Tapped near Wakeman, Oh.

[flhr10]

Put out 300 bags and 12 buckets Wednesday evening. Checked yesterday and some had couple inches. Guessing today we'll be collecting.

[thackerymaple]

I put out 33 taps yesterday, figured it would start running today, buckets only have about two gallon in each bucket so far hope it takes off soon.

[pepper]

hi flhr10 my names pepper,im in wellington,oh.I put out 150 bags out fri.-sat.sap ran allday fri and most of sat.where are you located in wakeman

[dave44090]

I've got 100 taps out (in Wellington) since March 4th, some have nearly 2 gallons collected so far. Will need to empty them before tomorrow's run.

[flhr10]

We are south of rt 18 on the southwest corner of Butler and Ferry Rd. We collected 90 gallons Friday and 70 on Saturday. Boiled some Friday night just to get it out of holding tank and ran the rest of it last night. Drew close to a gallon of syrup off evaporator and had to shut down since we were down to the last 10 gallons in the feed tank. Let fire die to nothing and evaporator cool a bit and then let that last 10 gallons is sap into evap and put a heater in firebox since it dropped down to 14 last night. Stop by if you're out this way. My name is Doug.

[flhr10]

We're probably going to hang another 100-150 this morning.

[pepper]

thanks I will stop by one day im on cemetery rd south of 18 I made a RO this winter tring to get the hang of it.should have a big thaw coming this week tring to get ready.

[flhr10]

We collected 90 gal Friday and 70 Sat. Boiled Saturday night and got a gallon of sweet gold off evap, I went by thermometer and sheeting method. Last firing of evap right before draw then let it die because only about 12 gal sap in feed tank. Once fire was all gone and only a handful of coals left, there were about 8 gal in tank. I flooded pans with that so that tank and lines wouldn't freeze. It got down to about 14 Sat night. I checked things Sunday morning about 6 and no one ice in evap. Checked a couple buckets on yard trees before leaving this am and they were 1/4-1/3 full. Ready for round 2.

[flhr10]

456 total taps, 12 of which are buckets. Collected 335 gallons tonight, will start boiling tomorrow after work while wife and boys collect. Taking Wed off work to get it all boiled in.

[flhr10]

Just checked sap with hydrometer and its at 2.5%

[flhr10]

335 gallons collected Monday and 75 Tuesday. Boiled some Tues night and started at 9 Wed am and had all sap run in by 8pm with about 12 gallons left for cool down. Canned a total of 12 gallons. Happy!

[flhr10]

130 gallons collected Friday and 110 Sat. Boiled a couple hours Sat night and finished today. Canned a total of 7 1/2 gallons of sweet gold today.

[flhr10]

185 gallons collected last night and boiled a few hours. More tonight.

[flhr10]

Another 280 gallons collected yesterday in the rain by wife and step-son and his buddy. I fired up as soon as I got home from work (this job really interferes) about 4:30 and ran it hard till about 10:00. After fire was out and just slightly steaming, I had about 180 gallons boiled off. Drew off about 3 1/2 milk pails full of syrup and filtered it into finish pan. Also filter it while drawing with a filter clothes pinned on top of milk pail. Gonna do more of same tonight and fire up finish pan so wife can fill containers.

[flhr10]

Got home late from work and wife and step-son had evaporator fired up, just had a good boil going when I got there. Ran about 100 gallons through before shutting down by 9:30. Drew off few more milk pails and fired up finish pan. Canned 7 gallons tonight which puts us at 25 gallons made. More to come.

[flhr10]

Just got all boiled in. The past few days have been a blur but our total is at 39 1/2 gallons of syrup.

[flhr10]

I never got back to this but we ended the season with 60 gallons total.

[flhr10]

Our 2015 season is under way! Tapped 405 yesterday and 95 the Sunday before. The bags we hung last week had a little in them by yesterday and everything that was tapped yesterday seemed to be dripping slowly. We'll see what's there after work today. This job just gets in the way!!

[flhr10]

Collected 100 gallons this evening. Was expecting more but you can feel the cooler air in the woods. Still probably 12-14 inches of snow in the woods. Will boil some tomorrow night after we collect.

