Tapped in Union County

[bowhunter]

I tapped 49 trees on Saturday. The long range forecast for late January and all of February looked pretty good. I've moved so I only have access to about 70 trees right now. Plan to tap 20 or so today which should finish me up. I had a small run on Saturday evening, but it was a little slow because the trees and ground were frozen solid in the morning. I should be doing my first boil tomorrow if I get a decent run this afternoon. Hopefully I'll have enough sap to run in the RO and get the pan sweetened.

[Grand Square Acres]

Wish I can tap now by the look of the forecast but still installing all new tubing. Good luck keep us posted on the flow.

[bowhunter]

Had a fairly good run between Saturday and Monday. I plan to collect sap on Tuesday so I'll see how well it actually ran. The long range forecast still looks pretty good here for the next 3-4 weeks.

[bowhunter]

Did my first boil yesterday. Boiled about 52 gallons. RO ran well and was able to draw off syrup after 2 1/2 hours. Not sure exactly how much I drew off because it's in the bottom of my turkey frier. Looks like I might get another run Friday and Saturday. I don't think there will be anything today because the overnight lows were only 32.

[Grand Square Acres]

bowhunter you are making me jealous, I still have at another week before I can even think about tapping. I just finished putting up about 1000 ft of main line now its time to run lats and tie in. But when all done I will have about 500 taps on vacuum this year. Good luck and keep us posted.

[bowhunter]

Had a fair run Saturday and Sunday. Collected about 65 gallons from 70 taps on buckets Sunday evening. Plan to fire up the RO and evaporator this morning and make some syrup. The long range forecast doesn't look favorable again until February 20th or so.

[RC Maple]

I would have tapped on Saturday just for a test run had anyone forecasted the temps even close to what they were. By the time I had seen how warm it was Saturday morning and saw the forecast for Saturday and Sunday I had to leave in 3 hours and be gone all day. I was in Anderson, IN and the sunshine and almost 50 degrees was hard to take knowing I had no buckets catching the sap that was running. No point in tapping yesterday with the way the forecast looked for this week so I'm just waiting on the next go around. Hopefully, I'll have some syrup made before the month is out.

[bowhunter]

Finished 2 1/4 gallons of syrup yesterday. I love the little set up I have with an 18 GPH RO feeding the 1/2 pint directly. I was able to finish right off the evaporator. Sugar content looks to be around 2.4% on average. This is the first year I've tapped any red's and they're really slow to respond. If they go buddy first and the sap flows much later, I'm not sure it's worth the effort. I might just want to add a few sugar's a little further out from the sugar house.

[Grand Square Acres]

bowhunter sounds like you are off to a good start.

[buckeye gold]

South of you and the weekend was big. Sunday was my best run in two years and monday and tuesday were good then nothing. I finished a little short of 3 gallons and have about ten gallons of super sweet setting in buckets waiting for enough sap to run the evaporator again. Looks like a week of cold. I'm a little over 9 gallons for the year.

[bowhunter]

-19 F here in Marysville, Ohio this morning. Doesn't look like any sap flow until March 5th. It's going to be a very short season here. I don't think there's anyway were going to have more than 10 days in March with much flow.

[asknupp]

Looks like next week is going to be our next opportunity for sap collection. Hopefully weather stays consistent for sap longer then one week.

[Grand Square Acres]

bowhunter I hope you'er wrong on 10 days in march, I haven't even put the first tap out. Looks like I'll be tapping (400 taps on vac) this weekend and hope we get some good runs. But I do agree it is going to be a very short season. Good luck

[JBUTCH2450]

Only 10 days? I too hope that isn't true. Last year we only boiled about 12 hours during the month of February. Started to make syrup on March 5th and still had some very cold days. Ended up being an average year for us. We are only slightly behind last years numbers so far! Hoping for warmer days in March!

[bowhunter]

Temperature got up to 41 F late in the evening, but still had almost no sap flow overnight. It looks like we get 6 days starting on Sunday and then the weather gets pretty warm for about a week. Maybe 4 days during the 3rd week of March if the trees aren't starting to bud. I still think we're looking at 10 days max of significant sap flow in March before the weather gets too warm.

