Central Wisconsin

[Dave Puhl]

Well here comes the warm weather will start tapping in a few days...drip drip drip..........

[Dave Puhl]

The weather man sure is gona make it get warm real fast.....

[Dave Puhl]

Tapped friday most trees running ..lots of snow makes it harder...

[Dave Puhl]

where is the sap?? not much going on too warm....

[Dave Puhl]

Cooked today the 17th with my new 2x6...took awhile to learn it but after a few tweaks and such got off 4gal of syrup...drained her out and rinsed it down..out of sap... trees not runin good for me.....me and my twin boys had a good time together making syrup...

[Dave Puhl]

the 18th..the trees were realy going about 4-5pm ...low pressure in front of the storm front coming..no cooking today just collecting...

[Dave Puhl]

The 19th...pulled some taps from some trees that are budding out ..moved them to a valley facing north these trees are pumping out the sap..will be cooking all day Tues....

[Dave Puhl]

The 20th..cooked today..had a bunch of visitors checking out the cooker...only one sap hauler out of the bunch.....had a great time only had one screw up while bsin...smelled it and I knew I had trouble....had a little area in the syrup pan burn 2x3" patch right in front of the draw off slot...no harm done 7-8 gal of syrup...rain is in the forcast....

[Dave Puhl]

Crappy weather...gathered alittle over 100gal today..warm and rainy...it will help settle the mud..got a few night crawlers out by the house tonight...the end is near...

[Dave Puhl]

March 22...sap is slower today..bottled some syrup and went fishin..even the fishing was slow...

[Dave Puhl]

the 23rd..started to pull taps and wash up some buckets...will cook for the last time for the year Sat...

[Dave Puhl]

the 24th...its over for me last cook of the year toady got less than 6gals. today pulled every thing and cleaned it up and put away now just got the evaporator to clean..

[Dave Puhl]

Geetings all you sappers..just getting stuff here set up and ready for the weather break thats coming in a few days..lots of snow.. using snowmoblie and homemade sled to bring in wood ..putting out more tubing and barrels because of the deep snow...will start tapping Sunday and Monday 9th and 10th ...last year it was the 13th .....no frost here... wondering how that will effect the run ..no shortage of water for the trees this spring....

[Dave Puhl]

Tapped some more today ..mostly tubing with buckets ...with temps low 30s and a breeze not much going on..got some wood made and brought up to the cooker by snowmobile...

[Dave Puhl]

Some taps dripped a little...the weather man was wrong again ...now cool weather coming gonna be a late spring...no hurry to tap anymore ...

[bison1973]

Yes, there dosen't appear to be much, if any, real sap weather in the 15 day outlook. Traditionally, it's still not late for starting in my area. But by 10-15 days from now it will be. I'm starting to feel that my instict that this was going to be a good season might be wrong. If it dosen't get going until very late March things could be over real quick if the weather suddenly turns to 60-70 degree weather in early April.

[ArnoldSugarBush]

My wife and I only have eight taps in so far this year. I spent all day looking out the window wondering how much was starting to run. It was a little disappointing to finally get home and find nothing. It was great exercise to go for a walk in all this snow.

We found our favorite tapping tree had not been marked and was logged off this winter. I hope the rest of the trees catch up in production.

[Dave Puhl]

Went out this am the 14th..after a 50 degree day you would think trees woud run..not for me..hard to belive ..the forecast is not good for sap runs either...

[Monroecheeseman]

I tapped 10 on the 10th, got maybe a cup in each the next day. Tapped about 20 more on the 13th and another 20 on the 14th. Only got about 30 gallons of sap. While we still have a couple inches of snow in the bush, the weather has been in the 40's so I was sure thinking I'd get a little more. Next week's weather looks like rain and snow :(

[Dave Puhl]

the 18th..went out and collested today for the first time some trees are runnin but some are slow to nill.. snuged up a few lines and put in a few more taps..wish it would freeze up tonight cant get to a barrel because of the mud....still the forecast is not in our favor..will just have to wait...

[ArnoldSugarBush]

The sun is shining and puddles are at the end of everyone's driveways. I can't wait to get home and see if we are finally collecting some sap today. 43 degrees right now. It is really tough to look out the window and see such a beautiful day.

[Dave Puhl]

Got too much snow today 8-10"...so I didnt even think about collecting...

[ArnoldSugarBush]

15 gallons collected and the ten day forecast is looking good!

[Dave Puhl]

My twin boys and I got the cooker set up Monday the 24th and made 4gal..our sap really foamed up and the sugar sand was more than the last year..everything went good and the boys are getting the hang of running the 2x6..we are out of sap right now this tues am but have to go out and collect...syrup was really lite colored..

[Dave Puhl]

3-28..nice day to cook the humidity was low which made the sap just evaporate easily ...made 7 gal of lite syrup .. ran out of sap.. could of made more... some of my trees are on the north side and we still have alot of snow in this area

[Dave Puhl]

3-29... just collected sap today and bottled the 7gal we cooked the other day..rain in the forecast ..the trees on the north side are starting to put sap in the buckets now...

[Dave Puhl]

4-1 we got 1.25" of rain last night today was cold and windy emptied the buckets because of the rain...the forecast is bringing better weather...some of the snow has gone down.. will tap a few trees that were snowed in...came home from fishing this eve and found 7 metal drums waiting for me to wash out for storage....a gift from a fellow sapper...the sap should really run the next few days...

[Dave Puhl]

4-2 Heard my first turkey gobble this am... late for this area..still a good amount of snow on the north sides... did tap some trees with buckets that were snowed in ..and they were running nicley....will cook thursday and put some beer sticks in the smoker too...

[Dave Puhl]

4-3...cooked all the sap we had down today to the last gallon...got a honest 8.75gal of syrup today ....had four visitors looking over the setup and shootin the bull....but the warm weather has chased the sap away...over fired the cooker at the end.... luck would have it I had a long handled shovel handy and took the fire out...some sap starting to get cloudy...finished the beer stixs which turned out good tasting....the end is near....

[Dave Puhl]

4-4..The end is closer than I thought..high of 60 and no freeze last night ..right now at 10pm its 48....will pull all buckets before the mold starts...still got the syrup to bottle suppose to rain..so I will wait to do the bottling then...went walleye fishin with the boys we all caught fish...but I got 27" eye had to release her but what fun... she did lace my left thumb a good one...

[Dave Puhl]

4-5...one word ..Hot...65 and sunny....pulled 30+ buckets all with two taps and a 27 tap pipe line..cleaned and put away for next year...still got two lines to pull and a few more buckets..all the trees were dry but two that I tapped a few days ago forecast warm and rain ...one small cook left then thats the end here...

[Dave Puhl]

4-6..boy wait a day and the weather can change ..after 60-65 temps the run here has ended..picked up and cleaned lines and buckets....4-7 didnt do much with the syrup end waiting for warmer weather to do the last cook..today 4-8 picked up the last buckets and cooked for the last time...syrup was real dark..bottled several gallons in qts...had people stopping by and having a look see and getting syrup..started to rain and snow here before I got done cooking...

[Dave Puhl]

Well seeing I use this as my journal I better get posting...Cut wood for the cooker 2-14 ...early... now its 3-3-09 ,,weather man says its gona get warm...might go out and tap some yard trees tommorrow...is it too early...

[Haynes Forest Products]

DONT BELIEVE A WORD THEY SAY IT WONT START TILL I GET TO DOOR COUNTY ON THE 12th

[Dave Puhl]

3-4.....42 deg on the north side of the house...Well I forced myself not to tap any trees..instead busyed myself with buckets and such...weather man says rain/snow coming..

[Dave Puhl]

3-5...Well I could not take it any longer 52 deg.. so it went out and tapped a few some were wet and some were dry...I checked them Sat am and ony one tree had a bucket full the rest an inch or so...oh well maybe after this coming week of rain,snow and cold it will staighten out with the warm days and cold nights...Still yet to get the bulk of my taps out...

[Dave Puhl]

3-8.. Rain then ice... busy most of the day with sanding town roads..then we got 5-6" of wet snow..will work on putting up lines and tap more trees... the weather man is fore casting good sapin weather by the weekend...

[Dave Puhl]

3-9 Got out and tapped this aft. trees running good..put up two 5/16 lines that I have had in a number of years they lead down the bluff to a 55gal barrel.. both lines running good... put out a bunch of buckets ..those were dripping in the buckets right away...daughter and soninlaw brought sap over too...went back to extend one line when I cut into the line I could hear the vacum.. I put my finger on the cut end and I could feel the suction..was surprized...added on a few new trees farther up the bluff....it clouded up late in the aft. and the run slowed down...weather the next few days is cold and windy but after that looks good....

[Haynes Forest Products]

GOOD STAY COLD till I get to Door County on Wed start taping on Thursday.

[Caroline Tapper]

4 days - 20,000 taps
It went a lot better this year than last year (13days last year)
Trees are running a little
now we have to wait.

[ackerman75]

Caroline Tapper,
WOW 20,000 taps, are you located in Wisconsin, if so where. I don't know of anyone that big in Wisconsin.

[bison1973]

I was going to ask the same thing? Where in WIS is a 20,000 tap operation?

[Dave Puhl]

3-10...Yep with 19,999 taps my 55gal barrel was full...:)....well the barrel was full this aft... along with some buckets...had the fever and added on to some of the lines... had a good work out pawing my way up the bluffs...went higher up and still there is room for more..frost in the ground made it hard to get a bite with the boots..did bite the side of the hill but I didnt spill my hot water in the thermos...Talked to Bartz today... he left to collect and came back to flames in the sugar pan ....not good to say the least...expanded some lines...it was wet.foggy day....

[Caroline Tapper]

Located in Caroline

Over 200 acres all on pipe line and vaccum

Trees ran good Tuesday in the rain

[ackerman75]

Where is Caroline?

