Upper Peninsula 2014

[Grand Marais Boiler]

Hey guys, Started new thread - but also posted in last years thread. How's things going out there? Tapped 40 (+/-), sat. & sun. Some were running, others not yet. Fishman - you busy yet?

[JRCunningham]

360 taps in, another 150 to go. Collected and processed ~100 gallons of sap yesterday. I think the word of the season thus far is S-L-O-W. I share your observation regarding some trees running, some not. Also noticed on the "two-tappers", nothing out of the north side yet. Snow is still waist deep here north of Manistique.

Hoping we don't get the foot of snow forecast for Friday. The never-ending winter.

Best of luck, everybody.

--J.R.

[U.P. Sapsucker]

480 taps done with about 300 gallons on Monday 1st, at 1.2% not hardly worth the work it takes to get it. I hope we don't get that 1 foot of snow either. We had such hard rain last night that the tree wells are in place now. We still have 3 feet of snow in the woods. Come on sugar!!
Todd

[JRCunningham]

I also observed the low sugar content. I was shocked after running the RO for 20 minutes and still not at 2.5% sugar. Also found a bucket today full of yellow sap--it's the only tree that was really running today.

I'm as confused as I've ever been with what's going on out in the sugarbush thus far. Man plans. God laughs. <chuckle>

[CampSNOcook]

Similar situation near Rapid River; some trees running, some not, some yellow. I'm small time though....still on snow shoes. Snow is now settling even more and making a difficult trek every time out. Frustrating start to the season and cringing looking at the Friday weather forecast. I guess we can't always get a year like last one. Hope to stick it out a couple weeks and get enough for close family and friends.

[TerryEspo]

I gotta jump in this post and follow it, feel like a hitchhiker, lol.
I am in Canada, but only 45 minutes North of Mackinaw City so this post is perfect for me.
I have about 65 taps in and only grabbed about 8 -10 gallons on Monday from what dripped Sunday. Way slow here. Many trees not a single drop yet.

Thanks guys !!

[Plungerke]

Well I can report the same or worse at my sugar bush near foster city. We tapped 50 trees a week ago and as of Sunday, zero sap :cry: we had a couple buckets with a cup or two but we just poured it on the ground. Going to check tomorrow and really hoping to have enough to run a batch on Friday. It's April right, so Friday will bring rain and not snow, think positive!

[TerryEspo]

Checking the forecast and fingers crossed, warm days and freezing nights for all of us in the U.P. area. Today even I expect sap, not sure though how much, last nght was pretty cold.
The trees should be thawed enough to give us more that a trickle, give us full buckets already !!

Hope we all are busy for the next few days boiling all the sap we are going to get in the upcoming week.

Good luck everyone.

[regor0]

Just listened to the NOAA Weather Bulletin..........Guaranteed 12 inches, up to 20 inches with 2 inches an hour to be expected until Saturday morning. Wet heavy snow.
Looks like I'll spend Saturday fixing sagging tubing. But after that, I'm guaranteeing huge sap runs. If the weather man can make a guarantee so can I, probably with the same accuracy.:lol:

[TerryEspo]

Hey Rigor0...I hope it passes you, weatherman is wrong lots so lets hope its wrong this time.

I have a sunny day here, right now at 6 p.m.,, 4C or about 36F, sap is dripping, slow but some at least. NOT enough to collect, maybe a cup in every bucket.

Some of my large trees are waking up too, great sign.

Good luck everyone.

[JRCunningham]

Regor0, I love the guarantee. Keep it up and you'll be a licensed meteorologist. :lol: I watch the forecast for both Shingleton and Manistique (I'm between them on M-94), and they're usually a bit different. Not today--pretty much identical, so I'm going to bank on 5-10 inches of snow for us. I'm most concerned that ice/wind/wet snow will cause both some tubing repair and downed trees.

We had a run that lasted all of about two hours today--just enough to let us know it's still spring. Still < 2% sugar sap, but a few trees are starting to show higher sugar content. Terry, I think you're right, next week might get busy.

When I was a bit younger with a new wife and no kids, I had a rear wheel drive sports car (Pontiac GTO). I used to garage it in the winter and get it out every Easter Sunday. There was usually still some sand on the roads, but the snow was gone. This year, folks will still be snowmobiling on Easter. Wow.

Good luck everybody. Let's hope next week rocks!

--J.R.

[Yooper Kevin]

I'm in the Engadine area....120 trees tapped last Saturday & have collected 95 Gal. thru tonight. First boil to at least sweeten the evap will be this weekend after the storm goes through.

