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efoyt
03-07-2014, 09:00 AM
Did the sap run yesterday? Is it running today?

efoyt
03-07-2014, 09:02 AM
I can't check my buckets until around 5

Revi
03-07-2014, 11:04 AM
It didn't run yesterday, and today it's not even above freezing yet here. I think it will run tomorrow. I hope so!

abbott
03-07-2014, 02:27 PM
Looks like I might get 50-75 gallons off 745 taps on vacuum today. Woo-hoo. I would expect a half decent run tomorrow.

Mike's Sugar Shack
03-07-2014, 02:56 PM
I got maybe 30 gals from 420 taps on vacuum just got a real releaser this year and already love it.Hopefully it will let go tomorrow i have bender to play with to get working right. I wish i could find another good deal on another releaser.

Ridge777
03-07-2014, 05:17 PM
Not much going on here in Lisbon. I put in 90 taps yesterday and about 30 were running when I drilled them. Checked on them today and not much sap. I think the afternoon wind kept them cool and dry. Tomorrow should be better.

abbott
03-07-2014, 06:58 PM
I got maybe 30 gals from 420 taps on vacuum just got a real releaser this year and already love it.Hopefully it will let go tomorrow i have bender to play with to get working right. I wish i could find another good deal on another releaser.

Hey Mike - I just got a larger releaser this year. I want to hold on to the old one "just in case" but expect to be selling it at the end of the season. Not sure what the fair value is, but it should be a lot cheaper than new!

Steve

efoyt
03-08-2014, 05:27 AM
Ran a little bit around here yesterday...hoping for more today.

Mike's Sugar Shack
03-08-2014, 06:34 AM
Steve let me know how much and what it is. I am sick of the benders there seems to allways be a problem with them.My realeser i bought seems to work really well i am maintaining 20 inches from realeser to end of mainline i could never get that with me bender.

WESTMAPLES
03-08-2014, 08:28 AM
ill buy you headache bender I love them, large or small jar I like both PM me if anyone has parts or a whole unit for sale thanks

Chicopee Sap Shack
03-08-2014, 12:13 PM
Just checked some of my buckets and short pipe runs all are running right now. Gathering today at 4 then it's time to start the fire!!

Scott


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Revi
03-08-2014, 09:23 PM
We fixed up a lot of our tubing and finished up tapping today. Just as I was about to leave I heard the sap break through the ice in the tube and pour out at the fastest rate I have ever seen. It only lasted about two minutes, but it was a gusher! Then it slowed back to a trickle.

Cider Hill Maple Farm
03-09-2014, 04:31 AM
We had 240 taps in by 5:30 last night, when we left the orchard there was around 50 Gals. in the tank. It took longer than planned, I removed all of the end of line hook style and replaced them we an eye fitting, never liked the hook! Stopped by the 30 tap roadside trees and hooked up the barrel to the main after it ran all day to flush out the lines. I'm headed to the new 200 tap orchard today to get those tapped, this one should go quicker than yesterday. Hopefully there will be time left to start on another large orchard.

Best.

Revi
03-10-2014, 07:17 AM
We have all our taps in, but it didn't do much yesterday. Hopefully some of these days this week will be good. We may boil on Wednesday if we get enough by then.

efoyt
03-10-2014, 08:39 AM
I have about 15 gallons from 50 taps so far...non of my big tree's are running. Does it take them longer to start up? Anyway starting to get some from my small tree's in the sun but not much from some of my tree's in the woods and my bigger tree's.

Maple Ridge
03-10-2014, 08:43 AM
I had all my trees tapped expecting a good run last weekend. Only picked up 30 gal. Just enough the fill the evaporator. Weather doesn’t look all that good this week.
I need another 50+ gal to fire it up. Looks like we are all playing the waiting game. From what I read on here, even the ones on vacuum are struggling.

Aaron Roy
03-10-2014, 02:29 PM
I picked up 4 gallons on my 15 taps should be good until the snow storm

Aaron Roy
03-10-2014, 05:54 PM
Wicked slow today. Not more than a cup or two on most trees. Some were dry

miner1
03-10-2014, 06:31 PM
Just go in from gathering 50 gallons from the last two days from 57 taps. Some close to full others a pint or so. The trees are waking up tomorrow should be a gusher, sun west light west wind and mid to upper 40's. Plenty to boil for the snow coming. I love to boil in the snow.

abbott
03-10-2014, 07:27 PM
The trees are waking up tomorrow should be a gusher, sun west light west wind and mid to upper 40's

Conditions do look right for a good run, but there's a lot of cold to overcome.