[Brad W Wi]

S.E. of Wittenburg and East of Marion

[Dave Puhl]

3-11..Very windy to say the least..checked all the lines and buckets no damage so far from the wind...glad I didnt have buckets on one farm they would of been gone...very cold everything froze up tight will have to get the tank heater going to thaw the barrels of sap and collect frozen buckets to get ready for the big run this weekend... 4 deg. this am....

[Dave Puhl]

3-12 ...Cold and frozen...but forzen sap is better that spoiled sap..I got frozen barrells,tubs and buckets....like everyone else..if the weather man is right we are in for a major sap run the next few days need to finish tapin didnt want to do it in this cold...Friday will get that job done..and will start the first cook Sat...I can smell the sap a burnin...or cookin now.....

[Dave Puhl]

3-13 Not much going on ..stopped by Browns and they just set up their 1/2 pint....tapped a few more trees and waiting for warmer weather....3-14 Got the cooker set up this am all went real well a few stopped by and we ended up short on sap ..the weather was great but too cold the days before the trees are just getin going this eve...Stopped by at Browns...they have a great crew helping....nice to see young people take interest in sapin....

[Dave Puhl]

3-15 Way too hot...the ides of March...cooked today trees not putin out much ...seen my first Blue bird and Kildeer today....got all taps in now....its hard to belive that a few days ago it was zero to alittle below....made 3.5 gal and the 2x6 is ready to make more once the sap gets here...

[Dave Puhl]

3-16..Too Hot... got up aroung 65 today ..trees are dripin slowly...didnt collect... took time to drain the evaporater and rinse and scrub.....cleaned the Blue bird houses out... three Blue birds fightin over one of them...the temps are suposed to get back to norm in a few days....we can only hope...

[ackerman75]

Dave Puhl,
I'm not that far south of you, Lancaster Wisconsin, and it looks like it will freeze Wed. and Thurs. night and that may be the end according to accuweather. If that's how it goes this will by far be my worst year since I starter making syrup in 2003. :cry:

[ackerman75]

I checked accuweather again and now it looks good next week, I can't believe they change so much from one day to the next.

[SHOCKERS]

Not good!!!!!! Nothing in buckets today. Looks like my trees mite be budding out!!!! Only have about three gallons was hopping for 10+:cry:

[Dave Puhl]

3-18 Another warm day and nights..All who are reporting are saying no sap..same here..down to collecting every two days...Where I get my supplies they were on tv and said 70 bucks per gallon....if the weather dont get it right for sap it should go higher:)....at least its a hobby for me....

[d&d_sugarbush]

3-18 Another warm day and nights..All who are reporting are saying no sap..same here..down to collecting every two days...Where I get my supplies they were on tv and said 70 bucks per gallon....if the weather dont get it right for sap it should go higher:)....at least its a hobby for me....

is it guuna run or not only had 400 gallons of sap.... 3 years a gog when i taped i was collectin 300 gallons of sap a day... shuold of just stayed wit 200 taps... not 325... thought it would be a good year

[markcasper]

After the rain and thunderstorms this weekend it will go bigtime!!!! Still to much frost in the ground.

[d&d_sugarbush]

After the rain and thunderstorms this weekend it will go bigtime!!!! Still to much frost in the ground.

hope so....

[Dave Puhl]

3-19 well it got below freezing this am ..trees ran fair this aft.....Seeing I take my tubing down each year I went around and repainted/marked which side the tubing goes on each tree with green paint...scouted out another patch for tubing for next season seeing that I am out of tubing...I seen some spots on some drops for the buckets might be the start of some mold...gotta cook Friday to get caught up with sap...

[Dave Puhl]

3-20Forze up this early am..never got warm today.... Went out and collected ..sad to say the least....fired up the evaporator and turned the sap on was busy doing stuff and I heard water runin well it was sap runnin instead....the float for the flue pan was froze down and the sap was coming out the sight gauge..I turned the supply valve off and went to open the flue pan drain valve...that was froze too..a good shot from the propane torch got it open had to take off a bunch of sap off the flue pan..lucky for me the syrup pan valve was off... bottled some syrup and cooked off all the sap I had..this weather isnt good now with rain coming ...oh well...

[SHOCKERS]

Well had a good day picked up 100 gal. The buds are gettig big will make till it tasts bad.:mrgreen:

[Dave Puhl]

3-21 Cleaned the syrup pan and other stuff this am...got a call that the buckets were runin over..I thought noway..got the boys and we went out and everything was over flowin even tne barrel..best run of the season... went out and collected before dark again but not much...3-21 went out and collected some but the big run was over...cooked into the night...cooked down all the sap we had...3-22 helped a fellow sapper pull his buckets he gave me about 40 gal of sap...some we getting cloudy but some we clear....

[Dave Puhl]

3-26..the last few days have been cold and rainy..didnt collect since Sun ...just a few buckets full had about 100+ gal of sap that needed cooking..pulled some buckets today but the trees on the north sides are dripping some snow storm coming will leave the majority of taps out and wait and see

[Dave Puhl]

3-29 after last nights snow the trees ran real good..but the syrup is getting darker..it was cold standing in the wind so I put up a tarp for a wind brake...After tomrrow the rain and snow returns....

[Dave Puhl]

3-30 The trees ran very well again.... collected twice today...some were runin over..lucky its been on the cool side..some of the reds are starting to bud....short on bottles need to get more.... by the looks of orders I will be almost out of syrup by the end of season....

[Dave Puhl]

4-1...Well after working for the Township replacing a culvert... the road was giving way..I cooked this aft. made 4 gal of syrup.... the wind was raw to say the least...Glenn stopped by and watched the sap boil...cool today didnt collect... just got in at 9pm....went to Barts and got 20 jugs used them up and need more jugs and firewood...

[Dave Puhl]

4-2 went and cut a load of wood ...then collected... some buckets were runin over and some were not... some trees are starting to give cloudy sap...made 2gal of syrup..thought I was going north for the weekend and pick up some more jugs but that plan fell through..snow storm coming Sunday too...

[Dave Puhl]

4-3 Not cold enough this am... 30 here at the house ....It got warmer than forecast today...the hard maples are still putin out but the soft/reds are gettin tight...Called Roths for jugs this am and they said the sap is really runnin and they are really busy... so I put my order in and let Dawn get back to cookin....

[falconer]

I'm from the Kettle Moraine area. Just finished the last of the sap; got behind cooking outside. Might have one more run left, still getting clear sap, but a few trees are budding out. Does anybody you know throw a sugaring party at the end of the season?

[Dave Puhl]

4-6... We have had a cold and nasty north west wind blowin here...some trees are still putin sap out... but it didnt freeze hard last eve...jugs came by Speedy from Roths ...fast service ....caught up on bottling and collected some sap..forecast is for cold nights and warm days...some sap is not as clear as it should be..a few more sapin days ahead....

[Dave Puhl]

4-7..Cant remember a stretch of windy weather like we are having now..it was brutal ..put up an big old semi trailer tarp to block the wind... took off three gal of syrup in 4 hrs..but had a build up in the syrup pan of almost syrup from the last cookin...thinking of pulling the tubing...might do a section every day and clean it up....with farm work coming I gota get done with this hobby...

[Dave Puhl]

4-8..Well decided to pull the plug...took up all tubing brought them home and layed them out in the yard and took a garden hose from the hot water tank and flushed them with hot water...cleaned barrels.,buckets,lids and taps...just have 7- 4gal buckets out and them trees are on the north side and they are giving 20-25 gal yet....

[Dave Puhl]

4-9...This season is done for me..cleaned up the evaporator and put it away for another year..still have more clean up to do and some bottling to get at

[bison1973]

It was reported today on the news that WIS. had a total production of 200,000 gals. of syrup produced. This was up from 130,000 gals. in 2008.

[Dave Puhl]

Hey all.....Today is 2-26-10...just started to cut some dead elm for cookin....lots of snow ...bringing the wood in with the snowmobile and car hood....no frost in the woods this year....the forecast is warm....

[maple ridge tappers]

The forecast for this week is mid to upper thirtys. Got me starting to think it's GO TIME. I know it's early, but it's starting to feel right.

[Dave Puhl]

3-1... Put in 25 or so taps today... down on the flats all on buckets... all are dry...was surprized...took off ice shacks too still got 22" of ice...

[Dave Puhl]

3-3...Checked the taps I put in...just a few drops coming in on a few..so its starting out slowly but it was down to 10 that morning...that was the reading on the truck on the way fishing early am.....

[Dave Puhl]

Took the snowmobile and car hood and cut two loads this am before it got to warm...put up two 5/16 lines today that come off the bluff and lead down to a barrel... some where dripping slowly...looked at another plce for a line...might have to order more tubing....the snow and ice is melting around the base of the arch...still a good amount of snow here in the woods...

[Dave Puhl]

3-4...Checked the first taps put in ...very slow to say...tapped some trees on the north side by the creek... the sunny side holes ran soon as they were drilled the shade side was just damp....no wind to speak of... the sun really feels hot...the tubing put in yesterday was dripping in the barrel but nothing great... a bald eagle watched over me for awhile...just a few years ago we never seen eagles here....the eagle was wanting to feed on a road killed coon..I threw it off the road out in my field so he could get at it better.....these trees has me wondering why they are not going good yet...maybe to much snow aroungd the base of the trees yet????? the forecast is warm then warmer....

[Dave Puhl]

3-6...Got my twin boys to help this Sat. and got the 2x6 set up and is ready to go..spilt some wood..some trees are going but the most of mine are on the north side and have a good snow pack ..collected some sap...rainy forecast..the snow is going down out in he open fields

[Dave Puhl]

3-9 Snow is leaving in leaps and bounds...Heard my first turkey gobble of the season this am....Collecting some sap but not much..Was down by the creek colecting this noon and a guy stopped to talk... we fish together at times and wanted a fish report...Right next to the road there is a big dead oak that I been wanting to cut for a few years now..it has alot of dead limbs on it so I am wary of it...we took off some of the dead bark and low and behold there was ice under that old bark...so the trees are still very cold acording to that...Mark Casper called it on this weather.... no hurry with this cool and rainy spell....hopfuly this weather will straighten out...

