Never give an inch!!!!!,2014,,,,salisbury sugarworks

[Parker]

Well as usual we are a ways from being ready,,,,we now have 1650 tapped at rte.11 waiting for some warm weather to deploy the pump and releaser (high crime area).......lost access to the driveway below sanborns orchard where vac pump and releaser sap tank had been so now we have the pump and tank 2000 feet from the road and 40 feet below the road..will be trying to pump sap from releaser tank 70 feet up hill to a second tank on top of hill then sap will gravity flow to road via 2, 1 inch lines 2000 feet long at a 2 precent slope ( a lifetime of adventure just setting this up).. 808 nice taps at sanborns,,,,,,havent been to hill in a while 1700 taps...will start there when rte.11 and sanborns are running,,,,,shooting for 4000 taps this year plenty to add on,,supplies deployed in the woods
And the sugarhouse is a mess!!! R.O. questionable, new tank room half built.........never a dull moment and nothing but fun.....
GOOD LUCK TO ALL!!!!

[Mark-NH]

**** the torpedoes, full speed ahead.

[acrete]

How many taps have you got in sanborns orchard? Is that Roger sanborn?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Good to see you back at it Parker. Good luck with this season. Looks like full bore ahead soon!

[tuckermtn]

good to see you back on the Trader. Nice piece on the front page of the Union Leader with Meredith...

looking forward to seeing what that liquid ring can do at Rt. 11.

[Amber Gold]

And Parker has surfaced. Good article in the Union Leader.

[Parker]

We have sanborns at 22 inches of mercury and pump out system working, could definatly use some modifications ,,,got rte.11 vac set up and running,,,the Indiana liquid ring pump from tucker mountian is pretty amazing,,after overcomming some minor obstacles with the set up-start up,,got it fired up and.......5 inches of merc. On 1600 taps,,,,6 hours later it was 21 inches...when i was chasing leaks i did not stop to fix the small ones..just went for the missed taps,,,chew thru lines ect...by the end of the day the system was getting tight enough that the leaks were very loud and i could hear the over the beech leaves and road sounds..when we get time we will get rte.11 real tight,,cant wait to see it run into the releaser at 28 inch-o-vac....snow is about 3 feet deep at rte.11,,,,,,,ran a little Saturday...gotta get to hill and tap and get the sugarhouse put together for maple weekend.
Good luck to all

[Russell Lampron]

This has been a cold and slow to start season. It looks like you needed the extra time to get ready. Good luck this season Parker.

[Parker]

Just 700 more taps to go,,,thanks for holding the season for us!

[Russell Lampron]

You should be able to get those in this weekend if you don't have to many things to fix. Hurry up and get tapped in so the season can start for the rest of us.

[Parker]

We made 8 gallons on sunday,,finished tapping and fixed the problems we could see so we are ready for the season. Nice dry 48 cords in the shed. 3880 on good vac.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Way to go Parker. Definitely sound more prepared for this season than ever in the past past. 48 cords dry wood, you are definitely set. Good luck. Hope you make 1500+ gallons..

[Mark-NH]

You know what I like most about Salisbury Sugarworks.............No bull****! If it takes a cord to make 8 gallons you say it. Underachieving ratio of gallons per tap, so be it. Running behind on getting ready, here you go. Keep at it Parker.

[Parker]

Was standing at the tank in hill on top of 3 feet of snow on this foggy rainy friday and saw a great blue heron fly over,,pretty sure i saw the sweet godess riding on its back,,GAMEON!

[Russell Lampron]

Was standing at the tank in hill on top of 3 feet of snow on this foggy rainy friday and saw a great blue heron fly over,,pretty sure i saw the sweet godess riding on its back,,GAMEON!

When the #### poke flies over Parker's sugar bush in Hill the sap starts flowing!!!

[Parker]

Substantial sap run! Think we have the big truck ready for the road..made 2 barrels,,good vac and a real snow pack. The stuff dreams are made of

[Russell Lampron]

Parker that #### poke thing is working for me. I saw one fly over my sap tank in the woods Sunday evening and the sap has been flowing ever since. I experienced the #### poke thing while horned pout fishing at Hoyt Road Marsh. The saying there was "when the #### poke flies over Hoyt Road Marsh the horned pout start biting"! I am happy to say that it works for sap runs too! So fellow sugar makers look to the skies. If you see a #### poke fly over your woods turn on the vacuum pump if it isn't already!!!

[Parker]

Rte eleven and hill still on line, evaporator and tanks cleaned,,trees dont look budy in the woods, 16 cords of wood left and 2 empty 55 gal epoxy barrles ready to fill. Never give an inch!

[tuckermtn]

go man go!

[Parker]

Had 3000 gal 1.3%, empty pans, started at 12, ended at 12, 400 gal left, made 28 gal,,,strong smell. Time to haul some more,,making steady progress on the pile of wood.

[Parker]

Wound up with another 25 gal of off tasting but good boiling syrup..was running very hard yesterday,,might be able to fill that second barrel? 20 deg. This a.m. always runs hard on easter for me

[Greyfox]

Parker, I'm in the same boat, man. My cold woods of mostly reds has run well the past two days, and it's running a bit again today. I'm going to boil off what I have, then the wife and I are heading out to friends for an Easter cookout. Not your typical Easter, and not your typical sugaring season, but all good.

Doc

[Parker]

Have about 20 cords in the shed,,another 30 to go....been at it the last few days,,,,,,building an addition for ro-tanks,,hope to get in the woods the end of the month

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Parker,

How much syrup did you end up with last year and how many taps?

[Parker]

We made enough for the table with a little left over to sell...just under 4000 taps
Built a 2 story 16 x 20 room for our tanks off the head tank end of the sugarhouse we have the 2 1200gal tanks downstairs and will try to get 2 600gal tanks and a 1000 gal upstairs. Will be nice to have the tanks inside.,,woodshed full,,little more work to do picking up lines in the woods,,,,gonna concentrate on fixing what we have this year, might hit 4k taps.....keep after it!!

[Maplewalnut]

Congrats Parker, sounds like you will be busy

[Parker]

Looks like we are adding on a few taps this year,,hung 500 feet wet dry line with my daughters today. Switching to clear leader check valves this year and replacing drops,, how long do people make their drops for these check valves? Thanks, parker

[maple flats]

I make mine about 36". That gives you enough to cut off the old and install a new for the 5 years before you replace the drop.

[spud]

Looks like we are adding on a few taps this year,,hung 500 feet wet dry line with my daughters today. Switching to clear leader check valves this year and replacing drops,, how long do people make their drops for these check valves? Thanks, parker

Mine are 36 inches and I use CV2s spouts. You will not have to change drops as often if using the CV2s.

Spud

[Parker]

Going to start tapping today,,,not going to run for a while,,,,but,,,,gota strt sometime!

[Russell Lampron]

It's good to see that you are getting ready to go Parker. Is this cold spell ever going to end? Good luck this season.

[Parker]

It will end sometime.......175 tapped,,,,,love the new 36 inch drops, makes finding a good tap hole location much eaiser..........

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Go Parker! I have 1000 in, 7000 to go. Lots of fun in waist deep snow.

[Parker]

Wow.....checked on the old sugarhouse in hill that i have shoveled off 2 times this year,,,,,3 feet of snow on the roof! glad i was there to clean it off...its not the strongest building out there....have to bring the tractor or skidder up there to open it up

[Parker]

Was out with my youngest daughter yesterday replacing drops and packing trail....3 of us out there on sunday......how the weather can change in one day......from 34 deg and sun to 15 deg and windy....14 below this morning...might be a good morning to work in the r.o. room......we have mabey 150 more drops to change at sanborns......then wait for a warmup to finish tapping there...
Bought some tanks in stannerd vt the other day,,looking at the weather trying to plan a trip to get them 2 25 bbl and a 50 bbl..,,,,,,,,,still have to break trail at rte.11 after this last storm but about ready to tap there...tap count at rte.11 somewhere around 2500 this year so were putting a 1500 gal. Tank there instead of the 1000 gal...think we will whind up with 2 tanks there as we are short on trucks at the moment.....lots of plumbing to do in the sugarhouse,,but we are gaining.........

[Parker]

Man that snow was sticking to the snowshoes today,,,we got 600 in at rte.11 deep heavy snow. Better than ideal conditions.

[Parker]

Got 700 in yesterday..giving it hell

[Parker]

Finished tapping rte.11 friday....worked on vac pumps yesterday..going to try to get the vac going at sanborns today..plan on getting the 2800 taps around here (sanborns and rte.11)tight then tapping hill.....as always deep deep snow in hill...gaining on it

[Russell Lampron]

Better hurry Parker, it's going to run this week.

[Parker]

Got sanborns pulling 22 inches ran the pump from 1 to 7 and got 70 gal. of sap...,, working at eleven today..im waiting for the snow to drop in hill........it wont run till the snow is not touching the base of the trees,,,i have a day or to.......sugarhouse needs some work...

[Parker]

Mabwy 100 gal of sap at sanborns yesterday....put a new wooden bottom in the 50 bbl tank we just got...gat the ring pump and tank on trailer ready to bring to eleven and set up....seasons hasent even started and im dragging......keep after it!

[Russell Lampron]

It was hard work getting the taps in this year. I can see why you are dragging. You gotta want it!!!

[PATheron]

Good luck Parker and Russ. Hope you guys do good. You guys are hard core up there putting up with all the snow. Hope it melts down. Theron

[Parker]

we got the vac going at rte.11 at around one..had 500 gal in the tank at 4 and another 500 at 9pm. Liquid rig pumps are amazi g...was pulling 15 inches with 9 taps out..pulling 22 now. Lots of leaks but gaining!

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Wow 1000 gallon sin a day, that's amazing...lol I am jealous, good luck on a great season!

[Parker]

No sap yesterday,,littel too cold...started pumps at 5am as it had warmed up to 34 to 36 deg and had some sap running in.....
On another note vicki smith (dept of ag) dropped off the new maple laws. while i suppourt most of the laws i was shocked to read the penalties for non compliance including "civil forfiture" to pay the fines...a violation being a misdermeanor..2 violations being a felony....this is a law that needs to be changed. While i have no time at the moment i would like to gauge suppourt for a change in these sweeping pretty much undefined "not more than $5000 dollars a day" we have the power to take your house goverment overreach to correct a non problem.........ill start a thread in n.h. tapping section.......read the laws spacifically the penalty section......wow........

[Parker]

Thought i would be up in hill tapping today and boiling tonight....but.....after i got rte.11 running i went up into the woods to hunt for leaks. Vac was around 23 inches and found some small leaks when the vac. At the valves gauges strated dropping..22.....20...18... could hear the pump way off making a funny noise (indeania with a decker ring pump and honda 9hp) as i looked at the pump running i could see when the noise increased the shaft speed out of the gear reduction would slow down quite a bit...the gear reduction was also pretty hot...well i called the number on the pump and i got the fellow that built the pump (super helpful!) I told him what was going on and he said the clutch was going..he said rip it apart and put some washers in there (not real spacific about where) well we tore her down and decided where we thought the washers would do the most good,,,threw her back together and o how she sucks..back up to 25.5 inches...but..it was dark out........mabey 2mara we will boil?......suprisingly small run at sanborns...almost nothing at eleven,,,,,,gonna run out and check the pumps now.....courtney said the sap tastes sweet in hill, 200 drilled KEEP AFTER IT!

