North Country Sugaring [Archive]

SapSuckers

03-21-2007, 07:14 AM

Here in northern Clinton County it is still very cold. I am watching the weather channel right now and it is currently 1 degree. It is suppose to be sunny and 39 by 3 pm. It has been a lousy season so far but the 7 day outlook looks like low 20's and high in the 40's. Maybe a late start but still hoping for a long run. Maplelooza is scheduled for April 1st, so i need some things to start going my way.

We are getting very close to having our baby, so our sugaring right now is day by day. I still say she wants out because it is sugaring season.

Just wondering how all of you guys over in St Lawerence county are doing. I was hoping to get over to the Maple Madness open house this weekend to see what is all about. I would love to get some buckets and taps for someback yard trees for the kids since where we tap is about 20 mins away. I dont think I will make it though since i have a promotial exam for work on saturday.

Good luck to all, hope the sap starts running soon.

PS- its up to 4 degrees. Going the right way!

Fred Henderson

03-21-2007, 07:39 AM

It is not going well in St Law county either . It was -4 here this morning. Looks like into the high 30's by tomorrow afternoon and then rain around midnight. Condition shuld be good for Thurs but is going to be wet for a few days. You know we need that mud for it to be sugaring season. From Sunday on it will be like syrup season as we know it. Sunny and "A" hole deep in mud.
Best to luck with the coming of the new baby.

SapSuckers

03-21-2007, 08:04 AM

Fred,

Any info on "maple madness" out in your neck of the woods. Is it worth the trip? does he have a lot to look at?

SapSuckers

03-21-2007, 09:14 AM

its up tp 19 here. who knows, maybe a lateday run? suppose to almost 40

11:12am- 23 and still climbing

Fred Henderson

03-21-2007, 10:49 AM

Fred,

Any info on "maple madness" out in your neck of the woods. Is it worth the trip? does he have a lot to look at?

I don't know who you are referring to? Would that be MKS enterprize?

backyardsugarer

03-21-2007, 11:00 AM

Western Ny is no better, The 2,300 tap operation I am running here has only produced about 80 gallons of syrup so far. No freezing in the 10 day forecast could spell a short and disappointing season.

HanginAround

03-21-2007, 01:54 PM

Good luck with the baby... surely you could move an old cot or recliner into the camp for birthing... you can't let this interupt maple season :) :)

danno

03-21-2007, 02:43 PM

"No freezing in the 10 day forecast could spell a short and disappointing season".

I flat out cannot believe that this season will be over during this up coming warm up. We have barely gotten started. There were talk about a backdoor cold front coming throught the NE this weekend and bring the temps back down to about freezing at night this weekend. I'm hoping!

Although I have not done allot of boiling past early April here - but aside from a couple of days March has been crazy cold. I'm hoping that the deep frost will carry us through this warm up.

SapSuckers

03-21-2007, 08:18 PM

jdj

03-22-2007, 12:43 AM

Well guys, the season hasn't been any better in franklin county, NY. Have 1300 buckets out and only made 10 1/2 gals. so far. The weather looks good for the next week. Lets keep our fingers crossed that the weather forecast holds true, if not it could be a disappointing season.

Fred Henderson

03-22-2007, 05:17 AM

Fred

Maple madness is MKS. MapleMadness.com is thier website. any info?

Tapped some trees around the house for fun today. One tree was dripping very well but is a soft maple, I think. I will check the sugar content this week with the new say hydrometer i am getting

Thanks

Mks is where I get most of my supplies. He does have a lot of use stuff but nothing like Bascom's. He was a producer but gave it up to run the business full time.

sugarin4fun

03-22-2007, 05:59 AM

jdj,
I hope your season is just getting started, I have 67 taps out and have made about 10-1/4 gals with hopes of making 3 to 4 more by the end of this weekend. The long range forecast does not look good here in NWPa so I think this may be the end for us. I can't imagine how much work 1300 taps on buckets must be (67 is enough for me), so hopefully the sap really flows for you over the next few weeks.
Greg

jdj

03-22-2007, 06:37 AM

sugarin4fun,
I guess you could say our season has just started. I live in northern ny near the canadian border. We have only boiled once thus far. Like I said earlier this week looks good.