[Dave Puhl]

3-11..Wow what weather...warm.rainy and very foggy..Robins were singing the last two mornings...last two nights had meetings and going and getting back home was tuff to see the road ...people had storys at the meetings of missing turn offs and getting lost in the fog...of course the trees are doing zip... I am still waiting on the back ordered roll of tubing ...is a good thing maybe...so I still got trees to tap...and got 80 gal of sap...it wont keep forever so thats bugging me to get it cooked...alls we can hope that this weather will turn....

[Dave Puhl]

3-12..Finally a day with out rain and fog ....went around and dumped the buckets with tree water in them....some trees are runnin ever so slowly but are doing something...helped the neighbor cut a tree along the road... one to cut and one to watch for cars...he said he saw a Bluebird today...alittle early for them and had a deer tick crawlin on his ear too.. this weather is nuts....will collect tomarrow and fire up the evap....Just for fun....

[sticbow]

How hard is it raining in Mauston this morning? Im in SE WI and its raining pretty good here. Wanted to head over to the bush in Iowa County today to finish some odds and ends on the arch. Im way behind this year, but it looks like I will get another week to get my act together. Hoping the extended weather forecast holds up this time. Im thinking of tapping next Thurs or Fri.
Wish I would have become a meteorologist!! Where else can you be wrong all the time, get paid to be wrong all the time and still keep your job!!! HA

[Dave Puhl]

3-13..We didnt get alot of rain here a strong 1/2"-3/4...fired up the 2x6 today all went well just enough sap to sweeten up both pans real good... drained them off and put them in the snow bank to stay cool..now I am ready for a sap run when it comes...will have to go fishing till then...

[Dave Puhl]

3-14..Wow the snowbank took a big hit today...almost 70 today...took the tarp off the wood pile and covered the snowbank that was cooling the syrup and sap pan dregs from yesterdays cook... and some beer of course....in the afternoon went out and tapped a few trees with buckets...two taps per bucket with drops to the bucket....all ran after the drill came out...ran another line from the bluff down towards the barrel... 14 taps on this line but did not set the taps short about a 100 foot of tubing from the last tree to the barrel...hope the back ordered tubing gets here early this week...most trees in the woods were dripin but the ones out in the open were shut down....some frost in the ground by the trees at the creek on the north side and them were producing .....

[TF Maple]

So I went down to the bush to collect what I thought would only be 2 gallons or so from 70 trees and got over 4 gallons from 10 trees that had not been producing much at all, so I guess they warmed up now. I ended up leaving my 7 gallon pail in the bush full until tomorrow. Looked like a lot of the trees had a half gallon in the pail after 2 days of dripping. Last time we waited 2 days we only got 4 gallons altogether. I'm sure it won't keep going without some cold weather.

[Dave Puhl]

3-17...this hot weather is unreal..the reds out in the open are budding out real well ..never collected this season on them...some years the buckets are runin over...took some buckets from there and tapped some hard maples back in the woods ...with the snow gone it makes carring sap alot easier...these were runin slowly when I tapped them today...got the roll of tubing today and hooked up the new line with 14 or so taps on that line these are reds up in the draw facing north....by the time I got the tubing to the barrel it was dripping also just tapped these...the trees down by the creek has 16 taps and been getting 12-15 gal off these.....the weather is suppose to cool off...maybe to late for reds out in the open..I have to target trees back in the woods...there still are more to tap but its all hand carry out....the snow bank is about gone....

[Dave Puhl]

3-18...another hot day...collected some sap today 18-20 gal... but its down to a drip or two....the snowbank by the evaporater is gone...but the snowbank down the road is still there but that was almost 10' high this winter....I have a burned out small chest freezer that was laying around...so I drug that over to the cooker and went down the road and got 7- 4gal buckets full of old snow and put it in the old freezer along with the syrup and sap pan dregs from the last cook...along with a beer or two ...in an hour or so it was down to 40 degrees...cooking Friday before the big cool down and rain thats supposed to come.....

[Mike Gerend]

How long can let sap go (cloudiness) in this warm weather before you have to dump it?

[Dave Puhl]

I been holding my sap 5 days now and will cook today.. Friday ...some is getting cloudy but its smells and taste fine.....It would be nice to have clear sap in holding but with this hot weather is hard to do...if you have small amounts put frozen milk jugs of water in them.... what I am putting in the freezer of snow is what is in the 2x6 when I am out of sap and caught up on cooking...

[Dave Puhl]

3-19...Cooked today... all went real well... bunch of people stopped by to Takl and have a beer....2 1/2 hrs and 2.5 gal of syrup...just plain ran out of sap... alittle rain and snow as it cooled off today...

[Peepers]

I love reading the day-by-day account Dave! Its great to hear how things are going across the muddy Mississippi.

[TF Maple]

How long can let sap go (cloudiness) in this warm weather before you have to dump it?

I had third graders coming from a local school on Friday so I was collecting for a whole week to have a large amount of sap to boil in my 200 gallon tank. So, for a while I kept my barrels in the shade of a building with snow piled around them. When I ran out of places to collect snow, to keep the barrels cold, I put the sap in the tank and boiled it every other day to keep it from spoiling. Now I'm finishing off the batch.
So if you heat the sap to sterilize it, it will keep for a few days after each heating.

[mrnohrco]

Tapped last week, finally running, finally starting to boil. Trees look like they're going to pop any day though, looks like a short season

[Dave Puhl]

3-21...Finally we get some sap runin weather...a good freeze this am....collected twice today..the trees on the barrel were runing well on the tubing each of the 4 lines had a steady trickle...even the big reds down out in the open finally gave up some sap...tapped a few more trees back off the road and they are going good as well...it is good weather to get cutting our winters wood supply..my twin boys and I got a nice pile started...most of it is smoth bark hickory....the trees on my farm and around th earea have a disease of some sort and I have alot of them that are dying....

[Dave Puhl]

3-22...Collected twice again..if I didnt I would have had buckets runin over....the sap is flowing and am getting a good bunch from all trees... just a few leakers....will cook tues.....maybe will try for the first time to make some maple coated pecans....went fishing on the Wis.River and got a few walleyes...was a good day for sure....

[Dave Puhl]

3-23...went out and collected...got a good amount of sap...started cooking about noon and quit arond 5pm...alittle over 6gal of syrup...during that time I made some maple coated pecans...well the first try I was not watching the kettle close enough ..I went to fire the evap.and came back the kettle was boiling over at 237 deg...I took it off the burner and added the pecans...but they were all sticky and never lost the stickyness ...so I reheated what syrup was left in the kettle ..I started out with 1/2 gal...too much....got that up to 242-245 and dumped the pecans back in ..then took them out and laid them back on the cookie sheet...in no time the syrup hardend and they are great.... then reheated again and dumped the rest of syrup in another cookie sheet that turned out to be hard sugar candy...I think next time I will try salted peanuts...

[Dave Puhl]

3-24 collected ...trees are slowing down alot...finished cooking made 3gal....the 2x6 ran real well... nice and hot fire and really pushed the syrup to the draw off side today more than normal...3-25...cleaned up the evap. this am alot colder this morn but no frost the wind made it feel alot colder...bottled 5gal into the Qt jugs....forecast is cold tonight then icreasing warm spell.....might be the end for me.....at about half from last year....

[Dave Puhl]

3-28...Started cooking this 8am....got some sap from a guy down in the flat who pulled the plug Friday...I collected Sat aft. and all together had about 150...another fellow sap sucker call and he had quit too but was pulling his taps/buckets ....while cooking this am the foaming was real bad for awhile ...just didnt remember to add enough canola oil for defoamer.....that solved that problem...made almost 3gal of syrup....had a good breakfast of waffles and sausage with fresh made syrup ...a number of people stopped by for coffee/waffles....was a good time will have to try it for next year....with 70 degrees coming that will be the end....

[Dave Puhl]

3-30 ....we started to pick up taps and buckets today... the hard maples by the creek are still going but the forecast is for very warm...3-31...a weasel or a mink killed our 4 laying hens last night now no more fesh eggs...pulled all taps and lines with the help of my boys got about 70gal of sap to cook...stsrted to wash buckets and taps ...took the lines and run them out in the back yard and flushed them with water...boys power washed the lids and some barrels ..a very good drying day... I started to cook around 2pm ...it sure was hot around the evap. ran out of sap and let things idle down ...took the flat shovel and took the fire out of the arch and drained the sap pan while I was doing this the supply barrel was getting full of water... drained out 20 gal out of the sap pan and turn the valve for the water...then put the fire back in the arch the temp was 183 in the syrup pan...then I added the sap to the syrup pan with a milk jug that had a x cut in the cap...that went good as long as I kept that full...I only drawed off twice doing that setup ....it was hot work...for the year about half the syrup...to much hot weather....

[Maple.King]

What do you guys think the syrup price will do this year.

[Haynes Forest Products]

If we can close the bridges from our neighbor to the north we could control the world price. I bet most of Canadas crop gets consumed in the US of A.......Sorry Keen we will let your in:lol:

[Dave Puhl]

3-1...Hi all...a new season is here....lots of snow here.... we had a big melt down around Christmas and again the week of Feb 14th with a few days 55 or so... got the ice shacks off the17th still lots of ice.....with the warm days bet the trees were runin...then we got a big wet snow and it cooled down had zero the other morn......been slow on getting things done the 14th slipped on the ice coming out of the truck at the same time the dog bailed out of the truck and I landed square on her head giving me some very sore ribs....the dog seemed to shake it off and is fine....got some wood cut just half ...its gona be warm today then back to cold will try to get out with snowmobile and car hood to bring in some more wood...holding off from tapping always get tap happy too soon will wait for better weather.....

