January Journal

[royalmaple]

Happy New Year to all fellow maple traders. I hope we all have a successful year sugaring. :lol:

[Fred Henderson]

Happy New Year from NY to all the Maplers'. sugaring is only about 2 months away.

[Pete33Vt]

Happy New Years to all. No worries about the winter weather. Talked with my grandfather (he's 95) and used to have a 15,000 tap operation. He said weather will turn around for a good season. He still gets pretty upset that he had to give up sugaring. So this year he's my offical syrup tester. I'm sure he will tell me whats what.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy new year.
Pete

[Russell Lampron]

Happy New Year from NH. May it be a healthy and prosperouse one with alot of sap in 2 months.

Russ

[brookledge]

Happy New Yearto all and still no snow here. Forecast has highs in the 50s for my area this week. I'm starting to wonder if it will get real cold in Feb making for a late season. Either way as long as it is a good season for everybody thats all we can ask for.
Keith

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

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[mapleman3]

All I can say to that is BRING IT ON !!!!!!

[archangel_cpj]

We tap mosly reds here and Im hoping to get some done 1st or second week of Feb if the weather holds. :lol: :lol:

[VA maple guy]

Happy new year all, from warm sunny northern Virginia. Four weeks till
taps go in, that is if the trees don't have leaves on them by then. :x
Gerry

[mountainvan]

Happy New Year from the Catskills. Had another biopsy yesterday, doctor said everything looked good, but I still have to wait for lab results to make sure the cancer did'nt come back. It's going to hard this week to take it easy with the weather as warm as it is. I have a couple small things to mess with in the saphouse and I could set up my ro. Most likely watch tv and play video games.

[ibby458]

We made some progress setting up the evaporator yesterday.THe stone on the floor is all leveled and compacted, roof leaks fixed and ready to put in the roof jack.

We put a new bottom on the arch ash pan, and got it sitting in place. Hope to get the leveling assembly built and installed today.

Put in a small roof jack that I got from Fred to allow me to install a wood stove off to one side to heat the place while I brick the evaporator.

Fred - How many bricks did it take to do your 3x8?

[Fred Henderson]

Ibby , I am not sure but I think around a 100. As I got towards the stack I cut some to expose more area along the side of the pan. But by the time the fire gets that far there isn't much heat or flame left. So I might just have well of used full brick.

[Russell Lampron]

Took advantage of the nice weather and took the christmas lights down. It was alot easier than when there is a couple of feet of snow on the ground and -15 wind chill factor.

Not any real cold weather in sight for the next ten days although Van should get some sap runs next week. I don't plan on tapping until the first of March.

Russ

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

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[Parker]

I went and washed a bunch of my tanks out yesterday,,man they get dirty over the summer,,,if we dont get a cold snap pretty soon the dewalt is comming out,,,,,

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

6" of fresh snow today and in teens tonight with some more snow forecasted tonight and tommorrow. Supposed to be cold tommorrow and tommorrow night and then some warmup to first of week and then cold again. Looks like the weather is turning to more of what it is supposed to be this time of year. :D

[blackstrapking]

Similar weather here in new york, at least where I work in Sandy Creek NY, Lots of Lake Effect. It just hung overhead most of the day. Nothing to the north and nothing to the south, just a band.

Jason

[mapleman3]

Well thats good news for you Brandon, I was begining to worry for you thinking you wouldn't have a winter at all 8O seemed to be getting serious there for a while. we actually have a few flowering trees at one of the properties I work at having blossoms on it NOW :oops:

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

It's really the first snow here all winter other than a sciff or two. Too early yet, but it is looking better. Cold snaps like this set everything back quite a bit! :D

[royalmaple]

Mercury is getting lower and lower, and I don't mean because of vacuum loss.

Got down to 20.3 last night. I am not sure if anyone else has one of the digital weather stations like I got from Santa, but they sure are pretty cool.