[bowhunter]

Temperatures look pretty good at about 38 F with a lot of sun. As of 1:30 p.m. no sap flow yet today. There may be some by nightfall, but probably not much. Hopefully by Monday we'll see some decent flow.

[asknupp]

Things have thawed and trees are running. I'll let things run today and tomorrow then collect sunday evening. I'm west of Troy bowhunter.

[bowhunter]

Hope we thaw out some today. Yesterday was almost a complete bust. Less than a pint of sap per tap. About half didn't flow at all.

[buckeye gold]

The dam is about to burst Bowhunter. I'm down in Ross county and my trees ran all night. They didn't start until late yesterday afternoon so it's not a huge collection, but good. Tomorrow's collection should be huge. I have today and tomorrow then I have to pull taps and get ready for my surgery Wednesday .....yeah it sucks I have to shut down during the best week of the whole season, but I would normally be done now, so I made palns by that.

[asknupp]

That does suck buckeye. Where about in Ross county are you?
Andy

[SWohio]

I am still doing the 10 taps on buckets and a turkey fryer. I try to make 2 gallons a year to get myself through and a taste for a few friends. This year I hung my buckets a solid 2 weeks late and then spent a month looking at frozen empty buckets. Sap started to run late yesterday afternoon and froze up again overnight. Taps were just thawing and starting at 9 am today so I am hoping for a good collection this evening. Did about 6 gal. yesterday and this mornings collecting. 10:00 am the boil is on and taps starting so..... today is a good day.

[bowhunter]

About half my buckets behind the house started to flow by 11:00. Hope it starts in earnest today...we're running out of time here.

[Marcus]

I tapped Wednesday, Some Saturday, and a few this morning. Total of 40. Barely ran yesterday, most are dripping good. I do landscape for a living so will have to do some jobs this week.

[asknupp]

Boiled down a little over 100 gallons from yesterday and today. Didn't draw much today but I'll bet tomorrow will bring the syrup. Pulled off 5-6 gal of almost just so i could heat up all the sap and not worry about it sitting in head tank. It'll all go back in syrup pan tomorrow night!
Andy

[buckeye gold]

Well my family collected 70 gallons of sap at noon today and I started a fire about 1:30 and had it done by 6:30. I drew off almost 3 quarts and will have syrup pretty quick tomorrow mornig as my syrup section was at 217 when I quit. I hope to have one last big boil then prepare for the pain.


Where about in Ross county are you?

Andy

Bainbridge area or South west Ross Co.

[bowhunter]

I had a fair run yesterday. Collected about 18 gallons on 40 taps, but overall it was pretty disappointing. I'll collect the other 30 taps this morning and wait to see what happens today before I boil. The rest of the week looks to be too warm overnight to get much if any sap flow. I'm afraid this season is going to be almost a total bust here in Union county.

[asknupp]

27* when I left the house this morning. High of 50 so we'll see when I get home this evening but hope to be boiling into the late tonight. Sacrifice a Lil sleep because this might be it. Did see in the extended forecast that next week colder temps. But it might be to late by then.

Hey buckeye I know Bainbridge a Lil. Family owns property east of Sinking Springs.
Andy

[maple marc]

So far, very disappointing in Champaign County. Had 100 taps in on 3/8 to catch big run. It didn't happen. Collected only 125 gallons. Just wrong temperatures--too cold, now too warm. No runs in sight. Will probably run the 125 gallons, then store the sweet in fridge until the next run, if there is one. Too warm to leave in the evaporator.

[bowhunter]

It's supposed to get down to 28 here in Marysville tonight. Hoping for a decent run tomorrow. Boiled off about 56 gallons of sap yesterday. Drew off about 1 1/2 gallons of syrup. I'm having the same kind of problem with little flow on "good" days. My woods are still covered with snow and the ground is still frozen. There may only be one or two runs before the trees bud. The long range forecast looks to be too warm in general.

