Red Roof Maples 2015

[Russell Lampron]

Nothing to report other then it's frigging cold and there is more snow in the forecast. I want to get into the woods and get the tubing repairs done so that I can tap. There isn't a warm spell in sight in the next 10 days so it looks like I still have a little time. I'm building moisture traps today and hopefully I can get them installed this weekend.

[red maples]

HEY RUSS!!! No warm up until the last week of feb so there is time. Its been so cold and the snow is so deep here is gonna take a lot to get thing running here. Tough getting through the woods too!!! I am going out in the woods snow or not tomorrow. I gotta trek out with the chain saw and cut up some dead tree fall in a couple of places not line damage there its just hanging on the mainline. I might start my thread soon!!! Starting to get excited!!!

[Russell Lampron]

Hey Brad, I think you need to update your season start time. I hope it's only a couple of weeks not a few lol. I did get into the woods today and got all of the tubing repairs done. I'm going to build the moisture traps that I was going to do today tomorrow when it's too cold to work outside. Maybe get them installed next weekend and get the releaser set up and ready to go. I'll be ready to tap when we finally get our January thaw even if it is at the end of February.

[Romeo]

I think have very nice set up I all so looked on (photobuckets) all so very nice job it shows you love it Marty N.E.K. Vt.

[Amber Gold]

Hey Russ, good to hear from you. I was thinking of tapping this weekend, more to stay on schedule and get it done more than anything, but like Brad said, the warm-up isn't coming till the end of February. We'll see as the weekend gets closer.

[Dill]

Put down the drill Josh. Forecast near the end of the week is showing a high of 7. These trees are froze solid.
Actually the long range is showing a week above freezing the end of the month.

[Russell Lampron]

I've got the tubing fixed so that I can tap as soon as the weather cooperates but I'm sure it isn't going to happen this upcoming weekend. It's looking like I could tap on the weekend of the 21st. I'm just going to wait and see.

[red maples]

I didn't go into the woods. I hung with the Family I figured I'd relax a bit before I go full bore. (tomorrow) besides still waiting for a UPS delivery with some fitting I thought I had but didn't. I did insulation in the RO/tank room got about 1/2 way done. I just have to slide the tank out to do against the wall. Yeah Josh looks like single digits for highs next weekend. Gonna be chilly... I will be out in the woods all day tomorrow. get stuff done. I should be able to finish what I need to get done in the woods tomorrow.

[Russell Lampron]

Be sure to dig out and dust off your snowshoes. You're going to need them.

[red maples]

oh boy already been in the woods a couple of times, not easy get through. Once the path are cut it should be a litle better that is if the snow stops enough to actually get path cut through.

[Russell Lampron]

There's not much going on here other the cold and snow. I got the moisture traps built but haven't been able to get into the woods to get them installed. I did get some cleaning done in the sugar house so that it that much closer to being ready to go. The way that this cold weather is holding on I should have enough wood left for my outdoor wood boiler to last until the end of March. I thought that I had enough to last until May but that doesn't appear to be the case. **** this global warming!

[red maples]

Yeah PRetty much same here on wood!!! I went through aot of wood and alot of oil this year more than I have I think ever. It was nice for a few years I'd do 4-5 cords of wood and maybe 100-150 gallons of oil this year I am already at 5 cords and used about 150 already. Very cold average temps this winter and more to come. -11 yesterday morning and 18*F today feels warm!!! but back down to -8 tonight when the skies clear!!!

[Russell Lampron]

After plowing snow all morning I was able to spend the afternoon on sugaring stuff. Richard and I broke out the road to the woods tank with the 4 wheelers. The snow is still a little too loose to go down there with the Model AA but when the road freezes it should go pretty good. We put a seal kit into my releaser and brought that down to the tank and got it hooked up. We were finally able to install the new moisture traps too and then ran out of daylight. We didn't have time to get any tapping done but that's next on the list.

[red maples]

honestly it was a little warm tapping snow shoes were sinking in too much. Everything was melting as soon as it hit your clothes I was quite wet. wet bottom sweaty top. and I didn;t even have a drip in the few holes that I did drill.

[Amber Gold]

Russ, what year was it that you were telling me you didn't boil until mid-March? It's starting to feel like one of those years. That year, did the season shift into April or was it just cut short because of a sudden warming trend when the cold weather finally moved out?

[Russell Lampron]

That was 2005 Josh. It was the first year that I had my RO and vacuum. We didn't start tapping until March 13th and the season was all done at the end of March. I only made 47 gallons of syrup that year from 500 taps and 200 of those were on vacuum. In comparison I made 57 gallons of syrup in 2001 which the first year with my 2x6 evaporator. I had just over 300 taps that year, 200+ on gravity tubing and 100 buckets.

It's looking like we will have a couple of days above freezing next week and it seems like we have gotten out of that 2 snow storms a week cycle. Things are looking a little better.

[Russell Lampron]

We put on the snowshoes and got some taps in today. I don't have an exact total but it was close to 300. I was surprised that I wasn't sinking into the snow deeper than about 6". Of course there were a couple of times that I would step on a soft spot and go in over my knees. The sun felt pretty warm today and some of the trees were trying to run. It wasn't anything to turn the vacuum pump on for but it did look promising. We'll be back at it tomorrow and hope to get the rest of the taps in. We did the hardest ones today so it should go faster tomorrow.

[Russell Lampron]

We got even more taps in today. We have 1 mainline with about 90 taps on it and a handful of other laterals to do and we will be tapped in. We did the hardest sections first so the rest will be a piece of cake. I'm taking tomorrow off from work and will be able to finish tapping then. Hopefully it will warm up enough to turn the vacuum pump on. All we need now is some warm sunny days to get the sap flowing.

[Amber Gold]

I sure hope this season's better than '05.

