2016 results ?

[Hannah]

So, with the season done, or at least real close, how did every one do? Whats your plans for next year?

For our small operation we struggled this season. Between frozen buckets, the high temps and limited boiling time we lost way too much sap. With 44 taps out we have only made around 5 gallons and hope to get one more gallon of finished product by next weekend, half what we expected.

Next year I plan to purchase a W.F. Mason XL and build a home made RO system with plans found here. No more spoiled sap because of limited boiling time. I also plan to increase to 75-90 taps.

Finally made it to a couple open houses up in the Mio/Fairview area this spring to see some pro's at work and it was very interesting and exciting. I think it will turn into an annual trip.

[Lucky Dog]

My first year.

25 taps, 317 gallons of sap, 6 5/8 gallons of syrup.

Next year I'm hoping to have 45-50 taps, and am already thinking about how to replace my cinder block / steam table pan set up with something more efficient and reliable.

[toquin]

Normal year. Tapped 2/19, made 113 gal, bottled 107. Where the rest goes only the syrup gods know. Any body in southern Mi. thinking about retapping? weather this week is perfect

[Hannah]

My first year.

25 taps, 317 gallons of sap, 6 5/8 gallons of syrup.

Next year I'm hoping to have 45-50 taps, and am already thinking about how to replace my cinder block / steam table pan set up with something more efficient and reliable.

Where abouts are you located in Mid-Michigan?

[Lucky Dog]

Where abouts are you located in Mid-Michigan?

I live between Midland and Mt. Pleasant.

And you?

[ronintank]

I have 40 gallons of syrup canned from 125 taps.
Looking at building an R.O. system for next year, just too many hours of time spend boiling and cutting wood.
Looks like another week of sap up here but I think I am done and will give the sap to a good friend.

[Tweegs]

We’re between 65 and 70 gallons right now. Taps still in.
Hoping for a good week as we normally run 100~125 gallons for the season.
I think, at best, we’ll come in around 80 gallons this season…if the buds hold and the sugar content comes up a bit.

For next year it’s time to replace the drops and I’d like to get 50 odd taps over on my neighbors place up on vacuum.
There are some logistical concerns to be dealt with though.

[Jolly Acres Farm]

To date we have made 11.25 gallons of syrup from 552 gallons of sap off 106 taps. Sugar content started off really low but improved mid season and has been running in the low 2's since on average. We have not been getting as much sap this year due to the crazy weather either being to cold or to warm. We hoping for one or two more good runs this week before mother nature says its over for the season.

[Buckfever]

How do you like your new Mason 2x4 XL? About how many gallons per hour will it evaporate? And how much does the blower help? I'm considering getting one for next year.

[Hannah]

I live between Midland and Mt. Pleasant.

And you?

Clare area

[Hannah]

How do you like your new Mason 2x4 XL? About how many gallons per hour will it evaporate? And how much does the blower help? I'm considering getting one for next year.

If this question is aimed at me I can't answer this, I plan on ordering one this next year. I have been advised to get the blower and to expect around 12-15 gallons an hour.

[highlandcattle]

This is the second year with the Mason 2x4 xl with blower. Tapped end of January as we had no snow. Making syrup by early Feb. Up to 3,000 gallons of sap. Stayed around 2%. About 55 gallons of syrup,robust so far. On 450 taps. We've had snow and temp 17° today,so frozen up. Going to see what happens this week. Ron boils from about 7 am to 5 pm. He's retired and nothing else going on. Sold excess sap. Mason easy to use,quality workmanship and great price. No complaints.

[Cedar Eater]

I'm up to 8 gallons of syrup from 54 taps. I've pulled about half of them. I lost track of the gallons boiled, but I'm pretty sure that I came in around 60:1 on the sap/syrup from all reds, some on 3/16" natural vaccuum.

Next year, I plan to have about the same number of taps and make around the same amount of syrup, but I won't tap as many trees in the cold swamp. I can develop at least three more 3/16" saplines and I will have supplies to do that, but I will only do that if it looks necessary. I might build one more electric evaporator and power it from my welder circuit outside my garage door. I would like to boost my gph to around 7 as needed, but I can't see myself bringing another 50A up to my deck.

[Jolly Acres Farm]

Buckfever,
Overall we are happy with our Mason 2x4 XL with blower. The preheater is less then to be desired, but I Bill has announced that he is changing it for the 2017 Maple Season. Ours will heat 34-38 degree sap to about 42-44 before it hit the pan. The result is the first channel becomes the preheater losing 1/4 of the boiling capacity. I built my own preheat that sap now hits the pan at 180 on average. We also put a restrictor plate on the blower to avoid melting down the stack.
Running without the blower with small dry wood we got about 8-9 gallons per hours. With the blower at about 30 % capacity we get 11-12 gallons per hour. On a long 15 hour boil during a good run I ran the blower at 70% capacity and got about 16 GPH but this was pushing it hard, with small dry wood firing every 12 minutes by a timer.
I also have quit finishing syrup on it. It makes excellent syrup but doing so slows the boil down to 6-8 GPH. We have been drawing off at around 62-63 brix and have gained back our GPH.
The bottom line is overall we are happy with our Mason and we WOULD buy it again today. If you have any other questions feel free to message me, i'd be happy to answer them. I would also add that the quality of the Mason is far better then any other comparable model we looked at, and we looked at several different brands and models.

[wishlist]

I had a good year , figured. 3 gpt with 250 on high vacuum and the rest on roadsides. Bottled 168 gallons and I'm gonna finish the walnut today and see how many gallons that gets.
Pulled taps a week ago, and glad I did. I'm 95 % sugars and it looks like they are really about to open up.

Added 2 membranes to the RO and a Goulds booster pump. With the small footprint of my 2x6 I have no problem adding more taps next year without doing those long marathon boils . Wood usage was way down as well. Overall , a great season but it sure looked " iffy" in mid march.

[Wolfcreek Maple]

We had a good year also ended up with 171 gallons.we were also concerned the season was going to be iffy,sure glad we tapped early. Our sap only averaged out to 1.6% but ended with.3gpt.Sure glad had we had new RO n AOF saved a huge amount of wood.

[Jolly Acres Farm]

Well this year has been a good learning curve. Ended the year with 117 buckets and sap bags, started with 106, pulled all the Reds before the first sap flow due to warm weather and the buds swelling. Was down to 91 in Sugars then went out and tapped 26 more sugars on 03/25/16. This resulted in collection then taking about 3 1/2 hours of carrying buckets, each day in the woods.

We collected 839 gallons of sap, averaging 7.76 G.P.T. resulting in 18 gallons, 12 ounces of syrup. Sap ran from a low of 0.75 to a high of 3.5 brix with a year average of 1.85 brix. Syrup ran from a light golden to a medium amber in color. Wife was looking forward to some darker amber like last year, but none was made this year.......:cry:

[Hannah]

Boiling the last 100 gallons today