[Parker]

the sweet godess is a cruel mistres,,


We made 20 gal tuesday nite..the tank room works well,,got the membranes for the ro..have to install...finished tapping hill today (so the season should start on tues.)...nothing running..still have to put mainline up there together in a couple spots and get the pump going..the international needs some work befor are trucking toomuch with it,,,might be a trick hauling off 4200 taps with the 1/2 ton chevy lotts to do.......i bet its gonna come fast and hard

Good luck!

[R A Powers]

Parker, On my way home from Tractor Supply this morning (04/12/2015) at about 10:15 I stopped and checked out your set up on RT 11. You had a pretty good run going on. I just wanted to let you know that the guy in the green sweatshirt and brown felt hat driving a dark blue chevy blazer was a friend. Dick

[Parker]

now i will knowwho it is when i look at the game cam..saps starting to look pretty nasty....

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Parker,

How much you made this year??

[Parker]

We made enough for the tabel with a few quarts left over to send to friends, ect...hope all had a great season

[Parker]

I started tapping sanborns yesterday,,,,i dont have much help this year and it looks like im going to have around 5000 taps so i thought i would take advantage of the lack of snow and warm weather to get going. I figure it will be nice to have this one woods with vacuum tight......forcast looks right for a good run and sap was running pretty well yesterday,,,,,,,,,,,i did find out that most of my dewalt batteries are junk and my pouch is falling apart,,,glad to find out now instead of when im under the gun...gonna drag gas out there today and get the vac. Going,,,ray had it running about a month ago...should be fun tapping with the vac. On,,,GIVE EM HELL,!!!

[Parker]

Think i have around 200 taps left,,i had the vacuum on while tapping and had 20 inches at the end of the day,,,there is about 4 inches of icy snow you can walk on and its melted away from tree bases,sap was running slow today but tasted pretty sweet,,,got to rinse out the tanks and pump ot line and we will be off to the races. So much easier tapping now than when there is 2 feet of snow,,,,,,

[Russell Lampron]

Good luck with the new season Parker. I have lost help for this season too and will find out what it is like to pretty much do it alone. I don't see any snow in the 10 day forecast so it looks like it will be easy to tap this year. I think it's going to be an early season for us and I may tap next weekend.

[Parker]

Well that will teach me to run my mouth,,,,,,took all day to get the last of it tapped and the vac up to 15 inches on the 2 long lines,,,leak patrol this morning!!! My daughter worked with my yeserday which 2 was great,,,young ears,,,,,she kept on saying you cant hear that!?! Lost the cell phone somewhere in all the excitement,,,,left the pump going last night,,,there was around 200 gal o sap in the tank when i left last night,,,,,,may the sweet godess smile down on all of her followers.......

Russ good the hear from you,,,,good luck!!

[Parker]

Got the tank by the road set,,had 650 gal in the tank in the woods this morning which i pumped roadside and got another 400? Or so today (wel from about noon on) got the vacuum up to 23 inches.....feels weird not rushing right over to rte.11 and starting that........stay after it

[Parker]

Go go go!!!well this is more fun than logging all the time!! Pretty cool start this am then lots of rain,,got 600 gal ..releaser was dumping every 5 min..no snow anymore and the ground is starting to get "loose your boot" muddy,,,38 deg here now,,,hope it runs all night,,,,,,,,,,,good luck everyone!

[maple maniac65]

I started tapping sanborns yesterday,,,,i dont have much help this year and it looks like im going to have around 5000 taps so i thought i would take advantage of the lack of snow and warm weather to get going. I figure it will be nice to have this one woods with vacuum tight......forcast looks right for a good run and sap was running pretty well yesterday,,,,,,,,,,,i did find out that most of my dewalt batteries are junk and my pouch is falling apart,,,glad to find out now instead of when im under the gun...gonna drag gas out there today and get the vac. Going,,,ray had it running about a month ago...should be fun tapping with the vac. On,,,GIVE EM HELL,!!!


Try walkerbatterrepair.Com
They last longer than a brand new one

[Parker]

Pumped 1500 gals. Of what looked like 1.5 % sap out of the woods today and got 2 more woods ready to tap

[PATheron]

Parker- Sounds like your off to a good start. Giver her heck! You hoping to burn less wood this year with the new ro machine? Theron

[Parker]

Hey theron,,,,,it was great to get the first 1000 tapped and tight!!! Huge load off my mind,,,orderd another 2500 spiles and 2 lapeirre bits and a dunch of straight connectors for the next warm spell,,,,yes hoping to burn alot less wood and have more time to sleep (fingers crossed)......just have to get the old r.o out and move in the new one,,,,easy right ?!?!,,,,,well get it done.......whats the latestdown there?

[Parker]

Well after working in the rain all day i went over to sanborns too see if sap was running,,,much to my surprise it was comming in hard,,,,,tried to start the pump,,but man the old wet honda just did not want to go (the sideways rain had dampend it alot) by 9pm it was running and i had 5 inches of vacuum,,,,,,yay! Off to see what i cant find over there this a.m then,,,,,ill be tapping till it gets too cold agine,,,good luck to all

[Parker]

Had the main line pull apart at sanborns,,,got that fixed,,,vac. Back at 22 inches,,,,,,has been running slow but steady right along,,,pumped the tank out at 4 yesterday,,returned at 9 pm and was REAL SURPRISED to see another 500 gal in the tank.....am real interested to see whags in the tank this a.m.

Been tapping rte.11 the last 3 days,,,was luckiey enouh to have some great help fri. Sat.....fun tapping in this weather,,snow conditions,,,!hope to be tapped and thihf there by wens......good luck everyone!

[Russell Lampron]

I pumped my tank at 5:30 yesterday afternoon and the sap was still coming in pretty good. The wind had died down and I think it was running better than it was earlier in the day. I'm hoping for a big surprise when I go down to the tank in a little while.

Go get it Parker. I know you WAAAAAANT It !!!

[Parker]

Got like 1400 gallons of sap in 24 hours at sanborns,,,,gaining at rte.11,,,,,,,hope to have it ready for wens,,,thurs,,,,,,KEEP AFTER IT!!!

[Parker]

Finished tapping rte 11 in the pouring rain of wensday,,working on getting the pump there set up.....going......thought sap would run well wensday night as it warmed up but nope......
Buf let me tell yah,,,,,thursday sure madeup for it,,,,,,,,i pumped out the tank at sanborns at 7 a.m,,,,,,,,,returned at noon to find 600 gallons,,,,,,,,returned at 10pm to find 900 gallons,,,,,,with sap still coming in pretty well,,,,rte 11 had 350 gallons (much colder woods with snow still on the ground and no vacuum.....yet....)
Hope to get vac at rte 11 running today,,,,,,,,just 2000 more to go..........feel like im way behind but its still febuary.....just gotta dig a little harder.....
KEEP AFTER IT,!!!

[Russell Lampron]

The hurrieder I go the behinder I get huh Parker. I have times like that too. I also got an excellent amount of sap out of this last run. Good luck getting your pump set up and getting the rest of your taps in. I hope you don't have too many leaks and get the pump going and move on. If this turns out to be a short season you are missing out on some good runs.

[Parker]

Ha ha,,,thanks russ,,,i was thinking the same thing,,,,,,,,but,,,,you gotta play the hand your delt,,,,,,and i think 3 k taps is just fine with the help i have so far,,,we will get it,,,,,my oldest daughter has a month off and will be starting her tour of maple duty monday and rays logging job is winding down so we will have a strong crew...,,,got the liquid ring pump going yesterday,,and for good measure brought the old BB 4 powered by a 9hp honda over to rte.11 as well,,,,,backup at the big bush,,,,set up the releaser just gotto find that one magical peice of flex hose with the right fittings to hook it all together just right that i put in a special place so i could find it........hhmmmm,,,,,its around here somewhere,,,,,,,,,,,,also got mean green,,,this years sap hauler (1973 f 600) saddeled up with two 525 gallon tanks,,,truck has heat, wipers, breaks and lights,,,,what more could you want? Im going to see if white thunder (1990 S1954 IH) wil fire up so we have a back up hauler,,,,,,gonna start tearing out my old r.o. this morning and plan to move the new one in in the next day or to,,,,,,,,,,busy is good!!!

DRIVE ON,!!!

[PATheron]

Giver her heck Parker ! BIGSAP comin! Theron

[Parker]

Pretty darn good runs last couple days, got the vacuum holding where we are taped..got the old r.o out today,,after boiling raw sap tpbday im looking forward to concentrate,,,limited help makes it a whole new ball game,,,,,yawnnnnn

[Russell Lampron]

I've got the limited help issue this season too. My tank in the woods overflowed yesterday while I was at work because nobody was here to pump it out. I don't know how many times the releaser dumped after it was full but it looked like quite a few.

[Parker]

I have mental issues about tanks overflowing,,,,,,hasent happend yet this year,,,,,,real close,,but not yet,,,,,off to get more sap...........

[Parker]

Had an amazing last 2 days,,,Matt "captian crunch"Roy of Buxton custom r.o. instalation came down and worked till 3a.m moving and setting up the new r.o...got the wiring, plumbing and testing done in real cold conditions.....had a great time and gained a lot of knowledge,,,maade a ton of progress,,,cant wait till the sap starts running agine to put the machine to the test,,,,,,,
Going to try to get another 680 taps in and tight in the next 3 days....that will leave hill (1680) taps to finish.......happy with where we are at so far
A huge thank to matt for the time and expert application knowledge..nice to hang with another that knows what "WANTING IT " is all about........

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

I have been wondering what Royal Maple was up to

[palmer4th]

Oh boy 2,000 taps still to go? Are you worried about next weeks warm up? Have you boiled much so far this year?

[Parker]

Got 1000 more tapped today

[Mark-NH]

Parker, what did you get for a new RO? Looks like our season kicks into high gear Monday. Have fun.

[Parker]

I got tucker mountians lapierre turbo 600 r.o,,,great machine......i went thru 5000 gal of sap with it the first run just fine...2nd time i went to use it there was a loud whinning noise that kept getting louder and louder,,,,,like hurt your head loud......i called up steve monroe at 9pm my lapierre dealer from irasburg vt to ask him what he thought it might be, he said bearings,,,im thinking this is going to be expensive and take a while to fix,,,,the next morning the laperrie r.o tech CALLS ME,at 7.30 am,,trouble shoots the problem,,,bearings,,,says bring the high pressure pump up,,,goes over how to rip it out of the machine (half an hour,,super easy),,,he says if they cant fix it within an hour THEY WILL GIVE ME A LOANER HIGH PRESSURE PUMP,!! I get to swanton,,,the r.o tech takes the pump tears it down and rebuilds it in 50 minutes,,checks it out on the test stand and loads it in my car........total cost $130............this was by far the best customer service i have ever recived in any line of work i have ever had.....still blown away,,,,,,got the machine back together and made 72 gallons yesterday,,,,,,,,awsome machine with AMAZING SERVICE,!! We are going to try to get the rest of our taps hooked up during this little break and be ready for the big push,,,,,WE DONT RETREAT, WE RELOAD,,,,,,,,,
Give them hell!

