Vernon County

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi All Well it looks like its time to tap our trees. Our plan is this Saturday March 7th, the three of us will work up top, they will tap and I will bring two 100 gallon bulk tanks up, cover them with snow then white tarps to insulate Then run the 800 foot main line down to the 325 gallon tank by the sugar house. Clean up the sugar house, clean the soot from under the flu pan and patch the gaps in the fire brick. We have between 4 and 7 inches of snow in the woods. the weather forecast for next Wednesday is 56 degrees. too warm but we get what God gives us. Good luck to all and stay safe out there.

[lulugrein]

We're in southern Vernon county, north facing slope so may be behind a few days. Planning to tap on the 10th. Good luck and keep posting!

[Tommoore30]

Tapped 23 in eastern Vernon County yesterday - 15 within an easy walk, 8 way up on ridge. Get to those on foot (!). Made a yoke for carrying two 5 gallon buckets. Looked them up on google and decided $200-300 is too much. Made mine from Ace Hardware for $19. Will let you know how that works.
Building rocket stove with insulating firebrick this year - like to experiment. Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyTWOBAUYs8

Hoping to have full buckets by week's end. Good luck!

2012 - 1 gallon over propane burner
2013 - 2.5 gallons over wood fire
2014 - 3 gallons in 4 x 8 ss pan with cinder block rocket stove
2015 - 4 x 8 ss pan with insulating firebrick rocket stove - ? gallons

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Sunday eve March 9th Well it feels good to get back home, on Saturday March 7th the three of us and Sadie our trusty yellow lab got our 200 trees tapped. All the trees are up top on the ridge, last year 50 were on the north facing hillside way too hard to gather,spilled sap and wet pants. We used my old snowmobile with a large otter sled to move pails and stuff around. It was quite windy about 10%were dripping.the snow was melting fast. the guys saw 10 deer move thru the woods guess they ran down by me, of course I did not see a one. Got the main line down to the bulk tank, and called it a day. Today Sunday my son and I cleaned up the sugar house,and wow was the snow melting,went up top about three pm to check the pails,some had two inches of sap in the bottom others were dry. My plan is to empty pails on Wednesday, will store the sap in our bulk tanks on the ridge top, we covered them with snow and then a white tarp,this works great to keep 200 gallons cold. With the big snow melt guess its time to switch to the four wheeler.Hope I can make it up the ridge road,even with chains on all four tires it can be a challenge. Remember the whiter the bread the quicker your dead.

[Irish Ridge]

Greetings to my Vernon County friends. Your experiences seem to mirror mine over here in Crawford. Plenty of deer running around, melting snow obeying the law of gravity, and forecasts that don't change fore the next week or so. We'll have to see what we can make of this season. Meanwhile I am going to work on my own yoke this morning after being reminded of that a post or two up. Time for some wholewheat toast.

[lulugrein]

Irish Ridge.... would you be willing to post a pic or description of the yoke you come up with? Tapped 15 trees yesterday and nearly all were running. Set them all up on 5 gallon buckets with the plan to boil on the weekends (yes, packed snow around them and keeping my fingers crossed!). 2014 was my first year. Was so excited about the whole endeavor that it didnt matter how heavy those buckets were. Year 2 and I'm as obsessed as ever but trying to work smarter. I'm just north of you in southern Vernon county. Good luck!


Greetings to my Vernon County friends. Your experiences seem to mirror mine over here in Crawford. Plenty of deer running around, melting snow obeying the law of gravity, and forecasts that don't change fore the next week or so. We'll have to see what we can make of this season. Meanwhile I am going to work on my own yoke this morning after being reminded of that a post or two up. Time for some wholewheat toast.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Today March 11th I went to our sugar bush to dump pails, weather very warm, our snow is all gone up top still about 4 inches on the north hill side. Used the 4 wheeler made it up the ridge road first try, only about 40% had any sap in the pails the most about 1 gallon average 1 pint, I think the tree roots are still too frozen. only gathered 20 gallons,so with the extra time today I did get a chance to clean out the bluebird houses Guess we all hope for the weather to improve for us crazy tree loving sap gathering syrup making folks,

[Tommoore30]

Mr Sugar Maple,
Thanks for the update - how many of your trees are north side vs. south? The reason I ask is I'm going up Saturday and have no idea what to expect. 15 of my 25 taps are south facing and next to a fence line that provides sun half the day.
Tom

[Irish Ridge]

Nothing to do with sap that isn't running but my yoke is built. Took an old hardwood shovel handle and tied lengths of rope 17 inches on each end. Then put an S hook on the end of each rope. Filled my buckets with water and tried walking. Sure seems lighter, very stable. I might just add a bit of padding around the neck contact point. Didn't cost a cent, just odds and ends in the wood shop.
11050 Tried to add a picture here but thinking it might not work. If it doesn't I will research how to get it in a post. All for tonight.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi tommoore 30 you asked how our trees face, our sugar bush is on top of our hill,with a slight pitch to the north west. the trees that were running the most, were at the minimum ten inch for tapping. Even a line of twenty five trees along our top field but inside the woods about twenty five yards did not have any sap in the pails.I did notice the trees with the most sap had soft muddy ground around the trunk your south facing trees should be ahead of mine. So have a great day Saturday, I plan to head for our land tomorrow spend the week end there.

[lulugrein]

Hi Irish Ridge... That'll work just fine. Thanks!

[Tommoore30]

Thanks Mr. Sugar Maple - I'll post once I get home - no internet access at the "farm" - which is not a bad thing :) - Good Luck Everyone.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Saturday March 13th Well I am back from the sugar bush, Saturday morning I went up top to wash out our two 100 gallon tanks. Found the snow fleas found there way in thru the vented lids.that was fun to do Ha Ha. Then went to gather sap what a bust, only 15 gallons from 200 trees.This extended warm weather does not produce sap from maples, but sure does produce MUD MUD and more Mud. The ridge road was all MUD my 4 wheeler and trailer created multiple ruts.Worried about erosion now, Sunday March 14th I tried to haul snow up top to replenish snow by the tanks, could not make the hill too much MUD. Then cleaned our dry wash valley ditch from downed tree limbs, I like keep it open for floods do not want log jams re routing the water. A syrup maker on highway 56 between Viola and Richland Center was not cooking syrup, guess I am not the only one. Tommore 30 how did your weekend go?

[Tommoore30]

Mr. Sugar Maple,
Don't know what just happened to my reply. Anyway, mud here too -took more than one good slip & fall on the slopes. Tapped 4 big old maples on south ravine Saturday and they were flowing! my other 20 taps from last week had about a pint or so of sap in some, nothing in others. I think the roots are just waking up now. Spent the weekend making firewood, setting the blocks and iron stand for pan. Made a yoke - forgot to take picture -will do so next weekend. Watched a herd of 35,...yes 35, deer walk, not run, from me over to the neighbors. No wonder every tree I plant gets devoured - even with cages around them. Next weekend (I only have weekends) 2 daughters coming to boil with me. Good Luck!
Tom

[lulugrein]

I collected 9 gallons from 15 taps between 3/10 and 3/14, then another 6 gallons on 3/15 which seemed to be the fastest running day. Slowed down again on 3/16. I and friends did a small batch on 3/15, not enough sap to justify using my new 24" x 33" pan so used the small roaster pan again this year. It works quite well and with a cinderblock fire box its pretty easy to move a few blocks around to accommodate the smaller pan. I ended up with about 5 cups of really nice syrup. At that, it was about a 50:1 ratio. A LOT of work in the woods this year trying to get around in all that mud. Talked to a few others in southern Vernon county who have more experience than I who also aren't getting much sap and unsure of what this week will bring. Temps were in the high 60s on 3/16 which made for a very pleasant day of fishing on Tainter Creek:-). Back to work today. Praying that the trees will run fast this week and have enough to do a boil on Saturday when more friends are coming out. -LuAnn

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Wednesday March 18th I went over to our sugar bush to empty the old sap before today's warm up, at 8:00 am temp was 22 degrees by the sugar house. I went up top and the tap's started to run about 10:00 am and ran fast. So I am hopeful the pails will be full when we return.I could hear red winged black birds in the marsh,another sign the season is moving along. Last year my records show the birds returned on March 22nd. also the MUD wasn't as bad.keep the faith!

[Tommoore30]

Collected 20 gallons Saturday 3/21 from 24 taps. Some trees had several gallons, some had none, most had a pint, from a week in the woods. One tree at home produced almost 15 gallons. Still optimistic.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Well my son and I went over on Saturday morning to our sugar bush to gather sap, The weather was sunny calm and warm. We gathered 145 gallons from 200 trees, all but a few had some sap, half pints to 2 gallons. with the stored sap our total was 180 gallons.We started the evaporator at 1:00 it took 100 gallons to make sweet water, then made 2 gallons of medium to dark amber syrup. The taste was great. Sunday morning we took a long hike checking out future maples yo tap, 11:30 started for home.

[Irish Ridge]

Tuesday, March 24th, Vernon County friends I am wishing you the success I enjoyed as I gathered sap today. 49 out of 50 trees now playing ball. 46 gallons collected and who knows how much ice I tossed out of each bucket. My guess is at least 2 or 3 gallons total from the buckets. Snow was 14 inches deep and a pain. I need to cut the width of my yoke. It worked great today except for catching on a few small trees. I realized that the cross piece only has to be a bit wider than than my shoulders. May you find abundant sap on your next walk in the woods. And that is the story from Irish Ridge, Crawford County.

[lulugrein]

Thanks for the updates! I cannot wait to get over there to check on my trees Friday night. Hope all 5 gallon buckets are overflowing!

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hey guy's, yesterday March 24th I went over to our sugar bush to gather sap, the sun was out but quite cold the snow was about six inches deep. Had to use the snowmobile to gather, collected about 100 gallons, lost a lot to ice in the pails.Late evening I took my four wheeler up top to check the pails and they were running fast, so worried they might run all night, I went and got our gathering tank to start regathering. The snow started, sleet, freezing rain, I collected until nine pm when the trees quit. I got about 100 gallons more, then a 10:30 supper, boy my bunk sure felt good after that long wet day. Today March 25th morning low temp 31 degrees two inches of new snow the wind was gusty from the west. Went to gather again was able to use the four wheeler so I started where I left off last night.10:30 am trees were running gathering as I drove out there were fresh Deer tracks in my four wheeler tracks as always did not see them. Gathered 160 gallons more so my total saved sap 360 gallons, will go back Friday to gather more for weekend evaporating. On my way home between Viola and Richland Center on hwy 56 the guy was evaporating at his sugar bush, he cooks outside on a block arch with big flat pan.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi guy's, I went over to our sugar bush on Friday March 27th, while unloading my pickup, the neighbor came by told me his daughter had a big sap run on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday . So I should have sap running down my hill, I told him no way its too cold, well when I got up top the pails were all overflowing and full of ice because the low temp was 15 degrees. But I still gathered 250 gallons. So with my saved sap from mid week and now, I have 610 gallons to evaporate. Saturday March 28th my son and I cooked from 9am until 11:00 pm, then cool down time so we hit our bunks at 1:00 am. Sunday March 29th up at 6:30 am we went back to the sugar house to finish 135 gallons of sap. Made 3.5 gallons for a weekend total 17.5 gallons of great maple syrup. Sunday afternoon we went up top to gather, Saturday must have been a good run we gathered 250 gallons of sap, some clean up in the sugar bush, then back home about 9:00 pm. This warmer weather looks like a season killer, have to wait and see. I and two of my grand kids will gather tomorrow to add to our stored sap. Didn't see much for wild life, lots of birds around, geese, sand hill cranes in the marsh. no peepers, I think it will be awhile yet. Hope you all are enjoying your time at this crazy thing we call sugaring.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

March 31st I and two of my grand kids went to our sugar bush to gather sap, what a beautiful day in the woods, most pails were half or more full. total 240 gallons. down in the valley,our road was all Mud,MUD, and more Mud. still some melting snow there. Total to evaporate now, about 490 gallons. even though we are all tired we all know the end is getting closer. How are you guy's doing?

[lulugrein]

I had a great run last weekend 3/27. Arrived Friday night with most 5 gallon buckets full and frozen, reds are the only ones running slow. On Saturday we boiled down about 40 gallons of somewhat concentrated sap with removal of ice. That was enough to start using my new 24" x 33" Smoky Lake pan. Friends were out for the weekend and it was such a beautiful day for an outdoor boil. Its always fun to have newbies join me, maybe the only time I really feel like the "expert" :-). I was surprised by how much sugar sand/nitre collected in the filters. Endless globs of it. Regardless, came out with a little over a gallon of beautiful clear syrup, much lighter than the batch from prior weekend. We are headed over 4/2 for a few days. Am hoping the buckets are full and bacteria not too high given temps today and tomorrow. We'll boil on 4/3 and then I think thats it. Two nieces and a couple friends joining us so I get to be the "expert" again. Made labels for the first time this year so am enjoying putting my signature on the bottles and sharing with friends.

[Irish Ridge]

April 1.....so busy over here outside of Prarie that I couldn't write. A great sap run a few days back. Boiled every day except Sunday. Overal I averaged three gallons per tree a day. Latest night was last night coming in at eleven. P.m. It is the sun burn on the shoulders that hurt last night. This morning got a boil going and turned it over to the wife. My trip to the woods revealed nothing. I mean nothing. Many buckets all but empty. Five gallons for twenty trees that I pulled. The rest come out tomorrow. Not quite as clear as earlier sap. My afternoon is boiling and beginning clean up. Loving the weather. Saw a bluebird checking out a house I have only had sparrows call home. I understand the mud situation. Terrible by me as well. I also had visitors this past Saturday. Shared sugar candy I had handy and syrup on clean snow for the kids. Can't ask for a better transition to spring......

[Tommoore30]

Well,...27 taps, lost count of sap gallons, finally made 2.5 gallons of syrup. Not great, but fun! Made huge gain by buying a case of insulating fire brick and placing them inside my cinder block fire box. 2 x 4 ss pan on top - wow. Boil in 5 minutes of lighting the wood. More taps next year, more adult kids coming to help. Life is good. Loved watching Spring come in. Check in with y'all next Christmas. Have a great year!
Tom

[Irish Ridge]

Tom....I also added fire brick and could not believe the difference. What a low cost - high return investment. First morning of relaxing for me. This afternoon begins a whole lot of time washing things. What a difference a day makes with the weather. Glad I am finished.

[lulugrein]

Hi guys... Best stretch of the season was March 22nd - April 2nd. I had about 80 gals off of 16 trees over that period of time (maybe more as some buckets were running over when I arrived). I was able to test out the new 24" x 33" pan on a reconfigured cinder block fire box and it worked fabulously. Syrup was beautifully clear after using more prefilters. Even doubled up cotton dishtowel worked well in a pinch. I learned a lot this year from a new sugaring buddy and from my obsessive reference to this website! More friends stopped by and learned a bit from me, the "expert". Thanks for tips that you all shared. I'm going to line the fire box with fire brick next year. Great low-cost idea. I've otherwise accumulated pretty much all that I need and am having a blast doing this small batch sugaring. Have a little more to give away this year. Friends treat it like gold (as they should!). Clean up was a beast! As seems to be the norm. On to putting in my garden and watching spring come to life. Will enjoy all the extra time on my hands!

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi all, I have been so busy guess I fell behind in my posts. Friday April3rd two of my grand kids and I went to spend the weekend at our sugar bush. We dumped out all the bad sap in the pails, for Saturdays run. Saturday April 4th my son and I cooked 275 gallons of sap and made nine gallons of syrup, then went up top to gather .Only got sixty gallons of sap. put that with some saved sap on top in tanks, we had 260 gallons for Sundays cooking. We made eight gallons of dark amber syrup. My energy level has gone by by glad the season is over. Got home Sunday eve 9:00 pm.Tuesday April 7th I went back to clean up. Took all four tanks, flushed and cleaned them. Rolled up the 800 ft main line cleaned on the evaporator some.Quit 6:30 pm hit my bunk at 7:30.We had thunder storms some hail and about one inch of rain by today Wednesday April 8th . 7:30 I went up top to pull all my taps and pails, I wash the mold out as I take them down it makes washing them at home so much faster. Did notice the maples dropping bud petals. also took my old snowmobile home with me.still have more things to bring home but that gives me an excuse to go back, My grand son and I plan to turkey hunt April 28th thru 30th. his first time, what a thrill to call old tom in.The first week in May My son and I plan to go to our gold claims in the black hills, as always we hope to bring back some gold.Take care and God bless.

[Irish Ridge]

As always, I have enjoyed reading the Vernon County posts. Yesterday and today we "finished" our boils and ended up a pint short of 12 gallons. We aren't complaining. Last year it was 17 gallons. Quite an interesting season but we'll take it. Good luck with the gold.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi all fellow sappers, today I was up at Maple Hollow in Merrill picked up 25 new spouts and supplies. They thought I should tap asap with this warming trend, but it looks like February 27th for us, hope we dont miss the first run. its always a gamble when to tap using buckets on trees. hope to hear from you all, stay safe and God bless.

[Tommoore30]

Happy 2016 and a new season. Me and dog going to "farm" this weekend to tap. Looking at 30-40 trees. Pails on taps. Will split some wood and get outdoor pan, stand, cinder block and insulating firebrick ready for the boil. Small yield, (3-4 gallons?) but enough for the Christmas baskets my wife makes every year,...telling stories of "maple syrup from our farm". Ha! She'll be in Florida with her women-friends! Me and the dog,...tapping and boiling by the fire,..oh yeah. Good Luck and have fun everyone.

[Irish Ridge]

Good evening Mr. Sugar Maple,

I don't get up to Merrill much these days. Used to live further up highway 17 near Gleason. But, a farm along the Wisconsin River by Irma is where relatives have a pretty good size syrup operation. I will never get that big and fear it would cease being fun and much more along the lines of "work." I'll be checking in to see how your season goes. Enjoyed a nice relaxing start to my season - will see what next week brings.