[Plungerke]

Just got back from checking the buckets, from 50 taps we got 25 gallons. We added 20 more buckets tonight bringing us to a new record, 70 buckets and hoping that the storm misses us and Saturday we get 40+ gallons. I been preparing for so long it's time to fire up the arch!
Tonight when we where taping the snow was still knee high or more, does anyone know if the deep snow around the trees effects the sap movement?

[regor0]

Just went out and started the Kubota, looks to be a long night of blowing. 11" so far and it's still coming down hard. Well the weather guy kept up his end, I guess my guarantee of huge sap runs next week is yet to be seen. Looks good for the next few days, I haven't even cleaned the evaporator yet let alone started a fire:o. Tomorrow?

[TerryEspo]

My son and I just came back from our poor collection for today. Snow hit us earlier, stopped now,, maybe gathered 10 gallons(75 taps). Temps were just above freezing but the snow and wind killed the day. Positive it would have been a great run day if it was sunny, darn.
The next couple days into Monday look promising though. Lets hope and see.

[regor0]

Today was pretty good, I got about 125 gallons. Trees were running, should have enough to fire tomorrow.

[yooper]

First good run of the year today.

Been seeing some flow on and off the past week, but she is flowing very good today.

Temp is already 51 early afternoon. :cool:

[Grand Marais Boiler]

Tapped (43) last wk end. Only 24 gal. all wk. but today should be pretty good today?

[Yooper Kevin]

Best run of the year so far today....3/4 gallon ave. per tap

[Plungerke]

958795889589Fired up the arch Saturday evening and processed 42 gallons, produced 5-1/2 quarts. Today we picked 35 gallons from 70 taps, things are looking up. My tuned up arch performed excellent and the new sugar shack was great. Picking up a steam hood Monday from my friend (furnace installer) and can't wait to see how it works.

[fishman]

Got 70 gallons off 75 taps. Time to fire her up tomorrow. Sounds like you added more taps again this year Kevin. Wondered when you were gonna get on here.

[Plungerke]

Well the run has all but stopped over here, hope we don't lose the season with this warm spell.

[regor0]

My bags aren't running at all. Vacuum is running a little. My sugar content hasn't gotten above 1.2 yet. Last year it was 2.7-3.2.

[TerryEspo]

Just back back from collecting, two days worth, maybe 25 gallons. Some trees not a drop yet. Today and yesterday were great day temps.
Sap has me stumped.
Tonight well below freezing and another warm sunny day tomorrow. Lets see what happens.
Never saw anything like this year.
Good grief.

[fishman]

Boild down 80 gallons and got 2 gallons and a pint and a half. I'll take it and be happy after the other comments. Not much of a run the last two days but I guarantee it will run tomorrow. Don't know how good or what that guarantee is worth though. Snow conditions really suck. Think I could do my run faster on snowshoes then I wouldn't have to keep digging the sled out. Can't stay on top even on the packed trails.

[Plungerke]

96189618Just came in from the sugar bush, the guys processed 57 gallons today and where rewarded with 1-1/2 gallons ( just over 2% sugar). As I mentioned earlier we had no sap to pick today and the forecast doesn't appear to be hopeful for a run till early next week. If someone can tell me I'm wrong please do because we are disappointed in this years season, I guess we where spoiled last year.
Built a sugar shack, tuned in the arch, built a steam hood, purchased more taps and pails; geared up for a big year and here we sit praying for sap. If this keeps up we might have to try birch sap just to run the new setup.

[PerryW]

We're about in the same boat here in Northern NH; first syrup on April 1 and with less that half a crop the 10 day forecast looks dismal. But I'm holding out and hoping the weathermen are wrong. The peepers still seem a long way off around here!

Now you got me jonesing for a pasty!

[regor0]

GOOD NEWS:o. I never seen my trees run as good as they are right now, knock on wood, even my bags are almost a steady stream! Hopefully it'll keep it up all day.

[fishman]

Good to hear regor0. Must have been my guarantee. :lol: Can't wait to get home and check mine.

[yooper]

Excellent flow here today.

Best day of the season so far.

[fishman]

Not so good for me. 40 gallons on 75 taps. 3 had 3 gallons apiece. Looks like a few poor days coming.

[Plungerke]

A check of the buckets showed a flow here too, the crew is picking tomorrow so I'll give a update then. There is hope for a weekend boil after all.

