Willow Creek Sugarhouse 2016!!!

[red maples]

Well I don't think I have been on here since the end of last season. Its Been a Crazy busy year... I wish it was spent expanding maple stuff.

The way the extended forecast looks we might be tapping here VERY soon. This going to be a little more challenging for me since I tore my bicep muscle wrestling a moose... no just kidding, I didn't listen to my wife and well... just kidding again... I was curling a Christmas tree, putting it in that back of the truck and extended twisted funny and POP. hurt like hell.

I had it fixed on the 28th of December and I am on the mend. So tapping will begin next weekend for me and be slow and steady. I will be 4 weeks into recovery Monday and can't lift anything for a total of 8 weeks. Thank goodness things are more automated in the sugar house there won;t be too much need for lifting. So I am gonna start with the sugarhouse this week and do what I can do cleaning and stuff since I still have to be in a sling and then next weekend I will be out in the woods. just going slow.

I was hoping it would be a late season again like the last 2 years but no such luck.

Guess its time to get this season underway!!! Charge up the Drills!!!
Hope everyone has a bumper crop of a season.

[red maples]

Well I was hoping that this was just a thaw but looks like it is gonna be in the 40's here straight through until next weekend. then a little freeze up then scattered upper 30's 40's here and there. no real cold stretches in the forecast. but we all know that can change. but might as well get some syrup while I can.

Got a few things to fix tomorrow morning starting at day break should take me an hour or 2 (I hope) then I start drilling!!! I am hoping I can be finished up by sunday night or at the latest monday afternoon. then we start chasing leaks and let the lines clear up. gonna get the RO put together and cleaned out on Sunday night maybe. hopefully be ready to go by tuesday maybe sweeten the pans wed. a few long nights ahead of me.

The good news is my sling is off my arm. but man its tired. it has shrunk a bit from being in a sling for 4 weeks!!! Still no heavy lifting until early march!!!

[Sugarmaker]

Brad,
Hope the arm gets better quick. Be careful lots of moves to make syrup. Time to call in some friends.
Regards,
Chris

[derekp]

Brad, I feel your pain!two weeks ago I blew out my shoulder in a freak hockey injury...tore a few tendons that hold my AC joint together...10 week recovery..I too just got out of my sling and was advised to not to use my arm at all...not the way sugaring season is supposed to start!! Hope you heal well! I'm sure we will make the best of it!!

[red maples]

oh man that such worse than I think. I can still use my arm a little Doc recommended it got get tendons and joints working again, some pretty bad hand and forearm cramps, limit lifting to 3lbs max once in while. yeah its already tough. did manage to get 250 taps in yesterday and can fix little tubing issues with one handed tubing tool. I am gonna have to hire my wife to help me with a couple spots using the 2 handed tool. thank goodness there arent't too many. a couple of trees down. guessing from the wind a few weeks ago. normally I would just grab the chainsaw but that would be a little dangerous one handed!!! but slow and steady. should be able to finish up tubing today. buckets won;t go up for a few weeks yet. This will be the practice week...

[red maples]

Well not too bad, ended up getting in 450 taps the past 2 days. I could have finished but I had to fix 2 sections of main line that were on the ground. Still have to fix the laterals as they are messed up a little since the side ties changed and there is now slack in them. Sap aint really running very good anyway. no freeze again tonight. We'll see how the week plays out. I am beat I was gonna do the RO tonight but I am too tired besides work I have been sitting on my butt for the past 4 weeks. I will do some other things!!! the sugarhouse is trashed!!! it will get there!!!

Such a completely different year than last year!!! Wow... doesn;t feel like its still January!!!

[Russell Lampron]

Ouch!!! Sorry to hear about that Brad. It sure is hard to get things done when you are hurting. I sprained one of my ankles last September. It is pretty much healed but gets sore when I'm walking in the woods. It's a good thing that we don't have to tap on snowshoes this year.

[red maples]

yes definitely not a snowshoe year.

Well I still have about 30+ taps to get in but going with what I have right now.

got the Vac pump all set and releaser good and clean out got everything running on monday night.