[Irish Ridge]

Hi Tom,

Good to see you are at the "farm" and jumping in to the season. While I had my taps in all week, it took a few days for the trees to cooperate and then it was only with low test sap. Enjoy the weekend with man's best friend. Will be checking in to see your results.

[Tommoore30]

Hello Irish Ridge Wood Loader & others,

I am with you - 30-40 taps are fun, like anything, once you get going bigger (understand greater efficiency and all that) it changes into work. I figure I work all week (in corporate America -downtown Milwaukee of all places :( ) so weekends getting 3-4 gallons for family & friends makes this more fun than anything else. Tapped 30 in Vernon County Saturday - heaven in those hills! Dog was fetching deer antler sheds out of snow here and there. Sap running out of every tap. Tapped my two big maples at home (Waukesha County) today and were dry - usually these two produce 15 gallons of sap each.
It looks colder this week - so not expecting a lot - but will be ready to boil any weekend I have enough. Keep in touch ~
Tom

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Tom and Irish Ridge I like you decided to tap on Saturday,my son,a buddy of ours and my 12 year old grandson we put in 226 taps , The time in the woods is priceless, saw bluebirds checking out our bluebird houses. also a bat was sleeping on the top edge of our shed door, a bit early for bats i think.That sure seems spring like, talked to the neighbor he had three bats on the side of his house. We did struggle with the snow on the ridge road, the snowmobile could not make it up the steepest part pulling a load of pails, would spin out down to ice. so i had to pull the sled up 100 feet by hand then turn the snowmobile around go back down the road and shoot back up to the otter sled, hook up and continue up to the top.Most of the trees were dripping some with the best ones by the field edge.Sunday my grandson and i took our two 100 gal tanks up top, the snowmobile went up easy with the air temp 30 degrees. Tom Waukesha County is quite a drive, I live in Lodi about 80 miles each way for me. But the Occoch Mountains are worth the trip. Thanks for your posts, yes keep in touch.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi guys, went to our sugar bush today to gather sap from our Saturdays tree tapping. was surprised with the amount of sap, all had some sap some three gallon pails were overflowing. had a total of 205 gallons. will evaporate on Saturday, I put the sap in two bulk tanks up top. On my ride home I checked out two other sappers, they have not started yet they missed a good run glad we tapped already. Thanks Irish Ridge for your posts. they motivated me to get started. 1-2 inches of snow in the sugar bush up top, 4-6 inches of snow on our ridge road and in the valley. millions of snow fleas that love white pail lids, a few moths, spiders

[Irish Ridge]

Wow, good results from Vernon. Glad you have those same fleas I do. They are thick by me this spring. My best trees right now are down hill of some small springs and oddly enough my best tree has a spring coming out of the ground right at its roots. Boiling again in the morning (Friday). With my 54 tap operation I am glad I also jumped in early. On a side note, put up a wood duck house by the pond yesterday; cleaning the blue birds houses is my next project.

[Ray Maack]

Hello.

I put in a couple of taps last Sunday, I missed the run on Tuesday and got 25 in on Wednesday. I'm picking up an IBC tonight and am going to try to get another 25 taps in next week.

[Tommoore30]

Hello,

Only able to do this on weekends, outside, over a cinder block/insulating firebrick wood fire. Collected 40 gallons of sap on 29 trees. Hoped to boil it all, but sometimes you take a beating. Cinder blocks on melting frost caused IFBs to collapse around 3 PM. Spent Sunday rebuilding firebox. Inventoried the bush, took 3 gallons of concentrate home to finish on kitchen stove. Have 160 gallons ready for Saturday, with reinforcements (Son-in-Law) coming. The weather is helping me out keeping the sap in the woods cold. Some guys watch basketball, shoot pool, play cards, go south,..I do this. Wouldn't change a thing. Good luck folks!
Tom

[Mr Sugar Maple]

I am with you Tom, yes its hard work but time in the woods beats a couch any time. I did not get back from the sugar bush until 5.30 this evening, put things away, supper,shower, and now Maple Trader. We cooked 370 gallons of sap , made sweet water Sat afternoon then cooked 270 gallons of sap into 7.5 gallons syrup. sap tested at 2% sugar, hope that improves. We have 350 more gallons of sap for next Saturday. Sorry you had trouble with your evaporator, keep at it, things work out for the best.

[Irish Ridge]

Evening Ray, Tom, and I know Mr. Sugar Maple is out there too. It's nice hearing your results from Vernon as they almost mirror my flow results. Spent the day over my fire. My operation is over an old converted oil tank. My 22 by 30 stainless steel pan developed a pin hole leak yesterday so I can relate real well with you Tom. As my wife and I talked about whether to purchase a new pan or have it spot welded in Prairie I asked how long do we plan on doing this. Her immediate reply was we aren't stopping, maybe less taps but not stopping so that made the decision much easier. Removing ice tomorrow morning cuts my boil time so really not minding the cooler weather. I hear you Tom. I look forward to this busy season year round. For us it really means spring is right around the corner.

[lulugrein]

Hello Tom, Ray, Mr. Sugar Maple and anyone else out there in SW WI who shares this obsession with making maple syrup. I'm very curious how the sap has been running this past week and what you all think about this impending warm up next week. Sad to say I have not been able to get away from my day job to go tap trees at my cabin in the woods in Vernon County. I have my first tap penciled in for March 6th but am lowering my expectations each day as I check the accuweather forecast. Getting a little down here in Madison as the days tick by. I'll take any tidbits of hope, wisdom or comic relief that you could toss my way :) -LuAnn

[lpakiz]

lulu,
Don't get down yet. The traditional season for me usually STARTS in mid-March. We are still a ways from the start, much less the end. While its possible that it could be a short season, no one can know til about mid-April.

[markcasper]

lulu,
Don't get down yet. The traditional season for me usually STARTS in mid-March. We are still a ways from the start, much less the end. While its possible that it could be a short season, no one can know til about mid-April.

Have you not tapped yet lpakiz? I think you better tap if you haven't. A guy I buy from got 2 gallons a tap last weekend, needless to say I wasn't the guy boiling it. Hopefully I will be done tapping tomorrow morning, with maybe some more next week pending conditions.

[lpakiz]

Yes, gonna tap Saturday. I'm aware that I may have missed some sap, and that will be sorely regretted if it is a short season. If it returns to normal weather later in March, it won't be a big deal.
Hindsight is always 20/20.

[Tommoore30]

Lulu, (and Gang),

My Son-in-Law isn't going to make it down this weekend, so unless I can do one more year of being Superman, I can always stop by and drop off 40-80 gallons of sap for you. All my 5 gal buckets are overflowing - lucky for me they're all frozen at night, waiting for me on the weekend. Taking Monday off to do 2.5 days boiling. If you need sap, I'll likely have some! ~ Tom

[lulugrein]

Thanks Ipakiz!

[lulugrein]

That's a generous offer Tom. Unfortunately, I only have a little window of time Sunday-Monday to tap trees, work on fire box and other prep. First boil will be the following weekend. I have a retired neighbor up the road with a much bigger set up than mine and more time on his hands than I (he will admit that:) who might be interested in your sap. Let me know if I should pass your offer on to him. No worries if not or if I don't hear from you in next 48 hours. Superman calls!

[lulugrein]

Sap ran fast when I put the rest of my taps in here in Southern Vernon county yesterday. March Madness has begun!

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi fellow sappers.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

I am overdue to check in, Saturday March 5th my son and I cooked 300 gallons of sap, and Sunday 125 gallons of sap. then Sunday afternoon went up top to gather more, trees not doing much, got 140 gallons from 225 trees. thought Monday would be good, we piled up snow for future needs. no snow up top but two to four inches in the valley. Tuesday march 8th I went back to gather, heard a gobbler gobbling also the red winged black birds are here.started gathering at 9 am most pails half to overflowing, gathered 340 gallons of sap. Worked in the sugar house, back to the cabin at 8:00 Wednesday March 9th a friend of ours came to help me in the sugar house, cooked from 7:30 to 4;00 250 gal of sap made 7 gallons syrup. sap tested at 2% we went up top to gather, many taps dry only got 40 gallons sap. still have 280 gallons of sap in cold storage to cook Saturday. had spiders ants moths snow fleas some pinkish mold starting to grow on the bottom of some pails. no peepers in the marsh as of yet, Good thing we tapped early, forecast is way to warm, looks like a season killer. God bless.

[AKsyrup]

First year tapping in northern Iowa county. Had 20 taps in for 12 days and ended up with just shy of 4.5 gallons of syrup. Pretty pleased with that. Now I just need to come up with a better evaporator set up for next year and can hopefully double my taps.

[Irish Ridge]

I was getting concerned Mr. Sugar Maple. Was waiting patiently for an update. Sounds like all is good for you. It seems you had a slow down prior to pretty much of a stop. Mine was like an overnight stop. No peepers here yet either but I do have pretty active water bugs moving around. Waiting for wood ducks to find their new nest. Today we are doing "finish work" in the kitchen. We did our last boil first and we have a nice dark color to it. Working through the last four batches over the next day and a half. One disappointment is that our sap never got past three per cent sugar. Last year they were a solid 4 for a time.

I am thinking my trees are producing real close to AK's over in Iowa County. 54 taps and we are predicting about 11 to 12 gallons syrup. Spending the day washing buckets in between getting called into the house to fill bottles. Glad it is the wife watching the pot boil. But I do love this early season. A final note - We are retiring a few trees next year. It seems they have either moved further down the hill or I simply don't choose to go that far down for the sap. Most likely the latter.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Irish Ridge thanks for the up date, sorry i am so slow at posting a reply. Well Saturday March 12th my grandson my son and myself cooked up the 280 gallons of sap we had stored, a beautiful day cooked until 4:00 pm then went up top to gather sap, we got 185 gallons more to cook on Sunday.Some sap was quite cloudy so we kept it in a tank of its own, did not want to ruin our sweet water if it was bad. went back to the cabin at 8;00 pm. peepers were peeping in the marsh now. Sunday up at 6:00 am cloudy sprinkles but we had sap to cook, started with pure sap,with no sweet water in the evaporator. Cooked about 40 gallons the steam smelled good and tasted good so we started to add sweet water and cooked it all. Was very dark but tasted great. I plan to move 60 taps down on the north west hill side to see if we can extend the season with the colder forecast . Glad your wife likes to help, mine has no interest in working in the woods making maple syrup. Your trees sure put out some sweet water, ours tested only 2 percent. God bless.

[Tommoore30]

Well,...I learned a lot this year. The sap didn't run like I thought (some pails overflowing, others half-full). Will re-engineer the outside pan with some framing for our insulating firebrick (so it doesn't collapse again). Used big half-gallon jars to settle syrup, then drew-off into pints, re-heated to 180 and sealed. 24 pints of the clearest syrup yet. No sugar sand! Not bad for 2 weekends having fun, finding antler sheds, watching wildlife and listening to quiet. (read that again,..) Found another couple dozen big maples in a far corner of the property. Maybe for next year. We have syrup to give to the kids and friends. Life is good, this was fun. Take care.
Tom

[lulugrein]

No buds yet and getting a slow run on some of my 20 taps on this north facing slope. Maybe enough for one more boil this week. Holding out in Vernon county.

[Ray Maack]

Hello everyone. Well, I made 13 quarts from the 150 gallons of sap I collected from my south side silver maple. I pulled those taps on the 10th, the trees decided they were ready for spring. Tapped sugar maples on the north side that weekend, first collection of sap I was able to keep was 45 gallons from 36 taps. I'll go down and check them out tomorrow and maybe have enough to boil once more yet.

[lulugrein]

Hi Ray. I hope you kept your taps in for a few days. I finally pulled all of mine on 3/26 but not without some remorse. About 12 of them had dried up, other 8 were running quite fast and sap was clear after the snowstorm and nighttime low temps. It was a good season for me with 3.75 G of really nice syrup from about 160 G of sap out of 20 taps on sugar maples. Had 3.7% sap early in the season, down to 1.8% last week. Ran out of wood with final boil on 3/26. All signs that it was time to stop checking weather forecast, maple trader, etc and get back to my real job:)... until next year.

[Tommoore30]

Will tap a few in Vernon County this weekend (2/11) and let you know what happens. Sophie the dog will like the walks in the hills and listen to me haul the gear uphill in a sled.
Tom

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Tommore 30 For me its still early,we get about six weeks on buckets. so tapping now only takes us to March 25th. I plan to do things like haul my bulk tanks up top,cover them with snow run the main line down to the sugar house, and clean the sugar house up some. Great to be in the woods again. Have fun with sophie

[Irish Ridge]

OK, you guys have gotten me to rethink my tapping. Will only tap my top of the ridge trees tomorrow. My trees located lower in the valley start about a week later anyway. I checked my notes and last year I started collecting sap on Feb. 20th. My trees were done on March 8th. Can the season actually begin earlier than last year??? Decisions, Decisions.

Spent 2 enjoyable hours this afternoon in a skid steer getting my trails cleared. Buckets have been set by the trees and other supplies are ready to go.

Will see what tomorrow brings....

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Irish Ridge, well it sure looks like the season is on,I have everything ready to tap, looks like Friday the 17th for me. Even if I had my taps in cant get any sugar house help yet.Have a spout in a backyard tree when I got home and checked it, found one and a quarter gallons. this next week looks like a good week. Good luck to everyone.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Going to the sugar bush tomorrow, will not tap as planned forecast too warm.looks warm thru next Friday, will wait and see. clean up branches in the woods better walking with buckets. clean out the bluebird houses stay safe everyone.

[Tommoore30]

Tapped my usual 30 trees today - 15 on the ridge, 15 below. Sap flowing strong. Great day. Can't wait to boil!
Tom

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi guys Sunday February 26th was a great day in the woods,new snow cover after the record temps last week. Three of us put in our 225 taps, sure felt good to get the season going and looking for lots of sap. Some trees are at bud swell hope they slow up for a few weeks anyways. How are things in other sugar bushes? Sap on.

[Irish Ridge]

Was wondering when we would hear from you Mr. Sugar Maple. Getting in at a good time. Forecast looks great. My walk in the woods today was simply getting ice and snow off the bucket tops. I also see bud development over by me. It appears another interesting season has come our way. Enjoy it.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

HI Irish Ridge, yes its good to be gathering sap now. One odd thing ,we found a dead duck up top in the sugar bush guess you never know what you will find in the woods.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Yesterday March 1st I gathered 335 gal sap, in the snow gusty north west winds had some pails overflowing and some only a quart or so. Seems odd a two trunk tree one overflowing the other only a gallon of sap. saw one moth and not too many snow fleas That had to be one of the worst days gathering I ever had, the weather seems to be a real challenge this season. Sap on

[Irish Ridge]

Can't imagine gathering 335 gallons in buckets in one day. The old back just isn't what it used to be. Oh, and I can see you out in that snow and wind. I was out in that same wind and snow boiling - no roof over my operation. Full disclosure - with snow melting around the heat and mud, wet grass, and slush as a result; don't know how I did it but somehow I took a huge header landing on my back looking up. That one got me thinking. So as you were calling this weather a challenge, I was calling it that and much more. What a hobby.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Irish Ridge sorry you took that big fall, hope everything is still in its right place. You know there are other ways to check the buds on those maples then on your back. This love of maple can be dangerous, so far this season I rolled the snowmobile. and landed on my tail a number of times getting the main line down our hillside, all ice little snow. Saturday morning will be our first boiling, so I will be off the grid until Monday eve. The warm weekend and Monday will shorten our season again. Looks like your tapping early may have been the right move. Take care.

[lulugrein]

Hi Irish Ridge.... I hope you are feeling ok after your weekend fall, and, that you didn't spill any sap in the process:).
By Sunday most of the snow on our north facing slope had melted and was nice to walk on soft leaf litter. We boiled 40 gallons down on Saturday and I turned around and gathered 25 more gallons from 20 taps on Sunday afternoon. Most trees were running CF (crazy fast = 2 drops/second) or F (fast = 1 drop/second). So... I'm back home in Madison for work and have decided to take off Thursday to do another boil. My set up is as humble as yours so I have to boil when the weather is right. Thursday looks good and I'm expecting to have a lot of sap by then. Around the cabin am enjoying the sounds of Barred owls, coyotes, turkeys, Pileated woodpeckers and all sorts of birds that come to the feeder near our sugaring setup. I have a neighbor who has come to be my sugaring mentor and who passed on his refractometer to me. Having fun with that and is a big step up in technology for me! Doing my best to keep tapping to scale with my set up though its not for lack of maples, they are everywhere that I turn on our property. Maybe when I'm retired.... Big winds coming. Stay safe in the woods.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Lulugrein and Irish Ridge, Well I am back from the sugar bush.and very tired, Saturday we cooked 335 gal sap, took 115 gal sap to make sweet water so we ended up with 6.8 gal unfinished syrup. 9.15 to 6.00 then cool down and clean up so 8.00 supper. Sunday morning we went up top to gather but decided to wait until Monday. Sunday the red wing black birds showed up My helpers went home so Monday morning I started gathering at 8.30 until 3.00 total 550 gal sap guess we will have some serious evaporating to do. all our snow and ice melted away, now plenty of mud in the valley could the hear first robins, geese, sand hill cranes,owls saw some deer also. Our trail cameras had a number of bucks on them should drop their racks soon. Also Sunday spent some time cutting more fire wood for next syrup season. Hope the high winds spares our trees and pails. keep checking in .