From what I read on here, even the ones on vacuum are struggling

Even a vacuum pump can't suck frozen sap out of frozen trees! Vacuum helps most later in the season when we don't get a solid freeze at night.

My advice: Just stop looking at the calendar. Get some other projects done until the sap runs. It's been a cold, snowy winter and there's no reason to expect it will be a poor season even if it's a late season.

Rangdale
03-11-2014, 05:09 PM
Hope everyone is making out better than we are here. Have 50 taps out and got maybe 4 gallons yesterday and another 4 today. It was almost 50 degrees but it only got to 30 last night so perhaps that's it? It's very depressing...

West Sumner Sugar
03-11-2014, 06:01 PM
I think its slow going for everyone. We have 400 taps out and barely have 200 gallons of sap.

TheMapleMoose
03-11-2014, 08:50 PM
It hasn't even begun to look like spring here. -10s and -15s last week and 18" of snow tomorrow..... There is already 2 1/2 feet of snow in our woods so it should be interesting. Maybe I'm going to have to trade my 36" snowshoes in for a 48" pair. Really hoping we get some syrup for Maine maple Sunday

Ridge777
03-11-2014, 09:35 PM
My silver maples are running pretty good. I got around 15 gallons from 8 taps in 2 days. I collected about 25 gallons from around 60 taps on my reds and will get the other 100 taps collected tomorrow. Trees in the woods are pretty slow. I got 175 taps in so far and am going to try to get to 200. I ran out of buckets and back!! A lot of work for 1 guy. Hoping for at least 150 + gallons to boil on Friday. Can't wait to try my new rig!!!

Rangdale
03-12-2014, 05:51 AM
Sounds like yours are doing pretty well Ridge777 and your just down the street from me. I'll be excited if I have 10 gallons to boil this weekend!

Smrdc1974
03-12-2014, 07:26 AM
Checked my taps last night after work... Put out 25 over the weekend and have about 7 gallons so far. Not enough to boil but it is a start... I think next week will be a good and have enough to boil for Maine Maple Sunday. Hopefully.....

BRL
03-12-2014, 08:16 AM
We have about 110 gallons in the storage tank so far. We want to boil this weekend. Still not finished the arch and the stack is sitting in boxes on the floor of the shack!

Aaron Roy
03-12-2014, 02:41 PM
I got 4 gallons with my 15 taps

chefchap
03-13-2014, 05:50 AM
Well we have collected 200 gallons so far in the past few days
Boiled tues and weds with new setup what a difference from batch boiling lol
Found we need at least 200 gallons in head tank to fire up or it's a waste of wood
Hoping for a decent run on sat sap here is a little over 2%

Aaron Roy
03-13-2014, 08:17 AM
This weather is not going to help for sure

abbott
03-13-2014, 04:10 PM
This weather is not going to help for sure

Short run - no.

But in the long run, a deep snow pack is a good thing. Seriously. Spring can only come so fast when there's 3 feet of snow in the woods. Patience!

Aaron Roy
03-13-2014, 06:34 PM
I'm not giving up just a rough season so far

Aaron Roy
03-13-2014, 06:42 PM
I'm new to this but I'm finding this can all be a bit obsessive. I don't have many trees but I'm looking around when I'm driving for trees to tap. It's like how I get during hunting and fishing seasons. I haven't even boiled down my first batch yet

Run Forest Run!
03-13-2014, 06:47 PM
I'm new to this but I'm finding this can all be a bit obsessive. I don't have many trees but I'm looking around when I'm driving for trees to tap. It's like how I get during hunting and fishing seasons. I haven't even boiled down my first batch yet

Aaron, that right there is the understatement of the century. If it's not the unofficial motto for sugaring, it should be. :lol:

duce
03-13-2014, 07:34 PM
Hi mike,

I live n Canton, and would like to know if you would share info on your bender releaser. maybe show it off the pro's and con to me
Thanks

Denis

Mike's Sugar Shack
03-14-2014, 05:44 AM
I can share info with you it might be eaisier to come over here or call. I am on on vacation sitting around waiting for the sap to run.