Tuesday Everything went on the ground to get system cleaned out. got home from work and had 10" of Hg. So instead of tapping the rest I fixed 2 spots and walked the woods chasing leaks and squirrel chews. found a few and got a missed a tap that was just hanging off the tee. popped that back on found a 1 foot section of tubbing just chewed the whole top of the tube off. so cut it out went t the nearest vac gauge and was back up to 26.5" Hg. Still need to explore more but good for now. last night (Tuesday) got the RO together tanks all set rinsed everything out did a quick wash and rinse all set.

forgot to turn on the transfer pump this morning so missed a few gallons sap before I got home but still ended up with close to 175 to 200 gallons since 2:30 today. Sugar isn;t good its only 1% and pretty cloudy but with the temps as of late and not much frost in the ground I wasn;t expecting much anyway. (thank goodness for the RO) still running pretty good. VERY windy right now so I hope nothing falls in the woods. I don;t feel like any major fixes right now.

So tonight I worked in the sugarhouse getting the Evap cleaned out and moving some things around. quick scrub on the hood get rid of the spiders etc.

I ordered a few things from bascom's I hope they get here I am re-running stuff so that I can get filter press hooked up to the new to me draw off tank hooked up gotta make a lid and get it up off the floor and make a little dolly for it. Josh is letting borrow possibly buy this old canner so now I will have 2 for this season easier to get bigger containers filled.

just have to get the rest of the fall stuff out of the sugarhouse. I did get a new 100 gallon head tank to put in the sugarhouse but I don;t know if its gonna make it in this year with arm all messed up. maybe though looks like we might have a 10 to 14 day freeze up but you never know things could change tomorrow!!!

dinner done back to the sugarhouse.

Should be ready for first

[red maples]

First boil Thursday night!!! smoothest first boil ever except for the big first foam up, forgot about that one but I always run the pans deeper on the first boil anyway ... just in case. no syrup yet but VERY close. could have drawn off a gallon or 2 but decided to wait. 450 gallons of 1% sap squeezed it out to 14% (went really easy) didn;t leave much to boil after the rig was filled!!! but good to smell the sweet anyway!!!


No sap yesterday or today. ended up with 9-10 inches of snow which went from going out to sea to 3-5 and then 9-10 in a 12 hour period. but with heavy mud in my driveway and trying to plow that thing its all ripped up!!!

It did warm up a little today but only made to 36* and trees were snow covered and it got down to 16* here last night so I turned on the vac but nothing was flowing. 43* tomorrow I hope we can get enough to boil if things thaw out quick enough. then into a 8-9 day freeze up.

[red maples]

OK Well, haven't posted in while due to internet issues but I think its finally fixed.

had 3rd boil yesterday have about 7-8 gallons of syrup so far. guessing light dark. Lots of niter, press clogged up quickly and already had to clean the front pan. Need to finish plumbing the filter press so it is more user friendly.

Should be boiling tonight but everything failed today.

Had to go down to Boston for Doc. Appts for my daughter the usual stuff for her. Had nice frost last night got down to 28 but I didn;t it was gonna get as warm as it did. Anyway got everything set up this morning pump running a drop of oil on the float shaft make sure everything is working. got home Vac pump didn;t sound right, vac gauge at zero... great!!! the float came off the bottom of the shaft and was stuck there. looks like I got about 75 gallons. then the small tank was overflowing and not pumping up checked the foot valve great there was a little tiny stick made it through the screen and stuck the valve open. so I guess instead of having 3-400 gallons after I got everything fixed and put back together I got another 30-40 gallons and everything is freezing up now!!! oh well tomorrow is another day... This happened once last year too. if it happens again I am gonna drill the shaft and put a pin in it so it. then it won;t happen anymore. Why does this stuff always happen when we are not around. figures murphy's law I guess.

Got all the buckets tapped yesterday. but can't find my trailer hitch platform for collecting bucket sap. grrrrrr. its big enough... where the heck is it. bags are full might have to pick one up tomorrow.

Glad to hear everyone is getting things going. still scrambling a little here. but its getting there.

[Russell Lampron]

I've been wondering what happened to you. You usually post all the time and there has been nothing. Glad you got your internet working so that you can keep us updated. Hope your luck changes for the better.