[jmayerl]

speaking of tap happy..... I was just standing outside contemplating if I should work on getting the roof done for the evaporator shed or work on my canning table today. Then I found myself with a cup of coffee standing next to a maple in the backyard just looking up at it. So my neighbor looks over and asks me what I'm doing and I said"I think she's got a week or two till she's ready". He just turned around and walked back in his house. Thank god his parents make syrup or he might have thought I was crazy.

[Dave Puhl]

3-5...Well the other day the temp was 42... the next day didnt get to 20...3-3...we got almost 1/2'' of rain helped settle the snow.....with the rain the driveway was pure ice put the creepers on and got some sand on it......this weather has to be warmer than what it is.... today the 5th its cloudy/windy,lite snow.... temp is 29 not sap runnin weather...big storm forecast for the 9th...still no trees tapped here just getting some wood cut...being Sat my twin boys are here to help...not much to report .....still waiting for better weather..

[Dave Puhl]

3-7...Talked to fellow sapper this am...and the trees he tapped the 15th are still dry....sonin law tapped a test tree the other day... dry.....went out the 5th with the boys and cut a good jag of dead elm.....3-6 went ice fishin with the boys one got a walleye and the other a crappie ...mom was happy for the fresh fish for supper...3-7...went out and cut more wood with the snowmobile...warm 35 ish....just had to tap one tree 4:30 pm tapped it was drippin in the bucket...still a storm forecast to be here tues - wed....then will get out and tap.....its time all....

[Packerfan]

Runnin here!

[Dave Puhl]

3-8 Put up my Township 8 ton road ban signs....sure sign of spring....check the test taps at 2:30pm 1/4'' in the bucket.... sad....the tap on the north side was still froze... checked around some other trees and there is no frost in the woods...3-9 it started to snow around 10pm last eve and its still snowing we got 5" or so of wet stuff that is hanging on the trees,we surely didnt need more snow....tapping for me will be put on hold...

[wlnl1964@msn.com]

ya i hope it gets warmer im going to try a tree in the yard to see if that runs other wise ill be on hold to

[maple connection]

Sunday is the day I am going to tap my 300 bags. I think this next week they are going to wake up an start leaking sweet gold:lol:

[C&C maple sugar bush]

I'm going to tap 25 tomorrow and see what all happens on Friday with the warm weather, them I'm going to tap 200 on Sunday after we pick up our buckets. It should be really running next week.

[Dave Puhl]

3-9 pm...after plowing for 9+ hrs are town roads are clear.... with soft roads and shoulders the plowing did some damage...we had 8-9'' of wet snow here ...one of the school buses in my area slid though the stop sign and went harmlessly out into the corn field and had to get towed out.... the trees have lots of snow on them but warm weather forecast it will come off....but along with more snow to come ...Checked the test bucket late this eve, and to my surprize there was 2" in it...so some time during the storm the tree let loose some sap...we have a great deal of soil moisture will this inturn give a great sap runs?....the freeze and thaw will be the big deciding factor....will get tapin shortly....

[Dave Puhl]

3-10...It got about 38 today was sunny but the wind was goin too...took my young Springer Spaniel for her first tapping outing today she had a good time running and playing in the deep snow....got all the tubing put up today and tapped....most were runin some were not but with 4 lines coming into the barrel the sound of sap coming in was good to hear....will get buckets out the next few days....its gona be warmer Fiday....

[Haynes Forest Products]

Sitting in Dodgeville Wisconsin heading to Jacsonport Friday after a stop at Jim Schumackers to see his shop. Will start tapping on Sat:D

[ehafkey]

It's officially time to tap in WI, Haynes has finally arrived.:lol:

Lets get at it and make some syrup!

[WI Sugarpop]

Haynes, I thought someone put your taps in already. You just have to tighten them up a little.:lol: Have a good maple season.

[Haynes Forest Products]

YUP Papas in the house. I will be inspecting KenW's work and I wont be happy if it aint right. I want to warn all the people in Door county that my 4 sisters and their friends are having a girls craft week starting Friday so get your butter and cheese now cuz there will be a shortage soon:o

[Dave Puhl]

3-11..was a great sap day..18 this am and got up in the low 40s..at 9pm its still 39...the gravity tubing on he bluff was really runnin had to get another 55gal barrel there...tapped the trees down by the creek ,these are on the north side and the snow is deep still...put out 22 buckets between 10am and noon... these have two taps per bucket with drops..checked them about 4pm and some were half full.... will collect Sat and get the boys to help....then we will set up the evaporater....it sounds like it gona get to warm by wed.....Been hearing Sandhill cranes the last several days...way to early for them around here.....

[Haynes Forest Products]

Tapping on Sat have the sap shack somewhat cleaned up. Sap is the goal:)

[C&C maple sugar bush]

We tapped 100 today, it was only 36 degrees and cloudy but the sap was really running, gotta tap 100 more tomorrow.

[Dave Puhl]

3-12...raw windy day 28 for a high...was going to tap a few more but didnt get there...got the sap storage cleaned up and the boys helped me collect...most of the buckets were full but some only half...the gravity tubing had 60+ gal between both barrels and the lines were dripping some at 1pm...having trouble getting up to the barrels with the truck with the mud....this valley is protected some what from the wind and gets the morning sun,the taps on the sun side are runni better...Jan/Vince brought in sap too...got the bottling/ice shack moved in and set up....

[jmayerl]

got 180 in yesterday and today. about 250 gallons of sap. setting up the evaporator tomorrow and boiling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Newfvt]

We sugar 4 stands around Black Creek east of Green Bay. Just under 250 taps out, all buckets. Gathered a little under 300 gallons yesterday. 4% sugar. It takes 48 gallons to fill our 2x6 Leader drop flue rig.
Pulled off 5 gallons of Grade A Light Amber this afternoon after about 6 hrs total evaporator time. There's still probably 2 gallons in the front pan. Weather is starting to look more encouraging for a run into even next Monday. This may be an excellent week even if the season is a bit short.
"If it's gathered today ...it must be syrup within 24 hours or less". My grandfather taught me that and it really works.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Taped 500 today and let the worms run out the releaser on the ground. Only damage was from branches and one streached line from a snowmobile:o Hope to do the other 650 sunday. Things were snowy and rainy and cold but it ran nice. Will cook on monday.:)

[Dave Puhl]

3-12...took the boys ice fishing..not much for fish caught sure was warm in the sun....we said ..I bet the trees are really going...the ice holes were still icing over till noonish....collected 4pm and was surprized to find barrels and buckets still iced over....the air temp not to warm... the trees just starting to run didnt get much sap...Jan/Vince brought sap in too but the same low collection report....warmer weather coming...

[Dave Puhl]

3-14...saw my first robin today...cleaned out bluebird houses...still alot of snow in the woods... but on the southsides its getting gone...took me two runs with the truck to get backed up to the barrels on the tubing...just hate to see the road getting ruts in it....got 300 gal of sap will cook now....

[Red-bellied Woodpecker]

Anyone buying sap in the Matoon area or know anyone who is?

[Dave Puhl]

3-15 ...the Ides of March...what a day...9:30pm just got in from cookin.....right off the bat a ball valve had cracked over season...had to go to town ....and 27 bucks later had sap going in to the evaporater....had to remember to get the level ...all still good....got a good boil up and going bout 11am.. first draw was a 2pm..... got 5 gal of syrup off today and more waiting in the pan...all kinds of signs of spring...geese,sandhill cranes and my first turkey vulture soaring over the farm...wife said she heard turkey gobble this am too....cooking went real well ...collecting ...took a nose dive into the mud with two full buckets of sap...alll sap lost..I was heard cussin a mile away...mostly to blame was worn out shoes ...oh well just some mud and sore muscles tonight...

[Dave Puhl]

3-16..just got to freezing last eve...drain out the evap. and rinsed it out ...a good amount of niter on the syrup pan, srubbed that off...put what I drained of into buckets and put them in the shade......collecting this aft..water was running snow leaving... temps in the high 40s...sap slowing down....some trees were good runners...but most are poor for this time of year...talked to Casey, the one I gave my flat pan too,he has the week off from college... made a gallon so far and he was happy....all kinds of birds around now ...gotta get the last bluebird houses checked...this warm weather is to warm to fast......

[Dave Puhl]

3-17....pretty sad sapin weather...went out and collected this eve and got maybe 25 gal...should be around a 100...lucky its not real hot got sap in storage in side a shed and its cool yet ...will cook Sat aft. got the old freezer out and put some snow in it to hold what I draw off from the sap and syrup pan to keep it cool...still some snow on the north sides..and will try to tap more trees now I can get to them..the hard maples by the creek are the best trees still putting out but about of 1/4 of sap as usual.......

[Haynes Forest Products]

Getting better than a gallon a day off the trees Pulling good vacuum and the weather has been good. 2 nights with slight freeze up but its down to 27 so its looking good.

[Dave Puhl]

3-18...not to much to report ...checked a few buckets and wasent worth the time to collect ...worked on wood spliter carb...after alot of fussing around...come to find out the bowl has a very small spot rotted out on the bottom..the gasket wont seal it up ....will cook Sat aft....rain for Sunday....

[Dave Puhl]

3-19...just got in... its 9:30pm....cooking went real well...6gal drawed off....cooked all the sap I had ...boys went out and collected..some of the trees down by the creek were full....big old full moon this eve ...coyotes started to howl and the boys and dogs teased them by hootin back at them...soon they were down in the valley yipin and carrying on..not close less than 500yds ..a report from a thunder stick shut them up and let them know whos boss...forecast of rain then snow then cold mid week....

