Eastern Ontario 2017

[Big_Eddy]

It's still too early to tap, and the next couple of weeks are (finally) forecast to be cold, but I'm sure there have been some folks with itchy drilling fingers.

I trust everyone has there supplies on hand, their sugar house cleared out, and all their tapping equipment at the ready.
Here's hoping for a great 2017 season.

big_eddy

[Bruce L]

Agree with you there Eddy,even with check valves hate to see the sap running on the ground.Have tried storing it before,but even frozen it seems to be cloudy once it thaws out. Replumbing the pipe from storage tank to evaporator today inside the sugar house out of the storm as well as running more wires through the conduit out to the generator

[Clinkis]

I was informed that one of our big local producers started tapping last week. I'm definitely not getting in a rush. Looks like back to below freezing now for a few weeks. I've been busy getting everything ready. One benefit to warm weather with minimal snow I've been able to get a ton of work done in the bush without slugging through snow and freezing my hands off. Cheers to a good season!

[JeffB]

Hey Guys and Girls

I hope everyone"s off season went well, the new season is fast approaching and i think with this crazy winter weather its going to be tough to judge when to tap.
Needless to say I"m almost ready the new shack is complete, wood has been piled and arch all set up.

I am in the process of having 2 dividers welded into my drop flue section of my 2x4 hybrid pan, thus turning it into a continuous flow drop flue area.
Has anyone ever seen this or done this. I have seen 1 divider welded in the drop flue area before but not 2.
Any input or info would be great.

I look forward to reading and see you all post again about the highs and lows of this season.

Bye for now , Talk you all soon

[ennismaple]

I was talking to Ray Bonenberg (past OMSPA president, current IMSI president) on Saturday asking how much syrup had been made in southwestern Ontario over the last 2 weeks. He said that some got real itchy trigger fingers but decided to hold off. With this cold snap that was probably wise.

We seem to be the middle of every snowstorm that blows through this winter. Got the ATV stuck multiple times when the tires weren't even on the ground anymore! Thank goodness for trig chains on the tractor! I'd say we have 18" to 24" of snow in the woods. Yesterday afternoon we went from sunny to whiteout and back to sunny about 3 times.

We got some prep work done in the sugar camp, a couple mainlines fixed and re-packaged a couple drums of syrup. We need to be able to hit the ground running when the weather starts to cooperate.

[Big_Eddy]

Hey Guys and Girls

I am in the process of having 2 dividers welded into my drop flue section of my 2x4 hybrid pan, thus turning it into a continuous flow drop flue area.
Has anyone ever seen this or done this. I have seen 1 divider welded in the drop flue area before but not 2.
Any input or info would be great.



My flue pan has 2 dividers in it. Not sure what input you want. It works fine. I can't say if it's better than 2 sections - perhaps a bit more gradient develops. The reason I did it was because I wanted sap to enter at the back right and exit front left, so I made 3 channels. Forward - back - forward -out. In theory I could even reverse the flue pan if I wanted to but have never seen any reason to. (Follow the sweetening link in my sig for a photo)

[Galena]

As with *almost* every year so far, I am sitting tight til the first week of March...I did once tap last week of Feb, not worth it....C'mon peeps there is pretty much always a HUGE freeze up in Februrary. Why risk damaging your trees for some punky lil January run?! Wait til the trees are ready then go. ETA: excited to tap Surprise! the newly discovered bush maple, tall straight trunked big-crowned sugar, definite 2-spiler, to replace tree #7 which was a red and always the weakest producer. Stay tuned.

[Lespetras]

Great to see everyone back in the zone. I am definitely excited to start tapping. I think next weekend will be ourtapping time. Looks like Saturday has good temps. But will have to keep checking weather. Very excited to bring our boys out with the buckets!!

[Tyler Phillips]

I'll be tapping this weekend as well as long as the forecast holds true between now and then.

[ennismaple]

We're thinking about getting a start on tapping this weekend. We need about 4 days to get everything ready so we might as well take advantage of the warm weather. It'll take a few days to get our trees thawed out before any significant runs can happen. I'm hoping the warm temps will push the snow down a bit - it will be a PITA to tap in snowshoes with all the light fluffy stuff on top of the middle crust we have.

[cat tech]

Ohhh the weather forecast for this weekend and upcoming week sure is making me think of digging out the pails. Seems way to early? ????

[Galena]

Ohhh the weather forecast for this weekend and upcoming week sure is making me think of digging out the pails. Seems way to early? ????

Hmmm....for me, some 70km SE outside Ottawa, yes. I did tap in February one year but didn't seem worth it; normally I wait til early March. But if it seems warm enough for at least a couple of weeks, go for it.

[Farrellfarm]

It may seem early but we are also going to start tapping this weekend. The first run is usually low sugar and we need some time to clean the isopropyl out of the lines. Sounds like snowshoes and sleds are the preferred tools to get the job done!

[Clinkis]

I would normally wait until at least the first of march but this weather looks too good to pass up. Going to wait til Saturday and if forecast stays the same I'm going to tap too. I have all new health spiles and a lot of new tubing so I should be fine if it's a prolonged season.

[Lespetras]

This is our 3rd year of tapping. Both years we tapped in February.
Correct me if I'm wrong, the sugar content is very low yes, but the syrup produced with this early sap for me was the premium stuff!! Very light, with a vanilla flavour. By far my favourite syrup of the season both times.
Therefore, I'm definitely tapping earlier than later, to ensure we get that stuff!

[Run Forest Run!]

Nice to see you back, have a great season! Sooner than later those little ones will be able to lift buckets and empty sap for you. ;)

[Lespetras]

Nice to see you back, have a great season! Sooner than later those little ones will be able to lift buckets and empty sap for you. ;)
Hi Karen,
Yes, excited to get this season started! Great to see you again also! Here's to a fantastic tapping season!
Lesley

[Galena]

*ahem* everyone before you get too excited...this is from the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers website...Remember not to drill tap holes or install spiles while tree trunks are frozen below -5 ⁰C. Wait until thawing conditions allow safe tapping. (bold and italics mine). And...brb...Many producers discard the first significant sap run because of potential off-flavours in syrup that frequently occurs in the first sap. The discarded sap will also serve to effectively rinse vacuum tubing before larger volumes of sap begins to flow.

This same notice also strongly suggests tapping conservatively this year as the summer was quite dry.

I'm still waiting at least another week before tapping.

[Lespetras]

*ahem* everyone before you get too excited...this is from the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers website...Remember not to drill tap holes or install spiles while tree trunks are frozen below -5 ⁰C. Wait until thawing conditions allow safe tapping.


Susan,
How would you measure a tree trunks temp?:rolleyes:

[Bushfrosh]

Add me to the list of people tapping this weekend. Yes, it seems early but it's been a tame winter and the next week looks good. And, if we have a crazy March like 2012 (20C for several days in the middle of the month) then it might be a quick end to the season. But who knows for sure? I sure don't but I do know that my drill is about to be humming! I hope everyone has a great and enjoyable season!

[Galena]

Susan,
How would you measure a tree trunks temp?:rolleyes:

You're the nurse, you figure it out! hehe :-) oh btw I looked at my records for 2013 when I put taps in Feb 23....and got a punky lil run of 14.5l sap. Also the forecast shows cloudy weather for most of the coming week, my trees are all pretty big and take much longer to thaw out. They like sunny weather. So still holding off. So there! nyah! ;-)

[Clinkis]

With highs projected for +12 here tomorrow I think we are pretty safe of not splitting the trees. Calling for 8 straight days of above freezing temps. Taps are going in on Sunday if forecast doesn't change

[Galena]

There is one thing I might try, more just to give it a go...and that is go ahead and tap the virgin bush maple this weekend. That should scratch my itch. But only that tree, partly because it's much smaller (guessing 60 yrs old or so) and so may actually be able to go this early. All the others still have Do Not Disturb signs hanging on their trunks :-)

[Run Forest Run!]

I have a box elder that has almost fallen down and is going to be removed after the ground dries up this spring. So.........I had a perfect candidate for some test tapping. This afternoon I hung three buckets on it and, so far, it's dry. When it starts to run I plan on putting buckets up and down this thing so that it looks like Swiss cheese by the time it's cut down. I want to get every last drop out of it.

I snipped the end of a small twig from my Norway to see what was happening with that tree and it is dripping like crazy. Things just got interesting.

[DrewCP]

I just cant bring myself to tap a tree in February. We might miss a bit run on Sat Sun then maybe again on Wed Thur but I doubt it'll be enough for us to worry about in the long run. It cools off again after the upcoming week. We've got feet of snow in the bush so maybe the sun and +9 can start by taking care of that mess first! Suspect we'll tap between March 3-6 as per usual.

Good luck to everyone this season.

[Lespetras]

You're the nurse, you figure it out! hehe :-)
I've tried.. turns out that maple trees don't make very good patients.. 😋
I think we'll tap today anyways! It's way too nice out!

[Chelsroode]

Hello,

I am tapping for the first time ever this season and am planning to tap next weekend.

Getting all last minute things done this weekend.

Wish me luck!

[Galena]

Hello,

I am tapping for the first time ever this season and am planning to tap next weekend.

Getting all last minute things done this weekend.

Wish me luck!