One thing I have noticed and I was not sure if anyone else has noticed was that my coldest temps are almost always right at 7:30am, I mean within 5-7 minutes. Not always, but there is a trend. It is weird. But last night was 20.3 @7:29AM, I have seen it almost always right around 7:30. Pretty interesting.

[Dave Y]

royalmaple,
It is normally the coldest right around sunrise, due to the maximum amount of heat lost because of darkness. Think about it.

[royalmaple]

I guess that does make sense when you think about it, since that would be the longest point before sunrise and hence the longest point of cooling before the warm up.

Been spitting snow here all day. And pretty cold, hasn't broken the freezing mark all day.

[maple flats]

Yes, as long as you do not have new air masses moving in which are changing the temps at other times of the day.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Supposed to hit about 12 at sugarhouse tonight. :D

[Dave Y]

yes as long as no other weather factors are invovled. It will normally be colder at sunrise. thats when your pipes freeze most often.

[Sugarmaker]

Cold in NW PA,
Just got in from thawing out the frozen pipes in the sugar house and then canning some honey, and then draining the water system. No broken pipes so I was thankful.
Still plenty of time for the cold to jump start the maples in Mid Feb.
Getting ready for our maple meeting (Started new thread)
Regards,
Chris
And Throw another log on tonight.

[markcasper]

Here in Wisconsin we will be having our last above freezing day today. They are talking about major cold waves moving in from Saskatchewan and heading east and south. The forecast calls for well below zero by Monday and alot of next week. :D The bad part is there is not a hint of snow on the ground and that will result in penetrating frozen ground. Mark

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

It was around 50 today and rainy on and off and I spent the entire day at the sugarhouse cleaning, cleaning, cleaning and getting stuff ready. The evap is ready as the pans were nearly as clean as they were in April when I cleaned it. Also got the rail gasket under the pans with the help of my brother who stopped by and helped for about 3 hours. I use 26 gauge wheeling steel metal roofing for tank covers and I added two 1 x6 boards to each piece to give it extra weight and support on the tanks. I also took the Rainbow and vaccumed nearly the entire sugarhouse and the baseplates and walls. Still was a lot of shaving laying around from just before last season when I ran the wiring that hadn't gotten cleaned up. I also added two 3/4" copper quick connects to my 2 preheater entrance and exit pipes just outside the hood on Thurs. I didn't like the hoses even though they did a good job, just like to stick to the copper fittings too much.

4 weeks from today is normal tapping time for me, but I would rather wait until 5 weeks from today if the weather would get cold for a while. I still have to walk all my lines again and repair any leaks and etc, but other than that I am pretty close to ready! :D

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

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[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

YOU NEED A KUBOTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mrgreen:

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

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[maplwrks]

Word around the Addison County Maple School on saturday was that most sugarmakers wanted to be ready to tap on Feb.1. Some producers have finished already!

[Parker]

WOW-IT WAS COLLLLLLLLD out today ,windy,,,one of the few times in my life I could say I WAS COLD,,(poorley dressed for what I was doing) ,,,,Glad to see winter is here,,could hear trees popping on the job today for the first time in a year!!!I walked Quimbys woods and Rte.11,, Quimbys looks like 1/2 a day of repair,,Rte.11 is gonna be some work,,trees-branches across the lines,lines sagging,, ect,,salisbury center,putney hill,folsoms dont look too bad,,I havent even been back to Hoit road since we logged it this summer (lines on the ground) lots to do,,,we will get it,,,just HAPPY to have the weather,,,,have found some more taps,,thinking I would like an R.O.,,,,,,,,GOOD LUCK TOO ALL

[powerdub]

Girlyman!!! :lol:

[mountainvan]

Had some cash burning a hole in my pocket, so went and bought a new 2" sap pump. I figure it took 10hrs of pumping to move 20,000 gals of sap with my 1" honda, I do love that pump! With the 2' it should take 2 hours. That's 8 hours I have to collect sap from the extra buckets I'll put out. More syrup made, pay off the pump easy, and more cash burning a hole in my pocket!! I like to rationlize!! Cold here too. Nice to finally recuperate from my last surgery though.

