Tapping in Franklin county

[PACMAN]

We managed to get 300 in this weekend. Made repairs and cut in new drops and tapped. We figured we would make one pass on each line rather than making two trips on each line. Next weekend we will try and get the other 300 in. The snow is over 3 foot and I cant walk on top of it very well. Well, hope everyone gets them all in and get a lot of sap.

[PACMAN]

Well isnt anyone in Franklin county tapping? I got another 100 in today while making repairs. Going at it again tomorrow.

[barkeatr]

im tapping in Franklin county. 200 taps went in today. sap was starting to run at 2pm. worried about season. cold keeps on and then all of a sudden it will be 80

[PACMAN]

Well,we got another 2 foot of snow with that storm that went through yesterday and this morning.Going up to dig out 1 mile of road tomorrow.Just waiting for sap to run.

[PACMAN]

I just went and looked at my tanks and the main line is dripping. Its snowing out and its around 35 degrees. Maybe things will start to change by next week. Spots of my mainline were under the snow,I walked all 1000 foot and cleared it. Well,all I can do is wait.

[PACMAN]

Well,Ithink this coming Friday will be the start of it.Its suposed to be 40 plus out and the weekend looks good too.Lets keep our fingers crossed.

[barkeatr]

FINGERS CROSSED that we get freezing nights for awhile once it starts to warm up!

[PACMAN]

Where are you in Franklin county Barkeatr?

[PACMAN]

Well,it looks like this friday will be the start for us here.Temps are predicted to be perfect for sap flow.It really is hard having new toys and not being able to use them.

[barkeatr]

im up in north bangor Pacman.

[PACMAN]

Get any sap down there today?It was 30 all day today up on the mountain.Maybe tomorrow the sap will run a little.Cant wait to use my sapguzzler.

[barkeatr]

ITS 44 degrees and no sap in my woods. i guess they need a day to warm up

[Mountain Winds Farm]

Running decent here in Berne ,but there is room for improvement. Did not start running until close to noon!!

[PACMAN]

barkeatr,I think your right,the trees up my way are still frozen.I mean it was 25 below 4 nights ago.Today was the first day we have had thats been over 32.I think by monday we will seethem start running.Mountain winds farm,where is Berne Ive never heard of it.

[barkeatr]

barkeatr,I think your right,the trees up my way are still frozen.I mean it was 25 below 4 nights ago.Today was the first day we have had thats been over 32.I think by monday we will seethem start running.Mountain winds farm,where is Berne Ive never heard of it.

darn on wait for sap..never heard of berne..or are you asking where my place is? im up in bangor

[barkeatr]

oh i get it moutain winds farm in berne...will have to google that!





darn on wait for sap..never heard of berne..or are you asking where my place is? im up in bangor

[barkeatr]

oh i seee berne way down near albany..that would explain sap flow yesterdya while ours is frozen


oh i get it moutain winds farm in berne...will have to google that!

[PACMAN]

ALBANY!They dont have hardly any snow down there.I would send it all down there for them if I could,lol.We will be making syrup in june,lol.The weather person is calling for 6 to 10 inches tonight,just great.Im going up and see if there is any sap in the tanks later today.Im not going to get my hopes up though.

[PACMAN]

I hooked up my Guzzler today about noon,and I now have 80 gal of sap in the first tank.It wasnt running at all without it.I think my season has started.Going up tomorrow and starting the pump at 11 am and see how much more i will get.Ineed another 80 gal or so to light the rig up.And the weather is going to be great Monday till thursday.Lets hope the weather man is corect this time,lol

[PACMAN]

No sap today,but we got another 10 inches of snow.Went up in the bush and shoveled out my mainline,it was snow covered.Then plowed the road to the sugar house.Tomorrow looks good though.Teps will be in the 40s and I have 80 gal in the tank.Time will tell.

[PACMAN]

The sap ran a little today,I ran the guzzler for about 2 hours,and got about 20 gal,so I shut it off and came home.The temp only got to 36 today.Tomorrow should be in the 40s.Anyone else getting anything?

[PACMAN]

Got 125 gallons today,not bad considering that the trees arent awake yet.I lit the fires and had a nice short boil this afternoon.My son checked the tanks before we left and there was 40 gallons for tomorrow.Hows everyone else doing?