Welcome to the craziness Chelsroode! I am just outside of Oxford Mills so will be good to have someone else fairly local to compare notes with :-) Good luck!

ETA: Just went and drilled Surprise! on W and S sides. Got my own surprise in turn - W spile was already dripping as I hung the pail. Got me a keener there! And have to admit the long term forecast is looking very, very, VERY promising. Will go visit my mentors in Oxford Mills and see what they're up to.

[Chelsroode]

Thank-You,

It's a beautiful weekend to be outside! And yes I will enjoy comparing notes!

[Galena]

Thank-You,

It's a beautiful weekend to be outside! And yes I will enjoy comparing notes!

Great, I'll be glad to be of any help I can. It's a lot of work, hope you're ready for it!

[Bruce L]

Got the first bush tapped today,more critter damage than I had originally suspected,hopefully the other bushes won't be as bad.On to the next bush tomorrow.

[Lespetras]

Started tapping today. Tapped probably about 25 trees! Gonna finish tapping tomorrow.
Some of the trees were pouring out sap! Very exciting to see!

[Run Forest Run!]

Susan and Leslie, I bit the bullet today and got some major results. Looks like I'll have to empty buckets tomorrow. :D I have more trees to tap once I get a feel for the season. By mid-April we'll know for sure if we jumped the gun or not. Good luck you two!

Welcome to the new sugarer Chelsroode.

[TurkeyJohn]

I'm in the drilling tribe as well... had second thoughts, but just too nice. Was rewarded with every spile dripping already... not huge but after last years early finish don't want to delay too much...https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170219/b305ff87fc405bac535e06e08bc8985c.jpg

[Lespetras]

Hello,

I am tapping for the first time ever this season and am planning to tap next weekend.

Getting all last minute things done this weekend.

Wish me luck!

Welcome! All I have to say is that it's a very addictive hobby! Before you know it.. you'll be bathing any dreaming in maple syrup!

[Lespetras]

Yay!! Couldn't resist! Good for u Karen.. can't wait to see how everyone does

[JeffB]

Hello again...Im glad to see the eastern gang is returning and posting . Looks like the season has started for some of us....

:o Well i couldn't resist I started tapping yesterday to flush out my laterals and main lines figuring the next few days would have enough of a run to clear out the ipa solution left in all summer. :o
I was very surprised almost all of the tees i tapped started dripping as soon as the drill bit was removed. I tapped almost 70 trees about another 30 to go....after my first main line area was tapped (22 spils) I went back to it about a hour and half later and the flow was impressive..

So just out of curiosity i check the sugar content and it was 2.6 brix .. I couldn't stop myself i had to check my main feed line of 46 spiles it was flowing like a river and the brix was 2.3. I will tap the remaining trees today and start actually catching sap late today or even tomorrow to allow a good flushing of the lines.

This year I tapped higher on the trees to allow the drop lines to be straighter and to help stay away from previous year tap holes. Most of my drop lines are installed from 5 to 8 feet up the trunk. :cool:

I do have questions tho....

1 Does sugar content usually go up as the season progresses or is this sugar content I am seeing a bit of a spike when trees start to flow?
2 Does tapping trees higher on the trunk make a difference in sugar content and flow?

[Galena]

Hey Jeff, I'm not sure if sugar content actually does go up as the season progresses. But I really doubt that tapping higher on the trunk makes any difference re flow or content.

I have to admit, this is really freakishly early for me to tap so still a little hesitant. Maybe this is the mid-April blowout happening early, and by mid-March we'll all be done. But this weather is just too **** good and that little Surprise! has another 2l at least sitting there waiting for me this morning. So will check local long-term forecast first, but pretty sure all the other trees will soon be sprouting their their 3 pails apiece :-)

[Jmacy]

Question are people tapping with buckets or vacuum pipelines. I'm new to to scene and have been told it's too early for collect with buckets?

[Run Forest Run!]

Jmacy, I'm on buckets and I've put 3/4 of my taps in.

[Galena]

Well in tapping with buckets, you're letting the sap drip at its own rate. With vacuum you are forcibly sucking the sap from the trees. So if you're a commercial producer with thousands of taps and a quota to meet, you probably are going to go with vacuum and perhaps start tapping earlier.

However I do only pails and spiles, and my brand-new 2-spile tree has had no trouble producing almost a gallon since 3pm yesterday. I am almost afraid to go and drill my bigger trees, I have to get my floaties on in case I don't get the pails hung in time before I drown in sap! :-)

ETA: It wouldn't hurt to give a more precise location than just Canada. Just a distance of 30km can mean all the difference in terms of weather etc, and thus would make more sense to know which other sugarmakers are near you. And vice versa.

[Jmacy]

Sorry for t lack of details I live south east of ottawa

[Galena]

Sorry for t lack of details I live south east of ottawa

OK good to know. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to also check out the NY thread for areas like Ogdensburg etc as they are also in the Seaway Valley.

Well, all the spiles are in and all of them are going...will be very curious to see how this season pans out!

[Lespetras]

Holy moly.. collected 112 litres of sap this morning!! Taps continue to run well. Hoping for another hundred litres today.. fingers crossed!
Be it early.. very happy we decided to tap yesterday.. weather looks promising!

[Galena]

What, that's all? ;-) Hey didn't hubby build a brand spankin new sugar shack?

[Chelsroode]

Sounds like everyone is doing well collecting sap this weekend.
Today I got a barrel evaporator in and a woodstove in our other side of the shanty. My father in law wants to tap tomorrow. It has been a beautiful weekend.

[Bruce L]

Second bush tapped today,not too bad for repairs. One more to go which I know needs mainline repairs from trees coming down,some changes made.

[Bushfrosh]

Good start to the year here. I tapped Friday evening but was not in the bush yesterday (Saturday). However, I collected today around noon and gathered 244L from my 50 buckets (49 actually since one had decided to jump off it's spile). I collected again after sunset and gathered an additional 96L of sap from the same 50 buckets. That's almost 7L of sap per bucket! I'm currently boiling and intend on having the first batch done tomorrow. Crazy stuff for February 19!

So, in response to some earlier questions posted on the thread...

I would say it's definitely not too early for buckets. Don't look at the calendar, look at the forecast. Sometimes the season extends into mid April, some seasons it ends in March. Get the sap while the trees are giving it to us! I've heard that the most common regret of syrup people is that they waited too long to tap.

Also, I agree with Galena in that tapping higher on the tree does not make a difference with regards to sugar content.

And, with regards to sugar content through the season, I've always thought that, generally speaking, the sugar content started low, rose into mid-season before dropping again in the later parts of the season. I think I read that somewhere once but I could also be dreaming!

[c0ps]

Good start to the year here. I tapped Friday evening but was not in the bush yesterday (Saturday). However, I collected today around noon and gathered 244L from my 50 buckets (49 actually since one had decided to jump off it's spile). I collected again after sunset and gathered an additional 96L of sap from the same 50 buckets. That's almost 7L of sap per bucket! I'm currently boiling and intend on having the first batch done tomorrow. Crazy stuff for February 19!



So, in response to some earlier questions posted on the thread...

I would say it's definitely not too early for buckets. Don't look at the calendar, look at the forecast. Sometimes the season extends into mid April, some seasons it ends in March. Get the sap while the trees are giving it to us! I've heard that the most common regret of syrup people is that they waited too long to tap.

Also, I agree with Galena in that tapping higher on the tree does not make a difference with regards to sugar content.

And, with regards to sugar content through the season, I've always thought that, generally speaking, the sugar content started low, rose into mid-season before dropping again in the later parts of the season. I think I read that somewhere once but I could also be dreaming!
Where do you store your sap? Or do you have 100 buckets and keep alternating the 50 full ones? Im asking because im looking into purchasing a holding storage of some kind

[TurkeyJohn]

Hey Cops,
I'm far from any expert, but I keep my sap in brand new garbage cans, only used for sap and I store my sapping stuff in them in the off season to prevent any other use...cheaper than extra sap buckets

[JeffB]

I store my sap in 2 1000liter stainless steel totes that are placed on the north east side of new sugar shack .
Having them placed on that side of my shack it blocks all the sun and it keeps them shaded to help keep sap stay cool and prevent spoiling in the tank between boils.

[MarkReynolds]

I store my sap in 2 1000liter stainless steel totes that are placed on the north east side of new sugar shack .
Having them placed on that side of my shack it blocks all the sun and it keeps them shaded to help keep sap stay cool and prevent spoiling in the tank between boils.
How do you like your Patrick phenuef pans? I'd like to upgrade in the next year or two and I hear he is one of the best.

[Big_Eddy]

Hey Cops,
I'm far from any expert, but I keep my sap in brand new garbage cans, only used for sap and I store my sapping stuff in them in the off season to prevent any other use...cheaper than extra sap buckets

TurkeyJohn
I hope those are the food grade specific ones. There are some nasty plasticizers, anti odour chems and release agents used when they make the cheap ones.

I went to TSC and bought a 100 gal leg tank. I now have 2 x100 gals on wheels for collecting and temp storage and a 200gal at the sugar house. Cost a bit, but 20yrs later I'm still using them and they're good as new. Over 20+ yrs the cost per year was small.