[Parker]

Yes,,I guess with all this warm weather I have gotten pretty light duty,,Ill have to see if I can do something about that,,,,,mountianvan-Ill have to have you come over and explain the need of an RO to my wife :D

[Pete33Vt]

Its been cold here also. But I have plenty to do inside when its nasty. I got the duct work for the blower built, and ready to install, got my uncles vacum pump up and running, now it needs to be mounted and piped into his new holding tank. And all the other little odds and ends. Now we are working on my preheater. I got the last of my steel to make it last night. We jump fromoutside to inside when the weathers bad.

We got alot to do in the sugarbush but it will all work out. Also I just about have the wood in and ready to go.

One question I have is What size feed tank do you guys with preheaters used compared to your rig? Ie: 2x6 with a 30 gall tank.... or 4x12 with a 100 gall tank.....

The problem I have is a height issue to feed my preheater.. And now is not the time to rebuild sugarhouse. The biggest tank I can go is about 100 galls. My rigs a 40 by 12. Any thoughts??

Well thats all for know hope to see some of you next weekend in Hyde Park at the maple school.

Pete

[Russell Lampron]

I agree it is nice that the cold weather is here. If it last thru the month of February we should be set up pretty good for March.

Russ

[mountainvan]

Parker, I'm still dealing with my own wife!! 5 degrees here this morning, coldest of the year.

[Russell Lampron]

Pete,

The 100 gallon tank should be fine as long as you can pump sap into it fast enough to keep your evaporator fed. I am using a 175 gallon tank with my 2x6 but with the RO and as fast as I boil it off I don't use much more than 50 gallons of it's capacity.

Russ

[Fred Henderson]

Minus 5 ha ha what a joke. You don't know what cold is. Minus 20 here at 0800 hrs. :D :D

[maplwrks]

Pete,
Use the 100 gal. then. I feed my 30x8 with a 70 gal feed tank, you just need a way to keep an eye on it and to fill it when needed. I know 802maple uses an 80 gallon tank to feed his 5x16. Your 100 will be fine.

[royalmaple]

6:55 am low point of the night with -1.0 degrees and 81% RH. That is real temp, add wind chill and you get the picture.

Sunny and at 9:00am it is still only 6.8. So turning out to be a balmy day. :lol:

Should be able to get my electrical work done in the sugar house today and then I think the evaporator is being moved inside, to its final resting place. It better get the rest it needs now, cause I am not letting that thing cool off in March. Probably going to have it so the bricks just get warm to the touch before it is time to fire it up again. :twisted:

Going to brick it this week.

[220 maple]

Cold and Snowing, 20s, Last weekend 70s, and Sunny. Everyone complains about the weather but no one does anything about it.
Basically you can tell a Maple Nut! They are the ones who love Cold and Snowing over 70s and Sunny.
I'm going to throw one of my crazy theorys out here for everyone to chew on.
If the weather man predicts it going to 20 degrees overnite but it only drops to 28, He hedged his prediction so the masses feel better. He also will predict on the low side of the high temp., again this will make the masses feel better. We need 45 to 50 to make the trees really pump. The masses need 55 to 60 to go golfing. More golfers than syrupmakers. This may not hold true up north in Maple country. But I truely believe it holds true in the Mid-Alantic region. I'm not complaining about the weatherman thats exactly what I would do if I had his job.
Because I live 60 plus miles from my sugar camp I use The Weatherunderground web site. Several local private station that update every so many minutes. With in the Zip code area of my camp there are 5 or more stations, they usually have historical data. So you can check the 24hr temps for several days in the past. For example there is one located 15 miles from my camp, same elevation etc. I'll check the overnite temps, perfect indicater whether I'm getting a run or a dribble

Mark 220 maple

[powerdub]

Parker, I was only kidding. I was bumming having to make the trip between my house and the garage where the table saw is. I think its about 10 feet between the doors. :lol:

[brookledge]

