Western Wisconsin

[motowbrowne]

Got about 1/3 of our taps in. Started on the south side. Some trees running, but so far only on the southernmost edge. Already over 40 today. Didn't freeze last night. Snow's disappearing fast. Almost feels like 2012. Forecast looks better in a week, but so far I'm not seeing anything that makes me want to put in more taps and clean the evaporator. If the buds hold off, things could shape up, but it doesn't look good if this warmth keeps going. Anyone else thinking about skipping this year, or at least waiting to see what happens next week?

[maple flats]

Keep going, the sap will run as soon as mother nature says so. Right now the ground is frozen hard too deep.

[Balsam Hills]

My trees mainly face south. So far nothing is running. I learned a long time ago to never make early predictions about the season. Heck, last week it was well below zero. Who knows what will happen in a week or two? Patience...

[markcasper]

I learned along time ago when all the BTO's get their taps in, you have at least another week before things really like to happen. Yes it feels like 2012, BUT 2012 had one of the warmer February's on record, while this year was the 3rd coldest. There is a fair amount of frost where there was no snow cover and with every day being plain jane and fair weather, that is not conducive to good sap flow. We need some storms and weather systems moving in, thats when we get the best runs. With that being said, I'm not optomistic that it will be a barrel buster year. I will be getting all the vacuum taps in and going, but will hold off on the bags until next week and then determine weather it will be worth doing them or not.

[Ray Maack]

My Southside reds just started giving sap today. Got a couple of gallons out of 36 taps.

[motowbrowne]

Well, thanks for the encouragement guys. I talked tapped our gravity lines and have done about 2/3 of the buckets. Collected about 150 gallons of sap yesterday. Enough to fire up the cooker. Some trees are running a little bit, but most seem dry. Sap in the tank tested at 3.8%, so at least something is on our side. Still keeping our fingers crossed for next week. Temps are supposed to cool down a little. Haven't started leaving the refrigerator door open yet, but it's tempting.

[Tommoore30]

Hi Ray Maack - Tom Moore in Dell, (hwy P) any update? I'm going to look at 15-20 taps all south fence line in afternoon sun. Hoping to have enough to boil.

[motowbrowne]

It's running good today!!!

[mainstreet]

Yep, same here. Those frosty nights work wonders!

[motowbrowne]

Well it looks like I forgot to check back in on this thread I started:o. Last year ended up being pretty decent. A little less than our average on a per tap basis, but we made about 105 gallons from our 420ish taps. As I recall, we ended up making most of our syrup in April, so I obviously tapped a little early. At the end of the season, the oldest holes dried up before the most recently drilled holes, so there was room for improvement, as usual.

This year, hopefully without jumping the gun and tapping WAY too early, we tapped out 80% yesterday. It ran really hard, with some single taps putting out 3 gallons in 18 hours. It ran all night, but has slowed considerably. I'm guessing we'll have about 400 gallons when we collect this afternoon. Pretty good for the first 24 hours! Based on how our test taps did, we missed a good amount of sap on Friday, but we had onions to plant, so there wasn't much choice in the matter.

Going forward, it looks like there's a little chance for sap tomorrow, and then it freezes up until Friday. All in all, it seems to be a good start to the year. We get enough sap right away to get everything sweetened up and get us moving around and then a nice 4 day recharge that'll allow us to get everything dialed in without the drowning in sap.

Here's to a good early sap season in 2016!

[motowbrowne]

Didn't get anything between last Sunday afternoon and yesterday afternoon. Started dripping for a few hours Saturday, maybe got a between a pint and a quart of sap per tap. Things really broke loose around noon Sunday. It's still running now at 3:00 am Monday (I'm up with the new baby).

Finally fired up the cooker yesterday afternoon, which was nice. After collecting Sunday afternoon, I've probably got 600 gallons of sap on hand, so at least I'll get to do a little cooking in the next few days. I opted not to cook anything before yesterday in part to try to get some ice in my tanks. I figure with this warm spell and extra cold we can hang onto the better. It's supposed to be much too warm this week, but what can you do? Hopefully we still get something out of the next several days.

[motowbrowne]

Well I cooked a decent amount of syrup between the 6th and the 13th. Probably have made about 40 gallons so far, with enough in the rig to break 50. I'm really hoping for another few days of sap starting Friday. They're giving us some decent overnight lows later this week including 25 degrees on Friday night.

It would sure be nice to cook some more. If we are done now, it would be the second worst year on record for us. At least we've done better than 2012, but there's still lots of room for improvement. If there's one thing I've taken away from this season, it's that I'm gonna install a bunch of 3/16" tubing for next year. Seeing the numbers some other folks are coming up with on days when we're twiddling our thumbs makes it seem like a no-brainer. One one hand it's tough to go spend money on new equipment after a poor year, but if it means we actually get some sap during marginal weather in the next few years, then it will be worth it. Plus, a few less buckets to empty would be just fine with me!

[Cody]

If you have descent slope go for it.Yesterday on our 900 taps we collected 997 gallons.3/16 line is crazy.

[motowbrowne]

If you have descent slope go for it.Yesterday on our 900 taps we collected 997 gallons.3/16 line is crazy.

I'm not positive of the total elevation drop, but the app on my phone puts it at around 40-45 feet. Some trees in the middle of the run obviously won't get the full effect, but we haven't had any sap since Saturday whereas you've been pulling sap every day. I think it's worth a shot.

[Cody]

I'm not positive of the total elevation drop, but the app on my phone puts it at around 40-45 feet. Some trees in the middle of the run obviously won't get the full effect, but we haven't had any sap since Saturday whereas you've been pulling sap every day. I think it's worth a shot.No expert on it but it is amazing what it has done for our woods.Last year after no freezing our runs dropped right off to a trickle.Yesterday was a pleasant surprise.If you want we could look at your woods or vice-versa.

[motowbrowne]

Well, I went to Pittman's yesterday morning and bought all the 3/16 tubing they had. Unfortunately that was only 800', so I'll only get to make one full length run and a short one without the full drop. I have only mild slope, so it needs to run a long way to get a decent elevation change.

I got it strung up yesterday and the drops installed and holes drilled this morning. I put 16 taps on the long line I installed. The tap holes were dry when I drilled them, but just for fun I started the vacuum by pouring about 12oz of water into the line from the top tap. About 5 minutes later, every tap was running! Nothing else in our woods is running today. We'll still have to see how it does over then next week and a half, but I'm thinking that I'm gonna switch to 3/16 everywhere possible. Some taps may only have a few inches of vacuum, but I think I can get 18hg or more on a lot of the woods.

Cody, I'd love to check out your woods or vice-versa. Send me a text if you get a chance 715-222-3237. If I came over there, is there any chance I could come when you're gonna drop off sap at your neighbors? It's always fun to see someone else's rig in action.

[markcasper]

Hi Ryan....so you went for the 3/16" already? Its amazing what vacuum does whether natural or pumped. I came home from work just now and I won't be getting much sleep, tanks will be running over by noon and the sap really cleared up ! Last year I tapped a few that I missed and it had not froze for a few, it was a warm balmy night, nothing at all for moisture when drilled. as soon as I plugged them in, the sap just exploded literally within 5 seconds after putting full vacuum on.

Someone told my wife yesterday that Pittman was having alot of 3/16" plugging up....with what I don't know and wondering if you learned anything?

[motowbrowne]

Hi Ryan....so you went for the 3/16" already? Its amazing what vacuum does whether natural or pumped. I came home from work just now and I won't be getting much sleep, tanks will be running over by noon and the sap really cleared up ! Last year I tapped a few that I missed and it had not froze for a few, it was a warm balmy night, nothing at all for moisture when drilled. as soon as I plugged them in, the sap just exploded literally within 5 seconds after putting full vacuum on.

Someone told my wife yesterday that Pittman was having alot of 3/16" plugging up....with what I don't know and wondering if you learned anything?

Hey Mark, it was nice meeting you the other day.

Yeah, I wanted to see this 3/16 in action without a vacuum pump, so I figured I'd better get on it.

What's Greg's wife's name? I should know, but I forget. Anyway, I asked if she knew anyone running 3/16. She said they had sold some, but hadn't heard anything back about it. I guess I'd think that means that they aren't running any. I figure if they had some installed she would have mentioned something.

I'm glad I did get even one run installed. Without really seeing it, I don't know if I could've pulled the trigger to do the whole woods. Now it seems like it would be stupid to leave them on buckets for next year.

Another benefit I'm seeing is that it'll be easier to find a place to put a taphole. My dad's been tapping here since about '75. Some of these trees don't have a lot of space without old holes. With this tubing I can put a tap higher than all the old stuff.

Glad you're getting sap Mark! If I remember, you've got some time off work starting today. Seems like the timing might work out perfectly. Have fun! Call me if you need a hand keeping up.

[markcasper]

Hey Mark, it was nice meeting you the other day.

Yeah, I wanted to see this 3/16 in action without a vacuum pump, so I figured I'd better get on it.

