Ulster County Catskills

[Ghs57]

Formally under the title Mid-Hudson Valley Update.

Just checking in with the the area producers, and all others interested, on the approaching season.

Wish I was ready. I will be spending the next month closing in my shack and setting up my new 2x6 pan. I'm adding AUF/AOF also. just bought the HP fan. I'm almost done milling the timbers I need to finish the wood shed for my shack. Most of this should have been finished long ago, but major commitments diverted all my time into other projects. Once I was free to return to my unfinished work, which was late October, I was happy to have the warmer weather of the extended fall for the outside work.

I am also negotiating more taps on nearby land, and will walk the property Thursday. I am hopeful there are enough trees to make it worthwhile.

Here's hoping for a good season for everyone.

[Ghs57]

The new land is fairly flat, no power and limited access. It's also mostly pine. I will hike around this week and see if there is anything there that is tapable.

Cut timbers for the woodshed Saturday and today. I have almost everything I need. I plan to start cutting the frame this week. It seems there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done. Or enough energy.

Listening to the bard owls calling in the wood just now. They can go on all night long sometimes. It can be a lonesome sound to us, but it's their network for keeping track of what the flock is up to in the dark. Maybe they will keep the squirrels away from the tubing.

[Ghs57]

What's with this weather? The week ahead looks more like March. Great if you are ready to run, which I am not. But, it's sure easier working outside now than it was last year. I'm closing in the shack, and making some progress. Also got my high pressure fan for my AOF/AUF, and picked up a Lunchbox Vacuum/Releaser for the trees in the adjacent bush. The snow last year made it nearly impossible to haul out the sap, and this will pump it right to the shack. I have to drive to my other bush.

[nacc]

I could not resist starting to tap--last year I started the second week in Feb. but with the weather forcast I decided to start a little early so I put 42 in over the weekend. all the trees on the outside of the woods are producing as of yesterday. I only hope I am not to early---any thoughts?

[Ghs57]

Tha maple next to my house has a broken branch, which is now dripping sap.

It's hard to argue with running sap. I don't know if it's too early, I just hope it's not too late when I'm ready to go. I was planning on tapping Feb 15 or thereabouts.

[sugarman3]

My thoughts are to tap about 10 feb,this is our Jan thaw,a little late,but I am sure old man winter will show up

[longlivenintendo]

Hailing from Orange County NY. This weather is bumming me out. The idea of tapping this early seems a little crazy. Now im not a person with years and years and years of experience but this weather is throwing me off as its been so warm. We've had barely any snow here, and no hard frost. Today we are getting a ton of rain. I'm not sure what will happen this year and what to do.

[devils11217]

I live in orange county as well... i think considering tapping tomorrow (approx 100 taps) but have my doubts as well. I believe it will get cold again in the 10 day forecast.

[Ghs57]

Rained hard here most of the day. It did not get as warm as forecasted, at least not yet. I didn't get much work done on the shack in the rain. Finally making headway on this, and hope to get the siding on within a few days.

I'm still planning to hold off on tapping (for better or worse) until later this month.

[Ghs57]

Windows are all in. Framing for the door is about ready. Siding almost half done, but I'm running out. Time for a trip to woodstock building supply. I was hoping the parts for my steam hood would be cut at the fabricator's, but no word yet. It was too dark for pictures when I called it a day, so will try to get a few tomorrow.

[mountainvan]

Drove by today on the way to Kingston. Looking good.

[Ghs57]

Too bad I missed you Van. I had appointments on Friday.

Got the door in, and about half the siding on this weekend. She's looking pretty good, except for the fact that the new siding is not stained, and the old siding is forest green. That will be remedied after the season.

[Ghs57]

We have had a dusting of snow the last two nights. And now cold weather is in the forecast for the weekend. Coldest of the season so far.

Plan to finish the siding on the outside of shack today. That just leaves the wall between the shack and the wood (shed) barn it is attached to. Actually, it is an addition to that older barn.

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Anyone know how to rotate uploaded images?

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[Ghs57]

Too windy and cold today!

[RUSTYBUCKET]

Gary -
Took a ride up Sawkill yesterday in search of your shack but missed it. Is it visible from Sawkill Road ?

Russ

[Ghs57]

Not really. I'm about 400 feet back in the woods, between the kingston water department filter plant and morey hill road. Number 1387.

[Ghs57]

Got the steam hood and AOF manifold parts from the fabricator. Looking good. Also got the copper for the preheater. Now to put it all together. Between the cold and commitments, not much progress on anything this weekend.

[Ghs57]

Tapped today.

Got one 3/16 line in today. Sap was running so fast it filled up an 800 foot roll before I could trim to the correct length. My brother and I both took a face full of sap at least once as we moved down the line fitting the drops. There are only about 20 taps on this line, and at that bottom there was enough pressure to squirt sap quite a few feet by holding your finger over the end of the tubbing. I have many more to do, and this looks like the week to start. I hope I have enough tubing to connect everything up. My Ohayo Mt bush is all 3/16, whereas my Zena bush is all 5/16 with vacuum. Total of about 100 taps. I'm looking for more though.

Meanwhile, back at the shack, I got my AOF/AUF manifolds ready to go, now to get them installed in the arch. That's the plan for Monday. After that, I have to assemble the steam hood and run the steam stack out the roof. I also have the preheater copper all cut, ready to be soldered up. Lots do to this week. Looks like the weather is set for a great week.

[Ghs57]

Got the AOF rough installed, now to insulate and re-brick

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[Ghs57]

Rain, rain , rain. The deluge left one of my drums stranded, and overflowing.
13332

[Ghs57]

Got about half my taps in Saturday, and will work on the rest Sunday.

The flood receded, so I was able to get to the drum and pump it out. There was not much flow here since last Sunday, but the forecast is looking better for the week ahead.

[Ghs57]

I installed the lunchbox vacuum/releaser yesterday. Naturally, I did not have all the right fittings, and on a quick run to the home store, bought the wrong ones. But I patched it together with what I had and was able to see it work. It pumps my near bush sap right to the holding tank. No collecting. Imagine that, although I like going into the woods to collect. It's my daily ritual. I still have a few more lines to set up there.

Work on the arch should finish up today, and should be boiling Tuesday or Wednesday, probably without the hood/preheater. I am waiting on some welding on the hood, and the preheater is not completely assembled.

[Ghs57]

The word for the day is "overflowing". Can you say "overflowing"?

All lines ran all night, and my collecting tanks are running over. I expected a good run, but this exceeded expectations by a wide margin.

[Ghs57]

Boiling the past three nights. The first night worked out some of the bugs in the setup. Second night tested out the AOF/AUF, plumbed in the head tank/float box. Not sure I have the air set right, but discovered that it is not a good idea to fire without gloves. Drew off a gallon a two, which was a surprise. Did not think the sap had concentrated enough. Third night, fire, fire fire, steam, steam, steam, rain inside. Task for today is to instal the steam hood, and rig up some kind (any kind) of stack. Drew off a few more gallons. The IBC tote was full, now almost empty, and ready for more.

Amber syrup fo far.
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[Ghs57]

Today's story is ice. The past few days, and nights, have left the tanks mostly full of ice.

Nothing much has run since Wednesday. There has been plenty to do though, with the evap set up and tuning, and yesterday getting the steam hood on the pan. I wanted to light a fire to see how it's going to work, but there was no time. Got another 35 or so taps in today, and that about does it for the 3/16 lines. I'm out of 3/16 "T"s. Still have some 5/16 tubing and fittings left, which I may try to deploy this week. Also ran out of jars so could not bottle the couple of gals ready to go.

[Longyearfarm]

Hey Gary. I'm sure you're flooded in sap from the past 2 days. I'm getting caught up now. Evaporator's been running for 16 hours straight now! Are you going to be boiling tomorrow morning? I'd like to see your set up.

Matt

[Ghs57]

Matt,

200 gals today, not counting the overflow, which could have been another 20 gals. Will pick up in the morning around 10 after I collect from Ohayo.

According to my log, last year I did not tap (other than a few monitor taps) until March 13.

[Ghs57]

Just finished processing the last of my sap. Extremely dark and flavorful.

All my tanks need a good cleaning, especially the IBC tote. Naturally, that's the hardest one to clean.

I'm somewhere around 16 gals right now. My near bush actually ran today and produced about 5 gals on vac (38 taps).

The local forecast holds possibilities for the weekend and into next week. We shall see. I'm very low on wood.

[Ghs57]

Lots of frost this morning. The overnight low was prob around 30 degrees.

I dumped all the sap in the cleaned drums, which was collected since late Thursday, as it was very cloudy and had an off smell. My one tree on a jug produced some yellow looking sap. That tree may be done. I'll see what comes in today and decide then where to go.

I'll put out a sign today and see if I can sell a few quarts out of the shack.