[Russell Lampron]

We finished tapping this morning. If the number of spouts in a bag is correct we put in 690 taps in the past 3 days. It was supposed to get into the mid 30's today but the highest temp I saw was 31*. I knew it wasn't going to pull anything in but turned on the vacuum pump to see what I had for vacuum levels. It looks like I've got a lot of work to do! The regulator is set at 26" and the best I could do was 16" after fixing a leak at the releaser and a couple of known leaks in the woods.

If the sap runs this Wednesday and this weekend like it looks like it should we will be ahead of 2005 for a start date. I didn't even start tapping until March 13th that year.

[Russell Lampron]

The temperature finally climbed into the 40's today. The woods and trees are so cold that we didn't get much sap. I kind of expected that though because we didn't have any sun to get the trees warmed up. We started at 13" of vacuum this morning and after a day of leak repairs we are sitting at 22" tonight. Two of the mainlines are at 24" with the others closed off at the releaser so those are pretty tight. That leaves one mainline that still has a few leaks to find and fix and of course it is the one with the most taps on it. The good news is that it is the closest mainline to the road. We can get to it with the 4 wheelers.

Things are looking up. It looks like above freezing temps all week next week The overnight lows still look a little cold but we will get some sap, we just don't know how much. When we were at the releaser at 5:00 it looked like the sap was just starting to come in. The vacuum was turned on at 10:00 this morning.

[red maples]

I got everything up and running by 11:00 and started at 0" by the end of the day I was at 22.5" So getting there. still 2 more mains to walk. next week look quite good down here. they warmed the days to the low 40's with sun and cooled down next weekend to about 40 so once things get thawed it should be game on. Almost ready!!! Gonna try to get all the buckets up First thing sat morning. Getting excited!!!!

[Russell Lampron]

I will probably tap my buckets Sunday. I left the vacuum on over night because it was still 38* when I went to bed a 9:00. Didn't get much sap though, it looks like about 25 gallons, or the releaser dumped once.

Anybody follow the Hillbilly Weatherman? He did a video at Ben Fisk's this week and my doodlebug tractor and sugar house are in it near the end. If you haven't seen it yet it's a must see. This guy is a funny bastid. I hope that he comes here to do a video.

[Sweet Maple Trees]

7:55 is red roof maples sugarhouse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12ckbGY1WMg

[red maples]

Gotta get my pic in there!!!

[Russell Lampron]

The sap ran a little bit this afternoon. I turned the vacuum pump on at 12:00 and there was only about 20 gallons at 4:00 and not much coming in. The forecast is for a low temp of 14* tonight and a high of 41* tomorrow. It's supposed to be mostly cloudy so we probably won't get much of a run tomorrow either. It's looking real good for mid week though and we could finally get enough sap to boil. Good luck everyone!

[red maples]

yeah I think its gonna take a few days for things to get really going!!!

[Russell Lampron]

Moved the rest of the wood pile up to the furnace yesterday morning. It looks like I've got about 1 1/2 weeks worth left. I had 22 cords to start with and should have been able to make it into May. Fortunately the neighbor 2 houses down is having some logging done. I went over and talked to the loggers yesterday morning and it looks like I will be able to buy a grapple load of pulp from them.

I put a new floor on my sap hauling trailer yesterday and got the tank strapped back on so that is ready to go. Richard and I were looking at the trees in front of our houses that we hang buckets on and have figured out a way to get most of them on gravity tubing. We don't have the slope for 3/16" but should do alright with 5/16" tubing. That's a high priority for today. The 10 day forecast looks good and I don't want to miss a run.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Russ - Warmest trees on stonewalls are weeping but forecast has been upgraded. Have Richard put the petal down! Bruce

[Greyfox]

Hi Russ,

I'm tapping today and tomorrow. With my North-facing woods I don't think I've missed much so far, and Accuweather looks good from tomorrow on. I'm tapping two weeks later this year than last year, and three weeks later than the year before that.
Hope you have a good year.

Doc

[Russell Lampron]

Just turned the vacuum on at 12:30 with minimal sun and 31* showing on the thermometer. I still have a little sap going up the ladder despite the outside temp though. I don't think we'll get much of a run today but every little bit counts.

[Russell Lampron]

Hi Russ,

I'm tapping today and tomorrow. With my North-facing woods I don't think I've missed much so far, and Accuweather looks good from tomorrow on. I'm tapping two weeks later this year than last year, and three weeks later than the year before that.
Hope you have a good year.

Doc

Good luck with your season too. I don't like Accuweather. They seem to promise better weather weather than we actually get. The Weather Channel and WMUR both seem to be more accurate.

[red maples]

I am doing a little test of the forecasters. monday through friday this week. accuweather, weather.com(weather channel) and wmur. now accuW and weather.com are specific to East Kingston and Wmur is manchester so there may be some slight difference but we'll see who is the most accurate.

[Russell Lampron]

Ran some new gravity 5/16" line to eliminate buckets. We've got 59 taps on gravity tubing now and will only be putting out 19 buckets. Some trees that we used to tap won't be getting tapped this year because of the deep snow.

The sap is running a little better today and it's not supposed to get as cold tonight. The forecast is calling for a low of 23* which is a whole lot better than last night's 12*. If the 10 day forecast is anywhere near right, once the sap starts running it isn't going to stop.

[red maples]

how much sap did you get today? just curious. its getting better by the day but no tsunami yet still waiting for that.

[Amber Gold]

I didn't get much sap yesterday either. Tap holes were wet but not much coming out. Hopefully today things will be more thawed out.

The extended forecast is about perfect, but I do see some of that white stuff on Sat/Sun. Hopefully it doesn't amount to much.

[SSFLLC]

Did Russ just say he wasn't tapping maple trees because the snow was to deep? What the F#$k. Send Richard to tap them?

[red maples]

Ha... yeah right???!!!! I got all my sacks in waiting for them to fill it was tough going but I had the kids with me so they do the lugging!!!

[Russell Lampron]

Yeah you heard that right. I have some trees in the back 40 that we cant get to to gather. There are only 12 taps out there and some of those don't ever run very good so I'm not missing much by not tapping them.

The Big Sap is here! Gathered the first sap of the season tonight and will be boiling tomorrow night.