What's Greg's wife's name? I should know, but I forget. Anyway, I asked if she knew anyone running 3/16. She said they had sold some, but hadn't heard anything back about it. I guess I'd think that means that they aren't running any. I figure if they had some installed she would have mentioned something.

I'm glad I did get even one run installed. Without really seeing it, I don't know if I could've pulled the trigger to do the whole woods. Now it seems like it would be stupid to leave them on buckets for next year.

Another benefit I'm seeing is that it'll be easier to find a place to put a taphole. My dad's been tapping here since about '75. Some of these trees don't have a lot of space without old holes. With this tubing I can put a tap higher than all the old stuff.

Glad you're getting sap Mark! If I remember, you've got some time off work starting today. Seems like the timing might work out perfectly. Have fun! Call me if you need a hand keeping up.

I believe Greg's wife name is Debbie. My wife heard that at church the other night about the tubing "plugging" up and even stories get passed at church. Yes, I don't have a day of work til April 4th so that will be nice. I am still hoping to get a run or two of 3/16 up without a pump. My sap bringing buddy said why don't I look at the 3/16" and what its doing before you turn the pump on some day......made me think a minute. The bad thing is the sugar. Down to 1.7% day before last and expect today will be even lower, but the clarity is much better. Going to be gathering lots this afternoon AND I have an inspector coming Wednesday. Good luck to you.

[pls009]

I am a small sample size but last year (2015) I ran 3 lines of 3/16th tubing with a 100 taps (Buffalo County). I put three vacuum gauges on top of the lines (steep slope) and was able to achieve 28.5 vacuum all season and had a great time with it. I also need to mention that my gauges didn't read that high right away because I failed to put tape/sealant on the treads of the gauge. This year I noticed a couple lines were sagging and the gauges didn't register vac even though there was some sap coming out the bottom. I walked the lines and noticed where the sap wasn't coming thru the T. On two spots, I had wood chips plugging the T - you could see some slime build up on the up hill side of the T. Easy to clean out with a nail. No issues last year and only two issues this year. I used CDL tubing - I did mention my experience to Pittman's a few day's ago and they might have been referring to me. They mentioned that the new Leader 3/16 lines had a different T design, I didn't really follow what they meant but maybe the Leader folks have something figured out there that I am unaware of. Long story short, I think the 3/16th line is great, you really still should walk the lines after the first good flow to make sure everything is moving. Based on my experience, you might not have any issues the first year. I will continue to utilize 3/16 line on steep slope but also have to realize that nothing is ever trouble free. I know my vacuum on 5/16 isn't either or is my bags hanging on the tree.

[Cody]

These stories are funny when we called Pittman's in January they didn't have any 3/16 line at the time and told me he was concerned about it plugging up and it might not move the sap fast enough on a heavy flow day.Well we talked on phone for awhile and he wanted me to come down and check out there nice releaser's and vacuum pumps they had.After he couldn't get no where with that, he got my phone number and within 2 hours he called me back and said he would have line there in a couple days.

[markcasper]

What are you using for spiles since Leader didn't have any yet? I didn't like the idea of spending more to put a dual connecter in the drop line, so I ordered spouts from cdl. Plus, I was told basically in one sentence at the leader open house that you could and couldn't have a 3/16" drop line. Lot of opinions and no facts IMO.

[Cody]

We are using regular 5/16 clear spiles and 5/16 drop lines, CDL has a 3/16-5/16 tee so you can still use 5/16 drop lines. so 80% of our woods has 5/16 spiles and droplines.

[motowbrowne]

Well, it's been fun visiting everyone this week.

On Tuesday I got to go see Mark Casper's setup in Knapp and see how fast syrup comes out of a 4x12 when the sap goes in at 10%. I think we made more syrup in an hour and a half than I can in a day.

Just this morning I went to see the woods Cody and his dad are tapping. I definitely don't have the slope these guys are working with, but I hope with the addition of a Shurflo at the bottom of my hill that I'll be able to see some numbers like they're seeing next year.

We had a decent run yesterday and it ran even a little better today. If Cody and Mark aren't posting, it's probably because they're trying to keep afloat in all the sap they're pulling in. We finally got enough to fire up the rig again. I cooked about another 8 gallons of syrup this afternoon, and I've still got about 300-350 gallons of sap on hand.

Many of our tapholes dried up, so we decided to put out another 80 or so this morning. There's no way that this will be a bumper year for us, due to the warm weather in the middle of the season, but we may manage to eek out a 70-80% crop. If that happens, it'll be much easier to swallow the price of installing new tubing on the majority of our woods. Plus, there's that new chainsaw I've been eyeing...

Anyway, I'm gonna shut down the rig for the night and come back in the morning. A big thanks to Cody, Todd, Mark, Mark, and to mapletrader for putting everyone in touch!

[motowbrowne]

On a related note, I ordered a couple of Shurflo 2088s at 3:00am Sunday morning. Amazon said they could have them here by Tuesday with 2 day shipping (free with my Amazon prime trial). I'll be ****ed if they didn't move it forward. They're now telling me that they'll be here by 8:00pm Monday. That's 41 hours or less! Here I thought I had until Tuesday evening to get my plumbing all figured out, but now I gotta jump on it.

My plan is to build a basic manifold and hook up a Shurflo to my 100 taps on 5/16. I wish now that I had done this three weeks ago, but live and learn, I guess. Hopefully it'll give me a decent amount of sap even with old holes.

[motowbrowne]

My Shurflo pumps came at 1:45 today. I don't know how you can order something at 3:00 am Sunday, and Amazon can get it in the car of my Wisconsin Rural Letter Carrier by the time they leave the post office Monday morning. Really not trying to advertise here, I'm honestly boggled.

I didn't get time to cook this afternoon, even though I should have. Had other commitments. Did bring in 300 gallons of sap from our buckets, though. So now I've got about 600 gallons on hand plus what's on the trees. We collected from 2:30 to 4:00, and it hasn't stopped running yet. Definitely slowed down, but still dripping out there.

The minute I went home I went to work plumbing up the Shurflo. I got it rigged up on about 80 taps. It still needs some fine tuning, but it's pulling 12.5" right now. I'm very impressed at it's performance given the price. Tomorrow I'll rig up a recirculation line and try to get that number closer to 20.

Alright, time for bed. Gotta get up early and get cooking!

[Cody]

Now your cooking Ryan.We have been getting great runs on the 3/16line,our last load last night we went over 16000 gallons of sap for the season so far.

[markcasper]

Came in for some coffee......3900 gallons sap between Monday and Tuesday, got it all through the RO once and doing a rinse. Will fire up shortly. The sap that ran on the south hill side today really clouded up in a hurry, so snatched that and ro'ed it straight to the head tank. The syrup I made Monday morning was almost MA and tasted awesome. Other than a little different smell to the steam, I have not detected any bud .....yet. Sugar content of the sap went up about .15-.20 after the couple freezing nights we had, so its between 1.8 - 1.9.

When I picked the last sap up at 7pm, they had almost come to a stop even with full vacuum. I'm thinking there will be a mother load of a run sometime during or right after this snowstorm.

[motowbrowne]

Glad to hear you're cooking away Mark! Seems like good timing for your time off work after all.



When I picked the last sap up at 7pm, they had almost come to a stop even with full vacuum. I'm thinking there will be a mother load of a run sometime during or right after this snowstorm.

I think you're right. My forecast is showing 3-5" of snow and about 10 hours below freezing followed by a high of 41 Thursday. It's always hard to predict, but it seems like a recipe for success.

After that it freezes Thursday night and again Saturday and Sunday, so we should be in for some sap yet this year.

I cooked most of the day yesterday. Cooked down about 650 gallons of sap and made 17 or 18 gallons of syrup. Nota record by any means, but my biggest day of cooking this year. I probably have about 300-350 gallons from yesterday to deal with, but then I'm caught up. So far, I'm right under 70 gallons drawn off, so between what I cook today and what's left in the cooker, it seems like 80-90 gallons for the season is within reach. Still hoping for more sap, though. It'd be really great to break 100 gallons. Anything over that and I'll be tickled pink.

[motowbrowne]

Well 3-5" of snow turned into about 9 or 10. :o

We're pretty well socked in at my place. It's been below freezing for about 7 hours so far and it should hold all night. Hopefully this freeze and the storm brings some big sap runs in the next few days.

I'm headed up north to look at a new evaporator after the sun comes up. I told my wife that since we're going from 420 taps without vacuum to 350 on vacuum and about 100 buckets, that there's gonna be a lot more cooking next year. In 2013 I cooked 160 gallons of syrup on my 2x10, but that was a lot of long days. I told her that it was her choice for next year. I said that I could run it all through the current rig and have plenty of 14 hour days boiling, or we could get a bigger cooker. Lo and behold, she says we should get a bigger rig!