[Clem3]

I am in La Crosse County 17 mi. east of La Crosse. Started boiling yesterday (Monday) at 5:00. Got just about done by 3:00 but had to quit because of wind. Gust were so strong that they would actually blow the fire out in my arch. Fire and smoke in the sugar shack. Even changed the top of my stack by putting a wind directional swivel top on it. Didn't make any difference. Have lived on the ridge tops all my life and haven't seen it that windy. Went down to collect and picked up 200 more gallons. If there are 40 mph gust and sustained winds at 30mph I don't know if I will be able to boil today or tomorrow. How long will this sap keep before it spoils at these temps?

[Irish Ridge]

Hi Clem3, Wish I had an answer to your question. All I have are a few ideas. I was in the same spot yesterday. I started boiling outside yesterday at 6 a.m. in the mist (but it is a warm mist). My operation is se up just below my ridge top hidden in some pines I planted for a windbreak/privacy. I heard that wind whipping over my head all day. In fact when I set the operation up I placed it so the prevailing west and south winds work to my advantage. I try hard to keep ash out. Back to yesterday. So its warm and windy. I want all my sap boiled. Don't want warm sap. I run up to the house, wind is really whipping up there. Wife shows me color radar. Instead of the normal green rain coming I see yellow and red bearing down on me. I want to be shut down, and inside when this thing hits. Now what do I do with my last 7 gallon bucket of sap. My wife finds the last snow on the property and say put that around it. I said, no it will be gone by morning with the rain.

My idea is to run it down to our pond. There was just a small floating ice surface covering about half of it. I put on my waders and set it in the pond about 3/4 up the bucket and then weighted it down. Worked Great. The ice is all gone this morning but it is still ice cold. My other idea was to put ice in sealed plastic bags and at least get some cold in the sap. Not sure how long the ice would last but it would be a bit colder. Do you have a spring on your ridge? With this rain, there might be enough runoff. That is another idea that would work as a temporary solution. If I really get behind, my father in law down the road has a meat cooler on his farm. It is only used for hanging deer in the fall but that also works. Not sure if you have a connection to someone with a cooler (local neighborhood bar, butcher, maybe).

To answer your question though, I don't know how long you can go. I am just too new into this addiction and have always just worked through the night until I have caught back up. I am thinking it is cool enough again though that you will be alright. Good luck this spring.

[Irish Ridge]

Hi Lulugrein, I have time to type a bit as I watch my sap boil on my gas stove in the kitchen this morning. Yesterday was a real rodeo. This mornings bucket check brought a smile and a sigh. Sap still flowed well from Sunday afternoon until this a.m. So now another 100 gallons gathered today and 7 more gallons resting in my pond. Should be done "finishing" by noon and then I have to decide whether to start up again or wait until tomorrow. The wind is crazy again today.

Just a couple of thoughts. 1) I think that I am going to "borrow" the phrase "sap on" from Mr. Sugar Maple unless he claims it. I love it. 2) I now have a new scale to use in the spring when speaking sap flow with fellow members of Mapletrader. My question is what is the name of your scale and does it only have CF and F as flow rates. I plan on using the terms with others locally as well and then responding with "everyone in the business knows this language" when they question the meaning of the initials. 3) Happened to be by my pond after dark last night and the peepers were letting all their friends know a storm was approaching. Spring is here. 4) Finally, as I collected sap this morning I again noticed the sap is not nearly as clear as two weeks ago....is the end of the 2017 season near? Maybe.

Sap on!

[lulugrein]

Hi Irish Ridge. Yes to your question about other rates on the scale though I hope to not use them often. M (meandering = 1 drop every 2-3 seconds) and NWL (not worth listening). I'm running back over Wed night to boil on Thursday as I'm sure most of my taps continued to run CF and if that is the case then I need to get some of the sap boiled before Saturday. Friends coming to the cabin. I'm sure they can help me with naming the scale. Stay tuned...

[lulugrein]

I have a question about your reference to sweet water. What are you actually doing with it?


Hi Lulugrein and Irish Ridge, Well I am back from the sugar bush.and very tired, Saturday we cooked 335 gal sap, took 115 gal sap to make sweet water so we ended up with 6.8 gal unfinished syrup. 9.15 to 6.00 then cool down and clean up so 8.00 supper. Sunday morning we went up top to gather but decided to wait until Monday. Sunday the red wing black birds showed up My helpers went home so Monday morning I started gathering at 8.30 until 3.00 total 550 gal sap guess we will have some serious evaporating to do. all our snow and ice melted away, now plenty of mud in the valley could the hear first robins, geese, sand hill cranes,owls saw some deer also. Our trail cameras had a number of bucks on them should drop their racks soon. Also Sunday spent some time cutting more fire wood for next syrup season. Hope the high winds spares our trees and pails. keep checking in .

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Lulugrein, sweet water question The first time we flood our evaporator with sap it tales about 100 gallons or so to sweeten up the system before we start getting maple off the finish pan. then at the end of the day when we run out of fresh sap, we drain the pans into buckets for the next run. then pour the sweet water back into the evaporator, that way we start making syrup almost right away. at the end of the season I take the 25 gallons of sweet water home and finish it, makes about two gallons of syrup.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Well I gathered 720 gallons of sap this week, so sat morn we will start cooking. should take about 18 to 20 hours? I ran out of storage so had to leave 40 pails with sap on the trees. Funny thing, first we were trying to keep the sap cool, now trying to keep the sap from freezing. thought all that wind would blow my buckets off the trees but all had sap in them so they stayed in place. will be gone until Monday eve will let you all know how we did. Remember to change your clocks ahead, SAP ON

[lulugrein]

What a busy week! Early in the week I gathered 64 gallons from 21 trees that had collected over a 3 day period. A pretty good rate I think. Carrying full 5 gallon buckets out of the woods is a chore! Not ready to purchase an ATV just yet though. Weather was great for a cooking outside on 3/9 and 3/11. Came up with various new sugaring terms as we boiled into the wee hours of the night on Saturday. Did final processing on Sunday morning in the warmth of the cabin and in good company with friends who, as I, wanted nothing more than to lounge around. No buckets to empty as what little of frozen sap in there was best left in place to hold buckets down and prevent spoiling of sap that I hope will fill up in the buckets later in the week. I learned more this season about best way to process/filter and have produced some really nice syrup so far. I'm too embarrassed to say what lessons I've learned but suffice to say that an orlon filter and coffee urn have saved my life. Friends just couldn't get enough of the whole back story and process around sugaring. Cheers to all for keeping this tradition going!!

[lulugrein]

Got it. I didn't realize it took so much to sweeten up the pans with bigger operations like yours. In the end, its not going to waste and that is all that matters:).


Hi Lulugrein, sweet water question The first time we flood our evaporator with sap it tales about 100 gallons or so to sweeten up the system before we start getting maple off the finish pan. then at the end of the day when we run out of fresh sap, we drain the pans into buckets for the next run. then pour the sweet water back into the evaporator, that way we start making syrup almost right away. at the end of the season I take the 25 gallons of sweet water home and finish it, makes about two gallons of syrup.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Saturday march 11 arrived at our land 7.30 am 10 degrees so my son and I found the bulk tank sap at 37 degrees. started evaporating 8.30, then I went up top to hook up my full 65 gallon gathering tank and trailer,Well the load shifted tipped back and slid half way out breaking off the ball valve. lucky for me the thing was frozen up tight . took my son and I an hour to get the tank into the trailer and pull it down to pump out by sugar house, cooked until 4.00 then took the generator and a hair dryer to thaw out two ball valves on two 100 gal tanks. when we could turn the valve then had to pound a rod thru the ice to open them up to drain down to the bulk tank by the sugar house. On the second tank slush got down the line and froze up solid, no more main line until the thaw comes.so that left two 55 gallon tanks, full wonder how much ice is in them now? cooked until 9.30 then cool down, clean up which made for a late bunk time. Sunday March 12 Sunny 12 degrees still have 220 gallons sap to cook started 8.15 cooked until 3.00 pm made a total of 14 gallons syrup this weekend. got home before the snow moved in. Looks like Friday 17 Saturday 18 Sunday 19 will be great sap runs once the trees thaw out Sap On

[lulugrein]

Hi Tom.. havent heard much from Vernon county. Wondering if you still have taps in and how the sap is running. Its been a great season so far over on McGraw creek. Friends helped split more wood this past weekend and I have 55 gallons stored up and expect as much when I get back there in a few days. That equals 2 long days and late nights of boiling on my little set up. Hope to round up more friends to come over and sit in the sap sauna and bow to the cinder block fire box (every 15 minutes:). Weather is not looking ideal so we're working on an upgrade to the outdoor set up that mostly involves a lot of tarp:emb:. We do what we must to carry on the tradition!


Tapped my usual 30 trees today - 15 on the ridge, 15 below. Sap flowing strong. Great day. Can't wait to boil!
Tom

[Irish Ridge]

Hi lulugrein...I agree, haven't heard much from Vernon County. Last I heard was frozen ball valves and lots of ice. I smiled when I read about your tarp solution because I had put up 4X8 sheets of plywood to make a wind break around me for a few days with all of the wind. Yesterday I finished power washing about 60 plastic buckets. Everything is put away and my season has ended. It was a very nice one for me - no runs that overwhelmed me, just a steady flow with a few slow downs giving me time to stay caught up with "finishing" inside.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi guys am still alive, Saturday march18 my son and i arrived at the sugar bush 7.30am sunny cool we went up top to gather sap, got about 220 gallons. Started the evaporator 11:15 cooked that plus 100 gal that was frozen last weekend, finished 7:30 pm cool down clean up bunk time 9.30.Sunday morning March 19 we went up to gather but what little ran Saturday aft was frozen so he went home. I stayed to clean in the sugar house and also made two trips up top with stored snow to go around two 100 gal tanks. our valley road was a challenge with all the mud, good thing for chains on the four wheeler. at 4:00 friend John came, we went up top and gathered 200 gal sap, done by 6:30 hot dogs, chips, for supper bunk time 9:00. only one peeper in the marsh more to come soon. Monday March 20 up 6:30 clear 30 degrees, started the evaporator 8:40 am cooked till 1:40 made 4.5 gal syrup. Total for weekend about 13 gal syrup. John went home,I cleaned up the sugar house then at 4:00 went back up top to,gather got 160 gal put in my snow cooled tanks, back to my pick up at 8;00 pm more peepers to night but the day was a warm 60 degrees. got home 9:45 pm. Back to work Tuesday oh boy. Plan to go back Friday March 24th to gather for the weekend, forecast looks like this may be it for the season.

[Irish Ridge]

Great update Mr. Sugar Maple. Was wondering what was going on your way. It sure has been an interesting season for you. Perhaps I should have stretched my season a bit. Not looking back though - too many spring projects that really need to be done. I remember the days when I traveled back and forth to our land here where we eventually built. The drive was a pain but staying in our cabin (now our sugar shack) was always nice. One thing I noticed this year was that once the snow left the wet leaves and wet dirt never really went away. Slipping and sliding all season as I collected sap. Have a good Friday, hopefully not raining on you.

[lulugrein]

This is my best year so far. Many trees have been running fast and buckets are usually overflowing when I get there to check on Friday nights. Sad that a single drop would go to waste but who can ever predict how fast they are going to run (or when to pencil in vacation dates for that matter:). I'll be boiling Sun-Tues to get through all the sap thats been collecting over past 2 weeks. Tuesday looks like its going to be a nice day and that seems like a good day to call it for the season.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Back from Vernon county, I gathered about 200 gallons of sap on Friday afternoon, On Saturday morning my son came to help cook we had 360 total gal sap to cook. started at 9.15 cooked it all by 8.15 pm had 8.25 gallons of syrup, was a 10 pm bunk time that day. sap still tested at 2 percent, was that all season. yes the mud and greasy ground was fun carrying 5 gallon buckets of sap, with the mild extended forecast guess we will call it a season. total gallons of syrup about 43. not too bad for a strange weather pattern this spring.will go back this Tuesday and Wednesday to pull taps and buckets, wash all tanks, roll up the mainline and pull the 4 wheeler home. heard a gobbler sat morning up by our small apple orchard, saw deer, heard two owls calling each other, one thing our squirrel population has vanished wonder if the owls are feasting on them. The west branch of the Kickapoo river bottom marsh land by us has quite a few sand hill cranes and geese, keeps the whole experience over there interesting. may check in again otherwise have a great year and May God Bless your family. At Irish Ridge.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Back from Vernon county, I gathered about 200 gallons of sap on Friday afternoon, On Saturday morning my son came to help cook we had 360 total gal sap to cook. started at 9.15 cooked it all by 8.15 pm had 8.25 gallons of syrup, was a 10 pm bunk time that day. sap still tested at 2 percent, was that all season. yes the mud and greasy ground was fun carrying 5 gallon buckets of sap, with the mild extended forecast guess we will call it a season. total gallons of syrup about 43. not too bad for a strange weather pattern this spring.will go back this Tuesday and Wednesday to pull taps and buckets, wash all tanks, roll up the mainline and pull the 4 wheeler home. heard a gobbler sat morning up by our small apple orchard, saw deer, heard two owls calling each other, one thing our squirrel population has vanished wonder if the owls are feasting on them. The west branch of the Kickapoo river bottom marsh land by us has quite a few sand hill cranes and geese, keeps the whole experience over there interesting. may check in again otherwise have a great year and May God Bless your family.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi fellow sappers, yesterday Feb 16th I took my buckets and snowmobile over to our land for the upcoming season still had 4 to 5 inches of snow in the valley about 2 inches up top. So I hauled 225 buckets in my otter sled in 4 trips to the top and covered them up. then took both of my 100 gal tanks up. got them covered and piled what snow I could around them. saw some melted spots from deer lying down, and lots of turkey tracks. The sun was out but the temp was about 22 degrees with some wind. Looks like March 3rd and 4th to tap. that's the plan for now, will also be trying 3/16 tubing and 25 to 50 spouts. also purchased a 125 gal tank for the lines to run into. This summer had to have a big bass wood cut down that was leaning over my sugar house, should have cut it down before we built it. 500 dollars latter now I can sleep at night. Check in with your plans, and stay safe out there.
.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Feb 25th back from a work weekend at our land, Sat morning first job take the mainline up top and run down to my bulk tank. Get the tank up on the stand by sliding it up two 2x4s works great, the steep icy hillside was a challenge to say the least. Used ice fishing cleats, then hang the last 80 ft to get elevation to tank cover. Marked trees that I plan to use 3/16 tubing on, have 18 together for 1 run, cleaned the inside of the sugar house, picked up branches in the sugar bush. Weather sat cloudy heavy drizzle eve then rain to 1 inch snow to a flash freeze. First season with this much ice, our valley and ridge road was like a glacier. Lots of water running in the ditch by 11 am Sunday,three of us plan to tap on Sat March 3rd the frost is still deep because our sugar bush faces mostly west to north west, still had 1-2 inches snow up top and 2-3 inches snow in valley.Enjoy your week.

[lulugrein]

Thanks for the update. Can't say that I'm sorry to have stayed home rather than heading over to our north facing sugar bush this weekend! Sounds a bit messy. I'll be tapping on March 3rd. Here's to CF drip rates!

[Tommoore30]

Hi Folks - back for 2018. . Thanks for the updates. Tapping my usual 30 trees this weekend with my buddy Sophie the dog. Hope the weather cooperates so family & friends can help me boil the following weekend. The ice was nasty this last weekend! Thought either me or the dog would bust a ACL,...luckily no such thing. Remember that old cop show from the 80's "Hill Street Blues"? "Let's be careful out there". Good mapling to all. Tom

[Tommoore30]

Tapped 24 (I only tap 30 trees each year,..) today (3/3). Half in shady west side of property were dry, the half on south side all running nicely.
Tom

[Irish Ridge]

Good for you Tom. My north facing ridge is challenging me. I am hoping for enough sap in my buckets to keep the wind from blowing them over in the next 24 to 48 hours. This is a practice in patience for me however.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Irish Ridge , Tommoore and Lulugrein Got home about 5 this eve, son Joel friend John and I got our hill tapped Saturday225 on buckets all on top of our hill. Then Sat eve we ran 450 ft of 3/16 tubing on a steep hillside,facing north west. ice was a real danger,but all had ice cleats and we still fell some. then Sunday morning we tapped 16 there, and by noon all were running very cool to see. checked up top and some pails had one inch of sap not much going on up there. We saw large flock of turkeys in the top sugar bush Sunday morning. Also robins, red winged black birds, geese and heard sand hill cranes. oh also a rabbit What is not ice is very soft or mud. no snow left. Good luck this season and keep checking in.






bush,

[Tommoore30]

Finished tapping my 30. All of today's taps ran well. Several inches of frozen sap in every bucket. Looks to be 40-50 on Wed-Fri. The comrades are coming this weekend to boil (and other stuff :) )

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Tommore, Good to be all tapped, today they ran better. I spent the weekend working at the sugar bush, cut some brush back along our valley road,need to get more sun in there to grow better grass. We have had a couple of floods thru there and washed out the road some. also stockpiled snow for replacement around top tanks,covered it with a silver tarp.This morning gathered 55 gal sap that is all so far this season seems the taps on the sunny side did better.The new snow should help more moisture for the trees. When I got home my back yard maple was overflowing a 2 gal pail. so very soon for us in Vernon County. Also cleaned out my bluebird houses. So I see you have helpers, it sure is more fun with family and friends. SAP ON

[Irish Ridge]

Greetings to Vernon County. Appears that most of the usual suspects are all set and ready for some serious sap flow. Things are still slow to the west of you in Crawford. By the end of the day I should have a report from a neighbor who taps up highway 35 in De Soto. He brags about how steep the slopes are. I simply question his sanity. With his tubing he says its not bad. Saturday was spent making maple sugar candy for a cub scout pack coming out this next weekend. That process added a bit of humidity in the house. Sap gets collected and stored in packed snow later today. Looking forward to another boil this Thursday. Patience.