[red maples]

Thanks Russ I am sure it will. My internet has been screwed up since comcast got hack or whatever happened. cell phones computers phone TV everything was on the fritz.

Things are getting there just some family stuff to take care of beginning of this week. Just need a solid day in the sugarhouse to work out the bugs.

[red maples]

Guess my luck just continues. turned on vac this morning and it was boiling in the large canister... most the of the entire bottom was leaking only getting about 15" of vacuum.. 2nd day with no sap. I sealed it back up hopefully it holds. we'll try it tomorrow morning.

Found my trailer hitch thing.

But got some stuff done. hopefully with warmer temps and low pressure the sap will be running hard tomorrow and will continuefor the next few days. hopefully make up for the last 2 days!!!

[red maples]

Well back in action!!! Thanks to Chris Pfeil hooked me up with a new canister for the releaser last night 2hr round trip I didn;t want to drive last night but needed to be done!!! it was getting worse with each dump. down to 19" vac. Right back up to 24.5" which is a little low but need to get out in the woods and find loose tap and leaks to get it back up to 26.5. ended up with 250 gallons of sap last night. from 12:00 to 4:30 am. Coming pretty good now. 60* this morning.

not sure if it still under warranty or not still waiting to hear if it will be covered. hopefully it is but needed it none the less.

[red maples]

Geez I think I might have got a little ahead today. had 450 gallons in the tank this morning. Had to bottle more syrup and make a small batch of candy for an order. collected 65 gallons from bags last night. (only dumped them 1/2 was in a hurry) and got another 90 gallons form buckets by noon today. I don't even have my gravity tubing tapped yet.... Sugar came up to about 1.25% for on vac. and almost 2% for buckets. but this after noon vac dropped down to 1% again and buckets finally petered out.

Made about 7-8 gallons of syrup. Lots of sap but the low sugar is killing me thank goodness for RO... and LOTS and LOTS of niter... geez filter press just fouls up so quickly. I can usually get 10+ gallons easy (which is what usually make) and have plenty of press left to filter front pan and thin it out with flue pan before I break down. not this year... but plumbing the Filter press much easier this time.

[red maples]

well from yesterday at about 11:30 to tonight got another 400 gallons in the tank. ( process that tomorrow) nice Sap Tsunami a little more than 1.5 gallons per tap. looks like we might have another one sunday, monday, tuesday. a much needed freeze tonight. My Vac pump said ahhh thank you! when I shut it off since its been running pretty steady the past few days...

[Amber Gold]

Glad to hear you g to the releaser fixed. It's great having Chris close by (relatively) cause it sure beats a trip to Swanton.

Can't believe your sugar is that low. Good thing you're not trucking it then. We've been around 1.8% so far. Lower than I'd like, but need to take what she gives us.

[red maples]

yep... it is nice having him that close. I wish my sugar was better. even bucket sap was lower.

Not much moving for sap today. it got to upper 30's but long hard freeze last night with a bit of a breeze nothing moving. had the pump on maybe got 20 gallons. I check it at 7:00 there was nothing come in at all. guessing it was froze up back in the woods I shut her down its 33* right now.

Went up to loudon and picked up some supplies and stopped in to see Larry more fora few minutes. everybody is busy up there but doing well. Was in a hurry to back down here. It was a quick $850 trip. (usually is)

Finished up the remaining Tsunami Sap today. finally moved through the sap that was in the Evap which was almost Very Dark probably is. and moved up to lighter dark almost in to amber by the end of the boil. hopefully we will get some amber on the next boil. Should be tomorrow night once things cut loose again. I figiured out my problem the other night filtering I was pretty much making candy in the filter press. I am like 4-5 brix over on that batch oops. need to add a little water back to that batch. Was drawing off right onthe money tonight and it went through EASY... made about 8-9 gallons it went right through and I even had enough filter press left to run my remaining syrup pan through it to clean out some niter.

So nice having a nice new to me drawoff container and having everthing plumbed right into the canners. and it is VERY nice to have 2 canners too. Thanks josh. I am hooked. just let me know how much you want for it.

We were getting pellets today saw your truck but you must have been up in the woods.