Pete
Another producer near me has a 3.5'X10' and his feed tank is about 10-15 gal. He uses a bilge pump that constantly pumps sap from his storage tank to his feed tank and it has a return line to the storage tank The feed tank always remains full.
That is an option if you don't have the room or strength over your evaporator
Remember 100 gal of sap is around 800lbs plus the tank means around 1,000 lbs
I have a 150 gal tank with oak 4X6 legs holding my tank up. I have a 3X12
Keith

[Al]

Well just ordered a new finishing rig for the sugarhouse. My turkey fryer is on the way out. Now need to buy about 20 more buckets and Pumpkin Village Maple will be fully tapped out at 150 buckets. :D
Going to the Maple conferances this weekend with my oldest boy. Looking forward to a good time. Weather here is now normal and we're getting started up for March.
Take care,

[brookledge]

Al
I hope your right about cold weather I'd be happy tapping on March 1st.
Keith

[maple flats]

Wow, I must have overdone it. I have a 415 gal bulk bilk tank mounted outside on a platform and this feeds the evap. Last year it was a 2x6, this year a 3x8. I also have a second tank on the ground to hold short term until I start boiling and then it is to be pumped into the 415 gal at 5gpm til that is full, will not hold any longer than necessary in the other tank because that is before the UV and intended to be used just until I finish collecting the remote sap which is trucked in. Soon I will add another ss tank but need to find a good deal. The 2 I have were right, 415 gal excellent condition $100 and not in milk house, 250 gal very good except needs covers made, free. The 250 actually looks like it was likely a precooler, has in inner ss tank with an outer tank that looks to be plumbed for cold water in and overflow out, I'm thinking they had a good spring and fed thru this before going into the bulk tank or might be this is all they had if the spring was real cold.

[Sugarmaker]

Maple flats,
I also have a 400 and a 350 storage tank that feed the old 3x 10 I would have to watch a 10-15 gallon tank like a hawk. What if the power went out? and the rig is there boiling away wanting lots of sap? Guess you could bucket some in to it. At 80-90 gallons per hour on our little rig I want a good head of sap available to be able to concentrate on the boiling firing and finishing. Interesting on how we all have different ways to look at this stuff.
Regards,
Sugarmaker

[Fred Henderson]

Are you sure that the 250 gal tank is not an old ice bank model. It don't much matter I was just courious. :D

[tuckermtn]

I guess I'm with sugarmaker and MapleFlats in that I have a large feed tank...300gal stock tank backed up with a 300 gal. old CherryBurrell SS farm tank. Used to have a 115 gal on the old 2 X 6 but with the 2.5 X 8 wanted to up the capacity.... Can pump and fill up the feed tank once for 4-6 hrs of boiling...

just my 2 cents worth...

-Eric

[Parker]

The old sugarhouse I used to help at had a 200 gollan tank above a 5x14,,when I arrived with sap I had to pump the load off into a holding tank,,then we were constantly pumpimg (with gas powerd transfer pumps) sap up to the head tank,,,a constant pain in the @$$,,,I took advantage of gravity when I built my sugarhouse and put it at the lowest point on my property,,I pull off the town road and hook my tank to the 2"dump line,,that runs downhill into a 1000 gallon dairy tank,,there is a valve I can open that will fill a 2000 gallon tank next to it,,,from either of these 2 tanks sap runs into my 600 gallon tank above the evaporator,,the level of the sap in the head tank is regulated by a float so it stays full until the tanks above are empty,,I would say it would be better to have my head tank in another room (at the same height) cause towards the end of the season the sap gets pretty warm being in the same room as the evaporator
Eric-how many taps are you going to have this year?

[tuckermtn]

Parker- we should be in the 425-450 range, with 250 on mainline. 140 of the ones on mainline w/ be with the sapsucker. Not sure if we'll get all the buckets out or not.

Thanks again for the help with the spinning jenney and the sapsucker...almost have it figuered out and converted for electric w/ t-stat control.

finally a long cold strech here in central NH...supposed to not get above 10 deg on friday...

