Slow warm ups

[billdean]

I am grateful for the sap I have been getting the last couple of days. Its certainly better than the last week was. I was out in my wood lot this afternoon anticipating a good run but to my surprise not a drip. The weather man said it was 36 degrees and the thermometer on my truck verified that but no sap. At 12:30pm the sun was bright and shinning on the trees. I decided to hang around and see just exactly what time mother nature gives the green flag on such a nice day. Right at 1:33 pm it all started up. Now I guess I will have to stay out there tonight to see when it all shuts off. According to the weather report everything should settle back down by 7 or 8:00 pm. I no what everyone is thinking but hey! I am retire and bored to death. I only have about 20 taps out now. Yesterday I had 9 gallons of sap and today I had 10 1/2 gallons all on buckets. If them dang Reds grew utters I know I could get more sap out of them. They are slow to give up anything.

[woodey24]

Im more jealous of you having the time.... I have had a slow run over the weekend. Moved some taps. The taps that I was getting from seemed to almost dry up so I tapped different trees and they are what is keeping me in the game. Hoping that the mid week with the warmer day temps really gets it going. Only like 3 nights above freezing in next 2 weeks. For sure have to be watching the buds by then. Good luck.

[Cedar Eater]

I am grateful for the sap I have been getting the last couple of days. Its certainly better than the last week was. I was out in my wood lot this afternoon anticipating a good run but to my surprise not a drip. The weather man said it was 36 degrees and the thermometer on my truck verified that but no sap. At 12:30pm the sun was bright and shinning on the trees. I decided to hang around and see just exactly what time mother nature gives the green flag on such a nice day. Right at 1:33 pm it all started up. Now I guess I will have to stay out there tonight to see when it all shuts off. According to the weather report everything should settle back down by 7 or 8:00 pm. I no what everyone is thinking but hey! I am retire and bored to death. I only have about 20 taps out now. Yesterday I had 9 gallons of sap and today I had 10 1/2 gallons all on buckets. If them dang Reds grew utters I know I could get more sap out of them. They are slow to give up anything.

I'm stuck with reds at my home sugarbush and I have 54 of them tapped this year. If it wasn't for the fact that 27 are up on flat ground right next to a decent slope, I don't think I would be closing in on the the second gallon of syrup this year, much less the third as I am now. A little 3/16" tubing produces a natural vacuum that pulls the sap out of the trees and down the slope. I'm a retired old dog and I learned a new trick.

[woodey24]

The trees that are producing for me are up on higher ground too. I am hoping to get to the tubing them together next year, and will be back on here for help. The buckets are doing o.k this year. I also had quite a few large trees not give as much out of 4 taps as a smaller on with two.

[Cedar Eater]

The trees that are producing for me are up on higher ground too. I am hoping to get to the tubing them together next year, and will be back on here for help. The buckets are doing o.k this year. I also had quite a few large trees not give as much out of 4 taps as a smaller on with two.

It was surprisingly easy, but I would recommend putting the line up with tees and droplines this fall. Then you only have to tap and add a collection vessel when the time comes. It was almost bad enough this year to need snow shoes when I put my lines up.

[woodey24]

I will have a lot of questions about if you can do it on level ground if you tap the trees at different heights and how far between trees etc... I would like to even string 5-8 smaller trees into one bucket. Just like to cut down on the buckets and add taps. We have about 4-5 gallons finished this year, which isn't too bad for a rookie season with the weather. I also plan to do one run of walnut only to see how that goes without mixing with maple. Give us something to cook on the fryer while the evap does its work.

[Cedar Eater]

I will have a lot of questions about if you can do it on level ground if you tap the trees at different heights and how far between trees etc... I would like to even string 5-8 smaller trees into one bucket. Just like to cut down on the buckets and add taps. We have about 4-5 gallons finished this year, which isn't too bad for a rookie season with the weather. I also plan to do one run of walnut only to see how that goes without mixing with maple. Give us something to cook on the fryer while the evap does its work.

You can do it on level ground and strictly gravity for multiple trees, but if you can get the tail end downslope you can tap even higher on your top tree, run your tubing on the ground after your bottom tree and down hill for a little ways and get a good benefit.

[billdean]

You can do it on level ground and strictly gravity for multiple trees, but if you can get the tail end downslope you can tap even higher on your top tree, run your tubing on the ground after your bottom tree and down hill for a little ways and get a good benefit.

So does the first tap have to be 6 or 7 feet high and then gradually work lower to the end. My ground here is flat as a pancake. What kind of drop would we be talking about inches between taps or feet. How many taps would you need on a line to create a vacuum?

[Cedar Eater]

So does the first tap have to be 6 or 7 feet high and then gradually work lower to the end. My ground here is flat as a pancake. What kind of drop would we be talking about inches between taps or feet. How many taps would you need on a line to create a vacuum?

Yes, select a tree as the top tree and another as the bottom tree and keep the line descending from the top to the bottom. Without natural vacuum, it will be more important to eliminate sags. It's not the taps that create the vacuum, it's the change in elevation, especially between your bottom tap and the collection point. If you don't have enough change in elevation to produce a decent vacuum, you can still get the advantage of collecting at a common point and whatever vacuum occurs between your highest tap at your top tree and collection vessel. If you don't have much natural vacuum, just put the top of your line around 6' and the bottom at the height of the collection vessel and put all your taps above the line. I would think a 1" drop per 50" would be enough to get sap flow, but more than that would be better.