[Parker]

Lets see,,smelled a skunk yesterday,,,red maple buds are really swelling,,lots of moths around,,,,,hauled in 2200 gallons of whiteish,,green sap yesterday and made 27 gallons,,after tonights predicted low of 29 looks like 6 warm days with no freeze,,,soooo,,,,,i think its time to hook up the last 2000 taps,,,,,,,go all in,,,common sense really,,,,,,,run it like you stole it.......off to the woods,,,,,good luck to all,,,,,NEVER GIVE AN INCH,!!

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

Hey Parker,
Im curious why a brand new RO would have any issues with the bearings and why they charged you at all for it? I mean sure, they fixed it right away which was great, but if its brand new it shouldn't of failed in the first place and they certainly shouldn't of charged you?

-Scott

[BAP]

I think Parker bought a used R/O

[Parker]

Its a 2009 machine,,in very nice shape

[Parker]

Aaaoooooocggggaaahhhh!,!!!! Current temp 24 deg!! This is a high flow day alert!! Top off the pumps and crank down on the regulators!!
Well ray and i got hattans running well yesterday (fresh 400) and finished tapping hill,,,,lots of stuff to fix in hill but hopeful by the end of the day to have a decent vacuum reading up there,,,,,its ALOT colder in hill with the ground still frozen everywhere up there,,something like 1500 fresh taps,,,looking forward to some decent volume hopfully for the next 3 to 4 days,,,like russ says were going to keep the vac high and see if we cant keep those pesky buds pulled in tight,,,,reports from my fellow sugarmakers in my area are of dismal volumes (the ones i believe anyways),,,,,still have one more small bush to tap.....
The sweet goddess smiles down upon us today,,,,,,,,,,,

[Greyfox]

Hi Parker,
I was happily surprised at 6:00 this morning to see the temp at 24 here as well. The report that I heard yesterday was that we were only going to get down to 29 last night. I had to go into work today, but it looks like I'll be back at it tomorrow. My cold woods has zero sign of bud swelling, so It's still game-on. Long range temp looks promising for late March; fingers crossed.

Doc.

[BAP]

Same here, 24 last night and 50 right now, sap is just pouring out of the trees. I am probably going to have to gather in a couple hours.

[Parker]

Lots of sap,,vac in hill still down,,tommrow should be on line with lines washed out,,rte 11 ran 2700 gallons,,,1.4%,,,hattans really surprised me with mabey 500 gal,,,sanborns is on bud wacth,,tasting the sap befor we pump,,,still o.k but theres a slight green tint to the tops of the trees from the road,,,slight,,,,,started crunching sap at 11,,done at around 5,,,made 60 gallons from lighting the fire at 5 to shutting the blower off at 8.30,,,,,that first draw has been a little tricky,,,keep making syrup in the 3rd till over and end up with a bunch of light stuff in the finisher,,,,,but way better than boiling 1%,,,,lots of sap to truck in the a.m,,,,,,,,KEEP AFTER IT

[Parker]

Slight freeze last night with overcast raw congitions,,,right around 38 deg,,,funny the warmer bushes arnt doing much but we got 2700 gal in so far,,,its one hell of a rough ride up to hill in the f-600,,,,,,courtney and ray got the vac to 22 in hill and i got the vac to 25 at eleven....going out for another load,,,,snowing now,,,,,decent forcast,,,,,,,RAMMING SPEED!!!

[Parker]

Setteled into a steady rythem of around 50 gallons a day,,,,trying to truck the night sap early,,,start the cruncher at the same time,,,start boiling around noon,,be done around 3 or 4,,clean tanks,,truck sap till 8 p.m. AN THEn GET SOME SLEEP,!! Cant believe what a diffrance a real r.o. makes,,,,,,,with no freezes for a while sanborns is giving about 200 gal. A day,,,iim pretty sure its about done,,,but hill and rte.11 are the heavy hitters this time of year,,,yesterday hill ran around a gallon per tap......as did eleven,,,,,sap has been right around 1 precent,,..good luck to all!,,,,,,,

[Parker]

I hope all the frogs and moths i was seeing found a nice warm place to hunker down,,,,,those robbins sure look cold this morning,,,,,looking for a recharge in the trees,,back to 2..2% and hard runs i hope.........lost the feed pump in the r.o.,,,,called lappier tech guy after hours and he says "i have one in my truck and ill meet u half way to your place (3hours away)......i say ill come to your place in the morning,,,i leave at 3 a.m.,,,in cambridge v.t at 6am get the pump and back in business by noon! Never had a better experiance with any company,,,best customer service ever........the p.o.s BHR releaser that has been a problem from day one at rt.11 cracked in one of the barrels making a turbulant frothing mass of sap that would not lift the float so the releaser would not dump causing sap to be sucked into my liquid ring pump and pumped out my coolant tank has been replaced with a lappier 213,,,,,,thank you nhmaple 48 and homestead maple! Was surprised how much sap we got yesterday for a cold day,,,,,,2nd day of maple openhouse today,,,hope for a decent crowd aging today......to all the sugarmakers in the struggel,,,,,never give an inch,,,,,march on!

[Parker]

Surprised that the trees ran at all yesterday,,was 17 deg. Gere yesterday morning and never got all that warm,,after the maple festivities i went and gathered 600 gal. And my daughter hauled in 600 during the day. Was great to see her (oldest of her generation ) taking her cousins out pumpimg the tanks and checking the pumps.....a little snow here now and a great forcast........we roll the dice

[Parker]

Got marvin cleaned out,,,about an in of snow this a.m andcold,,started the pumps around eleven and just hauled in 2300 gal,,going out for more,,freezing now,,r,o crunching away,,,,super bright worm moon,,well in 2 days,,,batten down the hatches...was good to meet you today bruce,,thanks for bringing the sine up

[Parker]

Hell of a run,,,all i gotta say,,,one hell of a run........

[woodey24]

4000 taps? holy poop shoot, how many acres does that take?

[Parker]

It takes all of them,,,not reallysure,,,,,grade came up alot and all this sap is very clear, 1.5% suagr on average,,,,tanks i checked last night had frozen releasers,,,ones i did not check did not freeze and they were full this a.m.,,,,,everything running well this a.m,,,,,,,GO GO GO GO GO!!

[Russell Lampron]

Same here. Sap was clear and at 1.5%. Today it's down to 1.2%....

[BAP]

Same here, good clear sap. Yesterday sap was 1.75% today is 1.2% sugar. Made some nice Dark Robust that was on the light side.

[Parker]

Still getting large volumes of clear, low sugar sap,,no sugarsand yet,,,boiled till 3am last night,,on the way up to the house i looked at the f 600 and thought after such a late night i might as well get an early start and trucked in 2000 gal o sap..just befor the tanks ran over,,,they were empty at 7pm ..not too much sleep this week,,,,,waiting for the r.o to finish its soap wash so i can rinse it and get to bed,,,its the stuff i dream about the rest of the year,,,let it roll

[Parker]

My accucup broke 2 days ago,,,funny how dependant i have become on it,,,i tried useing a regular cup for my hydrometer,,,but the syrup kept getting way off in the finisher (its deep enough to float a hydrometer and has a thermometer in it) i called chris the maker and the owner of this site and he called right back this a.m. ,,,,,,had a loaner for me and is going to try to fix mine,,,,,more awsome customer service,,,thank you,,,,,,so im just back from chrises lapeirre super store in wilton,,,,,,,,waiting on sap,,,and i dont think i have long to wait......

[Parker]

Hunh,,,,trees still ice covered with overcast cloudy skies,,light drizzel to moderate rain,,,,,hovering at 33 deg. really surprised the sun has not come out yet,,,,just back from gassing up vac. Pumps,,,not a drop yet,,,,,but ,,,,

[Parker]

Boiled last night and made 50 gallons of almost amder rich that tasted smooth and buttery,,thats a barrell i will hang onto.press never built more than 30 psi,,,nice clear d.e and papers,,no black slime when tearing press down.....Stayed cool and ice covered till 3pm here and never got out of the 30s...by 4 sap was running well,,,,by 2am we had 3000 gal of 1.5% at the s.h and i got the ro going,,,,got up around 8am and washing r.o now,,,,crystal clear blue skies and 45 deg...might be a day to remember,,,,,450 of 5% in head tank and if the sweet goddess continues to smile down upon us we will have a job to keep up with the sap......ray and courtney both on sap patrol ready to move large volumes of product.......hammer down............

[Russell Lampron]

It's hammer down here too! The sap has been running good all week and today is no exception. I am hoping to make 175 gallons this year and with just 22 1/2 to go I could make it if the reds don't bud. I'm keeping all of the batches of sap separate now so that I don't ruin any good syrup.

[Parker]

Pretty whiped out here,,,washing the r,o and really looking forward to going to bed,,,,made a bunch of syrup the last few days,barrles everywhere (55's are an adventure to move in tight quarters,,,,definatly getting smaller for next season or chainsawing a door in the side of the shack so i can get the tractor bucket right to them),,hope to continue,,but man,,those buds are really noticabel,,sanborns which was tapped in january with non check valve spiles with vacuum that is not on all the time is really slowing down..not much sap today,,3200 gal of 1.4%.....some cold weather comming and a good overall week predicted,,,we will go to the bitter end as always but we are making some fantastic syrup right now and hope we can hold the flavor,,,,,our goal is to clean every tank every time its emptied and to empty them often,(a maple mariens mission in life),,useing permeate to rinse truck tanks out,,,,should wash marvin agine,,,,color has been lightening........good luck to all,,,,,,,,

[Hop Kiln Road]

Traders, it would be well worth a once in a lifetime pilgrimage to Salisbury Sugarworks to see Parker actually sitting down. When I was there, I actually saw him lift a drum over the threshold!

[Parker]

Everyones welcome to stop by,,,,,,saps really slowing down 2050 gal. Today and not much left in the woods,,,nice boil today,,,r.o s washing and im gonna get to bed befor eleven,,,,hopeing we can make it into next week past this warm stuff end of the week,,,,,,,,,hope it freezes tonight

[Parker]

3450 gal o sap today which mostly ran last night,,,feels like its going to freeze tonight,,,then a couple of rough warm ones befor we plung down to the teens for overnight lows,,,should be interesting,,,making the best tasting syrup of the year,,,lots of sugarsand the last boil,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,give her some!