[Russell Lampron]

We had our 1st boil of the season last night. I didn't have a chance to check the sugar content of the raw sap but we had 750 gallons to start with and made 2 gallons after the pans were sweetened. I'm thinking that it wasn't very sweet. Everything has gone pretty smooth except for trudging through the woods to get the taps in and the leaks fixed. I have had a harder time breaking the paths through the woods on snowshoes before so even that wasn't as bad as it could have been. It's nice to have the vacuum at 25" this early in the season.

[Amber Gold]

Hey Russ, I was reading a thread and saw a post you made about using cup tees for the seasonal spouts. Wish I'd thought of the cup tees before. Since I started switching to seasonal's, it's been vexing on how best to use them in the woods. Most of my drops use the Lapierre tees, which is too big for the season's to plug onto and too small for the tubing to stay on if I cut the seasonal off. I bought a bag of Leader tees and the plug is bigger and the tubing stays right on...great. Now I can cut the seasonal off, plug it on the tee and ready for next season. I think this year I'm going to replace all the drops in my woods with leader tees and 36" drops...more range when tapping.

[Russell Lampron]

I haven't cut them in yet but I bought enough cup tees to do my whole woods. I plan on cutting them in as needed when doing repairs. I need to replace a mainline and all of the laterals in one section and will use them there as well. So far I am liking the CV2's. I don't have nearly as many leaks as I did with the CV1"s. They seem to seal better on the 5/16" tubing than the stubby's did.

[red maples]

I have yet to have an issue with the stubbies leaking. I like the adapters better too maybe it was the first run of CV2's I had more issues with them loosening in the tap holes, and actauly coming apart. I guess they maybe fixed some of the problems. The Leader T's are now designed for the stubby or the yearly CV's they work good you can also use the ring plugs for the CV2's also. I use the leader t's on my Gravity because I use the CDL seasonal taps on those once you cut them of the ring plugs work great.

I have some of the older leader step T's on some of my drops but they will get switched out as I am changing about 250 drops this coming year. I wanted to do it this year just never got around to doing it.

[Russell Lampron]

I found that I had a lot of micro leaks with the stubby's. You could see the tiny bubbles where vacuum was leaking by the seam that runs down the length of the barbs. I don't see that with the CV2's. I ran some 5/16" gravity lines this year to eliminate buckets and am using the stubby's and adapter set up there. There's no vacuum to those so the micro leaks won't be an issue.

[Russell Lampron]

Yesterday was a bust. The temp hovered around the freezing point all day and most of the evening. In fact it is still 32* right now. Had the vacuum on for over 6 hours and barely got 30 gallons of sap. The trees are trying. The buckets and gravity tubing gave up a little bit of sap despite the temperature. It's looking like I will save any sap I get until Tuesday and boil again Tuesday night. Then it looks like we are going to have a couple of days of cold weather before it starts running again on Thursday or Friday.

I don't have much syrup from last season left and will have to use some of that for making maple nuts. I need to use some of the new stuff for maple cream because the stuff from last season is too dark. Hopefully I will be able to make enough syrup to jug up for maple weekend. A couple of good runs is all that I need.

If you like the Hillbilly Weatherman on Facebook you can watch the latest video in his sugar house series. The one he posted yesterday was done at Blue Roof Sap Shack in Canterbury.

[red maples]

same here I actually got 60 gallons of sap on the over night we warmed up a degree or 2 just enough to get things going if even just a little bit. I'll take it. although still not enough to boil yet. I too will be probably boiling on tuesday unless I get enough today (doubt it) to boil tomorrow.

[Russell Lampron]

I turned my vacuum pump off last night because there wasn't anything at all coming into it at 7 pm. I turned it back on at 8:30 this morning with an outside temp of 34* and a very light snow coming down. There is some sap coming in but not much. Both the wet and dry lines are still frozen up near the house. I don't have any vacuum at my sap ladder which is at the corner of my house. There is loose sap in the lines and ladder but no vacuum there to pull it up. I hope it thaws soon, it's supposed to hit 38* today.

[red maples]

yeah my ladders are frozen too I am pulling 28" at the releaser. should be pulling 26.5" so that means my ladders are frozen too. missing out on 1/2 my taps because of it. anyway... I hope we hit the 38* they say we are gonna get. 35* and snowing lightly off and on with rain right now.

[Russell Lampron]

I've only got 18 taps on my ladder so I'm not missing out on many taps. I don't know where the freeze up is and could have a lateral mains down the hill that aren't getting vacuum either. The flow into the releaser looked promising though. The temp now is up to 35* and it is still spitting snow.

[Russell Lampron]

Update: I have vacuum at the ladder now. That is all...

[SSFLLC]

30 here and blizzard conditions. No sap today

[Russell Lampron]

Temps in the lower to mid 30's here for most of the day. Didn't get much sap but collected 360 gallons today from what had run since last Wednesday. The buckets and gravity tanks even had more than I expected given the cold temps we've had. Looks like it will run good tomorrow after a slow start and the plan is to collect that and what runs on Tuesday and boil again Tuesday night.

[Russell Lampron]

It took a while for it to start running but it was running pretty good at 6:00 this evening. We only had 150 gallons in the tank which was kind of disappointing with the temps we had today. It looks like it isn't going to freeze tonight and I am hoping that there will be a lot of sap in the tank in the morning.

11140

[red maples]

Man the reds just don't wanna give up sap yet!!! I got 100 gallons here too the buckets did pretty good but I will collect those today!!! I was waiting to see what your did. at least I am not the only one I though I was doing something wrong!!! the josh said his sugars are running. I did get a freeze though. froze up at 7:30 ish here went down to 29* and clouded up and its warming to 31* already. at least I got a few gallons yesterday. I wish it were more.

[Russell Lampron]

I was reading where Bruce at Hop Kiln Rd got .5 gpt and saw what I got. My woods is a cold woods, mostly facing north and west and you are right these cold nights aren't helping any and the reds don't give as much sap anyway. I left the vacuum on overnight but it felt like I should have turned it off at 9 pm when I took the dogs out. It is snowing now and it is 30*. Hoping for a good run today.