[TerryEspo]

Yesterday, April 9th, best day of the year, first good run, finally. Approx 60 gallons from 80 taps, collected early (5 p.m.),so maybe even more that 60 gallons.
Lets hope now is keeps up for a couple weeks.

Good luck to all us late season peeps !!

[Plungerke]

Collection today totalled 50 gallons from 70 taps, 2 days.
The trees where still dripping so hopefully we get a good pick tomorrow.
Boil this weekend for sure!

[fishman]

What a wonderful evening. Boiling, having a few "boiling soda's" and plinking at some red squirrels. That 5' high snowbank in front of me doesn't seem so bad right now. How are things going up in Grand Marais?

[JRCunningham]

Today was a good day. Collected 120 gallons at noon and things were accelerating at the end of the day. The snow has taken a beating and getting through the woods to collect the traditional taps is easier.

I had almost resigned myself to the season being over before it started, and it appears that things are looking up.

"Thank you" <looks up to the sky>

--J.R.

[regor0]

I had a decent run yesterday even though it didn't freeze the night before. Today looks great. When I went out to turn on the vacuum pumps I noticed the taps are above my head, and the snow is still above my knees, and this is on the low end of my mainline. Looks like I'll be running laterals off a ladder all summer.

[JRCunningham]

Ugh. Had a freeze last night, but flowing very slow today. I'm as confused as I've ever been. I can't figure out if it hasn't really started yet and things will speed up or if it's nearly over for the season. Hoping next week's cold nights provide some answers.

Sugar content seems normal or even a bit high for some of my test taps.

Anybody seeing any signs of budding?

--J.R.

[Mark]

I don't think it has kicked in yet but time is getting short.

[TerryEspo]

Hey JR,
Perfect words about how I feel too, not sure if it really has started.....

Same freeze as you last night and a very slow sap day here, no sun at all, overcast.

Good news is no sign of budding and my two batches so far are a light amber, lets hope its still early season for us.

[Mark]

By watching the sugar sand it acts like it is just starting. Yesterday was the first time we had any niter in the pan. I think with the extreme cold we had the base of the trees were frozen. Snow is just starting to melt away from mine.

[fishman]

No freeze here last night. Finished off 100 gallons and got over 3 gallons 32:1. Not sure what's going on here either. Wish it would start pretty soon.

[U.P. Sapsucker]

Still have not had many days where we have gotten over 1/2 gallon per tap. Anyone have lots of sugar sand? Sugar % is still between 1.5 - 2%. We have snow and below freezing temps in the beginning of the week. Then after that hopefully it will really kick in!!
Todd

[JRCunningham]

Minimal sugar sand thus far, but the taps that are flowing decent also have decent sugar content. The issue I'm having is that many of my taps are running at a one-pint per day rate. Of course, the south side of the good producers flows the best. I was thinking today a nice hot sun after the upcoming freeze would be great.

Terry, no signs of budding here either. Mark, you reminded me that at the beginning of winter we had some hard freezing for a long time before the ridiculous amount of snow dropped. I heard up by Boot Lake (north of me about 15 miles), the frostline was at 84 inches. M-94 looks like a paved washboard...

I'm using the next two days to clean up, swap filters, and run a couple hundred gallons of permeate through the RO in preparation for a good run. If it doesn't come, at least the gear will be clean...

Best wishes for everybody.

--J.R.

[regor0]

Just went out to shut the vacuum pumps off. I was pleasantly surprised to see the sap is running good. So, I grabbed the refractometer for a test. 3.9%! Yesterday it was below 2. Maybe things are looking up. Good luck!

[fishman]

I had about a cup per tap yesterday and now we have about 6-7" of fresh heavy snow and it's still coming down hard. Probably not much of a run here for another two or three days.

[regor0]

Sure glad I didn't get around to taking the snowblower off the kubota yesterday.

[TerryEspo]

Snowing right now here too.
Freezing temps for about the next 40 hrs, then maybe a good run.
Snow sucks but could result in a good run on Wednesday. I have maybe 15 gallons total hanging in buckets, but it can stay there and freeze, not worth gathering.
Fingers crossed for all of us on Wednesday.

[Grand Marais Boiler]

Pulled off 1st boil Sun. nite (127gal from 40 taps) Pretty slow overall but think % is higher than avg! Happy February.

