Blizzard

[PFHII]

Is everyone ready for the blizzard? I personally am not looking forward to tapping after this!! After the storm in 2000 we ended up having to reach over our heads to pick up buckets even after tapping at our feet. Hope everyone stays safe!

[Dave Y]

I hope you dont get the kind of snow we got in western Pa. almost like sand.
very hard to move around in. We got 8-10 inches and it may as well be 2ft.
Plan on tapping berfore the 21st. I will have to use snowshoes but it is not nearly as bad as the folks along lake ontario have it.

[Fred Henderson]

We are getting that mealy type snow now, almost like ice pellets. I am only 20 miles from the Canadian border. It would have to snow for a week like it is now for us to get 6 inches. The weather guy said to except 6-18 inches but the flakes are going to have to get a lot bigger.

[802maple]

plowed about 8 icnhes out about 1 1/2 hours ago and already got another 5 and a flat tire and have got about 100 yds visibility. They always seem to find the best time to go flat

[HanginAround]

We're supposed to get that tonight after you guys are done with it. We really never got much snow this winter at all, just a couple small ones. Even this time, we're only supposed to get 4-6 inches, changing to ice pellets and then rain overnight.

[maple flats]

We got about 20" so far. I plowed with the tractor & 5' bucket for over 3 hrs, barely got open enough to drive my 4x4 truck out. Need a tractor mounted snow blower someday, that way only move it once and not so many trips back and forth. This is at the sugarhouse, over 500' to plow. Almost got stuck once, tractor went too far to one side where it drops off about 18" or so, couldn't back out because trees kept me from going straight up and at an angle the tractor kept sliding so I found a route to drive forward thru the woods and meandered but finally got back to the driveway without a tow. This is global warming.

[Fred Henderson]

Snow blowers are nice until you put a piece of treated 2x4 into them and the pin does not shear. That os what happened to me . Bent the cross auger real bad and Kubota would not come good for it. So now it is history. I now have a 7-1/2' Fisher power angle plow mounted on the FEL . I can pile snow about 12" high.

[royalmaple]

We had a mini break in the storm around 11am, but she is picked right back up.

Really coming down now and suppose to only get worse as the day goes on.

I got a 6' meyer's plow that I attach to my bucket on my tractor, I don't think anything beats plowing with a tractor. Except the heat from a truck. But as far as versitility goes and being able to seriously push the bankings back, it is slick.

[Russell Lampron]

I have a 40' snow blower for my Gravely tractor. It is too slow and it doesn't matter if you are blowing the snow into the wind there is always a gust that blows it right back in your face. I've got a 60" plow on the 4 wheeler now and it much faster. Haven't used the snow blower in over 2 years.

Russ

[andyp]

Thank God for globle warming, I hate to think how much worse it would be without it.
We had about six to eight inches of snow by yesterday evening then it changed to freezing rain last night.We have about 1/4 to 3/8 inches of ice on top of the snow. I am not look forward to tapping under those conditions.


Andy
240taps
maybe 300 in 07
30 x 60 flat pan
250 Polaris & 250 Ford
cows no chickens

[maple flats]

We ended up getting about 28" since last eve. I moved snow for about 6 hrs today between the house and the sugarhouse. I had planned to saw some hemlock 2x6's but never got to it, tomorrow might still need to move snow before I can get to the saw mill.

[Fred Henderson]

I plowed 4" out of the driveway at 1 PM and now there is a bout another 3" in it. I will go out about 8 PM and do it again. We will probably top out around 12 " total by morning.

[blackstrapking]

Andy, Thanks for the laugh, it's just what I needed LOL
Jason

[oneoldsap]

Plowed from 4:30 A.M. to 3:P.M. Got around my route once. Had to quit because it was freezing to my windows and I couldn't see at all! Be right back at it in the morning, got the heater thawing out the old Chevy. there is 2 Ft. on the ground here now and the weatherman says another 8 to 12". It's going to be hard to move. It never ceases to amaze me, The people who don't make plowing arrangements and call in the middle of a blizzard and expect you to run right over to their place and take care of them. If they ever pass a law that makes stupidity a crime we're going to have to build a bunch of jails. I sure hope this snow settles before tapping ! It didn't in 01 what a pain, shouldn't have even tapped didn't make any syrup anyway.