[bowhunter]

Sap is running today, but still pretty slow. It looks like another 1/2 to 3/4 gallon day on my buckets. Plan to gather sap tomorrow morning. I'd really like to have enough to run 4-5 hours but I'll probably have to run it up even if it's only for a couple of hours because I don't want to store the sap for another 5 days in this weather. The snow is gone in the woods, but the ground is still frozen hard under the leaves.

[bowhunter]

Amazing how poor your memory can be. It looks like a poor year, but I'm actually about the same place I was last year on March 12 and I made a lot of syrup the last week of March.

[bowhunter]

Had another mediocre run yesterday. Collected 36 gallons on 70 taps this morning. The snow is gone, but the ground is still mostly frozen. I had 2-3 trees that did have about 2 gallons in the bucket. On the plus side the sugar content was 3.2% on everything I collected this morning. It averages about 2.3 - 2.5% most years.

[Marcus]

Sap has been real real slow in Madison county. Had a good run yesterday. I bought a 2x4 continious flow pan from Smokey Lake on a cement block arch. I have spent more time letting the fire burn down due to no sap. Still learning how to operate it.
Marcus Yoder

[maple marc]

I thought yesterday's big temperature range would create a flood (26-50), but I only collected 125 gallons this morning, which I boiled. Drew 3 gallons. No freezes in sight until next Wednesday.

[bowhunter]

I think once the ground and roots thaw we're going to get some really good runs. Our long range forecast looks good after March 15th, but that and a $1 will buy you a cup of coffee.

[asknupp]

All in all I have collected around 200 gal of sap this week and about 6 to 7 gals of syrup. Won't know true syup totals till adjusted, filtered and jarred. But the numbers are close. Thursday seemed to be the best flow to date. 55 and sunny. Seems like anytime that sun shows the sap flows.
Andy

[bowhunter]

I've collected about 200 gallons of sap on 70 taps and made a pint shy of 5 gallons of syrup filtered and bottled. We had a weak run yesterday and I plan to collect it before noon today because we're supposed to hit 70 today. It looks like Thursday and Friday this week should be pretty good.

[bowhunter]

Collected 35 gallons on 70 taps yesterday. We had another very weak run yesterday with temperatures topping out around 70 F. Conditions looks very good starting with tomorrow. As a note I have 2 reds tapped and they're never run more than a couple of ounces a day. Not sure what's going on there.

[asknupp]

Managed to collect 20 gal of sap from 35 taps but couldn't make it to other properties. Life is getting in the way again.lol wife is in Columbus for conference and I'm running kids to activities. Have to collect tonite. If it hasnt gone bad will be boiling as well.
Andy

[bowhunter]

Had a decent run yesterday. I collected 60 gallons on 71 taps. Even the two reds had about 1/2 pint of sap. Last night wasn't cold enough to reset for today. Looks like the week end may be good.

[asknupp]

Same here bowhunter. Think it may have been the best run of the year. 3/16 was was a constant stream and 5/16 was running good as well. About 90gal from 130 taps. Plan to boil tonite.

[RC Maple]

In Putnam County is was the same. I had almost 1 gal/tap average yesterday and they were running hard when I gathered yesterday. I was hoping for 20's last night but we didn't make it. I know there will be something to gather today though - don't know how long they ran last night.

[bowhunter]

It still looks like Sunday through Tuesday may be good here. I did collect sap until April 1st last year, but I know the forecast can be pretty fickle this time of year. I have all buckets and the insects are unbelievable. Hundreds of moth's on Wednesday. Some of my 2 gallon buckets were so bad I had to dump them. Also flies by the hundreds.

[RC Maple]

Got a little better than half a gallon per tap yesterday but without another freeze there won't be much to gather until the next freeze. They were still dripping yesterday when I gathered but there can't be much in there today. I'll make the rounds and gather though so whatever is there won't be in there while it's 60 over the weekend.

[asknupp]

Flies have been real bad. Starting to get ants as well. They know where the sugar is too. Collected 80 gal yesterday collecting again tonite and boiling hoping to push out a few more gal cuz this might be it. Silvers are starting to break there buds and won't be long sugars will too.
Andy

[Marcus]

I've got ants and flies also hoping to get another run soon.
Marcus yoder

[bowhunter]

I had a really small run yesterday so I left it in the buckets. I heard peepers yesterday afternoon in a swampy area around the road so this season is surely almost over. Long term forecast looks good for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and maybe another run before the end of the month. Looks like I'm only going to get about 50% of a crop this year.