[Galena]

For extra sap storage, if I run out of 15l water containers, I use old protein supplement tubs (like the great big kind you get from Popeye's etc...a friend's son works out, so he saves them for me). I dig bunkers for them in the snowfall off of my house on the north side so the sap stays cool til I get to boiling it. I have used a garbage pail bought and used only for sap, but that is pressed into service only when absolutely necessary. I probably will stop using it.

[MarkReynolds]

I use 5 48gal food grade barrels and a 260gal food grade IBC tote on the back of my truck. Works well but always some way to improve it.

[JeffB]

The jury is still out on the Patrick Phenuef pan , this will be my second year boiling on it. Last year I had real issues getting the front pan to boil. I could never get the syrup section hot enough to draw off. Basically it was hybrid drop flue batch boiling pan.

I always had to finish everything i concentrated on a turkey fryer set up.
I think this was because of a combination of small small problems (IE pan not perfectly level, boiling in a 3 sided lean tou, to much air under fire) ect. Since then I have corrected all these little problems and even built a 10x12 actual sugar shack that my evaporator is now in.

I did alot of research and corrected all these problems ,I ever called and spoke with Jim at smokey lake who makes the same pan and explained my problem (couldnt get a hold of Patrick) Jim suggested and recommended that dividers be welded in and turn the drop flue area into a continuous flow drop flue area.
Jim calls this his pro pan set up and its a upgrade option when you purchase a smokey lake pan, it slows down and almosts stops the mixing of the gradient in the drop flue and syrup area . He said since the drop flue area boiled with such turbulence all my pan did was mix sap and concentrate so i have to slow this down.

So basically after 280 bucks of modifications I now have a new upgraded pan to use this year.


I will say last yr the boil rate was great, if i really fed the wood it and had it ripping, i could get 22 to 26 gph evaporation but never drew any actual syrup, i always ended up with 45 liters of super sweet concentrate.
I can keep you updated this year but looking back as of right now, I would have spent the extra 550 bucks a year ago and purchased Patricks 24x30 raised flue with the 24x18 syrup pan set.

15539155401554115542

[wobbletop]

Switched to bags this year. Hopefully less cleanup at end of year. Homemade bag holders from PVC pipe.

10 trees tapped on Saturday. Not enough in the bags yet to collect. Worried about the coming even warmer spell. I've got as much snow as available piled around my storage buckets. I'll likely boil whatever I have in the middle of the week to avoid spoilage.

[JeffB]

Ok ,I am officially ready.


All of my 105 taps are in and the little run the past 2 days have flushed them out.
Everything is cleaned sanitized and ready to collecting,store and trasfer sap
Sugar house is ready ,filters changed,cleaned and sanitized pan,float box and all sugar equipment.
Wood is cut split and stacked in easy reach of evaporator.
COME ON MOTHER NATURE START YOUR SAP ENGINE !:D

[Galena]

FWIW peeps, if not sure about if your plastic storage containers are food grade...

http://ecovillagegreen.com/903/what-do-the-plastic-recycling-numbers-mean/

..I am glad to see that my Roughneck garbage bin is a #4, so indeed foodsafe. *whew*!

[ridgerunner394]

here is another site that lays out food grade acceptable bucket etc.

http://www.wikihow.com/Identify-Food-Grade-Buckets

[Galena]

here is another site that lays out food grade acceptable bucket etc.

http://www.wikihow.com/Identify-Food-Grade-Buckets

Yep, basically it says just what the other link does but goes into less detail.

[maple75]

Well, this great weather got the best of me so I put in a dozen taps to see what up. My best producer (located along driveway) is pouring about 1 litre per hour with 2 taps. The rest of them are very slow still. We still have 33 inches of snow so hopefully this warm spell knocks some of that down. Long range for here is above zero for the next week then just below for the following week.

[JeffB]

I just returned from the bush on FOOT :mad: sap hauler has about 30 gallons in it I collected from my furthest collection site BUT :mad: the 4 wheeler and collection tank are still in the bush BURIED to the frame after the wheeler broke thru the false solid ice/snow trail and left me stranded back there.
I managed to use the winch and pull myself out back on top of the hard pack but thats it !!!! Thats as far as its gonna go till after work tomorrow then will figure out how to get it back to the shack.

In the mean time i gonna bounce the idea of a new Polaris Razor with the track kit on it to my wife LOL ! :lol:

Im going to have to figure out how to get around the bush with this much snow

MAYBE SHE WILL GO FOR A TEAM OF HORSES AND OLD SCHOOL SAP SLIEGH INSTEAD OF A NEW RAZOR !!!

[marlmucker]

Hey

We bought a 2'x4' drop flue from Patrick in 2014, so we are starting our 4th year. Last year we bought a steam hood/pre heater for it, we haven't tried it yet. We just build new sap house and got everything setup, unfortunately we are still waiting for a few parts to connect it all together (hoping they come this week). We tap approx 150 trees and the system works great, I'm sure the pre-hearter will make it even better.

Nothing wrong with his quality of work. You can search this site and you won't find many people that question his quality. His timing sucks and leaves you waiting, which is frustrating. I got steam hood last April, it's now February and still waiting for a few parts.

Despite that, I would still recommend his products. Just plan ahead and be patient.

[TurkeyJohn]

FWIW peeps, if not sure about if your plastic storage containers are food grade...

http://ecovillagegreen.com/903/what-do-the-plastic-recycling-numbers-mean/

..I am glad to see that my Roughneck garbage bin is a #4, so indeed foodsafe. *whew*!

Thanks for sharing Galena, indeed my roughnecks are safe like yours. Appreciate you providing this link, puts my mind to ease though I remember researching it before I bought them!!

[JeffB]

Hey
I wasn't bashing Patrick or his quality of work.
I was just stating some problems and the frustration I had with the pan I purchased.
I was asked my opinion and voiced it about Patrick's pans, opinions are like ash holes , everybody has one and that was mine !
Glad your experience with Patrick's pan was good but mine sure has not been YET !
I am hoping this year is diffrent

[marlmucker]

Oh I share your frustrations. If my wife doesn't get to see this steam hood/pre heater in use I may be divorced.

[Bricklayer]

Just keep texting and texting Him until he replies. He eventually will. He shipped me my float box eventually last year. I think he gets overwhelmed and spends a lot of time delivering his stuff. I don't know how he finds time to personanally deliver every piece of equipment he makes.

[Galena]

I just returned from the bush on FOOT :mad: sap hauler has about 30 gallons in it I collected from my furthest collection site BUT :mad: the 4 wheeler and collection tank are still in the bush BURIED to the frame after the wheeler broke thru the false solid ice/snow trail and left me stranded back there.
I managed to use the winch and pull myself out back on top of the hard pack but thats it !!!! Thats as far as its gonna go till after work tomorrow then will figure out how to get it back to the shack....
MAYBE SHE WILL GO FOR A TEAM OF HORSES AND OLD SCHOOL SAP SLIEGH INSTEAD OF A NEW RAZOR !!!

Hey are there any horse loggers in your area? Maybe they can help out and then you only need hire them not pay for the upkeep of a team of horses. I worked with a horse logger up in NW BC and it's amazing what a good team can do.

[Lespetras]

First batch..
122 litres of sap to 2850ml of syrup.
Rule of 86 means we had 2% sugar content.
Expected for this early on.

[Clinkis]

Very busy couple days. This early warm spell caught me unprepared. Got 150 taps in yesterday and fired up the vacuum pump late yesterday for the first time. Spent today running one last section of mainline, laterials and drops and brought another 110 taps on line. Everything worked well. Wow what a difference vacuum makes. Have a little over 300 gallons of sap collected. Spent the evening getting the evaporator and RO all setup and ready to go. Will start boiling tomorrow.

[BrutemanAl]

Hi everyone, glad to see you all back at it again. I have not done anything yet. Spent this past weekend in Ottawa with the kids and wife, so I missed getting my tree's tapped. Yesterday when we got home and settled my son and I got all the stuff ready, and went back in the forest to have a look around and just mess about. All my trees are sitting waiting for me, next weekend I plan on Tapping.

[Kyle Baker]

who's all tapped in at this point? (buckets) It was definitely good for a run over the weekend and this week looks good for Eastern Ontario, but I'm still hesitant to go in too early. However, noticing the weather, plus there is no snow around the base of the trees after the weekend, I'm wondering if I should get at it.

[Galena]

Good to see you back here, Al!

[Big_Eddy]

We have 135 in. Tapped Sunday, collected 100 gals Monday. We'll put more taps in later this week. Found out that I need to replace my smoke stack (stove pipe) when I bumped it and it disintegrated, so that stopped us from boiling last night. Will likely be making steam tonight.

[ennismaple]

We got 1400 taps in on the weekend. Not nearly as much as we needed to get done - but between ATV's and trucks getting stuck, deer damage, downed limbs & trees, vacuum pumps not working and other crappy luck we only spent half as much time drilling as we had planned.

I HATE TAPPING IN SNOWSHOES!!!! Not only is it tough on the body it also cuts my tapping rate down by 40%.

[Bushfrosh]

Where do you store your sap? Or do you have 100 buckets and keep alternating the 50 full ones? Im asking because im looking into purchasing a holding storage of some kind

I use 22L pails hanging on a spile. I drill a hole in the side (which limits the capacity of the pail to 15L) so that I can hang them from the spile where the bark permits. If not, I hang from the handle and keep the lid at an angle over the spile (which can blow off in the right wind). I have a few additional pails (with no holes in the side) that I use to haul to my boiling location. The pails used to be used for juice concentrate.