Fred Henderson

03-22-2007, 10:02 AM

Just got in from checking bucket and some are overflowing. My helper will be here soon and then we can start. It seem like it is either feast or famine.

SapSuckers

03-22-2007, 01:31 PM

Has been running good here the last 24 hrs, but has slowed down. I dont think there was much if any freeze last night.

ibby458

03-23-2007, 03:40 AM

WE got just over a gallon/tap yesterday. Sugar's up, too. Most of the roadsides were running 3.4-3.8%, although the bush trees were at 2.4%. Heading out right now to make some syrup!

jdj

03-23-2007, 05:26 AM

We are going to gather today when I get done work at 0800. Checked the buckets before I came to work last night and they were half to 3/4 full. I sure hope the sugar content is up. Hopefully things go well and no break downs! Best of luck to everyone else.

Fred Henderson

03-23-2007, 05:46 AM

We picked up over 300 gals yesterday with a sugar content of 3.2 and these are all woods trees. I did not think it was too bad.I boiled it all last night.

ibby458

03-24-2007, 06:32 AM

I'd say 3.2% for woods trees is excellent! That's what my roadside trees were yesterday, THe bush trees were only 2.2%. It's all better than nothing, which we sure had plenty of for the last 2 weeks!

Fred Henderson

03-24-2007, 06:37 AM

We might make a little syrup this year but I really thing it will be another bad year. I got more taps out now than ever before and I am getting less sap.

Fred Henderson

03-25-2007, 03:30 AM

The sap sugar is about 2.2% on what we picked up yesterday.

ibby458

03-25-2007, 06:47 AM

Oh - I dunno, Fred. I think it's a bit early to get pessimistic. Historically, I've made more syrup in april than I do in March. I think everything is within the normal range.

Due to the baffle construction, we got a late start yesterday, and didn't gather our roadside trees. The Amish farm had 260 gallons of 2.1% for me to pick up, and Bruce said some of his yard tree buckets were overflowing by 3PM. He equalized them for me so I wouldn't loose sap. I suspect a good gather today! For sure - it didn't spoil overnight!

Made 8 gallons of m edium amber yesterday. It was ALMOST light, but not quite. Sure wish I could get at least one run of Light Amber. I have a few customers that ask for it.

Fred Henderson

03-25-2007, 06:08 PM

The trees in the bush are still on the cool side so we did not gather them all today. I did make 10 gals of dark today.
That new rig will make syrup in a hurry. But as for the thermometer, the company that makes them says to immerse 3 1/2" of the stem in boiling water to calibrate it, the pan builder welds a fit in the pan so that only 1/4"- 1/2" of the stem is in the syrup. That dial was going up and down like a yo yo today. No matter how I tried to adjust it. So I just said to heck with it and relied on my trusty hydrometer.

ibby458

03-26-2007, 06:49 AM

I'd say you & Ian have the right idea. Weld in a new fitting so the stem stays about level with most if it submerged.

WE had a huge gather yesterday. I started boiling the 260 gallons from saturday evening while everyone else headed out to gather the roadsides. They picked up another 315 gallons, making 575 for me to boil. Got it all done by suppertime, with 20 gallons of syrup. THe last load was filtered (twice) and boiled withing hours of gathering, and I got 10 gallons of light amber. That will be enough for the customers that ask for it.

I've had to recalibrate the thermometer 3 or 4 times a day as the weather changes. Everytime the wind shifts, boiling point seems to change. I got to checking EVERY draw with the hydrometer, and adjusting the thermometer to match. It still serves a good purpose to gauge my draws.