[Ghs57]

Collected about 100 gals over the past two days. Sap is pretty clear and smells fresh. My stovetop test boil produced some lighter syrup with no off taste or smell. With these low temps, and some ice in the tanks which formed overnight, I hope to hold off boiling until Tuesday morning. May do another test then to check everything out.

[Ghs57]

Boiled down about 180 gals from the weekend. Nice sap, just like we were getting back in February. Nearly as clear as water. Nice to see a lighter grade later in the season.

This will most likely do it for me. I'm nearly out of wood, and the taps have slowed down significantly. And the weather is supposed to stay warn. And the buds are ready to pop. I should finish with about 20 gals.

[Ghs57]

Boiled off all the remaining sap. The woodpile is nearly gone. Shut down the vac on my nearby taps. The others are slowing way down after 5 weeks, and warm weather. I now have many gals to filter and bottle.

I will spend a few days in the finishing room (kitchen), then tally up the results.

The new equipment preformed well. The SL pan is great, but my arch leaves room for improvement. The AUF/AOF worked great, well worth the investment. The hood/preheater didn't make it into service due to tech issues, but there is always next year. If not, I'll have to invest in indoor rain gear. The lunchbox vac worked great; saved many field trips into the bush and increased the yield, but there was no snow this year.

As an aside, on a warm day a week or so ago, I gave a tour of the near bush to a group of friends. Two of us came out of the woods with deer ticks. Very early for this, but a warm sunny day has them stirring.

Looks like those north of here will enjoy another week or more of the season. Good luck.

[Ghs57]

I'm looking at a row of jars, one form each bottling run (there were 11), sitting in the sunlight, and it looks like several need to be refiltered. Batches 4, 5, 6 & 7 look cloudy. I guess the old flat filter is worn out. I switched to a cone filter after that, and those batches look clear. Something for a rainy day, like Monday.

[Ghs57]

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Sample from each batch. #5 was right after the heat wave on 3/9. It did lighten up after, but still darker for the rest of the season.

[Ghs57]

All done. Ended with 12 batches, 24.75 gallons.

Tapped - 2/21/2016 Shut down - 3/23/2016
Total Gals sap = 1179
Avg. sugar content = 1.81
Gals sap per tap = 10.43
Gal syrup per tap = .22

5/16 lines are down, still need to do the 3/16. All tanks power washed. Pan is not cleaned yet.

[ponderingjunkman]

I don't clean pans till June or july. Leave sap in them, it turns to an acid that makes cleaning very easy!

[Ghs57]

I've heard that. The pan is pretty dry, but I do have some sap in a remote drum not cleaned yet.

How was your season? This was my biggest year, despite a late start and equipment issues.

[Ghs57]

We got 4" of snow today. Where was this weather three weeks ago when it was 70? It's not helping us now, with most of the trees pushing out leaves. The temp is supposed to drop to 20 tonight. The last time it did that here was 3/5. I know, I know it's over; let it go. Such is nature. Hope it kills some of the ticks and bugs killing my pines, but they are tough and will probably thrive this year. Now I feel like a farmer.

[ponderingjunkman]

I made less than half of last year, started late due to improving the evaporator. It didn't work as good as expected tho, so I'm pondering a better design. I just got back from visiting my sister in Tennessee, where there is a scrap yard that sells back to the public- picked up six 5 by 10 sheets of 20 gauge stainless for 200 bucks- so I have material to play with. Need to learn to weld better. .... Gonna expand our use of line next year too. I hope to be better prepared for next year!

[mountainvan]

Your maple syrup for sale sign got blown over.

[Ghs57]

Your maple syrup for sale sign got blown over.

After all that wind, I'm still looking for the house.

That's going to force me to put up a real sign. That was a temporary while I'm working on it. I have the materials for it, just not the ambition at the moment. This cold snap hasn't made the garage very appealing.

[mountainvan]

I have a metal NY maple sold here sign that you can borrow for a month or two if you'd like.

[Ghs57]

Thanks for the offer Van. I'm going to try to get my sign together in the next few days. If all else fails, I'll take you up on it.

[Ghs57]

I'm just about ready to start the season. Just finishing up the latest round of improvements in the shack, which include finishing my preheater and steam hood. Got the steam stack cut through the roof and now just waiting on the duct work. Also added a shed roof to the side of the shack for covered storage/firewood. Moving my combustion fan outside under the new roof. Still need another IBC for hauling sap and a gas pump for moving it. Improvements never end.

[dragonflyfarm]

First time posting here, been following you all for many years. I teach at phoenicia elementary school. I take the kids out and we tap about fifteen trees. I also do the same at bennett and Woodstock and then I come back and boil for them. Anyhow I pulled Thirty gallons out from phoenicia in Friday. Was supposed to tap today at Woodstock, moved to Wednesday. The weather this year is definitely interesting! Just can't wait to have all my taps in, Happy boiling!

[Ghs57]

Welcome dragonfly!

I see the taps at the Woodstock school. I fact, I drive by them on my way to my taps on ohayo mt. You're on buckets (jugs) this year? Let us know what how you make out and what your syrup is like.

I plan to tap this week, depending on the weather forecast. At least will try to get my Sawkill taps in.

Btw, I grew up in West Hurley

[dragonflyfarm]

No I run tubing into four gallon water jugs. I then drive each weekend with a 300 gallon water tank and collect in phoenicia, boiceville, Woodstock and Sammsonville, then boil at my house off stone rd in west hurley. Today I tapped 10 trees at bennett. The sap was gushing out! In march I bring in the Evaporator on a trailer and boil for the kids,
Tomorrow,Wednesday I tap at Woodstock, those must be someone else's jugs!i have a mason hobby evaporator and a small 10 gallon finishing pan. It's fun to teach the kids about sugaring!

[Ghs57]

Yes I saw the water bottles last year I meant to say. I probably wont get over that way until the weekend.

I hate to hear that the sap is running while I'm here still putting things together!

[dragonflyfarm]

yes it must have been last year. Today I took the kids from the Woodstock school to tap, 12 in total. It was slow to run this morning but was flowing nicely this afternoon. I too will probably collect this weekend. So all the kiddies have now tapped and now it's collection time! I love this time of year! Where is your operation?

[Ghs57]

1387 Sawkill Road. There is a sign when the wind lets me leave it up.

[Ghs57]

Got three lines up over the weekend, and one more today, plus the vacuum on the 5/16 lines. I didn't realize that the rinse water in the vacuum return line to the sap house was frozen, so no sap moved yesterday. That was my fault. I left the line on the snow so it never thawed out. So I missed the weekend run for the most part. Still have several more lines to run though. The 3/16 lines are running like mad, as usual, but there is still not enough sap to sweeten the pan. I need about 200 gals to start, and am way short of the number as of now.

There seems to be no end to the list of loose ends to finish before I can fire up the evaporator. I'm just about ready the install the preheater in the steam hood, and I have my ductwork ready to go. I still have to clean the new IBC tote (it held soy bean oil). I also ran out of tees for the 3/16 lines. I can't believe I did not order more on my last Bascomes order.

Nevertheless, the season is off and running (figuratively speaking).

[dragonflyfarm]

Wow you seem to have a pretty complicated set up compared to my humble little rig! How much syrup did you produce last Year?
I boiled down about 60 gallons in the last few days. I had a sneaking suspicion that my jugs in phoenicia might be full, I last emptied them on Thursday, indeed they were, pulled another 62 gallons alone from phoenicia. I stopped by boiceville and had at least 30 gallons there and i suspect another 30 at Woodstock. I will collect them later this week so I have something to boil next weekend. Trying to finish the last 75 gallons in my tank before I refill! The sap is really pumping out now, hope you are up and running soon!

[Ghs57]

It started out pretty simple: a pan on a wood stove. This current setup is nothing compared to most operations. Mine is mostly homebuilt, and at times it really shows. I did 25 gals last year. Trying to double that this year.

Got sap coming in now, with 90 taps up and running. I had one 3/16 line that was not running at all, so walked it back to see what was up. the very last tap was on the ground. Two days run from that line disappeared into the snow. Oh well. Still have a few lines to run to get to 150+ taps, but have to get the evaporator ready to go, so today working on the preheater/steam hood. And going to pressure wash the new tote. I'm going to need it to collect later.

[dragonflyfarm]

I guess that's how we all start , small and simple! I started with 10 taps a stock pot and a cast iron chiminea! Moved to steam tray tables and 20 taps , now have a small hobby evaporator and 47 taps. I am nervous about running lines for the reasons you mentioned, tree limbs taking one down and losing the sap. The thought of not having to lug around 30lb bottles is appealing but hey its a good winter workout! I pulled another 60 gallons from Woodstock and Bennett. Having to drive around with all the sap until I can boil tonight and through the weekend! WE seem to be in the thick of it for a while, then a lull and hopefully another great run into march.