[Parker]

Wow down to 20 last night and a strong run starting,,rough looking low sugar sap, but have been making great syrup ,,,,r.o , truck tanks,sugarhouse tanks and evaporator all washed out,,,450 gal of 6% ready to go and the trucks are out gathering,,,all vac had sucked up the balls in the moisture traps except hill,,,i went out to shut off pumps at 11.30,,,was 35 at rte 11 and running well so i left it,,,was 37 in hill and running well , assumed we would get a light freeze late but was wrong,,,,,hill looked like the only place that did not freeze and ran 400 gal overnight,,,temp. Inversion mabey,,,,,,go time!

[Parker]

Wound up with 70 more gal of nice dark syrup,,looking a littlr touch and go ahead,,,,keep trying!

[NHguy]

awesome! keep cranking!

[Parker]

Wow,,,warm today,,wound up with 2700 gal. Into 45 gal. Of pretty dark and rodust stuff,,still tastes good,,,i have a frenchmans scoop i fill with sap and keep in arms reach when im boiling,,was looking at it today with yesterdays sap in it,,,it had gone ropey,,,gotta move the sap fast and keep the tanks washed out,,,ray and courtney are doing a good job keeping everything clean,,ray was showing his boys (like 3 and 6) haw to wash out a tank today,,,he told them the brush is the maple mariens flag it must never touch the ground,,,,,,got to teach them young,,,,,,just back from checking tanks pretty interesting looking stuff ,,,we gonna take a good long hard look at whats out there in the a.m ,,,doing our part to prolong the season with all pumps on,,,,,cold is comming,,,,,,,come on boxcars!!

[Parker]

Sap at sanborns ,hattats, eleven looked like and smelled like rotten milk,,,fermented,,,kinda like kim chi,,,2 inches of rope in the tank at sanborns,,,,if bruce was paying big money for it i would boil it,,,,but at 1.25 a pound,,,,,,,,,,on the ground it goes...,sap in hill was still good so we brought that home and boiled it raw,,pushed a bunch of sugar out of the evaporator,,,looking pretty bleak,,,but,,,you never know,,im goig to keep trying,,,,supposed to get cold agine,,,but it could well be too late,,,we will see,,,felt great to get 8 hours of sleep!!!,,looking forward to visiting a few places still going soon,,,,good luck

[GiddingsHill]

Dumped it on the ground, Parker? Shoulda bottled that kimchi sap and brought it up to burlington to sell to the hipsters!

[Parker]

****,,,thats why i need a marketing director,,,,i just dont think of these things,,,,,i also realize that dumping 5000 gallons of 1.4% sap that smells like rotten yogurt,,alcohol,,mold all at the same time and when you stick your hand in the tank to taste it ( i firmly beileve if your going to boil it you have to taste it because if you boil it others are going to have to taste it) it forms a large string from your hand back into the tank and kinda trys to pull you into the tank ........dumping that ,,,,,,,its a personal failure,,,,,,,,i know i should have gotten it in faster and boiled it befor it turned,,(kinda a tall order seeing it was 72 deg. Here burung the day and 60 at night),,,but we all have to live with some degree of failure and hopefully we learn from it and dont make the same mistake agine.......ha ha............
Woke up after 9 hrs. Of glorious sleep to a dusting of snow and 29 deg.......interesting..........pumps are all going with tank valves open........trying to keep it going here,,,i still have not tasted buds yet,,,,i kinda doubt we will make table syrup after this but thats really up to the sweet goddess,,,,if its her will we will,,,,and i will keep trying....just me and ray going forward,,,,,so im kinda thinking it will run gangbusters of high quality sap,,,,,,,thats the way the sweet goddess rolls,,,give you what you wish for then she gets to laugh wacthing you try to keep up,,,,,,,,,i making a list of everything i have to drain befor the deep freeze,,,,,,,,going to hill and eleven on vacuum patrol today,,,,,,,,gonna grease up the ford driveline and kingpins,,,,,change the pump oils,,,,,hang in there boys,,she is comming back around,,,,and when she does you are going to want to be ready!!! Good luck to all of you still in the fight,,,,dont break your stick off just yet.........

[sugaringman85]

Tank valves open here but the vacuum is still on and still hoping for good things come wednesday...broken records all over the board. Heres to breaking more next week! If not I'm ready for spring to come and get back to real work.

[Parker]

I know what your saying,,,i have been thinking about going logging,,,,,,getting back in the saddle and wrapping up fat hitches,,,,but,,,sugaring calls and we better enjoy it while we can......was surprised at how hard nasty stuff was comming into the releaser today for a while when it was above freezing....hopefully it clears up,,,cold comming......was also surprised there were not more damaged lines with the high winds......i love having this time to work on stuff.....good luck to all!

[Parker]

18 deg. With snow,,,,,,nice!

[Russell Lampron]

It's looking good for you to get another run Parker. As long as the trees haven't budded you should make some good syrup.

[Parker]

11 degrees with 2 inches of new snow,,,,,,i have this feeling like i forgot to drain sap out of something,,,,,,,i drained the sap pumps,,, the liquid ring pump has plenty of antifreeze ( i think,,im going to check it in a bit) heats on in the r.o room,,,floats are out of the evaperator,,,tank valves open,,,hmmm
Well if this weather does not get the trees to do something i will be surprised,,,,,super duper touch and go with the red maple buds,,,we shall see
Glad im not one of those peepers i heard a couple of days ago,,,, GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE STILL SWINGING,,,,,
Planning on putting a 3 way valve into my permeate line so i can fill my tanks above the evaporator after i make my wash water for the r.o,,,,,,,that way i will be able to push permeate thru the evaporator much eaiser,,,,,gonna have to be real carful not to set that valve the wrong way when im concentrating,,,ha ha,,,

Now i have to find my sorrels,,,they are around here somewhere,,,,,

[Parker]

Ha ha ha when i was washing out the 2 525 gallon tanks on the ford i planned on going for a ride when i was done and left 150 of permate in each tank,,,now i have 150 gal of ice in the 2 tanks,,,,,,blocking the valves,,,,,,courtneys back in v.t. so im short handed,,,pretty much gaurenting huge runs of quality product to come,,,,,,,going to put the ford in a heated garrage at 4 pm,,,should thaw it out overnight i would think,,,,,,
Just back from woods patrol,,,everything is still frozen soild,,antifreeze looks good in ring pump,,,,r.o room warm.....heading into the woods at eleven to look for trees with extream budding and pull those taps,,,i think up on top along the field those reds might be to far budded out,,will see soon....29 deg. Here now....
I better check the 2 inch transfer pump hoses,,think i forgot to completely dran them,,
Feels like im still forgetting something.........get ready boys,,we got a big push comming,,,,,,,,,,

[Homestead Maple]

Parker, I think it will be late Thursday before trees run again here. It was 8 here yesterday morning and zero sometime time last night according to the recording thermometer. Didn't get but maybe an inch of snow or so but who can tell the way the wind blew it's all in the woods.

[Parker]

17 degrees here now,,,its gonna have to warm up considerably more and faster to get much of a run going here today,,,,homesread,,,you guys are a lot colder than i am but i believe you are right about the trees being frozen,,,,just hopeing to be ready when it does run,,,,,,got the f 600 in the heated shop thawing out the tanks,,,,brought home a releaser that has been hanging up and took it apart and cleaned,,lubed it up,,,going to build another moisture trap with a diffrent desigene for over there,,,the 2 inch pump lines did have a little sap in them and they are drained now,,,that sun is strong this time of year,,,,,had a little sap running at hattens and sanborns yesterday for as cold as it was,,,,,im mean a very very small trickel in the afternoon,,,,im wondering how long im going to have to let the sap run on the ground befor it clears up,,,,im very excited for the next 2 weeks as it looks like we might get some decent runs,,,,,im pretty well caught up on sleep,,,plenty of wood and barrels left,,,lots of internal want has returned,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,send it!

[Parker]

Just back from checking the pumps,,30 deg at rte. 11, 29 in hill,,31 at hattens,,and 32 at sanborns,,,all the releasers had ice in them,,,bearley anything at all ran today,,first few dumps i saw out of the releasers was kinda shocking,,,,but what sap i saw tonight looked alot better and tasted fine,,couldent taste any buddyness,,,fermented smell,,taste gone,,,hard to tell in the dark but looked clearer,,,hope to be able to close the valves on the tanks late morning and fill some tanks,,,,,its going to take a bit to thaw mighty marvin out,,,,hope to boil tomorrow night,,,,,
50 with rain tommrow,,,supposed to be 36 by 8am,,,that might wake them up a bit,,no freeze 2mara night......we shall see.....good luck!!!!

[Maplewalnut]

Great posts Parker. Following you guys up north hoping for some good sap for you. Definitely an interesting year temperature wise which may impact what I do in the future if you guys get another couple of good runs after this cold spell. Good Luck

Heck if I were closer I'd go thaw releasers for you. Too short a season down here again.

Mike

[Parker]

Thanks walnut,,,,,i was out washing releasers and tanks and starting pumps at 6an it was 36 deg when i got to each tank,,,no run then,,,i have driven to each orchard and dumped tanks and rinsed 3 times today(ray did a couple),,now have a small run going with rain and 50 deg,,,might have to pull the reds everywhere but hill,,,lots o nasty still comming out of systems,,, tastes like low sugar except in hill,,,i think sanborns might be done as hardly any flow ( tapped real early)....we will keep after it thru tommrow and see what happens,,,, started gathering up my chainsaws in one place and getting the hood yardcrane ready to start doing a bunch of cut and split firewood orders i have,,,tinking as soon as i start something ealse it will run hard,,,,,,,never know.....dont plan on boiling any nasty as the price is too low for me....LAY YOUR SHOULDER INTO THE COLLAR AND PULL!!!

[Parker]

Running pretty well now tanks should be fairly full in a.m.,,,,might go get hill in the early a.m, ,,tasting a bit buddy,,,,going to fire up the sauce pan and see what we make,,,,,,,,not real excited to keep buying gas for vac. Pumps and trucks for 1.25 a pound.......but i do want to boil agine,,,,,,,,,,,hhmmmmm

[Parker]

Just back from hill 700 gal there and running well with vac. Down to 14 inches,,big problem,,,,stopped at eleven on way by,,,1400 gal to pick up next,,,vac at 24 inches and running into releaser well,,will be interesting to see whats at hattans and sanborns,,,cant wait to hear the r.o start,,,should be a fun day,,,,will boil 2night,,,tastes a littel buddy and what i cooked in the saucepan was not fancy,,,but ill make a bbl. Or 2,,see how it goes ,,,,good luck!!

[Parker]

Super duper low sugar content,,,,, .75 from rte.11,,,hill 1.2,,,,hatten 1,,did not check sugar at sanborns as its still in the woods,,will see this morning,,,,we got 3200 gal o sap in befor we set to boiling,,some of yesterdays sap still on the trucks,,or in the woods,,that r.o turned it into 500 gal. Of 4%,ray got the vac in hill up to 24 inches,,,,no sine of vac. Dropping off which always signals the end of my season,, i had raw sap in my pans from last boil so only made like 25 gallons,,,,has a pre bud taste,,,little choclaty taste....syrup pressed easily...was great to boil agine,,,,,,cold here now,,,,,,more sap to come...........DONT STOP BELIEVING!!!!! Who elese is still going in n.h?