[lulugrein]

We boiled a whopping 17.5 gallons on Sunday. Couldn't pass up the opportunity to share the experience with friends who came out for the weekend. In that situation with so little to get through one doesn't mind so much when a newbie kills the boil. That occurred more than once while playing dominoes by the evaporator. All 22 taps were running when I left, nothing crazy fast though. Will be back this weekend for an extended stretch and am expecting that 5 gallon buckets will be overflowing. Bringing along a fresh crew to help out. Lots of fun so far in southern Vernon Co.

[Tommoore30]

Good to hear Lulu! My son and son-in-law came to help out. We boiled about 80 gal. Took home 4 gal to finish on stove (wife's happy about that :( ). South facing ridge 13 taps running like gangbusters. 15 west facing (in shade most of day) an inch or two of frozen sap. A buddy's coming this weekend to experience the gold rush. Weather looks ideal. Once the west trees wake up - we'll be busy. Glad the ice has disappeared. Continue to tinker with the SS pan, frame and insulating firebrick. Since my multiple concurrent system failures last year, I'm learning to perfect the low tech hobby end of this amazing natural resource.
Tom

[Tommoore30]

P.S. Three taps back home (big maples) are running like fire hydrants.

[Irish Ridge]

Hi Tom, Wish your trees were running better for you but your report makes me feel much better because my north facing ridge just isn't getting up to full speed. It seems like they are stuck in second, maybe a few going in to third but fourth gear - none of them yet. Getting used to being caught up is enjoyable as well however.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi guys Just got back from a four day stay at the sugar bush. Went over Friday 16th to gather. First worked on things in the sugar house, checked the time, ouch 1;30 better get up top to gather. buckets were full to over flowing every 3 trees had I to dump my 2 5 gal buckets so finished at 8;30 with a head lamp. 400 gal sap to cook on Sat 17th and we did, 12.5 hours 2 pallets of fire wood. 22.5 gal unfinished syrup. a new record for us. Sunday morning my son and I went back up gathered 130 gal plus 60 from the new tubing so we cooked 210 gal made 6.5 gal more and 1 pallet of fire wood. done at 5pm my son went home I stayed to do cool down and clean up worked till 8pm the 4 wheeler ride to our little cabin was all mud water and ice.our north hillside still has snow and ice but melting fast. our dry ditch was running strong.Today Monday 19th I went back up and gathered 200 more gal of sap ran it down to the sugar house tank.packed up got home 3:30. The 17 taps on 3/16th tubing already payed for itself only spent 72.bucks, for 50 taps, 50 tees, end line connectors, and 500 ft tubing.. Keep checking in. Lots of deer tracks 1 rabbit, hear crows sand hill cranes geese chickadees juncos blue jays. Sap On!

[Tommoore30]

Finished my first 1.5 gallons on the stove at home - light golden color here too, as I've seen a few other places around the site. Planning for the big boil Sat/Sun, hoping it doesn't snow on me too hard. Tom

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Tom, yes our syrup last weekend was very light in color also, sap tested at 2.5% Looks like 1 to 3 inches snow for Viroqua. with that nasty east wind. Am going over in the morning to gather, and stay thru Monday noon. Enjoy your weekend.

[lulugrein]

Hi all. I and friends processed about 85 gallons of sap 3/18-3/19 from 22 trees. Weather was ideal for boiling outside. Made good use of near syrup in various cocktails. Sugar content in sap ranged from 2.0 to 2.7. Collected about 14 more gallons on 3/21 and all taps running fast, a few crazy fast (that would be >2 drops/second) when I left. Will be back to the cabin Friday night, collect on Saturday and expect to boil on Sunday. I'm feeling fortunate for many friends that are helping out this year as I have a torn meniscus and in the opinion of unnamed MD, running around collecting sap does not fall into the category of physical therapy. I'd be bummed about this were it not for all the fun we're having regardless. Hope the same to you!

[Irish Ridge]

Friday a.m., March 23rd - A nice still morning with temp at around 29 degrees. Drinking my second coffee and watching a bluebird claim his house in the front flower garden. Had to put the house up quickly last year when the same bird, I presume, tried to find the nonexistant circular opening of the same color butterfly house that is more appropriately placed in the garden. I am now out to get the boil going before the rain, snow, or whatever comes later today. Enjoy and make the the best of the weekend everyone.

[Tommoore30]

Hi Lulu and Maple Ridge & others.. Lulu, my wife tore her meniscus a couple years back - this land is challenging for sure. Hope you recover as swiftly as that particular injury allows (which is not swift,....).
m
My buddy came up this weekend to help - colder than forecast, stubborn half of the bush still isn't giving up sap in the shady west hollow. Trees up on south ridge pulled through, we boiled 80 gallons. Early math (not my forte) suggests 4.0 gallons, a record for me. Already have several engineering re-designs ready to take to my Amish stainless smith. We pulled the taps, sadly, today as I have other commitments the next 2 weekends, and it sounds, weather-wise. like my stubborn 15 trees will finally open up. Ah well, thankful for the bounty of 2018 and of course, the family & friends around this unique hobby/living we look forward to every year, huh? I'll keep reading all the posts - so keep posting! Tom

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Sorry you pulled your taps, things are really up and running, I spent another four days at the sugar bush gathered a bunch of sap and we cooked some over 600 gallons. so far we have made more syrup in two weekends then four weekends last season. The sap is sweeter and makes more syrup. Our valley road is mostly mud, had to fix some flood damage last fall, and the seed did not germinate. So the 4 wheeler is making new ruts to fix, oh boy what fun we have. Did see some deer this trip, they were watching me gather sap very cool. This morning gathered another 300 gallons to cook so were not done yet.

[lulugrein]

Makes me think I'll be arriving to full buckets when I get back to the cabin Thursday night. I hope weather cooperates for boiling Fri-Sat. Yes, sap is sweeter this year. The batch I cooked up last weekend tested at 2.9%. Had good help again which allowed me to mostly watch the sap boil and play dominoes. Fir various reasons I plan to pull taps on 3/31. Trees aren't budding yet and sap will likely still be running...I have a hunch this is going to be a tough thing to do. May need therapy over it. Or maybe save some money and just lament to you guys:)

[Tommoore30]

I love it - I'm with y'all in spirit this week!
Tom

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi guys spent Friday March 30th gathering more sap till I ran out of storage. Had to leave 60 pails on the trees, Had 625 gal sap,in tanks. My son came Saturday 6 am it was raining hard then, made a wet ride back to the sugar house.We cooked until 9.30 pm. Clean up, cool down.At 10.30 pm we went up top to pump two 55 gal barrels into one bulk tank.Was a cold wind chill up there,back down for more sugar house work ,then into a cold cabin and bunk. Easter Sunday 13 degrees went home at 8.30 am have family time noon dinner. Looks like a very cold week ahead, some snow rain and ice? worried about valves splitting, and sap freezing in tanks.Did have a deer come very close to me while splitting fire wood, it was wondering what was going on. Also a gobbler roosting on the hillside would gobble so when I hit a ash pan he would gobble back at me that's fun..Extended forecast below normal next two weeks.Our next problem is little fire wood left.

[lulugrein]

Friday 3/30 was a great day for boiling outside. Turned over the fire tending to a trusted friend who has become my A-number 1 fire stoker these past few years. Six pieces of wood every 15 minutes on the mark for about 13 hours that day. Saved me from kneeling down on that bad knee. Little to no sap in the buckets on Saturday was all I needed to proclaim that it was time to pull the taps. It has been a great season with a few more newbies joining in on the adventure and soaking up all my story-telling about this cool hobby. Ended up with just over 5 gallons of syrup which is just right. So much time in the woods and fresh air was great. Didn't see many deer but boy was there deer scat everywhere! If only it was burnable...:). Thanks to those of you in the Driftless area who are willing to take time to post every so often during the season. I will be the first to admit that I check this website every night before bed, no matter how little gas is left in the tank. Look forward to hearing from all of you again next year. Stay healthy and have a great year!

[Irish Ridge]

April 3rd. Just a reply to say I also check the Vernon County thread daily in season. I also check "eastern Wisconsin" because there are two posters from southern Wisconsin (Wind Lake and Erin). Anyway, my season is over next door in Crawford County. 8.5 gallons in what was a laid-back season for me. No big rush ever came my way. Slow and steady. I look forward to hearing from you all next spring.

[littleTapper]

April 3rd. Just a reply to say I also check the Vernon County thread daily in season. I also check "eastern Wisconsin" because there are two posters from southern Wisconsin (Wind Lake and Erin). Anyway, my season is over next door in Crawford County. 8.5 gallons in what was a laid-back season for me. No big rush ever came my way. Slow and steady. I look forward to hearing from you all next spring.

I check in here too! :) Love to see what the rest of our state is doing. Someday I'll be able to tap again on our family farm in western Jackson county, but for now the SE corner is home and where I'm not yet retired from my job. My brother lives near Sparta and we're planning to ramp things up once we've given up our day jobs and set up the next generation to keep things rolling.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Guys, I decided to drive over to the sugar bush today. The weather has been so cold thought I should drain my big tank by the sugar house before freezing solid. There was 5 inches of new snow so I used the snowmobile, who knew I would still need it in April.Then dumped out 60 buckets up top that I had to leave last weekend, all were a round block of ice. with the cold weekend forecast, we will not be cooking this weekend. Guess it will give me a chance to cut and split more wood. I noticed the tree buds are advancing even with the cold weather. God Bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

On Sat April 7th I went over to the sugar bush to cut and split more fire wood, Need more wood for the next weekend, when it warms up again the trees will crank out more sap. Thursday April 12th cloudy warmer decided to head over to gather sap for the weekend. Wanted to do it before the rain on Friday. Well I collected 440 gallons, most still had some ice in the pails. The sap tasted sweeter then any other time this season, That will help make a great finish to the 2018 season. The snow was all gone on our north facing hillside, but the mud was a real problem,never seen it that bad.Even with four chains on the four wheeler I still had trouble on our lower ridge road. A few peepers were peeping in the marsh when I got down to my pick up. Our plan is to call it a season Sunday. pull taps Monday if I can get up the muddy snowy ridge road. God Bless.

[Irish Ridge]

Nice report MrSM. Our last sap was also higher sugar content. Still washing buckets here. I came on tonight to write that this evening was the first evening we heard peepers below the house in the pond. You beat me to it. Spring is here. Oh, and I know all about that mud thing way to well. God bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Irish Ridge, well I drove over Friday Apr 14th arrived about 5 pm.When I went thru Richland Center there were piles of hail from a morning hail storm,so they had to plow the roads. At our land some hail but found my valley road with deeper ruts from heavy run off.and still raining, then the wind came Friday night, my little 10x18 cabin was creaking in the gusts.sleet rain came sideways Sat 15th my son came and we started cooking at 8:30 till 9:30 pm all day long the wind came thru my valley like a wind tunnel, had plenty of air for the evaporator. snowed most of the day about 3 inches bed time 11;30 Sunday April 15th we cooked until 2;30 My son went home I started clean up worked until 7;pm we had about 1 inch more snow.A lot of birds were around, some kept trying to come into the sugar house trying to get out of the wind and snow.So with fire wood mostly gone its time to call it a season,it was a record year for us, the syrup mostly light to medium amber no dark amber. Today April 16th I was hoping to pull taps while the ridge road was snow covered not all mud but its to cold, heck its colder now then when we tapped. Washing pails and lids will also come for me, its always more fun setting up then taking down. Looks like this week we could still make syrup oh well. God bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi every one, well thought it was time to start talking and hope everyone is well and looking forward to another syrup season. Yesterday Feb 28 I took my snowmobile over to the sugar bush, with a long list of things to do. when I got there wow what a lot of snow, first thing shovel the front of my shed -cabin door got all gear inside, had to shovel the edge of the roof to prevent ice dams when I start the wood burner.Then drove back to the sugar house shoveled snow away from the walls and a path to the double doors. took the snowmobile up top to pack down some trails then started pulling tanks up top, shoveled the spot where two tanks go and covered them.also took 3 sections of mainline up. Then down to the big tank to push it up on the stand along the sugar house, back to the shed-cabin shoveled snow out from the wood pile and also the outhouse just might need that. measured 17 inches snow in the woods, that is a lot of snow.Friday March 1 at 3 am some thing jumped up on the roof and walked along and jumped off, the walls are 6 ft high with a hillside along it so it jumped about 6 ft up and over. Have seen bob cats on trail cameras think it was traveling on my packed snowmobile paths. Then about 5 am the roof started to leak above the wood burner not a good thing, got up at 6am went out at 7, started hauling my buckets and lids up top 4 trips for that and covered them with tarps, then ran one section of main line down towards the sugar house. That section crosses the ridge road so had to cover and bury it. Back down to the cabin for lunch, pack up and headed home.no deer-turkeys-squirrels-or rabbits seen.Not sure when to tap yet frost and deep snow could be a while, will let you all know when I do. God Bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi everyone, well the weather forecast for this weekend march 9th and 10th looks wet rain-sleet-snow and 40 mph winds not what a guy wants for tapping trees.Plus my son caught a nasty cold and would not want him out in the woods anyways, so guess its March 16th and 17th for us.Also that is the latest to tap for us, I may go over early week to do more things like finish running the main line down and hang the last 100 feet with wire to the bulk tank on the stand.Also still have a 125 gallon tank to place at the bottom of our tubing .That was new last season 15 taps on 3/16th tubing clear spouts,this year I got a vacuum gauge to put at the top want to see what it pulls. This evening I put a tap in our backyard silver maple like to see when things are starting.God Bless.

[Irish Ridge]

Hi all, looking forward to good conversation again this spring. The rain began at 12:45 p.m. today. It should be interesting to watch how this weather system plays out. Yesterday, a calm, sunny day, was spent in a skid steer breaking in trails for the Kawasaki mule to run on when I collect sap. Snow is still fairly deep here in the woods in Crawford County but I figure the rain will compact that considerably. Plan on breaking in walking trails Sunday afternoon. A couple of sample taps might be drilled as well. For now I'll stay dry and watch a rooster pheasant keep eating away at the bird feeder. Once the corn field across the road was picked last fall this fella came across and has roamed the remains of a sunflower food plot and stayed under a stand of pines the entire winter.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hello everyone, and hi to Irish Ridge was wondering if you were ok. glad you are enjoying the hard labor, well I went over to our sugar bush Sunday afternoon to do more work, friend John came over to help also. We took the flu pan outside to clean the soot out of the flues, what a dirty job that was. John shoveled paths to the wood piles, and I patched the fire brick in the evaporator fire box. took the snowmobile up top to check things, were not tapped yet plan on next weekend for that. with the warm up and rain forecast hope the snow settles down some. our trees were covered with snow down the trunk would have been hard to find last years holes to tap by. This morning John and I finished running the main line down the hill to the bulk tank. Then moved my 125 gal tank out to our 3/16th tubing, placed and covered with snow and a white tarp. Had lunch and went home about 2.00pm. Did see 5 deer this time, no squirrels or rabbits there was a tom turkey calling this morning, makes a guy start to think about spring turkey season. With the deep snow and late start we may still be doing syrup when my turkey season starts. Have 16 to 18 inches of snow on the ground makes things interesting for sure, told John while we were struggling down the steep hill side with rolls of main line, to think were doing this for entertainment, so we had a good chuckle on that one. God Bless.

[Tommoore30]

Hi Folks. Sophie the dog and I are back again for 2019. Tapped 34 Saturday. No ATVs. No truck (snow too deep). Hauled everything up the ridge in a sled. Slept like a dead man Saturday night. Sap running on 3/4 of taps. Looking to boil next weekend with kids and friends. Tapped a few more back east (Delafield) and sap running fast. 4-5 gallons will be a great year.
Good luck and have fun everyone.
Tom

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hello everyone and Hi Tom, glad you are back, like you we tapped Saturday also, first used my 4 wheeler to get up top by riding on old snowmobile trail , but when I got off that trail got stuck. So back down to get the snowmobile, was a great day to be in the woods, had my son ,friend Tim, and Sadie our labrador foreman. She is 13 now so her mind says oh boy lets do it but her bones say no way.Mine are starting to say the same thing. Took us five hours to tap, then called it a day and relaxed the rest of the evening.Hit the bunks at 8.45 up Sunday morning to tap the 17 trees on gravity 3/16 tubing, we were done by noon did some organizing in my little shed cabin and headed for Lodi at about 2pm. Got home to do more clean up in my garage Thursday Lodi declared a state of emergency with snow melt runoff, I had 18 inches of water in my garage and water up to my house. The community pitched in with sand bagging so we dodged a bullet on that one. At the land this morning red winged black birds were around, seems early for them. Hope to cook next Saturday. God Bless

[Irish Ridge]

Hello everyone. Well it looks like all of the usual suspects have now returned. Just need an update from Lulu yet. Went for a walk in the woods yesterday afternoon. First I checked buckets and found that the trees had begun to cooperate. No real point in collecting sap as most of it was ice. I kept walking my UTV trails and found several places where I will now have to put a tube and replace gravel due to wash outs this spring. A 5 foot diameter culvert put in last year held and a crazy bridge I built several years ago also held so I can still move around the property once the snow melts. It was easy to see how high the sun gets these days. My ground that doesn't see sunlight yet has deep snow yet. Best wishes to you over in Lodi. May the water recede quickly.

[Tommoore30]

Okay - guessing no millennials reading these threads as it's not twitter or FB. But two guys in their sixties "farmer carried" 22.5 five-gallon buckets a quarter mile down ridge to the fire. We're either feeling burly, stupid or looking for the 500 tab bottle of ibuprofen. Couldn't get a truck past a steep snow drift, so we did it the old fashioned way. (never doing that again, using a collection drum and gravity line next year.) But we had fun, saw bluebirds, deer and are looking to finish 2 gallons in the kitchen tomorrow. Family up next weekend to take a turn and learn what the land can give. Yak trax saved my life this year. (I'll take some endorsement $$$, anyone,...)
Tom, Good Friend, & Sophie the Dog,..