[Ausable]

Hey! This is the Old Troll that lives under the Bridge. It is Snowing down here too. At least an inch on the ground and still coming down. Mother Nature! It is the 15th of April 2014 ---- Enough! Well - I was going to pull all my taps today. Instead - I think we shall finish up the near syrup and get busy canning. One of our many Great Granddaughter was kidding her Old Poppa about still having snow shovels by all the doors last Saturday and asked why? I told her I didn't trust old Mother Nature. Wish She were here this am..... --Mike--

[regor0]

Ausable,
Man don't give up yet, I'm sure you have a good run coming in a day or 2.................I sure hope I do. I've only had 2 boils and 1 small draw off.
I didn't measure but the snow we got today was up to the top of my rubber boots, Probably say 11 inches.
Last night when I went to bed it was around 40 degrees out. I got up, looked out the window and said @$#^%%#! I didn't drain the water pipes in the shack. What a change from yesterday.

[Ausable]

regorO, My sap flow was off this year and last year was the best I ever had. However, My Oldest Son and his Youngest Son tapped a lot of trees down in Bay County and the Gang took turns - Hauling it up for me to boil. It was a win - win for us - as we had a nice visit with various family members and ended up with a lot of sap and I didn't have to gather it. Me thinks - I like this arrangement better. They get bored rather quickly with boiling and I don't have to work as hard. LOL and still end up with Maple Syrup.

[U.P. Sapsucker]

It's always nice to wake up to a blizzard in the Middle of April! Now I see we have another 7 inches or so coming tomorrow. After all that it looks like real good running weather. Hang in there this must be a sign of real good things to come
Todd

[TerryEspo]

Tuesday here,,,all buckets frozen solid, could not get the ice blocks out of the buckets.
Did get the ice out of all plastic ice cream buckets and 5 gallon buckets then boiled it down to near syrup.

Expecting sap to flow Wed. thru till Monday here, so says the forecast. Hoping it is the best run ever this year, finally all trees are awake and giving sap, weather permitting.

I hope all near me get the same weather I am expecting. Grand total of syrup made this year so far is 1.5 gallons. That (1.5 gallons) should be one days worth, geesh !!

Good luck everyone!!

[JRCunningham]

I remember one time an old man, my mentor in sugaring, told me that sometimes we can't explain things--they "just are". Being a data and science guy, I just nodded my head and thought, "Yeah, right".

After this season, when the evaporator shuts down for the last time, the syrup total is in, and the season is done, I will forever remember this season as the season that, "just was". If it's a great season, I'll think about how the early winter cold, the deep snow, the slow warm-up, the late snow (tomorrow), etc., conspired to save what is starting out as a bad season. If it's a bad season, I'll try to pick apart why. But my old friend would just say, "This is just the way things are this year".

I hope "the way things are" for you all is great in one way or another. Mike, your family bond over a pail of sap just might be the way things were supposed to be this year. I, for one, was grateful for another maple season. I crawled through the woods last year during tapping due to radiation treatments for cancer and spent the summer of 2013 doing chemo. I'm healthy now and I'm grateful to have a sugaring season. I've stood in front of an evaporator and smelled that wonderful smell. I've seen the delight on the face of a child as they eat syrup-covered snow. I've watched people be amazed as I tell them some of the deep history of sugaring in the Upper Peninsula.

I was hoping for 500 gallons this year. I have eight thus far. I already put the snowshoes away. Ooops. Should've taken a lesson from Mike here and left the snow equipment out...

Every time I want to go outside and scream at the oncoming snow (which never seems to end), I have to pause, give thanks, and listen to my old friend's voice in my mind saying, "That's just the way things are this year".

--J.R.

[fishman]

Nice post JR. Always helps to look at the bright side of things. Too many times I catch myself cussing up a blue streak at everything that's goes wrong, weather, etc. Have a good season.

[TerryEspo]

I second that great post JR, very well put, mature thought, I sign up for that attitude.
Thank-you for that post.

[Run Forest Run!]

JR, thanks for sharing your insight. It made my day.

[regor0]

Supposed to get another 9-12 inches tonight, maybe it'll be sap weather in June. I turned on the vacuum on today but only got a few drips. Good luck everyone. It has to better.


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[JRCunningham]

Thanks for the kind words, both public and PM. What a great community we have here.

Here comes the snow. It did get above freezing today, prompting me to check a gravity tank with 135 taps on it and it had about 10 gallons. Nothing to speak of.