[Ghs57]

Typical day during the maple season:

Try to work on things and find your don't have the right parts.

Try to pressure wash an IBC, and find that there is something that looks like jello in the gas tank. Then break a few parts taking the carburetor off to clean it. Resort to the garden hose and drive around with a few gallons of soapy water in the tank on the back trying to clean out the soybean oil.

Something comes up that you have to drop everything to take care of.

Realize you haven't eaten since sometime in the AM.

Fall asleep at 9pm in front of the wood stove worrying about everything that didn't get done.

It's great, isn't it. :)

[dragonflyfarm]

Oh boy I feel for you! Nothing worse then gearing up to boil in the midst of a run and not having what you you need. Out of curiosity what do you burn with? Wood ? Hardwood or pine.?

[Longyearfarm]

Hi Pat! I'll burn whatever, but I do prefer to fire the evaporator with pine. This year however, I have a surplus of ash, so hardwood it is! The ash burns decent. I split it small so it really doesn't make a ton of coals.

[Longyearfarm]

Stop by and check out our operation sometime

[dragonflyfarm]

Hey Matt! I would love to see your operation! I usually burn slab pine from the mill but honestly I used ash and some maple tonight and my boil was more consistent, hotter and sustained. In the end I will burn whatever I have but was curious what others were finding. I should be boiling at Woodstock elementary with the kids next Thursday all day and then at phoenicia march 9 and Bennett march 10th.

[Longyearfarm]

That's awesome that you'll get paid to make maple syrup those days. I'm sure my kids are looking forward to it.

[Ghs57]

I find I have a much more consistent boil with hardwood. I almost always start with pine, simply because almost all of my pines are dead due to the pine bore. But, I will burn anything that does not move. Ash has been working very well, and there is so much of it available. I have a deep ash pit in the evaporator. That, and since I added forced air, I do not have an excessive buildup of coals. I also have a good stockpile of wood this year. Last year it was: make syrup, or heat the house.

[Longyearfarm]

Hard to believe, but the sap ran decent today. I wasn't expecting a drop in the buckets. I'm gong to try and boil it all down tonight. Not sure how long the sap will last in this balmy weather we have...

[Ghs57]

Got everything together and boiled off about 100 gals tonight. Still fine tuning the steam hood. Had to bypass the preheater for today because I did not have all the pieces to plumb it in, and my sap reserve was going stale. These temps play havoc with the sap, even the fresh stuff. Best to boil it off the same day. I will be boiling most of the weekend to catch up with the flow.

I thought the fan for the AUF/AOF was what was making all the noise in the shack, so I moved it outside under the new shed roof. It makes noise, but probably not more more than the pan at full boil. While I think it did make a difference, there still is plenty of noise. Piping in the air for further away required resetting the AUF/AOF dampers. Had to open them up some more. Now the blast furnace is back on the job.

Can't wait for colder weather!

[dragonflyfarm]

Yea I'm pretty lucky that the school supports this. The kids and Thea gets seem to love it it. It's helpful to have the extra days to boil off on a good run!

[dragonflyfarm]

Boiled off 130 gallons, trying to keep it cold was tricky, had to scrape up remaining snow and dump on top of my tank. All said and done I started at 7 am and just finished at eight. Have about Twenty gallons to finish tomorrow, and thankful none of it spoiled! This week looks somewhat promising for another flow.

[Ghs57]

My first two draw offs have been dark amber. Usually, my first few are amber, and sometimes golden. Not this year. Didn't want to go through the filter either.

After my second boil, I discovered my grates had warped and bent in the heat of the evap combustion chamber. They were made out of old shelving channels, not the cheap stuff, but some of industrial strength. Really looks like they rusted away more than anything else. I should have taken them out and cleaned them during the off season. They lasted two and a half seasons though. Made some new ones out of an old road sign post.

The evaporator is running pretty well. There are a few issues with the steam hood, but manageable for now. I want to plumb in the preheater today. I'd like to see how well it works, and I have all the parts I need now. If I stay on the fire, with good hardwood, I'm getting 25gph+.

Looks like another warm day today. The weather is not working with us this year. The snow is nearly all gone. I don't have all my taps in yet, and unless conditions look better, not sure I am going to do the rest. We'll see.

[Longyearfarm]

I haven't made an ounce of light syrup this year. Started out medium last week and now it's borderline dark. Delicious though. Yesterday I dumped a bunch of buckets that had some questionable stuff inside from our recent heat wave. Today however, I got 360 gallons, with a majority of that coming from the vacuum. Now all I have to do is boil it all down tonight and be up for work at 4:30AM :)

[Ghs57]

Today's syrup looked like molasses. Tastes very good though. Boils going very well, and I'm keeping up with the flow.

But my vacuum broke down, so hardly anything from the 50 trees here. Parts are shipping out today though. I missed out on the run of the past two days on these trees because I didn't discover the problem until this morning. Luckily, the 3/16 on Ohayo is producing well.

Matt, do you run an RO? It would take me quite some time to boil off 360 gals of raw sap. I haven't dumped any sap yet, other than the one bucket I have on the tree by the house. It went moldy on the warm day last week.

Looks like one more warm day before some cold air moves in. Maybe we will have a few good runs with this seasonable weather.

[Longyearfarm]

No RO yet. After this season I'm going to put a much needed addition on the sap house. I like the smaller ROs that leader offers now. Once I have some more room, I think that's the next logical step for my operation. I don't mind spending long hours in the sap house, but it's tough to juggle that along with work, family time, and anything else life throws at me. I even think that my wife will give me the green light to purchase it! As it is now, I can boil off 40 gallons an hour I think.

Today's run wasn't that great. Again, the vacuum out performed any buckets I have. Here's hoping for cooler weather...

[dragonflyfarm]

Sounds like everyone is dealing with the same issues and getting the same result. My first few gallons were light but nothing but dark after that and now what seems like end of season dark B grade stuff. My sap has managed to be ok, little cloudy but not sour. Did end up dumping 20 gallons because of a sour smell. Best of luck to you all, hoping things turn around before I get burnt out from all the hauling and long nights boiling!

[Ghs57]

I boiled my sap tanks dry last night due to the warm temperatures. Now I'll rinse everything out and get ready for the next batch. I have about 8 gals to finish.

The wind has arrived today, bringing the colder weather. I hope to take a day or two off from boiling, as at these temps, the sap is not apt to spoil. I hope my vacuum parts get here today or tomorrow. My collections are down by 1/3 to 1/2 as a result of no vac on the local trees.

Did you every drive a truck with 110 gals of sap in an IBC on the back? My weight limit is about 150 gals, but I don't think I'd want to go over 125. Sloshing sap is not your friend. I'd like to have that tank on a low utility trailer.

[antelope76]

I like it when you're at a stop and the entire truck is swaying due to the sap in the barrels sloshing around.


I boiled my sap tanks dry last night due to the warm temperatures. Now I'll rinse everything out and get ready for the next batch. I have about 8 gals to finish.

The wind has arrived today, bringing the colder weather. I hope to take a day or two off from boiling, as at these temps, the sap is not apt to spoil. I hope my vacuum parts get here today or tomorrow. My collections are down by 1/3 to 1/2 as a result of no vac on the local trees.

Did you every drive a truck with 110 gals of sap in an IBC on the back? My weight limit is about 150 gals, but I don't think I'd want to go over 125. Sloshing sap is not your friend. I'd like to have that tank on a low utility trailer.

[Ghs57]

I like it when you're at a stop and the entire truck is swaying due to the sap in the barrels sloshing around.

Sure makes things interesting.

I used to haul in a 55 gal drum. It was usually full (and weighed less overall) so there was little sloshing. I never felt it.

[Ghs57]

Anyone checking their sugar content? There are many reports of low sugar. I have not measured mine, but it seems about normal for me - 1.80%.

[Longyearfarm]

I'm pretty good at breaking hydrometers so I haven't checked my sap sugar yet this season. I'm heading to shaver hill tomorrow in the AM to get bottles, a new sap hydrometer, and a few other things. Do you need me to pick anything up to save you a trip?

[Ghs57]

I didn't see this until now. I'm not familiar with them. I am looking for some bulk containers, maybe 2.5 gal or so. Don't know if they would have anything like that.

[georgelineman]

You probably missed him when that man says AM he usually means 5am that guy is always on the go!
george

[Ghs57]

You probably missed him when that man says AM he usually means 5am that guy is always on the go!
george

I know you are right.

[Ghs57]

All froze up today, and windy, windy, windy. And more wind. Then some more wind...so inside bottling.

[Ghs57]

Trees just don't want to run yesterday or today. Vac is back up and running since yesterday , but very little moving. 3/16 is barely moving also. I expected to be boiling all day, but no sap. Got slush in the evaporator though. May light a fire to warm things up a little.