There's two 4x14s near me on Craigslist right now as luck would have it. One of them has pans that have been repaired with JB Weld, so that's out, but the other one looks good from the description. 4x14 is a little bigger than a need, but hey maybe I'll find some sap to buy. If not I think I'll end up with lots of 3-4 hour cooking sessions, which would be great. A 3x12 would probably be a little better fit, but I can buy this 4x14 for quite a bit less than a new 3x12, so that's hard to ignore.

I'll see if I can get a couple pictures while I'm up there. I don't really like thinking about how much work it's gonna be to disassemble my cooker and install a new one, but if I do go with a 4x14, I'll probably never have to do it again.

[markcasper]

Ryan, I don't think a 4 x14 is too big! Seldom do I boil every 24 hours, in other words it gets to be 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 days of run time per boiling session. It just works out that way because of the length of time to collect and days where sap doesn't start running til later afternoon. Throw working out and a one man operation and thats how it is.

Slept a good 12 hours, was hoping it would have stayed froze up today. Needless to say I am getting bushed. After today, I will be at 1/2 gallon syrup per tap, so that is good, but there is alot of dark syrup this year. Was hoping to get some more light stuff, but its just going to get too warm even with the snow.

[motowbrowne]

Well, I hope it's not too big, since I made the deal!!!

It's got stainless sides on the arch, a big ole stainless stack, mirror finished pans, the whole works. It's a raised flue with a cross flow front pan. Mark, the seller says that if he's really cooking, he can do 200 gph, which would be a big improvement from the 70 I get on my 2x10. Looks like I've got a LOT of work to do before next season.

Hopefully I'll be able to sell my current rig without any trouble. It's a good cooker, but with a baby now, I just can't cook for 12 hours a day. I did list it in the classifieds if anyone is interested.

[markcasper]

Ryan....my friend that brings over sap asked me for your number. He is interested in your 2x10, I'm thinking he'd like to come and see it in operation NOW this season. I'll get him your number today when he comes just so you know. The bear are awake, they hit the woods with the 3/16" sometime during the snow storm. Guess its time to bring a different tool along to the woods that will fix the problem. What a PITA to add to the mix this year!

I don't know 200 GPH on a stock 4x14 is kind of a stretch IMO. Depends how big the flue pan is. The most we ever got out of my 4x12 was 163 gph. If its a 10 footer then it may be possible. Preheater?

[dschultz]

Ryan is that 4x14 forced air or natural draft?

[motowbrowne]

Ryan is that 4x14 forced air or natural draft?

Hey Danny! Nice to hear from you. Hope your season is going well.

It's natural draft. Plain Jane all the way around.

Mark, pass my number along by all means. It's 715-222-3237. I'll be cooking all day today and probably also part of tomorrow. I'd be happy to have guests.

It is a 10' flue pan, but I agree 200 sounds a little high. I did notice that he was burning really fine spilt stuff. Almost as small as I burn in my 2x10, so that might make a difference. Even if I'm less than 200 for now, I could always add a preheater and a blower in the future if I find myself short on time again.

By the way, Danny, I got a quote on an intense ofire just for fun. Roth wants 27,000 for a 3x12!!!!!

[maplenutter butter]

I have a 4x14 with an 801 Carlin burner and I'm getting a constant 200 gallons an hour. I also have a piggyback with a blower as well. Just my two cents.

[motowbrowne]

Well, it sounds like I'll have to report back next year on evaporation rate. On that note, how are you guys measuring gph? Is there something you can install in the line to the float that can tell you?

[dschultz]

Ryan give me a call when you have time you have my number

[motowbrowne]

Well, it ran pretty good Thursday after the snow storm. I went out Thursday night around midnight to shut off the Shurflo pump, and even though all the lines were frozen, most of the buckets were still running. It was about 28 degrees out, and had been below freezing for about 4 hours. Just shows you how hard it is to predict this stuff.

Ran real good again starting this morning, also. I cooked most of the day and made about a dozen gallons of syrup. It looks like I've got about 82-84 gallons made so far with enough sap to make at least 5 more gallons. Add the amount that's still in the evaporator, and it looks like 100 gallons is a pretty close estimate of where we'll be.

I'm really really looking forward to having most of the woods on vacuum next year. It'll be great to get a longer life from our tapholes, and hopefully make a bunch more syrup. Since 2013 (when we made .38 gallons per tap), our per tap average has been a little less than a quart per tap. If we approach .5 gallons per tap next year, that would be a huge improvement!

It'll be tough waiting a whole year to fire up the new cooker, but it sure will be nice not to have to go back out after dinner and cook all night.

[Cody]

Busy collecting sap and helping put up wood for Mark. Tree's are still running like crazy on 3/16 line,should be at .5 gallon of syrup per tap today.Checked tanks this morning and have just under 800 gallons of sap over night since it didn't freeze last night.Congrats on your new rig Ryan.

[markcasper]

Buddy syrup showed up at my place last night and this morning! Its just getting started, but its definately there. The sap I brought in a few hours ago was some of the cleanest sap since the start. Have to see how todays sap turns out Wondering whether to pull the reds tomorrow or just throw the towel in all together? The buddy was not there on Wednesday when I last cooked.

[mainstreet]

When the trees start budding can you taste the difference in the sap? Since I only have 20 tapped I can taste the sap of each. I pulled some of the reds with "antennas" already but left a couple in to see if there is a difference in the sap taste. The sugars still have a ways to go, hoping they make it through this warm stretch to next weekend when the temps look good again.

[markcasper]

When the trees start budding can you taste the difference in the sap? Since I only have 20 tapped I can taste the sap of each. I pulled some of the reds with "antennas" already but left a couple in to see if there is a difference in the sap taste. The sugars still have a ways to go, hoping they make it through this warm stretch to next weekend when the temps look good again.

I cannot detect it in the sap, but definately can when its boiling. The syrup I cooked in the overnight lightened way up. It has a faint off taste, but not bad at all. It does have a strange smell to the steam, but seems more metabolic than buddy the way it looks now. So I'm going to keep going, I have a tank I have to go and pump now and will cook tomorrow again.

[mainstreet]

Thanks for your response Mark. Appreciate the wisdom!

[markcasper]

Made 55 gallons of commercial last night. It was pretty good tasting so technically maybe it is "B". Its got that end of season composition though. We pulled most all of the soft maples a few days ago in an effort to stave off the bud. Going to pull the few in the other woods now. Right at about 2/3 gallon syrup per tap. If we get decent flows this weekend it will set a record for per tap anyways. The sugar has dropped to 1.5% in so the writing is on the wall for this season. Heard the frogs at the creek this past Monday. The syrup boiled really fine and filtered about 75% of normal so not too bad there either. The sugar sand is horrible in the pans this year it seems.

[mainstreet]

Disappointing day. Was hoping for some good runs, but oh well. Boiled what I had and will finish everything tomorrow. Pulled all but a few in case I boiled too deep, which was the plan with my new setup. Hope you vacuum guys did better.

[Cody]

Sap still running about .5 to .75 gallon per tap,been a crazy year one for the books.Sap got real cloudy for a couple days but cleared up now,never really got warm enough to run much yesterday see what today will bring.

[markcasper]

so your still going? Some have quit and some are still going. Some guys have quit collecting parts their woods while keeping other parts going. Really a strange year! I'll pickup through tomorrow and then probably hang it up.

[motowbrowne]

I'm down to about 25 buckets still running plus my one 3/16 line with 20 taps. Still a little trickling in from my 80 on Shurflo vacuum, but those taps spent 3 weeks with no vacuum and they're old spouts, so they're mostly done.

I'm with you Mark, probably one more collection today and call it quits. Unless of course Cody and Todd need some sap cooked.:)

[dschultz]

Hard maples still going strong here 2 plus gallons per tap a day.If they want to keep giving I'll keep taking till there done.

[lpakiz]

Buddy showed up at my place yesterday also. Too bad, as I got 265 gallons, clear as well water, on about 150 taps, 27 inches vacuum. Sure destroyed my enthusiasim.
Is the ANY market for off-tasting syrup?

[markcasper]

Buddy showed up at my place yesterday also. Too bad, as I got 265 gallons, clear as well water, on about 150 taps, 27 inches vacuum. Sure destroyed my enthusiasim.
Is the ANY market for off-tasting syrup?

Yeh I know what you mean.....seen some of the nicest sap yesterday, thought it was day one! You can sell as commercial but it isn't worth nearly as much.

[Cody]

Pulled taps today still running good.Sap nice and clear but doesn't make good syrup.real light colored but a lingering taste and not maple taste.

[markcasper]

Looks like one more small cook late tonight. Trees are running from the hard freeze today. Picked up 2340 gallons since Friday off and down to 750 taps and boiled it last night. Trees ran really good this past Saturday night after the 14 degree morning low and the sugar went up about 2/10". The syrup has somewhat of a off taste, DA in color but it definately was worth the effort. It boiled really nice. It did start to filter harder however, time to quit and looks like the weatherman will take care of that. Season turned out much better than I thought it would.

