2017 Missouri Tapping Season

[Ray_Nagle]

All this cold weather has got me thinking about the upcoming sugarin' season, so I thought I'd get a thread started for 2017. One thing's for sure, the weather is more promising this winter than it was last.

I lost one of my biggest sugar maple trees this summer. About 2 1/2 feet in diameter, maybe 130 ft tall, and it just fell over. Bummer. So that put me down a couple taps...I found a couple more sugar maples to tap in its place, but I doubt they'll get close to equaling the sap it provided.

[Ray_Nagle]

Got my stove assembled this week: https://youtu.be/mDmOn4QODrs

[esetter]

Im gonna jump in here with you and the Kentucky guys this year. Ive been getting the itch too!!

[Ray_Nagle]

Great to have you. Hope things cooperate in Kentucky.

Looking at our 10-day forecast, I may tap at the end of next week (5-7 January). That could change as we get closer and the forecast is refined.

[buckeye gold]

Southern Ohio here, so not a lot different than you all. I put out 51 taps Christmas day and have had three boils already and made almost a gallon of syrup.

[Ray_Nagle]

Southern Ohio here, so not a lot different than you all. I put out 51 taps Christmas day and have had three boils already and made almost a gallon of syrup.

Wow. I considered tapping a couple weeks ago when the temps were swinging between thaw and freeze, but it didn't feel right tapping in December. Maybe I should have based on your haul...

[esetter]

That is early! I might try it next week on a couple of trees. When do you guys usually have the best flow? Last of February here. Build a wood fired arch last year. It worked really good , just a really short season.

[Ray_Nagle]

February has been the strongest month for me too.

I did tap yesterday in anticipation of breaking the freezing spell we're in right now. On the 9th we're supposed to start going above 32 degrees and it looks like a set-up for a strong flow for at least a couple days after that.

This year I tapped on 5 Jan. Last year was 6 Jan. So I don't feel too out-of-sync.

[esetter]

Let me know how you do. Im gonna tap a couple monday I think. Might sanitize some of my equipment tomorrow.

[RiverSap]

I set up some wire yesterday for my mainline. I will set up the mainline and laterals today. I will tap a few outliers today as well to see if the sap is running. lets get sapping!!!

[RiverSap]

I did get in one mainline and one of the laterals. The 60 deg temperatures melted the top 1/2 inch of ground making everything very slippery. All of my trees are on the bluffs of the Missouri river so putting in those lines was extremely treacherous. Last week there was snow on the ground. This was definitely worse. Tomorrow I will continue to work on the laterals. I have not tappped any trees yet. Did you get any sap collected Ray? I saw that you had tapped last week. I watched your video of your stove. Your sugarbush looks pretty steep as well in those revines.

[RiverSap]

Buckeye Gold I did not know the season started so early there in Ohio. You probably have very similar temperatures to here in Missouri. I may have to experiment next year with a few December taps.

[RiverSap]

Welcome Esetter. Tell us a little bit about your setup. We are mostly hobbyist here. I tap about 35 trees along the bluffs of the Missouri river. Take a look at some of the pictures in my galleries.

[Ray_Nagle]

I did get in one mainline and one of the laterals. The 60 deg temperatures melted the top 1/2 inch of ground making everything very slippery. All of my trees are on the bluffs of the Missouri river so putting in those lines was extremely treacherous. Last week there was snow on the ground. This was definitely worse. Tomorrow I will continue to work on the laterals. I have not tappped any trees yet. Did you get any sap collected Ray? I saw that you had tapped last week. I watched your video of your stove. Your sugarbush looks pretty steep as well in those revines.

Funny you should mention that. Yes, it's very steep on my property too. I live in a "holler," which provides really nice views from the house because we've got a wall of nature when we look our our windows. But it also makes it tricky to traverse.

Last night just as I was finishing up collecting sap, I slipped in the muddy topsoil and lost all the sap I'd just collected. I was bummed. It wasn't very much sap...only a few of my trees are running at this point, and they're not running much. So this morning I ordered some metal spikes I can strap onto my shoes. It's always slick when I'm collecting sap because of the freeze-thaw cycle, so I'm hoping the spikes make it easier.

[Ray_Nagle]

For what it's worth, I probably tapped too early. My logic went like this: The temps looked good in the 10-day forecast. Our season typically ends about March 1st. The taps should be good for 6-8 weeks before they start to dry up. So I may as well tap 6-8 weeks before the end of the season.

That said, I'm not sure I'll get much over the next couple weeks.

[esetter]

Hobbyist level here. Been tapping for 4 years. Started out on stove top , then turkey fryer. I moved up to a wood fired evaporator I built in my shop. I tapped 12 trees last year and processed 50.5 gallons of raw sap. Im in east Tennessee. I tapped 4 yesterday as a test. 3 reds and 1 sugar. The sugar put out over a gallon and the 3 reds combined for a gallon.

[Ray_Nagle]

Wow, how big is the sugar maple that put out a gallon yesterday? And is the trunk in full sun or in a forest?