T22A80
03-14-2014, 08:03 AM
HAHA I'm in the same exact boat as you Aaron Roy. I've done it with friends before but my first time on my own. I have been searching out trees and wanting more too, and I haven't boiled yet either. I'm in Eliot. Where are you?

abbott
03-14-2014, 11:40 AM
You know, this is only my seventh season, but seven years of obsession makes you an expert, right?

What I have learned is that every year is different, and we all know how hard a time even the experts have predicting the weather even two days away. Last year we got a cold snap in mid March and folks worried that the weather would warm too quickly when it snapped out of it. The year before that, we were tapping mid February and done before maple Sunday. The year before that it didn't start until a week into March and ran hard for four straight weeks.

There's plenty of reason to hope the season will run two weeks into April, but who knows? For now, looking around for a few more taps and dreaming/planning for next year is about all we can do.

Revi
03-14-2014, 12:46 PM
I boiled a little on Wednesday before the snow got too deep, and went up yesterday to start a small fire just to keep the pan unfrozen. We aren't getting sap until tomorrow at the earliest! It is not looking too good for having any for the maple weekend. We probably won't even open, and just check out other places. The long range forecast looks like next Weds and Thurs is the next chance for above freezing weather besides tomorrow. We'll see....

Aaron Roy
03-14-2014, 01:59 PM
I'm in Lyman. Last night I strapped on my snow shoes after putting the kids to bet and found a few mor tapable trees. Now all as I need is taps. On a side note I'm getting really good, I think, at finding maple trees in the winter, at night, with a flashlight. I plan on my first boil this weekend. If it works out all right I'll send in a pick of my setup. It's going to be very custom

MainelyMaple
03-14-2014, 05:04 PM
6th year "expert" here. Abbott, In my opinion you're spot on. Every season is different and there is no way to tell what the weather is going to do, realistically even a few days out. So there's no reason to speculate what the season might hold. Or worse, panic. If we were experiencing the alternative (like we did, was it 5 years back?) no snow pack and no more cold nights, we would have much more reason to be concerned. Although the days are going by, the trees and the season aren't progressing at all. They're simply in standby mode. The snow and frost has to thaw eventually, and when it does they'll run like hell. And as far as worrying about it getting too warm too quick, I have yet to see weather this year that would suggest a sudden heat wave. But for now all we can do is wait. Personally I'm thankful for the extra time, to be able to get all the wrinkles ironed out in the sugarhouse before the sap comes.

abbott
03-14-2014, 06:24 PM
Come April when all of us sugarmakers are hoping for below average temperatures to keep the season going, we're not going to be very popular, are we?

twitch
03-14-2014, 07:09 PM
I kind of have a fight with my self I am ready for warmer weather in some ways, but also would like to see it stay cold till mid april so we can make some syrup. It does not seem like it is going to warm up any time soon. I just want to make some syrup before maple sunday, at least enough for the pancakes. This is my 5th year and all I know is there are a lot of variables in sap flow predicting and every year has been different so far. Just keep finding trees and tap them until it does run.

Ridge777
03-15-2014, 11:49 AM
Not much sap from Tuesday on. It is running today and the sun just came out. If it stays out till dark I should get at least 30 or 40 more gallons for my boil tomorrow. Got to get the sap I have out of the tank. My tree's want to come out of this coma sooo bad!!! Looks like it won't happen till late next week.

Ryan August
03-15-2014, 07:01 PM
it may be running in Lisbon but not in Winthrop, maybe6-8 gallons since Thursday on 98 taps. atleast I have some syrup so far, 3 qts and 2 gallons of sweet ready to go back in the pan when the time is right.

donka
03-15-2014, 08:28 PM
Pretty good run in Raymond for us today, boiling down 30 plus gallons of sap tonight

sg5054
03-16-2014, 07:13 AM
it's been hit or miss here. I've only been able collect about 200 gallons so far. Haven't lit a fire yet and now my storage tank is frozen solid. I'm half tempted to take my big propane burner and try to warm the tank and melt the block. I had planned to boil yesterday.