[Irish Ridge]

Hi Tom. I got tired just reading about your weekend adventures. I feel for you. On the other hand, you have two gallons of liquid gold to finish today. Hopefully that drift is gone next weekend for you and the sap flow picks up during the coming week.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Well it looks like everyone has experienced the joy of carrying sap a long ways up or down even sideways. Wednesday March 20th I had to go to Lacrosse so thought to gather sap in the afternoon. First try the 4 wheeler and trailer, snow too deep in the valley,so back down to the snowmobile and sled. Now its 2.30 pm gathered where the snow was deep enough, even some drags across leaves back to snow. So carried buckets some distance, quit at 8.30 pm gathered 370 gal stayed overnight. then home. Friday March 22 went back to the sugar bush to get things ready for Sat am. More snow has melted and yes, made it up the ridge road so now I can finish gathering, I have a path in the woods to gather from trees along our top field,now I can get to them all with the 4 wheeler. got 130 gal sap. We have 16 taps on 3/16 gravity tubing had 100 gal in that tank. so thats 600 gal to cook. Saturday March 23 My son came and we started cooking at 8.30 am, cooked till 8.30 pm cool down clean up, made for 11pm sleeping bags, did 400 gal made 12.5 gal syrup. Sunday March 24th we started cooking at 7.30 am until 2 pm.did 200 gal sap made 6 gal syrup. My son went home, I did clean up till 5pm then went up top to gather again,was a beautiful evening, worked till 8.00 pm got 130 gal sap back down to the cabin for hot dogs and chips.watched some ice road truckers on dvd 10.30 bunk. Monday March 25th went back up top to finish gathering, got 195 more gal of sap so now have 325 in storage.sap temp was 39 degrees. I did have time on Fri to clean out the bluebird houses could hear they were around. Saw turkeys in the valley on Sat while cooking, with the snow melt comes the mud, but we still have 7 inches if snow in the valley and no snow up top. we tested our sap came in at 2% sugar. God Bless.

[Irish Ridge]

Nice report Mr. Sugar Maple. I guess we all share the burdens. I can finally drive my trails without getting stuck in mud ruts. That is nice. Sap was running slow the last few days but when I collected today I was getting fast dripping action so I am looking forward to good amounts. Can't imagine your long days. I get tired just reading your report. Snow is now pretty much all gone except where the sun does not shine yet. I plan on checking buds on some of my trees next time out. My wife was asking about peepers but I told her to at least let the ice go off the pond before we think about that. Where"s Lulu this spring?

[Mr Sugar Maple]

HI Irish Ridge, glad the trees are on the move now, I am planning on going over Wednesday morning to gather again. Want to get it into storage so it does not spoil, figured today Tuesday would have been a strong day with 17 degree temp this morning.Our land has the Kickapoo west branch below us, so far no peepers in the marsh. have been getting quite a few moths in the sap though.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Wednesday 27th Well made it back from our sugar bush, gathered another 380 gallons of sap, so now have a total of 680 to cook this weekend. Made two trips up the ridge road with more snow to add to the snow thats around the tanks. Was a warm windy day, did have 4 deer run thru the bush dont think they knew I was there.Monday when I put 325 gal sap in the bulk tank by the sugar house, sap temp was 39.7 degrees and at 4,30 today it was 39.9 degrees so the warm day didnt change the temp much.

[lulugrein]

Hi guys, have read a few of your posts and couldn't wait to jump onto this thread. The bottom line is multifactorial...1.sugaring season did not align with my vacation days this year so everything crammed into the weekend; 2. I'm busy helping to ensure we have a new mayor in Madison on April 2nd (ok, will not taint our discussions any further w/political talk), 3. have been worried sick as my mom's brother (they are 10 in total age 77-92, all still alive) may not make it after open heart surgery, 4. The sugaring bug has not really bitten me this year. Just have not been able to muster up the excitement for it. On that final note, have you ever experienced the same? Just had an off year, feeling "buddy" or maybe just tired? I think in part I have let my pride in simplified cinder block fire box set up get in the way of reality (5gph = huge amount of time processing small volume of sap). I will accept all encouragement to invest in a legitimate evaporator and may throw in a gator on the side or set up a collection tote and gravity line at the top of the hill. Last weekend I calculated having "farmer carried" (to quote Tom) over 800 lbs of sap down the hill to the fire. My friend who mostly fed the fire offered that she carried a total of 80 lbs. So, my body is feeling it this week. Thank God for all of the usual suspects that ultimately make this endeavor worth while... singing of the Titmouse, deer, turkey, Osprey, Eagles, babbling brook heard all the way up to the cabin, comments from friends who feel honored to be able to participate in this amazing process, sitting in the maple "sauna", clear syrup running out of the coffee urn, early mornings so crisp and clear with night sky still full of stars, reading the phrase that I put on my labels..."living the dream in the drift less". OK.. enough. I need to get to work. Have decided to finagle things so I can take Friday off and start chipping away at what I expect will be 80-90 gallons waiting for me. Friends coming to help this weekend. Dare I say I may pull taps this Sunday. Looking for your commentary on that. Thanks for inquiring about my absence here. Very sweet of you.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Lulugrein Nice to hear from you, I like you have experienced that lack of excitement, when one thinks about all the hours to do this crazy hobby hours wood cutting splitting stacking then set up before season, long hours in the sugar house, then take down. Taps to pull, buckets to gather, mainline to roll up, and then haul things home and wash those buckets OH MY. But we do it because of the great product we made from our own land and trees, And the time spent in the woods with Gods creation all around us, makes one feel alive. Were thankful for family and friends that help, and do it all for some maple syrup. If I was to start over again, would go with 3/16 tubing instead of 250 buckets.There is no labor in collecting and no buckets - lids to gather and wash. I have 16 taps on 3/16 tubing, wow they produce more sap even run when the buckets stop running, A larger evaporator would help reduce your all night boils, just depends on how much bigger you want to get,keeping it small has a lot of advantages,less cost = less stress = more love of this hobby. God Bless.

[Tommoore30]

Lulugrein & Mr. Sugar Maple - Yes! Lack of excitement for this, deer hunting, everything, once in a while. Understandable with the aging family as well. (Or struggling kids/young adults,...). As a small player in this, I've found a few trips to the hardware store, and my imagination, are lessening the load a little bit each year (except for my lack of actually getting my barrel and gravity line set up on the ridge before I left after deer season,..which was my fault only).

I always am amazed though, when I'm feeling out of sorts and reluctantly make the long drive to the property, I get there and my whole being changes. Anyway,.good luck with family (we all need that) and know the rthythm. Ups and downs, tides come and go. BTW, after one more session of hauling these pails. I'm pulling taps on Sunday,...my arms and shoulders are shot :).
Tom & Dog

[Irish Ridge]

Friday, March 29th. Hi Lulugrein and all. I love the thought provoking questions and the wisdom shared in the Vernon County corner of the world wide web. I find this hobby therapeutic and I solve many world problems when I partake. I also ask myself "why do I do this?" My wife and I have streamlined each year, learned tricks of the trade, and kept it fun by right-sizing. We also selected some trees to just forget about because the "farmer carry" was just too close to be dangerous going straight up a slope. But seeing a pair of wood ducks land on the pond today locked me in to another year. All night I wondered whether to pull taps today. When I got out there to collect, the woods made the decision for me. There was no sap, ok very little. Finished the boil an hour ago and actually got a little clean up in today. I'll give a total for the year in a few days. My vote is to stay the course. If I were not to do it, I believe for a whole year I would kick myself. I am also sure in the next few years I will cut back on the number of my taps. One last piece of news, I saw Spike from Grant County yesterday. He didn't post much this year but they did well. The season ends earlier across the Wisconsin River and they tapped out last weekend. Have a good weekend everyone.

[Tommoore30]

Well said Irish Ridge. I really enjoy reading everyone's insight and share it all. We collected about half as we did last week on 30 taps. Which was actually okay for me,....until we finished up. And like fishing or deer hunting, I just wished I could tap a couple more weeks. But since everything I do is low budget, by hand, it's all I can do. Cooking the last tonight and tomorrow - estimate I'll end up with 4 gallons this year - a record for me. I have lots of ideas for next year, so Home Depot and Ace Hardware stock will go up.
Seeing more deer, hawks and eagles than I've ever seen before. This is a great time to be outside. I'll keep following everyone until the last taps are pulled. This is a great hobby!
Tom & Dog, and occasional family & friends to help out.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi guys, well I made the trip back over to the land on Friday March29th ,after getting my gear and food in to the cabin went up top to dump out my buckets. Most only had a inch or two of spoiled sap in them, Then sat morn my son came over , we cooked the stored sap from 7.30 am to 10.00pm, made 15 gallons of the dark amber syrup. went from medium to dark in one week. Sunday morning we started at 7.30 found a leak between the flu pan and the front pan, but we managed to switch out the clamp even with the flu pan filled.that could have been a big mess. Then I had to run up top to straiten up all the pails they were sideways from all the wind on Saturday cooked until 4.00 pm made 7 gal of syrup.Was nice to have a bunch of family and friends show up to see two tired syrup makers doing what they love. Then Monday April 1st I took a load of snow up to put around the top tanks, added that to the snow I took up Friday eve. also 2 loads of snow over the tubing tank. I have 16 taps on 3/16 tubing, I put a vacuum gauge at the top its pulling 28 to 30 inches which tops out the gauge very cool, got 100 gal sap each week from those 16 trees. At 1 pm started to gather and got 210 gal put unto tanks and hope to get another 100 from the tubing so should have 310 for our final cook.Had a deer come close and was watching me gather sap what fun. Still no peepers in the marsh but the forecast looks bad for more sap runs, so going to call it a season this coming weekend. Then comes all the clean up, things to haul back home, and lots of tanks to wash. I have enjoyed our conversations and good humor you guys are the greatest. God Bless.

[Tommoore30]

Mr. Sugar Maple. Irish Ridge and Lulugrein, I have what looks like 6-7 pints in my settling carboy. Gives me 30 finished pints on the year, which is about all I can handle. Time to get the garden tiller ready. Had fun, take care hope to hear from all of you next year - God Bless you.
Tom, Sophie the dog and Family & Friends.

[lulugrein]

Hi all. A quick sign off as this short season winds down. I have about 25 gallons in the tote that should have kept well enough on the north side of the cabin to boil down on Saturday. Really ok that taps were pulled March 31st. Buckets are cleaned up already. I'll end up with about 4 1/2 gallons, a bit less than last year but fitting for what was an off year for me anyway. Next year will be better. Look forward to chatting with you all again then. Appreciate your good company. Be well. -Lulu

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Good to hear from you guys, I went to sugar camp on Thursday April 4th to gather again but only got 70 gallons of sap on buckets. The 16 taps on tubing still going like gangbusters by Saturday the 6th there was 115gallons in the tank. We cooked 385 gallons total and made 12 gallons of syrup.Sunday the 7th my son went home and I went up top to pull taps and buckets, got rained on so I got a bit wet,at least the rain was warm.did some cleaning in the sugar house then retreated to the cabin by 8pm. Today April 8th I gathered up the syrup and sweet water to bring home,I put it in a walk in freezer and save for next season,this gives me a running start for next season other wise it takes 100 gal of sap to sweeten the flu pan. I pull out syrup to bottle it as needed. Still have to bring all the tanks down and clean them then put away in the sugar house. Also clean the tubing in the woods then roll up the main line about 800 ft long. will do that next weekend. I checked the tubing this morning still drawing 29 inches of vacuum want to see if they will produce another 115 gallons noticed the pussy willows were popped in the marsh and besides peepers, now also croaking frogs talking. Did have a tom turkey gobbling up top sat morning, hope he finds a friendly hen. Everyone take care and God Bless. Our season total was 52 gallons , above average for us. 2018 had 75 gallons, going to be hard to top that one.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hello fellow maple friends, I hope you all had a good year, Mine was fast and fun. Made three trips out to our gold claims, and yes returned each time with gold in our pockets. of coarse lots work with my job and work in our woods to build up another supply of evaporator wood. Feb 4th I hauled all of my buckets and lids over to our land, used the snowmobile and sled to get them on top of our hill. There was about eight inches of snow in the valley and five inches up top, five trips up and made the ridge road every time with out any spin outs. There were lots of deer sign in the woods, their hitting the top field for clover pretty hard.Today Feb 9th were under a winter storm warning for six to eight inches of snow. Looks like it will be a while before its time to tap, last year it was late March 16thfor us. I was up at Maple Hollow in Merrill WI to get some supplies for this season and they started tapping on Feb 3rd,all on tubing and hope to have 20.000 in by start up. Well that is it for now. God Bless

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Friday the 21st I drove over to the sugar bush, enjoyed the beautiful snow landscape the snowmobile trails looked great also. Spent the afternoon shoveling snow,where the two top tanks and valley tubing tank goes. also shoveled around the sugar house, cabin and outhouse. Need a clear path to that outhouse:lol: spent the night, Sat morn I took the tanks where they go and made two trips up top with the main line that we roll down the steep hill to the main tank. Friend John came to help me with these tasks, and we also took the flu pan outside to clean the ash and soot from the bottom. we call it The Big Dirty. In the evening we went up top to check deer stands and saw lots of deer beds, its always good to know where they are bedding down.Sun morn I cleaned the sugar house and headed for home at 1:30 Fri morn there was 12-15 inches of snow in the valley and 8-10 inches up top.Saw 6 deer and lots of birds at the feeder. The snowmobile trails are all shot now with the snow melt 47 degrees Sat 50 degrees Sun. At home our backyard maple only had a pint of sap in the pail so guess I did not miss a lot by not being tapped yet. God Bless.

[Irish Ridge]

Nice report Sugar Maple. I was wondering what you would find. Some time after late Saturday some of my trees began to open up. Best tree was one drop a second. Shot 10 seconds of it on the phone but I have to learn how to get a video on here. Like you I found lots of deer beds. Funny how many were right by my favorite tapping trees. I love your "Big Dirty". I can just imagine it as I have a similar task about twice a season. Sounds like you are all set. Can only wait and see what amount of snow falls Tuesday.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Irish ridge, Thanks for the response yes still need to tap, otherwise all set to go. Think the 29th will be the day for us. More snow will just create more work for this old guy.

[lulugrein]

Hi all! I'm jumping into March Madness on the 6th or 9th depending on the weather. I always wait at least a week after the rest of you up here on my north facing slope. I have a respectable crew of very willing sapsuckers lined up. Looking forward to a fun and productive season.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Lulugrein Thanks for checking in, Were tapping in the morning. I have some family helping me and hope your season is a productive one.God Bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi everybody, Well I got back from two days at the sugar bush. On Saturday my son and friend came to help me tap all the buckets up top, there was 8 to 10 inches of snow and 10 to 13 inches in the valley. took us 5 hours to tap then relaxed in the cabin for the night. This morning Sunday we fixed the tubing with new drops and spouts. Guess the squirrels had fun over the past year. so 17 on 3/16 tubing on the steep hillside, and the rest buckets for a total of 248 taps. The taps along our top field were running but not hard at noon today. Only saw one deer, but they were using the hard packed snowmobile trails to get around .God Bless.

[Irish Ridge]

Nice report Mr. Sugar Maple. It sounds like you are all set now. My taps were running like yours this afternoon. I am glad I got a gallon and a half of syrup out of the first warm days because I just don't see the night temps cooperating with me. I am not even going to try and predict what the rest of the season will bring. The only things I can predict are that no matter the quantity of syrup produced, the season will be a success, good times had, and good memories made. A brother in law tapped for the first time ever this week. That's been worth it all in itself. All for now.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Irish Ridge, Well it sounds like you got your brother in law hooked on our crazy passion. Well done my friend.We all hope for a normal season but it seems like any thing goes with the weather now days.So continued good luck and have fun. God Bless.

[Irish Ridge]

Wednesday, March 4th. Thanks for the nice thoughts. Just so you know, you will be coming back to sap this weekend. Just collected half of mine and will gather the rest tomorrow morning. All my trees are a go and in mid-season form. Starting a fire tomorrow morning after any rain showers pass through. Lent service, a potluck, and then the Badger game and to bed early cause tomorrow is a marathon session for me.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Irish Ridge, Yes the trees are in full swing, I made a trip over today to gather.I was thinking of waiting until Friday but thought I should go see. Well six hours later I had 310 gallons of sap. Still used the snowmobile with deep snow in the valley. Up top snow cover ranged from 2 inches to 8 inches.got back home at 8;15 a quick supper and this posting. The mild weather and sunshine was sure great, but need those cold nights for continued sap flow. Keep a keen eye on that evaporator tomorrow. My neighbor told me when he was a kid. his dad put him in charge of watching their syrup pan, well his mind wandered and he burnt the pan, so his dad made him clean it in the Kickapoo river using sand to scrub it out. He said that river water was sure cold in March. So beware and God Bless.