[flhr10]

Wasn't much to collect yesterday and it was raining so we left it to collect this afternoon. Started the evaporator and ran the 100 gallons in till there was only 15 left in the feed tank. It started getting nice color and smell in the syrup pan so next boil we'll have some syrup. This weather sure isn't being cooperative, still a foot of snow in the woods which is holding the flow back, yet been above freezing to long. Seems everything is just stuck. We'll just keep looking ahead, to soon to throw the towel in.

[flhr10]

Collected 40 gallons Wednesday night and 60 gallons Thursday night. Boiled a couple hours Thursday night and got up to 216 but let the fire go out because it was 9:00 and my alarm goes off at 4:15 am. Will collect whatever is out there late tomorrow afternoon and boil it all in on Sunday because the wife has people coming Sunday that want to see the sugarhouse in action. Getting very frustrated with this weather.

[flhr10]

Keep checking Wakeman Maple Farms on Facebook for our pictures and updates.

[bretmw]

Hey flhr10, Say hello to Chris and Carol for me. Good to hear about your season so far. I spent a week with Chris and Dale before I started tapping trees. Great people.

[flhr10]

Saturday the 14th yielded 50 gallons of sap. We boiled on Sunday till we ran out of sap, about 4 hrs, and canned 2 1/2 gallons of syrup. I expect nothing to run but my wife checked bags Monday afternoon and found quite a few with sap. We left it go till tonight and collected more than I expected (110 gal.) but still not what I'd like to see. Hoping for things to get on the right track now with the next few nights in the 20s.

[flhr10]

bretmw
I helped Chris and Carol a few yrs ago. Chris, Carol, Dale and Marsha are lots of fun. Good folks. Hope your season goes well.

[flhr10]

Wednesday we collected 175 gallons and boiled about 4hrs. Had several draws, about 3 1/2 gallons. Ran it through finish pan and bottled. Collected another 120 gallons Thurs evening and we're planning a full day of boiling on Saturday. Stop by if you're in the neighborhood. Our address and my phone number is on our Wakeman Maple Farms facebook page.

[flhr10]

Saturday the 21st we boiled all day and collected 30 gallons of sap late in the day. Had a few people stop by also. Nothing again till Wed the 25th. We collected 210 gallons on the 25th and boiled it all in on Thurs. Cold and snow on the 27th and a cold weekend brought us 215 gallons on Monday the 30th and 200 gallons on the 31st. We boiled Tues evening after collecting and collected 65 gallons yesterday. We fired up yesterday after collecting and ran every oz. through and chased it with water. Our total sap collection for this $hitty season was 1375 gallons and 32 gallons and 1 pint of syrup. Clean up time now.

[flhr10]

Spent the day cleaning the sugar house. It turns into a catch-all in the off season. Washed all the 5 gallon buckets for collecting. We use the buckets to carry sap bags to the woods when we tap. After we put the spiles in the caps of the sap bags, which is the next project, we roll the bags and put 20 in each bucket to take to woods when we tap. Going to keep watching the forecast but not planning on tapping till late in the third week of the month.

[flhr10]

Spent this afternoon putting spiles in bags, got 240 done. About 100 bags left then gotta get more. Thinking of tapping late next week.

[flhr10]

Couldn't let the warm day slip by so I gave in and put out 109 in our small woods. Also tapped 2 big silvers in the yard and they were pumping out like mad all day. Gonna see what we get over the next couple days then it's supposed to freeze good all week starting Tuesday. Will keep you updated.

[flhr10]

Collected 65 gallons today.

[flhr10]

Sugar content was right at 2%. All sap was from silvers.

[flhr10]

Got another 25 gallon this morning before the temperature drops. Will boil tomorrow before going to work.

[flhr10]

Boiled all in on Tuesday. Shut down with enough left to cool the evaporator. I put a small electric heater in the fire box to keep from freezing the flu pan. Waiting for the next go around.

[flhr10]

Tomorrow we're pulling the 109 that we put in last week and moving them to another woods where there'll be roughly 325-350 taps all on sugar maples. Tomorrow is supposed to be a high of 11 degrees but it's the only day I'll have help available. This coming Thursday looks to be warming up again through the weekend. We'll see what happens.