[Cody]

Well it's that time of year again.Been out in the woods checking for any damage,few blow downs here and there at least they weren't maples.Funny thing though,out of all our laterals the light green colored ones have the less deer chews or squirrel chews on them.Was worried about that light green tubing getting hit harder than the light blue tubing.

[AKsyrup]

Looking at the 10 day forecast here for SW WI and I'm having a real hard time talking myself out of tapping on Friday.

[Irish Ridge]

I agree. I am in Crawford County and I will start tapping Friday afternoon. I follow Intellicast weather and their 10 day is usually pretty reliable.

[motowbrowne]

Anyone else getting itchy trigger fingers?

I briefly entertained the notion of tapping next week, but I'm nowhere near ready to cook sap, so I guess I'd better wait.

Only gotta finish my thinning project, run a few more 3/16 lines, make 350 drops, install drop lines, set up my Shurflo pumps, move my pump line, finish bricking my cooker, install pans, plumb in a new feed line, and then I think I'm good to go.

So, next week probably won't work for me...

[markcasper]

I am not liking the forecast for next week. There is no way I will be ready to tap next week. With conditions much the same as last year it is concerning, but not a whole lot can be done about it. They are saying 50 degrees by next Sunday, and that is after much of the week above freezing except for one or two days. After last year I said never again would I be late to the game and here we sit yet again :(

[motowbrowne]

Well, I'm glad to hear that I'm not alone Mark. Last year sure was weird. Hopefully this is a short fluke and we don't miss much.

Question though, if you were all ready to go, and had the weekend free, would you tap?

[Cody]

Helped a friend down the road that taps about 12000 tree's,started tapping them right after the first of the year.Talked to him this morning said there not doing much in that woods I helped him on.Tree's are probably to cold in the woods to give up much yet.Looked promising some of them days we were tapping but they didn't give up much.Long range on Accuweather looks like March,but that could change.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Irish Ridge, Still think its too early, we get about six weeks out of a tap on buckets. so tapping now only goes to the 25th of March. This weekend will be getting ready, sap tanks up top cover with snow while we still have some. sweep out the sugar house Run the main line down the hill, but hey its outside in the woods.Yes.

[markcasper]

Well, I'm glad to hear that I'm not alone Mark. Last year sure was weird. Hopefully this is a short fluke and we don't miss much.

Question though, if you were all ready to go, and had the weekend free, would you tap?

Short answer is YES, but only on tubing with new taps. Bags, absolutely not yet.

I have not gotten around to a sample tree yet, but when I do, I always put a new straight clear spout on and the thing runs all the way to the end even when tapped in mid February. In all honesty, I may start tapping by the end of next week but like others have said, it will probably run a little and then you have frozen stuff to deal with for 3 weeks. In 2002, I tapped 300 taps of non vacuum tubing on Feb. 14th/15th and I put new 5/16 adapters on. I gathered on the 19th and the 22nd, had a real good run with about 700 gallons total and then it froze up solid until the 8th of March. Went to around April 10th and they ran just as good then as the day I tapped. It is the new spouts that makes all the difference.

The thing that concerns me is the lack of frost in the ground. There is little to none and you know what happened last year. Only difference is that its happening a week sooner. On the bright side, drum syrup is down in price so we won't be losing as much as we would have say 2 years ago.

[AKsyrup]

I kind of hedged my bets and only put in half my taps today but all were running really well. We'll see what happens with the longer term forecast before I put the other half in. Iowa county

[Maddogmusher]

I did a sample tap and it was dripping pretty good. So I put them all out. I am a small one-woman operation :) Only 18 taps. north of Somerset, WI

[motowbrowne]

Be careful on the ice out there you guys. I fell and got my foot stuck under me on the way down. Broke my ankle in two places and dislocated it to boot.

It just happened, so I don't know what'll happen in the bush, but I guess it's possible that I'm gonna have 12 more months to get ready to cook. :(

I'm hoping that I'll be able to round up a number of my friends and still make syrup this year. If anyone knows someone who can work in the woods and needs some work this spring let me know. My number is 715-222-3237.

[gatzow]

Sorry to hear this.



Be careful on the ice out there you guys. I fell and got my foot stuck under me on the way down. Broke my ankle in two places and dislocated it to boot.

It just happened, so I don't know what'll happen in the bush, but I guess it's possible that I'm gonna have 12 more months to get ready to cook. :(

I'm hoping that I'll be able to round up a number of my friends and still make syrup this year. If anyone knows someone who can work in the woods and needs some work this spring let me know. My number is 715-222-3237.

[motowbrowne]

Well, I talked to a few great guys and gals and I'm hopeful that I'm still gonna tap this year. I poured too much money into syrup stuff this year not to make any, so hopefully I'll be able to find the help I need and still make syrup this year.

[Irish Ridge]

Motowbrowne, Your first post explaining how you fell sent shivers up my back. Hope your season works out for you. Down by us we have what seems like inches of ice under crusty snow. My trees are on a north facing slope so that doesn't help me either. This morning while collecting I yanked a tap on a tree right at the edge of a major bluff on my property. Got some words of wisdom last night that shared with me that no tree is worth the potential free fall. Chose my steps much more carefully this morning. Keep updating us on your season.

[markcasper]

Sorry to hear about your fall, Ryan. That plain sucks! Hopefully things work out and you can get some made. I tapped my old girl sample tree and got 70 drops a minute at noon today. I tapped a box elder by my shack yesterday and there was about an inch in it at noon today. At 6pm there was over a half gallon in the sample tree and it had slowed to 30 drops a minute. Unsure just what I'll do with having to work full time and not yet ready. Really needed one more week yet to fully prepare.

[Cody]

Started to tap yesterday,they were running pretty good.Hopefully be done with tapping tomorrow.Found some more holes in the lines that were checked two weeks ago and were fine.So I guess the animals have been busy too.Just about ever track I made in the woods the deer also have been walking in my steps.If they would just do that during hunting season.

[Chris h]

Hey motowbronw where about are you located?

[Boomer]

I tapped this afternoon with some help from my daughter :D. We put in 19 taps and none of them ran but I wasn't expecting them to with the temp at about 25 degrees. But we'll be ready for tomorrow when it hits 40+, should run great. Needed to get them in today, tomorrow might be my last day to ice fish.

[motowbrowne]

Hey motowbronw where about are you located?

Hey Chris, just saw this. I'm five miles East of River Falls.

[Boomer]

Collected 70+ gallons yesterday. The 5 gallon buckets were either half full or running over, very good day for me. I'll be boiling this weekend!

[Boomer]

Boiled down my 80+ gallons of sap on Saturday (March 11) into 2.5 gallons of fantastic syrup. I'm guessing I have another 20 gallons still in the woods frozen in my buckets. Been in there a week but if we get a thaw later in the week I'll boil that little bit also. It should be ok with it being so cold, right?

[motowbrowne]

It should be just fine. Hard for sap to go bad when it's frozen into a block.

[Boomer]

Pulled my taps and buckets last Thursday (March 16) and had a lot of ice chucks perfectly shaped like 5 gallon buckets or 2 1/2 gallon buckets. So on Saturday (March 18) I made another gallon of syrup. That puts my total at just over 3 1/2 gallons. I know the sap is still running and I could make some more syrup but that's ok. For me 3 1/2 gallons is great. I added a blower to my homemade evaporator from a cloths dryer that worked excellent, I'm now boiling down about 5 gallons an hour. I'll post a picture of it on the Homemade Maple Equipment thread.

[mainstreet]

Looks like the season has come to an end according to the weatherman. Glad I caught those early runs in February or it would have been an extremely short season this year.

[motowbrowne]

Looks like the season has come to an end according to the weatherman. Glad I caught those early runs in February or it would have been an extremely short season this year.

Those guys are full of cr@p. By the calendar, the season still has quite a bit of time remaining. I suppose it's possible that we don't get any more freezes, and the trees bud out, but I wouldn't put money on it. We might get a warm intermission for a week or even ten days, but we often make lots of syrup in the first two weeks of April.

The last couple weeks have been very good to us. We have made about much syrup as we did last year, but with the addition of vacuum this year I'm hoping make another 75-100 gallons.

[markcasper]

The sugar has now moved below 2 percent. I had some that was down to 1.7 now.

[pls009]

The sugar has now moved below 2 percent. I had some that was down to 1.7 now.


Same here - I'm new at this - Can it go back up if the freezing nights come back around or does it usually only go lower as the season goes along?

[markcasper]

It looks like its on the way out. Ive only ever seen it move maybe.2 to .3 up after a few solid days of sub freezing, and that is usually pretty short lived before it starts the trip back down.

[motowbrowne]

Warning: it's dry out there!!

I've never started a fire from my cooker before, but we used the hose to put out no fewer than six small fires around the shack today. One of them escaped detection for a minute or so and burned a circle about 25' in diameter.

Anyway, the season is just about over for us. I was hoping that the freezes last night and the night before would bring us some sap, but we really didn't get much. I'm gonna cook a couple hundred gallons of sap in the morning, then drain my flue pan and run it through the syrup pan to finish it up. I haven't taken a very accurate tally, but I'm thinking I'll be right around 180-190 gallons of syrup, which is a record for us. This ended up being a great year to add vacuum!