[Ridgeland Farm]

My reds never run till later in the season. But when they run they run hard!! Just need more than a day or 2 of warm weather to really get going!

[Amber Gold]

My reds are mostly froze up too. Only thing really running is the sugars. I remember the same thing happening last year. I'm really questioning how much syrup we're going to make before maple weekend.

[Ridgeland Farm]

what ever syrup we make before then will be next week by the looks of it! Not much in the way of good sugaring weather this week. Starting to look like last year. Almost nothing in March and then the floodgates opened in April.

[Russell Lampron]

Made 18 gallons last night to bring the season total to 20 gallons. The sap ran better than expected yesterday which was a nice surprise. When we were done pumping out the tank in the woods we saw a tree get blown down by the wind. It was one of the reds that I tap. Luckily Richard had a chainsaw with him because we had to cut it out of the road to get back up to the sugar house.

[Greyfox]

Wow Russ, a tree fell in the woods and it DIDN'T take out a line! Whoo-hoo!

My cold woods ran a bit as well.....looks like that'll be all I get until Saturday/Sunday, then it shuts down until later in the week. A slow start to the season, but at least it's started.

Doc

[Amber Gold]

Russ. Think I'm making dark syrup because I'm recirculating to get the sugar up into the teens? For instance, last night we got 1300 gal in during the course of the RO'ing session. Started the RO at 5pm and was boiling by 8:30pm. The grade lightened up, but never got into a medium (or amber). This is generally how I run it. I know what doesn't help is that we have been boiling for a couple hours each night. Same issue last year, but even if we boil longer (like last night) the grade never comes up to where I think it should be.

[Russell Lampron]

Recirulating into the teens will make the syrup darker. Mine used to be so dark that it would be graded as commercial if I brought it to Bascoms. I haven't made anything darker than a legit B since I installed the Bubblemaster. Last night's syrup was just darker than the golden sample in the test kit.

[Amber Gold]

Is it the recirc'ing that's making the darker syrup (even though it's only for a couple hours) or the high concentrate levels that make the syrup dark?

That's disappointing. I'd rather not add one, but will if I need to. I'd also prefer not to listen to another blower going. The sugarhouse is noisy enough as it is. Not that I need it, but did you see an evap. rate increase when you added it?

[Russell Lampron]

It's the high concentrate levels that are causing the dark syrup. The sap is releasing nitre in the flue pan and it is burning in the bottom of the flues. The bubbles from the bubblemaster blow straight down to keep the nitre suspended. The sap in the flue pan stays lighter colored and the finished syrup does as well. It was a night and day difference and even though dark syrup sells good it is disappointing to make dark syrup that doesn't taste like dark syrup.

I know where you're coming from on having another thing that makes noise in the sugar house. I put my blower for the Bubblemaster outside and can still hear it. As far as the evap rate goes I don't think that it helps increase it very much but I can see steam coming up when I first turn it on even though the evaporator isn't even boiling yet. It may even decrease it some because you are blowing cold air into the boiling sap.

[red maples]

I am having the exact same issues. I am making dark syrup. it was very dark in the begining of today but it finished at just a hair in the dark. I am gonna have to make a bubblemaster as well. it tastes good just not a dark flavor. its probably just little lighter tasting than a medium. So yes it is dissapointing and I am concentrating to 13-14% as well.

[Amber Gold]

Hadn't thought about having darker product in the flue pan and you're right. The flue pan is pretty dark and there is niter on the flues. Goal is to clean the flue pan this weekend. Once the season starts, the hope is to clean the flue pan once a week to keep the niter buildup down.

Bubblemaster: I wonder if I could tie it into the duct work for the high pressure blower that's running my AOF/AUF system. I wonder how much "extra" air I have.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

What do you guys do to clean the nitre off of the syrup pan and flue pan during the season??

[Ridgeland Farm]

I just rinse with RO water. Ill let it sit in the pans all night. Ill scrub the bad spots with a brush.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Are you rinsing pans after every boil with RO water?

[Ridgeland Farm]

that's my goal. Doesn't always happen. But atleast every other boil. The more often you can do it the better off you'll be.

[Russell Lampron]

Brandon I have a second front pan for my evaporator and I swap pans at mid season. Other than that I don't do any cleaning until the off season when I soak the pans with vinegar. I have been toying with the idea of running the contents of the front pan through the filter press between boils but like everything else I never seem to be able to find the time. I'm going to have to retire I guess. My full time job cuts into my maple time too much.

[Amber Gold]

What's your vinegar:water ratio? I'm planning on draining the flue pan this weekend and giving it a cleaning.
Thought about niter in the flue pan some more. Past couple years that I've been regularly concentrating high, I've noticed I get niter buildup in the syrup pan float box. Never thought much about it till now.

[red maples]

I clean my syrup pan about every 1000 to 1200 gallons(raw sap that is) so I will do it after next boil. it really doesn't take much and use 1 gallon vinegar to 3-4 gallons of water. for us guys with the little evaps. I wait for the fire to be out or just some coals then drain all the syrup out except just a little maybe 3/8 inch then plug and remove the pan dump remaining syrup into a bucket add in 1 gallon of vin. solution and put it back in the arch. then add the remaining vinegar solution and the heat is the catalyst, Let it sit over night if you want. it cleans pretty quick. drain the vinegar solution and save it for the next time you wanna clean your pan. rinse the pan really good with water all ports, valves etc really good and you good to go. Its really pretty easy probably takes as long at it takes for me to type this.

I like to hook up my flue pan to the filter press at the end of filter and just run it though a little. then finish with warm Permeate. I save it settle then add it back into the flue pan the next day so I don't loose any sugar. I do Vinegar the flue pan maybe once or twice during the season depending on niter build up in there.