Good luck the next few days everybody.

[red maples]

Well been pretty lack luster here. Slow start to this run! I didn't even bother dumping buckets they never really got going. maybe 1/2 full. even the bigguns. vac pretty slow start as well go 50 gallons really fast then it slowed it picked up after lunch and ended up with 250 gallons of cloudy sap. Not enough to turn on the machine to make it worthwhile.

but did manage to tapping in the last 20 vac taps and the 25 on gravity tubing. walked 1/2 the woods looking for leaks and straightening out tubing and removing branches from all the wind. got vacuum back up to 24.75" getting there. just do a little every day.

Walked the woods again that currently has about 25 gravity tubing on it I wanted to get that hooked in the vac lines and run tubing out there this year but my arm screwed that one would have had another 130 possible taps on it. oh well maybe next year. Did find about 7-8 tappable sugars that will hang some bags on though. I think I have 10 left. I have another section on the other end with another 50-70 trees too but have to get permission for those which I already tap roadsides on that property but tubing is a little different. we'll see for next year.

Hope everyone did better than me today on sap.

[Russell Lampron]

The sap didn't run as good as I expected here either. At 5:00 I only had 250 gallons. I combined that with 250 gallons left from Thursday's run and the 50 gallons that came in Saturday and made 12 gallons of syrup last night. How many taps do you have now?

[BlueberryHill]

Yesterday was slower than expected here too. Got about 200 gallons. But when I woke up this morning, I had another 190 already from the overnight run. Emptied the tanks and headed to work. Hoping that when I get home they are full.

[red maples]

I am around the 600 tap mark. the day combined with the over night worked out to be pretty close to about 450 gallons. but again sugar still low. I am hoping we get some more consistent weather to get that sugar up.

Ended up boiling out 490 gallons of sap last night made about 7 gallons I think.

Filter is getting better and better. filtering out the front pan help A LOT. I think with the initial sweetening combined with heavy syrup and getting amount of DE right again it went really good. pressure never spiked went through easy and fast.

got the freeze last night not muh but did get a freeze hope its long enough to get things going again.

I am VERY nervous about the length of this season. I don;t wanna say anything else. so I will leave it at that.

[red maples]

Man I wish my sugar was better...

1.25% is not good... still making syrup but its pretty dark. Got spoiled with 2.25% last year I guess. I quickly ran the numbers last year it was right around 50:1 and this year is like 75 to 80:1 but if I didn't process it I wouldn;t have syrup.

I have to say this is VERY strange weather. I know New England can have weird weather went to bed last night 34* Woke up it was 48* now its supposed to be 15* tonight??? !!! I don;t know then 60 all week next week... really nervous!!!

most of the sap is vacuum sap only bucket sap from really the sap Tsunami last week been pretty hit or miss with those so far this year.

[Russell Lampron]

My sugar was better tonight. I made 8 gallons with 400 gallons of sap. Tuesday night I made 14 1/2 gallons from 950 gallons of sap. The evaporator was pretty sweet from the night before so that may have made tonight's numbers look better though. It was all amber in February and so far March has been all golden. I haven't made any dark or even close to it since the season before last.

[red maples]

Well russ you have that magic thing.... I might be investing in one of those things so I can have a variety of grades. Last year I did manage some amber but for the most part it was dark... I will have to come up after the season is over so I can take a first hand look at that bubbler so I can make one for myself.

Boiled out the 320 gallons I had last night made another 5.5 gallons sugar was actually a slight bit better that just under 60:1 which is better than it has been at 70+:1. I am hoping this freeze thaw gets them going again at least for the few days before it stops flowing due to warm temps.

but the forecast looks slightly cooler after sun/mon. just have to hope for a little freeze in there some time. I hope we get a little snow but who knows wit this winter... I would be happy with a few little 2-3 inchers just to get a little insulation on the ground and to cool the air at night. hopefully we will get a another sap Tsunami on saturday/sunday.... trying to positive.