[RiverSap]

Let me know how the spikes work out. I tapped maybe 20 trees today. It got up to 67 deg today. It is suppose to get below freezing tomorrow night. I hope to get another 10 or so trees tapped tomorrow. I will take a few pictures.

[RiverSap]

I tapped another 10 trees yesterday. I set out a 3/4 inch maiinline along a hillside and tied in 4 5/16 inch laterals. There are a total of 9 trees on that system. I probably could have gone with all 5/16 inch tubing insteas of the 3/4 inch mainline. I will tap another 10 or so trees today. I also need to tap 12 black wallnut trees. Last year the black wallnut tapping and syrup making did not go well. I only collected about 40 gallons of sap and waited to long to cook it. This year I am going to store the sap in a refrigerator.

[esetter]

Trunk is probably 16'' and its in the edge of a forest , not full sun. I just collected my 5th gallon. Wish I would have tapped more.

[unclejohn]

temperatures are not looking great for the next 7 days for sap flow. Maybe today/tomorrow, but there is ice everywhere and more forecasted for tonight. Then we have lows well above 32 for a few days.

[RiverSap]

I added a few pictures in my gallery area under 2017 season that show some of the mainline and laterals in the system I set up. It was a very icy day. I risked my life taking those pictures.

[Ray_Nagle]

Nice looking setup.

[RiverSap]

Thanks Ray. Now if it would just produce something. I tapped 14 Walnut trees on Sunday. Today I collected sap for the first time and got 18 gallons. It seems as if the walnut sap is running and the maple sap is not. Temperatures have been in the mid 30s to 40 at night and upper 40s during the days. I do not have any maple sap yet. I put the walnut sap into 5 gallon containers and put the containers into a large commercial merchandising refrigerator I bought this week. Last year my Walnut sap went bad because I waited to long to cook it. I had it sitting in a container out near my arch and the temperatures were often in the 40s and 50s.

[unclejohn]

if you believe the 10 day forecast, looks like jeff city area will have great temp conditions for sap flow beginning wed jan 25. just a little later than 2015 and 2016, when we tapped on jan 16 and jan 20. john

[Ray_Nagle]

Yep, forecast looks good for the St Louis area starting on the 26th, so hopefully that plays out well for us all.

I've got a grand total of 4 1/2 gallons of sap from my maples so far. Last year I'd gotten about 16 gallons by now.

[RiverSap]

I have not seen anything from Goggleeye this year. He is probably busy with the 500 or so trees he taps.

[rhsamdrainer]

Hello! This is our first time tapping and we're excited to get started! We have one backyard tree in St Louis at our house and two giant woodland maples in Columbia, MO at the grandparent's that we're planning to tap. From what I've been reading, it looks like next weekend is the time to set our first taps? Or should we have them in already? Thanks! Holly

[RiverSap]

Welcome Holly. I live in St Louis as well. St Louis county actually. Tap your trees right now. The coming two weeks looks perfect.

[rhsamdrainer]

Thank you! We're excited to see how things turn out! My kids have high hopes for some homegrown maple syrup :)

[Goggleeye]

I have not seen anything from Goggleeye this year. He is probably busy with the 500 or so trees he taps.

Yeah, I'm here. Just been a little quiet while lamenting over the last two weeks of non-production:cry::). We put out about 465 taps the weekend of the 7th hoping to catch the forecasted warm-up. Unfortunately the warm up came with 40-45 mph wind gusts, and the trees produced next to nothing. We do have almost 4 gallons of finished syrup sitting on the counter right now, but I'm looking forward to a real flood of sap by the coming weekend. Hopefully the taps haven't started to seal up yet. I don't ever remember having two weeks of non-production due to temps above freezing.

MG

[esetter]

Needing some colder weather down here still.......... hopefully later this week.

[skinny78]

We tapped our trees this weekend and are looking forward to sweetening the pans Monday night! I have extra evaporator capacity this year and am willing to cook someones sap on shares. I have been cooking the sap from a friends 300+ taps but he is not able to tap this year. If you all know anybody close to the Jefferson City or Holts Summit area with some extra sap please let me know.

[RiverSap]

I have 40 maple trees and 14 walnut trees tapped this year. I collected another 3 gallons of walnut sap today and my first maple sap as well. I only checked a few maple buckets and collected about 5 gallons. There was more sap in some of the 35 gallon containers but I did not lug it up the hill. Hoping for a good day tomorrow.

[unclejohn]

finally some flow today when the sun came out and into the evening. about 1/2 gallon in each bucket. gonna collect tomorrow and start boiling. weather forecast looks good for continued flow.