[Buddy 58]

Got the same thing here . Took a drive around the country block this morning to check tanks and wasn't much in them . Just as well though , last night did not feel the best and today feel like sh t , Hope those darn trees turn on sometime today . Waiting for the ups man , got 2 15 gallon stainless drums coming from Bascoms . I use them 5 gallon blue con tianers also , anyway come on trees do something ! Hope every one is having good day .

[Longyearfarm]

I left the pump running last night and woke up to find some sap in my tank! Not much, but i haven't seen any in about a week now. Hoping for an awesome run today.

[georgelineman]

hey matt, Mountainville Matt got 100 gal or so yesterday on vac. 2 miles away my jugs are dry. maybe this weekend. or maybe im done.

george e.

[Ghs57]

Running today. After a week of nothing, it's a relief. All Drums overflowing for the first time this season.

I have a huge block of ice in one drum which will not come out because the rim is smaller than the drum body. Head tank is solid ice also. But, going to light a fire and run what I have.

[devils11217]

George we need to outfit you with 3/16 natural vacuum lines around your trees this fall!

[Ghs57]

3/16 is amazing. I put a vacuum gauge on my line with the greatest drop, which is only about 25-30', and was at about 20. All four lines run like there is no tomorrow, and often overflow the tank.

There was a decent collection today, making the latest run the second best this year. I'm still adding taps, now up to about 125. I still have two sections to do, should I decide to push on.

It seems like we will be back to winter temperatures for the next week. More like February than March. Might have time for other things for a few days.

[Ghs57]

Boiled tanks dry. Now to wait out the deep freeze. Seems February and March got switched this year.

I'm at about half of last years production. It would be nice to match or exceed it. We just have to wait and see.

[Ghs57]

I'm still digging out of the snow. It's not that we got a record amount, but it's been a struggle. Equipment breakdowns and the cold. I was numb when I came in. Resorted to using the skid steer to move some, but it makes a poor snowplow. Packs the snow into ice real well though. I haven't cleared to the shack yet. Will do in the morning. No rush, no sap anyway.

[Ghs57]

After an eight day dry spell, sap started flowing yesterday afternoon.

The vacuum is back up and running, and I dug all the lines out of the snow and let them defrost. At about sundown, a good stream of sap had pushed the remaining ice from the lines into the drum. There were a few issues on my 3/16 lines. Mainly, a few connections had been undone by falling objects in the wind.

The snow is still deep out there. I was cold and wet by the time I finished checking things out. Got to get higher boots, or snowshoes.

[Ghs57]

Walked the lines on vacuum today and found a number of problems. A line frozen in the snow, another connection broke lose and a few air leaks. Yesterday I checked out the 3/16 lines and had a number of breaks. No picnic getting to them in this snow. All good now. Not much ran today despite the sun and temps in the 40s. What did run looks very clear, but still too much ice in everything.

I'm hoping we have 10 days left this season. I'm behind last years' totals, even though the tap count is higher. A couple of good runs will catch me up, provided the equipment holds up. Snow is still deep in the woods, so that may help us get there.

[Ghs57]

I've been getting a decent run over the past 24 hours. Hope it holds up for a few more hundred gallons. The forecast for next week shows no extreme highs (chance of 60 on Tuesday) and a potential freeze midweek. I'm going to stick it out and hope to make my goal. Had a great boil on Wednesday, and will see if I have enough for one tomorrow after I collect from the remote tank. I will also be test boiling for off flavors, but so far there are none. Crystal clear sap.

[Ghs57]

Currently I'm 60 gals of sap short of last years total. We may see a freeze midweek and on the weekend, so it's quite possible this will be collected this week. The latest sap was clear and tasted fine, and the steam smelled sweet not funky. From here on out I will be test boiling anything going into the evaporator. My old log shows that I was done last year at this time. In 2014 and 2015, conditions were good into the first week in April.

After many delays, I finally got the preheater plumbed in. Sap was going in at about 40 and coming out steaming. It was hard to get a measurement on the heated sap. I got readings everywhere from 125 to 160. For now, i'm happy with the 100 degree increase in the sap temperature. The condensation draining from the hood quadrupled as the steam condensed out on the colder copper tubing and ran down the drain channels. This condensation was too hot to put your hands in, but it is sure nice to have hot water in the shack for cleaning up.

The evaporator grates may not survive another boil. I will be casting a refractory grate after the season, so I'm using whatever I can find for now. Most can not survive the heat for more than one running.

My road sign fell down in the blizzard (Ive lost count of the number of times it's fallen). The new sign is in the works, and will be painted by the person that did the artwork on my label. Hopefully, looking the same as the tree in my profile picture. I may have to fix the old one again in the mean time.

[Ghs57]

I only collected 100 gals over the past four days, so I'm calling it a season. I just finished boiling that down, and now have about 15 gals to bottle, including the concentrate in the pan. I'll leave the taps in until I have enough sour sap to soak the pan for the next two or three months.

When this is all finished I'll have my final stats for the season. It looks like I matched last year's syrup production almost to the pint based upon my estimates, but we shall see.

This was a tough year, and I heard more than once how far down production was locally. I had more taps in than last year (although short of my goal), and feel pretty good about matching those totals.

I hope all you locals faired well this year, and would like to leave an update with your results.

[Ghs57]

The results are in on the 2017 season.

Maximum number of taps was 126, but not for the entire season.
Gal of sap collected: 1,232
Gals of syrup produced: 25.5 bottled - not counting loss to spillage and the **** filters.
Avg Sugar content: 1.80 - About the same as prior years
Tapped in: 2/18
Tapped out: 3/31
Length of season: 42 days

Syrup mostly very dark with a little dark at the beginning.

Installed the steam hood, and at the very end, the preheater. Both worked well. Lost the vacuum on 5/16 for one run in late February. In the off season I will be rebuilding the arch fire box, continuing the finish work on the shack, and finding a better way to move firewood to the arch. Will also be looking at a filter press, and a homebuilt RO system. It's very easy to spend money on maple equipment.

Expansion plans for 2018!

[Ghs57]

Happy 2018 maple sap farmers!

I hear some of us are tapped in already. I'm nowhere near ready, as usual. I've no plans to tap before Feb 15 or so, and we'll see how that works out. But, I'm looking forward to the season, and following everyone's daily adventures, problems and successes.

Good luck to all on a successful season.

[Ghs57]

Things are looking good for the start of my season. But there are a few hang-ups.

I'm casting a new bottom grate for the evaporator based on the UVM combustion document. Last year I melted every metal grate I put in there. I ordered castable refractory, but one bag is not enough for a 3 inch grate, so now waiting on another bag. The combustion chamber took a beating last year, and now there are many loose fire bricks, so I'll be repairing those also. The plan for the offseason was to enlarge the chamber, but you know how that goes.

I'm switching to all 3/16 lines this year, vertical drop or not. All new drops because the priors are 3 seasons old. No new equipment this year, but hopefully a little smarter this go around. It's a patch up and run what ya got year for me.

Should be tapped in by the weekend, and up and running next week if all goes well.

[Ghs57]

I running behind schedule due do some major electrical work on the house and installation of a PV solar system. The contractor moved me up a good two weeks. So, no time to get ready or get out and run lines. Casting my new evaporator grate today, but still need to do the reconstruction work on the evap. Then put everything back together. I may be able to get out later today and run a few lines. Forecast is for a warmup early this week, but I will probably miss this run.

[Ghs57]

I was able to get a small number of taps in on Wednesday. Running like mad. The drum was overflowing when I got to it late yesterday, so I may have lost and equal amount. I had other commitments yesterday, so only had time to clean up some equipment.

The two lines in are on 3/16 and are pulling 26+ inches on the vacuum gage. Absolutely amazing. And the weather forecast looks very good for the next 10 days. I plan to have all taps in this weekend.

The casting of the new evaporator grate went very well. The grate is out of the form and awaiting installation. At 21x18x3, it weighs about 70 pounds, and I need help to put it in place. Going to be a tight fit.

[Ghs57]

Somewhere around 50 taps in. Even running is this rain/snow today.

Lots of "Posted" signs in the woods behind my house. They saw my tubing last year. Tapping has never been a problem, but I am reluctant to cross the line. I don't know the new owner. Time to look elsewhere. Luckily, I can expend on my remote bush, but that may not match my local production (75 taps).

[ponderingjunkman]

We lost two patchs of woods to new owners this year too. Not too big a deal, as one lot has the potential for hundreds more taps than we have out. About 75% of our taps are on other people's land. They all are happy to let us goof off on their land tho! All our buckets are hanging now.

[Ghs57]

First ten days went fairly well. New grate works pretty well, so long as I clean out the ashes regularly. Sugar content seems low, but I have not checked it. I'm going to it run anyway. RO next year.

My tap count is under 100 due to the loss of some local trees, but there are still a few trees I can hit on the remote bush. Also, I am following the more conservative tapping guidelines this year: 10" minimum diameter and two tap max per tree.