[red maples]

Little freeze up 2nd day below freezing I am guessing it will take a a couple of days before things let loose again. We actually got a few inches of snow today that should help alittle I hope. I have severely out grown my old 50 gallon plastic barrel feed tank beside it a PITA to clean!!! Putting my new 100 gallon CDL Stainless feed tank up Saturday afternoon. it was supposed to go in the begining of January but well my arm and everything(which is doing better by the way can start muscle rebuilding 2lb curls) its going inside the sugarhouse instead of outside. so Have to build a new platform and Try and get that plumbed in before the next boil. I need to get a clear tube for a depth gauge though. don'twant to use Vinyl from the box stores. not food grade. maybe just a get a little 1" syrup hose should be fine!!! have to check with WEBB and the hardware store in town see what they have that I can buy by the foot.

[red maples]

Not much yesterday if we got 20 gallons it was alot only above freezing for a short time. Nothing really moving yet. The sun is really warm but it gonna take a while for the trees to thaw sap probably won't really get going until tomorrow.

Got the new tank up just about finished plumbing should be ready soon.

[red maples]

Computer issues again have to use my phone...

So where was I... yesterday I ended up with just over 400 gallons total with the few gallons frim the poor runs... had another 100 gallons by the time I was done boiling came back out at 11:30 it was 33 and release was frozen up left the vac going but only got about 50 gallons from 11:30 to 5 am. But had a total of 450 gallons to process tonight and there is another 100 gallons in the tank again. Hope it keeps running still coming in pretty good right now. Buckets are dripping good too the smaller trees are slowing but the bigguns are still going strong.

[Russell Lampron]

I've been getting a lot of sap here too. The little trees on buckets stopped yesterday but the big ones made up for it. The vacuum has been pulling in a lot of sap. I boiled in 525 Tuesday night and 925 last night. The sap was still coming into the releaser good at 6 pm.

[red maples]

got 200 gallons in the tank to start the day. I am a little sleepy. but hanging in there. hoping the overcast and low pressure system keep things going. close to 1+ gallon per tap per day for that last couple which is quite good for my reds on vacuum.

Hope the big trees on buckets keep going the sugar is still good on those. went from 1.75 to 1% again. Love the RO... I would love to have consistent maple weather... haven't really had that in 3 years or so. It aint gonna happen this year either. just seems like all or nothing: all or nothing: repeat... but just as long as I can still make syrup.

[sugarmaker94]

Just a suggestion, you probably have your sight tube all figured out by now but if you have a dairy supply dealer close by milker hose would work good. It's 5/8 in. and shouldn't be too expensive

[red maples]

yes I had a piece of 3/4 inch left over from when I plumbed my filter press. just put a plug in the top and drilled small hole. there was too much air movement in there and if I needed to add extra sap and moved the float for a minute if the tank was more than 1/2 full it would pop out the top when it equaled back out. but works great love the stainless SOOOO easy to clean. just need one more small stainless tank under the releaser and I am all stainless for sap but that will have to wait I need a cream machine and candy machine first!!!

All buckets I think Are pretty much done at least for now.

vac sap has slowed but still coming in pretty good considering its been above 57 degrees for some time. should have about 300ish to boil tonight.

[red maples]

Well its still trickling in I hope tomorrow night is enough to get things going again. then as far as the forecast is concerned there are no freezes until maple weekend if the sap doesn;t turn and the trees bud we might be OK. as for right now I am less than 1/2 of a crop. probably at 50 gallons including whats in the evap. blahhhhh... fingers crossed!!!

[Russell Lampron]

Well its still trickling in I hope tomorrow night is enough to get things going again. then as far as the forecast is concerned there are no freezes until maple weekend if the sap doesn;t turn and the trees bud we might be OK. as for right now I am less than 1/2 of a crop. probably at 50 gallons including whats in the evap. blahhhhh... fingers crossed!!!

I am now at 94 gallons which with the taps that I have now is a little more than 1/2 of a crop. I need to make 175 to be at 1 qt per tap and need to make over 135 to do better than I did in 2012. I don't know how much sap is in the woods tank right now but I only need 200 gallons to make 3 gallons per tap from this run that started Tuesday.

[red maples]

Wow thats pretty good russ... I am pretty close to 2.5 Gpt for this one. only managed about 150 gallons today. hope its a good freeze tonight!!! There is a slight chance of a freeze on Sunday night... it says 35* but thats pretty close.