[flhr10]

Today we did it.....put out 320 bags all on hard maple. Supposed to be 48 here Friday.... Hope we don't drown in sap......Wait, yes I do!!

[flhr10]

Just got in from collecting 100 gallons which was from about 11 this morning when it started running here. Now off to work for the night.

[flhr10]

Collected 250 gallons today. Started boiling about noon while the boys collected and ran it till about 8 tonight. Didn't do any canning yet but there's about 7-8 gallons of syrup in the finishing pan. Will fire that up tomorrow after we collect and start boiling.

[flhr10]

Only 50 gallons today and not hardly dripping at all. Boiling now and have the canner fired up. Wil post results later.

[flhr10]

Canned 9 gallons and 1 1/2 pints. Our sugar content has been at 2.25%. All shut down and caught up till next run.

[flhr10]

The boys collected 115 gallons tonight after I left for work.

[flhr10]

They got another 115 gallons this afternoon. I boiled yesterdays sap today. Guessing I drew off 3-4 gallons of syrup and put it in finish pan. Will do the same tomorrow and get it canned and have a good count. Going in the morning to get my supply of jugs.

[flhr10]

It's been kind of slow the last few days here. We thought yesterday would yield something but it didn't warm up soon enough plus it was quite breezy which made it feel colder. Seems to have warmed more overnight though so we'll see what today brings.

[flhr10]

Well yesterday brought us 300 gallons of sap. We started boiling after collecting and ran until 9. Drew off some syrup and put it in canner but didn't bottle it yet. Heading out soon to continue boiling and will keep putting syrup in canner. I have to leave for work at 4:30 so my wife and the boys will collect this afternoon and bottle syrup tonight.

[flhr10]

Update... Collected 110 gallons in the rain yesterday and finished boiling all last night. Bottled all syrup that was drawn off. Up 22 and 3/4 gallons of syrup now. Also not liking the looks of the weather for next week. Looks like 50s all week maybe a 60 here and there and 40s and 50s overnight.

[flhr10]

240 gallons collected today. Still running good so we'll have more tomorrow. Have to leave for work soon so no boiling today. Will sacrifice some sleep tomorrow and hope to be boiling by 10:30-11 tomorrow morning. Boss said we're gonna work overtime this week so I won't be home till 5-6 am. Will update tomorrow.

[WoodButcher]

good to know. i was going to swing by the bush tonight and collect... ill wait till the AM so i can collect it all then. thanks for the update!

[flhr10]

Starting to look harder at the forecast. Thinking of tapping this coming weekend or the next.

[flhr10]

Got 260 bags ready last night, going to do another 140 tonight and tap tomorrow and finish Sunday. The forecast looks right. Have fun everyone! Will keep you all updated.

[flhr10]

We put 425 taps out on Saturday. Today, Sunday we collected 600 gallons. The biggest run we've ever had for one day. Started boiling around 2 this afternoon and drew the first syrup off evaporator by 7:00. Had four draws total by 9:15. Put it all in finish pan. About a gallon and a half. Letting fire die now and there's still about 450 gallons to boil.Another day of boiling tomorrow.

[flhr10]

Monday brought us another 250 gallons, Tuesday was slower with only about 160, the wind was quite brisk and cool, I'm pretty sure that held it back. We boiled all day Monday and a good part of yesterday. 17 1/4 gallons of syrup canned so far. The sugar content is bouncing either side of 2% so it's taking a little more to make a gallon than normal. Not much to do but take what you get and love it, after all, that's why we all do this. Thinking today is gonna be a clean up day and restock wood in sugarhouse. Upcoming weekend looks good.

[flhr10]

So I never finished the daily play by play last year. We finished last year making 43 gallons of syrup. On to 2018, we put out 325 bags, all on hard maple yesterday, 2/17/18. Temp was cool, about 32 all day. This morning, Sunday, 2/18/18 we cut some wood for next years home heating. Had a dusting of snow overnight. By 10am this morning it was melted. Right before lunch today we tapped the yard trees. 13 taps on all soft maples in the yard. They were all running good. Looking like we'll have a good bit to collect tomorrow.

[flhr10]

We collected 420 gallons Monday late day in the rain. Finished by dark. Gonna boil today and probably collect whatever little bit ran last night into today. Getting very windy out there now.