CladdaghFarms
03-16-2014, 07:18 AM
Here in Union it seems to be glacially slow to run. I've had trees tapped for weeks and barely have any sap. I was hoping for a big run yesterday, but it was underwhelming. I used to get 10-15 gallons of sap from each tree per day on my last farm....not so with those I've tapped this year. I am seriously wondering if I'm ever going to get enough to fire up the half-pint before the season ends. Anyone know of anybody selling sap? If I could get enough to make a couple of gallons of syrup for the family I'd be happy this year with everything else going on. But, right now it sure doesn't look like I'll be selling syrup at the markets this summer....

lpakiz
03-16-2014, 07:25 AM
Claddagh farm,
That has to be a typo--10-15 gallons per tree per DAY? If that's not a typo, I will be sneaking around those woods at night to gather seeds.......

CladdaghFarms
03-16-2014, 07:33 AM
Claddagh farm,
That has to be a typo--10-15 gallons per tree per DAY? If that's not a typo, I will be sneaking around your woods at night to gather seeds.......

I was once lucky enough to own a farm with 160 yr old trees.....they were mammoth & I could put 3 taps in each. I wood ashed them regularly and they were on a sunny slope. When the sap flowed I couldn't keep up. I averaged a little over a gallon of finished syrup per tree.

abbott
03-16-2014, 08:04 AM
I was once lucky enough to own a farm with 160 yr old trees.....they were mammoth & I could put 3 taps in each. I wood ashed them regularly and they were on a sunny slope. When the sap flowed I couldn't keep up. I averaged a little over a gallon of finished syrup per tree.

So a gallon of syrup per tree is about 30-35 gallons of sap per tree (since those have to be sweet trees.) So at 10-15 gallons per day you're saying the sap ran 3 or 4 days all season.

The season hasn't even really started yet, so don't give up. You're probably not going to get a gallon of syrup per tree this year, but there's a lot of syrup left to be made. Good luck.

sap seeker
03-16-2014, 08:13 AM
It's all going to come in a 10-15 day period, short and sweet, hang tight everyone.:cool:

Ridge777
03-16-2014, 05:06 PM
Everything shut down today. Got only 25 gallons yesterday and ended up with only 65 total to boil. Ran the evap for about hour and a half after it warmed up and ran out of sap. Not enough to draw off, and threw in my ice to keep the levels up for cool down. Definitely need at least 150 gallons in the tank to make it worth while to fire this thing up. It was nice to make some steam and smell some sweet!!! Guess I'll drain the pans and wait for the weather.

Revi
03-16-2014, 05:20 PM
We boiled from noon to 3 pm today, but we are just barely sweetening the pan still. It doesn't look like any weather until Weds or Thurs that will produce any sap. That's okay. It was nice to send some steam up to heaven anyway.

Ridge777
03-16-2014, 05:25 PM
Revi,
Do you usually drain your pans in this weather or leave them? New rig for me and I don"t want to mess it up.

BRL
03-17-2014, 09:36 AM
This is our first year with our new rig also. We boiled down 80-90 gallons last night for the first boil to see how things are. let everything cool down and put one of those Coleman sportcat propane heaters in the fire box and everything was great this morning!

MapleMouse
03-17-2014, 09:48 AM
Had about 80 gallons last Saturday, but that was from about 130 taps set out for about 2 weeks. Yikes. Things still pretty well frozen up in Manchester - the stream that's normally running pretty hard right about now is locked up tight, and 2+ feet of snow in the woods. Fingers crossed for a little warming, but this has been a nail-biter.

abbott
03-17-2014, 11:38 AM
Revi,
Do you usually drain your pans in this weather or leave them? New rig for me and I don"t want to mess it up.

What you don't want is for the flues to freeze solid and split. If the pan is sweetened you only need to worry if its really cold (like this). Then keep an eye on it and light a fire if the ice is building. Or provide some heat another way. I only drain the pans for a prolonged stretch if I don't want to have to light a fire every day for a week - in other words, almost never. But if it's easy enough for you to do, then go ahead and drain and filter the sweet and rinse the pan. It will slow niter buildup. I drain and rinse my front pan after every boil now.

