrutemanAl]

Al, *sniff*, I can see drips going into my buckets. *wipes a tear*. Is Christmas finally here?

LOL , no christmas , but for some of us the sap fairy's have done their job today :)

Just went and collected sap, 27.7 ltrs from 10 buckets,and 2 water cooler bottle's ,it is just boiling now and there is still more that I didnt bring back, i will go collect it after dinner.

[Bruce L]

Just got back from the bush, sap is trickling in the tanks, nothing special but a little bit could add up. Walked the mainline and found another major split leaking sap. Guess someone is trying to tell me to change all the mainlines for new that have yet to be changed over the last few years

[Kyle Baker]

About 16 gallons collected off 50 taps today. The next few days look promising. Not enough to boil yet, I want a big batch this time.

Sent from my GT-S7560M using Tapatalk

[NTBugtraq]

I got about 25 gallons of sap between yesterday and today. Disappointing, really, but we haven't been below freezing for 3 days now so I guess its to be expected.

Cheers,
Russ

[Yellzee]

I'm at about 65 gallons for the last two days. Prob up to 180 taps

[Big_Eddy]

We didn't collect Saturday, but collected 45 gallons Sunday at ~10am that we boiled off, then another 40 gallons at the end of the day that's sitting in the tank now. I expect today will be the first "good" day for us. It was warm yesterday, a couple of degrees below overnight, and forecasted to be 10 or so today. With 150 trees, I should be getting >75 gals on a good day. I haven't seen that yet this year.

If we do have a good day today, I'll need to think about taking tomorrow or Wednesday off work to boil and catch up. Shucks :D

[Run Forest Run!]

About 10 minutes ago the trees started to drip again - and pretty quickly. I can't wait to see what today's weather brings. Hopefully the trees that are still dry will wake up with +12C.

[Yellzee]

Think I need to mount a wireless camera on my collection tank so I can check status on my phone!

[daverobitaille]

Ho Boy....I am going to be busy...Running like there is no tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.
Dave.

[Run Forest Run!]

It's running gang-busters out there everyone. Fine-tuning my boiling set-up while I listen to the drip drip drip. :)

[Galena]

I saw all my trees starting to go this morning, and my little workhorse #7 has never really stopped! Stuck in K'ville at the moment waiting for car to get fixed, then have to scamper home to check trees and collect sap if needed before racing off to Ottawa for dental appointment. Please let there be a lot of sap!!! :-)

[ennismaple]

Looks like it might finally let loose. Our 1400 tap "New Bush" is dumping every 2.5 minutes and will likely speed up as the day goes on.