[Kev]

3-19...just got in... its 9:30pm....cooking went real well...6gal drawed off....cooked all the sap I had ...boys went out and collected..some of the trees down by the creek were full....big old full moon this eve ...coyotes started to howl and the boys and dogs teased them by hootin back at them...soon they were down in the valley yipin and carrying on..not close less than 500yds ..a report from a thunder stick shut them up and let them know whos boss...forecast of rain then snow then cold mid week....
500 yards.. heck here they are in my back yard every night. my old Lab has gotten bored with them and pretends they do not exist, but that might be cause shes 13 years old. loll
I would hunt them, but i figure they taste bad....was taught to eat what I shoot. (not the same as letting them hear thunder stick i know:D)

[Dave Puhl]

3-19..rainy morn here...good day to bottle syrup...so had to get set up to filter and bottle...reheating syrup warmed up the shack which felt good...went out and dumped tree water from a few buckets some still were clear ...didnt collect...Jan/Vince brought over 40 gal which was from the good Sat. run..storm coming Tues -Wed ...big snow or rain....

[Dave Puhl]

3-21...went out in the aftnoon and collected 25 gal or so ...fired up and cooked all the sap I had...had a few people stop by..to talk and get syrup...didnt have much sap ..drawed off a gallon and shut her down...took off and went fishing did bring home some nice walleyes....3-22 thunder storm 4am here...then around 7am sleet.ice/rain...what a mixture....another good day to bottle.....

[elm creek guy]

Isn't walleye season closed?

[TF Maple]

Isn't walleye season closed?

There are a lot of areas with seasons open all year in Wisconsin.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Screw the fishing its sap season and the rainy days are the best...If you have vacuum system YEE HA

[Dave Puhl]

3-22...lots of rain...was going to bottle but got called out with trees down on the town roads....tree tops on top of the bluffs where I live were getting ice coated and small dead branches were coming down...we were just a few degrees away from a major ice up..the wind was strong and was worried about the stack on the evap....rivers and creeks are getiing very full to over the banks.....drained out the evaporater and getting stuff ready for a big freeze up...the cold will make the sap run the next several days.....3-23...got up around 2am..roads have 1-2'' of sleet/ice on them...got down to town shop and put one plow and sand back on the truck ..the other one is still ready..ended up getting stuck in the mud after the plow dug in the side of the road and pushed me over...the righthand wheels sunk down in the mud..and had to have the the other guy/truck pull me out...yes We that live in Wisconsin/Gods country/home of the Green Bay Packers/SuperBowl Champs.....are lucky to have some rivers and flowages that are open to fishing year round....thanks for reading...

[Red-bellied Woodpecker]

Being new at this I have a? Now with this snow and cold weather how is this going to affect the sap flow when the temps come back up?

[dschultz]

Red
Where in WI are you?
You better get your rest now while you can,your going to need it.The reason I say that is because the tree's are just waiting to bust loose.,and from the looks of the temps next week at this time the flood gates should be open and we should be swimming in sap.

[jfroe939]

Don't know how everyone else is sitting, but I'd guess I have 20% of the syrup now that I hope to have at the end of the season. Though I feel like we're around 40%+ of the way through the season. The sap I've had so far has been average to a-little-above in sugar content (2.7%-3.2%). I can't remember a day last year of being over 3%. I can also say that I don't recall the mud being so bad in quite a while. Won't be any easier with the snow blanketing the mud underneath. So far it has that feeling of the vacation you couldn't wait to go on only to have the vacation be less-than-thrilling once it gets here. I would agree that with this cold spell to put us well under freezing for a number of days, my limited experience has me thinking when it does warm up things could get busy. Hard to believe the garden will be planted in 2 months after looking outside. At least I'm well-rested.

[driske]

This blizzard type weather event is what my Uncle Leonard would have referred to as a "Sugar Snow". He would say it in German first, then explain it to his nephews and nieces in English.:):mrgreen
Basically, after this heavy wet snow, when the first thawing day comes along the trees will run, and run hard. Something about the bright sun reflecting off pristine new snow really gets things hopping in the sugar bush.;)

[Haynes Forest Products]

I have 130 in the drum on the trailer off to the Evil Wholesaler. I will enjoy the break and let the trees settle down and get ready for the next run. Snow on the ground will freeze the trees quicker at night and thats good. Left Sturgeon bay at about 630 in blizzard conditions and its clear sailing going west.

[GramaCindy]

This blizzard type weather event is what my Uncle Leonard would have referred to as a "Sugar Snow". He would say it in German first, then explain it to his nephews and nieces in English.:):mrgreen
Basically, after this heavy wet snow, when the first thawing day comes along the trees will run, and run hard. Something about the bright sun reflecting off pristine new snow really gets things hopping in the sugar bush.;)

driske, I LOVE your Uncle Leonard's explanation. Let's all go with that and hope for the great run. I believe it!

[dschultz]

Haynes
Who's buying your syrup?

[Haynes Forest Products]

Roth After paying $2500.00 for #2 fuel oil the wife cut me off from the money supply so its off to the syrup bank. This cold snap and snow hit at the right time:D Door county to Codatt down to Milwaukee to get the family and back up to Door.

[dschultz]

I talked to Dawn on Monday and she said they weren't buying yet....Have you talked to her since Monday?

[Red-bellied Woodpecker]

I'm between Aniwa and Matoon on CTY Z

[Dave Puhl]

3-28....Well its been awhile since my last post...as you all know its been real cold..time was spent bottling,cleaning and cutting firewood for next winter...the boys are on spring break this week and its nice to have help with the wood cutting...they will be 18 in May so I let the run the saw alot more... they are learning not to run it in the dirt and how to avoid getting it pinched....by 11 am the sun is warm and it is muddy in the fields bt then....warm weather coming, will be ready...got wood but not much sap...checked some today and the south facing taps had more in the buckets than others but not much...some were still froze up tight at 3:30pm....

[Dave Puhl]

3-29...got two big loads of wood cut and on the pile....last load a little to heavy and broke a bolt on the drawbar of the tractor ..after taking it off and getting a good swing with a maul and punch to drive out the bolt....got it fix and ready for the next load...nice to get wood ahead for next winter.......went and collected had three buckets running over ..these were on the south facing side...these 4gal buckets have 1-2 taps with drops on them...some were still froze up....got about 40gal...I didnt have any taps pushed out during the cold and the trees here are not budding yet so far....the tubing on gravity is slowly dripping...got some more orders for syrup today.....lets hope for good sap weather.....

[Dave Puhl]

3-30..collected twice today...some buckets were full in the late afternoon..its getting very soft out in the fields ...today only one load of wood that will be it until it dries up....keep hoping this weather holds and dont get hot....

[Dave Puhl]

3-31..sap run is here.... collected in the am ..then went and cut the big dead oak by the town road ...right by the creek where I got some trees tapped..all went well getting it down...this tree has been dead for a long time but the wood was real good..it was froze in the center ....collected this pm trees are really dripping... some taps had 4gal in less than 24hrs..have to cook now......

[Dave Puhl]

4-1...the morn started out cloudy then it snowed real hard for an hour and half..2.5+ inches....wet heavy stuff...got the boys on a few April fools jokes...got the snowmobiles out and put gas stable in them ..boys rode around for a while then put them away for the season....fired up the evap..around noon all went well got off 7gal by 8pm..lots of sap brought in....boys played cards in the shack had to get light in for them to see...we all had a good time...a few people stoped by to chat....

[Dave Puhl]

4-2..fired up this am.. still coals left over from last night ...cooked all the sap we had today ...Jan and Vince pulled the taps they had...got 7.5 gal of syrup today...syrup good quality...going to pull all of mine too....got my orders filled and some extra....the weather forecast is warm and wet....now have to bottle and clean up.....

[Backyard Sapman]

I haven't had much sap to speak of for the last couple days here in Wis. Rapids. Anybody else experiencing this? Is it time to pull taps? Can it be over already? Low temp forecast doesn't look too great on accuweather.

[jmayerl]

same here in Shawano. Had a run on 4-1 and thats been it. out of 250 taps we have averaged about 4 gallons of sap. I'll leave them for the rest of the week but it doesn't look good. was 28 last night then rain and an inch of snow today. up to 40 now and still nothing. Got me what to think, but im pretty new at this.

[Dave Puhl]

4-4...Sat eve when cooking I broke my first jar in 7-8 years of using them...It was cool out and the wind was cold... lucky for me I always put the gallon jars in a bucket....just started to draw and broke out the bottom not much syrup lost...Sunday we got a bunch of hail here about the size of a quarter was the biggest....I think the season is done here for me ...hope it stays cool till I get everything cleaned up ...the black mold likes to get going in the buckets and tubing.....

[Dave Puhl]

4-5 Pulled all the taps today...surprized to see there was some sap dripping but I am done...rolled up the tubing..then unrolled it at home and flushed it out with warm water...cleaned buckets,taps and barrels...alot of work...and still more to clean...

[C&C maple sugar bush]

we got 15 gallons cooked down in the last few days, and hope to cook 1 to 2 more batches, we have 20 gallons and are trying to get 25, going to be pulling taps on sunday

[wlnl1964@msn.com]

ive been getting 100 gallons of sap every weekend idk what this weekend will do to the trees im from the marshfield area...............anyone no of anyone with a cooker for sale.

[gbwez]

Pulled my taps today after my first ever season making maple syrup. Compared to everyone else I am a very small-scale operation, got just over 2 gallons from 10 taps... but what a huge amount of fun... I'm hooked!

[Red-bellied Woodpecker]

Well pulled everything yesterday and I'm hooked. Made 14.5g off of 87 taps (did sell a lot of sap to) and I'm already looking forward to next year. Wish I could have made more seeing I almost have everthing sold already...I think that means more taps next year.