Revi
03-18-2014, 08:19 PM
I started my little defrostifires the last few days. I just put some sticks and paper in the evap and start a little fire around 5 or 6 pm and it seems to be working. I hope...

abbott
03-20-2014, 08:53 AM
Wow. Last I heard we were expecting 2-4". I measured 16" at the sap house, though I think it might have been a bit less at my house. No real sap the last two days and there aren't many chances left before the weekend. I try to go with the flow, but this is starting to be a bit much.

hambone
03-21-2014, 11:36 AM
Noon time Friday and the trees are waking up, it's running pretty good!!!

Cider Hill Maple Farm
03-21-2014, 12:07 PM
That's good to hear!!!!!! Hope I can get all the tanks full for Sunday!! 1,300 Gals. will give me about eight and a half hours of run time without going through my RO. Stupid I know, but folks want to see steam.

Best to all on Sunday!

efoyt
03-21-2014, 07:40 PM
It ran well today...will it run as well tomorrow?

gmcooper
03-21-2014, 08:22 PM
We had a reasonable run today but would have been much better with out the wind.

Jal-Bear
03-21-2014, 09:35 PM
Today was the best day it ran for me so far this season. Some of my reds that don't have the best exposure to the sun have started to wake up. I've finally got enough sap to fire up the evaporator for the first time!

Aaron Roy
03-22-2014, 04:36 PM
It's running over this way


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

miner1
03-23-2014, 11:22 PM
Best run of the season in Gorham today. Collected 100 gallons for an average 1.66 gals per tap today. Busy all day with Maple Sunday, gather sap, then played hockey @10:30, tis the season for ice packs and lack of sleep. I need an able bodied teenager.

Revi
03-26-2014, 12:03 PM
We haven't had a run since Friday, but it may go again tomorrow or Friday. It is really convenient if it shows up near the weekend when we have time to boil it. Next week looks to be the big run. It looks like temps in the 40's and down in the 20's at night. We are going to be boiling late into the night if it happens. Which is good, because we haven't had much so far.

abbott
03-28-2014, 04:17 PM
The vacuum line is producing some sap today - better than it has been but still nothing exciting. The good news is that all of the taps I checked were running - even on the north side of the tree. That gives me hope that it might let loose soon. Many of those taps I've checked several times and haven't seen a thing.

The forecast calls for the wind to shift around to the west, then north tomorrow. That aught to help them get going!

Mike's Sugar Shack
03-28-2014, 04:57 PM
Steve i got about 60 gals on 175taps on that releaser i bought from you. I also got about 40 gals off of 220 taps at my house. I hope the dam lets go tommorrow i am ready.

gmcooper
03-28-2014, 07:05 PM
Checked one vacuum pump tonight and sap was running really well. Best so far this year. Hope it keeps up for a few days!

abbott
03-28-2014, 08:00 PM
Steve i got about 60 gals on 175taps on that releaser i bought from you. I also got about 40 gals off of 220 taps at my house. I hope the dam lets go tommorrow i am ready.

So far today? That's not too bad, though I think we've all forgotten what a real run looks like. There were times last year when I had 80-100 gallons an hour running through that releaser!

The new releaser has its advantages, but I'm not overly thrilled with it. There are vacuum leaks by a few of the big O-rings and it hangs up when switching between chambers sometimes, but comes out of it eventually. Hopefully a little fine tuning will solve that.

Revi
03-28-2014, 09:45 PM
I checked at around 3 and there was a little coming in. I hope it runs all night. I would like it even better if it froze up, but I don't think so...

Mike's Sugar Shack
03-28-2014, 09:58 PM
Is everything greased good on it because the 2 chamber one i have seems to work pretty good.Well i just checked and the sap was still flowing hope it goes all night.

abbott
03-29-2014, 05:40 AM
It went all night for sure. I went and fueled up the vacuum pump at 1:30 and the temp was up to 42* then - still about there this morning. Hopefully it runs well with some warmth and sunshine today, then a light freeze tonight.

Mike's Sugar Shack
03-29-2014, 08:27 AM
Finally got about 140 gals of sap from yesterday to this morning.

Ridge777
03-29-2014, 11:02 AM
Just checked my buckets, a few knocked over from the wind and a couple that were on the other side of the field. Most are running kinda slow and my oldest ones tapped not so great. Looks like I only have around 100 gallons or so in the bush to pick up. with another 50 gallons in the tank I'll empty my buckets and fire up the rig!!! Need at least another 150 before I can draw off. Need it to drop below freezing tonight for a good run tomorrow. Weather looks goood for the first of the week, lets hope it lasts.

