Tapping in New jersey

[sawyer40]

Contrary to what some of you may believe N.J. is not all city. I'm as far north and west in N.J. as one can be. This is my first year tapping I have about 120 taps on line and 75 buckets out. Got my first run last sunday. Had about 150 gal. It took about 50 gal to fill the 3x10 evaporator so I only got to run it about 2 hours. Didn't get any syrup yet and with warm weather forcast this weekend I'm hopping to get a good run and some syrup now that the sugar has built up in the pans.

[ibby458]

That's a good size evaporator for 195 taps. Fer Sher, you won't be spending all your time boiling! Are you planning to tap a lot more in the future, or is it a case of using whichever evaporator you could?

[sawyer40]

I'm planning to tap more in the future. But running a sawmill and supplying logs for the mill and making hardwood flooring is 3 full time jobs in one. Making syrup is a hobby that could turn into another job. Hmm now what to do with my spare time

[ibby458]

Good luck to you! I'd rather have a too big evaporator than a too small one!

What kind of mill do you run? I've done over a million feet with my Woodmizer LT40, and know how much work it is!

[sawyer40]

I run a Frick circle mill and couldn't even guess how much footage has gone through it. It would probably scare me if I knew.

[andrew martin]

Hey Sawyer!!

I grew up in Southern, NY and have a lot of relatives still living in Port Jervis, NY and Matamoras, PA. I grew up in Walker Valley in Ulster County, sure do miss the cold and ice fishing and 8" brook trout. Hard to find native trout streams in central KY.
I bought a 3x8 this year, currently have 240 taps and hoping to expand to 500 taps over the next two seasons. I would rather buy an evaporator a little big on the front end and grow into it as the years go by instead of having to upgrade every three years as one adds more taps. You made a good choice.

Happy sapping
Andrew

[Sugardaddy]

Hey Sawyer,

I'm near you, in Sandyston (just above Stokes State Forest). Used to leave in Stillwater. I still have my taps in on the off chance that the temps drop back again, but I'm probably done. We pulled around 100 gallons and made just shy of 2.5 gallons. Now that we've done it once, we'll crank up production next year and shoot for 10 gallons of finished syrup.

Ed

[sawyer40]

I'm still hopping for one last run but it's looking pretty slim now. I'm going to play around with my evaporator plug the pipe between the flu and syrup pan get as much sap out of the flu pan as possible pour it in the syrup pan and fill the flue pan with water and boil off as much as I can in the syrup pan then draw off the rest and finish it in the finishing pan. I think I can get another 1 1/2 gal of syrup. I ended up just shy of 25 gal for my first year plus whatever I get out of the evaporator.
Sugardaddy you get down my way stop in to the sawmill.

[Sugardaddy]

Will do Sawyer. Congrats on a decent run for your first shot in a weird weather year!

I'm eyeing Wed and Thurs night. Temp may drop to 28 or 29, bringing one last small run for us. On our scale, another 40 or 50 gallons is certainly worthwhile.

[Sugardaddy]

I key my taps in as the long range forecast showed a chance for a dip in temp. We got these last few days, with temps at night down in the 20's. Nothing flowing yet though. It barely hit 40 today, with little sun on the trees. Ice in the buckets, very slow drip, etc. I'm hoping for a bit of flow tomorrow through Wednesday. Temps are mid to high 40's during the day, just below freezing at night.