[PerryW]

What do you guys do to clean the nitre off of the syrup pan and flue pan during the season??
I just reverse the flow religiously and only clean the pans at the end of the season. If it looks like I will be making more than 120 gallons of syrup in a season, I will drain the front pan and clean it w/ pan acid.

[Russell Lampron]

The sap ran a little bit here yesterday. I had 100 gallons in the tank at 6 p.m. and it was still coming in. I left the vacuum on until 2:30 this morning and will go down in a little while to see how much more I got.

Josh I put 2 gallons of vinegar in the front pan and 2 gallons in the flue pan and fill them both to the top of the float boxes with water. I was thinking about plumbing the bubblemaster into the blower for my evaporator too but haven't figured out how to filter the air yet. It may or may not be a problem to use it without filtering the air but I wouldn't want to get an off flavor in the syrup because I didn't filter it.

[Russell Lampron]

There's not much happening here so far this week. It looks like we will get a little run today when the temperature finally gets above freezing for the first time since Saturday. I hope to be boiling again Thursday night and then will save Friday's run to boil Saturday. There is a low of 16* in the forecast for Friday night and a high of 35* for a high on Saturday. It looks like I won't have much to boil on Sunday. I won't be boiling water or raw sap so if I don't get enough of a run on Saturday there won't be a boil on Sunday.

Yesterday I made the best of the cold by making the maple cream and maple butter Maple Weekend. It was my first time making maple butter and I was surprised at how easy it was to do and how good it came out. I had 2 lbs. of maple cream in the fridge from last year and blended in 2 lbs of butter with the Kitchen Aide and made a use for the cream that I didn't know what to do with. The way that it had separated it wasn't something that I would sell.

[Russell Lampron]

It was a beautiful sunny spring day here with no wind for a change. After a cold night with a low of 7* it took awhile for the sap to run and it cooled off fast enough so that it didn't run long. I di manage to get about 75 gallons on the vacuum and have about 20 gallons in the gravity tanks. It's not supposed to be as cold tonight and warmer tomorrow with no freeze. Hopefully it's the start of a sap tsunami!

[red maples]

yeah didn't do much here either. 50 gallons on vacuum and not much at all for buckets. too cold for too long!!! but only 21* here last night so not quite as bad hoping the sun stays out long enough to get things going before the clouds roll in.

[PerryW]

Had just a few gallons of sap out of 700 taps yesterday. I'm preparing for some sap today and tomorrow but I'm guessing everything is so frozen that I am preparing myself for disappointment. On the plus side, it looks like the weathermen have bumped up the predicted temperatures for next week! Either was I'm ready to sweeten the pans if I get a feww hundred gallons of sap.

[Russell Lampron]

Brought 325 gallons up to the sugar house tonight and left 75 gallons in the woods tank. We didn't bother with the buckets and gravity tanks. They still have plenty of room even if the sap runs all night like it should. Went out chasing vacuum leaks and fixed a few which were mostly micro leaks at fittings and some squirrel chews. Got the vacuum to 25" now up from 24.5". Every little bit counts on a year like this.

[red maples]

yeah gotta get out but not until monday!!! lost an inch was at 26.5 and now I am at 25.5 squirrels are very busy hopefully this melting will give them some access to acorns and hickory nuts again!!!

[GeneralStark]

The squirrels have been very busy here this season as well. I have been constantly repairing leaks whereas last spring I only had two leaks during the season. Also, because it has been so cold, finding leaks is tough because they freeze up the lateral and don't hiss.

[Russell Lampron]

I was in the woods again today tightening mainlines and looking for leaks. The big trees were running while the small ones weren't. I didn't get much sap overnight and it wasn't running very hard today. I only got 200 gallons in 14 hours.

I have managed to fill my 600 gallon bulk tank to boil on Saturday. I am keeping what runs tonight, tomorrow and Saturday to boil again Sunday. When I boil Sunday it will only be the 4th time this season. If I don't boil again in March it will be the worst March ever. Last season I only boiled 5 times in March but also boiled twice in February.

I still have 2 lateral mains to walk again but with a needle width over 25" on the vacuum gauges it should be quick. One of the lateral mains that I walked today only had 2 leaks. I had to replace a manifold and a hooked straight connector. Not bad for a main that has 90+ taps on it. I'm not finding as many micro leaks as I have in the past because of the cv2's.

I am also finding that I won't be buying Lapierre tees anymore. The seam where the halves of the tee are molded together don't line up and you get a micro leak at that seam. I am using Leader tees now and the build quality is much better.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I am also finding that I won't be buying Lapierre tees anymore. The seam where the halves of the tee are molded together don't line up and you get a micro leak at that seam. I am using Leader tees now and the build quality is much better.

Don't tell Mike Christian that, LOL!

[Russell Lampron]

Don't tell Mike that, LOL!

I have been chasing micro leaks for the past 2 days and the culprit most of the time is the Lapierre tee's. The CDL and Leader fittings aren't leaking.

[Russell Lampron]

Another Maple Weekend is in the books. Like others in the area we had a great weekend. Saturday was too cold and snowy for some folks but the Sunday crowd more than made up for it. We made 11 gallons on Saturday and 17 yesterday. Backyard sugarer showed up yesterday as well as some other people from the forum. I was too busy to remember their names but want to thank you all for coming. Besides the sales and great crowds the best part of the weekend was hearing the people that had been to other sugar houses say that my syrup was the best tasting! I'm sure that will bring them back for more when they run out of the syrup that they bought. All of the syrup that I have made so far has been Amber and as witnessed by my customers comments it has great taste too.

[Russell Lampron]

Some pictures from Maple Weekend. Picture #1 I finally got a picture of my completed sugar house with the sun out. Picture #2 my son in law Richard firing the evaporator. Picture #3 a visitor smelling the steam from the boiling sap and picture #4 drawing off the finished product.

11481114821148311485

[red maples]

Ha I never get pictures form maple weekend I get too busy and talking and I always forget!!!

[Russell Lampron]

I only managed to get a couple of pictures. Like you I was busy talking and showing people around.