[Sugarbush Ridge]

I started taping Thursday afternoon and then all day Friday,, about 315 on tubing,,, 115 on buckets. I had about 40 gals from tubing with some color. only got about 17 gals from all the buckets. Some had not run at all yet. BUT the starlings have been using my woods as a rest,,, between flights into the fields!!!!!! Bird **** and piss on tops of most buckets. SO,,,, dumped 55 + - gals. Weather not good..... Not cold enough at nights so not much run

[unclejohn]

had great collection this morning, and with 45 degF and climbing, the drips were coming faster than my heartbeat from some trees. Tomorrow should be another good collection. Ive been trying to build a network of Missouri tappers; if you know of other folks who don't post on Maple Trader, please tell them about this website. Skinny- hows your new RO working? Goggle and Sugarbush- did it get cold enough for your flow to start this week? Thanks to all. John

[skinny78]

MES Dolly 100 RO is working great. It is very well made and did a great job last year. I was averaging 75gph of cold sap with it cranked down to 50/50. It was just keeping up with my evaporator, between the RO and evaporator we were chewing through 100+ gallons per hour. Unfortunately I don't think I will have enough sap this year to justify using it, I am working on that though. Just talked to a guy tonight from Boonville and told him about the trader, hopefully we will hear from him soon. He is on his second year of syrup making and has quite a bit of potential on his land! Looks like we will be collecting Tuesday night now and firing up the evaporator then, can't wait to get the pans sweetened!

[Sugarbush Ridge]

uncle john mid mo I got a little run Sunday but say was off colored so dumped. 40 gals The 115 buckets I set out,,,,,,, Well,,, **** starlings.,, they were feeding in wheat field next to woods and as they flew around and sometimes in my trees. Well,, the bucket lids were covered with bird **** and piss. so had to dump that sap and bring in all buckets, wash and set back out. this time covered then with plastic bags. got 85-90 gals off tubing today,,, 315 taps. I got a Guzzler on one mainline. too much leakes to get just more than wiggle the needle but I can see a slight increase in sap. Not enough sap to run RO so cooked raw sap today.

Too warm. Not getting cold enough at nights,,,,,,, 25,, 28 degrees,,, 31,,,, trees not freezing at night enough.

[potatopie17]

Started tapping january 28th saturday I have 27 taps on buckets 4 big trees 4-5 foot diameter and rest smaller trees
Was flowing a little bit. Stated flowing better around monday. got almost 30 gallons of sweet water in 1 day. Have been boiling since Tuesday and still boiling I think Ill finish boiling around friday. Ive canned 1gallon and 3cups of syrup so far about 1-27 ratio (pretty good). looks look it might start flowing again on weekend according to the weather. hope its a good year. Because last year sucked it was worst year I have ever seen.
oh and I use use a stove with 2 big pots for boiling about 1-2 gallons per hour.

[unclejohn]

got 3.25 gallons from 115 gals sap. good luck to all!

[skinny78]

Welcome Potatopie17! Sounds like you are off to a great start, I see an evaporator in your future! We have 107 taps out now and just got access to another property, have 37 more taps to put in this weekend. Uncle John, How many taps do you have out this year?

[unclejohn]

welcome potatopie- what town are you near? looks like the mid missouri temp forecast will generate big flows tomorrow and sunday. our trees were dripping a little this morning at 30 deg F but it was sunny. john

[johnnyf]

Put out 50 buckets this morning and had sap flow before I could get the tap in. should be a good weekend.

John

[potatopie17]

oh I live in Ravenwood, Mo Uncle John.
And my buckets started dripping again late saturday feb 4th. They are dripping a lot today, and guess ill start boiling again Monday or Tuesday.
Do you see the temps monday almost mid 50s and chance of rain. Rain helps a lot. I remember 1 year I had good temperatures but the ground was dry and didnt get much sweet water

[Maple_Creek]

Hello all. I am brand new to this site. skinny78 just told me about it. I am also relatively new to making syrup. This is my second year. Last year, I collected about 20 gal of sap, and made a pint or so of syrup. So far this year, I have collected 50 gal of sap and have just over a gallon of finished syrup. My setup is pretty low volume and low tech. I am fortunate enough to have quite a few mature maple trees running along a creek on my property. I hope to learn all I can from you all.

[unclejohn]

congrats on your first gallon. skinny is a good one to learn from- hes like a mad maple scientist with his hi-tech operation and you could zip over from boonville to see it. my setup is primitive compared to his. john

[RiverSap]

I was in the woods today thinning out some smapper Sugar maple trees. A few of them were 8" in diamater. All were on a steep West facing bluff. During the season I do not get much from the 20 or so trees I tap on this bluff. Every tree I cut down today and I maybe cut 20 was gushing sap. This is March 4th. I wonder if I have been tapping these trees to early. I may delay tapping some of these trees later next year. Maybe wait until late Feb to tap them. Does anyone in Missouri tap trees later then the recommended dates? Maybe since Missouri has very mild winters the traditional below freezing at night and above freezing during the day does not always hold true here. Last night it did get down to the low 30s and today it is 60. These trees did not produce sap earlier when the temperatures were like that.

[potatopie17]

Hello
I just finished my last boil yesterday
had 9 boils this season 1/24 5 cups syrup, 1/31 14c syrup, 2/2 6cups, 2/7 14cups, 2/12 18cups, 2/14 17cups, 2/16 12cups, 3/1 9cups, 3/5 6cups.
Got over 6 gallons of syrup this year. The last 2 batches were strong stuff almost like coffee, and almost purple color. darkest batches I have ever gotten, really good though.
All from 27 bucket taps.
This was my best year.

[Sugarbush Ridge]

Anyone hear the report from Missouri University about their sap production bring low?. I just heard very little about it on radio .