[sugaringman85]

I finished yesterday. Didn't end of collecting again, ran the vacuum and whole milk came out. It cleared up but by that point I had already decided to pull the plug. I chased water through the evaporator yesterday, finished the season at 575 or .438 gallons of syrup per tap. Our best season ever. If you say buddy syrup is going for $1.25 I'm glad I quit. At 11lbs to the gallon thats only $13.75 per gallon, even logging might pay better than that!

[Parker]

Logging can pay more than that depending on what breaks and how the mills treat you,,but its tough to find ground to work on now,,,,,and i have the rest of the year to log,,,,,

[Greyfox]

Parker, I'm still hanging in here in Canterbury. Looking for a run today with the sun out strong and light winds. My North facing trees haven't budded yet, so no reason to quit. I think I have one more boil in the mix; Fingers crossed.

Doc

[markcasper]

.DONT STOP BELIEVING!!!!! Who elese is still going in n.h?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBEXSiFzOfU&nohtml5=False Enjoy your posts Parker

[NHguy]

Parker, I'm still hanging in here in Canterbury. Looking for a run today with the sun out strong and light winds. My North facing trees haven't budded yet, so no reason to quit. I think I have one more boil in the mix; Fingers crossed.

Doc

Same just down the hill from you. I went out to pull taps and thinking i was going to be cleaning all day - surprised to find clear sap running well. So we collected mid day, dumped anything that was yellowish or buggy from not having looked all week. Trees ran hard today. Calling for 20 degrees tonight and 46 and sunny tomorrow- so it looks like we will collect at least one more day and have at least one more boil!

[NHguy]

good luck parker! hope your sugar content goes up with the hard freezes

[Parker]

We got 3000 gal today,,,i shut the pump off at sanborns,,dumped the sap and washed the tank,,,too far gone for me,,ray had everything cleaned up by like 3,,,hill has 600 gal. Of clear good tasting sap,,300 at eleven,,150 at hattens,,running the r.o now and will boil tommrow with tommrows sap,,,the concentrate has a unique oder,,,,pretty doubtful we are going to go too much longer,,,but will go as long as we are making something i would eat,,,,yah it is off flavored but not bad,,,,i tasted some today at another producers that was something,,,kinda like a super strong citrus,,nice and light in color ,,would not filter or boil,,,,,he is all done,,,i wont push it past it being fun,,,,,weather looks great,,, so we will see

[Parker]

Got anothr 2400 today,,stuff is not too off flavored,,had a bunch of visitors that liked it,,,starting to filter pretty hard,,,,,,,,tommrow might be the last dance,,,once its nasty and or wont press im done,,,would like to finish the 55 gallon ddl. I just started,,,,,,good luck to those still trying,,,,,,dont know of anyone south of me still going,,,,,,,,,,but mighty marvin says GO!!!

[Parker]

Does look like it frooze last night,,glad i left the pumps going,,,,interested to see whats out there,,,,vac. Was 19 inches at eleven last night and i just did not have the go dog go to get out there and fix it,,,,,ashemed to say,,,,,,better get on it this am...........give hef hell

[Parker]

Sap was running in hill and froze at eleven with both pumps going,,,got another 325 in hill and cleaned the tank,,fueling hattens next then hopefully it will be thawed at eleven to fix leaks,,sap looks good,,rain and 36 here now,,supposed to get to 50 later with no freeze tonight,,,very nice

[Parker]

Rte.11 just wont thaw those leaks out,,releaser still says 27 inches and its 45 deg out,,,come on,,bust loose,,,i want to find those leaks!!!

[Parker]

Ray and i got the vac back up to 25 at eleven,,,not much sap today there,,,mabey 800 gal,, the lines with the leaks did not thaw till 3,,fixed by 4.30,,after bringing my daughter to dance class went back to hill for another load at 8pm,,running well there but vac was 16,,,got that back to 23 with some effort,,,should go det anotherone at rte. 11 but i dont think it will overrun the tank,,ill get going early,,,,saps lookin a bit rough,,prob. Last boil 2 mara,,,,,,,,,good luck

[Parker]

Well looks like im going to boil what i get today and call it a season,,,,did not get enough sap overnight to pay for the gas to run the pumps,,,and its not real pretty sap,,,warm with rain overnight,,but just not enough quality product comming in,,,,,good luck to everyone,,,parker

[Maplewalnut]

great job parker, put another year in the books

[Parker]

Made 55 gal. Of lighter but alot stronger,,,,not really buddy,,,like extra fruity,,a little citrus,,real diffrent,,syrup,,,sap pretty much stopped running,,,going to v.t tommrow,,,,good luck everyone

[Parker]

2017 here we come!!!!
Well,,, looks like its time to get started...where im logging is very "sensetive" to warm weather and water runoff,,,so,,,while we go thru this week of warm weather im going to take advantage of this oppertunity to try to get sanborns tapped in...my daughters and i have been thru all of the sugarwoods fixing and flagging problems...i was at sanborns yesterday making repairs and changing spiles. Going back there today to continue and get the pump running....looks like a good few days to get ready. If i do get a bunch of sap that would be great,,but,,the major focus is to get sanborns and hattens all tapped and tight so i can work on rte.11 and hill..as always short on help with alot to do,,,but thats the fun of it....NEVER A DULL MOMENT
The season has begun,,roll the dice and enjoy the ride....AND NEVER GIVE AN INCH,,,,,,,EVER

[Parker]

Pretty much everything all put togwther, vac. And releaser working, all the spiles changed and 250 tapped,,will finish tommrow and get it tight...awsome day in the woods...livin what i dream about all year...

[sugaringman85]

Least you have a woodlot you can cut, hope you can move the lowgrade thats been our struggle! How were things running with this warm temps? Dribble before you put a spout in or not much? Whats the tap count up to this year?

[Parker]

Im lucky (kind of ) to be cutting hemlock this winter so the market has been steady..the sap was not running hard,,just a bit.it was overcast all day, no real sun..tap count,,not really sure,,somewhere around 5000

[Parker]

Mabey 100 left to tap at san..after it in the morning

[Parker]

I got sanborns tapped and tight..had a darn good run and last night boiled making about ten gallons. Got to bed aroud 1am then woke up ran to the woods and got the pump squared away. And went to the meeting today, got home and hauled in 4 loads of sap which i will boil tommrow....4000 more taps to go what a treat to boil this early

[Parker]

Sap ran a bit yesterday, boiled at tuckermountian and got the pans sweet, a very diffrent experiance boiling on a pellet evaporator.....made a few gallons. Went to bed at 2am, just heading out to the woods to gather whats in the tanks a boil befor everything turns too ice...

[Parker]

Got everything boiled,, tanks are empty and im ready to go at the sugarhouse when it really runs. Sure was fum making a littel

[SmellsLikeSyrupNH]

I'm jealous, have a good season!! I have a few weeks to wait


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Parker]

Kinda weird going from full throttel sugaring to logging agine...

[sugaringman85]

I would agree with you Parker. Went from sugaring weather to single digits, "winter weather" again. Picked up 40k feet of pine to cut before the next run. Hope I can get it done in a few weeks.

[bairdswift]

Was that you that was visited by the maple news from franklin nh? Was that mighty Marvin?

[Parker]

Yes, where did you see it?

[bairdswift]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=zyM272-8cso

[Parker]

Nice...4000 more taps to go

[mountainvan]

Nice video Parker. Over flowing tank though.....good luck this year.

[Maplewalnut]

I always thought MARVIN was a mythical creature...LOL. Great video Parker. Love to see the kids in sugarhouse. My youngest had his pacifier dipped in the syrup pan (and cooled of course) when he started crying years ago when we were boiling

[n8hutch]

That video is awesome, makes me wish I had been ready for that last run.

[markcasper]

Great videos!!!

[Parker]

Got another 400 ready to drill when it warms up agine...was surprised to find a 400 gallon block of ice in the tank at sanborns,,,i dont really recall it being above freezing after i pumped it out the last time.........weird

[Parker]

Spent this last week taking advantage of the better than ideal logging conditions. Im working on ragged mountian in andover, n.h. and it very rocky, boulderie..rough steep ground..nothing like 2 feet of snow to smooth the road out....so nothing maple has been done...well,,i got the last of my wood trucked into the mill by noon and ran over to sanborns to see what the conditions looked like..much to my surprise there was 3+ feet of snow in the parking spot by the tank, thankfully my neighbors from smith hill were plowing out their tank up the road and were nice enough to come down and open the tank up...i put on my 3 foot tubbs grabbed a shovel and 5 gal o gas and started the hike,,,,,,, the snow was surprisingly deep and extra sticky......a real cardio work out by the time i made it out to the vac. Pump...sap was trickeling in at a pretty good clip..the 400 gal block of ice had lifted a bit in the tank..got the 2 feet of snow shoveled off everything and started the pump hoping to see at least 20 inch o vac........nope,,,10 was all.....started closing valves and isolated the maineline with the leak...went back out to the truck (2500 feet?) And got my repair gear..hiked back in...snows getting stickier,,,legs are starting to feel it...went out the leaking line (the longest line there) all the way to the end without finding any leaks...when my breathing slowed down i herd a small woosh of vacuum...i looked at the very end of the maineline a a squirell had chewed the 3/4inch mainline right off...fixed that rhe wacthed the sap in the 4 lateral lines that come into the end of that line...big leak on one so i followed it..this is a long lat line picking up some trees on the edge of the field...went to the end of that line and it was chewed in half.....all the time thinking how is it that the leaks are at the furthest point away from the truck?? Got the vac up to 20...sap was dumping every 5 to 6 min......went back at 7pm and thawed the tank valve out and pumped some sap out which made it all the way to roadside...left the vac running as it was 41 deg. Heading over now to see whats happening..plan on getting another 400 in today....good luck,,,,,,,,,,legs already feelin it

[Parker]

Tank was about an in from the top. Ran all night. A littel breakfast an off to tap...good luck!

[bairdswift]

PAGING PARKER!! How's the sugaring been over by you? Still pulling wood in the warm temps? Keep us in the loop here.

[Parker]

Finally have rte.11 tapped and pulling 18 inches,,we will gwt it up to 24 tommrow..ten cord a day ray showed up monday and we got a lot done,mtanks on the new big truck (1981 c-60), a real classic,,,)got the sap that was running at the orher woods in,,and got eleven tapped...very happy wit the progress,,big boul tommrow,,,sap at sanborns is looking a littel rough..hattens has been haveing intermitent pump releaser issues,,,just got bac from rte11 and that dumping every minute 45 sec, crystal clear sap,still a foot and a half of snoe there,,still gotta get to hill

Keep after it!

[Russell Lampron]

It looked like you were ahead of the season last month but you're behind again. Go man Go!