[swlyamaha]

I have one of those pipe clap on my front also.
Nice pictures.

[MapleSaint]

What is the pipe clamp for??

[swlyamaha]

My is because the front broke and I had to hold it together.:lol:

[Greyfox]

Hey Russ, I know why I haven't seen you post today... you're drowning in sap! Wow, I've pulled half as much today as I've I pulled so far is this (weird) season. NICE change! If you're place is flooded in sap and you're floating adrift let me know; I'll send a boat by to rescue you. Your friend always,

Doc.

[Russell Lampron]

The pipe clamp is to keep the crack in the arch front closed. I have had the doors and arch front glowing red too many times.

Yeah Doc I'm getting sap too. I've got about 1000 gallons tonight. The first 600 is going through the RO now.

[backyard sugaring]

Russ, It was nice talking to you Sunday. My family and neighbor fellow Sugar Maker Barry really enjoyed your sugar house and your syrup. It is nice to meet people on this forum who helped when I started in this insane hobby. I will always be grateful for people like you and others on this forum who helped in the beginning.
The sap is flowing like crazy in Hudson. Happy sugaring and again thanks Lee

[Russell Lampron]

Russ, It was nice talking to you Sunday. My family and neighbor fellow Sugar Maker Barry really enjoyed your sugar house and your syrup. It is nice to meet people on this forum who helped when I started in this insane hobby. I will always be grateful for people like you and others on this forum who helped in the beginning.
The sap is flowing like crazy in Hudson. Happy sugaring and again thanks Lee

It was nice to meet you too. I like to meet people from this forum too and I wish that I had more time to visit others. Unlike other forums that I have belonged to people from here want to meet and check out other guys set ups. Sugar makers are a rare breed. We are always willing to share what we know and help others when needed.

The sap is flowing here too. I made 21 gallons last night to bring the season total to 69 gallons. It has all been amber so far and the taste is fantastic.

[Amber Gold]

We've been just over the line from an Amber into a Dark all season. Aside from maple weekend when we made Very Dark from idling all day, the grade has been very consistent. I agree, for some reason, the flavor this year is excellent...not sure why I think this year is better than last.

[red maples]

Yes the flavor has been incredible. Some of the best tasting syrup I have made.

[Amber Gold]

I've got a recircing question for you. I generally set the RO 50/50 on the perm/conc. gauges and the pressure to 250-300 psi and just let it go until I'm ready to start boiling and then I'll set it to 2gpm output so it keeps up with the evap. That'll keep up with the evap. much not much more. Is there a reason not to recirc. at a 75/25 split, or maybe even keep it at 50/50 but boost the pressure up to say 350psi? Permeate flow will go up, so the water will come out faster. I'm trying to find a way to reduce my recirc'ing times to get to the mid-upper teens.

[Russell Lampron]

On your 2nd pass the concentrate will be sweeter at the flow rate that you are using. On the 1st pass keeping the flow at 50/50 removes the most water the fastest. Higher pressure will make your concentrate sweeter and take out more water but also drive the minerals deeper into the membrane making it harder to clean.

[Russell Lampron]

I haven't been posting much lately because of the late nights in the sugar house. The sap has been running good and it has been sweet. I made 21 gallons Wednesday night, 10 gallons Thursday night and 22 gallons last night bringing the season total to 101 gallons. It has been all Amber so far too. A rare thing for Red Roof Maples before the Bubblemaster but a common occurrence now. If the grade doesn't improve soon I may have to trade some Amber for some Dark with Dark flavor.

The sap has been flowing good here with my best run in a few seasons at 1.4 gpt in 24 hours yesterday. The buckets and gravity tubing slowed way down and some came to a complete stop yesterday but I have been getting sap consistently from them which is good for a change. The sap has been coming in at 2% or higher all season so far and I have made 5 gallons more syrup so far in April than I did for the whole month of March. I'm not seeing too many bugs and no moths yet in the buckets so it's not over yet. I need to make 64 gallons to match last season's total and 99 gallons to make .25 gals per tap.

[red maples]

Maybe just turn off the bubble master for a boil or 2???!!!....

[Russell Lampron]

Maybe just turn off the bubble master for a boil or 2???!!!....

As cloudy as the sap that is coming in today is I may not need to but that is the plan. I have 500+ gallons to boil tomorrow so I will see what I get out of that. When it is late enough in the season to go ahead and get the flue pan dirty I will turn off the Bubblemaster and make the good stuff. Once the flue pan sap is discolored it takes a lot of boiling with the Bubblemaster to clean it out and make lighter syrup again so it's best to wait until the end.

[red maples]

Ah... yeah that sense.

[Russell Lampron]

I got 575 gallons of sap since yesterday afternoon. I plan to run it through the RO in the morning and light the evaporator around 2pm. It should make for a good Easter Sunday boil and make another 10 or 12 gallons of syrup too.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Glad it is kicking in for you. I miss making syrup already and it has only been 3 days. My season lasted 57 days, but not long enough. I would have liked to have went another month.

[Russell Lampron]

How close did you come to a full crop Brandon? I was surprised to see that you went as long as you did. My season will be shorter than usual because I started tapping about 3 weeks later than normal. I'm thinking one more good week here if the forecast holds and that will be about 5 weeks for me. I don't see it lasting 8 weeks though.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Russ I finished at 70% of full crop. Really struggled to get that as we really only had 3 real runs and a couple of small minor freeze runs. Got over 20 gpt on 3/16" natural vac and about 4 gpt on 570 on gravity. I usually come close to 10 gpt on gravity for many years, so that gives you an idea how tough it was here. Guys close to me averaged almost .27 gpt on 460 gravity over last 10 years and they made less than .11 gpt.

[maple maniac65]

Brandon, It is time to pack the bags and come up North and make some syrup. I have to go back to work next week after three weeks off to sugar and the season hardly has started in my neck of NH. Plenty of spare bedrooms here if you do not mind the chicks and ducklings in the dining room.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Wish I could come up and help you guys. If I was retired I would in a heartbeat. I am coming up for CDL dealer meeting on 23rd and be at open house on Friday and Saturday 24th and 25th so I really look forward to meeting bunch of you guys there at CDL.