[bowhunter]

Had a surprise run yesterday. Although the temperature never went below freezing the night before the sap ran yesterday. Collected about 40 gallons on 70 taps last night. Should have a decent run today since the overnight low was 29 and the high today is expected to be 42 F with sun.

[Chris Zeger]

How do you like your half pint looking R upgrading to one next year plan on having about 50 taps or so

[maple marc]

Flies are bad here too near Urbana. I wonder what that means.

Maybe a last hurrah this week with one or two runs.

[bowhunter]

The 1/2 pint is fine, but I think Bill Mason's small evaporators are a little better and about the same price. The boil rate on the 1/2 pint is 5-6 gallons per hour. You can improve the boil rate with a blower, but it's not really set up for one. At least that's what others on the forum have said.

[bowhunter]

Yesterday was really disappointing. The low over night was 28 F the day was sunny with a high of 40 F. The sap flow started pretty strong as soon as the sun hit the trees, but tapered off quickly. I only collected 18 gallons on 70 taps by night fall. My fresh taps didn't really do any better or worse than the taps installed in January. And yes the insects are really bad. I continue to have so many flies and moths that I have to dump some buckets on the ground. I'll be glad when this sorry season is over.

[asknupp]

Collected close to 80 gal last night. Plan on boiling tonight. 3/16 has been my lifesaver. 10 taps on about a 150' run and on good runs has been 10 15 gals a day. Some buckets have begun healing up on their own but taps on tubing is still running.

[bowhunter]

Finally we have a big run going right now. Some taps are over 3 gallons since yesterday afternoon. A few are flowing nothing, but overall it looks good. I should be able to have a relatively long boil tomorrow...maybe 5-6 hours. Finished collecting at 4:30 and got 85 gallons sap on 70 taps.

[asknupp]

Pulling the plug after this weekend. Looks like we won't get another freeze after Sunday. And I'm about out of wood. Most of my buckets are done and so am I! Lol
Andy

[Marcus]

I had a great run the last couple days. Most of my silver maples have budded out. Still have some sugar maples running.

[bowhunter]

We're having a small run overnight and today. It looks like maybe another on Wednesday and then it's over. About 25% of my taps have already dried up.

[asknupp]

Friday night was my last boil. Bunch of buddies showed and we had a hell of an end of the season finale. Have to do a final tally of production but I'd say from last year its close to four times. Its been a lot of fun and work. Tapped everything on Jan 17 stopped collecting on March 28. So almost 10 weeks with three weeks never collecting a drop. Now its clean up time.lol
Andy

[bowhunter]

We had a 1/2 gallon per tap run yesterday so I have collected 1 1/2 gallons per tap over the past 2 days. Will boil off today and watch the run today to see if I decide to make another batch. If the run is small today, then I'm finished. If not I'll probably boil on Friday and pull my taps then.

[Marcus]

It should be a great run today. I am going out of town tomorrow so am going to boil this morning and pulling taps today.
Marcus Yoder

[bowhunter]

Yesterday's run was very poor in spite of perfect temperatures. About half of my taps have completely stopped flowing including 2 I tapped in late February. The silver maples are about to leaf and the reds are budding. I did my last boil yesterday. I don't have enough sap to make a decent boil from yesterday's run.

[RC Maple]

I boiled 12 hours on Tuesday starting @ 3am so I could be done and make it to a track meet @ 4:30. That was my last boil. I boiled for 44 hours in the last week. Had a GREAT run starting Sunday and into Monday. Yes, they were running yesterday too as I gathered up my buckets for the start of the long clean up process. I finished boiling what was left in the pan last night but don't have it jugged up yet. When I do I'll know how much I made. I could have brought home more sap Monday and tried to keep boiling until the sap went bad but decided to only try to do so much. I will finish just short of my total for last year - but just like last year - I had a blast.