[Russell Lampron]

I built my sugarhouse in an old barn celar hole to take advantage of gravity as much as possible. Like Parker said pumping sap all of the time is a pain.

Russ

[Dave Y]

Pumping sap can be a pain if you are not set up right. My sugarhouse is attached to my house. Used to be my garage. I can't get any elavation to my sap without pumping. I bought an eletric lawn srinkler pump to transfer the sap to a tank in a loft. The tank has a normally closed float in it, an kicks the pump on when the tank has about 30 gal left in it and shuts off when the tank is full. I know that this would be a problem if I lost power. But I would be done boiling any way as I have an air tight arch with forced air.

[Fred Henderson]

Pumping sap can be a pain if you are not set up right. My sugarhouse is attached to my house. Used to be my garage. I can't get any elavation to my sap without pumping. I bought an eletric lawn srinkler pump to transfer the sap to a tank in a loft. The tank has a normally closed float in it, an kicks the pump on when the tank has about 30 gal left in it and shuts off when the tank is full. I know that this would be a problem if I lost power. But I would be done boiling any way as I have an air tight arch with forced air.

Where did you get the normally closed float? I have not started to look real hard. But I was hoping that some one would mention one in here. To move sap and lots of it you need at least a 2" suction and discharge gas or electric.

[mapleman3]

I use 65 gallon leg tank as my feed tank with a pond/waterfall sbmersable in the outside milk tank. I have a switch inside that turns it on , the feed tank has 2 small wires that stick into the top of the tank.. they are connected by the sap as a switch to a low voltage buzzer... when the sap gets to a certain level the sap makes the connection and starts the buzzer so I wont forget to shut the pump off(which I used to do all the time)

[Fred Henderson]

I have a 180 gal stock tank and I have a sight tube on it marked off every 1 " or about 10 gals. With my old 2x6'6" I knew how fast I used it. But this year with the new 3x8 its going to be a whole new ball game. An auto set up would be one less thing to keep track of.

[Dave Y]

Fred,
I got my switch from Grainger. Stock#3BY74. I cost me around $28.00.
Works like a charm. I have it plugged into a Wayne sprinkler pump 3/4 in discharge. It move I think around 15gpm @ 5ft of lift. The pump was 147.00 and change. It is also self priming. Go to www.grainger.com and type in the stock # and the switch should come up.

[maplehound]

I bougth a normally closed float switch from e-bay a couple years ago. It works and looks like a sump pump float and I have a 3 way plug pluged into the back of it's plug so I can plug a sprinkler pump into it as well as a red light bulb so I know when I am pumping sap. I am pumping out of several milk tanks that range is size from 300 gal - 500 gal. The light helps me to keep track of when I need to switch holding tanks,as well as alerts me if I am out of sap in my holding tank or have some other pumping problem.

[brookledge]

Sugarmaker
The person who I was refering to that had the 15 gal feed tank with the bilge pump has never had a problem. He boils around 140 GPH on a 40"X10'. The bilge pump is 12 volt connected to a 12 volt battery with a trickle charger on it so if the power went out it would still run for a long time.
I just mentioned the idea because some sugarhouses don't have the integrity or the room to put tanks in the air. I personally have a 150 gal. tank inside up in the air.
Keith

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I love pumping. I pump all of my sap 3 times! :lol: :lol: :lol: First from tanks in woods into tanks on tractor. From there, I pump it from tanks on tractor thru UV and filter into 625 gallon milk tank. From there, it gets pumped up by a 1" submersible pump into the 320 Lapierre feeding tank in between milk tank and evaporator when I am ready to boil. I pump the sap in the woods into the tractor and from the tractor into the milk tank with a 1" Tanaka pump which is an awesome pump. I actually picked up a 2nd one for a spare this year on ebay for around $ 90 brand new with shipping. It is a TCP 12 and it is about 15 years old, but brand spanking new and you could eat food of off it at it looks so new and was still sealed in original box which looked new. 8O Hope it works great as I am going to fire it up soon so I have a backup. :D

Gotta love ebay! :D

[Fred Henderson]

Yes I do like ebay but I have not learned to find my way around there very well yet. I never seem to get the search words right.