The warm weather had me collecting and running same day to stay ahead of the flow. Even so, the sap is not crystal clear, and there is an extreme amount of dark sediment in the syrup at draw-off time. Definitely very dark syrup.

Friday's storm left many here without power, but we had no snow. Just wind and rain. The lines are in good order though, with no limbs taking out any lines.

No boil today, but back at it tomorrow if the flow keeps up.

[Ghs57]

Power outage shut me down early today. No lights, forced air or pump. Left about 100 gals in the tank. Will get them tomorrow.

Just when you think you have your equipment all figured out, you have a day like today. I could not find the ideal float level, and was running either too high or too low, with very sporadic draw offs.

I'm over halfway to my average production total.

[Ghs57]

The sap just keeps coming. I'm already past last year's total collection, and that's with fewer taps (100+-). I can't take a day off or I will fall behind in processing. The week ahead looks very good.

The collection numbers this year confirm that there were sanitation issues last year. This year's new taps and drops are paying off already, as is the switch to all 3/16 lines. I have also found that the D&G tubing and fittings are tighter than the Leader and CDL supplies I've used for recent seasons.

No doubt an RO will be top of the list for next year. I will be checking out the DIY threads on these. Hope the wood holds out for the rest of the season.

[Ghs57]

Marathon boil yesterday. I'm already at last year's syrup production number. The wood pile is disappearing.

What's with the niter this year? It's thicker than I've ever seen it. My pre-filters on the draw off are fouled almost instantly with what looks like tar. It's a good thing the sap preheater under the steam hood produces several gallons of hot condensation water an hour, because I need it to keep everything clean.

We have hit 40 degrees today, so time to see if anything is running. Really missing that RO unit - but will have to hang on until next season. The bottler will be next. And maybe a faster transfer pump. And maybe some cam lock fittings. And maybe a concrete floor in the sap house. Is there any end to this?

[ponderingjunkman]

Is there any end to this?[/QUOTE]

NO! I was eyeing a 4 by 14 evaporator on craigslist, but it had sold. But that would have meant a new sap house, more taps,....

[Ghs57]

Is there any end to this?

NO! I was eyeing a 4 by 14 evaporator on craigslist, but it had sold. But that would have meant a new sap house, more taps,....[/QUOTE]


Seems like the Quote button is not working correctly....


You know you need a new sap house! (I have been stockpiling timbers for my woodshed extension on the end of my shack. It's going up this year.)

At least I was able to stop myself from buying more tubing even though I can hit another dozen trees on the end of one line. They will be there next year.

[Ghs57]

I'm sitting on a couple hundred gallons of sap that I plan to run tomorrow. I thought the run from the past two days would be bigger, and if so, I would have boiled today. The overnight temps have been low enough to put ice in the drums, and you can really feel spring in the sunshine.

I figure I'll run another week at least, and keep an eye on the forecasts. It's been so cold this month, but the trees know what time it is.

The new filter/steam bottler arrived today, but without the propane burner. It decided to take a different route, and is somewhere in Indiana. I wanted to start bottling the 30 gallons stockpiled in the shack.

My estimates have me way beyond last years totals, and I probably did not buy enough jars to hold it all. That's better than the reverse.

[wnybassman]

The new filter/steam bottler arrived today, but without the propane burner. It decided to take a different route, and is somewhere in Indiana. I wanted to start bottling the 30 gallons stockpiled in the shack.



Well that certainly sucks.

[Ghs57]

Well that certainly sucks.

I was so disappointed. But I will recover. I'm running out of food grade buckets though.

[Ghs57]

7 hr boil today, and now tanks are dry.

I had an incident last night which cost me plenty. I was reheating syrup to run through the filter, and realized I left the instructions for the burner in the house. So I did the unthinkable. I left the burner on low and went to get the instructions. Nothing ever goes as planed. What should have taken a minute, didn't. I came back to a stock pot of foam. At least 2 gallons on the ground. I have to stop thinking about it.

First critter damage of the season. I couldn't figure why there was no sap flowing into the drum at the shack. This is my lunchbox line. My remote line were running when I collected earlier. It finally dawned on me that either a connection separated, or worse. I found the chewed section easily enough, but I had walked right by it earlier and did not notice the wet ground. I got it fixed, but rather late in the day. Oh, what could have been.

We have had good freezes over the past week, but we are now entering a warm spell. The forecast highs will not be extreme, but no freeze until the weekend, maybe. This could be it folks.

[Ghs57]

"I'm shocked! Shocked to find that fermentation is going on in here." he said as he looked into the evaporator head tank.

Well, something is going on in there, and it doesn't smell good. Foamy layer on top. My last boil was Tuesday. In the mean time, we have not had a freeze or above average temperatures. There has been just a tickle of new sap, which test boiled very well. But I'm not ready to face the end of the season. Perhaps I should be.

[wnybassman]

For most of this season I have removed my head tank after every boil to clean it. Fortunately it is just a 40 gallon plastic drum and comes down very easy. It is not a 100% drain, so about a quart or so is left after I boil. Gets funky after several boils, and now boiling concentrate I can't even let it go overnight.

[Ghs57]

For most of this season I have removed my head tank after every boil to clean it. Fortunately it is just a 40 gallon plastic drum and comes down very easy. It is not a 100% drain, so about a quart or so is left after I boil. Gets funky after several boils, and now boiling concentrate I can't even let it go overnight.

That's a very good point. This is a 55 gal plastic drum, and there is always something left in the tank. I usually shut down with about 20 gallons left, and it never runs dry during the cool down, which takes a few hours. I ran it dry one time during cool down, and that was nerve racking, but not disastrous. Draining back the tank and frequent cleaning is a good practice. Normally, the sap is only in there for an hour or so when everything is running smoothly, and the remainder a day or two when boiling regularly.

If there is no more usable sap here, this spoiled sap will go into the dirty pan for a good long soak. I still need another 25-50 gallons to do that. There are a few cold nights coming up so maybe there will be a bit more. But it's looking more and more like I'm done for the season.

[wnybassman]

That's a very good point. This is a 55 gal plastic drum, and there is always something left in the tank. I usually shut down with about 20 gallons left, and it never runs dry during the cool down, which takes a few hours. I ran it dry one time during cool down, and that was nerve racking, but not disastrous. Draining back the tank and frequent cleaning is a good practice. Normally, the sap is only in there for an hour or so when everything is running smoothly, and the remainder a day or two when boiling regularly.

If there is no more usable sap here, this spoiled sap will go into the dirty pan for a good long soak. I still need another 25-50 gallons to do that. There are a few cold nights coming up so maybe there will be a bit more. But it's looking more and more like I'm done for the season.

I run mine dry every time I boil. When I get down to 6 or 7 gallons left, I switch over to burning nothing but smaller pine. When I get down to 3 to 4 gallons left, I flood the flue pan with the remainder and drain the float box and put that into the flue pan. I then stoke the fire (yes with NOTHING left in the head tank! lol) with several pieces of finely split pine. This quickly gets the flue pan boiling to sterilize, but quickly runs out of fuel. Within five minutes of that final boil the fire is out, only a few coals remain and the boil simmers out to nothing. I never loose any more than about a 1/4" of depth in the pans after that. During the time of that final sterilization boil is when I drop the head tank down and rinse it out.

[Ghs57]

I run mine dry every time I boil. When I get down to 6 or 7 gallons left, I switch over to burning nothing but smaller pine. When I get down to 3 to 4 gallons left, I flood the flue pan with the remainder and drain the float box and put that into the flue pan. I then stoke the fire (yes with NOTHING left in the head tank! lol) with several pieces of finely split pine. This quickly gets the flue pan boiling to sterilize, but quickly runs out of fuel. Within five minutes of that final boil the fire is out, only a few coals remain and the boil simmers out to nothing. I never loose any more than about a 1/4" of depth in the pans after that. During the time of that final sterilization boil is when I drop the head tank down and rinse it out.

This is good information to have. I guess I will need to change up my routine when I add an RO next year. My rig has so much residual heat when I shut down, that it will take some practice to figure out the cut off point. That was even with burning punky poplar/pine/sycamore this year. Almost no dense hardwood went in. With all that glowing firebrick, including the 70lbs cast grate, it takes some time to dissipate. I could leave the AUF/AOF on longer.

[Ghs57]

Well, my trees have told me enough is enough already. Even with a freeze last night, there is nothing doing today. The 75 gals in the tank are starting to look like skim milk. I really wanted to run a bit longer.

I began draining the pan, and I'm 2/3 through bottling this years syrup. I'm pretty sure I don't have enough glassware, so I'll be buying more mason jars.

There will be a final tally in a few days.