Hope everyone had a great year

[bearair]

@ GBWEZ don't worry about being a "small" producer. Almost everyone here started small to "just see what it's all about". Just read the signatures or information about the different members here.
Now that you have the blood of the Maple tree on your hands, you can never go back to being normal. Because from now on the Sweet smell of success is is maple syrup in the bottom of your pans.

Welcome to the Maple Life!

[gbwez]

Thankyou! Yes, I think I'm genuinely hooked for life!!

[Haynes Forest Products]

Well after a month devoted to sugering Im done got er put away for the year. OIL killed me:cry: Made about 260 gallons off 950 taps sold 230 to cover expenses learned alot from fellow traders and what I think is BS

[Dave Puhl]

Feb 15 2012...like many I am wondering about this mild winter...on some of the reds the buds are really big... today its 45 out and the forecast is still more mild temps...I have never tapped this early.... after 10yrs or so making syrup I am worrying more that ever about my syrup production...cleaned up the sap shed that holds the barrels...I will go out in the morn and put a few taps in...going to switch over to 5/16...talked to Bartz and he tapped a few two weeks ago and has collected some and is still storing it....what to do?????

[Dave Puhl]

2-16....another warm day ..went and changed all my taps to 5/16... made new drops also ..took a 7/16 and a 5/16 tap each drop to its own bucket and put them both in the same tree about 8" apart around a 11am... just see if one is more or less than the other..there was some sap coming out when I cut the hole... used the new tapping bits ..they worked well...after lunch the weatherman says more mild weather.... So I loaded up the 4 lines and got them up... 55+ taps on these that are gravity fed lines...wasent going to tap them but did...got done around 4pm and checked the test buckets... both had about a 1/2" in them... the 7/16 may have a little more... to early to tell yet but am hoping to keep score this season...putting in the 5/16 taps is a lot easier and faster thats two good things so far...earliest I have ever tapped....(hope it was the right thing to do) .....

[Dave Puhl]

2-17...went out after lunch and had to make some adjustments to the lines that I put up ...they were dripping but not running...checked the 7/16-5/16 test buckets and they were dripping...as of today the trees are not by any means going wild....went ice fishin late afternoon 1 crappie thats all..stopped by after fishing around 6pm and checked the test buckets still a slow drip little over an inch in the 4gal bucket maybe the 7/16 had a touch more but hard to tell...the collection barrell had 6-8" in it..soninlaw Vince tapped a few yard trees today and he said they were pouring out when he tapped them...holding off on more tapping for now...

[Dave Puhl]

2-18..not as warm today but the wind was way less...test buckets...the 7/16 is about 1/4gal ahead of the 5/16.....gravity lines are going but not running ...dont know if I should collect tonight cause weatherman says it could get in the teens tonight..barrel just about 3/4 full....Browns on the flat tapped some hard maples this aft. facing south... and I stopped by and they were pouring out..but the ones in the woods were just dripping.... @8pm temp @ 30.....

[Balsam Hills]

I'd go for it. We began tapping our reds yesterday in the LaCrosse area and they were dripping fairly well.

[Dave Puhl]

2-21...not much to report..went and collected the other day...the weatherman said cold temps but it didnt get real cold...trees are dripping slowly..mon..went to measure out the test buckets but they were froze tight...made some more adjustments on the tubing....went and cut firewood nice to work in the woods.... just a little snow on the ground in the woods all the south sides have been bare most all winter....now we are going to have a run of mid 30s temps and cloudy not good sap running weather...

[Dave Puhl]

2-24...the weather has been cool with the trees at a slow drip...did collect today with the tubing going mid afternoon after thawing out....my test taps I have found out not to be a fair test the 7/16 is some what more to the west than the 5/16 getting the late sun helping the 7/16 to out produce by twice as much in todays colection....I have been holding off on tapping more till we get some sap ruinning forecast ..then I will do another 7/16-5/16 tap test..those that held off tapping I think you did the right thing....sure the south faced trees here put out but on average the out put is not much with the weather we been having...my twin boys are home this weekend from college and might set up the 2x6 so I can get what sap I have cooked and the pans sweetend up......

[Dave Puhl]

2-27....didnt get the evap.set up because of the wind..havent tapped anymore... sounds like bad weather this week... going to be poor for sap..we are supposed to get a big snow storm tues night/wed but now they are pushing it north of here maybe..the trees on tubing are dripping and the test buckets are froze up ..all I can figure out is the test buckets are close to the ground and the tubing /taps are higher off the ground..this is a valley that has snow in it and lays to the north.....I am in need to get cooking it will have to wait till after this storm goes by...been cutiing wood and I dropped a 20" smooth bark hickory today and it was froze to the center..over the last few years alot of my smooth bark hickory is dying....lots of fire wood to make....

[Dave Puhl]

3-1..the last few days have been slow for the sap run but it is dripping..we got a bunch of rain here while upnorth got a got pile of snow... seen the first Robins here the last few days they are singing a little in the am....put up the 8ton road ban signs today for the township....still have not tapped more ..but the forecast is for very warm weather..so I will tap all I can the next few days...some more snow tomorrow ..still have not set the evap.up but am getting ready...the sap is still clear in th eholding barrels.....was at Browns today and he was cooking away on his half pint ..he had me watch over it for a short time but it was a slow go cause the wood and weather was a little damp...I was checking the tubing lines today and always wanted to know the length of the runs so I got a measuring wheel and the longest run in 285' and the others are any where from 170 to 100'.....ice fishing is now done for this season for me...we normaly have 20" or so this season we had 11''....time to make syrup....

[Dave Puhl]

3-3..got the rest of the buckets and lids cleaned up ..went out and tapped... was surprized to see the trees dripping ..temp maybe 30 and very little sun..most of been just enough warmth cause the taps I put in on the south side dripped while the cool side just was wet...the gravity tubing was dripping but most of it was froze still....did put out another test between the 7/16 qnd 5/16 will have to see how this one pans out...the first set was froze up some but was starting to drip....the 7/16 is still ahead but as said before it might be getting warmer before the 5/16...I do like tapping with the 5/16 taps lot less worry on the drill and the trees...

[Mikeh]

Hey Dave,
I have a possible wrench to throw into your 5/16 vs 7/16 experiment. Do you have tubing running from the taps into buckets or are the buckets on the trees? I run short tubes down to pails on the ground and I tried two sizes of tubing last weekend. The 5/16 tubing froze up at the end where it enters the pail. The 7/16 didn't freeze as often (or at all so far...). When the sap starts to run on colder days the small lines get backed up since the frozen plug wasn't thawing out. The the big lines ran freely. Just a thought...
This weekend I tapped the rest of my trees (NE WI) and used big tubing on all of them :D

[Dave Puhl]

Mikeh...thanks for pointing that out ..what I am doing is running 5/16 tubing off of the taps to a 4gal bucket on the ground..I never thought the size of the tubing should be the size of the tap..any ways...both taps have 5/16 tubing on them to the bucket....3-4...finally got the evaporater set up..At the end of each season I take both pans and the stack down and cover the arch...With the help on Janice and Vince (Daughter&Soninlaw) we got it set up today..Tapped more all drops and buckets..will finish tapping mon...Washed up another barrel and a bunch of buckets ..Almost had a mishap washing the barrel.... the 55gal barrel has a clamp holding the top on.... this barrel has been sitting in the barn for a while so out comes the hot waterand hose to wash it just as I take the clamp off I thought it might have built up pressure with the hot water... I release my hand and the clamp and cover fly off...dumb mistake could of busted me a good one .....still cool out most of the water froze up when I got done....Talked with Paul from the Haward area... 18" of new snow up there....you guys have your work cut out in Northern Wis....the weather here has been on the cloudy side but a warm forecast is on its way ....good luck to us all....

[Dave Puhl]

3-5.....Got some more tapping done all drops to buckets..then fired up the 2x6 evap. all went real smooth and boiled off what I had ...the boilling rate was very good and havent figured it out why...the wind was blowing some and a good roaring fire too...maybe the wind was pushing the fire along????blower needed?...I ran out of sap so i let it coast and cooled down by itself....3-6... Vary warm today 60 deg.this afternoon....drained and cleaned the pans out...sure is nice to have a endless supply of hot water...went and put a few more taps in and emptied some buckets ..funny how some trees are pouring out and some are just at a slow drip...I couldnt stay in the woods to long because of a Wis Consevation Congress meeting I had to run....but I will need to get out in the am to collect... for I know some buckets will be full cause they are going to run all night....

[Dave Puhl]

3-7...wow 59 deg. and no sun today...most of the buckets this am were runin over...lots of mud ...the first test taps are starting to even out...I had made another set of test taps 7/16 vs 5/16 and they are close to even....but... the some of the 5/16 seem to be leaking ..I took the worst leakers and retapped to 7/16 and the leaks stopped ...one 5/16 leaker I pulled and then reset but it was still wet when I checked the rest ...I am noting that the latest 5/16 taps are not leaking at all ....just the ones that were put in the 16th or so of Feb.....put in a few more taps two to a bucket one 5/16 and the other 7/16....collected again late this aft.we have rain now...

[jmayerl]

We had another great run here in Shawano today also. Out in tee shirts, boots and shorts we collected 600 gallons. **** heavy air and rain is making the boil almost non existent. Cold front went thru at 9 and the boil went from 20 to 35gph in 15 minutes. Wish I would have tapped a month ago since it looks like it will be over by mid next week. Let's hope the forcast changes.

[Dave Puhl]

3-8...went out and collected in the am...the buckets with tree water in them after the rain just dumped them...started cookin 10:30 am all went well.... several people stopped by to chat.... did get a good evap rate again today..the forecast is not good for sap runs....