[Tommoore30]

Hi Friends - -Tom & Sophie the dog are back for 2020. Tapped our usual 35 a few miles NW of LaFarge. I think I got sunburned this weekend. The snow in places is still unbelievable. No gator or snowmobile, just legs and arms,...;last year friend and I "farmer carried 22 5 gal pails down the ridge. This year. carried 2 55 lbs rolls of mainline tubing and tank to top of ridge to prevent any future "farmer carries". I think this is gonna kill me, but I can't think of a finer way to go. All taps, both ridgetop and coulee, are running great. Back for 3-4 day weekend to boil. This is one great hobby,....people at work are mystified by the stories (or think I'm really strange,...). Good Luck my friends, have fun.
Tom

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi every one, Just had a 4 day stay at sugar camp, went over on Friday the 6th hauled the 4 wheeler over but found the snowmobile was still the way to go.after hauling stuff up to the cabin and the sugar house fresh water buckets front pan etc. I went up top to straiten up the buckets from Thursdays wind.Saturday my son came and we cooked 350 gal of sap, all went well until pumping the valley tank sap up into the big tank the darn recoil broke. So siphon time and carry the buckets up the ladder to the tank. we finished at 6:30 then cool down . Now time to gather but with out a pump we had to get the 4 wheeler and trailer up the ridge road ,so with my son leaning out on the front rack it clawed its way up top, thank God. We gathered under a great moon and 400 gal later we hit the bunks at 1:30 am.Sunday we cooked until 5:00 and my son went home.I stayed for clean up till 8:30. Today Monday the 9th I hauled snow from the valley up to cover the tanks, then the rain came so time to head home. Saw geese flying north hear the first robins and red winged black birds. Tom that main line will be a life saver ours is 800 feet long.did not want 65 gals sap pushing me down a snow and ice covered road. Stay safe and God Bless. Also we did make 16 gallons of light amber syrup

[lulugrein]

A really nice day of boiling outside on Saturday 3/14. Little wind and manageable temps with toe warmers in place :-). Sunday morning cozy in the cabin with humidity up to 80% while I finished syrup on the stove. I got my mojo back this year (thanks, guys, for the therapy sessions last year!). Enjoyed all the prep work and anticipation of what I'd find when I got to the cabin on Friday night (most taps bone dry when I tapped on 3/9). Yesterday nearly all trees running crazy fast. Can't wait to get back there Thursday night and hoping weather cooperates for a 2-day boil. Hope you are all doing well and enjoying the season!

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi every one, I am back from a 3 day stay at sugar camp, went over Friday the 13th after hauling things to the cabin and sugar house I went up top to gather. The ridge road was clear of ice and snow, there was still 4 to 5 inches in the shady valley. gathered 260 gal and the tubing tank had 70 gal Saturday my son and I cooked till 6:30 then cool down, supper at 7:20 he hit the bunk and I went up top to gather 70 gal of sap for the morning .When I went to send the stored sap down the main line it stopped, there was ice in the 90 degree elbow at the big tank, so I had to pull the elbow out of the tank and remove the elbow from the 1 inch line, and when I did, Wow I got sprayed the sugar house and roof got sprayed until I could get the line back into the tank. THAT WAS FUN. Sunday we cooked till 2:30.then cool down and clean up. left for home at 6:00. Saw chipmunks, geese, no deer except for the one snorting at me Sat night gathering. Made 15 gal medium to dark syrup. Stay healthy and God Bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Lulugrein. The weather looks like a warm bunch of rain for mid week then Fridays high is 29 with a low of 15.Saturday mid 30s and 17 sat night that will give us problems of freezing sap in tanks and just plain miserable.

[lulugrein]

Thanks for the weather update Mr. Sugar Maple. The trees were running fast when we left last Sunday. I am expecting that the buckets will be full when we get back out there later today. A good problem to have but I have not yet figured out how I'll keep the sap from freezing hard in the tote that I'll surely fill up today. I have some ideas and will give an update tomorrow on how that all turned out. A heater probe is the simple answer but I don't want to spend the money! Am happy to see that the wind is going to die down. Stay safe out in the woods and keep us all posted.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Lulugrin. Well Thursday March 19th I drove over to gather sap, I just knew the trees would fill my pails and they sure did. Started gathering at 10:30 every pail was overflowing so for every three tree pails I had 9 gal of sap to carry and dump into my transfer tank.And 8 hours later I was done. Of course it rained steady on me that whole time, The thunder did sound cool though.Ended up kind of wet guess my rain gear has a problem, but did gather 600 gal plus 125 in the valley tank from our 17 trees on tubing. So I will try to cook solo for a while with the currant pandemic. Guess Sunday will be go day for me. God Bless. Did have turkeys talking back and forth in the morning and the mud on top was bad.

[Irish Ridge]

Sat. March 21. Nice updates here. Had the great flow as well. Boiled in between rain. Speaking of thunder. We had a loud thunder clap and minutes later a dog was running down the road like he was after Rusty of dog racing fame. That was funny. Strained ice out of buckets this morning and am back to boiling. It is actually turning into one of my best years. Have a good weekend everyone.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hello everyone, well I am back from 4 days at sugar camp, got there sat aft and after getting the finish pan and stuff to the sugar house I went up top to straiten the pails, counted 28 or so on the ground from the wind. Fixed and cleaned out the blue bird houses. Sun morning started the evaporator at 9:30 cooked 300 gal sap, had to stay alert all day, done at 6;30 cool down clean up, had to pump the valley tank into the big tank so 9:30 supper 10:30 bunk time. Monday March 23rd started cooking at 8:30,had 325 gal sap to cook finished at 6.:00 pm cool down clean up,food and sleep. Tuesday March 24th up at 7:00 boy I sure feel old today, when I went out the cabin door 3 deer were eating under the bird feeder, was nice to see them, they look pretty rough this time of the year kind of like me.Went up top to gather started at 8:00 most pails were full again, got 560 gal,
so all my tanks are full for this sat. the valley tank had 60 gal just from sun and today.packed up went home. Had the road to myself guess it will get better sooner or later. Irish Ridge I liked to hear about your race dog. stay healthy and God Bless. The sap did not seem as sweet, made 15 gal syrup from 625 gal of sap.

[lulugrein]

That is alot of sap Irish Ridge!! I got so busy last 21307weekend that I had no time to post. Figured out what to do with the stored sap so it wouldn't freeze when temp went down to 15 Fri night (yep, that is our outhouse with a space heater😄). I'm trying to rearrange my schedule so I can head over today and cook all day Friday when weather looks best for outdoor boil and sap still good. I suppose it'll then be time to pull the taps. If all works out I'll have close to 5 gallons. Will post 1 more time and then sign off for the season

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Sap storage in an outhouse, now that is a first.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Well the season is over for me, went to the sugar bush Friday March 27th and on Saturday the 28th I cooked from 7:40 to 6:00 while doing clean up the weather got stormy so I made a B line for the cabin. Thunder, lightning,then the rain came and pea size hail. wow, that was fun. Late supper and sleep. Sunday March 29th I started cooking at 8:30 the weather showery most of the day.Found some dead boxelder in the wood pile from last fall so between firing I would split wood so it would extended my cook time to 6:30. cool down and clean up sleep at 10:00pm. Monday March 30th I wondered what the bright thing in the eastern sky was.Took the finish pan and empty water jugs to the pick up, then loaded the snowmobile up to bring home. We tapped on Feb 29th and last cook March 29th second best season for me, still have to pull taps,roll up main line, wash tanks and tubing so next weekend for that. God Bless.

[Irish Ridge]

Sounds like you had the same weather last weekend that we had. Not fun to be out and about in. We had the hail as well. Congrats on a fine year. Just waiting for Lulu's final report now. Hopefully she will come in with her 5. By next year we need a more official name for the sap storage room. Maybe the annex?

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Well yes did have a lot of clean up to do, so Sat April 4th I went over to get started. Went up top to pull taps, I bring some water along to wipe out the pink mold that is starting to form, found out not to let it dry on the bottom because its hard to wash out later, then pull the tap and move on to the next tree, three trips down to the pick up with empty pails so it took 8 hrs to complete that. Sun morning at 6:am a darn Robin kept banging against the two west facing windows, thought it would give up but my tired old body could not take it any longer so I stuck my head out the window to scare it away but it kept coming back, so after a bunch of attempts I had to hang garbage bags over the windows. Well time to clean the 4 tanks and two barrels, our tubing tank on 17 taps was overflowing again, hated to open the valve and dump 125 gal of sap. also dumped two 55 gal barrels sure need a RO. Also rolled up the main line, its in 3 sections so not to get to large to handle. Friend John and his wife Katie came to plant some trees up by his deer stand, wants more cover for them.Mon April 6th I pulled the tubing taps and cleaned the tubing, I run a bleach mixture first ,then clean flush of fresh water. Loaded the four wheeler on the trailer and went for home. thanks for all the conversations over the season and God Bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Well happy new year fellow maple friends,its been a strange year with covid 19 and a wild election season, But now its time to think about our time in the woods, all the syrup from last season is gone and need to make more. Snow cover is still on the low side but hope for more soon,I have not been over to our land in a a while.But we did have a great gun deer season My son got a nice 8pt my grandson a nice 6pt and I shot a big doe.Hope you all have a safe season and God Bless .

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Well just returned from two days at the land, Left home Fri Feb 19th 8 am 7 degrees sunny and calm arrived 10:00 8 degrees. My day was good, brought the snowmobile over to haul 230 buckets up top. Made first run just snowmobile 2nd run 60 buckets in otter sled got stuck on the steep part of the ridge road had to pull it up to a flatter spot by hand then turn the snowmobile back down to get a run that worked. 40 buckets per trip worked fine. saw 5 deer 1 rabbit and lots of winter birds at the feeders. snow cover 12 inches of powdery snow, shoveled paths to wood piles and around sugar house cant forget the outhouse also. Fri night temp -9 used twice the fire wood to keep my 10x18 cabin warm. coyotes howling on and off most of the night.Sat morn boy you know your alive when your cheeks hit the seat in the out house.Then waited till 8 degrees to make two trips up with my 100 gal tanks, covered them with snow and white tarps.the snowmobile tracks were like pavement this morn. next trip clean sugar house and flu pan bottom. looks like March 6th to tap we will see.God Bless.

[dj59red]

That's why you make the seat removable and keep it next to the wood stove and take out when you need it resulting in nice warm cheeks. Hoping to get this work project wrapped up in Oklahoma so I can get back to Wisconsin to tap some trees.
Take care, DJ

[Pdiamond]

Mr. Sugar Maple,
I just read you post about your trip north and hauling buckets and 100 gallon tanks. Then cheeks hitting the seat. I am sitting in a warm house on the couch and man that just gave me a chill. Ha Ha

[Irish Ridge]

Mr. SM, Read your weekend report and figured I better get moving. My observations over here in Crawford County match yours. Deep snow in the woods, however for me, it was snowshoes for me going tree to tree. Not as many deer beds as some springs. Will put in my final taps today and come up with a total. Some dry, some wet and dripping slow. First collection set for Friday. Gotta love the extended forecast. We will see what the Lord gives us this year. Still have plenty to do around the shack to prepare for a Saturday fire.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi IR glad to hear from you, our land has more deer sign then last winter.Think their hungry because eating the red cedar thats around. Stay safe and healthy. God Bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

My new report, Friday Feb 26th arrived at our land 3:00 unloaded gear for the weekend used the snowmobile with the otter sled . then took all the bucket lids up top to place by the pails. Snow is deep yet 9-10 inches. had to cut up two large branches that were over the syrup trails. worked past dark then down to the cabin to get the wood stove going and supper. Sat morn my son and friend John came, we tapped the top hill 235 trees. took 5 hours then they rolled the main line down the hill to the big tank by sugar house. next supper and relax. Sunday the 28th we tapped our 17 hillside trees with tubing, needed to fix some squirrel damage,then they cleaned the flu pan bottom, we call it the Big Dirty.The guys went home and I stayed to clean the sugar house, pile more snow around tanks. we have been disturbed by some animals living under the cabin, their hissing and scratching on and off all night long. still have a lot of winter birds around. The trees were running on sat but not on sun except the tubing was running strong right away. Could be a short season with above normal temp forecast for March. God Bless.

[lulugrein]

Hi everyone,
Finally made it over to our land in Vernon county and tapped about 20 trees on Saturday March 6th. All running moderate to crazy fast. I know we have a warm spell coming up but expect to have a lot of sap by Tuesday that I'll shore up w/sap ice in barrels and will do first boil on Saturday March 13th. Last year I was so worried about the COLD weather that I was keeping the sap tote in the heated outhouse. Yes, The Annex :). Hopefully won't have to do that this year! Keep posting and look forward to more chatter soon.

[Irish Ridge]

Hey Lulugrein,
Was wondering when you were going to check in. Saturday was a good day to be in the woods. Too nice to be chained to a fire actually. Consequently I sit here this afternoon watching the sun move across the sky as I boil away Friday and Saturday. I see a few days off in the near future so I will work until done tonight. Looking forward to your reports.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Well I am back from 4 days in the bush, arrived Friday March 5th spent 5.5 hrs gathering sap. Got 350 gallons. still used the snowmobile but some spots up top were snow free , was a bit concerned if I spin out on leaves with 65 gal sap in the tank then what. worked till 7pm needed to start the cabin wood stove and a late supper. Sat the 6th my son and I cooked all day until 5pm then went up top using the 4 wheeler and tank trailer. the snow was soft now from the warm day but she clawed her way up the ridge road. those tire chains payed for themselves on that run. We gathered 200 gallons for the next cook. 8pm cabin. Sun started cooking at 8am till 4pm. was a mild day had one scare my son just left for home and I would finish cooking when I ran out of sap with a hot fire yet had to shovel the wood out of the fire box, add a little water to the flu pan all good. Cool down clean up. then our tubing tank was not holding sap dug it out from the snow piled on it and found when I put the tape on the plug threads

[Tommoore30]

Hi Folks - Tom & Sophie the Dog, a few friends and kids occassionally,....tapped our usual 25 by La Farge,...ran crazy last week like everyone else, so I took off work to boil what I thought would be a record,....no such luck. Only about 25-30 gal. Trees didn't restart until about Saturday noon,.now slow but all steady. Amish up on Cty D said all their trees stopped about Tuesday - but now restarting.
So, I learned my lesson in 2019, no more "farmer-carrying" 20-30 buckets down 1/4 mile from the ridge. Have a 100 gal tank up top and tubing all the way down to the pan,....but only 35 gals boiled this weekend. Hoping to fill that tank on Friday.
Anyway, 4 months of sitting on the couch and watching football and now "Alone" (TV series), I can now grunt up and down the ravines getting pails to the field edge for pickup. Ooof-da.
Good luck!
Tom

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Tom I can relate to that grunt up down and over the hillsides. my heart gets a year older just like my joints.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Well hear is my 4 day report, Arrived 9 am Fri March 12th, could not believe it the snow that was still deep on the 8th is gone. no run off just gone. Also noticed Red Winged black birds are back, went and gathered about 60 gallons of sap some too stained so that hit the ground. Sat 13th my son and I cooked from 8:30 to 4:00 made 7 gallons of medium syrup. then gathered again till 6:00 some clean up and 7:00 supper. Sunday March 14th started to cook at 7;30 TO 3:30 made 7 more gallons of dark amber syrup. My son headed for home and I was able to scrape up the snow along the sugar house and took it up top for my tanks.Was glad to be able to replenish them. Then more clean up and 8:30 supper. the wind sure turned the trees off. plus mild nights have all but killed things. usually have a huge run by now where finding storage is a problem. Monday March 15th did not gather the weather was iffy snow in forecast, did cut a large poplar tree by the cabin, it was half dead and worried me when sleeping in there. but that went very well , ever watch tree cutting on You Tube? saw deer tracks no deer, lots of geese in the marsh sand hills also no peepers yet, so that is good. Lots of talking coyotes at night. God Bless.

[lulugrein]

Hi all. I think it is my north facing slope that is saving me. It puts me a week behind in spring arrival.. We tapped 3/6 and on 3/9 gathered about 60 gallons from 19 trees. Then things shut down like it did for you between 3/9 and 3/12. Then most were back to crazy fast and with additional trees tapped on 3/13 we had a total of about 140 gallons to boil down over Saturday-Sunday. Today, 4 inches of new snow coming down as we finished inside. Really beautiful around the cabin and in the valley.. 35 birds at the feeders at any given time.

One thing i am puzzled about....I only got 2.5 gallons of syrup from that 140 gal of 2%sap and am wondering if you have any thoughts on that. Using rule of 86 i should have gotten at least 3 gallons. I know you lose a little in the orlon filter and I do tend to take the phrase "top it off" pretty seriously when im bottling but still should have more. I confess for my whole crew that two rounds of maple old fashions taken from near syrup put a little dent in the final product but,, again,, not enough to explain the end ratio. Any comments welcome. I am counting on 2 more weekends of boiling and with new monovision contacts I can no longer see the buds so am going to assume they're not there😉.

[Tommoore30]

Hi Everyone - similar to Lulu's question, I'm interested in some rough numbers (nothing precise - back of the envelope will do). How many taps do you have, and how many gallons of sap did you get/or do you normally get, and how many finished gallons of syrup? I tap 32 trees, with 35 taps (two are huge and I have 2 and 3 taps on those). I figured I got 120 gallons of sap so far,....not done finishing in the kitchen yet. I'm amazed at the variation between sugar bushes (the ridge vs. the hollow) each year as well as the variation between trees in a bush. Now a few buckets tipped over, at some point, so my operation is a weekend hillbilly sort of thing, but I'm addicted and my family figures there are worse things to occupy my time and energy. I'm grateful to return home on Sunday evenings and walk on endless level ground,.....for a day or two.
Tom

[Mr Sugar Maple]

My report for 4 days, Friday March 19th sunny 45 degrees a nice day going. When I arrived figured to check the taps up top to see when to gather for Saturday. Was planning to install a solar panel I got because my cabin is totally off grid. Well to my surprise most buckets were full, took me 7.5 hrs to gather. had 560 gal of sap.Funny thing on the way back down I found 5 deer in a panic all split in every direction then circled back to find each other. Saturday March 20th my son and I cooked from 8am to 8pm made 10.5 gal syrup another late supper and bunk. Sunday March 21st gathered the tubing tank it was overflowing so total sap to cook on sun was 300 gal. Made 7.5 gal syrup. cool down clean up 8:30 supper.the peepers were peeping sun night. Did get up top to gather on Sunday, my son and a friend ran the sugar house, I did get 140 more gallons and put in the top tanks still have snow along them with the white tarps but I did a stupid mistake while gathering when my 65 gal tank was full I forgot to bring up a transfer hose with me ,so had to climb down the hill, followed the main line down and climbed back up. Thats like 800 feet of strait up sure got the old ticker going. trees are done up top tubing on hillside still going strong so hope to get one more day . My buckets are getting moldy and moths are bad did not see bud brake though.have 230 taps on buckets 17 on tubing. been averaging 38 gal sap per 1 gal syrup. I take off the evaporator at 30 Baume so not finished syrup I do that at home before bottling God Bless

[Irish Ridge]

March 23rd...I am caught up. I can respond to threads. First of all I need the recipe for maple old fashions. I will be looking for that online. I also monitor my sugar content with each collection. Yup, I also run a hillbilly operation (no offense to hillbillies). I have a personal relationship with a few of my trees. Some always are low production, some on the edge of a rock outcropping are always high. One has a spring running from underneath it yearlong. Very interesting. I have never taken my hydrometer with me to get a reading from some of my trees. I figure it would be broke before I got back to my base camp. This year I could not get a reading over 2.5 per cent but still got good final results in my 6 final "finishes." My last batch of the season which was sap from Saturday until noon Sunday when we pulled taps, began with 35 gallons of sap and we got close to a gallon of syrup (7 pints). Go figure.