[mainstreet]

Tapped 3 yard trees to test this morning and to my surprise 2 gave up sap by 2:00! Maybe all the snow did some good insulating over the winter. Still a good 16" or so out there. Will have to give my boiling helper granddaughter a call to help me tap more this week. She's never helped me do that and was asking to do so and help is always good. Good luck to all.

[Cody]

Getting everything ready,start to tap this weekend.Still a foot or better of snow in the woods,different than last year.

[Cody]

All tapped only took 2 days longer to tap this year with all the snow.Snow is still a foot or better in the woods.

[Boomer]

I tapped 19 trees on Friday (3/9/18). I kicked a couple buckets yesterday afternoon and there wasn't much in them.

[markcasper]

Trees on the south slope were running very well yesterday, the ones on top of the ridge were slow. Vacuum going in that woods and another this afternoon along with more tapping on a north woods.

[motowbrowne]

That's what I saw here too Mark. Ran pretty good yesterday and a fair amount on Sunday also. It even tried to run for a couple hours this afternoon at 31 degrees. I've got about 300-350 gallons of sap so far from 260 taps. Not enough to write home about exactly, but it's a start. I'm hoping to get a fair amount of sap over the rest of the week and start cooking on Saturday.

[markcasper]

Just got in from pounding 130 Leader 3/16 stubbies and checkvalves on harder :( Not happy!! But, the trees ran almost a gallon per tap on Wednesday, tank is about full. These are all mostly south slant. I checked the sugar 2 days ago and it was 2.5%. The sap back there now tastes sweeter, so maybe it has gone up?

[motowbrowne]

Just got in from pounding 130 Leader 3/16 stubbies and checkvalves on harder :( Not happy!! But, the trees ran almost a gallon per tap on Wednesday, tank is about full. These are all mostly south slant. I checked the sugar 2 days ago and it was 2.5%. The sap back there now tastes sweeter, so maybe it has gone up?

I didn't measure mine yesterday but it tasted real sweet to me. I won't argue with that. Not sure if I got a gallon per tap yesterday or not, but it was running good, especially on the warm side of the woods.

[S.S.S]

Just got in from pounding 130 Leader 3/16 stubbies and checkvalves on harder :( Not happy!! But, the trees ran almost a gallon per tap on Wednesday, tank is about full. These are all mostly south slant. I checked the sugar 2 days ago and it was 2.5%. The sap back there now tastes sweeter, so maybe it has gone up?Why did you have to pound stubbys and check valves in harder?

[markcasper]

Why did you have to pound stubbys and check valves in harder?

Popping off when/during hard freezes at night.....3/16" only.

[motowbrowne]

It was a great day in the woods for me today. Sap ran better than it has yet this year. Still not a big run, but it started much earlier in the day, so it amounted to quite a bit more. Probably a gallon per tap. Got the cooker cleaned and fired up this afternoon. Went through about 800 gallons of sap in 4.5 hours. Pulled off about 9 gallons of syrup in the last hour. Everything went off without a hitch.

[markcasper]

Glad to hear everything worked out well! My one south bush has really ran good, I could not believe yesterdays flow. Well over a gallon and 1/4 per tap just yesterday. Going out to haul in now. My other south woods is not as good but gaining, and the north side, well its the north side, very little yet. Starting to pile up at the shack, need to get cooker prepared today.

[motowbrowne]

Running well again today. I just got to the woods a minute ago after spending the morning with my daughter. I experienced a first for me when I got here: this is the first time I've showed up and found both of my mainlines at 17"+ of vacuum (shurflo 2088s). Every other time I've had squirrel chews to deal with. I've been on a bit of a rampage, and I've shot 23 of them in the last ten days. Perhaps they've finally gotten the message.

[Boomer]

I collected 30 gallons of sap on Sunday (3/18), hopefully more to come this week. I'd like to have at least 40 gallons of sap to boil this Saturday.

[motowbrowne]

Best run of the year to date this afternoon. Didn't start until 12:30 or 1:00, but the side of the woods with 180 taps ran 200 gallons by sundown.

[Boomer]

I collected over 30 gallons of sap this afternoon, that gives me a total of 60. Looks like the boils on for Saturday.

[motowbrowne]

The sap started earlier today. Nice when it only gets to 26-27 but it stays there for several hours. Looks like it ran in the ballpark of 1.5 gallons per tap today. I have good help tomorrow, and I'll have about 1000 gallons of sap to cook, plus whatever comes in during the day tomorrow. Hope to get going by 12.

[markcasper]

My one woods ran yesterday and today about 1.5 gallons per tap as well. Boiled for the first time this morning and had 3300 gallons to run through. My other woods is not doing very well, north or south side. Been saying all along its the frost and I certainly think that to be the case. My floor drain is froze up in my RO room and that has only happened one other time in the past 10 years. The syrup was between medium and light as a good portion was a week old. Have about 2000 gallons from yesterday and today that will be gone tomorrow. Had one Leader stubby pop out last night. Sure not thrilled about this issue! My vacuum was at 19" today so I went for a walk.

My north side has only yielded about a gallon per tap in the last week. Surprising as well, the north side is my lowest sugar content which is not normal. It has always been the highest % out of any of my vacumm woods, This would suggest the trees that furnish the sweetest sap are not running yet?

[Cody]

Our one woods with 300+ trees produced 600 gallons yesterday.Other woods across road more north slope,700 trees produced 600 gallons,it is allot colder in that woods.

[Cody]

Be nice if we could get some sunshine,and nights not down in the teens.Allot of snow in woods yet.Trees are running but slow.Manage to get 500-600 gallons of sap/day last two days.

[motowbrowne]

Be nice if we could get some sunshine,and nights not down in the teens.Allot of snow in woods yet.Trees are running but slow.Manage to get 500-600 gallons of sap/day last two days.

Agreed. The sap wants to run, but when it doesn't start until 2, there isn't much time for the gallons to add up.

[markcasper]

Agreed. The sap wants to run, but when it doesn't start until 2, there isn't much time for the gallons to add up.

You guys got it, things don't thaw out until 1 or 2 and then you only have 5-6 hours of run time. They do run hard however, well, not the north side. Maybe got a gallon per tap on those total so far. Syrup has been border line between light and medium. Pretty happy thus far.

[motowbrowne]

Looks like yesterday was pretty good here. I was out and about all day, so I didn't make it to the woods. Found my 250 gallon tank full to the brim about 20 minutes ago. It's running hard right now, so some of that was from today. Very happy though.

[Boomer]

I boiled down 80 gallons of sap Saturday (3/24) and got 2+ gallons of dark syrup. Took about 13 hours but it was worth it. And collected another 30+ gallons of sap yesterday.

[motowbrowne]

Boiled yesterday afternoon for the third time so far this year. It ran until well after dark. Started early again today but it really dropped off when the rain moved in. Hopefully it'll pick back up tomorrow when the weather improves. My neighbor dropped off by 150 gallons of sap, so between that and what I've collected since I pumped at 5pm yesterday I should have enough to cook again for 3-4 hours tomorrow afternoon.

[markcasper]

North side decided to start running better yesterday, only about 40-50%, but its a start. The sugar on that went up to 3.3% which is a good sign. Trees ran pretty decent yesterday, but no huge huge run.

[motowbrowne]

3/28, 3/29, and 3/30 were all good days here. Cooked yesterday afternoon for what may be the last time for a week or more. The forecast seems to be returning to February instead of proceeding to April. Several nights in the ten day forecast with lows in the single digits. Not exactly what we're looking for. I really hope it doesn't just head straight into 45 degree nights once this cold spell moves through. I'm at about 90 gallons finished so far though, so I'm very happy. Even if I was done today, I could call the season a marginal success. I'll keep my fingers crossed for another couple weeks after things thaw out. Until then, I guess I'm leaving a space heater in my arch.

[Boomer]

I boiled another 40 gallons of sap on Saturday (3/31) and had just over 1 gallon of dark syrup. Anybody else have dark syrup? It seems a few years ago I had really dark syrup but thought it had more to do the temperature being so warm and later in the season. That sure isn't the case this year. Wondering if anyone knows the reason for nice looking amber syrup one year and the next year coffee dark syrup.

[markcasper]

I boiled another 40 gallons of sap on Saturday (3/31) and had just over 1 gallon of dark syrup. Anybody else have dark syrup? It seems a few years ago I had really dark syrup but thought it had more to do the temperature being so warm and later in the season. That sure isn't the case this year. Wondering if anyone knows the reason for nice looking amber syrup one year and the next year coffee dark syrup.