[oneoldsap]

We have a 140 Gal tank with a float switch hooked to a pool pump with a red light tied into the line. If the light stays on more than a minute we know we are out of concentrate and its time to shut down. This set up works excellent on our 5x14 Oil Fired with a preheater Instant Off is Nice.

[Sugarmaker]

Brookledge,
I agree that it is all about what the syrup maker is used to and works for their system. That's where I get some of the best ideas from you guys that have tried things. I I am getting more like Brandon. I like to pump and move my sap all over the place too :D .

In the process of developing a 12volt pump and hose system for the pickup truck so I can get some road side trees plumbed into 40 gal tubs. I think I am going to go with a simple rack on the dump and pump to lay in a 30 foot hose attached to the remote pump. Should work to get started. Now to get the pump, and do some fab work on the brackets to hold the hose.

Regards,
Sugarmaker

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I can't say I pump because I like it, but I don't have a single tree that runs to the sugarhouse. My sugarhouse is right on the main road which is the only rural property I have which is less than an acre. I have to do what works best for me and my 500 taps are running into 5 large tanks and 3 small tanks in different locations. What maple trees there are in small pockets/bushes here and there. :)

[Pete33Vt]

Well I finally got what I am going to do figured out. I am going to have about 90-100 gals to feed my rig. And I am going to run my pump with a reverse float switch, that way it keeps my tank topped off and one less thing I need to do. I am going to have a drawoff valve on my (old) feed tank so I can pull off raw sap incase of emergencies. I really like the idea of a red light to tell me when pump is on. But I think it would end up being a danceing strobe light. ( If the sap gods are willing). So now its on to finishing up my preheater. I have the hood just about built and I am going to use either 1-1/2 or 2" stainless steel pipe for my preheater. Thats all cold day work. I got up 500 ft of about 1200ft of main line hoping to finish up in the next few warm days. This is on a bush that I am getting the sap from just for setting it up so I have time to get things going and still have sap from my main bush. Now we just need the right weather.

Hopefully before the season is over I can get a better camera and get some pictures posted.

Good luck to all and may your sap tanks always be full.
Pete

[mountainvan]

Been puttsing around the saphouse getiing little stuff done. Mainly been selling the syrup I made so far this year. By the time the sap starts flowing I'll be out again!

[hard maple]

When I built my most recent sugarhouse I decided to let gravity do the work for me! I don't have to rely on pumps or electricity, to move the sap. How many sugarhouses do you see these days that don't use pumps??

[Mike]

Does anyone have the part number from Graingers for the 5/16 drill bit................Thanks

[Fred Henderson]

When I built my most recent sugarhouse I decided to let gravity do the work for me! I don't have to rely on pumps or electricity, to move the sap. How many sugarhouses do you see these days that don't use pumps??


MINE

[Father & Son]

Mike,
The link below is where I purchased the bits I got. These are the exact same ones Bascom's sell

http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT?PMAKA=81140204&PMCTLG=00

Jim

[Mike]

Jim, Thanks for the info.......Mike

[lharris1]

We are getting the bug to tap soon. Spent some time three days this week installing a UV light and plumming a new pump to recirculate on the milk tank. Also, we put in valving to fill the head tank from the same pump. We boiled a solution of vinegar in the evaporator and let it set two days. Thanks Brandon for the advice. The sap pan cleaned up to near new conditon using a high pressure washer. The syrup pan was another mater. The bottom and sides to normal syrup level cleaned completely. The white-tan coating above the normal level still required a lot of elbo grease. Is there anything that loosenes that stuff?

[Fred Henderson]

In the last week I think the maple trees in this area have reset themselves in preparation for the syrup season. It is now 9 PM and it is minus 17 drg F. The coldest so far at my home ( outside :lol: ) has been -25 F.