[tapper]

Not sure how much we ended up with on this mountain but I just spent the last 12 hours cleaning out 10 driveways. They were all at least 2 ft. deep and many had 4 ft. of drifted snow in them. Dave Y was right just like sand. Had to make many stabs at it with a 7,000# truck and still got stuck 3 times.I normally do these same driveways in 2 to 3 hours. The trees I tap are in a remote valley. There is way too much sand snow to even think about going in there and it looks like tapping weather the middle of next week.

[powerdub]

This isn't a blizzard, it's a good old fashioned Nor'easter. I think for a blizzard you have to have sustained winds of 35 mph or greater for no less than 3 hours. Its breezy but not that breezy. Anyway, I'm with the other old sap, if we have seven feet of snow in the woods come tapping time, I'm waiting. All that work and no sap, never again.

[wdchuck]

Might as well join the crowd- now I'm not looking forward to tapping either. We've got about 2 ft of snow and its far from over. I'd say it goes without saying that the atv just became utterly useless- time to break out the 'Lusitania', my '67 Ski Doo Alpine.

[802maple]

We have more than 3 feet now the fun begins for today.

[PFHII]

Well I think we are over 30". Tapping is on the back burner for now. Lots of driveways to plow thank god for the Kubota!!!

[Fred Henderson]

We topped out at 9-1/2".

[HanginAround]

Gee... it fizzled here, only got a few inches overnight, and the weather turned milder, so what we did get shrunk back. Only looks like an inch or so more on the ground than we had.

[davey]

We got a little over two feet in Macedon NY along with drifts three times that. I was starting to think I was never going to leave my plow truck again. Boy, I tell you, I don't know if there really is a smell to match a truck after 20 hours of spilling coffee, plowing and, "getting more comfortable". Whew!

[Pete33Vt]

Well its all said and done here. I didn't even leave the house yesterday. We ended up with about 36-40" here. Today I need to check on the job of getting to the sugarhouse. And to the bush I'm renting. Looks like I'll be in the skidsteer all day. Now hopefully the weather doesn't break to fast. Had alot of work to do before snow know its doubled. Should be able to get some pictures posted today.
Everyone stay safe.

[Sugarmaker]

Pete
Nice pictures!
Chris

[maple flats]

With all of the work I have to get ready for the season I got zero done today. I own a couple of rental 1 story duplexes that I had to go remove snow from the roofs today. Snow was about 4' deep on the roofs and I was afraid of roof collapse. I got significant snow off them and found someone to finish tomorrow and Sunday, 2 guys much younger than I who normally work together on hazardous chemical cleanups but were told not to report the last 3 days because of the extreme snow. They were working in Oswego, just off the south east end of Lake Ontario where there is over 9' of snow in the last 7-8 days. Tomorrow I can start clearing my road to the sugarhouse again so I can get to my trailer maybe and go pick up the ss tank I bought. If I can't get it tomorrow I will one day next week since I have the week off. BUT this was not a blizzard just TOO much snow and then a noreaster on top of it.

[Bucket Head]

I could not tell you the total amount of snow we got here, but I can tell you the drift's here are like none I've ever seen. I have lived at this location since '91 and have cleaned up after many storm's, but this beat's them all. The wind here has howled for day's. As if I did'nt have enough to do, now I can spend hour's and hour's cleaning this mess up. Where do I start? Where do I put it? My wood pile is completly covered!

I agree with everyone on how difficult it will be to tap. It will also be difficult for some of us to collect. I tap many roadside tree's and right now the snow bank's are pretty high. This weekend I will drive around and see what it look's like at the spot's I tap. I have a feeling it's not going to be pretty.

Good luck to everyone on the clean up and preparing for the sugaring season.

Steve

[danno]

Pretty happy about my decision to move my collection tank from up on the hill to down at the house this season. Was allot of mainline, but worth it. Got all my new mainline run and tank moved just in the nick of time. Picked up another 10" lake effect last night after the 18" we picked up from the NEaster. About 30" on the ground.

Had to work to keep the snowmobile from drowning in the fields today - no way I'd be able to get the tractor up to the sugarbush

Anybody hear the forecast. 2 more big storms possible over the next week. Maybe they will exit stage right and spare us. Clearing roofs and plowing is getting old and I love snow!