Once at my boiling location, I use large barrels for sap storage when I start to get a back-log. Each barrel holds between 200 and 250L. The barrels were also originally used for food purposes. Usually, I only need one or two barrels for storage. However, during last season's tsunami, I think I had 6 on the go at the peak of the insanity!

As for sap, I was surprised to see a bit of a run yesterday. I don't think our temperature climbed a lot above zero but man that sun was nice and I guess the trees liked it too. I haven't added everything up yet but I think I got another 100 to 150L. Will be heading back to the bush soon to see what today holds which I'm guessing could be good with last night's cold temperatures.

[Vandy]

who's all tapped in at this point? (buckets) It was definitely good for a run over the weekend and this week looks good for Eastern Ontario, but I'm still hesitant to go in too early. However, noticing the weather, plus there is no snow around the base of the trees after the weekend, I'm wondering if I should get at it.

I think I'm gonna tap Saturday.

[m_hoogendyk@hotmail.com]

All tapped here too, 110 in (80 on tubing, 30 buckets) . Just finished collecting and got 100gal. Will boil tomorrow to sweeten pans.

[Quabbin Hill Farms]

We got 280 taps in over the weekend another 75 this week and we will be done. Sap was pouring out of the trees on Sunday. Hooked up vacuum today had half the bush running at 20" by the end of the day found a few new chews and some taps we missed. looks like the rest of this week is favorable to some good sap runs.
Enjoy everyone

[leaky bucket]

Not tapped here yet. A couple warm days but the 14 day has it cooling down to some double digit minus temps. Most of my bush is north facing and we are always a couple weeks behind the lower elevation areas. A few hundred ft in elevation can make a big differance . We still have 4ft of snow in the bush and this past weekends warm day had no ill effect on it at all. right now im looking at Mar 7th if the forecast warms a little or the 11th .

[JeffB]

Well i managed to get sap wagon emptied and did the rounds, collected the rest of a the sap from my 5 collector stations ,
I couldn't use my normal sap collector wagon the 4 wheeler is still stuck in the snow . I collected with the use of my trusty bravo longtrack sled and my ice fishing sleigh, it took a little longer then normal but managed to collect 68 gallons in 24 hours. I would of had about 20 more gallons to add to the total but a little mishap and I lost a bunch of sap when the sleigh tipped over and spilt its contents :mad:

Now as far a the stuck 4 wheeler and sap wagon the forecast for mext 2 days is going to be 15 degrees or more, I should be able yo drive it out with luck after the snow melts a few more inches.

As far as the convo with my wife about a new razor with tracks she says "Yep as soon as I win the lottery I can have it , till then I have to use the play toys I have" . (THE LIST OF LOTTERY PURCHASES GROWS BIGGER ) lol:cool:

[Stevenick]

Caught right off guard! Built new sugar shack, installed 3x12 used d&G. Increased mainline by 3800ft. Last year we were at 250 taps.
On weekend we raced to get in the 250 plus another 150. Collected 2300l of sap since Sunday. First boil is today.....
Will there be enough time to finish tapping this year????

[NTBugtraq]

Well, collected 200 U.S. gals by noon today. Sap started running 2 days ago but I forgot how to assemble my pump...so the vacuum wasn't working. Got that fixed today, and also the Bosworth Co. told me they are sending me a new arm for my Guzzler. Apparently this will improve the life of my diaphragm.

I didn't fire up the arch with sap in it, instead filled it with fresh water, got it boiling, and gave it a final cleaning. Its now full of sap and ready for my first boil tomorrow. This sap, which looks like it will continue for another week in my area, is an amazing blessing. Last year I overfilled my 400 gals of storage on 3 different occasions, hopefully with this early flow the chances for those ridiculous flow days are lessened.

Good luck to everyone.

[Galena]

Didn't collect yesterday as not enough to make it worthwhile, but have 26.4l on the boil now. Sucks that I have to work in Ottawa tomorrow, won't be home til afternoon. May have to get a sap chucker to come by!

[Kyle Baker]

I finally gave in and put 10 taps in this afternoon with the kids to see what was going on. The sap was running good on the old silver maples and sugar content tasted ok for so early. I guess I'll get ready to tap the rest this weekend. I usually do 50-60. I might only do 40 or so this year. Still lots of syrup left from last years haul!

[Lespetras]

Ok guys.. serious question.. the sap ran all day today.. temp up to 12 degrees or something. Tomorrow gonna be double digits again. Buckets overflowing but can't get to them.
Question is, if I don't collect during that time. Will sap spoil as it's sitting n the buckets? I always thought you should keep sap cool.. but what if you can't get to it for a few days?

[Bruce L]

Lespetras,your sap should be okay,best place for it is in the buckets,smaller quantities won't spoil as quick as larger quantities. If you were to gather it up it would definitely spoil on you at higher temperatures

[JeffB]

Nothing , zip ,ziltch my trees all stopped running after a good start, I may have 20 gallons to collect Friday total,
Add that to the amount i have in storage and I dont have enough to even sweeten the pan.
Weather has been rain then fog all plus 5 and higher since tuesday and no sign of more freezing temps in sight till next wed .. till then rain clouds and even a thunder storm.
The next cold wave I thinkin might be too little too late.:(

[Quabbin Hill Farms]

Gathered 175 Gals. today boiled it in had an issue with my diagram pump which is a 100SE from Goodrich had to order the arm and bearing put me out of buisness for 3-4 days.

[Clinkis]

Collected 100 gallons yesterday and another 100 gallons today. Thank goodness for vacuum pump or I doubt I would have collected much without any freezes. I'm gonna have a busy weekend getting caught up.

[JeffB]

Hey clinkis...

What you can't or don't want to boil i will be happy to take off your hands ,,,,, i am more then happy to help relieve some of the boiling stress !! lol

[Clinkis]

Hey clinkis...

What you can't or don't want to boil i will be happy to take off your hands ,,,,, i am more then happy to help relieve some of the boiling stress !! lol

Thanks for the offer and I may take you up on that! We'll see how it goes. I think I might have bitten off more then I can chew with 250 taps on vacuum with my current setup for ROing and evaporating.

[Lespetras]

Lespetras,your sap should be okay,best place for it is in the buckets,smaller quantities won't spoil as quick as larger quantities. If you were to gather it up it would definitely spoil on you at higher temperatures

Thanks Bruce,
I'll keep that information in mind. Just been so warm out

[JeffB]

lol i have a 400 liter tank waiting to be filled so it be no problem lol

[Galena]

Clinkis, I think it would be a good idea to take up JeffB on his offer, or you'll soon be wearing floaties and up all hours trying to manage. It's early in the season, if you're swimming now then wtf are you going to do when the REAL sap tsunami hits later, usually mid-late March?

ETA: Lesley, if you have any snowbanks, esp on the north side, maybe try and dig some bunkers in the snow. Mind this would mean transferring all the sap to suitable holding tanks of some sort, like 15-18l water bottles or 5g food grade tubs. But this simple setup has helped save my behind a few times!

[Bushfrosh]

Lespetras,your sap should be okay,best place for it is in the buckets,smaller quantities won't spoil as quick as larger quantities. If you were to gather it up it would definitely spoil on you at higher temperatures

I think I would respectfully disagree. It takes a lake a lot longer to warm up than a puddle. Assuming both the storage container and buckets are in similar shade settings, I would want a larger quantity. Furthermore, I used a trick similar to Galena a couple of years ago during a warm spell. I placed a 2nd barrel beside my barrel of sap and shoved the 2nd barrel full of snow. Both barrels were in a shaded location and you could feel the relative coolness in the immediate area around the barrels.

[Clinkis]

Clinkis, I think it would be a good idea to take up JeffB on his offer, or you'll soon be wearing floaties and up all hours trying to manage. It's early in the season, if you're swimming now then wtf are you going to do when the REAL sap tsunami hits later, usually mid-late March

I think like most people this early start to the season has caught me off guard and is now overlapping with other commitments (mainly my sons hockey which will be over in a couple weeks). I'm normally very organized and prepared but this year I have been scrambling to get everything setup and organized. I've got everything pretty much ready now so I can start committing my time to turning my sap to syrup. And in a couple weeks I will hopefully have some more free time. We will see.....

[BrutemanAl]

Thanks for the offer and I may take you up on that! We'll see how it goes. I think I might have bitten off more then I can chew with 250 taps on vacuum with my current setup for ROing and evaporating.

Hey don't forget abut me lol, I live just south of Campbellford, and work in Codrington. Tonight after work I plan on starting to tap my tree's.

[Vandy]

I was gonna tap this weekend.. Now I may wait... Seems cold coming back.

[Run Forest Run!]

Welcome back Al! Looking forward to hearing about your sugaring experiences for 2017 with your boys.

[Clinkis]

So had a busy day and managed get through 250 gallons of sap and made about 20 litres of delicious light syrup. Sugar content a little low but still take it this early in the season.

Sorry Jeff and Al but no extra sap at the moment but a good possibility that I will be drowning in sap once the season picks up at which point you will be welcome to my overflow.