I spent some time today checking the various gadgets and doing some maintenance and cleanup. I also spent some time on my disaster backup for the RO. I'm always concerned I'll loose my heat in the small building I have the RO in. Found one of these thermocubes and plugged in a 1500 watt heater and a red lightbulb. If the heater fails and the temp hits 35 degrees, the red light will come on (I can see that from the house), and the heater will kick in. Doesn't protect me from a power outage, but eliminates one weakness (the heater). http://www.thermocube.com

Today was a coffee in hand, fire in the fireplace, Labrador Retriever at your feet kinda day. Normally those happen in January <laughs>. Good luck this week--it looks like we could have a few nice days for a run, and then the warmer nights come.

[regor0]

I was just reading last years UP thread. Shoot my trees never started running at all till April 13th. April 26th was my best runs, so I'm way ahead of schedule compared to last year.:o

[Plungerke]

Does anybody have experiance with sap flowing on a day like this when the snow is falling but the temp is above 32?
Just wondering if it's worth my time to drive up to the sugar bush after work?

[regor0]

I'll go out and see if it's running.....back in a minute.

[regor0]

Just went out and checked..................Bags the taps are still froze. Turned on the vacuum, just because I love sending UPCO big checks, will let you know in an hour or so.

[regor0]

Well went out to see if the vacuum was pulling sap. Nothing, not a drop. Taps on bags still froze. I shut the pump off tomorrow is supposed to be warmer.


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[JRCunningham]

Nothing here today--gravity and traditional taps are locked up. More cleaning, more coffee, more fireplace....

Also worth keeping the wind in mind. It's blowing here today, which will keep the trees from flowing, especially when it's windy and barely above freezing. I'm always amazed at how my trees won't produce much when it's 40 degrees and windy versus 40 and calm.

--J.R.

[fishman]

Got 40 gallons and it was a steady drip at 6pm. Only got to 35 today and only 3" of fresh snow. Should have enough for a boil tomorrow. Only a week between boils.

[Plungerke]

Thanks for the update, decided to wait till tomorrow the forecast looks favorable then.
Sure hope I come up with enough to boil, my wife and all four kids are going to spend the day:-)

[Grand Marais Boiler]

28 gal. this evening and lots of ice. Hoping for a few more good days to get another full boil.

[yooper]

After pretty much stopping for almost a week, the sap started flowing good here again yesterday.

Boiling today and the sap is flowing great.

Still knee deep snow in the woods.

[TerryEspo]

Sap has turned on here 45 mins North of Machinaw City/bridge.

Not a great day hee right now but sap is flowing o.k. speed, guessing with 80 taps I should get 40-50 gallons today. Trees seem full and will give sap even on a day like this, just above freezing, not sunny, no wind,,,,just a plain day.

Hope all of us in U P area have a decent run.

Good luck.

[lpakiz]

I have seen, on several occasions, that sap will POUR during a warm, wet snow, overnight especially. Also, a few days ago, soft maples were dripping 3 per second, overcast, and the wind was from the southeast at about 30 MPH!
You could ask inthewoods how sap runs overnight. 550 trees overflowed the 550 gallon tank and flooded the sunken concrete floor of the sap house with an additiona 600+ gallons. It got pumped out into the woods. Shame. Be alert with warm, wet, overnight snow.

[fishman]

Just pulled 65 gallons off 75 taps. Was hoping to wait till 8 but needed the sap to keep the boil going. Best run of the year for me. I like it.

[Plungerke]

Picked 80 gallons on 74 taps, best pick ever in my sugar bush!
Starting the boil with in the hour, here we go and all at once :)
Forgot to mention, 3% sugar!

[fishman]

Nice gather. Late night?

[Yooper Kevin]

210 gallons from our 120 taps from yesterday and today! Tomorrow looks real good too....Wondering what the sugar content might be? Any idea? Fishman?

[Plungerke]

I got 3% today, that's about normal for my trees

[fishman]

I've been running just shy of 3% for the 2 boils so far. Working on my 3rd tonight and I'll finish it up tomorrow. Just in time for a big run tomorrow. How's that new evaporator working out kevin?

[JRCunningham]

Just finished collecting, pulled in around 250 gallons of sap at around 3%. My gravity tank was overflowing. It's freezing up right now, and the skies are clear and calm. Tomorrow could be another great day. Some taps still haven't really started running, especially those that are shaded or on the south side of the hills. I forgot how much fun it was to see bags swollen up like balloons...

I'd been wanting to put the RO under some stress (just upgraded to four 4 x 40 membranes) and take the sugar % up and get some good performance data. Tomorrow appears to be the day to do just that.

Woo Hoo!

Best of luck this week everybody.

--J.R.

[Plungerke]

We are 40 gallons into the boil, going to pt in a couple more hours before a couple hours of sleep. Tomorrow the whole family is coming out for the day, going to be a great day in the bush!