After it's filtered, I put it in sealed 5 gallon buckets, and check it with the (freshly calibrated) refractometer. It usually is a couple brix heavy, so I stir in a bit of the distilled hot water from the condensate tray drip ppipe, until it's between 66.5 and 67. That should keep it from crystalizing until I get it canned up or put in barrels.

ibby458

03-29-2007, 06:05 AM

No sap for the last couple days, but that's Ok. We had a chance to get all the tanks cleaned, the evaporator scrubbed up and do some general sprucing up. We even had a chance to can up 15 gallons yesterday.

We're ready for some sap now, and the forecast looks good!

03-29-2007, 06:07 PM

Fred Henderson

03-30-2007, 04:23 AM

Hi Fred, glad to see I wasn't going nuts or anything. I also bought a new thermometer and it kept going up an down. I tried everything running high, running low ,more wood less draft you name it. I couldn't get that thing to stay at one temp unless I ran it deep. May put the old thermometer back on the rig if this keeps up. Maybe someone should contact the maker and let them know about this.
Take care

I took a 1/4"SS pipe plug and drilled a 13/64" hole in it and put it in the hole where the thermometer screws in. Then I bought a digital that has a 3/16" dia stem and slide it thru the pulg until it was just a 1/4" off the bottom. To keep it 1/4" off the bottom I slide a piece of 3/16" X4" ID tubing all the way up the stem. I have always made syrup with a hydrometer and the themometer only lets me know when I am getting close.

ibby458

03-30-2007, 05:08 AM

I think the bush trees are starting to wake up! I got 270 gallons from the Amish farm yesterday, and he hadn't gathered all the buckets yet. All the holding tanks were full! (He'll get the left ones first today.)

The roadside trees might be about done. Sap is pretty yellow. I'm keeping them seperate to get the better grade from the bush sap.

515 gallons waiting for - gotta get to it!

Fred Henderson

03-30-2007, 06:57 AM

I got 300 gals waiting and I can not get to it until tonight. Bummer. Ibby how is the wood pile holding out?

ibby458

03-31-2007, 05:49 AM

The wood pile's melting like a snowball on a hot wood stove! I'm REAL glad we put up 10-12 cord of dead tamarack pole wood in a pile behind the sugarhouse. We gotta cut it up tomorrow.

I was hoping to make it over to watch your rig boil last night, but too much company all day. I did draft them into helping gather, though! We picked up 2 full cage tanks full of sap. Roadside trees not quite so yellow, so maybe they'll hold out a bit longer.

Fred Henderson

03-31-2007, 06:02 AM

We picked up 300gals of nice clear sap yeaterday. we boiled until 9PM and will go back at it again this morning.

SapSuckers

03-31-2007, 06:46 AM

going tostart boiling tonight or tomorrow, finally!! We have had so much going on at home we just have not had time yet. I will be putting the finishing touchs on the arch today and get the pans good and clean to be ready. I have been collecting sap since last sunday, working very hard to keep it fresh. I have been putting frozen 2 liter soda bottles in it to keep it cold. so far it is still crystal clear and has no odd smells. hope to boil off 300-350 gallons in an all day surge on sunday. weather today is perfect for sa good run all day. I hope everyone makes the best of it it does not look like it is going to freeze much after this weekend.

cncaboose

03-31-2007, 08:16 AM

Fred, I am having similar depth problems as you are, especially when the syrup pan is foaming. I had to dump sap in the flue pan once yesterday and sap into the syrup pan twice to adjust for too sweet syrup. Having problems with finishing as the syrup goes from not being ready to way past in a heartbeat. On the up side I had 320 gallons of sap yesterday after not boiling Thursday, made 10 gallons of syrup, and still have a barrel of sap to go. My syrup has gone from light light amber to dark amber in about 4 days. I hardly have any inbetween. My wood pile is melting like the winter snow too. I've got lots cut in the woods but don't want to have to get it now with the mud out there. Enjoy the beautiful days guys! Ian

ibby458

04-01-2007, 07:46 AM

I've got a couple hundred gallons in the tank, and still gotta gather roadsides today before I start boiling. Not real cold last night, but if we get the predicted rain, we might get a good run. Forecast don't look great, but they're not right very often!