[barkeatr]

i have 50 5 gallon pails with 1-3 gallons in them ready to be picked up in the morning. spend the day leveling 2x6 getting everything ready to boil tomorrow. sap flowed pretty good today. lack of real freeze tonight may reduce flow tomorrow

[PACMAN]

Froze up in my neck of the woods last night.I had 90 gal. in tank this morning from last night.I went up and started the guzzler,I will go back up at 2pm and start hawlling sap.

[barkeatr]

wow...we were like 38 degrees for a low..so it dripped all night. It seemed to run out of steam today though. i hauled 5 gallon pails of sap in hip deep snow...150 gallons or so. can use snowshoes as im on and off tractor too much! with freeze tonight we should see gusher tomorrow.

[PACMAN]

I sure do hope so.I made 2 gal of syrup today,cant wait to use the new filter press and canner.Maybe tomorrow.

[PACMAN]

Well,it didnt warm up till 1 pm,but I started the Guzzler and at 4 pm I had 150 gal in the tank. It would not run without it.It only got to 37 deg. today up on the mountain.Cant wait till tomorow.

[PACMAN]

Had a good day today,245 gal.made 7 gal of syrup. I left the guzzler on tonight its not going to get cold tonight.Had about 50 gal in tank when I left at 7 tonight.Still had a good stream comming into tank.We will see what tomorrow brings?

[barkeatr]

big haul for me to..120 gals or so with 60 more in woods to pick up tomorrow.

[PACMAN]

Been out straight this week,the guzzler is worth its weight in gold.My trees just started to open up today.The rings around them arent to the ground,but there still is 3 feet of snow on the ground.I got 300 gal today and it started running at 11 am.Going to freeze tonight so should be a good day tomorow.

[barkeatr]

where in malone are you pacman..we did not get a freeze last night.

[barkeatr]

where in malone are you pacman..we did not get a freeze last night.
my mistake im confusing my nights we did freeze last night. It was the night before we were 33 degrees. you froze you must be lower as it think there was a bit of an inversion going on. colder in valleys...

[PACMAN]

No,Im much higher. My bush is 2200 ft elevation.Im in Duane.Im tired,I just walked in the door.We got 665 gal today.What a run.I had to shut down I was tired.I have 200 gal to go.I left the guzzler running tonight,not bad flow,seewhats there in AM.

[PACMAN]

Had another good day today.Colected 175 gal and made 8 gal of med.I have about 150 gal in tank for tomorrow.I filled the generator with fuel and letting the Guzzler run tonight.Anyone else boiling?

[sapman]

I'm still going in central NY. 925 gal today off about 740 taps, 17 dark and med., but not good flavor. Was over 80 degrees in my bush today. What kind of temps did you have?

[PACMAN]

75 degres today,I got 170 gal of sap today.Made 4.5 gal of syrup.Just started making dark today. The temps tomorow night are going down in the 20s and it looks good for the rest of the week.Im going to start filling my barel tomorow.Maybe jug a few qts of dark.the snow in the bush is down to a foot or so.Turning out to be a good season up here.

[PACMAN]

The sap did not run at all today,I collected 125 gal that was in the tank and boiled that and got 3 and a half gal of syrup.It poored out today.then at 2 pm it started snowing.There was an inch of the white stuff on the ground at 4 pm when we left.Its going to drop down in the low 20s tonight.That should reset the trees and we will have to see what tomorow brings.Calling for a high of 38 tomorow.we will see.

[PACMAN]

Well,me and my son are going up tomorrow and start putting taps in. We will have a good weekend to do it. Spent the last 2 weekends clearing a mile and a half of road with the tractor. We will see how it goes

[PACMAN]

My son and I got 300 in this weekend. Making all repairs as we go. Should be done by Tuesday.

[PACMAN]

Went up today and got 100 in. That makes 400,I will be going up tomorrow and finish. Still really cold at night so the 38 degree temp.today did'nt warm anything up enough to start anything dripping yet. Snow is still 3 feet or more in the woods.

[Woodland Acres]

pacman i stopped up this morning gate was open and no truck going to boil sunday made about 15 gallons so far

[PACMAN]

I got 90 gal. in the tanks this morning. Set up the evaporator and had a small boil. Snowed all day,those big snowflakes. Sugar Snow. LOL. Most likely will have to go drain it as there wont be any sap for almost a week.