Chicopee Sap Shack
03-29-2014, 11:30 AM
Mine are running ok some better than other but buckets and tubing have been out since 2/17. Hoping to make another 5 gal but only time will tell. Gathered about 35 yesterday and hopefully more than that today gonna light the fire tonight!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

davrhods
03-29-2014, 11:52 AM
Minamal run yesterday thought things would be crankin today not so much. Aprox.600 taps with old surge Alamo pulling only 17 ". Time to do maple dance around trees ... tree will probrobly fall on me with my luck

hambone
03-29-2014, 12:24 PM
Running nicely here in Cornville! Sunny and 40.

Revi
03-29-2014, 07:43 PM
We got some sap today as well, but we were boiling at the time, so it's hard to tell how much. I guess it's supposed to freeze tonight, which will restart the pump!

Cider Hill Maple Farm
03-30-2014, 05:52 AM
Spent the morning trying to speed up the thawing process.One of the 300 gal. totes had around 200 gals. of nothing but a solid block of ice, so I wrapped the outside of the tank with black poly hoping to catch the sun to help heat it up. By 4:30, after pumping off the top through the cover in the late morning, it had melted enough to draw about another 100 gals off through the valve. By the end of the day we had collected around 325 gals. I have to say it wasn't a gusher of a day! Let's hope that the week to come, things will start to be a little more productive! Looks like a good day today to do a few modifications in the sugar-shack and boil off what we collected yesterday.

Best to all,

efoyt
03-30-2014, 07:11 AM
A bunch of my trees that had been running well shut off yesterday. Would that be because temps didn't drop below freezing the night before?

Revi
03-30-2014, 03:22 PM
Not running today.

xune
03-30-2014, 03:46 PM
A few trees are running great for me, and a few not at all.

Ridge777
03-30-2014, 06:23 PM
Only thing running here today was me chasing my buckets from the wind!! Boiled for about 3 hours last night and finally finished a gallon and a half of nice light syrup. Now that the pans are sweetened, I can't wait for more. Let it run!!!!

abbott
03-31-2014, 06:27 AM
My two outdoor thermometer sensors up here at the house are reading 31.6 and 31.8, with those being the overnight lows as well. IF the trees froze just enough and IF we get to 36* with a little hazy sunshine we could have a decent run. Otherwise get ready for tomorrow and hope we start making up for lost time!

Revi
03-31-2014, 01:19 PM
They are predicting temps in the low 40's after a hard freeze tonight. Right not it seems too chilly, but tomorrow could be the day when the floodgates open!

Hopefully....

MainelyMaple
03-31-2014, 04:43 PM
Stopped by the sugarhouse after work around 4 and was shocked to see sap coming in harder then it has all season. collected about 150 without vac. We didn't expect a run so we didn't fire up the vac this morning. Wish we would have. Started it up and put enough gas in it to run til 9 or so. We'll see what we end up with. Tomorrow-thurs should be good, real good.

bees1st
03-31-2014, 05:43 PM
Turned on the vacuum pumps at 9:30 or so . Low of 30 last night , high today of 34 . As of 6 o'clock , 1.25 gal sap/tap . Still coming in good at 33 degrees . Not much of a run on gravity .

abbott
03-31-2014, 07:02 PM
Turned on the vacuum pumps at 9:30 or so . Low of 30 last night , high today of 34 . As of 6 o'clock , 1.25 gal sap/tap . Still coming in good at 33 degrees . Not much of a run on gravity .

Sounds like you hit the temps just right. We got up to 39* here, but only a light frost. Still, it ran harder than it has all season here too, with 2.5% sugar. Not a long run, so probably 2/3 gallon sap a tap when all is said and done. Still cloudy so I put enough gas in the pump to go to midnight.

I think its safe to say we'll all be getting lots of sap soon enough!

gmcooper
03-31-2014, 07:18 PM
Sap ran most of last night here and decent today with vacuum. Big tank just 1/4" from running over when I got there tonight. Unfortunately sugar is low 1.6%.

bees1st
03-31-2014, 07:43 PM
Low sugar is better than no sugar !