Well you pretty much said it, we have not had much warmth this spring. I have made no dark syrup yet thanks to the cool weather and snow on the ground. With that being said, last Friday when I picked up my south woods that has been outproducing everything this year, the sap was starting to get a little murky. The sap temp at the tank was 44 degrees and every time before that it was below 40 and once down to 36. 6-8 degrees difference in sap temp will mean all the difference in what the grade will be. This last boil was a strong medium which was the 2nd darkest out of 6 boils. I'm at a tad better than 1/3 gallon per tap, considering that my north woods hasn't done much yet, I'm pretty fortunate compared to others. The people an hour north of here have only boiled once or twice and that is right from Steve Anderson last Friday and of course we all know nothing has ran since.

[motowbrowne]

That's what I'm afraid of also Mark. I'm pretty much right where your are as far as syrup per tap too, and feeling pretty lucky considering the circumstances.

I know I made good syrup pretty much right to the end in 2013. I think the last batch I cooked was not table grade, but that wasn't until the 28th of April. That was the latest we'd ever cooked syrup though, and it blew away the previous record by 11 days.

Anyway, I'm hopeful that we get at least a few more good days of sap weather after we thaw out again, but even if we don't, it won't be the worst year on record.

[markcasper]

That's what I'm afraid of also Mark. I'm pretty much right where your are as far as syrup per tap too, and feeling pretty lucky considering the circumstances.

I know I made good syrup pretty much right to the end in 2013. I think the last batch I cooked was not table grade, but that wasn't until the 28th of April. That was the latest we'd ever cooked syrup though, and it blew away the previous record by 11 days.

Anyway, I'm hopeful that we get at least a few more good days of sap weather after we thaw out again, but even if we don't, it won't be the worst year on record.

I made alot of very light syrup that year, but also had alot of bags that year which helps to make light syrup. I remember it very well, 16th of April marked on the kegs and it was metabolic, not flat out buddy. Very disappointed! It seems once it gets past the 10th of April, things can change real fast as far as the tree starting to change, frost in the ground or not.I think its all has to do with the daylight hours and things we just don't understand. One prominent syrup maker in the area that has since passed away gathered on 4-23 one year (don't know the year, but it was written on the wall)and that was the end, and it was good syrup, he never liked to make dark syrup. So, its possible to go longer with table grade, every year is different. One thing we have not had this year is any warmth at all, one 50 degree day has been it, so that is to our benefit. In 2014, I gathered on the 2nd of May for the last time from this north side I have been talking about, but of course it was commercial and that is when it brought a decent price.

[Sledheed]

Cancel your Memorial Day plans fellas, we are just going to be getting wrapped up about then! This global warming is kiling us this year :)

[Cody]

Any body see the extended forecast. Might get spring after all. Lots of snow left out in woods.

[motowbrowne]

I haven't even been looking. I'm just hoping for the best, but I'm very happy to hear you say that! I've been tapped for a month now, but obviously it's been real cold and I'm using check valve spouts this year, so hopefully I'll get sap if the weather works out in our favor.

[Boomer]

Boiled down another 40+ gallons of frozen sap on Saturday, (4/7). I pulled my taps and buckets on Friday. Had to bring the buckets into the house overnight to thaw out a little bit. My evaporation rate slowed down a little by putting those frozen chunks in but after 8 hours I got over one gallon of dark syrup. Another successful year for me!

[motowbrowne]

Well, it's not like the weatherman has a real great track record this time of year, but man the 10 day looks awesome! I'm not particularly excited about dealing with 5-8" of wintery mix on Saturday, but I'll take it if it means we can have some more sap along with it. Hopefully this weather starts working for the guys up north too.

[mike z]

Any idea how long our open, bucket taps will continue to flow this year?? I've been tapped now for 4 weeks and it feels like the season is just about to begin. No warm days yet, but I fear things will start shutting down before the sap really starts flowing.

[markcasper]

Man what a screwed up year! Alot of stupid things happened in the woods while everything was froze up the first 9 days of April. I had -1 below on Sunday morning. Some taps pushed out, a few cv2's disconnected from their drops, 3/16" lines pulled apart, etc., etc., etc. I had a 1,000 feet of 1 1/4" mainline pipe froze up bad and backed up all the way into the woods. I pulled a drop nearer the bottom and it was like a fire hydrant, about 150psi! Spent some of yesterday and all afternoon today going around trying to get the vacuum up to steam. I think cuz I ran the vacuum on Monday with all those leaks is why it got so froze up, sucking too much outside air in. Took forever for things to thaw out on Tuesday, yet the trees were wanting to run. Had enough sap to boil tonight, but going to hold off and get some of tomorrows run hopefully. Make things more efficient.

I tapped 73 taps of 3/16" on Good Friday and they have been performing well, no pump, very impressed!

I have never changed vacation days at work as much as I have this year. That isn't going to fly anymore so am not sure what will happen after the middle of next week. Its going to suck if we get huge runs and no vacation time. Real problem, may as well quit. The latest I have ever made "table grade syrup" was about the 18th of April. Anything getting after that date was either off flavored or commercial. I'm thinking this year could go well past this for table grade if the current forecast is right.

My north side is a complete farce! I have never seen them run this little. This would have been a year to say the heck with the north side. I have never seen it freeze up solid for 9 straight days in April ever! I will cook on Wednesday, but that will have been 11 days without enough to boil. Amazing! The evaporator is nothing but a block of ice, I sure hope nothing is busted!I did put a light on the exterior flue pan drain, that was my biggest fear. I guess I failed to realize when I put the heater in the arch several weeks ago that your actually suppose to "turn" the heat switch on and not just have it on fan only. What an idiot! Every time I walked past it, heard it humming away and thought everything was cool until I noticed it today.

Looks like flooding rains may be coming the next few days, so I am moving my self loading retired manure spreader 1000 gallon tank out to the road because it is going to be a qaugmire trying to get it just 200 feet to the road from where it has always sat. Never did this before, but will find out tomorrow if it works or not. There is maybe a foot rise of elevation but am thinking it should go off without a hitch. If it works, then will probably try my 2500 gallon retired milk truck tank, its only 8" higher. That'll come in handy if it pours and I'm doing the back to back 12 hour shift thing in town. Now, I'll be able to be like the other big sappers and feel like I'll be catching the low hanging fruit, not to get any mud on my tires. Sure sucks to have 3200 feet of pipe laying across hay and corn fields to get the sap out. Its either that or nothing.

Tanks above the releaser need a good cleaning! Starting to get that not so good look on the sides and bottom, will have to try and get that done this weekend during our expected 8-16" snowstorm. That is if I can ever get all the ice out of them.

[motowbrowne]

The sap is running good in my woods today. Started early in the day for a change, which is great. We'll be cooking all afternoon and then probably again on Saturday. I'll be relying on the ice in my tanks to keep my sap fresh.

[markcasper]

Sap ran very well on Wednesday, (excluding the north woods). Was up for 46 hours straight having to do my real job on Thursday. Trees ran ok Thursday as well and dribbled on into Friday as the flow slowed down however.
I had over 4000 gallons of sap on Wednesday night. Was the first time I switched sides while cooking on the evaporator. The steam coming off is getting different smell however. Syrup still pretty light, but I popped a leftover can last night while unloading sap and the smell was noticeable. Not sure if its metabolism or pre - bud?? I noticed the smell immediately, but then through the night I checked it a few more times and then it seemed ok, so ? Course I am picky, and the average person on the street wouldn't know, but there is something changing with the sap, trees, syrup, what not.
Have about 2400 gallons to process this afternoon and tonight. Going to go shut the pumps off as they were still dribbling at 10pm last night. So far the blizzard that accuweather, weather channel, etc.. has turned out to be fake news. Is it just me, or are the weather people working overtime to scare the hell out of everybody with these boogey man storms? They turn it that it will be doomsday and that if you don't have a full bunker and pallet of ammunition you will likely perish.

Looks like after I process this, going to get the milkhouse cleaned up and will run concentrate into the live working bulk tank. Going to help during my work in town situation.

The sugar % jumped .4 - .5% on all which was amazing! I have never seen it jump that much during the season. Can be attributed to the 9 day freeze-up?

[ka9bxg]

Up here near Green Bay storm is in full swing . We have over 8 inches with 30 mph of wind . And we have another 8 inches coming every thing is shutting down in Green Bay

[Cody]

A day of sunshine yesterday,trees ran good with the new snow on ground.Some of our trees facing the north even started to run,didn't know if they ever would this year,only about two feet of snow on that side.Our one haul road is getting pretty nasty.Should get some good days after today,then next week looks iffy.Hauled in about 1200 gals yesterday and trees were running good at 6:00 pm last night.Today only going to get 36 for temp.

[motowbrowne]

Mine sure were slow to get going yesterday, but like you said Todd (Cody), they were running good into the evening. They said we were gonna get down to 24 last night, but I think we lucked out and only hit like 28. I'm hoping 36 and the low pressure makes a good run today.