[Yooper Kevin]

I've been running just shy of 3% for the 2 boils so far. Working on my 3rd tonight and I'll finish it up tomorrow. Just in time for a big run tomorrow. How's that new evaporator working out kevin?

16 gallons/hour sure beats 8! That part has been great....I have had some trouble with establishing gradient this year. But it seems like a lot of folks are with similar units.
Just lit the fire this morning....It's going to be a great day of boiling!

[fishman]

I'll second or third that. Just finishing off 105 gallon boil from yesterday. Looks like over 3 gallons. Warming up quick. Down to 22 last night.

[fishman]

Kevin. You gonna be at it all morning. Maybe I'll take a ride when I get cleaned up.

[regor0]

Well my trees were't running good enough for me a couple days ago so against my better judgement I put up 300 bags yesterday. Holy Wah! I got around 500 gallons today. Be careful what you wish for. Looks like I'll still be boiling when the sun comes up.

[fishman]

What do I know. Only got down to 38 last night so I thought I could take the day off and go to the folks for Easter. Got home and checked a bucket next to shack - 4 gallons. Got out of my go to church clothes and finished running most taps by 9:30. All storage is full and have a bunch of 5 gallon buckets full. 140 gallons on 69 taps. Is a bathtub foodsafe? And would that be grounds for a divorce?

[regor0]

It is possible that the tub is food safe.....I have on occasion seen fish in the bathtub.
My granddad used to keep fish alive in the tub till he had time to clean them. Sounds like a Foxworthy joke.
Divorce, nope, I had my wife empting bags, that I idiotically put up because I didn't have enough sap. Now I don't have enough hours in the day to boil it all. Great problem to have! Good luck.

[Grand Marais Boiler]

Finishing up 2nd boil this morning. Probably the heaviest 3 day run I can remember. Have about 40 gal towards next.

[fishman]

You downsized this year gmboiler. What's with that? You're a rarity on this site.

[Grand Marais Boiler]

Yep! Have some family health issues and wasn't going to do any but wife talked me into it. So I agreed but just didn't want to work as hard this year. Yeah, right.
This run has been quit a challenge. Am 76 gal. into 3rd boil. Pulled 1 tap - sap was going everywhere but into jug. Must have let drill wobble or "tapped" too hard and split the wood. Looks as if we could still be going into May. One year I was done and cleaned up by April 1st!

[Plungerke]

Wow what a run, we started Friday night boiling and just finished tonight. Stopped to sleep a couple hours each night but grand total was 270 gallons of sap = 7.75 gallons of syrup. Was very fun, had several friends stop by but I am bushed.
Planning for next year already I got to either go bigger with the arch or invest in a RO system, any recommendations?
I am really leaning towards a RO, seems like another challenge in design :) I love that part of this hobby.

[JRCunningham]

Looks like a freeze coming tonight. Awesome. It's snowing here right now.

You swing up and check out my RO in the off season--there are lots of really good homemade designs hanging out on the site here--but it always helps to see one firsthand. I'd be happy to help you build one. I'm an hour and a half drive from you.

I run 500 taps on a Lapierre/Waterloo/Small propane evaporator that was designed for 25 taps. If I needed to, I could double my # of taps and still keep the same evaporator. RO is the way to go...

[regor0]

Are you guys still getting good sap? Mine was still good yesterday.

[JRCunningham]

Yes! It's good and it's running. I have a few taps producing buddy sap, I've pulled those. A few days left and we're done, I believe..

[regor0]

75 gallons so far, not counting bags, clear sap 2.4 %. Test boil smells good.


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[TerryEspo]

Wednesday just after noon here and sap is flowing very well. I brought back approx. 25 gallons and started a slow boil. Going to wait for kids to get home to collect all of it and have a good last boil maybe.

The end is near I feel.

[fishman]

Still good here and running good. Hope for one more good day then I might pull the plug even if my trees are willing and able.

[yooper]

Still trying to catch up boiling.

Sap took a little breather yesterday but is still flowing good.

[Plungerke]

Trees are flowing here today. We are going to make one more boil Saturday and then pull the plug.

I have a question and hopefully someone can explain. On Saturday we boiled 90 gallons and got 2.75 gallons, good color, very sweet. Today when I was checking the jars there is a cloudy area near the bottom, when I shake it up the cloud disappears, what would cause this cloud? Is it anything I should be concerned about?