[ryan marquette]

What a week feels pretty good to be sitting in the lazy boy & on the computer. Finally down to my last 600 gallons to cook. Cooked 1400 gallons on Weds. wow, I'm not used to that. First year with any vac & ran 250 gallons Tuesday nite in 12hours on 190 taps very good to see the vac being productive I was beginning to wonder. My trees normally struggle to get 1g per tap pretty much all reds.

[Dave Puhl]

3-10..normaly I am just starting to tap this time of year...Very windy today...went down and talked to Bartz this am wanted to check my refracometer with his hydrometer...both agreed with each other...trees were running good collected twice today...the boys home from college so they helped ...they check the gravity tubing for out put and two 5/16 lines were putting out 16 oz per minute....hot weather in the near forecast ...that will kill the sap run....took the boys open water fishing this eve they got a few for the pan..the 7/16 vs the 5/16 taps are real close for out put...but still have a few leakers on the 5/16....might have to try another brand next season...

[Dave Puhl]

3-11...Almost 70 today unreal......with the heat and rain coming I wanted to get everything cooked today ...went out and collected the I started cooking while the boys split some wood...Bowns brought about 60gal of sap along with Janice/Vinces 30gal and Eric a new guy to sapin brought some over too all in all around 400gal...the 2x6 was very hot to work around but it was working real well...Janice brought out some Green Bay Packer Brand ice cream and we had hot syrup right off the evap...that was a good treat...the day was long and the boys went out and collected not much there...I am all caught up on cookin..cleaned the pans out to and bottled some...just as the 2x6 was idling down one of the boys call and said he hit a deer going back to school...a head light and some fender damage but not to bad ...will work on it when he gets back next weekend.....syrupin is on hold for now....

[Dave Puhl]

3-13...if someone told me this winter that I would be done making syrup the 11th of March I would have thought they were crazy ...but ,,,I pulled all tubing and most of the buckets cleaned it all and put them away till next year...still have some more to pull and some syrup to bottle...

[Dave Puhl]

3-16...been cleaning up taps and buckets..... went and checked the trees down by the creek on the north side some holes wet/damp.... most were dry..the soft/reds are way past bud and have a fuzz to them at a distance...I dumped all my dregs from the flue and syrup pans.....and called it done...taking the Wife and twin boys up to Clam Lake,Wi to the trailer for a few days ....a first because of the weather.......normaly we are making syrup this time of year.....

[jmayerl]

Well still cookin from yesterdays sap yet. It's getting hot in the tank but coming out great syrup yet. It 79 degrees outside and 108 in the shack. My new attire..........shorts and flip flops.

[Dave Puhl]

3-22...finshed bottling today... went real good have to give the eas of filtering to leaving it sit since the 11th...put away the evap.and the shack..did notice the front of the arch was cracked in two places????...7th season on the 2x6 wondering why it did this...but may make it work another season...ended up with a hair over half of last year...syrup all spoken for...

[Dave Puhl]

2-26. Hey all hope all is well with everyone and we have a great syrup season.snow depth here in the woods is about 8" last few days we are getting some mild temps and getting stuff ready.looking at a new woods to run some gravity lines.still I am waiting for my start date the 10th of March to tap.

[Dave Puhl]

3-2. temp is 10 this am. went out yesterday and did some frost checking 4-8" in most places more snow than I had thought, about a foot of snow and ice. we had rain here this winter and there is a heavy 4"crust on the bottom. had some sunshine today we have been cloudy for along time so in turn there is snow on the bases of most trees with the absence of the melt ring. looks like warm weather coming... right now no hurry to tap here.

[Dave Puhl]

3-7... We got a good 8" of snow here the 5th.. cold with snow still on the trees did go out and put two taps in this aft. not a drip they did get a little damp ..so the trees are still tight here..sounds like rain/snow for the weekend..maybe after that will start to put up the gravity tubing and start tapping..

[Dave Puhl]

3-8.Took the wife out for one last ride on the snowmobile last eve..trails were good .A fellow sapper called and he tapped a few on the south side of a point that come down to the town road...he uses the spile/bucket setup and those were dripping some...checked my test taps and they were dry...rain in the Sat. afternoon and night about 3/4 of an inch of rain.a big snow coming Sunday night...

[Dave Puhl]

3-12. Ice and snow on the trees here from Sunday eve/night storm, over and inch of rain and 3"of snow..we need sunshine,too much of cold temps... were paying for last year when temps were in the 70's. checked out a new woods where a new sapper will tap for the first time and bring the sap over. took and tapped one tree just to show what was involved. nothing going on there.the frost in the woods is softing up some,but out my corn field I didnt bust through with the pickaxe..forecast not good for sap run.

[Dave Puhl]

3-14..not much going on here for sappin...talked to several others and they are wondering what going on with no sap ...we just have to be ready, which I am lacking on getting stuff in order...checked the test taps and there was nothing ...more snow in the forecast...the biggest news here that the wife and I are going to be Grandma and Gramps for the fisrt time!!!! hope all goes well...

[Dave Puhl]

3-22. The last few days I was kept busy trying to keep the township roads open, the wind blew real hard here and moved alot of snow..some snow banks are the highest I have seen in years..lots of snow in the woods too. not any wind today and the sun was warm sooo....I did start tapping today putting out buckets with drops to them. most tap holes were dripping some after tapping. will keep working on getting more out and gravity lines up.

[Dave Puhl]

3-25. Getting some sap.put up four gravity lines today and they were slowly running when we got them done..still lots of snow in the woods but most of it is hard enough to walk on top... the 4gal buckets that were put out late friday all had sap in them and some were half full.warmer temps in the forecast will keep on tapping.

[Dave Puhl]

3-26 we are tapped.... 3-27..temp early am was 30... It got warm today and the sap run was not what I thought it would be..it was poor for the temp swing we had ..we did collect and are working on 200gal....the early test taps of 3-8 are nill to a little..hope it gets better..

[Dave Puhl]

3-28 It was a good sap run today...collecting went well, still working out the bugs on the new gas powered sap pump. got the evaporater set up and will be cooking all day tomorrow...

[Dave Puhl]

3-29. Started to cook Friday am and by 8 had a good boil going at 10am got to draw off the first syrup of the year nice and light...the evap. was working good (to good), was a great weather day to cook and we were really going though the sap and the syrup coming off was nice.about 1pm I left one of my twin 20yr old sons to watch the cooker as he has done in the past years.I took the other one and we went to collect..as we came backfrom collecting we came around the bend in the road... I could see smoke I knew something was wrong and ran to the evap and the black syrup was just starting to come over the top on the drawoff side I opened the drawoff valve and it barely came out. then I flooded the syrup pan by unhooking the float.a flat shovel to get the fire out of the fire box..it was pretty much a blur and nightmare all at one time...I was just sick and thoght I was out of an Syrup pan...he had left the evap.alone for a short time but thats all it took...I dumped out 3-4 4gal buckets of black stuff. it took along time to cool the evap down. we got the syrup pan off and could see it was black just in the one channel on the draw off side but it was warpped also. the burnt syrup was stuck tight to the pan. so I went and got some milk house acid cleaner and put it in over night...

[Dave Puhl]

3-30 I couldnt wait to see how the acid was working so last eve I had put the pan on a knee high bench outside.I got a stick and started to rub but a round stick dont work well on a flat pan, I had some lath and that worked real well I could lean into it and put some pressure on it too. the acid started to turn black so I knew it was working ...this am found me out early rubbing the lath and the black was coming off but I had two spots the size of a mason jar lid that was bad..a call a friend that had a stainless tank business at one time and he brought over a air tool with several grinding,buffing and polishing wheels. with his help we got it off but the one spot was like the metal was darker some ..after washing we fired back up and started to make syrup... At the end of today it worked but I can see in this channel is darker on the bottom than the rest its not burnt. I will take it and clean it up to see what I have.

[Dave Puhl]

4-3... worked on getting everything cleaned up yesterday... went and collected, the barrel and buckets were overflowing.. fired up the evap and at 1pm today had a her up to temp in no time.... at the end of the day 9gal of syrup off the 2x6 from 1pm -7pm.. went and collected again, barrel and buckets full...

[Dave Puhl]

4-4... Didnt freeze here last eve. went out and collected trees dripped all night. started to bottle have about 20gal of syrup to do. the orlon and prefilters seem to plug up faster than normal.slow going only got half of it done... the trees slowed right down today, too warm and no freeze.

[Dave Puhl]

4-5. Went right to bottling this am .. this batch I filtered off the evap. into a milk strainer and pad.... it helped alot when I went to run it though the pre and orlon filters... started the evap about 1:30pm.... it was a slow cook mostly due to the high humidity (rain coming)...still useing the milk strainer right off the evap.... works out well for me.. shut down and had supper ..home made pizza with the daughter and soninlaw...went out and checked the barrels and buckets not enough to collect...rain and warm temps in forecast...not good sappin weather...the season might be over....

[ackerman75]

Yeah, I think the season might be over as well here in SW Wisconsin. Temps are going to be to warm, who would have thought that we would get two years in a row like this ?

[Dave Puhl]

4-9..We havent had a freeze here for several days now.trees are stopped as of now... cooked Sunday maybe the last time for the season? syrup getting darker and alot of niter build up in the syrup pan.lots of rain in the forecast so will spend time bottling in the shack...

[motowbrowne]

Hope it's not done yet. We are still hoping to cook some syrup this year! Should be a good freeze or two in the next few days, then back in business for a few days at least. Keep those taps in and fingers crossed.

[Dave Puhl]

4-11...the last two days we had alot of ice on the trees... before that alot of rain ..trees tipped over right out of the soft ground ..lots of trees to get off the town roads. checked the soft maple buckets/barrel not much but the hard maples are giving sap may have to cook one more time.

[tjsappen]

just got in from cooking all day from our collection of 320 gal wed nite. collected 350 gal tonite on 300 taps. Sugar dropped this week from 3% to 2-2.2.