[Parker]

I know russ, im slacking, im gonna try to pick up the pace,,heck of a boil today...the wind was howling all day then the temp dropped,,i think i have everything drained and heated...looks like tuesday befor it warms up...going to be nice getting around in the woods...good luck

[Parker]

My daughters and i went up to hill for the first time this year..was surprised to see less snow there than at tre.11..only about 10 to 12 inches with bear spots,,,but,,it was hard as concrete as it was solid ice...super slipry and most of hill is pretty steep...wind was howling...should have the spiles changed tommrow then tap it...oldest daughter has the next 2 weeks off so she will be going full time..sold some syrup and got enough supplies for the rest of the season (i think).real happy about this cold snap.looking forward to being all tapped with the majority being fresh taps...got 2 gallons cooling on the step to make cream with in the a.m.,,,might be a delayed start in the a.m as its supposed to be -4....might make some candy till it warms up a bit...oh the goddess smiles broadly..........so much fun!

Good luck everyone

[Parker]

Been looking all over the house,,,just cant seem to find that old pair of spiked boots i have.......the tubbs snow shoes we have have cleats on the bottom,,,but,,, parts of hill are real steep...i did find a pair of boot chains,,,,but those old wescos would be real nice,,,,,im sure i will find them in august,,,ha ha

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Parker,

Nice photo of you in the maple news. You have lot less of a beard than the last pic I saw of you!

[Parker]

Hi brandon..good to hear from you..it was fun to have the maple news over and fun to boil that early....
Totatly destroyed the bindings on 2 pairs of snow shoes yesterday in hill,,i would be hiking along on a grade, break traction and slide into whatever and smash,,,break stuff...supposed to warm up and rain today so that might make getting around a bit eaiser..excited to start the pumps today...should have hill tapped in 2 to 3 days,,,extensive animal damage in 3 sections of woods...

[Parker]

Hill can be a real trick some years,,got the vac tight yesterday. Started the old bb4 this morning and nothing..bearings gone,,skipped the timing gear...everything tight and running surprisingly well..lots of sap which is surprising for the snow being tight to the trees...i have another pump head to put up in hill...

Good luck everyone

[Parker]

Full tanks overnight

[Parker]

Trucked in over 5000 gal o sap today, still crunching. Looks like we are making 7.5 %.....

[Parker]

Had a real nice boil yesterdaymade 2 bbls,,lots of stuff to fix today...

"Aint no rest for the wicked
Money dont grow on trees
I got bills to pay, mouths to feed
Aint nothing in this world for free
You know i cant slow down
I cant hold back, Although sometimes i wish i could
There aint no rest for the wicked until we close our eyes for good"

Lots of taps and one guy,,,,,

More fun than most folks have in a lifetime.......

NEVER GIVE AN INCH

[Parker]

Progress.....got a bunch of stuff fixed on the c 60 sap hauler, got the pump swaped out in hill and a bunch of little stuff done,,supposed to get to 38 with rain here today with no freeze tonight...looking forward to having something to boil this weekend.....

Good luck!

[lyford]

Cage the Elephant, nice

[Parker]

Had a decent turn out mpl weekend for us...huge eats,,had the grill going....lots of wind damage,,got hill to 23",,,tre eleven 25,,hattans 22 ,,got to fix some leaks at san. Tomarrow..fix some stuff in hill,,,work on the c 60 a bit and get ready for what should be a good week,,looks like we have plenth of wood for a month of BIGSAP...

Good luck!!

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Parker,

If you run out of wood I'm sure we can fix you up with a logger in that area. I doubt you know any loggers.

[Parker]

I have my yard crane set up next to the sugarhouse,,about 30 cords of pine cut to length and split once from this summer within reach and another 15 cords tree length..could get some wood under the roof pretty quickly..might be wet but we could make it work.....

[Parker]

Rayss back for a bit making things alot smoother,,,Finally thawed out and started to run a bit after a frozen star..lots of rain,,like 36 out,,looks like it will be just above freezing overnight and a bit warmer 2 mara....had a bunch more leaks to fix today and more truck work taken care of...
Had about 40 maple cream donuts left over from maple weekend,,,ate probably 10 of them,,,pretty darn tasty

[Homestead Maple]

Those donuts give me heartburn. They're not like the ones I get at Deerfield Fair.

[Parker]

Bill, same ones at deerfield...came from my donut machine,,ate ,like 12 today and no heartburn,,,might have to wander down to the sugarhouse for a donut nightcap,,,,wound up hauling in 2400 gal today.....

[Homestead Maple]

Oh....ok.....I was thinking DD and that explains th heartburn. I don't think I could sleep on a 'donut nightcap'!!....lol
2,400.....the trees here haven't woke'n up that much yet.

[Parker]

They are not doing much yet,,sanborns wash totaly thawed, no frost befor the last big freeze, up to your ankels in mud out there,,where the recent snow is melted the ground under is still solid,,need a little sun,,,buts its running and the opperation is fine tuned ...we are ready for the big push...how are you doing up there? .

[Parker]

Lots and lots of sap.....wow.........

[Russell Lampron]

Same here!

[Parker]

Just got in from tru king,,surprised,,rte.11 has been running3 k a day since the last freeze,,1800 taps,,hill has not really started to run much and sanborns is putting out 500 a day ,,800 taps...havent ever really seen hill and eleven so far apart in how they are running,,more snow and cold in hill for sure,,,making a bunch of syrup,,we will hang on longer than we should as alaays,,15 cords left in the shed and im getting the hang of that ro....

Good lyck !

[Parker]

Hey,,a little freeze last night and hill has started to run, eleven still giving 3 k a day (1.5%),,,other woods still running, no sine of buds in the woods,,lots of snow at elevev and hill.......drive on

[Parker]

29 here this a.m...still making great tasting syrup,,,,,,,no real runs in hill yet,,,,,real odd, eleven is still giving 3k gal o sap a day on 1800 taps,,,,real weird but i will take it....give em hell and enjoy the ride.....this is what we dream of all year

Good luck!

[Parker]

Alot of sap but not real sweet...still not much from hill,,,rte11 dumping every 1.10 minutes,,,,,,,gonna go on pump patrol and get some sap hauled in for tommrow.....made 48 gallons from 4100 gallons today.....not so bad when you can turn it into 6%..........hill will be running hard when it starts,,,be very interesting to see how far we can make it....


Good luck

[Parker]

A littel freeze last night and we are off to the races.........mabey hill will start today? Rte. 11 slowed down last night with 1200 gal overnight. Off to collect

Stay after it!

[Parker]

Made another barrel today from 3600 gal of sap,,,not too sweet.., had to dump the sap at sanborns,,just got back from trucking,,hill started to run a bit harder...saw a woodcock on the way home,,always a bad sine.....as long as i dont see a great blue heron we are all set for a bit.....

[Parker]

Hauled all my morning sap in and its sitting in my tank room where its pretty cool,leaving the rest of the sap in the woods till a bit later... 85 here now,,gonna hold off on crunching till tonight when it cooler and boil early an with tonights sap...hill strated running getter at 800 gal in 24 hrs,,eleven at 1100 in 24,,,hattens and sanborns are done,,,sour milk tast to the sap...
Got a haircut today so we should see some more quality runs in the cold woods


Never give an inch

[Mark-NH]

Parker,

What is your theory on why Hill hasn't run? Think it was environment or do you think it was something to do with you set up? Are you hoping it will still run after this warm weather?

[Parker]

Sitting on a bunch of sap that i will start crunching early and boil it...almost nothing running on evening sap patrol,,pumps going...


Hill is a real cold place,,north face,,still 12 to 16 inches of snow,,,. I have a better set up there than years past and it got tapped late...couldent tell you...i remember one year after the season i went visiting friends in vermont for 2 days,,when i came back the tank was overflowing with no vac......at the tail end of april

[Parker]

Crunching,,,sap going thru the r.o. is 50 deg...does not taste bad, going out to get the a.m. sap. Kinda warm (60l) out,,but,,might freeze fri nite...

[Parker]

Buds pooped overnite at eleven and neither eleven or hill ran at all overnight,,,,,,,,,,hate it when the trees quit.......

Im going to tour the golden road in maine for sugaring opperations that speak english,,any suggestions or leads would be great thanks

[Parker]

WHAT A TRIP!!!!
Left tuesday around noon and got back last night. What an adventure! If you ever get a chance to visit north west maine go! left my sugar house around 3 on tuesday and left ray to finish boiling..On our way out of n.h. we made a detour to fairfied vt. To buy syrup then went to errol to spend the night. In the a.m. we stopped in wilson mills and saw an amazing sugarhouse. There sap was still crystal clear and they were making great syrup. From there we went to the cdl super store to get some directions and see opperations there. We visited the coolest laid out sugarhouse i have ever seen in terms of how it was laidout and built. Compleate with full living quarters..we got some solid leads there and met some real nice mainers. Not knowing much about the golden road , where the sugarhouses were, and, wanting to be sure we were able to get on it we went to millinocket. We knew there was a road going out of greenville that connected to it on the western side but no one we talked to knew if it was plowed out. We stayed in millinocet over night the got on the golden road around 7am. Here is a travel tip. All the sugarhouses we found are from mile marker 87 west (we started at mile one)..the trip across the g.r was great for me because i had always wanted to see it and we saw well over 200 deere going across..we stopped at the rippigenious dam to see that,,huge! About 7 hours after starting on the road and going thru wasouts,,thru deep mud and avoiding huge sink holes we arrived at dole pond.it had frozen that morning and the sap was running hard and they were boiling.super duper nice guy..totaly welcoming. Everyone up there showed us all around there opps..i have to say i have never seen sap come into a releaser that hard,,38000 taps into one can comming down 8? 3inch mainlines.on a hard run...****........i was amazed that there sap was 2.85%!!! I was also amazed to see that all the sugarmakers famlies were at the sugarhoses working, and at many of them the wives were boiling and filtering....fron there we went tp pacquetts..OMFG....78000 taps either being pumped to the sugarhouse or running to it,,we walked in and saw mrs paquette running 2 6x16 boiling 23% con..she was making 4 to 5 bbls an hour and directing the squad of famliy in the smooth production of mass volumes of high quality syrup...mr paquett was busy running the 4 r.os totaling 20 posts. And going down the road getting concentrate from a pump station up the road..there is very little sap storage capacity up there so when the sap runs they get rid of it. Mrs paquette was quick to introduce us to the 5 super cute frech wemon there and told us that they were all girlfriends of her sons who were in the woods...ahh she is very preceptive....we visited 5? More places going towards canada and were warmly welcomed and showen around at all of them..all there sap was 2.85 to 3% which they said was the norm in the area...we went out in the woods at many of the places and were stunned to see the mainelins were aroun 7 feet off the ground and most of the taps were 10 feet from the ground! Deep snow up there. They still had 2 to 3 feet of snow in the woods...
To be continued

[MapleCamp]

Love the golden road, used to hunt the area as a young man. What a great idea to tour the sugar ops up there. Can you post any pics?