[Ghs57]

Totals for the 2018 season:

Maximum number of taps was 102, but not for the entire season.
Gal of sap collected: 2,079 (less about 125 for spoiled sap not processed)
Gals of syrup produced: 35.25 bottled - not counting 3 gallon loss to spillage and the **** filters.
Avg Sugar content: 1.65 - Lower than prior years
Tapped in: 2/20
Tapped out: 3/31
Length of season: 40 days

Syrup mostly dark with a little very dark at the beginning.

This is my highest production total for a season, despite the lower tap count.

Now, it's time to expand the shack, install a concrete floor, install a proper electrical sub-panel and a sink with running water (during the season anyway). Equipment for next year: diy RO, rebuild evaporator firebox.

I forgot to add: Expand tap count to 200.

[Ghs57]

Staring up this weekend. Not ready, as usual, but will push on nevertheless.

[RUSTYBUCKET]

Boiled twice so far but everything is frozen solid now. Looking forward to the weekend.

Good luck to all.

Rusty

[Ghs57]

Went to pump tanks yesterday, and everything was still frozen solid here too. I have not boiled anything yet, but have collected two drums of near solid ice. I've not seen this before. But I did repair many breaks in the lines where tubing pulled off the fittings. I have about 90 taps set so far, and about 50 to go.

[Ghs57]

Completely froze up here. No warm temperatures expected until Friday at the earliest. So we wait.

[Ghs57]

My holding tank froze solid during the single digit temps over the past week or so. Sap was running the past few days, but not gushing. I still do not have enough to start up the evaporator. Still a huge ice block in the holding tank. we were able to chip the ice out of one of the collection tanks, but the other one is still frozen solid.

What a strange season so far. Last year by this time I had 25 gallons made. Hoping for the best this year, but probably will not be anywhere near last year's totals.

[Ghs57]

Finally up and running.

Anyone undecided about going with an RO unit, get off the fence and buy it. I ran 300 gals much faster than raw sap boiling. Set up and learning the process slowed things down some, but should be even smoother from now on. It will also help when I have the hose fitting figured out so I'm not sharing adaptors etc. every time I make a pass.

Looks like a good week ahead here.

[Pancake Hollow]

RO is so cool. Last year I didn’t have one and so my first 8000 gallons required 99 hours of boiling. This year I got thru that amount in 27 hours of boiling. I got the machine in late fall, stared at it with wonderment for a couple months, finally got it plugged in and I remember that ultimate first day I used it on sap - I woke up extremely anxious and inexperienced with it, but 1000 gallons of sap later and a good boil, I went bed feeling like a pro with it and there is no looking back - I love this machine! Can’t say enough about the guy I bought it from - fourth generation sugarmaker took great care of it, even installed some upgraded components before selling it to for a bigger unit.

Cheers to this next week, just hoping it’s not the last for us in 2019 down here in the lower Hudson Valley. Needs to trend a bit cooler after the 23rd than it’s currently forecast.

[Ghs57]

Yeah, it's a great machine. My rig is dialed in quite well now, and the higher concentration sap coming in allows me to almost continually draw off syrup (sometimes just a trickle). My second run went smoother than the first, now that I know how to fit it into the process.

I'm hopeful the weather will work with us for a while longer, as I am nowhere near last year's totals. We had a freeze last night, so we shall see how it goes today. All my tanks are dry, so need more sap!

[Ghs57]

The trees seem to be making up for the big shut down earlier this month. I've never seen runs like I'm getting now. My tanks are overflowing almost daily. It's a good thing I now have the RO unit, which will make it easier to catch up tomorrow. I'm still way behind last year, but things are looking up.

[Ghs57]

Getting ready to process and run about 350 gals from the last 2 days. Things have finally slowed down, and we had borderline freezing temps last night, so we will see what happens today. Over 10 gals made so far, with a potential for about 15 more based upon my current collection totals. Hoping for 35 if the weather holds on for another 10 days.

[Ghs57]

Still going pretty strong here. Next freeze predicted for Sunday night, although I'm about at my end for this year. I'm just 150 gals short of last year, which I would not have thought possible with such a late start for the season. Everything has been running fine; RO, evap, wood supply, all the misc, equipment. Better than expected. I'll be cleaning up/taking down tubing/bottling in the next week or so.

[Ghs57]

Matched last year's collection total. We should freeze tonight and Monday, but I'm about done. I don't know if I'll hang in for one more run. We'll see. I need a week or more to break down/clean up before some personal commitments coming up in two weeks.

[Ghs57]

I'm done. Staring the take-down, clean up Monday.

[Ghs57]

I haven't had time to tally up the season, but I think I produced the same quantity as last year, or about 40 gals. The vast majority of this coming in three weeks in March. With such a late start for the season, I did not think it possible to match last year's totals. I'm sure I could have added another 10 gals if I ran another week. We had the weather for it, but I had commitments I could not postpose. I will have some final numbers soon.

[Ghs57]

Wow, 2020 already.

Lots of work to do here. I had big plans last year which did not materialize, but I did get the electrical service (50 amp) into the maple barn. No concrete floor, or expansion of the building. The arch needs some repairs (broken fire bricking). I do have a new service truck (2007 Tacoma) and plans to buy a filter press. I'm tired of flat filtering, and the mediocre results.

I've no plans to tap before February 15, but we shall see how the weather goes.

[RUSTYBUCKET]

Beautiful day to start the season. Tapped and running.

[Ghs57]

Yes it was, but I'm holding out for another week to 10 days. My arch is apart for repairs, and I will be out of town for a few days. I should be ready to run around the 15th.

[Ghs57]

My arch firebox needs a rebuild. May delay my start a bit. I'm going to cast new sides for the box as the firebrick does not seem to hold up well, mainly from chucking in the wood while the air is running. It's plenty hot in there, so I don't dawdle.

[RUSTYBUCKET]

Ghs57
Is that your Maple Syrup sign posted along Sawkill Road near Morey Hill Road ??

[Ghs57]

Ghs57
Is that your Maple Syrup sign posted along Sawkill Road near Morey Hill Road ??

Yes it is. I will have a new sign after the season which looks like my avatar.

[Ghs57]

Fired everything up last Friday. Processed around 300 gals in what seemed like no time. I ran the pan quite deep, so there was no draw off until the very end, but it was a bit light. I'll add it back to the pan on the next boil. No sap since then. Still have about 40 taps to go today.

[Ghs57]

I've never seen sap run like it has these past few days. Even my 275 IBC tote on 100 taps overflowed. ROing now for today's boil.

[Ghs57]

A week ago I had the fire brick and insulation fall down around the door opening of the arch. This section seemed firm when I was working on the fire brick in the back, but I should have redone it then anyway. After a quick repair, which hopefully will last the rest of the season, I was ready to go again. I'll have to make some decisions about what to do with this arch in the off-season. That will coincide with my expansion plans for the shack, which will involve moving the arch into the new section. So, a thorough rebuild will be in order. That, or a new higher efficiency arch may be in the works.

Hope the forecast holds for the coming week. Could be a good one.

[Ghs57]

After the warm day and night Friday, the trees are starting to bud. And we have a good freeze coming tonight and into next week. So, I'll keep checking the sap for viability, but the signs are not looking so good. We needed this cold snap, and the snow forecast, last week to slow things down a little.

Concentrating right now and will do a test boil to see how good the sap is. I'm just below last years totals, and would like to keep going.

[Ghs57]

Well, once again, through the magic of the MacBook Pro, my data for this year has been lost. But fear not, as I do still have a memory. Total for this year was 40 gals. I had hopes for more, but the weather did not cooperate. I don't have the average sugar content and the other daily details I log. I can report that if you bottle in glass, the best investment you can make is in a filter press. Absolutely a game changer. The RO isn't far behind though, despite the breakdown of the Procon pump. The pump is at EDCO in California undergoing a rebuild (Procon's certified service partner) at less than half the cost of a new replacement.

Excavation is underway for the 12x20 shack expansion, and getting close to forming up the slab. The existing part of the shack will get a concrete floor once I can move everything to the new section. I'm also gathering up timbers for the timber frame, but don't yet have enough (I need a portable sawmill to speed this part up).

More updates to follow.

[maple flats]

For the sawmill, there is likely a sawyer who will come to your location and saw it. If you go that route, I suggest you have the logs placed on 2 rails (a log near each end 90 degrees to where the mill will set) and then have all of the logs on those rails and ready to go. That is how I used to like them when I did custom on site milling (I now only do my own).

[Ghs57]

For the sawmill, there is likely a sawyer who will come to your location and saw it. If you go that route, I suggest you have the logs placed on 2 rails (a log near each end 90 degrees to where the mill will set) and then have all of the logs on those rails and ready to go. That is how I used to like them when I did custom on site milling (I now only do my own).

So far the guys I have talked to either want to cart the logs to their mill ($$$), or if they have a portable, they are now into tree work and have no time for such other work. I use a chainsaw mill when I have time, but that takes an incredible amount of time per log. I'm waiting for one of the tree guys to confirm a date. We'll see.