I also believe the location of the trees this year was more relevant this year than some. Trees further down my hillside gave more than those right up on top that probably suffered with all those warm sunny days. Reading about 800 feet of straight up puts a smile on my face because those trees of mine located down the hills made me walk this year back up with full buckets. Not complaining but I haven't forgotten that the first part of my season was trailblazing with snowshoes. And there were times I was pausing way too often to catch my breath. Sunday evening we finished for the day at around 8:30 p.m. and as we walked from the sugar shack up (why is everything located up) to the house we also heard peepers in the pond. Spring is here.

To help you spend a few more hours at your computer, check out Backyard Maple Syrup Maker on facebook. My wife found it and we laugh at pictures of burned pans, funny stories, and responses to questions that are asked. It is very family friendly. Some good ideas are also offered, things I will try next year. Best regards to all of you in Vernon County.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

4 more days in the sugar bush, arrived Friday March 26th did not have to gather had 140 gallons in storage so I spent the afternoon hooking up a solar panel and controller that went well so now we have power with a battery and inverter in the cabin. Saturday my son and I cooked that sap plus 70 gal from the tubing tank.finished at 3:00 he went home I did clean up again.there was a wet rain and drizzle all day. Sunday March 28th I started at 9;00 to pull taps, scrub mold from the buckets and stack. Made 4 trips down to the pick up with all the buckets. Boy the strong north west winds all day beat me up, could not wait to get in the cabin start a fire and warm up, by then it was 6:30. Monday March 29th I rolled up the main line then loaded the buckets in the pickup and headed home.that truck was so packed with buckets, lids, boots, food, cooler but made it home without losing any thing. Strong south winds made travel challenging. next weekend will be my final clean up. God Bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Well this is my last post for this season, Went over to our land Friday April 2nd arrived 11:00 took things to the cabin and 40 gal of water to the sugar house. went to the tubing tank it had 70 gal sap but opened the plug to drain it out. then took it down to the sugar house to clean it along with 4 other tanks. That took care of Friday. Saturday April 3rd friend John came to work on his deer stand so I cut wood and made brush piles all day. on the way up we saw 4 deer real close to us they dont even care when your on a atv but boy try walking with a gun once. Sunday April 4th I pulled the tubing taps and flushed the lines with a bleach and water mixture. then a fresh water chaser.Stacked the tanks inside and hauled 4 loads of wood down to pile up for splitting. Monday April 5th packed up the pick up with water buckets my finish pan boots had a full load. Been lots of geese sand hill cranes in the marsh. Did notice I have not heard turkeys gobbling this spring hope the large population of coyotes isnt killing them. Have a great summer God Bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi everyone hope you all are well, been over at our sugar bush a few times lately. have tanks in place covered with snow, buckets up top and covered.waiting for a normal warm up, our plan was Feb 26th-27th to tap but still looks cold. we will see. Yesterday afternoon about 5pm I was cutting some tree tops from a downed tree when a loud crack of thunder then a big downpour of sleet - snow with huge wind gusts.Wow turned out a snow squall warning was posted. I grabbed the snowmobile went back to the cabin for cover. about then a big tree fell up in the woods. glad it was not by me. Its been a cold dry winter in Vernon county, there is 8 inches of snow in the valley 6 inches up top. I live in Lodi, the last time I shoveled snow was on January 24th. Hope you ALL have a safe and fun season. God Bless

[Irish Ridge]

Good first report SM. You are ahead of me. Heading out to the woods later this morning with supplies. I will probably tap a few sample trees but definitely want to be ready for the weekend. I am hoping by Monday I am in the flow. Forecast looks good. Noticed a report on the Iowa board some trees are getting close in Clayton County right across the river from me. The only thing I have done is have plowed trails out to the woods and that wasn't bad because as you mention, the snow just isn't that deep. I got the thunder and snow pellet storm yesterday that you witnessed last week. Still not complaining, received a thin layer of snow and a layer of ice which will be gone on the first warm day. God bless your season as well. Don't want to hear reports of twisted ankles or spilled sap.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Thanks Irish Ridge, at my last posting accuweather had it still cold for the 26th and 27th but now the forecast temps have gone up so think its a go for this weekend.we still have to get the main line down the hillside and do the Big Dirty. thats bringing the flu pan outside lay it on its side and use a flu brush to get last seasons soot out from between each flu.One thing for sure you do not want to be down wind on that job. keep us up to date on your season. God Bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Back from the sugar bush ,we tapped the 235 bucket taps up top yesterday. The snow was solid could mostly walk on top. had a quiet night and today Sunday we did 17 on tubing, had to fix squirrel damage but got thru that and then the Big Dirty. what a dirty job.weather was nice nice both days. Did not have any problems getting up the ridge road, most seasons that can be a real problem. But that could change with a big storm. no deer seen, saw tracks though

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Well back from a 3 day stay, arrived on Friday morn March 4th after getting all my needs to the cabin, went back to the sugar house to get my 4 wheeler and gathering tank. Went up top expecting a few hundred gallons and nothing. It was like every tree was wearing a Depend underwear, so plans changed I worked on some future fire wood. after some rain Friday night,Saturday morning I went up top to get 2 widow maker trees down, used a 30 ft tow strap and come along had to pull one 35ft till it came down. Saturday afternoon the rain and thunder came in so good time to give the sugar house a good cleaning.storms in the eve. Sunday morn I gathered 80 gal sap and put in a top tank. clean up pack up head home.Saw 1 squirrel heard sand hill cranes, geese,. and the always present owl. Now with the super cold forecast should have skipped the gather cant have the sap freeze in the tank. Boy with these gas prices it costs 40 bucks round trip OUCH.

[Irish Ridge]

Just heard the snowplow go by so I figured it was time to get up and read your report. Kind of figured it would mirror my results. A few weeks ago I thought we would be in the middle of a good run. I am just going to accept what comes my way. That rain didn't soak in by me. But it sure took out my gravel drive. Twice it came down super hard and fast. Now I have the chore of fixing ruts when the snow melts. I am waiting to hear how you make out with the frozen sap in the tank. Nice report.

[lulugrein]

Tapped 23 trees on March 3rd in anticipation of good temps. That didn't happen. About 10 gallons so far. All I want to do in March is be completely absorbed in sugaring. Oh well. Next week looks great and will probably be inundated with sap. Bring it on!!

[DairyVet]

Tapped 30 trees on the 1st because the forecast looked great. A week and a half later I have 8 gallons of sap. Looking good for my area (north of La Crosse) early next week if the forecast holds.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi all here is an update on 80 frozen gallons of sap, well thankfully I made the decision on Wednesday to dump it out. As it was when I opened the valve it was frozen. had to pound a rod thru the ice to get it to drain.I tested it it was only one and a half percent sugar. so Thursday morn did more sugar bush trimming and back home. More gasoline burnt with no gain. Irish Ridge that rain had our valley ditch running fast. we have had that land for 25 years and never seen water run thru there. there have been flash floods and other floods but was never there too see it.Saw my first Robin in Lodi this Thursday, my son heard red winged black birds today.The up coming week looks warm but warm nights may mess it up, we will see. God Bless.

[lulugrein]

3/16/22: A warm day but maybe just right for our north facing slope. Temp was down to 27 degrees Tuesday evening and sap was really flowing today. Collected about 60 gallons over past 2 days from 23 trees. Happy with that and expect a bit more over the weekend. We plan to boil Friday/Saturday when help arrives. Should be a really nice day for boiling out in the fresh air on Saturday. Season is kicking into high gear and I'm not sure what I was so worried about last week! Good luck everyone!

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Thanks for the update Lulugrein, I am back from a one night stay at the bush. I gathered 440 gal sap from 235 trees, and the 17 on tubing had 50 gal in the tank. But WOW the mud was relentless, the 4 wheeler and atv trailer with 65 gal of sap in it made some serious ruts in the woods. they filled in with water the worst I have ever seen.But on the plus side we have sap to cook Saturday. Today Thursday the 17th the trees were dry, needing cold temps to keep going. Saw a number of sandhills flying up and down the west branch Kickapoo river what a sound they make. got the bluebird houses ready for vacancy. Keep posting. God Bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Just back from a 3 night stay at the sugar bush, Friday March 18th was rainy windy wet glad to have full rain gear, got all the float boxes connected wood inside for Sat AM first boiling. Saturday 19th we started at 8:30 cooked 325 gal sap syrup was darker then a normal first boil but had a great taste. supper at 8pm Sunday 20th up at 6:30 have 180 gal sap to cook.was 25 degrees clear calm,was nice too have the mud frozen for a little while any ways. finished at 2PM so made a total of 13 gal dark robust grade syrup. Had the always fun clean up, then went up top to check buckets,most had sap so plan on Monday AM gather. Monday 21st up at 6;30 mostly cloudy 34 degrees started gathering at 7:45 finished at noon have about 200 gal in storage tanks. Both still have covered snow around them. headed home 1:30pm and its 72 degrees just nuts . going to stay with it as long as I can, but sure is discouraging. Heard a number of coyote each night, the always present owls. lots of winter birds, robins all over the place. a rooster pheasant in the marsh. God Bless.

[lulugrein]

Very similar situation over by us... from coyotes howling to the little bit of joy you feel when you wake up to the ground crunching under your feet. That means its going to be a good day! We boiled down about 50 gallons that came out of the RO at about 4.8%. Many trees in the range of 2.5% sugar content. Was a super day for boiling on Saturday. Finished it all in the cabin Sunday morning. Nice color deeper than previous years' early boils. Had a great time showing newbie sapsuckers how it all works. Hope we have another good run starting ?Thursday. Have fun slip sliding around in the woods!

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi fellow sappers, I went over Friday aft March 25th what a day, wind advisory for up to 50 mph gusts.with snow squalls. And there was plenty of both, the ground was white again trees bending over like I walk.But I did get my top tanks drained down to the big tank by sugar house. Sap tested at 2.5 percent. Saturday my son and I cooked 210 gal down to 6 gal syrup.he went home, and me well its clean up time YES finished that at 6:30 back to the cabin for time by the wood burner and supper. Sunday the 27th 17 degrees sunny and still a steady breeze out there. Went up top to empty old off color frozen sap from the buckets. Each one had about one quart inside. ready to see what the warm up brings this week, our syrup is quite dark this season where most seasons we make light to medium amber. Saw 3 deer running full out dont know what spooked them. God Bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Wow five days at the sugar bush, arrived Thursday March 31st had snow squalls with a covering of snow again. Gathered 540 gal sap with 70 in the tubing tank. took 7.5 hrs what a day, flurries steady cold wind up top. Friday April 1st 22 degrees will cook all day myself, cooked until 6 then cool down clean up.Made 7.75 gal dark syrup. then pumped two tanks into the big tank for Saturday.When I went down to the cabin I heard the first Peepers in the marsh,Saturday April 2nd woke up to 2-3 inches snow My son came and we cooked until 6:15 cool down clean up. The syrup was medium amber lighter color and taste the previous days? we made 9.75 gal syrup. Sunday April 3rd we gathered again every 3 trees was two full buckets to dump. took us 4.5 hrs got 550 gal sap and more in the tubing tank. he went home at 1 so I made three trips up top to get more firewood, think its dry enough to burn. were short a full days worth of wood.More peepers now, Monday April 4th I gathered all things for home will return asap to work on the stored 600 gals. saw 4 deer by sugar house, had a loud pack of coyotes sat night lots of geese in the marsh.God Bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Four more days under our belt, arrived Friday April 8th had an inch of new snow on the ground at home, but as I went west the snow all but disappeared.Spent three hours splitting more wood, had some dry elm and maple. Checked the buckets up top ,sap inside was off color or spoiled. Saturday April 9th morning temp was 24 degrees so got up at five am went up top with a headlamp to empty all the buckets for a fresh run of sap. 7:30 my son came we cooked the first half of stored sap until 7pm, more clean up hit the bunks at 10. Sunday April 10th we started evaporating at 8am finished at 4pm. we made 18 gal of dark amber syrup this weekend. I did the clean up he went home, then went up top to check on that expected run but found an average of 2or3 inches in the buckets.Monday April 11th the original plan was for more sap gathering but thats a no go so decided to call it a season. Got my 800ft mainline rolled up, packed things up for home. Season was above our average by 6 gallons for a total total of 54.5 gal some medium but most dark amber. Still need to go back and pull taps haul buckets down, wash all tanks pull tubing taps flush the line, saw deer at the bird feeder, heard a rooster Pheasant in the marsh along with peepers in force. God Bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Thought I would say hi everyone, tapped my back yard maple this afternoon February 7th on the north side of the tree and found it dripping. But still plan on the usual date of February 25th-26th. Sure has been a strange winter hear in Lodi. God Bless'

[Irish Ridge]

All I can do is read reports for the next week or so. I don't return from my winter migration for another week. Hopefully I will have my taps in by the 15th. Looking forward to an interesting season. in 2016 I tapped on Feb 14th with sap running and in 2017 tapped on Feb. 11 with taps running. If I was home I believe that I would be tapping, probably with success. Will share more in a week.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi everyone, traveled over to the land on Saturday Feb 18th have 230 buckets -lids along. Snow cover was sparse so glad to have the 4 wheeler to get things up top.There was 3-4 inches of snow in the valley shade, that went from snow to ice to bare ground as I went up. Placed my top tanks in their place but could not cover them with snow, that is a first for me in 13 years of sugaring. Saw two deer, heard lots of geese also. Stayed over and Sunday I cut more fire wood re marked the main line path down the hill with orange ribbons Like Irish Ridge the ice was a challenge on that task. We will be tapping the 25th so its truly on from there.God Bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi fellow sappers, spent 3 days over at the land,Friday Feb 24th arrived 3pm thankfully we had about 5-6 inches of dense snow so was able to cover my top tanks after all. Did that till dark,restful evening and night. Sat morning my son and friend came to help tap, took 5 hours to do 240 trees. Then they ran the 800 ft mainline down to the sugar house tank and hung it up on suspended wire near the tank. 4pm by then, but still had time for the Big Dirty. that is cleaning the soot out from the bottom of the flu pans raised flues. The weather was nice sun warm and a few trees running.Supper and a movie then bunk time,had some critter try to get in under the cabin but failed, it kept pulling on the wire at the bottom kind a of creepy sound when your trying to sleep.

Sunday 26th sunny cold 13 degrees calm, we went back in the valley to tap our 17 on 3/16th tubing, replaced some squirrel damage and ready to go. saw 2 deer on the sunny hillside. Season is on, God Bless.

[Irish Ridge]

6 am Monday. Nice update. I agree, the season is on. TV says we have received .67 inches so far overnight and about 4 more hours of rain. Hard to say how much of that packed snow around your tanks will remain when this is over. I checked my pails last on Friday and had a gallon on average of ice in each pail from the cold days and nights. Checked again yesterday and some had melted. Enough to collect after the rain and maybe even light a match later today. Wood peckers are going crazy in the woods. For a week I have been watching a couple of bluebirds claim a bird house. Looking forward to your next report.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Back from a 4 day sugar camp, Friday March 3rd arrived late had buckets of water, cabin needs and the finish pan to get back to the sugar house. Able to use the atv for gathering, started 3 pm guess 20% buckets over flowing. finished 10:15 pm 485 gal sap. Gathering with a headlamp is not any fun, had coyotes barking on our hill a bit unsettling for sure. Saturday my son and I cooked all day till 6,cool down clean up late supper and bunk time. Saw 3 deer today hear robins sand hill cranes geese small birds. was a nice day. Sunday March 5th we had more sap to cook, also 50 gal in the tubing tank, we have never had tubing sap on first weekend. Finished at 2pm, total syrup made 11.5 gal light to medium color.After clean up started gathering at dusk, but rain came so went to the cabin and wow did it kick in, sleet rain snow was pounding on the south east wall . Monday woke up to 1-2 inches of sleet slop fog mist but had to gather again slipped and slid all over the sugar bush but collected 450 gal all in storage tanks for future boiling. Then time to head home asap. the 3 sugar moon nights kept sap flowing but today taps shut off. God Bless.