[markcasper]

My 73 natural vacuum 3/16" taps ran just about 3 gallons per tap yesterday. I stopped there this morning to check after work and found the tank running over, I was in disbelief! The tank was virtually empty yesterday morning. My other woods with 450 taps and 600 gallon dump tank......I lost an estimated 500 gallons. The field line must not have thawed out enough to take it all down to the big tank even though I pulled it up out of the snow, so I lost alot of sap. :(

[motowbrowne]

Sorry to hear about the sap in the ground Mark. I hate it when that happens. I sure feel like I've been fighting frozen lines a lot this year!!

The sap ran good at my place this afternoon. Got started a little earlier than yesterday, which was nice. I had a strange thing happen to me, which was that both of my shurflo pumps which have been very consistent in how much vacuum they make, really dropped in vacuum. The one usually pulls 22-23 when it's running and the other is around 18. Both were at 10-11 when I got the leaks fixed yesterday. It turned out to be two different problems. On the one pump the little shurflo inline strainer was restricting the vacuum. On the other side of the woods one of the black cam-lock quick connects that hooks my pump to the PVC ice strainer was being pulled sideways a little and letting in air. Got those problems fixed and the sap flow definitely picked up. Glad I figured it out before tomorrow!!

Here's hoping that it runs till midnight and picks up early tomorrow.

[motowbrowne]

It was a great day here yesterday. Brought in 1.25 per tap or so. Didn't freeze as hard as they predicted, but I hope it gave us a decent recharge. I'm standing at the pump with more southern trees and it's just starting to run. Got a lot of sap to cook today!

[Jeff E]

Hi there you Sappers
I have been reluctant to even look at maple trader this season. NW Wisconsin was going to be full of sad sappers.
We have worked very hard for not much sap.
My sugar has been at it's highest this year, but sap is so far about 1/4 of average. Making light and medium.

My taps are old, as I started the last week of Feb. That is hurting my volumes at this point, I suspect.

looks like our lights will go out on Monday or Tuesday. We will see.

[markcasper]

Sorry to hear about the bad yield just an hour north of here. I have did pretty well down here, well over a half gallon of syrup per tap so far. With that being said, my north facing woods that I have tapped for 6 years now has performed the worst it ever has in the last 6. It did however run about 1 3/4 gallon per tap on Thursday. My south ones did 2 gallons plus Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Yesterday was down a bit across the board. All light and medium, no dark has been made yet.

I said in February it was going to be a rough year because of the deep frost in the woods. Always are rough years when there is deep frost. My drain for my RO is still froze up yet. Never had it froze all season since I put it in 2008.

Probably just a few more days left by the looks of it.

[motowbrowne]

Sorry to hear that Jeff. I feel very grateful for the season we've had down here. I got an early start yesterday and cooked and bottled 40 gallons of syrup. That's a new record for me. I didn't get it all cooked though, so I've got about 5-600 gallons of sap to cook tomorrow. Some of it has been sitting since mid week, but it was in a bulk tank with an iceberg on top of it. I guess there were some benefits to the cold temps. I pumped that 200 into my head tank and then put everything that's come in the the last 24 hours on the remaining ice block, so everything is staying nice and cold until tomorrow.

I'm thinking tomorrow may be my last day. If the sap keeps coming in and looks good I'll finish up on Tuesday I suppose. I'm ready to be done though. Ran out of good wood a while ago and after tomorrow I'll be at .59 gallons per tap according to my cocktail napkin calculations. Not bad for a few miles of 3/16, a couple shurflo pumps, and a lot of help from a warm sugarbush.

[markcasper]

Syrup darkened up considerably overnight, my first dark syrup. Not going to quit as long as the pumps keep bringing it in and it doesn't turn stringy. If it stringy, over.

[motowbrowne]

I collected about 1/3 gpt of sap between 4:00pm Saturday and 6 pm today. As the temp started dropping today the sap flow just ended. We had a real nice afternoon cooking. It was a beautiful day and lots of great folks stopped out for a visit.

I'm gonna call it quits. I could probably make a couple more gallons if I wanted to hang in there, but I want to get a jump on cleanup. It's almost May after all, and as good as this season has been, I'm ready for the next project.

[markcasper]

There is about a gallon per tap that ran from late Saturday until late Sunday out in the woods. I heard my first frog tonight, so there won't be too many days left here. I added up my totals and if I make another 30 gallons or so, it'll put me at 3/4 of a gallon per tap. I need some good black syrup for a few customers, hopefully I can get it.

[markcasper]

Well finished up the season today, going to end up around .85 - .90 gallons of syrup per tap. I do believe that is a record. I still have to boil the evaporator out tomorrow. Everything since Monday has been commercial grade. Amazingly it boiled pretty well and filtered pretty well. The north side has been running great all week, better than anytime this year, kind of sad to shut the pump off. Sucks the deep frost hampered their flow much of the season.

[markcasper]

Went out to the woods to shut the pump off this afternoon and the north side had another load in the tank, so, not having the evaporator empty yet, I am going to pick it up and run that through quick and then drain the flue pan and get it completed and that WILL be it! The south woods all got disconnected yesterday.

We went bumming today after church to the Stockwell Sugarbush near Ellsworth that had an open house, they last cooked Tuesday and were going to go another day or two, but needed to shut down for their open house this weekend which was well attended. They told me that people from Canada have been calling out here looking for syrup already because of the short crop there.

[S.S.S]

I was told yesterday of producer in Duluth that has 4500 taps and only made 145 gals of syrup.

[markcasper]

I was told yesterday of producer in Duluth that has 4500 taps and only made 145 gals of syrup.

According to Stockwells, and assuming that I remember correct.....they knew, or had heard that some in the north only cooked twice, so certainly believable.

I talked to a large guy near Park Falls this past Tuesday and he was only at 40% of a crop and the syrup was not going through the press.

[S.S.S]

According to Stockwells, and assuming that I remember correct.....they knew, or had heard that some in the north only cooked twice, so certainly believable.

I talked to a large guy near Park Falls this past Tuesday and he was only at 40% of a crop and the syrup was not going through the press. I talked with guy from Prentice Wi that made .21 gallon of syrup per tap. Under a 1/4 crop.

[jmayerl]

I talked with guy from Prentice Wi that made .21 gallon of syrup per tap. Under a 1/4 crop.
I would love to know who thinks that .75 or more per tap is a "normal " year.

[markcasper]

I would love to know who thinks that .75 or more per tap is a "normal " year.

Actually, 2/3 to 3/4 gallon per tap is "normal" for me.

[DrTimPerkins]

Actually, 2/3 to 3/4 gallon per tap is "normal" for me.

That is great that you are able to get to that level and I am genuinely thrilled when people achieve such great production, but it is not unheard of (that is in no way meant to diminish your success). Key factors...good trees, great vacuum, excellent sanitation. It takes a good deal of effort paying attention to detail and being prepared to find and fix problems as soon as they happen. If I had to guess, you do thin fairly regularly, run high vacuum and are serious about leak checking, and either replace drops regularly with new spouts OR clean/sanitize/new spouts OR use CVs.

Our 15-yr average at UVM PMRC is 0.59 gal/tap. Only had one year from 2004-2018 under 0.5 gal/tap....that was 2012 when we only hit 0.46 gal/tap. Six of those years were in the 0.6-0.8 gal/tap range, and some sections of our bush will do 0.75-1.0 gal/tap fairly regularly. Now for the kicker....we normally have about 20-25% of our taps that do NOT have best management practices in place. This is so we have something "normal practice" to compare to. If we didn't do that, we would certainly be in the 2/3-3/4 gal/tap range each year.

So again...congrats Mark....great job. :cool:

[Louie]

What is a full crop? What I find as funny is when someone new at this claims he is way down from a full crop. I call it unrealistic expectations when you are double tapping small tees and hitting every tiny soft maple in sight and you think your going to get a half gallon.

[motowbrowne]

Actually, 2/3 to 3/4 gallon per tap is "normal" for me.

Right, but S.S.S said the guy hit .21, which is obviously a major bummer for vacuum, assuming that's what we're talking about. But if .21 is "under 1/4 of a crop", that means he's saying a regular crop would be over .84gpt. I don't think there's anyone counting on that much before they're happy. I know you pretty consistently get great production numbers, but I also don't think we'd hear you on here saying you'd made .6 and we're disappointed.

By the way, I'm sorry I wasn't around that day you called. Been busy, as I'm sure you have too. I was actually looking for a couple barrels of commercial for a friend of mine, but I found them in spring valley. I did see your price on gallons on Craigslist though; I'm tempted to buy a bunch myself!!

[markcasper]

That is great that you are able to get to that level and I am genuinely thrilled when people achieve such great production, but it is not unheard of (that is in no way meant to diminish your success). Key factors...good trees, great vacuum, excellent sanitation. It takes a good deal of effort paying attention to detail and being prepared to find and fix problems as soon as they happen. If I had to guess, you do thin fairly regularly, run high vacuum and are serious about leak checking, and either replace drops regularly with new spouts OR clean/sanitize/new spouts OR use CVs.