[maple flats]

Try joining The Forestry Forum. In there you will find a bunch of leads and if you don't find one close enough just post in the sawmill category, someone will answer. They have over 36,000 members.

[Ghs57]

Try joining The Forestry Forum. In there you will find a bunch of leads and if you don't find one close enough just post in the sawmill category, someone will answer. They have over 36,000 members.

thank you Dave. will give that a try.

[maple flats]

When you join, If they ask how you heard about them, say Maple Flats sent you, they know me.

[Ghs57]

Baby, it's cold outside.

[Ghs57]

Forecast is looking up for the near future, although I may have to let a few more days go by before I tap anything. I'm closing in the addition to my maple barn (three sides done), and I still have to set up the new evaporator. It all looks good, but it's been a tough winter to be working outside. Cold and snow. Seemingly endless snow. Also waiting on some supplies for the season.

Seems the same every year. I'm never ready to go at the start of the season. I have to plan better next year.

22027

[Pdiamond]

I say the same thing every year. Always try to do better and fail.

[Ghs57]

Getting closer to ready. Will start tapping tomorrow. I should finish the evaporator install tonight.

22054

Made a run down to Justus Asthalter Maple near Neversink for RO supplies yesterday. Sean has most Leader supplies in stock. He has the biggest Leader evaporator I've ever seen. Must be 6 feet wide. As configured, he can boil 450 ghp.

[Pdiamond]

Did you happen to take a picture of that big evaporator?

[Ghs57]

Did you happen to take a picture of that big evaporator?

I wish I had. It never occurred to me to do so. Maybe it's not 6 feet wide overall, but still impressive. I do know it was wood fired. The loading door was the widest I've ever seen. It has Steamaway, 2 steam stacks, and probably a 20-24" smoke stack. They also run a big RO.

Will do better next time. I may run down for a SS drum or 2 at the end of the season.

[Ghs57]

Man, the wind overnight was fierce. I have a big tarp over the new addition, and it came undone on one side. Hopefully not ripped to shreds.

Got the new arch bricked yesterday, and today the stack get installed. Still no taps in. Should start that tomorrow.

[Ghs57]

I was derailed on Tuesday when my ladder fell with me on it. Ended up at urgent care with a badly bruised ankle, but nothing broken. I’m hoping to get back into the season in a few days. I’m not happy sitting on the sidelines with all my new equipment idling. But with this weather, seems not much has been happening here.

[Ghs57]

I have had a tremendous amount of help with tapping and boiling, and even with some work that needed to be done on the shack, after my fall. This season would have been a total loss without it.

I have about 250 gallons to process today, then it's wait until we see some cold weather again on the weekend. There may be a little more usable sap this year.

I'm at a little more than half of my goal.

[Ghs57]

Sap is running just enough to keep pushing stale sap out of the lines. Red maples stating to flower, but that has no effect on the flavor of the syrup (see Dr. Tim). So, I'm hanging on until the cold weather returns. I have maybe 100 gals that has not spoiled, but with low sugar content (just over 1%). It's been low all season for me. I will be test boiling from here on out before processing anything new. I'm even tempted to drain the good stuff out of the pan and finish it. Probably another 3-5 gallons there.

Forecast for next week looks promising if the trees can hold on. No peepers or other frogs here yet.

[Ghs57]

Made a few gallons of very dark yesterday. Sap was about 1.4% and cloudy, RO stopped at about 5% to leave enough to fire up the evaporator.

We had a good freeze last light, and there are a few more in the forecast for the rest of the week. All tanks clean and ready, so we will push on to the end.

[Ghs57]

Looks like one more short boil this season tomorrow morning. My local trees have called it quits, but my remote trees started up after three nights of freezing temps. Test boil went ok, and the syrup actually looks pretty light considering late season syrup here is usually dark as molasses (but the customers love it). After that, it's clean up time and finish the work on the shack. I still have quite a bit of framing to do, then the permeant roof/skylights/siding. Also expanding the RO to 2 4x40 membranes.

They'll be some time to reflect on the season then. And what an unusual season it's been.

[Ghs57]

Last boil yesterday. Produced about 5 gals of flavorful dark syrup. Unlike others who have noted extremely foamy late season sap, mine was normal, not very clear, nor very hard to prefilter off the evaporator. Draining the pan today and expect a few more gallons hiding in there.

[Ghs57]

Hello maple traders!

Time to wake up and think about making syrup. Looking to start next week despite numerous setbacks over the past year, but we persevere.

Pretty icy here still and many maples were damaged in the storm last week. Some of my producers gave up some limbs. Most held up fine.

[RUSTYBUCKET]

Taps are in. Collected and boiled last Friday. Too cold this past weekend.

[Ghs57]

The forecast a week ago didn't look very good, but there have been freezing temps here on many nights. There were a few strong runs in the past week. Running the RO now and will boil in an hour or so. We are in a warm up for the next few days, so maybe get a break from boiling. I intend to hang on and see what develops and perhaps get another run or two before the end.

Remember those years we boiled into April? Seems like a dream from my childhood now.

[YBSean]

Isn't that the truth. The last 3 years our season has ended around St. Patrick's Day. Our season this far south is 3-4 weeks with a good run or 2. In the late 80s I worked in St Albans, VT and maple festival was in mid April!

[Ghs57]

I had not expected to run sap until after the next freeze, but my tanks were overflowing this morning. So no day off.

[Ghs57]

I'm hanging in for the forecasted freeze this weekend. Trees have been running slowly this week, which is keeping the lines clear, but I'm not running the sap. Most of it has been in the tanks over five days, so not going to risk it.

On the RO modification front, I have almost all the components necessary to add a second 4x40 post to my single post unit. I'm somewhat reluctant to take the unit out of service to make the changeover while the season is still in play, so I may wait until next week to start this. It would be nice to have this for the last run of the season, but I can't be sure it'd be ready in time due to some hang up along the way. I also have a failed Procon pump to send back to Edco for a rebuild. I'm not sure exactly what happened to it, but it stopped pumping and I changed it out with a new similar model.

Although temps have not been too warm, I may fire up the evaporator to bring the pan up to temp and keep things in good shape.

[Ghs57]

We've been in the deep freeze since Sunday afternoon. Temperature is just now reaching 32F. Very slow warm up forecasted. Could be busy later this week.

Anyone else still running?

[MillbrookMaple]

From the western side of the county.... We are hoping for a big run Tomorrow and Friday and good runs this weekend. Was 9 when I got up this morning and been freezing for days and no freeze predicted on Thursday night so I'm expecting a great 36hour run. I think this will be the last week.

[Ghs57]

Yes, this should do it for me too. I expect to boil on Friday, and probably over the weekend on Sunday. It all depends. Sugar content of 1.10 is way below my prior years average of 1.80. I'm good on firewood, but running out of storage for syrup. I could produce more syrup this year than I have in prior years, but there are extenuating circumstances for this which exclude a bumper crop.

I could handle several hundred more taps, but as a one man show with other interests, 250-300 will probably be my limit. That's my feeling now at the end of the season, but it will probably be different on the first day of next season.

[Ghs57]

We did not get the forecasted weather (it was cooler and cloudy/rainy), and my trees have not produced very much sap after the thaw. Depending on how things go today/tomorrow, I may be done for the season. My taps are over six weeks old, and have definitely slowed down to a trickle, even those on vacuum. There are some flowers starting to show on the reds. I may use the last of the sap to soak the pan for the next few months. Spoiled sap has always worked well for me for removing the scale.

[Ghs57]

My trees were slow to wake up after the thaw. My remote tank was near full yesterday afternoon, but my local trees seem to be calling it a day. I will be running later today, after collecting whatever came in overnight (seems we did not have a freeze last night). Sap is noticeably darker and cloudy this time. The last batch I ran clogged my pre-filters at the draw off within minutes (very dark syrup), so expecting about the same with this sap. I will check the sugar content and do a quick test boil just to be sure it is ok.

[Ghs57]

I’ve been out of the game so far this season, but conditions seem pretty good for those harvesting. I spent some time modifying my RO machine-2nd membrane and some new wiring with an auto shutdown when there is low pressure. Will have some pictures to share later.

[Ghs57]

After missing last season, I’m looking forward to starting this season in a few weeks. We are in a deep freeze this week, so hopefully that’s a good sign for things to come.

[Ghs57]

First boil of the season today. RO worked great. Glad I added a post and auto shut-off. Sap was coming in at 2%, that's a high for my trees. Just under 200 taps so far, but looking to add a few more. The great forecasted snowstorm missed us here in the Catskills - just some flurries off and on.

[Ghs57]

We are froze up here in the Catskills. Nothing so far this week, but warmer days are coming.