[BrutemanAl]

No worries Clinkis, I was able to get 17 taps in yesterday, 12 were running, the others are always late starters, may go over today and put in more so I am ready for the next wave of warm weather. Took the oldest boy to the bush with me yesterday, but he didn't really want to be there, all he did was complain, he made it so enjoyable lol. It is snowing here now, only reason it got cold again is because I tapped yesterday lol.

[JeffB]

So i boiled off the sap I had and went thru 75 gallon in 3 hours, I still have about 60 liters of raw sap in storage tank. Managed to drain pan of 40 liters of concentrate. The 40 liters is now a good start to sweeten the pan next boil ,kinda hoping sap flows this week so i can boil next weekend if not concentrated sap will sit in freeze till I get enough to boil and not have to worry about running out of sap and burning up my pan.

[JeffB]

WTF!!!!!! Is everybody's sap running but mine ,, ,, Not a drop in collection sites since last tuesday !!!!!!:mad:

[DrewCP]

I was gonna tap this weekend.. Now I may wait... Seems cold coming back.

Same here. If this forecast holds we'll be waiting almost 2 more weeks to tap. Still snow on the roof of the house and more than a foot in the bush. Not really even pulling away from the base of the trees yet.


15736

[Galena]

Surprised to see that my trees did run yesterday but not consistently. So will probably leave frozen sap out there for another day or so. Still tinkering first batch of syrup, about 4 marks under Brix. But got more than expected, almost 2l.

[leaky bucket]

WTF!!!!!! Is everybody's sap running but mine ,, ,, Not a drop in collection sites since last tuesday !!!!!!:mad:

Jeff, Mines not running ! we havnt even tapped yet, aside from tue and wed this week the long range for me is cold as far as i can see to the 13th. Even with the high tue and wed of 6 there is rain and wind , i always look at the "feels like" forecast as well . . I am hedging on around the 17th maybe even later. Thats in line with previous years.

[BrutemanAl]

Mine was riunning pretty good yesterday afternoon, not enough to collect, but it was nice to see it running

[Galena]

Wouldn't quite call it a sap tsunami but after three days of not collecting, good to see that I'll get at least 20l from today. So far!

[BrutemanAl]

Just got back from forest, collected 26.5 L from 6 trees. Probably closer to 50L if I brought it all back, but quite honestly I didn't expect to bring as much back as I did, so I was limited to what I could bring back.

[Clinkis]

As of 4pm today I had collected 200 gallons. I imagine my 240 gallon tank will be full by the time I shut the pump off tonight. Really wasn't expecting this. Was only supposed to get up 3 today but high reached 8.

[Lespetras]

Well, we dumped close to 200 litres on Friday.. temps were too warm and sap didn't taste right! Was sad to do it but got back on track yesterday and today.. currently boiling down 188 litres.. smells great!

[Run Forest Run!]

Leslie, sorry to hear that you couldn't keep up and had to dump bad sap. That's crazy for February!

I seriously have no idea what on earth the forecast has in store for us, but I'm just rolling with it. I got 43L in the past 36 hours which is just about perfect for my boiling method. Nice and manageable. I thought I'd be regretting tapping in mid-February, and I got some serious eye rolls :rolleyes:directed my way at home when I pulled out the drill, but I feel somewhat vindicated now. I've got more trees that I can tap if I need to ramp up my production toward the end of the season, but for now I'm content with what I'm gathering. I still have quite a bit of syrup left over from last year's haul!

Have a great night boiling. And to Galena - get well soon!

[Bushfrosh]

Brought in 278L of sap today - I had not collected since last Thursday. This brings the season total to 1300L of sap. That's already 26L per spile and it's still February!!! Currently boiling today's haul and it is a fabulous boiling night as the steam is just flying off!

In terms of syrup, last week's collections produced a little over 23L although I'm going to have to re-filter most of it due to pesky niter. Is anyone else having niter issues so far??? I filter through an Orlon filter with 2-4 pre-filters in it and I'm still getting niter that settles out after a couple of days. This is the same way I have filtered each of the past 4 seasons but I can't seem to catch all of it. I finish on the fire and filter immediately into a stainless steel pot. I then quickly decant from the pot into hot glass bottles warmed to 200F. I think my next course of action may be to double up on the Orlon filters for next time as I've got a new one and the older one still seems good (at least it's not clogged). This seems silly to ask but does February sap produce peskier niter?

[Galena]

Leslie, sorry to hear that you couldn't keep up and had to dump bad sap. That's crazy for February!

I seriously have no idea what on earth the forecast has in store for us, but I'm just rolling with it. I got 43L in the past 36 hours which is just about perfect for my boiling method. Nice and manageable. I thought I'd be regretting tapping in mid-February, and I got some serious eye rolls :rolleyes:directed my way at home when I pulled out the drill, but I feel somewhat vindicated now. I've got more trees that I can tap if I need to ramp up my production toward the end of the season, but for now I'm content with what I'm gathering. I still have quite a bit of syrup left over from last year's haul!

Have a great night boiling. And to Galena - get well soon!

Karen, first off, I think all of us are glad to be sugaring despite all the misgivings earlier. Looks like another cool spell rolling in but I don't mind, it means I can get some work on new sugar shack done. Kudos to Lesley for being sensible and dumping sap that smelled off...painful to do, but save yourself all the hard work of making it into horrible-tasting syrup. You're learning, girl! :-)

And thanks for the well wishes and yes much better, the TLC and care package resulted in a miracle cure, though I still played safe and cancelled work today in case it was flu too. Just some extra-nasty food poisoning wreakin a little more havoc than usual on me. New man in my life is fantastic. He owns a neighbouring property that I keep an eye on (which includes a sizable sugaring op but would take major $$$ to get going again). We've always gotten along well just as friends and been able to talk. Now, things have progressed and only get better. I still can't get over how kind and considerate he is. I feel so relaxed and safe with him around. After making countless bad decisions over the years in this realm, I'm so glad he's in my life.

[Lespetras]

Leslie, sorry to hear that you couldn't keep up and had to dump bad sap. That's crazy for February.
Have a great night boiling. And to Galena - get well soon!

Thx Karen,

It's sad to dump so much. But yes Susan, I am learning. Another huge haul today for our tiny sugar bush.. can't believe it's February. As for the eyes rolls to tap in mid February.. the climate just isn't what it once was... we'd be foolish to ignore such warm spells in my opinion. I did get a few comments also 'never tap before march' etc. But look at what we are doing in February.
Also, I'm running into the same problems with temps not being able to keep sap cold, we don't have any snow even on our property left so we've actually resorted to ice blocks. I am not gonna let today's haul go to waste. Only going down to 9 degrees tonight.. not cold enough for sap.

[Galena]

You're definitely right about the warming trend, Lesley, and we're best to heed it. I think it's in that book on sugaring, The Sugar Season, that came out a few years back that showed part of a chart where temps and collection dates have been kept since the 1920s. Definitely important to learn from the past but sadly we can't live there. Best to do what we can, when we can, while we still can.

[Lespetras]

Batch number 3.. 188 litres of sap, 5.1 litres of syrup. Sugar content 2.3%, ratio 1:36

[Galena]

Batch #1...55l sap, 1800mls syrup, 3.2% sugar. Batch #2 in nearup stage.

[BrutemanAl]

I collected 46 L yesterday, by the time I got home from work that is all I could get before it was to dark, I was hoping to collect then go back for more. It will all be ice now, so it will have to stay where it is for now. Guess I will continue boiling what I have at nights till we get rid of this cold snap.

[TurkeyJohn]

Following some advice I see pop up now and then regarding ice removal. This is a bit much though.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170304/eff8f004b6ad95e11483b3de4f956964.jpg

[lyford]

That's is a bit much, I gotta believe there's sugar in that ice.

[maple75]

Following some advice I see pop up now and then regarding ice removal. This is a bit much though.

As someone said to me before "Popsicle's freeze too!"

[Bricklayer]

When it's this cold out I don't think the old chuck the ice rule applies. I'm surprised there was even unfrozen sap in the pail.
I collected about 50 gallons from some buckets I put out last week to flush my RO didn't get around to flushing it out in time before it got cold and the sap is sitting frozen absolute solid in my Cage tank. Probley going to take a week for it to thaw out. Hopefully the tank and the valve survive. And of course i have it sitting in the most shady coolest spot on the property. So it never sees sun. Hard to believe we were getting thunderstorms last weekend at this time. -25 this weekend. Crazy weather.

[maple75]

Everything froze solid here too this morning, -24C when I got up

[c0ps]

I just hand bombed 15 buckets of frozen sap in the garage and cranked the heat to 22 degrees. Should thaw out soon.

[Galena]

Batch #2 94l sap, 3250 mls syrup, so again a pretty solid 3%. Finished at 223.5-224, just one hashmark over Brix so no need for more tinkering! :-)

[c0ps]

Batch #2 94l sap, 3250 mls syrup, so again a pretty solid 3%. Finished at 223.5-224, just one hashmark over Brix so no need for more tinkering! :-)

You boiled today? Wasn't it frozen?

[Galena]

You boiled today? Wasn't it frozen?

Hehe yes my sap still all frozen! I should clarify...I collected Feb 27-Mar1 and boiled sap down into about 8l of nearup. Then last night I dumped all of the nearup into finishing pot, pulled up a chair and very patiently waited from 8:30 to 11:00pm. Got er done very slowly, but it saves me messing with distilled H20 down the line!