[Russell Lampron]

Happy Easter everyone. It was a good day here until I pumped the concentrate from 600 gallons of sap down the drain. That sucked but the sap ran good today and I have 575 gallons to process and boil tomorrow night. The trees are finally running good even the buckets and gravity tubing.

[blac]

Ouch was that by mistake?

[Russell Lampron]

Yes it was a mistake. I forgot to switch the valve for the concentrate back to the tank when I started concentrating again after doing a rinse. Then I also forgot to do a walk around and make sure that the concentrate and permeate tanks were both getting filled.

[red maples]

sorry man... I have a 150 gallon poly tank over my sap tank that I use for permeate when my permeate tank is full but on maple weekend I used it for semi concentrated sap to boil for the weekend, took it recirced a little then moved it up there to hold and boil while new sap was coming well got running around and heard sap runing somewhere went to the sap / ro shed sure enough Oh crap over flowed lit luckily it was only a little and most ran back into the sap tank... but "S" happen brother. and looking at the bright side you get to sit and watch TV tonight!!!

[Amber Gold]

That's what I did Sat. night. Held Sat.'s sap over till Sunday and enjoyed the night off. First good night of sleep in a while. Felt good. Made up for it by boiling late last night though.

One thing I like by my setup, is I get the RO going, I step outside and I can see concentrate flowing back into the sap tank, and I can hear the permeate pinging off the bottom of the top tank. So long as I keep an eye on the when the top tank starts to overflow, all's good.

[Russell Lampron]

My sweet tank and permeate tanks are in the woodshed. I need to walk out through the woodshed to check them. That is something that I normally do but Sunday I was in a hurry to get down to the woods and see how the sap was running and check for leaks.

We made another 8 gallons of amber last night and have the 600 gallon bulk tank nutted for tonight's boil. We didn't collect the buckets and gravity tanks last evening because there wasn't enough room in the bulk tank for it. It wasn't supposed to freeze last night so I left the vacuum on. This morning the sap in my sap ladder by the house is all liquid but the wet and dry lines are both frozen and there's no vacuum getting to it. The thermometer say's 34* but I know that it is colder in the woods.

[red maples]

yeah I know my ladder froze last night because the Vacuum got quieter and the vac pressure spiked to 28" at the releaser but thawed back out after it clouded up even though it was 35* at the house. no freeze last night got the best night run an additional 100 gallons by this morning.

[Russell Lampron]

Made 16 gallons last night but the color went the wrong way. I made the lightest syrup that I have made since the Bubblemaster and I can't remember how long it has been before that. It looks like we got a good freeze last night even though it wasn't frozen at 10pm when I got done in the sugar house. It looks like we should get a good run again today. The sugar content is down which is to be expected this late in the season. I only made 24 gallons in the last 2 days with 1500 gallons of sap and I made 28 on Maple Weekend with 1200 gallons of sap. The weather has been wrong in our favor so far this week. I'm hoping that that continues to be the case.

[red maples]

mine was going darker as well and I though I was gonna go into the very dark yesterday but somehow its lighter than the stuff I made the day before. Go figure. but yes sugar has dropped off. just a little more time through the RO is all.

[Russell Lampron]

I got almost 1 gpt from the vacuum today and about .5 gpt from the gravity and buckets. It's snowing now and the sap is still running. It's been a strange season making 109 gallons of amber and then 16 gallons of light. It is also looking like I may not make any dark syrup this year. That will be a first for me in the 14 years that I have been doing this.

[Dill]

You did a lot better than those of us south of you. 1/2 gpt on vac and nothing on gravity. We had another east breeze most of the day so I'm guessing that was it.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

A lot of it depends on your weather Russ. Last couple years only made 10% dark and this year about 40%. Went from cold to warm most of season too warm with lots of days in 50s and 60s. That is advantage of colder weather lot more lighter syrup. I usually can't make enough dark so this year was fine with lot of dark.

[Russell Lampron]

Most of my customers like the dark syrup and I do too. If I don't make any I've got some great tasting amber to trade for some dark.

[red maples]

Yeah dill same here buckets did VERY well considering the wind. and Gravity did nothing...again. and vac only 1/2 gpt. With everything wrong with the weather down here this year. I almost think the wind effected runs more than it ever has here. on days where I should have been at 3/4 gpt or better it came in at 2/3 or 1/2 gpt when the east wind picked up considerably. I always check the wind forecast as well and I think there has been only once that I emptied the sap sacks completely because I always leave 2-3 inches in them because the wind just blows them around pretty bad.

[Russell Lampron]

I made another 10 gallons of golden last night. What a season for light syrup.

The vacuum was slow to thaw out yesterday and the sap didn't start running until about 3:30. At 6 pm there was 325 gallons in the tank and the sap was coming in good. The buckets and gravity did well too. We didn't collect them the night before and some of the buckets were 3/4's full while the gravity tanks were 2/3's full. I have a red maple down by my sugar house that hadn't more than covered the bottom of the bucket until 3 runs ago. I was talking to my son in law about cutting it down for firewood because we ran out of wood for my outdoor wood boiler. Since then there has been a 1/4 of a bucket or more every time we went to collect. I guess I should have threatened to cut it down at the beginning of the season!

[Russell Lampron]

Despite the warm temps with minimal freezes the sap is running good on vacuum here. The gravity and buckets have shut down and could be done for the season if we don't get a freeze. I have made 147.5 gallons of syrup so far and am getting close to last season's total of 165.5 gallons. I have 575 gallons of sap in my bulk tank and there was 175 gallons in the woods tank just before dark. The sap is still coming in on the vacuum so I will have another good boil tomorrow. I'm not sure what the season will bring after this weekend but am hoping to meet or beat last season's total. Even if I don't it has still turned out to be a good year.