[Ghs57]

Decent day yesterday, but cold today. Fired up the evaporator for a short boil to reset the pan level. Planning to boil Sunday. We should have full tanks then. I will be checking the remote tanks today and bringing back what came in late yesterday.

I've had daily line damage from deer bites. That messes up the lunchbox vacuum. I thought we had a pump issue, but then we found the chew spots and vacuum returned to normal. My brother used to call deer "rats with antlers".

[Ghs57]

Boy this weather really stinks. We got a quick freeze a few nights ago, but my local trees have not produced anything in over a week. My remote trees have been running a bit. I did a short boil yesterday which netted about a gallon of syrup, so that puts me at about 30 gallons. No where near my 50 gallon goal.

Maybe we started too late, as I see many NY producers have shut down already. I'm holding out for another week to see how things look, but I'm getting close to the end of my open tap window.

[YBSean]

We are the same size operation. Bottled 48 gallons last year and 42 this year. We tapped early (Jan 20) due to the warm winter and no snow pack. Made all dark and some very dark syrup (23-40 on Hanna meter). Pulled taps last week and many tap holes were dry and we use CV spouts on vacuum and Zap Bac spouts on 3/16". Too darn warm this year. I don't recall February sun feeling so hot.

[Ghs57]

disappointing to say the least.

[Ghs57]

Frost on the roof last two mornings. My remote trees are running a bit. Local trees on vac seem to be done. I will collect in the morning and boil off 150-175 gallons. Pretty low, but hanging on to see what happens with the forecasted cold snap coming up early next week. We have to get through this warm period though.

You know not that many years ago I would not even tap until March. My first year (2014) I ran until April 10. Quite the change in 10 years.

[Ghs57]

I'm pretty sure my season is over for this year, even though this week's weather may set up a good run or two for those who tapped later. We have been below freezing the past few days, so nothing has been running anywhere. Taps have been in over 6 weeks and are mostly on gravity, but two areas are on vacuum. My local lines on vacuum have not produced a drop in several weeks and appear to be done. My remote lines on vacuum seem to still be running, but it only includes a small number of the taps there. Unfortunately, we went for several weeks without freezing temperatures, which really cut my production numbers.

On the positive side, my modified RO system has preformed above expectations. Adding a second post and recirculation now means I can fill the head tank at my evaporation rate, which saves time not having to wait for the RO before firing up the evaporator. I can even generate concentrate at 8%, and sometimes a little higher, which really cuts down the running time. Because of the warm weather, I drained and filtered the syrup in the pan and flooded the pan with permeate. I was hoping to collect enough to run again.

Time now to begin taking down lines and cleaning up. I still have to reheat and filter the bulk of my new syrup, and bottle a decent amount for my regular customers. I have work to do on the barn, and some new equipment to consider for the next season.

[Ghs57]

We had light snow overnight. First snow of any kind in over two months. If only we had this weather a month ago, same for the cold we had at the end of march, it would have been a different season.

My lines are all down, and I will filter/bottle some today. It felt colder when I was taking down than when we put them up. Still need to pressure wash out tanks, but will wait for warmer weather.

Anyone going to watch the eclipse on Monday 4/8? I will be heading to the Rochester area this weekend, and hope for clear weather. I'm sure many of you are already in the totality zone, so don't have to travel at all. I also went to Tennessee in 2017 for the last one. it's a wonderful natural phenomena that should not be missed.

[Ghs57]

Welcome 2025!

Looking forward to starting the season in about one month. I've not made any big changes to my setup, but did make new concrete countertops for my processing area. They replace the scrap plywood and Zip siding that's been on the base cabinets for a few years. Also, I cut a few cords of firewood back in the spring out of the dead maples in my remote bush. Some people find that odd; burning maple to make maple syrup. But they were dead and serving no purpose. I just hope the healthy trees don't die off also.

This year, nearly alll drops will be replaced as they are aging out of service. So, I have about a month to make up a few hundred new ones. I almost replaced my haul truck, but the deal fell through due to a bad title, so the dealer pulled the truck out of inventory. The old '07 Tacoma will have to hang in another year.

Hoping for a good season, and wish good luck to all in the game.

[DrTimPerkins]

The old '07 Tacoma will have to hang in another year.

Should work right up until the point the frame breaks in half. :lol:

[Ghs57]

This one has a new frame (in 2012) - but even that is getting old, but no serious rust on it. BTW, this is my fifth tacoma; 2 were bought back by Toyota under the extended warranty, one had the frame replaced under the warranty, I sold one before it rusted through, and then this one which had the frame replaced before I owned it. So, I'm actually ahead of the game with Toyota. But boy, those old frames sucked. The local dealer used to have a stack of brand new frames in the back waiting to be installed. We are tough on Toyota frames here in the northeast.

[DrTimPerkins]

My Taco had the frame replaced after about 8 yrs. Had it inspected and passed one year...next year it was gone. Tried to get them to take it in trade, but the dealer made more by replacing the frame than selling me a new one. Drove it for another 6 yrs. Nice truck, but not real comfortable for long trips. Other than that, almost no problems with it. It was a real stripped down model (manual transmission, manual windows, no air conditioning, radio only) because I'd had two lemons (Jeep Grand Cherokee and then a Mazda Tribute) in a row right before that and wanted a vehicle that would last me more than 6 months before breaking down. Went to a Ford Escape after that and had the transmission fail at 62k (warranty was 60k) to the tune of $6k for total replacement. Got rid of that thing just before hitting 60k on the new transmission. Happy with Toyotas.

Best of luck with the upcoming season.

[Ghs57]

Sounds like the first Tacoma I owned ('97). My current one has more creature comforts. They have always gotten me in and out of the woods, although the earlier first gens were more compact and maneuverable in tight spaces. Anyway, they've been good work trucks and not too much trouble.

[ADK_XJ]

You cannot go wrong with Toyota in the snow belt. I am in a 2007 4Runner that is my daily driver and when I say daily driver, it does 70 miles a day five days a week. I swear the key to longevity is to work them. My wife thinks I'm crazy and wants me to "trade it in" (it's worth nothing to anyone but me) for a new one but I really like the size of the "Third Gen" before they made them giant and the 4.0 Liter V6 is the perfect balance of performance to MPG (I get 20mpg on the nose).

It is essentially a Taco truck with a full frame cab. ANYWAY, if I can keep my 07 on the road for the 9to5 you can keep yours in the woods! :lol:

[Ghs57]

I'll be happy to get another 3 years out of it.

[Ghs57]

I've ordered the kit to convert my evaporator over to oil. This will allow me to continue my solo operation without having to process firewood both in and out of season, which is both labor and time consuming. As a result, my planned start date is pushed to the middle of February. That is weather permitting. The long range forecast is still not ideal, and I hope it stays this way until then.

[Ghs57]

Things are looking up for starting the season this week. I have completed the evaporator conversion from wood to oil, and with help reorganized the maple barn. It has never looked so good. There are some final connections to make on the evaporator after we clean the soot off the underside and reinstall it on the arch. I have an oil delivery in the morning with should get me through the season. There is lots of snow out there in the woods, the first in a few years, but the temps this week should make it comfortable to run lines and tap.

[Ghs57]

2/3 of the taps are in. Sap house is ready to go. RO required extra attention and two soap washes to clean it up. Also new this year is an auto-draw off. That to top off a list of major improvements. Very wet in the woods. It rained all morning, but still enough snow to slip around on. Hauled in about 200 gallons so far, and will probably start boiling tomorrow. We are interested to see how the oil conversion preforms. Initial testing looked promising.

[Ghs57]

Last week I joined the burnt pan club. I made all the classic mistakes, worst of all leaving the sap house at a critical moment. So my season is starting over as of yesterday. I had a good ten year run, but now am a little smarter, I hope anyway.

It took two days to clean the pan. I removed the coarse burnt-on syrup right away then filled the drop flues with vinegar, heated up to steaming, then left it for an overnight soak. Next day I made a scraper out of copper pipe and went at it for hours, periodically filing an edge on the flattened pipe. In the mean time, my shureflo pump went bad, and so did one of my lunchbox vac/releasers. Both required rebuilding.

So why did the pan burn? I installed an auto draw-off valve this year. My inexperience with its operation allowed the draw-off to dump a gallon out of the syrup pan at about the same time the head tank went dry. Meanwhile, I stepped outside to take care of something with the RO machine. Suddenly, the draw-off alarm was going off. I forgot to set up an emergency bucket (OSB), so I had no cold sap to pour in. It was probably too late anyway. Lots of smoke and thick brownish-black syrup thick as molasses. At the moment, there were probably ten gallons of near syrup in the evaporator. So my advice when running new equipment is to read the directions, read the forum for operating advice, and run the pan deep until you understand how the equipment changes how you run.

Most of all, don't give up! Life is challenges of all types met on a daily basis, and success is measured by how you stand up to them.