[Grand Marais Boiler]

23 gal. yesterday afternoon and running good. Think we'll keep going into next week, we like the late syrup and is what we try to save for ourselves. For a guy that didn't want to work hard this year guess I'm staying 'till the "bitter" end.:rolleyes:

[fishman]

65 gallons ysterday and 40 today. Enough for another 2+ gallons. Started pulling a few bad taps and may pull them all tomorrow. Think I've had enough and got some other chores before I start getting ready for fishing season. Been a decent year for me with the good runs this past weekend.

[JRCunningham]

220 gallons collected yesterday, finished it off last night at around midnight. I'm now starting to see the advantage of the check valves--the trees on CV spiles are still flowing great, my buckets are almost all dried up.

Sugar content is still good, sand content is now very high, which takes a long time to percolate through the cone filter. I'm replacing pre-filters after pretty much every boil. A filter press just moved higher on the "wants" list...

Turning out to be a good season! Fishman, I'm with you--I'm about done. Another few days and it'll be time to pull..

[fishman]

I'm just sitting watching my last batch finish boiling. 3 degrees to go. Started pulling taps but its pouring so I figured why do today what I can put off till tomorrow. I could probably pull another 100 gallons of sap if I waited till Sunday but I'd like to get cleaned up this weekend.

[JRCunningham]

Fishman, I hear you on being done. Feels good to wrap it up.

I'm opting to leave mine in for a bit. I figure trout season is going to start slow due to the high water, the Labrador Tea leaves don't taste as good this time of year, the ground is too soft to cultivate yet, and we haven't had those warm days that bring Morels--so might as well ride it out until buddy sap.

Everything ran really slow today. Nice to have a day off...

How is everybody else doing? Regor? Terry? Kelly?

[fishman]

Finished off another 2 1/2 gallons for a total of 17 for the year. I'm happy. So is the wife nowo that she can have her kitchen back. And I can get some of her honey do projects done before walleye and musky and bass and salmon and whitefish and panfish seasons start.

[Plungerke]

100 gallons of sap waiting to boil tomorrow, I want to pull the taps but the crew doesn't know when to stop so I think there may be more boils coming this year. 12 gallons bottled so far with 2-1/2 more coming tomorrow!

I'm ready to get some turkey hunting in, then it's mushroom season the only down side are those darn tics.

[TerryEspo]

Saturday morning here, bottled 2 1/2 gallons (biggest batch this year), that was from 3 days gathering. Did not gather Friday as the sap was slow and not worth gathering. This last batch is still not dark at all, not as light as a couple weeks ago.

I too think if sap doesn't run today or tomorrow, time to pull and clean up.

I have a total of 7 gallons max for this year, well below previous years.

Next year, tubing for sure with a Shurflow pump, going to run a line across my creek and get those darn Maples I cant get access because the creek it to high to cross.

Time to learn about mainlines and all that other good stuff.

Good luck to everyone.

Terry

[Run Forest Run!]

Tough year eh Terry? Fast and furious to say the least. I boiled my last batch yesterday. As I collected the sap I was pulling the taps. I'm grateful that I ended up with 12L as it was pretty iffy up until April 17th.

Now comes the big cleanup........

[yooper]

Still boiling here.

Sap is flowing heavy today and running around 3%.

Looks like the end is near according to the weather man.

[JRCunningham]

Pulled the traditional taps today. The buckets were done, bags had a few still flowing but the sap smelled buddy. They're done. The gravity taps are still flowing, so I'll pump those again tomorrow and call it done.

Double the taps, half the syrup this year. Reminds me of the old divorce joke: "We split everything 50/50. She got the car, he got the payments. She got the house, he got the payments.".

Too early in the post-season for a real analysis of successes and failures, but a few lessons came out of this year for me:

1. Filter press is on the short list. My bottleneck this year was cone filtering.
2. Bigger RO is much better. I can say with certainty that I lost ZERO sugar this year. Last year I had some sap go bad after spending too long in the RO process on a warm day. This year, I ran the RO immediately after collection, boiled the concentrate, and washed out the RO with permeate water. The next day I RO'ed out yesterday's "wash water" and added in the new sap. By doing this I was always "chasing yesterday's sugar" back into the evaporator, and didn't waste any. Much appreciation to Rick and the crew at Sugar Bush Supplies in Mason MI for his advice here on setting up the RO process flow.
3. Putting up tubing in high snow turned out to be a benefit. Now I have a "high snow" mark and can replicate the setup for expanding the operation.
4. I ran the evaporator on the porch this year instead of outside in the open. I used 25% of the propane last year, at 50% less syrup production. Sugar shack just went way up on the priority list.
5. I'm done with buckets save for a few for the kids to put up. By the time I include washing, putting the lids on, etc. it's double the effort of bags. Sure, the bags leak occasionally, but they're easy to replace. For traditional tapping I'm going to stick with the bags.
6. I said, "thank you" a LOT this year. Every chance I got. I remain incredibly grateful for a maple season this year and look forward to next year.
7. A Chocolate Labrador Retriever WILL chase the black bear away from you while you are collecting. I found myself on the tractor, unarmed (dumb this time of year out in the woods), and my 60Lb Lab turned into an awesome defensive weapon. She chased the bear until she determined it was no longer a threat and came back. None of the critters here seem to bother except for the Fisher that tears the bags down occasionally, but this time of year those black bears are hungry, their feet hurt from hibernation, and they're cranky. Amazing to watch a docile kid-friendly dog go into fight mode, and I'm glad she was with me. How stupid of me to have a hammer in the toolbox on the tractor but not have a pistol or or carbine nearby.

I guess that's it for the initial post-game analysis. More lessons to contemplate, for sure. In short, just grateful to have been afield and made some syrup.

All the best to you all during clean-up.

--J.R.

[fishman]

JR...Congratulations on another year of sugaring under the circumstances you have been facing. Good or bad season, you're still out there and that's what counts. Looking forward to next season when I'll be retired and have a little less hectic schedule. Now if I just don't expand too much. Till next year Yoopers.

[TerryEspo]

Hey Guys,,,and girls.

My season is done. Poured out any sap last couple days. Wrong colour and smell for me to boil. Going to start pulling all taps out tomorrow and then the giant wash up programme. Kinda sad the season was so short, but happy we had a season.

I hope all had a reasonable good season and next year can only be better.

Thank-you to all here at Maple Trader once again for so much good advice and also for sharing their stories.

I do want to learn more about mainlines and laterals for next year for sure.

I wish everyone a safe "off sap season" and all the best to all !!

Terry

[regor0]

Sunday I got somewhere around 600 gallons of sap, but it was only 1.5%. Drew off a little over 8 gallons of syrup. Yesterday sugar content was down to 1.3%, only got about 125 gallons. I was out doing some cleaning a couple hours ago, I got sick of hearing the vacuum pump, the releaser hadn't dumped in the couple hours I was out there, so I shut it off and turned on the radio. Around 12:30 I could hear water running, I thought it had started raining, so I went outside and it was sap running in the tank. Flipped the vacuum pump back on and it dumped about every 3 minutes. I check the bags and the were running good too. It was kinda neat to hear it start running at night, hopefully it'll stay running.

[Mark]

Sunday I got somewhere around 600 gallons of sap, but it was only 1.5%. Drew off a little over 8 gallons of syrup. Yesterday sugar content was down to 1.3%, only got about 125 gallons. I was out doing some cleaning a couple hours ago, I got sick of hearing the vacuum pump, the releaser hadn't dumped in the couple hours I was out there, so I shut it off and turned on the radio. Around 12:30 I could hear water running, I thought it had started raining, so I went outside and it was sap running in the tank. Flipped the vacuum pump back on and it dumped about every 3 minutes. I check the bags and the were running good too. It was kinda neat to hear it start running at night, hopefully it'll stay running.


Depending on what forecast you look at it is freezing again in a couple days.

[yooper]

We are all done here.

Pulled the taps and boiling down the last of the sap.

All in all it was a pretty good season.

[regor0]

Boiling now, 4 gallons so far tonight, I'm hanging in there till it's buddy. I got about 100 gallons today.

[Mark]

The last few days we have been making about 100 gallons a day but it has an off flavor. It may be starting to get buddy. The buyers also buy that as c so we are going to keep going as long as we can. We got 2000 gallons of sap during the night.

[regor0]

Probably making the last boil of the season. Best tasting syrup of the season coming off the evaporator tonight.
Trees still have no signs of buds yet, just to warm.

[Mark]

Probably making the last boil of the season. Best tasting syrup of the season coming off the evaporator tonight.
Trees still have no signs of buds yet, just to warm.
Do you have any reds tapped? I have about 5% of them and never had a problem before since it seems I can never get that far before the trees shut down.

[regor0]

I have 60% reds 40% sugar. Still running today, may have one more boil yet.

[regor0]

Sap ran great today, around 500 gallons. First day without snowshoes! Looks like tomorrow could be good too. Yeah, depression is postponed a few days.


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