Revi
03-31-2014, 08:01 PM
We had a lot of sap at the sugarhouse when I checked today. I wasn't expecting so much so I commenced to boil. I call it a "knock it down boil" and I managed to lower the sap level in the tank a bit. Tomorrow should be huge, with a freeze tonight and temps in the 40's! We'll boil again and maybe all this week!

twitch
03-31-2014, 08:08 PM
I am all gravity and I yet to se a good run this year I hope tomorrow with a good temp change that it makes something happen a tenth or 2 of a gallon per a tap is driving me nuts so is running my evap for a couple hours at a time I need to seriously think about some vacuum
Run sap run

Sterling Maple
03-31-2014, 09:13 PM
We are still waiting for our first decent run this year north of Jackman. We had a small run Saturday but not enough to sweeten the pans. Gotta sleep while we can as I think when it starts, it will run hard. We can only hope.

gmcooper
03-31-2014, 10:06 PM
Sterling,
I was wondering if sap had run at all up there. Which sugarbush is yours? Planning to take a trip up there this spring once we are done down here.
Mark

Revi
04-01-2014, 12:03 PM
Today is supposed to be over 40 and sunny everywhere, so I think it will run. But I haven't been up to the sugarhouse to check.

We were getting sap at 2 and a half percent yesterday, so that helps. We'll have a lot of boiling to do if it ran practically all night even without whatever comes in today.

I did a quick "knock it down" boil yesterday and managed to get ahead of it for a while, but here it comes again! We'll knock it down again today and then maybe we'll catch up on the weekend...

Boiling almost every day this week if it keeps up like this! .

Aaron Roy
04-01-2014, 08:41 PM
I just checked my buckets and we need a lot more action if I'm going to be boiling this weekend. Even if I can get 20 gallons, that's enough for me to boil

Ridge777
04-01-2014, 10:18 PM
Ran decent here today in Lisbon. Looks like I averaged 1 gallon per tap, not bad with temps only dropping to 32 last night. With tonight's mid 20's and mid 40's tomorrow I expect the best run of the year. I should have at least 300 gallons to pick up by mid day. Then its boil boil boil!!!

hambone
04-02-2014, 04:58 AM
It ran fairly well here and finally made some syrup, making more today, I hope!

Revi
04-02-2014, 07:25 AM
We got over 200 gallons yesterday, and it looks like we'll get more today! We boiled until 11:00 and called it quits. Today maybe we can get started a little earlier, so it won't be so late. It was pouring in faster than we could boil it, or at least it seemed like it at one point.

We'll boil again today, then tomorrow, then let it pile up for the weekend.

We are finally making some syrup, which is good.

We're making hay while the sun shines!

Webbs Mills
04-02-2014, 11:57 AM
Not having big runs with my gravity fed 5 gallon buckets, in spite of the trees obviously waking up and doing their thing. I'm fairly sure that if I had my lines all on vacuum, I'd be doing fine.

Revi
04-03-2014, 09:38 AM
We boiled until 11:00 on Tuesday, 8:30 last night, and today hopefully will be until around 6:30 or 7. Than we'll let it pile up for the weekend.

Aaron Roy
04-03-2014, 11:09 AM
Not having big runs with my gravity fed 5 gallon buckets, in spite of the trees obviously waking up and doing their thing. I'm fairly sure that if I had my lines all on vacuum, I'd be doing fine.

Same thing down my way. The woods are flooded right now and it a lot of work to check the buckets its a little depressing when they are empty

bees1st
04-03-2014, 07:17 PM
My cup runneth over

Smrdc1974
04-03-2014, 09:14 PM
Bamm.... Today it begins! Need more 5 gallon buckets.. Saturday can not come soon enough

eagle lake sugar
04-04-2014, 04:48 AM
We're still getting mini-runs here, maybe 200 gallons each of the last 3 days from 2000 taps. I expect the flood gates to open either today or Monday, it's going to be 43 today and 48 Monday. We had our first boil last night April 3rd. Unbelievable.

Revi
04-04-2014, 07:29 AM
I am just glad that we are getting some sap, and can make some syrup. We'll be way down from a normal year, but I was beginning to think we wouldn't get any sap at all in March. I guess it was the coldest March on record.