[Russell Lampron]

Since my last post I have gotten 450 gallons more which puts me over 3 gpt. Pretty sweet for 1 run! The sap is still coming in until it freezes. It's a little cloudy now so maybe my syrup will darken up. I'm hoping for a good freeze tonight to get the trees recharged.

[red maples]

Boiling tonight? or saving it for tomorrow? 3nights in a row. I have to say I would rather be boiling but it is nice to have a night off. This weekend we start with confection for next weekend!!! a little each night this week hopefully I will be almost ready to go. then I have off on Friday to finish up. No all nighters this year for me!!!

[Russell Lampron]

I'm saving it to boil tomorrow afternoon. It will be nice to do an afternoon boil for a change.

[red maples]

Didn't run as much as I'd hope for yesterday... need a few of those freezes in a row to keep things going only managed 150 gallons yesterday. still have to collect buckets. lots of bugs around already too. Sorry to say I heard the first peeper yesterday it went for about 45 seconds and stopped. buds are swelling... a slight possibility of a light freeze tonight then nothing for a while after next week end it looks like the are going on averages. I know things can change but OH well... thats how it goes when you are a slave to mother nature. Sometimes she can be a @#$@#$

[Russell Lampron]

The sap ran good here yesterday. I got 600 gallons by 6 pm and it was still coming in good. It didn't freeze last night so I'm sure that there is a good amount of sap in the tank this morning.

[eustis22]

Brad, I'm not far from you in Haverhill.....do you think this weekend will bring more sap?

[red maples]

OK I finally fixed it... sorry every time I tried to fix it before my computer would freeze.

No Sap here since Sunday. boiled out everything had 100 gallons delivered from someone who is done. Joe from Brentwood... really nice guy said it talk to you Josh.

Then when I was done Chris brought over 124 gallons and got another 150 from his tank that he didn't want so I had that to boil last night although guessing it was pretty old it took ALOT of defoamer to get it through the pans. and was all mersh... sooo I guess that gives me another reason to clear out evap. Back pan is a mess anyway. Picked up a little vinegar see if I can get a little niter off of it too.

Trees haven't popped yet and there is GREAT sap weather on the way. Hopefully they will hold out if not I will have to rely on the few sugars I have. maybe run a little gravity tubing to free up buckets. that is if the sap turns on the reds. I refuse to give up. besides need some mersh for BBQ sauce.

Oh Eustis if you are tapping sugars you should be all set. you are farther south than I am but you just have to boil it it might be strong but it may go away with consistent sap weather. not sure.

[eustis22]

thanks brad..you've convinced me

[red maples]

Well smaller crowds than normal so far this year. Good sales as usual just smaller crowds. The fire house pancake fund raiser is Sunday so maybe tomorrow will be better

We got a few hrs of freeze but no a whole lot of sap. First freeze since last Friday I think it was. I have a few budded tees I unplugged them so just have wait to see if we get some more sap.

[red maples]

Another maple weekend in the books!!! Over all a little lighter on the crowds than the past few years but pretty good sales and for the most part every one was very nice. We have had some rough red neck crowds in the past. One year I was still finding tasting cups and coffee cups months later from maple weekend. But my voice is still intact but I am cold it was breezy and chilly even next to the evap. wasn't that warm since all the doors were open!

I think we are gonna move into the sugarhouse and my wife's art studio because my house is trashed from several days of thrashing!!!

Not much for sap again today but I don't think it broke 36-37* today. I am waiting patiently for some sap to see if I can still go on.

[red maples]

Well decided to throw in the towel. Not that I haven't tried . Sap was coming in a little better yesterday afternoon but took a gallon of sap right out of the release and boiled it down... ropey... with only buckets to get maybe 75 gallons. And no more freezes in site I am done. If n irs not raining tonight I will be pulling bucket taps today. Probably one of my worst seasons except for my first when my yard got flooded from 5 inches of rain in 48 hrs. Even worse than the week of beach weather we got in march a few years ago. Oh well glad to see some are still going. Good luck see ta next year!!!.