[Bruce L]

Waiting on the supplier to bring all the cases and cases of bottles to stack in the house so they can warm up to put the labels on. Some work to be done in the bush,but that wind is deathly cold. Finished boiling everything yesterday that we couldn't get before,line pulled apart so couldn't suck the sap over from the other bush,got that fixed,then the generator didn't want to start. Got generator started and warmed up,then had to get vacuum pump going,then sap finally got coming over,got a small fire going in the arch,primed the pump to pump sap to sugarhouse,pump frozen and wouldn't start. My wife went home for a thermos of hot water,got the pump running,but sap wouldn't flow from the tank to the evaporator. Came home to get the propane torch,got the line thawed out,then the floats were frozen down. We finally got everything up and running around noon,last batch of syrup off at 1:15 ,then a quick shutdown and drain of the system to leave for the bus run at 1:30 . Not good to try and make syrup in the dead of winter I guess!

[TurkeyJohn]

So here's where we ended up today...https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170304/6442765b2f09a4a1c4724c91a877aebb.jpg... no regrets on ditching the ice...started at 630 and done at 4, not bad for our little set up.

[DrewCP]

Looks like we'll tap in on Monday. 14 day forecast still not great but a daytime swing of +2 or 3* would make all the difference.

On another note..... I went to drop off and cut up another 15 pallets (what we use for firewood) and found this in my parents garage. I guess we've upgraded. I was extremely surprised since every time I mention upgrading or changing something I get the look of disapproval from the old man!
It's the smallest CDL you can buy. Pan is an 18"x48" flat, divided. We've only ever boiled on a flat non divided pan. This sure will be a learning experience.158671586815869

[MarkReynolds]

Looks like we'll tap in on Monday. 14 day forecast still not great but a daytime swing of +2 or 3* would make all the difference.

On another note..... I went to drop off and cut up another 15 pallets (what we use for firewood) and found this in my parents garage. I guess we've upgraded. I was extremely surprised since every time I mention upgrading or changing something I get the look of disapproval from the old man!
It's the smallest CDL you can buy. Pan is an 18"x48" flat, divided. We've only ever boiled on a flat non divided pan. This sure will be a learning experience.158671586815869
I have the Dominion & Grimm version of that evaporator and it works good. I can get around 10gph with my blower going. Nice hobby sized rig! Hope it works good for your season!!

[Lespetras]

Batch #4
261 litres of sap made 7650 ml of syrup!
Ratio 1:34
Sugar content 2.5%

[Run Forest Run!]

Wow Leslie, you are really doing well this season. Where are you getting the sap? Things have been frozen solid here for days. There must be some giant storage facility in your forest.

[Ontario Ian]

Looks like we'll tap in on Monday. 14 day forecast still not great but a daytime swing of +2 or 3* would make all the difference.

On another note..... I went to drop off and cut up another 15 pallets (what we use for firewood) and found this in my parents garage. I guess we've upgraded. I was extremely surprised since every time I mention upgrading or changing something I get the look of disapproval from the old man!
It's the smallest CDL you can buy. Pan is an 18"x48" flat, divided. We've only ever boiled on a flat non divided pan. This sure will be a learning experience.158671586815869

nice supprise. looks like you got an extra pallet to! it's a win-win

[JeffB]

Well before the cold snap hit I boiled what I had stored and ended up with 9 liters of amber finished and bottled.
I have 35liters of super sweet concentrate drawn ffrom the pan and in freezer to sweeten the pan once the cold snap is over and sap starts running again. It took almost 140 gallons of sap before the first draw of syrup then after that i was drawing off a half a liter every 30 minutes.:)
15874

[Lespetras]

Wow Leslie, you are really doing well this season. Where are you getting the sap? Things have been frozen solid here for days. There must be some giant storage facility in your forest.

We were storing it on our deck in a big 55 gallon barrel. We had tons of sap to boil from our warm spell. And have been slowly working away at it.
That being said. Not a drop from the past 4 days due to the deep freeze in weather. Tomorrow looking more promising.

[ashadedacre]

Well we ran with the warm days out here by Elgin and ended up with 11 almost 12L amber but another 4-5 L at near up stage for finishing before anticipated new run later this week. It was almost frozen solid 250L sap leftover but with hatchet able to chunk it into pan. We too believe there is sugar in that Ice cube so won't waste a drop. Odd we had to dump 1 tree running yellow sap. No off flavour just no flavour? We'll add in new lines and pails once trails clear if season allows expansion.

[Galena]

Tree pee, as I lovingly call yellow sap - so long as it's clear and has no off scent to it - is perfectly safe to boil though some like to dump it on general principle. It just means precip in the form or rain or snow has got in with the sap.

[ennismaple]

Our first boil was last Wednesday. We had only 3500 taps in but there was close to 6,000 gallons of sap to process. Neither my brother or I could get to the sugar camp until after work so it was a late night! RO was on at 7pm, did a short wash at 11pm and fired up The Beast. 84 minutes after our first full fire we had syrup coming off the front and the auto-runoff barely turned off for the next 5 hours. RO was off at about 4am, last fire was on shortly thereafter and by the time I was done washing up the sun was up and I was listening to the morning show on the radio! Ended up with 120+ gallons of beautiful Golden Delicate that will make great butter and candy. We had to drain the pans as soon as the arch was cold because it was -10 C by the time I left the sugar camp and it would have frozen solid in the pans.

We got the remaining taps in on the weekend and we're ready for this week's warmer weather. It looks like we'll get some time off this coming weekend to maybe spend some time with the people who look like me and live in the same house...

[Galena]

Nothing since March 2, crickets chirping at this end...maybe will get some tomorrow.

[DrewCP]

Following some advice I see pop up now and then regarding ice removal. This is a bit much though.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170304/eff8f004b6ad95e11483b3de4f956964.jpg

It's a tough call sometimes. Every year we end up with sap frozen around the edges of our storage containers. I check multiple times every year to see what % the ice is. Typically the ice is around 1 % and our "concentrate" comes out around 3-3.5%. We are 100-120 gallon batch boilers with a finite amount of time to commit to making syrup. It's a no brainer to us. At 1% it's not worth our time. Sap hydrometers are relatively cheap and really satisfy that curious side. Just like skimming off foam, it gives you something to do while you watch water evaporate!

[DrewCP]

I can't believe the terrible weather. -18 at night this weekend? Looks like we are going to push out another week before tapping. New date is Monday March 13. Typically we tap before March 10. Crazy times.

[Vandy]

I can't believe the terrible weather. -18 at night this weekend? Looks like we are going to push out another week before tapping. New date is Monday March 13. Typically we tap before March 10. Crazy times.

Same here... Was thinking about today but will only get tree pee with this rain..

[TurkeyJohn]

It's a tough call sometimes. Every year we end up with sap frozen around the edges of our storage containers. I check multiple times every year to see what % the ice is. Typically the ice is around 1 % and our "concentrate" comes out around 3-3.5%. We are 100-120 gallon batch boilers with a finite amount of time to commit to making syrup. It's a no brainer to us. At 1% it's not worth our time. Sap hydrometers are relatively cheap and really satisfy that curious side. Just like skimming off foam, it gives you something to do while you watch water evaporate!

That's great info right there Drew, had a feeling, but you've only made the decision even better. We have other demands on our schedules and a lot of times, and after having to dump a can as we couldn't boil off in time before it turned cloudy, we needed to save what time we could....Thanks again, TJ

[NTBugtraq]

I don't know about where you live, but right now I have the most amazing red sky to the west....WOW!

[Run Forest Run!]

I don't know about where you live, but right now I have the most amazing red sky to the west....WOW!

The view tonight;

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[Galena]

Same here... Was thinking about today but will only get tree pee with this rain..

Hey not true! Got masses of freezing rain last night and plain ol rain too, and very little tree pee. And I use pails. Got about 15l today. Slow but good to see something other than a few dribbles of frozen sap in the bottoms.

[Lespetras]

Collected 102 litres today.. taps still dripping! Supposed to be good for a few days and then.. going into a deep freeze again! Gotta get it when the goings good!! 😆

[Clinkis]

Turned on Vacuum pump at 3pm today when I got home from work. Just got back from Bush and tank was full. Wow does vacuum ever make a difference.

[MarkReynolds]

Collected 102 litres today.. taps still dripping! Supposed to be good for a few days and then.. going into a deep freeze again! Gotta get it when the goings good!! 😆 What do you boil your sap on?

[NTBugtraq]

Sap didn't start flowing today until 10:30am, but its coming in very slowly.

Meanwhile, bottled 14L this morning. Its my same dark amber that I usually get...but the taste is still amazing.

[Lespetras]

What do you boil your sap on?

Hello Mark,

Right now, propane burners.. sometimes a wood fire arch.

[Bruce L]

Trees seem to be finally waking up today. Nothing yesterday,but made 34 gallons today in just over 4 hours. Everything all cleaned up and boiled in,tanks all washed out ready for the next run

[Galena]

Was just out checking trees to ensure pails still there. 68l sap in 2 days' time.