[Irish Ridge]

Love your report. Really nice start to the season. I was wondering about your rain. I woke up to the sleet hitting our windows in the middle of the night. We also got some rain Saturday afternoon but it was more of a nuisance than anything else. Sap continues to flow by us. I have to keep the fire going tonight to keep up. Not sure what the snow will do for us. At this point, not even sure when it gets here. Til next week.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Well had 4 more days of this syrup thing, Friday March 10th arrived at 3:00 pm have 6 more inches of snow on top of last weeks 3 inches of sleet. Took water and finish pan back to the sugar house, thank fully was able to use the 4 wheeler went up top looked like a gallon or so in the buckets. had a opossum walking in the wheeler tracks, thought it would be hibernating yet. 7:25 supper and a nice fire in the stove. Saturday March 11th My son and I started cooking at 8:00 am things flowed along nicely till about 3:00 I was reading a gold mining magazine looked at the thermometer UH O 228 degrees my son whats burning. dumped some water in the finish pan pulled wood out of the fire box dumped out the bad syrup rinse the pan and start scrubbing scorch. That was not an easy task. Then refill start up the process again, cooked until 7:00 cool down 8:00 pm supper. had light snow falling evening thru night had 3 new inches. Sunday March 12th started cooking at 7:30 finished at 1:pm, my son headed home, I did minor clean up then went up top to gather. Collected 180 gallons, took me until 8:30 pm. Had snow squall and flurries pass thru, about 1 more inch snow. that was the deepest snow I ever gathered in, buckets would drag in the snow while caring them. lots of turkey tracks all over the woods, did see 2 Toms in the afternoon.At my 2 am wake up to put wood in the stove my bottom bunk has a support 2x4 in center, so you curl up to get out, and instant double charlie horses so stumbled around the room thought they were gone till I bent down to stock the stove, what a pain it is WOW. Monday March 13th should have gotten up sooner had a crazy dream that made me more tired then when I went to bed UGH. Did final clean up went home at noon. God Bless.

[Irish Ridge]

Ohh brother...Couldn't sleep thinking I had an early start boiling today. Had to check in on you first before I head out. What a weekend you had. Sorry to hear about your 228. I dread the thought. I am almost paranoid and stay pretty close to the fire. When I go through the night and load up I am still out every two hours reloading wood and more importantly checking the level of sap even though I set up so accidents are impossible. I have the same snow levels over here. Slippery mud underneath. The springs out of the hillside are the worst. Still no turkey track here; deer track yes. Forgot all about your mine claim. Its my rib muscles that are all messed up from my buckets. Getting to be a long season for me. May next weekend be easier on you. God bless my friend.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi fellow sappers, We did not make any syrup this past weekend. Thursday March 16th was a mild day but had rain all day, so I decided to not gather for 8 hrs in that. Friday March 17th was cold and super windy High of 27. Saturday March 18th was 6 above in the morning with a high temp of 25. So Sunday March 19th I drove over to dump out ice from all pails, on the way up the ridge road with the atv and trailer I hit hard ice and even with chains on all 4 tires I spun out and started to slide backwards down the hill, a bit of panic set in but the trailer jack knifed and stopped me. have to have something happen to keep this old heart of mine going. The second run I stayed in more snow and went right up, pails were mostly full and was able to slide the ice out. It sure looks funny with a block of frozen sap under every tree, guessing 600 gal. also while waiting for the temps to warm, I split some more dry wood about a pallet worth. I stayed over night. Monday March 20th low was 28 sunny warming up fast got the Blue Bird houses cleaned out and had to bring all our wash water home because all containers were frozen solid. Saw small birds, bobcat tracks in the snow. Our hill top is snow free but snow gets deeper on the way down with 8 inches in the valley shade. Until next time God Bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Friday March24th arrived at 9:15, as soon as I opened the truck door could hear the red winged black birds are back. Well took water and the finish pan to the sugar house, then went up top to gather and found most were overflowing, 8.5 hours later had 600 gallons.was a nice day very calm, trees running strong. Another late supper and sleep. Saturday March 25th my son arrived ,He started out in Lodi with heavy snow turned out 8 inches came down, but not a flake here.We cooked all day with last fire at 8pm made 11.25 gal medium syrup. Fixed him supper at 9:15. high temp 50 low was 32. Sunday March 26th 23 degrees calm we cooked all day he went home at 4 so I ran the whole show till 8:30 made 11.5 gal darker syrup then clean up. The cool down took longer than I thought but made it back to the cabin at 11pm was clear calm 29 degrees quarter moon. Food and sleep. Monday March 27th 7am sunny cold calm 24 degrees will gather sap today started at 10:45 finished at 3pm. got 345 gal put in tanks for future cooking. Will need to drop a few standing elm trees for dry fire wood to boil our last time. The maple sap has been testing at 2.25 percent,so my fire wood supply went down faster. Last season was running 2.5 percent. Also had an issue with sugar sand in the finish pan. God Bless.

[Irish Ridge]

Nice weekend report. I just smiled as we boiled on here as the snowstorm depth reports came in. No snow here either. Our temps matched yours and our very full 5 gallons pails matched yours. I haven't seen the snow fleas this year. Yesterday was the first day that there were more flies than moths around the pails. I haven't reached a 2.25% per cent all season. Topping out just above 2. Those are some long weekends you put in. All I have for now from the west of you.

[lulugrein]

Hi guys. I thought I had made a post but now don't see it. Will try to recreate...
I put in taps Feb 28th. Earliest ever for me. Retirement helps for that. Now on week 5 and I am elated about how its all gone. My record for syrup production of 6.5 G from last year is getting blown out of the water! At 9 gallons so far and one last big run and boil this weekend should get me close to 12 G!! I can relate about Charlie horses. Entire hamstring cramping that has interrupted a card game, sleep and an otherwise tasty meal at the Creekside in Readstown. My friends thought I was choking on the broasted chicken! Have had great help from fellow sapsuckers, nice days for boiling and all around great season. Still at 27 trees tapped. Had a run last week of 170 gallons of sap in 5 days. Surviving only because I have the RO bucket and a new Starcat evaporator dubbed the Moon Buggy. No more moving cinderblock around. Glad to see you are all still at it. Haven't heard from Tom Moore. Always think of him when the peepers start croaking. Have a great day! -LuAnn

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi all, had a long stay at sugar camp. Arrived Wed March 29th with plans to cut some dead dry standing elm, Started that 10:00 finished at 1:30. then split it all and piled it up by the sugar house door. was a cool windy 35 degree day. Thurs March 30th slept in that morning felt good for sure, was sunny 16 degrees The day was to gather some sap, but buckets were frozen so I pulled 72 taps along our field path,had to get the rain gear on with some light rain hitting me. Friday March 31st 41 degrees thunder storms got me up at 2:30 am was a great show of Gods creation. Went up top and gathered 130 gal of sap in the morning. then spent the whole day pulling the rest of the taps. I mark the tap hole with those hunter trail markers, makes next season easier to find where to drill. Glad I had rain gear the big storms came about 5 or so while I was hauling buckets down to the cabin, made two trips up and down in that storm. Sat April 1st my son and I had 625 gal to cook, worked all day with a 11:30 supper, was a windy cold day, Sunday April 2nd was clear and frosty, we cooked and finished at 4pm, the afternoon was warm had honey bees around even saw a butterfly could not figure that one out. Did some evening cleaning and organizing. with the season over we cooked 2,625 gal of sap made 62.75 gal of syrup our 2nd best ever. Monday April 3rd filled my pick up with all I could haul and the snowmobile on the trailer. saw 7 deer heard geese, owls , coyotes, lots of small birds. And the first peeper Sunday night. Oh forgot to tell about my neighbor, he stopped to see me while I was packing up the pick up ,and told me he and his wife were worried about me with the truck sitting there so long. Told me he went up his ridge road to check on me and see if I was drawing flies guess I was in good hands. God Bless.

[Irish Ridge]

Nice update. Glad you had such a great year. We had similar good results. I remember that night storm. My wife nudged me and asked why I wasn't getting up to watch. Just too tired. Easy as that. Haven't heard the peepers yet but the fish made it through the winter. Time for you to finish cleanup and then get set for some prospecting.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi fellow sappers, back from 2.5 day stay at the cabin. My 19yo grandson came over to help me, he brought his Honda dirt bike with him which I rode a bit, boy that thing will make a old guy feel 19 again. We gathered all the tanks- tarps and began the cleaning process.and pulled all 17 tubing taps, flushed them and drained the line till next spring. That was Friday April 14. It was hot sunny 87 degrees. Saturday April 15th 7:30 am I decided to cut two very large high bred poplar trees down by the cabin. They were 21 years old and I could not get my arms around them. up a ladder with a tow strap then 100 ft rope with a come along to another tree ,Bingo all went perfect. and I dont half to rebuild the cabin. Then I finished the tank washing and he split a pallet of fire wood. supper, movie time and sleep, we had some thunder storms and rain in the night. Sunday April 16th got up it was raining so we packed up, went home. Saw 7 deer- geese- and sand hill cranes, And now while posting this its snowing, hope you all have a great summer and God Bless.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Yesterday Saturday January 27th I took my snowmobile over to our sugar bush.I decided to place my top tanks out and cover them with snow and tarps, seeing our snow is melting away. The second week of January we had three snows with a total of 20 inches, followed by a week of sub zero temps than a warming trend, and now down to 3 to 6 inches in the woods. Also noticed the ground is not frozen so would bet the trees are running. I will wait until last weekend in February for tapping. But open to a sooner date. It was a damp foggy day, stayed over in the cabin Saturday night with burgers for supper and a movie. Enjoyed the quiet night by the wood stove fire light. Sunday morning I saw two eagles, plenty of birds at the feeder. Hope you are all well , lets see what this mixed up winter will bring us.




date.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Another mild day so I tapped a maple behind my house and my fears were true,sap was running and the tap was on the north side of the tree.BUMMER FOR SURE. to early to tap yet to late to wait. never seen this before .

[AKsyrup]

I usually only have time to collect and boil for a two week span so I went for with this warm up. Put in 50 taps from 10-12 on Sunday and collected 100 gallons this afternoon. Had half a dozen 3 gallon buckets overflowing. Northern Iowa County

[Irish Ridge]

Tuesday, Feb. 6th. Greetings all. Enjoying the warmth of St. Martin and watching the thermometer back in Crawford County. And now my fears have been confirmed by these reports. Not returning until Next Wednesday so Thursday of next week will be my first day back at this crazy hobby of ours. I don't mind missing the first big push but I would hate to see it get so crazy warm too soon that buds start developing way to early. I'll be looking forward to more posts as I sit here each day doing the math on how much sap and potential gallons of syrup I am forfeiting.

[AKsyrup]

Headed out and collected another 75 gallons off of 50 taps yesterday afternoon. South facing trees didn’t produce much but still had a few overflowing buckets on some trees in the bottom.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

I see a bunch of activity out there, I was in South Dakota this last week for MSHA training, my son and daughter in law will be mining gold on a permitted claim in the black hills. So My wife and I had to be certified to help at the mine. Looks like end of February first weekend of March for tapping here. Had a text today from a large producer above Green Bay, he told me he has 50 barrels put up already thats like 2,500 gallons WOW. The weather sure is a challenge this winter. God Bless.

[AKsyrup]

Boiled down 200+ gallons on Friday and Saturday and got about 5.5 gallons of syrup for the week. Should be a decent run through Thursday before the cool down. Will probably pull taps and call it a season in the middle of February. Wild year for syrup.

[Tommoore30]

Hi Lulu, Mr. Sugar Maple, Irish Ridge and others - Tom Moore here! Long story short - we made the move from Waukesha County to our 20+ year land in Vernin County and built our last home. Moved in April last year. Needless to say, no tapping last year and none this year, as we're getting ready for some new kid goats soon. HOWEVER, my blood is boiling to boil sap! Going to try to do it right and wait out this year and get re-organized for 2025. Keep posting all of you - I'm living vicariously thru you this year. Not tapping for two years is making me crazy. I walk the woods each morning (now that we're 5 minutes away instead of 3 hours) and really tuning in. Reading all your posts - so keep it going! Tom

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Tom, welcome to Vernon County. Congratulations on the new home I would love to have a home there, my home is 80 miles from the sugar bush. With my son moving to South Dakota our plan was to have him come back March 1st and tap get things set make syrup. Now with this warm weather dont know if the trees will wait. In a normal year that is about the right time for tapping. God Bless

[Irish Ridge]

Saturday, Feb. 17th...Hey Tom. Good to hear from you again. I remember the three hour drives to our land here in Crawford before we built as well. We always thought it was worth it. Retired in 2010 and don't ask where the last 14 years went because I sure don't know. We returned from vacation Thursday. Friday was spent tapping my 50 trees. Not a tree was running with the cold weather. Today will be getting everything else ready up top. It was sure nice being able to set buckets right onto the ground. My woods are free of snow. The weather report for this neck of the woods shows a good week ahead and who knows after that. Tis the season.

[lulugrein]

Great to hear from you, Tom! I was worrying about you last year. Must feel good to put down deep roots on your land that you love. That is cool. I had what I thought was a great plan, spend a few weeks in Arizona and be back at end of Feb to get the season going. Instead, here I sit in Tucson checking the weather a couple of times a day and reading sugaring updates here and on facebook. The artic blast that I thought was going to happen while I was gone never did materialize. I'm with Irish Ridge, thinking about all the sap that I'd have collected by now. Nothing I can do about it so I'm just going to enjoy the nice weather, hike the beautiful mountains and work on my golf game. I'll be over to tap on March 2nd. I'm sure I'll still get something out of the season (north facing slope helps). In the mean time, I'll check in every so often and hope that the buds don't pop. Take care everyone!

[AKsyrup]

Pulled my taps a week ago before the cold spell and have everything cleaned and put away for the year. Finished up boiling last weekend for a total of about 9 gallons of syrup. Not too shabby for having the taps in for 10 days. Pretty crazy to be all done when I’d usually just be starting to pull things out of storage.

[Irish Ridge]

Saturday, Feb. 24th....Was a nice week for collecting sap and evaporating. Sap flow was good, not a lot of wind to bother me and the smoke stack until yesterday, and not much mud to slip on in the woods. Actually scared up a grouse. We had three strong days of boiling and got done outside yesterday around noon. This morning we "finished" up inside on the gas stove in the kitchen and arrived at a grand total of 5.25 gallons for the week. Syrup was a nice amber color. Looking at the long range weather, I am thinking that the upcoming week may just be my last week of the season. And now it is time to get back outside and organize fire wood for this next week, empty ash, and overall cleanup. Was a good first week - No surprises.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi everyone, well the season is a total bust for me, we decided to not tap at all with this unpredictable weather, 74 degrees today. Was at our land this weekend found greasy soft muddy ground in the valley and dry firm ground up in the bush.I cut more fire wood and put my tanks back inside the sugar house. Saw 4 deer heard robins and red winged blackbirds. No peepers yet, but cant be far off with the warm gusty winds. Friend John found where a huge boulder came down a steep section of the land and took out a 20 inch birch tree,glad that caught it because with the route it was on it could have worked its way down and thru our cabin. Just nuts. I hope those of you who are sugaring will be able to complete your season, God Bless.

[Irish Ridge]

Saturday, March 2nd.....Strange week. Good sap flow early in the week, then a shut down, and another good flow towards the end of the week. Had a great early week boil and an all day boil Saturday late into the evening. Serious study of the long range forecast brought on the decision to pull taps on Saturday simply to avoid mud in the woods with rain in the forecast throughout the week. Did I leave some sap out there? Perhaps, but I was beginning to collect ants, moths, and flies as well. Sap was also not as clear. The plan is to boil Sunday afternoon, finish up inside Monday, start clean up Tuesday.

[Irish Ridge]

Sunday, March 3rd...Boiled all day Saturday. Everything is out of the woods and limited clean up began in between putting in wood. Some friends stopped over with beverages. A nice discussion was held on why at least one had to limit consumption to prevent pan damage. There was little belief until the challenge was made to go to the "backyard maple syrup maker" facebook page to view burned up pans. Then there was understanding. Boiled late and then kept a slow go through the night. It meant running out and putting wood in every two hours. When it is 45 degrees all through the night it really isn't too bad. Sunday the wind was terrible and though I boil outside I am protected by from the wind for the most part. We finished outside around 5 p.m. and then it was time to watch the Iowa basketball (Clark) from earlier in the day. We finish on the gas stove inside tomorrow morning while it rains outside.

[Irish Ridge]

Monday, March 4th...Some rain, some lightning, some showers. Good morning to be inside and finishing up syrup. Started early and completed by noon. 4 plus gallons today for a total of 9.75 gallons of syrup. We are happy with this total considering we watched the first half of the season pass by from a beach in the islands. We had a real nice sugar content over two per cent and even close to 3 at times. There was lots of sand this year and without good filters, well, I don't even want to think how it would have turned out. One last random thought...this might be our last year. A friend is willing to take all of my supplies over to his land and start anew. We are looking forward to taking him under our wing for a year.

SM...I hated to read you were taking this year off but your decision is certainly based on good logic. I was actually having the same debate in my mind a few weeks ago. Glad I did but now face a major cleanup. At least you won't have the "big dirty" to look forward to. I'll be looking forward to hearing about the out west mining results next spring. Also, still waiting to hear from more of the regulars on this thread.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Thanks Irish Ridge, Glad you had a good season. I am still bummed about not sugaring this season but next spring will come, and we all hope for a normal winter- spring. Thanks 0n the gold mining, this will be our first time mining on a permitted claim. My son and I are going to southern California to pick up a new wash plant so looking forward to that trip. We hope to be mining by end of May. God Bless.

[lulugrein]

Hi guys. Well, I get to have a sugaring season after all. Returned from Arizona on March 1st. Tapped 30 trees in rain and hail yesterday and this morning they are all running fast and clear after a cold night down to 29. I realize I'm creating one big mess for what may only be a 7 day run but to hear the tap, tap, tap (and CF = crazy fast if you don't remember my rating system) makes it all worth it. Help will be arriving later in the week with plan for 2 day boil Sat-Sun. Maybe pull taps early next week if warm up plays out. Buds are barely visible or not at all on my north-facing slope.

Thats all for now. I'll make season finale report early next week. Go Hawkeyes!

Life is good.