[Russell Lampron]

Yes it looks like the buds that were starting to swell earlier in the month have closed back up. If it stays cold for another month here it will thaw out just in time for the best season of the year. :D

Russ

[mountainvan]

Had -3 here the other night. Coldest this winter by far. All I've been doing is selling some syrup and dreaming of fat sugar maples on a warm spring day.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I normally tap around Feb 10th, but I have to be in Columbus, OH the week of Feb 12th until 16th for training, so I will have to put off tapping until Feb 17th. So far, weather has been cold going on 2 weeks now and extended forecast shows the same for next 10 days. It is sunny and beautiful today and in mid 40's, but only nice day in nearly 2 weeks and back to cold again tonight.

So far, it is doing the nearly the exact same thing it did in 03/04 winter and season started middle of Feb and went until almost end of March and nearly a full 7 weeks. One of the better seasons I have ever seen, but is was so cold the entire season it was hard to make anything other than lighter syrup. Hope for the same this year as I would hate to miss a good week.

Congrats to you new retirees, you don't have to deal with this. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Parker]

Brandon,,I fell bad for you,,hope you dont miss much,,
Worked on the Rte.11 orchard some today,,I cant believe how fast those trees are growing!!the taps from last year are about 90% healed over,,the anchor bolts for the mainlines are getting eaten up,the crownes are filling in the canapoy niceley,PROPER THINNING!!! cant wait to see if there is an increase in sap from them this year!!

[Russell Lampron]

Parker,

Those trees did look nice when we drove by on our way to Hill. I wish we had the time to stop there as well and take a look around. Hopefully the weather gods will be good to us and we will all get alot of good runs this year.

Russ

[Parker]

Got RTE.11 looking pretty sweet,,mabey 2 hours left there befor tapping,,need to concentrate on Hoit road wich is in need of 2? days work,,,getting short on time

[hholt]

We're finally getting some sustained cold weather here in southern Illinois, cold enough to freeze the ground hard so I could haul out some firewood. I stacked it into a windbreak, and I think I have enough good oak now to run my 1/2 pint for a few days. I have my trees marked and I have to get a filter but other than that I think I'm ready to get out there and give this a whirl when the weather warms up.

[Fred Henderson]

If you want frozen ground move it here. It was minus 28 this morning at 4:30AM.

[andrew martin]

I guess someone forgot "Tapping Kentucky" on the tapping journal. We tapped two weeks ago - January 15th and 16th, right after the warm weather and rain, and just before the cold weather. We have 240 taps, all in sugar maple trees, and we have done 2 small boils and 2 good boils in those two weeks. We have made 15 gallons of light amber syrup on our 3x8 lightning. It's funny, because last year we had 90 taps and made 15 gallons in two weeks, and we did 10 boils in 14 days last year. It's funny how the weather works. We just got permission to tap 108 acres next to the existing sugarbush, so perhaps we will have 500+ taps next year - I am sure my wife would "enjoy" that. WE have the potential to do 600+ taps here in Central Kentucky, it's just a matter of making time to do all the prep work for the suagr bush.
I am glad winter finally set in, I miss the SYracuse, NY weather and ice fishing, but KY is home for the next 5 years, so we will tap as many maples as possible.

ANdrew Martin

[Russell Lampron]

Andrew I believe you are the first member from Kentucky on this site. Contact Kim and she can set up a tapping forum for Kentucky.

Russ

[Jim Brown]

Well here in NW Pa we were worried about the weather and would it get cold to set the trees WELL IT IS COLD ENOUGHT NOW!!Two days this weeks 0'. Predicting below 0' this weekend and first part of next week and we have 8-10 inches of snow on the ground.It took it's good old time getting here but when it came WOW!!
Jim

[Dave Y]

Jim,
we have over a foot of snow right now. We picke up about 4ins yesterday afternoon in about an hour. Get your equipment ready cause it will be time to sugar before you know it.

[brookledge]

Andrew
My favorite sour mash comes from Kentucky. Goes good with Maple syrup on those late night boils.
I'm sure they can add Kentucky to the list
Keith