[Big_Eddy]

Trees seem to be finally waking up today. Nothing yesterday,but made 34 gallons today in just over 4 hours. Everything all cleaned up and boiled in,tanks all washed out ready for the next run

The next run for me might be a week from tomorrow :(

[NTBugtraq]

The next run for me might be a week from tomorrow :(

Yeah, my 10 day forecast has ZERO sap running days in it...;-[

[Galena]

Just wait it out. You will live. And more importantly so will the trees. Unlike the poor trees belonging to this idiot: http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?30203-Heating-trees-through-a-cold-snap...

[Clinkis]

Galena,

Trust me I agree that this idea is crazy but calling people names is not the way to make your point. These threads never end well. We Canadians are better then that.

[Galena]

Hi Clinkis, I know, I blew a fuse or two last night. But I've seen that single-minded mentality in place before, and nothing good ever comes of it. Please don't ask for examples, I have far too many and have a busy night ahead. Maybe a bit later on.

[Big_Eddy]

I'm boiling today. Started out with about 185 gals of sap /ice. Lost the first hour thawing valves and the block in the evaporator.

Now I have a good boil going but I'm having icing issues in my feed line. I'm watching the trickle at the float box carefully and have had to disconnect and remove ice plugs several times already. Still. If I don't get everything I can out of the tank today it will even harder tomorrow.

My other problem today? Where to place my chair. Too close to the arch door and I roast. A bit further back and I freeze. Just doesn't seem to be a good spot today. :)

[MarkReynolds]

I'm boiling today. Started out with about 185 gals of sap /ice. Lost the first hour thawing valves and the block in the evaporator.

Now I have a good boil going but I'm having icing issues in my feed line. I'm watching the trickle at the float box carefully and have had to disconnect and remove ice plugs several times already. Still. If I don't get everything I can out of the tank today it will even harder tomorrow.

My other problem today? Where to place my chair. Too close to the arch door and I roast. A bit further back and I freeze. Just doesn't seem to be a good spot today. :)
I have the same problem with chair position, I'm boiling right now too, my back and butt are cold but my front and legs are roasting. I should be thankful that I'm out of the wind. I had 100gal to boil alot of it is ice.

[Clinkis]

Just finished getting through 240 gallons of sap I had collected earlier in the week. Nasty cold windy day. Luckily I have heat in my Sugar Shack (an old milk house) so no ice but have windows and doors open for ventilation so still having to deal with wind and cold. Syrup is very dark and robust today which is odd for me especially this early. Perhaps because sap has been sitting for a few days. Looks like we have a week here to get all cleaned up and ready for the next run. Winter is back.

[Quabbin Hill Farms]

Ya i mdae 10 gallons of syrup this week even though its early in the years it was Dark amber

[NTBugtraq]

Ty for the distract.

[halladaymaple]

Hi Greg

I just tapped last Sunday (late to the game this year) and boiled on Thursday night. Made 52 litres, love my RO. All golden syrup so far, hoping for another 2 weeks after this freeze up is over. Glad I added more taps, I even put out 50 buckets. See you at the festival

[Lespetras]

Ooh it's cold out there!
Boiled another batch. 288 litres of sap made 9.3 litres of the darkest syrup ever! Sugar content 2.8%, ratio 1:31
Check this dark stuff out!
16010

[Galena]

wow that's dark. What's flavour profile like? If I start getting stuff that dark it's got some maple but then noticeable (but not unpleasant) brown sugar/ molasses notes.

[BrutemanAl]

I'm boiling today. Started out with about 185 gals of sap /ice. Lost the first hour thawing valves and the block in the evaporator.

Now I have a good boil going but I'm having icing issues in my feed line. I'm watching the trickle at the float box carefully and have had to disconnect and remove ice plugs several times already. Still. If I don't get everything I can out of the tank today it will even harder tomorrow.

My other problem today? Where to place my chair. Too close to the arch door and I roast. A bit further back and I freeze. Just doesn't seem to be a good spot today. :)

I was out an about yesterday EDDY, Thought about coming by and seeing you, but wasnt sure if you were home, then I was going to boil the sap I collected the other day, and it was frozen and the wind was just stupid crazy anyhow, so I brought it inside and will boil it later today.

[pgeller]

I'm boiling today. Started out with about 185 gals of sap /ice. Lost the first hour thawing valves and the block in the evaporator.

Now I have a good boil going but I'm having icing issues in my feed line. I'm watching the trickle at the float box carefully and have had to disconnect and remove ice plugs several times already. Still. If I don't get everything I can out of the tank today it will even harder tomorrow.

My other problem today? Where to place my chair. Too close to the arch door and I roast. A bit further back and I freeze. Just doesn't seem to be a good spot today. :)

We had the same issue in the county last weekend. Start at 5, fight the lines with a hair dryer trying to ensure we didn't burn the pan while we got the ice plugs out. Saw the same forecast yesterday and decided we would stay in instead of fighting again. Hope you found your warmth by the end.

[Lespetras]

wow that's dark. What's flavour profile like? If I start getting stuff that dark it's got some maple but then noticeable (but not unpleasant) brown sugar/ molasses notes.

Hey - just tasted it. Definite brown sugar flavour. Still very sweet but I prefer the light vanilla taste. However, my husband prefers this. Hopefully after this cold snap we will get some more light.

[Quabbin Hill Farms]

Darrell Glad you got your R.O. up and running saves a lot of time doesn't it. i have one of my new posts running still trying to figure how to pipe in the other. Pretty cold this weekend not looking to let loose until next Fri/Sat.

[Galena]

Hey guess what? Apparently I have magic syrup...it made itself! I put about 7l of nearup (from 85l of sap) into a pot on the woodstove a couple nights ago and left it to reduce down a little more. When I got home much later that day I saw that it had reduced to about 3l. It was still warm, so on my hot/cold Quebec hydro it was halfway between the two Bri marks. So I left it overnight. This morning I checked it and...absolutely dead perfect, spot-on Brix at cold. Needless to say I'm overjoyed that I don't have to stay up all hours finishing it, and right now it's quietly dripping away through fresh coffee filters to get out the nitre. Looks like I'll have around 3250ml again.

[c0ps]

Thats awsome! I should try that, im to scared to leave it on a hot surface over night

[Galena]

Thats awsome! I should try that, im to scared to leave it on a hot surface over night

Well, I make sure that my finishing pot is always a heavy copper-bottomed stainless pot, and that it was all cold nearup from the fridge. Had it been warmed in any way, I would have put it to the side of the stove and not on the hot plate in the middle. I am really surprised at how well it worked, even though I was only intending to nearup it down a bit more til the sap ran again. But hey not complaining :-)

[Bruce L]

Sap started running late today!!!!!!!!!!! Depends on when the temperature drops tonight as to how long it will dribble into the tank. It was late enough that I didn't bother starting up the vacuum pump

[Galena]

Sap started running late today!!!!!!!!!!! Depends on when the temperature drops tonight as to how long it will dribble into the tank. It was late enough that I didn't bother starting up the vacuum pump

Hmm better go take a look at my trees. I already saw some frozen sap thawing out earlier, and scooped out handfuls of snow before they got into the frozen sap as it melted. Not holding my breath though. And supposedly more snow on Saturday...*groan*...

[Vandy]

Tapping Today:)

[DrewCP]

We finally tapped in today. Put on 65 buckets. 2/3rd's were running by mid afternoon. I think we were on our second or third boil by this time last year!
16118

My quality control analyst says "yep, it's sap dad..."
16119

[Galena]

Sunny today and +6 in forecast, no wind so the trees should be starting to wake up! I collected 1g frozen from all of them yesterday. Definitely a few sapsicles.

[JeffB]

It seems lke I took the right week off work to boil ,weather looks great for next 4 days.
Went out yesterday and built a small fire under my sap tank to thaw about 90 gallons of sap that had been frozen since the cold snap set in then added another 100 gallons that was collected yesterday.

The cold snap might have been the best thing this year I tested the sugar content of my combined thawed and fresh sap and to my amazement it tested at 4.2brix ( has anyone seen this kind of spike in sugar content) my sap usually runs around 2.5 to 2.9
I thought this was wrong so I went around to my 4 collection sites and tested the sap sugar content at each main line, I noted readings from 2.9 brix to 4.5 brix. I have never had sap run from the main lines over 3brix ( has anyone ever seen this kind of spike before not sure how to explain it or why )

Today I'm going to start my boil to rip through the almost 200 gallons in tank and hope to collect another 100 or more gallons by end of today cause the weather looks to be perfect for sap flow . I hope the sap runs over 3 brix or more for the rest of the remaining days .:)

[maple75]

Just finished tapping for this year, ended up with 80 total, trying a different section of the bush. Fewer trees than where I had originally planned but they are more concentrated for easier collecting. The twelve early test taps I installed for the warm spell in Feb only gave up 60 litres of sap combined to date so I haven't missed much. Things are just starting to flow here, hope for a good season.

[Galena]

*Jeopardy theme* sittin here twiddling thumbs waiting for my trees to realize that the big freeze is finally over. Going to take a couple more days or so of nice warm weather for thebig ol' beasties to thaw out after being froze up for well over a week.

[NTBugtraq]

*Jeopardy theme* sittin here twiddling thumbs waiting for my trees to realize that the big freeze is finally over. Going to take a couple more days or so of nice warm weather for thebig ol' beasties to thaw out after being froze up for well over a week.