[Parker]

On the golden road i was real suprised to see almost all the sugarmakers had the same r.o....what were they you ask? A new cdl? Big 16 inch rigs? Something space age from qubec? Nope...they were la peirre's from the early 1980's with piston pumps and i was even more surprised to see that all of them were running 650 lbs of pressure on the membranes..all of the producers had 2 ro' with 1 cutting the water and the 2nd spikeing the sugar,,,there was one place with 12,000 taps that had a singel 4 post DG out of the late 80's that was bringing the sugar to 18% and boiling on a 6x16 thunderbolt from the 80's,,they said if they went higher than 18% bad things happend. The paquetts did have a newer cdl along with 3 of the old lapeirres...
It was getting late but we wanted to see more and we had been told that the big boys were "up in the "big 6" which is the township above the golden road. We headed to the road leading north and were not on it very long befor we met or next producer, Simon Carrier. I think Simion was the yongest producer we met. I would guess he was in his late 20's or early 30's..his equipment was a little diffrent than the others. We were surprised to see a 3x16? H2o high brix evaporator. The r.o's were a newer DG 8? Post and an h20 high brix. He was boiling off of 19000 ad doing the woods work and boilg by himself. He did have the h2o tap trac system on his phone that he was constantly checking that he said enabled him to take care of all those taps by enableing him to direct his attention and time in the woods to where it was needed. Simion was also diffrent in that he had a gallon per tap of storage. He also had something ealse i had never seen befor. 2 400 gallon bulk tanks with the refridgeration still working. He would crunch the sap to 45% then fill the refridgerated tanks which were colled to 30 deg (i think,,he was talking in celcius). He said he could keep the 45% for a few days if he had to.. we stayed at siminons for a while trying to wrap our minds around the concept that he was turning 19000 gallons of sap into those 2 small tanks of concentrate...and trying to figure out how 1 guy was maintaing 27.5" of vac on 19000 taps...that guy was on heck of a go getter..as we were heading out he mentioned that someone a little further north was doing high brix and boiling on electric. We had our next destioation! North we went,,now i dont know if it was thd herds of deer in the road that we had to navigate around or all those roads branching off but we got turned around,,but, we got turned around and were not able to get into the six, it was around 11 pm and by that time we figured folks would not be up and we needed to get some sleep so we headed to the pitsson (spelling?) farm were we stayed for the night.
I failed to mention on our way across the G.R. we stopped at the pitson and arranged a room for the night. The farm is located just a bit south of the G.R to the south and heading east to west just befor you get to the sugarhouses. Super nice folks and a butiful set of buildings built by great northern paper back in the day.
More later....

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Nice country up there for sure, sounds like you had a great trip.

[n8hutch]

Glad you had a good trip Parker, I was kinda curious how the roads would be, I know when we go up in early June some places the frost is just going out. When every Colvert is lifted it can seem like a long ride. Did you go out 20 mile/ demo rd to jackman on the way home? That's always plowed.

[Parker]

Yes that how we headed out. We would have gone in that way but no one was sure it was plowed out.
When i go to most vt sugarhouses often i get an inferiority complex looking at all that new stuff..the golden road showed me skill trumps new stuff, the biggest producer was boiling on 2 thor/ioxy 6x16's out of the early 80's...i have to say all the syrup i tried on the GR was excellant,,and i always thought i could tell when syrup was crunched over 14%,,,,wrong....i was surprised to see all the syrup on the GR was organic.
So we left the pittson farm and headed sout to moosehead. I wanted to take the kelly dam road as i herd there were some sugarmakers out there but we missed it. When we got to jackmam we headed nort on 201 and saw arnolds operation, georgous huge sugarhouse on hilton land, like 60k taps all running into it. From there we went down the road to carriers,,,WOW,,,like 30k taps...a 4x16 high brix lappier evaporator and idk how many posts on the r.o......alot... plus a high brix r.o spiking it to 38%...great tasting syrup.(i still cant believe how good it was)...most complecated set of valves and pipes i have ever seen on an evaporator. He was running the rig as 2 seperate evaporators and drawing from 2 points on the evaporator,,,absolutly cranking syrup out..im still scraching my head on how that evapoator worked,,but it was fast....1 guy crunching and boiling,,,really a sight to see...super clean place...they took some real pride in the opperation...
More later

[Parker]

Holy smokes......2018........looks like we might have some sugaring weather sat thru tuesday,,,,,whats a guy to do? My woods are looking a little rough and it looks like im on my own this year so....im headed to sanborns 800+ to get going...woods repair then mabey,,,probably tap on friday.....if i just get the repairs made and vacuum tight their it will be a load off my mind and i will be able to concentrate on rte.11 where there was lots of damage this summer.....
May the sweet goddes smile on you this season and you find a willing buyer paying a fair price (ha ha ha)
(I have been amazed in my travels this summer to see aand hear about all the expansion this summer...with butternut only buying 90% of what they bought last year and other packers not planning on buying more than what they bought last year where do folks think they are going to sell the added production?)
Its going to be real real interesting,,,,,,,,

[Parker]

Good going in the woods yesterday with much progress made..the snow which had been over my knees is down to my ankels after the rain we had...i hope to finish repairs and get new spiles on today...

I was thinking as i was looking at my system at sanborns yesterday (wich would have been cutting edge 10 years ago) how much more efficiant cutting edge tubing systems, vac. Pumps ect are today.......i know in computing there is a princapel that the speed of computing doubels every so many years......seems like the efficency of tubing systems must increase by some factor every so many years.......so...most sugarmakers if they keep up with tech. Must make more syrup per tap every so many years....so.....its not nessacarily the ammount of taps added that contributes to increased overall production but also the efficancy of the system (pulling 28.5 inches compared to me pulling 23 inches).......
The end result is lots more syrup per tap.........
The industry is going into this season with a big surplus of syrup...............and low prices.........its going to be interesting to see what the price and demand for syrup is at the end of march

[red maples]

but all it takes is one bad season and the surplus can be gone. While selling wholesale to the suppliers like bascom's seems to be getting worse and worse for the producers, the prices they are selling it at doesn't seem to change if anything it seems like its going up. but their sales increase annually, and their bottom line is only effected by investment in stock of purchased syrup. but when you can build yet another 30,000 sq/ft storage facility your bottom line isn't hurting that much.

[Russell Lampron]

but all it takes is one bad season and the surplus can be gone. While selling wholesale to the suppliers like bascom's seems to be getting worse and worse for the producers, the prices they are selling it at doesn't seem to change if anything it seems like its going up. but their sales increase annually, and their bottom line is only effected by investment in stock of purchased syrup. but when you can build yet another 30,000 sq/ft storage facility your bottom line isn't hurting that much.

With what Bruce is paying for bulk syrup and what he is selling his finished products for he has to build new 30,000 sq/ft buildings and install new side by side bottling lines so he doesn't have to pay Uncle Sam.

[Parker]

Well i dont think we are going to have bad years going forward...with folks tapping in january and modern tech all it really takes is ten decent days to make alog of syrup...
And bruce and other packers are in it to make money,,and they are good at it...cant take it away from them
But
What i just xant figure out is why people would add many many thousands of taps knowing what the price is now,,,and knowing that supply is increasing exponentially,,,which will result in lower prices and difficulty moving syrup in genral........got to be some reason.....
The packers work hard for their market share and bulk sellers would be in real trouble without them,,,,but .......where is all that extra syrup from all those taps going to go??? Really really interested to see what the market looks like in may

[Parker]

A great day in the woods with my eldest daughter...minimal snow..nice temp..much progress,,,i tapped 1 tree today so i would not be starting on a friday.....still lots and lots to do buf gaining...the forcast for sat thru tues looks like sugaring to me...looking forward to get that woods tight and mabey geg some sap

[Parker]

I have sanborns almost all tapped..slow going fixing all the squirl chews,,,,vacuum pump and releaser issues,,all the cool stuff...,,there are 4 or 5 pretty freindly squirls there that have a healthy appitite for tubing.....from like 700 ish taps at about 15 inches of vacuum i got around 300 gallons,,,definatly not hammering but perfect for leak repair...we have rain comming so i want to get it tight and the lines rinsed out.....mabey get enough to boil

[Parker]

Well sanborns is all tapped in..i was working on fixing leaks yesterday as it got colder and colder until around noonish when the lines froze up...had 16 inches o vac at that point...32 degrees outside now with an expected hign of 43... hope to see a little sap and fix the rest of the leaks,,get the lines cleaned out

[Parker]

Well.....sometimes you just dont reach that daily predicted high temp......left the house around 8 thinking if would be warmer at the sugarwoods,,but,,was one of the very rare times it was colder,,,steady rain and 27 deg. Which ment 1/4inch of ice frozen on everything and we all know how trees run when ice is frozen to them...right now its clear skues,,30 degres with ice still in the trees,,,i did manage to get route 11 plowed out and some thing done around the sugarhouse

[Parker]

Slow start to the sap today,,,hard time chasing leaks down as some were running ang some not...releaser was dumping about once an hoyr when i left...we will see

[Parker]

Got the vacuum up to 20 inches..got around 700 ish gallons of sap most of which i used in tank wasing and washing out the supef long sap transfer lines (2 one inch,,,1500 feet long)....looks like we are ready to roll at sanborns..now onto rte.11

[Parker]

Was surprised to see 400ish gal in the tank at sanborns when i got there this morning,,,,not sure if the 2 one inch lines to the road will thaw enough to let the sap out....it will be there if it doesnt

[Parker]

I have been getting rte 11 ready to tap trying to take advantage of the small ammount of snow we have....i logged rte 11 befor i started tapping in like 10+? Years ago...i now look back thinking i should have cut all the boarderline red maples when i was there as many are dieing, breaking off and comming down on the lines...live and learn...one large red maple came down on one section of conductor lines and broke one of the wires...always fun getting a wire repaired and everything back in place....all the entrances to lateral lines back in place.....
Im going to start replacing some older drops today.....hope to be ready to tap once it warms up agine
Good luck to all

[Parker]

We had some very cold weather earlier this week...around 0 one morni g...temps hit 42 yesterday afternoon with sun after a cold start...last years sap in the tubing thawed out at rte. 11 by around 2 but the snow was still tight to the trees.....i started the pump at sanborns,,,nothing much happening at 7pm when i checked.....rain started around 8pm and rained all night,,,,interested to see what is in the tank this morning...
I still have 2 days of repairs at rte 11 bwfor i start tapping there but im very happy with the progress

May your tanks run over and your syrup pay more than you expect

[Parker]

About 150 gallobs in the tank overnight from 800 taps,,another 150 during the day yaeterday...didnot freeze last night and the snow was meelting away from the trees a little...about 35 out now...
A cold drizzely rain all day yesterday..made snowshoeing difficult but still too much snow to get around very well wirhout them.....made it until 4pm when my wool clothes were saturated...gaining.......

[amaranth farm]

Radio Silence.