SapSuckers

04-04-2007, 09:09 PM

We finally got to boil after nothing but problems. I installed the oil burner and had a serious leak. I spent about 2 hours tring several different things. I finally found the leak to be the pump. I was fortunate that a friend brought one up to me on sunday. We finally got it going but the biggest nozzle i had was a 1.65, and it eas not enough. I did have a 5.00 gph nozzle which we put in to test. When the nozzle fired it blew all the pan gaskets out and lifted the pan up off the arch. We did get everything set and let me tell you in did not take long to have a rapid boil!! It was just to hot for the arch and i had to shut it down. I went back the next day and put in a 2.5 nozzle and i t works great!! My new set up will be a keeper for next year. I think i am boiling off about 18gph i geusstamate. I did not make any syrup as the sap was on its way out and i ran out of time. Hopefully next year my set up will be ready to go sooner in a new sugarhouse. But for us-- our season is over since our baby girl should be here any day.

I Hope everyone had a good year and thankyou to all for your help. I think i am just as addicted to this site as to sugaring

ibby458

04-05-2007, 06:22 AM

I boiled up 330 gallons of sap left from the last runs. (got 10 gallons of Grade B) Buckets all drained and ready for the next runs. Forecast is looking promising for a couple more.

Gotta beef up the wood supply and get everything all washed and cleaned.

SapSuckers

04-06-2007, 08:26 AM

I pulled all my taps and just need to bring in my tanks. i would like to take in the next run but as i said baby girl should be here soon. I was going to offer the sap to you guys in northern NY but i did not know if it would be worth the trip for you to ellenburg. I was getting about 125 gallons every 3 days on good runs. It was lasting fine in the metal tank when is was cooler at night. Anyone interested in the future let me know as i only boil sometimes once a week and hate to dump sap. There is also a great 20,000+ tap set on the property run by some bigtime commercial producers which is neat to look at.

ibby458

04-07-2007, 06:52 AM

Everything's all froze up tight here, and looks to stay that way for a couple more days. We're hoping for a couple more good runs once it thaws out again. We got 6 gathers after last year's 7 day heat wave; I'd expect a cold snap to keep everything in better shape for wwhen it warms up.

Gonna be optimistic and put up a bunch of wood for the rush that's sure to come!

3% Solution

04-07-2007, 08:37 AM

Hey Ibby,
How's those Amish working out, have they been over to help yet?
Our Amish friends are grandparents again, he says he has lost count!
Everything has frozen up good here, too.
Looks good for the coming week though.
I maybe into next years wood before I'm done.
Have made 23.5 gallons, would like to make 8 - 10 more.
We'll have to see what mom nature deals us.
It was 14 here this morning (2 hours ago), now it is 30 in the sun.
Well, get ready for the runs this week.
Happy Easter!!

Dave

ibby458

04-08-2007, 06:42 AM

Happy Easter!

We've fetched them once so they could see how the boiling works. Other than that, they're pretty busy. I've brought them over 15 gallons of syrup so far as their share, and they're eating it up almost as fast as I can bring it. Never seen such skinny people who eat that much!

**** cold here, too, but I expect a few more runs later this week. We put up 3 cords of dead tamarack pole wood, and I got 3 cords of thick, dry hardwood slabs from the Amish mill on the trailer right now. The kids are on spring break and we'll machine it up tomorrow. Hope 6 cords will finish the season. We've made a bit over 100 gallons, and I'm hoping for another 50-60. Time will tell!

cncaboose

04-15-2007, 09:55 PM

Well we're still at it here in Canton. Got 140 gallons from the 180 buckets in pouring rain today. The small trees are mostly done but those big boys just don't know when to quit. Not much fun but we boiled again making some medium and getting us up to 58 gallons so far. We are really happy for a first season. Already can't wait til next year.