All of the syrup that I have made this year has been amber or golden. Tonight's boil produced 12.5 gallons of the lightest syrup yet.

[Russell Lampron]

I woke up to a good frost this morning and the sun is shining with no wind. It looks like the buckets and gravity will run again today. I am boiling today or this evening and it looks like maybe the last boil Tuesday night. I've got to get outside and get going on all things maple.

[Dill]

We stopped by around 3. Lots of cars in the yard, but no one home, you must have been working in the woods. Looks like some major logging your neighbor's doing.

[Russell Lampron]

My wife said that someone had stopped by but didn't come to the door. She thought I was in the sugar house when I had just taken a ride down to the releaser to see how much sap had come in. You should have hung around for a few more minutes.

I made another 14 gallons last night to put the season total at 161.5 gallons. That's just 4 gallons less than last season. I'll get more than that when I finish the evaporator. That's not going to happen until the sap stops flowing and we got another frost last night. All of my syrup has been golden and amber so far and it doesn't look like it is going to improve to dark or very dark.

[red maples]

I can't believe there is still sap coming in at OK pace as well. red maple buds are swelling pretty quickly now though. only got to 33* here last night. just missed it. It might have been cooler in the woods though.

[Russell Lampron]

We are gearing up for our last boil of the season tonight. It looks like we could still get more sap but it has been a good season and I have to move on to other things. We will have over 1000 gallons for tonight's boil and anyone that wants to come visit should.

I ran out of wood for my outdoor wood boiler in early March and between sugaring and scrounging for wood it has been busy here. I need to now concentrate on getting the taps pulled and some trees cut. The worst part of sugaring season is now upon us, the clean up and washing of all of the tanks and equipment.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Worst part of sugaring season is when I can't boil anymore. I started tapping on Feb 2nd and boiled last time on April 1st. Sap started running right after I tapped so season basically lasted 2 months except for a 3 week freezeup that killed everything in the middle. I would like to keep going until May and have enough wood to boil until next February as I only used about 20% of my wood :<(

[Amber Gold]

I hear you with moving on to other things. Spent Sunday afternoon getting onions planted.

Still processed about 800 gal of sap yesterday. Pretty cloudy and has a bit of a smell to it, but still making a good flavored syrup. Sap flow was down to a trickle this morning, but hoping to get enough to get one last boil in tonight.

[red maples]

Yep I am going fishing this afternoon.... :) but need to get onions and peas in the garden!!! and start getting things cleaned up and starting on wood and bees ... and .... and ... wow the list is long!!!!

[Russell Lampron]

It looks like I made the right decision. The sap was only coming in at a trickle yesterday morning and not much had come in overnight. We did the last boil last night and made 16 gallons of Golden mersh. The color was Golden with a strong bitter taste and the syrup was a little ropey. It went through the filter press fine and will find it's way to Bascom's. I'm not going to bother with boiling out the evaporator. Even with the 600 gallon mistake on Easter Sunday I still made 178 gallons for the season which was the third best since I have been making syrup. It was also the first season that I didn't make any dark syrup. It was a strange season, but aren't they all.

[PerryW]

yup, another season with only 3 weeks of boiling for me, just like last year. first syrup on march 27 and last syrup will probably be on April 17. It's 26 deg here in Lyman and tomorrow's low is low 20's but after that, I think it's time to pull taps and get cleaned up. SHould get to around 120 gal for the season.

[Russell Lampron]

Good luck Perry and to anyone else that is still going. You guys up north are getting some good sap weather for next 2 days.

[red maples]

yep I was worried about making mersh yesterday. was getting a little stink when boiling. not ropey by any means but once I filtered out the niter it was OK. tasted good. I even went back a few hrs later and then again this morning just to double check. sometimes when you taste it too much you can't taste it good anymore, so I always wait a little then taste again. not sure if what was in the evap will be OK but I ran everything through the filter press hopefully it will be OK. If not it will get blended into BBQ sauce. or maybe some sugar.

[Russell Lampron]

The season is over and it's time to start thinking about next year. The most urgent thing that I need to do is upgrade or replace my RO. I'm thinking about removing my 4" membrane tower and adding an 8" tower. That should make it a 400gph machine which will be alot faster than the 125 that it is now. I want to talk to the people at Lapierre to find out how expensive the conversion will be.

I'm thinking of going to the open house's in VT next Saturday. Is anyone from this part of the state thinking of going up too?

[red maples]

I might be going to bascom's open house. not sure I need some things figured I get some while I still have money :) Going to PA next weekend for bees and visit with family.

Want a nice shiny new 100 gallon stainless feed tank and a shiny new stainless draw off tank I will see what the have up there!!! Need a chicken plucker too anyone got one they wanna sell? Drum style only please.

[Russell Lampron]

The clean up is under way here at Red Roof Maples. I only have about 200 more taps to pull and will get that done this morning. The RO is rinsed and ready for the off season. I didn't bother to wash the membrane because I will be replacing it before next season. I am hoping that I can buy an 8" tower and convert it to 400gph but will buy another 4" membrane if I can't. I still need to drain and clean the evaporator as well as bring in the releaser and woods tank. That and all of the other tanks need to be cleaned, a task that I always hate doing. Oh and lets not forget that I need to wash the sap buckets too and I am glad that there are only 17 of them this year. I've got another half dozen trees that will be on tubing next year which will help if I tap the trees in the back field that didn't get tapped this year.

[Russell Lampron]

I finished pulling taps yesterday morning and brought the releaser back up the hill. With the amount of snow that I still have on the shaded part of my lawn I was surprised to not see any in the woods when I was pulling taps.

I took a little time to scout out an area where I want to run a new lateral main and of course counted taps as I went. It looks like it will work well and it will pick up some taps that used to get buckets.

The going away party for my daughter that is moving to Colorado went well. One of the party guest wanted to see my doodlebug tractor and a crowd gathered around to see it too. That led to a sugar house tour and the guest were pretty impressed. I like it when they comment on how neat and clean it is.