[Russell Lampron]

You lasted longer than I did Parker. I was soaked through and went inside at noon.

[spud]

Let's tap!
Put on your snowshoes and grab your tools
Let's tap!
Into the woods with taps we go
Let's boil
While the sap is flowing hard
Let's boil
Sweet the steam fills the shack tonight

And if you say sap
I'll tap with you
And if you say boil
We'll fire
Because the wood is stacked
and my brix is two
the gradient is set and with temperature rise
means drawoff is near!

Let's tap
Let's tap
Under the moonlight, the serious moonlight....

Took the day off yesterday. Started saturday at the very top of the back bowl to start flushing lines of fish food. Back at it today. And away we gooooooooo.......

Love it.

Spud

[Parker]

Antheram..those are some big gourgoys maples you have up in that bowl,,,how have yoy been making out,?

Looks like awuful good weathef for a while ....i have been out of the sugarwoods the last 2 days finishing a project that i HAVE to get done,,,,a painful lesson in procrastination....i still have a number of days before rte.11 is ready to go....around 900 gallons of sap sitting at sanborns,,should have enough to boil in the next few days,,,working late around the sugarhouse getting ready there...took my syrup pan to the welder to reweld the elbow on the draw off/sap entry box..that cracked and started leaking last year...i hope leader has learned how to weld a little better.....make a stronger pan.....
Agravating seeing the forcast and being a ways from ready,,but,,i will get it

Good luck everyone!

[amaranth farm]

Radio Silence.

[Parker]

Got mabey 100 gal o sap at sanborns yesterday,,,,,pan back on evaporator,,fixing almost done at rte.11,,,will start tapping there today,,,need to wash tanks out,,clean up at sugarhouse,,and get r.o. put together,,,lots to do...love it

[Parker]

Started tapping at rte 11 which makes me very happy.....lots of batteries charged and ready to go....200 gal o sap overnight at sanborns ,,when i checked back in on it at 7pm the belt for the pump had broken early in the day so only had 400 gal. Total.......was amazed both the f 60p and the C 60 started right up ( the f 600 clutch is almost gone, master cylinder leaks badly,, and blown out exhaust manifold gaskets,,,,,,,,c-60 had a mystry aliment where it would run great then slowly lose power until it was just crawling along,,,and when you change the gear oil in the transmission it looks like neversez..makes funny noise,) kinda a jump ball which truck get the sap tanks.....the ford has a better heater,,time will tell......so....put the 325 in the pickup a brought a load of sap home......gonna get some more now.
Odd to have so much done by 2/16 and still feel like i way behind
GOOD LUCK

[amaranth farm]

Radio Silence.

[Parker]

3.3% !!!!! My sap tested 1.7%.....nice...
Yesterday i got the sap tanks flushed out at the sugarhouse and the evaporator washed out (i really wanted to boil the crap out but i think that would be starting on a friday and we all know what happens when we do that) ,,,fixed skme plumbing at the sugarhouse,,,,,,,,fixed the vacuum at sanborns (squirrls) and trucked around 1100 gallons of sap home,,nice to see sap at the sugarhouse,,funny it takes a few seconds to type that but took all day to do it.....
And today im going to tap at 11.......
Insane forcast...gotimefor bigsaptastrophe......the sweet goddess is early this year

[Russell Lampron]

Yes the forecast does look good. Last season the extended forecast looked great but what actually got was usually colder. I like colder because it extends the season. I had a wise man tell me last season that you can't always meet your goal or have a record season. The weather wasn't being good to him or his 3/16 tubing and buckets and he didn't meet his goal. I got the same weather and because of pumped vacuum I exceeded my goal by 9 gallons.

[Parker]

Got my batteries all charged up and in the bachpack,,,a tupperwear full of "sugarmakers baked beans", a gallon of water,,and dry liners in the boots.....with any luck at all i will finish tapping rte.11 today.....just cant wait to hear the roar of the honda powered dekker 60 cfm liquid ring pump come to life.....(thats when its time to get serious about a sap hauling truck)
Got mabey 300 gallons at sanborns the last 2 days.....
Good luck all!

[Parker]

Mabey 100 lwft to tap at rte 11...setting up vacuum there today.....changing membrane in r.o. today.....running to sanborns now,,,i pumped the tank empty at 10 last night,,,sap was running in at 100 gal. An hour,,,,should be about full agine....
Good luck

[Parker]

R.o membrane change went great,,sweetend the pans and made a little syrup,,vac. Up and running at eleven,,lots and lots of leaks to fix ( im going to see where i missed them) was 71 degrees when i was at sanboens,,almost no snow left there,,,,,drove to rte.11 and it was 53 degrees and 18 inches + of snow,,,,12 miles away...weird,,,,,working on getting the c 60 ready to haul............sure was nice boiling

[Amber Gold]

That is weird. Good for end of season syrup though. Is it always colder there?

[Parker]

Sanborns is a due south face and rte eleven is a due north face nesteled in a valley that holds the cold...always alot cooler at eleven,,,and coldef still (wirh more snow) in hill
800 gal from sanborns yestsrday and about 200 today,,,crunching a total of 1500? Gal now...got to finish draining everything while im washing the r.o latef...

Got 1/2 of rte 11 tight befor everything frozd up....getting there
I would like to know how many miles i walk in a season.............overflowing tanks and full barrels to everyone

[Russell Lampron]

.............overflowing tanks and full barrels to everyone

I don't want my tank to overflow! I want to get the pump started just before the releaser dumps to overfill it.

[Parker]

Vacuum is at 25 at sanborns and rte 11..thought i was going to get rte 11 tight yesterday but the lines started to freeze....off to the races....
Running suprisingly well for 32 degres and freezing rain..dumping every 3 .30 ...tommrow shoukd be busy.....heading back out to brush the tank out then get ready to boil.......
I look forward to this all year...
Good luck

[Parker]

Darn strong run yesterday around 1.5 gal. Per tap.....got the c 60 going and loaded with the 2 525 gallon tanks which is a huge time saver, made its madian run last night...have some leaks to fix at rts 11...great boil last night.....cold here today not getting over 33 deg with a cold rain in the afternoon...looks like i big russ is going to truck sap which would free me up to fix leaks and boil....ideal conditions predicted this week.....might even start up in hill this week.....
Line up your barrels...........make sure you have plenty of filter papers and d.e. handy....

[amaranth farm]

Radio Silence.

[Parker]

What a grwat run,,,got lucky and got a friend to hauk some sap in the afternoon,,also got lucky (i think) and got a 1991 f350 with a 7.3 l dana 60's and a c-7 transmission,,new breaks and tires........goes down the road well.....alot faster getting around with than the c 60 ...
Made a pile of syrup,,,tonight the grade went from darl robust to amber rich as i boiled,,,great tastinv stuff,,,rte 11 vac is at 20 inches,,have to fix that tommrow
Sap has slowed way down tonight,,looks like rte 11 will freeze but not sanborns...
Good luck

[Parker]

Seem to have a nice rythem going...pretty steady sapflow over the last number of days...FILLIN BARRELS..the f 350 has been holding together...its doing the solinonide on fender click thing..pays to have a saw wrench with you if your going to shut it off....found out the fuel gauge does not work,,but the rear fuel tank does work....truck is geared just right for hauling sap around town,,,took the truck with syrup some distance ,, and,,, well....it does not have a turbo....rolls serious coal on long hills..(kinda fun smokeing out the tailgaters) .but..the stacks the kid put on it,,,so,,so,,so,,loud.....overall awsome truck
Nice freeze last nighr..might just be a big one today...........

GOOD LUCK

[Dill]

So if you put the tank against the stacks does it preheat sap? I never understood the stack thing. Asked a kid in town the other day how you can haul hay with those? Got an odd look back.

[SSFLLC]

If you need parts for that F350 there is a guy in Laconia selling parts off it. You can find him on Facebook Michael Vertone

[Parker]

Thanks for the tip i ..looking for a dump body... 24 here this morning,,started to run at 11 all done by y 30 over a gallon per rap..in the barrels...the r.o is an amazing thing

[Parker]

Has not been doing much since the snowstorm...a little but not much..still have snow stuck in the trees,,,late in the day the runs have been strong but freeze befor long...yesterday i finally got a gallon pwr tap,,,think wd should do better than that today
Yesterday morning my cac was 2t inches at sanborns and 22 inches at rte.11...by 4pm it was 16 inches at sanborns and 8 inches at rte.11...had a windy pwriod yesterday that took some branches down and it finally got warm enough to thaw out older frozen leaks....both ard fixed now


Good luck!

[Parker]

Good run yesterday,,about a gallon and a half per tap...wirh the sap i i had been holding at the sugarhouse wound up putting6000 gal of sap thru the live the m.e.s. membrane! No drop in proformance at all,,,......had a heck of a time with the r.o. feed line being frozen,,,could have sworn i drained that....put me 2 hours behind on getting going boiling,,,late nite....
Daily huge vacuum leaks,,,i have been getting the vac up to 25 then the next day we get a windstorm or the squirells decide its lets chew on tubing day......
I have been trying to get to hill to get that tapped,,,but,,with the lack of help...i real busy with what i have.......
And we have another storm rolling in.......

My prediction is a record crop.......and real real low bulk prices....

GIVE IT HELL !!!

[Parker]

Great day chasing vac. Leaks with my daughter who is home from collage yesterday...big sap run with over 1.5 gal per tap..had 1000 gal. Of 9% to boil today i the snowstorm (my favorite)......first boil this year with niter buildup...had to switch sides at about 40 gal in the at the end of the boil the niter was acting up agine,,,,last time i boiled i made 90 gal on the same side with no buildup......weired......gonna have to permate the syrup pan...
Visited a buddy boiling tonight who was making the lightest syrup i have ever seen...looked just about like water
Good luck!

[Parker]

Was surprised to see sap trickeling in to the releaser when i was plowing this morning,,frozen last night but left the pump running,,,empry at 6 pm last night,,1100 gal at 8am fueled the pump up andd wound up with 1500 so far and going back for another load,,,soiw stuck to branches of trees,,snow tight to base of trees,,cloudy,,snowing and a high of 37,,,,and i was getting 300 gal an hour 2 hours ago,,,,,,,sanborns also running like a stuck pig..........and i thought i was going to get some sleep tonight...just checked the weather low of 30 tonight.....oh how i love it

Got the syrup pan filled with permate,,,a bunch of real fine gray sugarsand in the pan...never really seen alot of stuff im seeing today


Its hammerin

[Dill]

We pulled a ton of what looked like gray beachsand out of the flu pan monday night. It was odd.
I never saw this much snow in one storm. But got a good run all day yesterday as well.

[Parker]

How much snow did yoh get dill? We got around 8 inches
You know you have a maple addiction when you are scrubbing your syrup pan at 11 pm and wacting the permeate eat the crud off and out of your pan makes you truly excited and deeply happy...
29 degrees here and cloudy..spitting snow..lets roll the dice...will the sweet godess smile down upon us today and bless us with full tanks?
GOOD LUCK !