[PACMAN]

Getting ready to go and start a small fire in evaporator to thaw it out. Monday is suposed to be warmer so I may have to build small fires every day till then to stop it from freezing solid. Maybe will drain into barrel and not bother.

[PACMAN]

It looks like the season is going to start for me on April 2nd. the weather looks perfect.

[PACMAN]

Been crazy for the last two days. Started the Guzzler at 9 am. on the 2nd and didnt shut it off till yesterday at 6 pm. Got a little over 450 gal of sap. Just finished up today and have 15 gal. of med. Cant wait till the trees open up. The snow level is at 4 ft. yet. 25 above on the mountain today. Having fun though.

[PACMAN]

How is everyone else doing in the county? I have gotten 800 gal of sap in 2 days. and tonight around 6 it started snowing hard. Now we have another 4 inches of snow. well good luck everyone.

[adironmaple]

Things have really let loose the last couple days. Got 1 gpt monday and tues and today got 1.25 gpt. Our new bush at 1700 ft has just got going and today ran 1.4 gpt under high vac.

[DaveProsper]

I tapped a bit late this year due to travel away from the North Country, but we just put in 20 taps today and another 20 tomorrow for my family's hobby setup. It ran incredibly well today too; it was very rewarding seeing these sap bags fill up so quickly!

[DaveProsper]

Boiled what may be the last run yesterday, but the weather has been so unpredictable that we may have one more run before its done. But it really feels like this week is it. Maple trees have barely run the last couple days, and the birch have started running a bit. My syrup turned out high amber, almost golden, which was a shock for so late.

[DaveProsper]

Been a busy year again, and didn't post when I tapped - around February 16! Tapped around 40 trees this year in Brushton and eager to collect the whole season this time around. Sap started to run kind of slow so far but made a gallon of syrup between sap I collected along with a donation of sap from a friend. Lets hope its a good year.

[DaveProsper]

Well, collected 88 gallons yesterday and boiled today, got almost a couple of gallons out of it! So far got almost 7 1/2 gallons of syrup this season. Heard the peepers last night on the way home. Got some sap running in the deep woods today, but most of the taps seem to have shut off. We'l see if there is enough for one last boil this weekend...

[DaveProsper]

Back at it for 2021! Put in about 80 taps between Brushton and Moira this past weekend, during yesterdays thaw we went around and found a whopping 4 gallons of sap so far! About 1/4 started running a bit but most are obviously very slow to start. Deep snow and a deep freeze right before this may have contributed. Looking forward to much more when we hit the 40s this weekend!

[YBSean]

Same conditions in the Southern Tier. Deep heavy snow pack and frost in the ground. 2nd warm up should be the gusher.

[DaveProsper]

Just did my first boil today, got a little over half a gallon of some dark tasty syrup- a bit lower than I expected to say the least, but since it was a test boil on a new setup, better than nothing! Thankfully I could store my sap in the snowbanks to keep it fresh until today. The sap's sugar content was low, and the flow hasn't been great, but has been steadily increasing- though the two warms spells haven't helped at all! Hopefully we get some better sap weather in the next week.

[DaveProsper]

Gathered sap the last several days, its been quite a great run! But way, way too warm. Was in the low 70s. Boiling in my Tshirt now. Think I heard a frog trilling in the woods behind my house today. I have a tap I put into a birch tree for kicks, but its not running yet. I know Birch tends to run the last week, and stil haven't properly heard peepers yet, so let's hope for a spectacularly wrong weather forecast. We need some cold weather for this season!

[DaveProsper]

Got just a little bit more sap on Monday, leftovers form the weekend. Made one last quart. While my birch tap hasn't flowed yet, the warm rain yesterday got the peepers singing, and those buds are starting to look big. I guess its possible we might get another run, but I don't know if result will be any good. If I was to place money on it, I'd say this past weekend (March 20-21) was the end of the season. Made 5 gallons from 80 taps. Not a banner year!

[YBSean]

Our season ended Monday with very dark #23. I startup a small boil on Tuesday evening and as soon as it steamed I could smell wet cardboard and no maple. Red maple buds have doubled in size in the past 2 days and frogs are out and about. 15 gallons bottled on 150 taps. I was prepared and expecting to bottle 25-30. It appears that St. Patrick's Day has become the end point south of the St. Lawrence.