So again...congrats Mark....great job. :cool:

Thanks! I did not state the obvious to pat myself on the back! I replied to jmayerl as to what "normal" would be for my woods. I often am reluctant to say what I make b/c some think I'm full of @%&*. With that being said, I have a friend that has virtually the same production every year as I. I do sanitize and flush every inch of my tubing (hoping to get done tomorrow.) I use CV's (had some problems this year with the new 3/16" stubbies). I have always believed this to be very, very important to getting good yields. I do not believe in "dry cleaning" as some have coined it. I will not tell what I think of dry cleaning because it will never happen in my woods. Several have stated its a waste of time to flush lines and doesn't do any good. I say and think that it sure doesn't hurt!

I do not OVERTAP!! Many bushes in my area are getting the crap tapped out of them. There are way more bushes getting overtapped than tapped conservatively in my area(the biggest reason why many can't get better yields in my opinion). Our woods is enrolled in the MFL, was cut in 1980 and again in 2011, the next cut is scheduled for 2023.
I do run 25-26" of vacuum and try to keep on top of it the best I can. As you stated, it is a very big challenge to keep on top of it. I am always tempted to tap more, but then I'm sure my per tap would go down b/c I'd be spreading myself to thin. Some of my woods has very good sugar %, some does not, but it averages out to most likely be higher than average.

Another reason worth mentioning for the higher numbers is that I make commercial. I went another 5 days past most others this year, so that added an extra 100 gallons to the total. I have a guy that I have bought from in the past, has large big trees in a pasture and if there isn't 3/4 of a gallon syrup coming out of that group of trees, it would be a down year. And this is on bags! The sugar is always plus 4%, except near the end.


What is a full crop? What I find as funny is when someone new at this claims he is way down from a full crop. I call it unrealistic expectations when you are double tapping small tees and hitting every tiny soft maple in sight and you think your going to get a half gallon.

My thoughts exactly!! And there is far too much of it going on in western Wisconsin.


I know you pretty consistently get great production numbers, but I also don't think we'd hear you on here saying you'd made .6 and we're disappointed.

No not at all. I expect a half gallon minimum. More is a bonus and makes me feel like its worth it. :)

[Louie]

How does it work out when someone buys crop insurance and they claim they are at 30% of a crop when for their bush they did not really do too bad?

[DrTimPerkins]

Thanks! I did not state the obvious to pat myself on the back! I replied to jmayerl as to what "normal" would be for my woods. I often am reluctant to say what I make b/c some think I'm full of @%&*.

...I do sanitize and flush every inch of my tubing (hoping to get done tomorrow.)
...I use CV's (had some problems this year with the new 3/16" stubbies). I have always believed this to be very, very important to getting good yields.
...I do not OVERTAP!!
...Our woods is enrolled in the MFL, was cut in 1980 and again in 2011, the next cut is scheduled for 2023.
...I do run 25-26" of vacuum and try to keep on top of it the best I can.
...Another reason worth mentioning for the higher numbers is that I make commercial.

I expect a half gallon minimum. More is a bonus and makes me feel like its worth it. :)

Sounds familiar...as I said, good trees (including thinning), great vacuum, excellent sanitation. Our minimum target at UVM PMRC is 0.5 gal/tap (red-line), our long-term average is 0.59 gal/tap (purple-line). There is no secret formula -- best management practices for high yield production are fairly well known -- and they work.

We had the same issue when we first started reporting 0.5 gal/tap or better each year...people didn't believe it. We've done a lot of research and education on BMPs for high yield sap production, so now it's fairly standard around here for a good number of producers to match or even exceed what we do (again, we do some "not" BMPs for comparison, which drags our average down). It's very good to see that.

18656

[Cody]

Great numbers there Mark.That is our goal to get a half gallon per tap,just made it this year.Could have been better but our one woods we had about 175 trees on a north slope that didn't run much,trees just to cold.They would start late in the afternoon then within a hour they would quit again.Checked them lines allot until we figured the trees were just to cold.

[DrTimPerkins]

... we figured the trees were just to cold.

Congrats at hitting 0.5 gal/tap. May there be more of those in your future.

Yes...the "just a tad too cold" was a common problem in the normally cooler areas and sugarbushes this year. Some years cold is good....other years not so much.

[markcasper]

Could have been better but our one woods we had about 175 trees on a north slope that didn't run much,trees just to cold.They would start late in the afternoon then within a hour they would quit again.Checked them lines allot until we figured the trees were just to cold.

I know what your talking about.....my north woods of 275 taps ran the least this year that I have ever seen it. The sugar was higher on the north (the sugar was higher in all the woods however). No doubt my south facing woods which is the majority more than compensated.....this year. Many years I struggle though to get 1/2 of the crop above medium due to these south sides. Not this year, I never had a year where I didn't make a quantity of dark amber until this year. All light and medium until the last week when it went Commercial real fast.

Congrats on the 1/2 gallon and if I remember, your on 3/16" only with no artificial vacuum? Thats great for no vacuum pump!

[needmoremaples]

hey guys, Im in Eau Claire. trying to get ready for season. made a big post and it didnt work because i was logged out. i know it auto saved but How TF to i use that lol.

[needmoremaples]

Anybody tapping yet? I know someone by Glenwood city got some sap to fill their lines and I've heard of a small number of trees dripping in chippewa area. I tapped some test taps in eau claire but no go yet. Should see some action by this weekend I hope.

[needmoremaples]

I'm also helping a friend run 3/16 natural vacuum lines in connorsville. Hooking up to mainline and also a small diaphram pump. Anyone run one of these already?

[Sledheed]

It's pretty quiet on here, need more maples. Everyone must be in the woods working : ). Not tapped yet, but am ready to rock at a moments notice. I too am hoping for some action later in the week!!!!

[needmoremaples]

We tapped today on south slope. Best tree had a medium drip. My WI Fb group is buzzing about who's tapping and where its running.

[mainstreet]

where's everyone? Have 25 of 30 running and hoping to boil Saturday.

[motowbrowne]

Just logged in for the first time this season. Let's see, full moon and a quick scramble after being snowed out of the woods for a month, I'm betting everyone's hauling @SS out there. I know I have been. I bet Mark Casper is out chasing leaks in the moonlight right now!

I have about 90% of my taps in. Ran okay yesterday and today. Maybe almost a gallon per tap each day. Still running now even. Hopefully this warmup in the forecast doesn't last too long, but I've still got my fingers crossed for the first half of April. Only one way to find out though, I guess. :)

[CliftonSap]

We put out about 80 Taps last Saturday. We have cooked twice now, including today about a hundred fifty gallons total,running at about three and a half percent sugar content. We didn't get much sap yesterday Maybe 25 gallons, hopefully it runs better today and over the weekend.

[motowbrowne]

Running like hell right now!

[pls009]

How did everybody in western Wi end up? We were able to make a little more than 1/2 gallon a tap for the first time but I feel that our flavor was off more than usual. I really expected the last few day's of the season to go south but now that I'm bottling some of the earlier stuff, it just doesn't seem to have the strong maple flavor that past years have had. Curious to hear from the more experienced sugar makers to see if they noticed anything different this year.

[motowbrowne]

We did good here. About .6gpt. Flavor at the end was different, but everyone who tasted it liked it.

[motowbrowne]

Is this thing on?

Looks like I'll try to get taps in Saturday morning. Been replacing drops and shooting tree rats this week. Been hearing reports of some guys collecting not far from here. Happy the next couple days are gonna be cold while I finish getting ready.

Ten day looks pretty good after it warms up. Hope everyone is drowning in sap sooner than we know it.

[Dave Evenson]

I put in 17 taps around the house in town today, so trees are getting the benefit of sun bouncing off buildings and street. Three were dripping, 1 sugar maple and two reds. Mostly just want to get a start at it, more tapping in country, probably tomorrow through weekend. I keep hearing there's no frost, although I haven't actually checked myself. Most trees show the root collar, so maybe they loosen up soon. Dave Evenson

[Cody]

Hopefully it is on. Close to 1100 tapped, be done tomorrow tapping. Easier tapping without 36+ inches of snow on ground. Running today but not gang busters, woods are still cold. Good luck to everyone.

[Cody]

They are running. Hopefully after this system that passes through today they I’ll let loose. Sitting on 2000 gallons so far. Weekend looks great.

[motowbrowne]

Ran good Friday for a few hours, and all day Saturday and Sunday. Very productive weekend. Finishing up the last of the sap I brought in yesterday right now. Ready to reset and do it again.

[Cody]

Trees are running on these short days. Looks like snow end of week then a couple frozen days. Season so far has been good. Only pumped 400 gallons of sap on ground last Friday, pump line came apart at fitting, so gave it back. Bummed me right out. Just about to1/4 gallon of syrup per tap today for season so far. Woods are still snowy and ice on bare ground.

[motowbrowne]

Been a great season here so far also. I'm not keeping good enough track of sap, but I figure where close to half a crop. Maybe a little better even. It ran great yesterday and again today. I was out there an hour ago and it was still running hard.

[Cody]

That time of year again. Good luck to everyone. Nice getting around in the woods nice temperatures and not a lot of snow.