Newbie Introduction.

[pathfinder22]

Hey all,
Just thought I would introduce myself.
New to the forum,
New to making sap into some golden sweet stuff.
I came across this forum a few weeks back and have been reading a lot.
There is some very good information to be found here. I am impressed.
So I decided to join in.

About myself,
This is year #2 of my little hobby project, (cause I don't already have enough).
Year #1....... 6 buckets, Leader 5/16 taps w/check, drop tubes,
wood fired chicken bbq, 3 shallow buffet pans, and snow shoes.
Everything worked out ok, made about 2 gallons though trial and error.

This year.......15-20 taps, hydrometer, cones filters, and fabbed up a new barrel cooker
with 2 deep buffet pans. I will try to add some pics later.

Unfortunately, NO taps out yet, this weather is killing me, I am pretty sure I missed a good run
about 2 weeks back, just figured it was a tad early. Looking to put some out
this Thursday anticipating a weekend warm up.

Waiting on some pancakes!

[BreezyHill]

Welcome!

Great place to get info maple.

Weather is killing me to.

Had to say high since the town is named after ancestors.

Ben

[TerryEspo]

Welcome Pathfinder:

Great group of people here, tons of reading material, advice anytime you may need it.

Welcome aboard !!

Terry

[TrentonMaple]

Don't sweat the "run" 2 weeks ago. You didn't miss too much. It was early. Be patient, the hardest thing about this time of year is waiting to tap.

[Windy Acres]

Welcome aboard!

[pathfinder22]

Yeah , I was thinking it was a little early also, but I have a new cooker this year and am itch-en to see how it works out.
It's like getting a new bike for x-mas, you just can't ride it til the snow melts.

I am getting a little cabin fever, all my wood is cut, hunting season is over, fishing season has not started........ect. ect.ect.
I promise I do not have A-D-H-D but it is still like 75 days til turkey season.
I need to make some syrup...........

I do have a question though.........with this deep freeze we just had, how long does it take the trees to thaw out, temp wise the weather looks good this friday thru tuesday,
but will there be any flow on the first day after a hard freeze or does it take a few days for everything to wake up????????

[Marlin]

I do have a question though.........with this deep freeze we just had, how long does it take the trees to thaw out, temp wise the weather looks good this friday thru tuesday, but will there be any flow on the first day after a hard freeze or does it take a few days for everything to wake up????????

It might take some trees longer to wake up. In my whopping 2 yrs of experience (with only a few trees tapped in my backyard), I've noticed that my largest trees are more sluggish. It also depends on how exposed they are -- the trees on the edge of the woods seem to wake up first. I'm hoping that if they aren't running on the first warm day that they will be by the second day.

The first run a couple of weeks ago was nice but pretty low sugar (ended up more like 60:1 instead of 40:1). But it forced me to get everything set up so I should be ready for the next run. I'm thinking of adding a few more taps during the next thaw.

As for the cabin fever, that's partly why I'm able to do this -- I don't have anything else going on during the "mud season" when the snow melts.

[LesR]

I am also quite new to this game. but last year i tapped in the first real warmup thinking it would go, but it didn't. I mean i got a little, but it took 4 or 5 days for my trees to thaw. All my trees are on a north south hedgerow so the west winds keep them locked up (i think). Also i live on the east end of Lake O so our climate is a little harsh from time to time.

[Rose Forest Farm]

Hi guys,

I'm new to the forum this year too. My name is Courtney, my husband Jack and I have a small farm in Columbia County NY and have been expanding gradually from hobby scale to market size. We have 86 taps on gravity tubing and have finished a little over 2 gallons so far this year-- we tapped during the January thaw and haven't regretted it (yet??). We'll see. We were planning to add another 50 taps this weekend but I'm beginning to think we won't be able to boil it all on our little home-made barrel stove + hotel pan rig. Funny weather-- the ground is thawing, garlic is green and 2" tall, and we have robins in the yard-- doesn't quite feel like Feb here.

We used to farm in central Maine and managed about 60 acres of sugarbush on 5/16 gravity. We did all the tapping, line installation, and maintenance but didn't do much of the bottling part of the job. We always tapped early to get the lines flushed with the first little thaw, and didn't worry if they froze up for a couple weeks before the season really started. Moved and didn't have trees to work with for a few years, but we're back at it at our new place. The tips and research on this website have been a lifesaver--quite the learning curve with finishing syrup.

Re: thaw time from deep freeze to warmup-- we saw a 60+ degree temp swing from -15 Monday morning to 51 yesterday afternoon, and since yesterday have collected 20 gallons of sap and the trees are leaking steadily. I'm sitting at my day job thinking of excuses to go home and start boiling-- gonna be some long nights to keep up with everything-- the season is just getting started!

[pathfinder22]

we just got 18" on snow tuesday, that was fun.
Think I am going to put up some taps thurdsay night, should warm up friday 38/sunny, sat 44 /sunny, sunday 40,
then back to the cold and snow again.
if i could pull a couple buckets it would be ok.

[slb]

hi terry glad to see you are still at it. I talked to you back in 2011 about pans and such...... I haven't been on MT for a while The kids are coming home for the weekend and we are looking forward to tapping hopefully we will have some snow ! Scott

[Eds Constructors]

New too, 2nd real year. Gotta ask about DIY RO system? Are you freezing 5 gal buckets? Or? Its got me thinking?
Thanks

[Marlin]

New too, 2nd real year. Gotta ask about DIY RO system?

See this thread http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?12517-Homemade-RO for great information about DIY RO. I essentially built the one shown in the photo in post #39, except with only two RO membranes (so far) and without the insulated box.

[EagleDan]

I am a 2nd year novice also. In 2015 I tapped 10 trees, boiled down outside on a 55 gallon drum (as seen on the internet) in two steamer pans, and finished at home. $300 spent on supplies Resulted in 2.5 gallons of liquid gold. Enough for self consumption and a few family Xmas gifts.
This year I have ramped up the operation. Tapped 25 trees late last Saturday afternoon. Buckets had 1.5 - 2" of sap in them by Sunday morning. Planning to do first boil this weekend, on a newly fabricated DIY evaporator. Old oil tank, wrapped with ceramic blanket material, brick lined, inside my shed, with a hood overhead to extract the steam, and 2 24"x26" SS pans. Another $400 spent in supplies this year will hopefully result in getting closer to break even. If not, thank goodness that I have an understanding wife, that lets me spend money on my hobbies.

[LImaple]

Hi from a year 2 newbie! Last year I tapped my lonely sugar maple and one at my Dad's house, 20 minutes away. This year I tapped both his maples and mine. I was swamped with other stuff and only tapped last weekend, so I imagine I missed some but did get a couple gallons here and a few more at his house before the weather cooled off again. It's supposed to be in the 50s tomorrow so I imagine that'll go well. :)

[lakeview maple]

Welcome to the site and the maple addiction !!