[DaveProsper]

Expanded this year, we installed tubing this past fall and finished the lines this month. Tapped Sunday and Monday - almost 200 total. Had around 20-30 gallons of sap yesterday, enough to rinse out the lines and tank bottoms. Will be interesting to see how it runs today. Shut down as I left last night, but another big warm up today, so will be interesting to see how much we get. Probably won't process/boil any today, but since we have a deep freeze for the next week, I might for the heck of it. Testing out lots of stuff this year, so I'm eager for the season to kick in!

[DaveProsper]

We got some more in sap in, and then it froze! Was not expecting such a hard freeze right after that break, but not surprised. Looking like a wet warm day this Sunday (maybe too warm- the 50s) so I imagine our first proper boil is Monday-Tuesday. New location, trees, RO, etc - lots of new stuff to test out this year, and I'm pumped.

[DaveProsper]

The weekend run was slow to fully kick in, but we're still stretching/fixing some lines and leaks and testing equipment. Yesterday was our first boil and "shakedown" day and it went well! Sweetened the pans. Maybe got half a gallon of sap per tap but the totals a bit unclear- still lots of ice in our tanks despite the big thaw! Looking forward to a busy time later this week. Still haven't seen much boiling activity from the folks I pass on 11/1B to our sugarbush in the area, suspect that will change soon. Sugar content looking decent from whats come so far, which is good!

[DaveProsper]

Things ran good midweek last week and this week. Processing and boiling today, hoping for another 6-8 gallons of syrup. So far we've made a little over 12 gallons on a little less then 200 taps at the new sugarbush. Currently met our syrup per tap average we had last year (thank goodness), so we are at least at the worst case level of syrup production for the year (using last years as a standard). But thats from switching from buckets to lines (!) and I understand some folks have had an even worse season than last so far.

Still bits of snow on the ground, tiny buds, hoping we get one or two more good runs next week. Not hoping for miracles beyond that but hoping we get close to making 25 gallons this year, but I'm just happy our new setup and team are working great! Just a shame we don't have access to the birch trees like we did last year, making birch was fun and really did rescue our sales.

[DaveProsper]

Well what a turnaround! We ended up making over 30 gallons of maple so far with the last bursts of sap from our sugarbush in Brushton. Was hoping we'd get one last big run, but either the trees are shutting down, the nighttime temps aren't cold enough, or both. Either way we boil our last little bit tomorrow after we test, and we'll see just where we end up at the end of this season. Looking like maybe around 34-38 gallons. Not bad, especially with our late start - and way better than last year!

[DaveProsper]

Welcome 2023 sap season! Put in 175 last week in Brushton. Some folks are already boiling and I'm not sure if I'll have enough tomorrow or not myself to justify a first boil. We shall find out soon enough!

[DaveProsper]

It's flowing strong and the forecast for next week looks really good. I don't see any sign of buds yet so we may have a strong, late end of this season. Lots of sand in my syrup this year, though- it's not quite at birch levels but its surprising nonetheless!

[The Heldeberg Sapper]

It's flowing strong and the forecast for next week looks really good. I don't see any sign of buds yet so we may have a strong, late end of this season. Lots of sand in my syrup this year, though- it's not quite at birch levels but its surprising nonetheless!

Lots of sugar sand down here in Albany county as well. Its been a really good year so far, weather is looking good for next week as well but i am thinking i will be throwing in the towel this weekend. Ive made more than expected already and i am getting tired and low on wood haha.

[DaveProsper]

Still going here! One other thing I've noticed this year is that my sugar is a bit low, and people are a bit down in general, at least in my area (Potsdam-Malone).
The red buds are getting large in Potsdam, but are still small at my sugarbush in Brushton. It was flowing strong yesterday so who knows - we may have another couple of runs left. Last year my final boil was April 8 - it's getting awfully close!

[DaveProsper]

We did our final outdoor boil on the 9th (Sunday) and today I'm boiling down what was left in the tank. Overall we got slightly more syrup per tap this year on our second year of tubing - and lessons learned! Expecting to get better yields next year as we redo some of our lines and reduce the number of taps per lateral.
Regardless there was more sand earlier in the season but it dropped off, and our sugar remained a bit low the entire time compared to last year. So we had several gallons more sap per tap than last year, but only a couple ounces more per tap of syrup overall. On to cleanup and bottling!