[Dave Puhl]

4-13... A 10gal. day... cold wet day to cook.... we started about 10:30 am and got done 7 pm...we are done for the year...the boys pulled all of the buckets and taps... fresh sap produced some nice syrup...more rain/snow in the forecast....what a strange year...

[Dave Puhl]

4-14. found me hip deep in 4gal sap buckets.cold and crappy out so I set up in the sap shed and washed buckets while son Bill drained and rinsed the evaporator. We took off the pans and got the stack down and put away... got the arch covered up..storms coming...the afternoon bottled syrup in the warm shack while the snow,sleet and rain came down...4-15 ...I was headed for a meeting this am so I stopped and checked the barrel at the hard maples and it was running over..no freeze last night just a rain storm... the trees poured all night, along with the storm...

[Dave Puhl]

2014 season!
Hey everyone!!! Wishing everyone here a great syrup making season....3-10..the temp here almost hit 60 today .after this winter of very cold temps and some snow, it felt like summer...but a lot of snow in Northern Wis. went up to Clam Lake area to shovel off the trailer the week of Feb 16th waist deep in the woods and a lot on the roof of the trailer.. so today I had to put out a test tap this am... the hole was dry after tapping and still was dry when I checked it in the afternoon...so it still aways off here...

[Dave Puhl]

3-12..Winter returned this am with wind,cold and couple inches of snow did check the test tap this afternoon and not a drop..we had another warm day yesterday but the woods are froze up tight from the very cold winter ...so no hurry to get tapped here. the forecast is not real warm.... but am working on getting a 600 gal milk bulk tank which will be my storage so no more barrels and the stainless will be nice...

[Diesel Pro]

I'm contemplating tapping near Merrill Sunday 3-16 and them just let them run (or not) until I'm free to cook on 3-29. Last season got off to a slow start and it looks like this season will be no different.

[mapleburner24]

I live near Marshfield, and my test tap was dripping tonight with about two inches in the bag.

[lostrock4]

Hayward update 3/13 nothing dripping out of my test tree I'm going to check the soil in the woods to see how frozen it is last year we were way behind everyone because of frost hopefully all the snow has helped keep the frost down

[GramaCindy]

Hello lostrock4. I am in Barnes. I have heard from a lot of people that there is very little if no frost in the ground this year due to nice snowpack before ground froze. I pray to the Sap Gods that the snow DRASTICALLY goes down before it's time to tap. I refuse to tap a test tree at this point, because if it was running, I would head out there and tap em all. Killing myself in the process. I am not normally a patient person, but I am working on it. Collecting sap in this snow would totally suck.

[wilfredjr]

The usual suspects are here, I see. Up above Antigo, almost to Summit Lake, we've had two 40° days and a 50° this week and the 2'+ of snow in the woods is finally receding. One of them I stomped around to the maples in snowshoes to open the trail. I was getting antsy reading the posts until I checked last year's tapping date. We were still getting big snows now and I didn't tap until Easter Week 3/28! Judging from the look of things, I don't expect I'll be starting any sooner this year. Cold winter hit the woodpile twice as hard as last year and we may only have 2 boils in there; may cut up some rampike maple if the ground magically appears, or reduce taps accordingly.

http://twodogsgonewild.blogspot.com/2013/03/passion-week.html

[Dave Puhl]

3-14.. I went and got the 600gal bulk tank today..put it on 2x6 skids and got it pulled out of the milk house ...then with a high lift jack got it up on the trailer....got it home no problems ..checked test tap and only a few drops ..still the woods are tight here....getin ready....

[1arch]

Three test taps in campbellsport. Two are still dry and one had a few drops today.

[Diesel Pro]

Put in about 90 Sunday. All dry, but of course it was quite cold. I plan to squeeze in a few more next weekend if I find time.

Local Amish say it will be a poor year this year.

[Wisconsin Maple Man]

I tapped 25 trees in clark county 10 days ago. Got about 10 gallons today. Some trees are running ok. Others are very slow. This weekends weather isn't helping but... Still about 12" of snow in the woods...

[bison1973]

We started tapping today. Most were running real slow. Started VACUUM and then shut it off... not much there. Last year our first boil was March 28. With cold coming again it could be at least that late before we start this year. I never would have guessed this two years in a row!

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[Dave Puhl]

3-19..started tapping most trees were dripping...my son Bill home from St. Point on spring break, nice to have the help....lots of frost where the snow cover was thin.....got the gravity lines up and all went well...3-20.. Finished tapping today :),on the north side by the creek all these trees were dripping as well... two runs of gravity tubing both were running well....bought me a Polaris Ranger the other day, that will be handy around the farm...

[Diesel Pro]

Two 65 gallon horizontal leg tanks fit well in the back of a Ranger. You will probably want to move the rear shocks to the outer holes to carry the weight.

[bison1973]

Clark co... continued to today. I'll finish tomorrow. Run fairly well under Vacuum today. I wish I'd have had all tapped by Tuesday and I'd have caught all of this 3 day run.

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[D a v e]

3/7 to 3/15 only about 15 gallons on 60 taps 3/15 to 3/22 about 160 gallons on the same 60 taps

[Dave Puhl]

3-24...Haven't collected since Friday late afternoon..been cutting wood for next year...this cold spell has made the sap run come to a halt and the 6oo gal bulk tank has kept the sap clear and cold but not froze yet . with the warmer forecast coming we will be busy and need to get the 2x6 set up and hope to start soon

[Diesel Pro]

We are hoping to get enough to run a small batch on Saturday 3-29 for our 2014 "break in run" Hopefully we get enough to make it worthwhile. Looks like the weather finally starts to warm up after that so 4-5 should be a good batch. Hopefully the weather holds out and we can run again on 4-12.

[Dave Puhl]

3-26..Got the 2x6 set up and was cooking by noon, cool and a stiff breeze.evap. rate was real good and the syrup was light in color ..the sap kept good and clear in the bulk tank..several people stopped by and chatted..got a the bugs worked out, but all went well....now have to wait for more sap!!

[bison1973]

Last year our first boil was march 28. I never ever would have imagined the very next season with an even later start! Strange year.

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[treemonkey]

Only good thing about the cold has been the ice in the tank keeping the sap. First boil tomorrow. Looks like it's almost time to saddle up.

[Wisconsin Maple Man]

Trees are running great! Boiled my first mini batch yesterday. Light sweet syrup! Love it!

[Diesel Pro]

We are hoping to get enough to run a small batch on Saturday 3-29 for our 2014 "break in run" Hopefully we get enough to make it worthwhile. Looks like the weather finally starts to warm up after that so 4-5 should be a good batch. Hopefully the weather holds out and we can run again on 4-12.

Not much doing near Merrill. I have just short of 30 gallons that needs to hold until the weekend. I have over 120 taps out it's just coming really slow.

[Ridgeville]

I tapped 75 trees, cooked 3 times and have just over 5.5 gallons of syrup. Friday into Saturday the sap run fine, Sunday slowed up, today not much at all. I hope to get enough to cooked on Wednesday, then the weekend again. We shall see.

[Dave Puhl]

3-30...the day started off cool and windy ..got the 2x6 running good about 11:30am..several people stopped in over the course of the day..turned out to be really mild day ..I stayed cooking and others went to collect...fresh syrup right off the evaporator on ice cream..and boiling went well ..used up a lot of wood ...an 11 gallon day... was dark by the time I ran out of sap...

[Ridgeville]

My trees exploded yesterday, collected at noon, from noon till 6:30 that afternoon got almost a gallon more per tap! Sugar content is 2%ish.

[Rhino]

My buddy just called me from Edgar Wi. (just west of Wausau) and yesterday after work around 3 p.m his 200 bags had about 2 to 3 inches in them, this evening he said almost all were full! These are pasture type big trees in the open. Must of ran through the night down there?

[bison1973]

Yes it ran big time yesterday late afternoon thru about 2 am.

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[Dave Puhl]

4-2..Collected today had a good run some buckets running over...4-3 Started to bottle about 3pm all went good 12 gal put up into the quart jugs...went down to see Paul and he was just firing up so I left to get my bottling done ...then went back and (helped) him cook on his half pint..had a few beers and a good time ....

[markcasper]

Tapped 330 on brand new tubing Tuesday afternoon and into the night, 85% south slope, no vacuum yet. Started collecting 1pm on Wednesday, picked up close to 500 gallons @ 1pm Thursday. Tapped a north bush Thursday in the sleet storm, practically nothing running there at the time. Have another south bush, but 1/2 the trees are on top of a ridge and not doing much yet on top, pretty fair amount from them since Sunday, but nothing big yet from there and they are on good vacuum

[Diesel Pro]

I have a whopping 130 gallons as of 4-3 from about 120 taps in 2 weeks. Hoping things get rolling better soon. Not sure what ran today, but weather says it's been cool by Merrill. I usually run up Friday nights, but I'm planning Saturday morning this week. Next week should be better.

[Dave Puhl]

4-5..What a nice day to make syrup...boil went very well.. I stayed at the evaporator....had several people stop in and split wood during the day..that helped a lot...14 gal today...took the wood pile down a lot...

[Dave Puhl]

4-7 ...too hot sap getting cloudy..pulled all taps today...buckets and tubing washed up and put away till next year...have some sap to cook...will see how it looks in the am tues...

[Diesel Pro]

We're just getting started. Took a week to get 130 gallons now I have that and more in a couple of days running hoping to triple that up. We have a couple nights off and on that are forecast above freezing, but we should be good to go hopefully through next week.

[Dave Puhl]

4-8..last boil of the season today .. cant keep sap good at these temps ..syrup dark and a lot of sediment in it ..got most of the stuff washed and put away for next year ..still have the evaporator to clean yet...

[jmayerl]

Done here nw of Green Bay also. Hasn't froze since sat and no freeze in the 10 day. Worse season than 2012. 1400 gallons of sap from 500 taps