I'm not sure where we are in relation to each other (my bush is right beside Balsam Lake Provincial Park), but...

10-11am sap flow rate was 12gph
11-12pm sap flow rate was 15gph
12-1pm sap flow rate was 20gph
1-2pm sap flow rate was 21gph

So, keep an eye on things...;-]

[Clinkis]

*Jeopardy theme* sittin here twiddling thumbs waiting for my trees to realize that the big freeze is finally over. Going to take a couple more days or so of nice warm weather for thebig ol' beasties to thaw out after being froze up for well over a week.

I think mine are a little slow at unthawing too. They are running ok but not great. Was expecting a little better today. But should still collect over 200 gallons.

[Galena]

I'm just outside of Kemptville, some 70km SE of Ottawa. And I'm not worried about my trees, I know they tend to start late anyway and this freaky weather has only made it even later. But a couple more weeks and I'll have the floaties on :-)

[Bricklayer]

Not an exceptional sap flow day for me, starred to run about noon. On 125 taps I got about 50 gallons. Seemed like the taps in the sun were running today but ones in the shade were still froze. Had a couple taps yesterday that I had to reseat because they froze solid and pushed out a bit. First time I've ever seen that. Supposed to be warm tomorrow so hopefully the floodgates open up.

[Bruce L]

Another headache today due to the prolonged cold snap. Started vacuum pump in the main bushes just after 12:00, still frozen pretty hard to get much sap. Drove up the road to our remote bush,started vacuum pump there,but releaser wouldn't work as there was a layer of ice in the bottom. Played with it for awhile,got it to thaw out,then sap was coming in good. Came back to main bushes,everything okay,so time to go to a wake for a neighbor who died tragically going through the ice. Got home 2&1/2 hours later,went to collect the sap expecting tank to be overflowing,found a puddle on the ground in front of it. Sap had lifted the large chunk of ice in the tank,also lifting the plunger in the bulk tank,allowing the sap to run on the ground. Plastic cap that was a backup had split from the cold,so it didn't hold the sap back either. Figured we would rob the metal cap off another tank at home only to find we couldn't,because that plunger had also been lifted,allowing sap to leak slowly out of that tank. Pumped what sap we could get up into the head tank for evaporator,left it for the night,figuring that 500 gallons can wait till morning,enough problems today without running into trouble feeding the evaporator tonight. Probably need the torch in the morning to thaw out the feed line,ice can melt anytime now

[DrewCP]

Word from Scotch Corners is 25-30 gallons collected today. This is our first collect since tapping in the afternoon on the 17th. I'm hoping we have 100-120 gallons by the weekend but who knows.

[BrutemanAl]

I collected 50L yesterday, mine were running really well mid afternoon, I will go back over tonight and collect again. Yesterday morning I finished off the Near-Up I had, it was dark, and by the looks of the sap I collected yesterday and started boiling, it is going to be a light colour.

I was able to start making my new Barrel Evaporator yesterday which was fun. My wife told me to put it in the forest and then I can spend my weekends this time of year over in the bush with the boys. Not sure about that just yet though

[Galena]

@ Bruce...OMG ouch, ouch, and then more ouch. Hope things get sorted out!
@ Al, pretty good amount of sap, how many trees are you tapping?

[ennismaple]

It didn't really start running hard until late afternoon yesterday but that only lasted a few hours. It was frozen hard for a week and a half so that's not a surprise. We managed to get all but one section of woods checked for leaks and we've got acceptable vacuum levels. They still need one more walk to get all the micro leaks.

It's not a surprise to hear some of you are getting high sugar content now. The tendency it to get high sugar % the longer it's frozen up during the season.

[Galena]

It's not a surprise to hear some of you are getting high sugar content now. The tendency it to get high sugar % the longer it's frozen up during the season.

Oh cool so there is a benefit to an extra-long freezeup! Woohoo! Well, three of my trees are starting to go well, the other three are taking their sweet time (harhar). But not worried. Going out to collect now, looks like about 2 g out there. Better than nothing!

[NTBugtraq]

So I apologize for trying to participate, bye.

[Galena]

So I apologize for trying to participate, bye.

Huh? What's up, Bugtrap?

[Clinkis]

I think he's upset no one commented on his earlier post. He made similar comment in another thread.

Don't take it personally Bugtrac. Lots of posts don't get commented on but that doesn't mean people don't read them and find them interesting. Ive been reading your posts and paying attention to what u are doing, as I do with all the Ontario people, but often don't feel the need to comment.

[Galena]

I agree with Clinkis. It isn't that I don't find Bugtrap's posts interesting, but as I am a very, very VERY small-time hobbyist on pails and he has a much more serious setup...I just can't relate when he discusses gallons per hour, or talks about chamber drop flue. I don't know what it is, so on such matters I choose to be silent and thought a fool than to open my mouth and prove it.

And not everyone responds to my posts, I certainly don't take it personally when they don't. If I really want to get ahold of someone, I PM or email them. Everyone here has their own lives. I own and operate a small business, have a household and property to take care of all on my own. Then I have my li'l ol sugarbush and am working on becoming a teacher in a very specific realm. And am working on carefully cultivating a new relationship with someone very special. So to me sites like this are where I go and spend time when I have some to spare.

[TurkeyJohn]

Hey Folks,

My trees are going again after the big freeze, just like everyone else's. Question I have though has to do with the whole "buddy" issue. I've heard that when the trees break bud, the sap will get bitter and it's time to wrap up. I've got some that are getting those buds starting to get fairly robust, but on the fence. When is it time to call it a "wrap"? So far the season has been great, I've been able to restock our family's syrup supply for the year already and am now in for bonus bottles.

Good luck everyone,

TurkeyJohn

[Clinkis]

Usually can tell a bit by taste of sap but to be really sure put a small bit of sap in a pot and boil it. If it's buddy then steam will smell like dirty socks. If it still smells sweet your good. I would think we should still be a couple weeks away from buds at least but maybe not in your area.

[TurkeyJohn]

Thanks Clinkus,

Again, hard to say that they truly are buddy yet, but don't want to stress the trees for crappy sap either... Great tips there though...

TurkeyJohn

[Big_Eddy]

As Galena would say - we need our "floaties" on.

As always happens, I booked last week off work for the Maple break. Monday was nice but cold, so I cut wood all day. Tuesday through Thursday were not conducive to working out in the bush, so I went back to work. Stayed home Friday expecting it to warm up, and it did - but not until after 5pm. I checked buckets about 6pm and it was a symphony in the woods- every tree was dripping like crazy - but there was less than an inch in any of the buckets. Left it there, expecting that Saturday would be a good day. It wasn't. The ice hardly even thawed, and nothing flowed. However, late Sunday - after all my help departed for other locations - the trees opened up and we collected over 130 gallons. And Monday was even better - another 175 gallons collected. Of course - I'm back to work, so there will be some late nights this week.

Nice clear sweet sap, although the woods are getting pretty muddy as last week's snow melts.

[ennismaple]

Thanks Clinkus,

Again, hard to say that they truly are buddy yet, but don't want to stress the trees for crappy sap either... Great tips there though...

TurkeyJohn

You've already stressed the trees by tapping them. Collecting the sap and boiling it for as long as it is palatable will not stress them any more than pulling your taps and letting the sap run down the bark.

When your syrup gets buddy - you'll know! We can tell the season is done by the smell in the sugar camp. We've also made some pretty good looking and tasting syrup out of sap that looked like skim milk!

[Galena]

As Galena would say - we need our "floaties" on....

LOL floaties hell, I'm getting on my wetsuit too! Two of my best trees ran all night so collected prior to leaving for work, and just as well by the looks of it. All the other trees but one have also produced a decent amount of sap, guessing about 30l. Time to roll on floaties and get going. I'll need flippers soon!

[Quabbin Hill Farms]

Still early for buddy syrup John, when you hear the frogs look at the buds i gathered 700 liters today and boiled it down tonight and syrup was amber but tasted great.

[TurkeyJohn]

Thanks Ennis and Quabbin,

No frogs yet and with last nights freeze, I think we have a ways to go, but those trees like to fool with me...

TurkeyJohn

[leaky bucket]

i am just starting to tap on fri and looking to go till easter! ribbet ribbet ! lol

[Galena]

Thanks Ennis and Quabbin,

No frogs yet and with last nights freeze, I think we have a ways to go, but those trees like to fool with me...

TurkeyJohn

That's why, ever since I began tapping 9 yrs ago, that I record every. single. collection. of. sap. from every. single. tree. I tap. That way I can chart how each tree *performed* in previous years, and how is likely to continue to perform. Otherwise how else will you know which trees may be weakening and which are doing as expected, and which are kickin it up a notch?

[Fort Wisers]

Howdy folks!
In the North Grenville area of Eastern Ontario and we just started tapping this year to get our feet wet!
4 whole taps with buckets LOL, nothing big but we didn't have much time this year to setup anything larger.
We setup on Sunday (19-Mar-2017) and have collected about 22 litres so far. Yesterdays colder temps stopped the flow but we're hoping today's temps will bring some flow back.
We do have buds on the trees and the sap taste got stronger with the rainy day earlier this week, however we put that collection aside and will boil it down separately to see the end results.
We'll start our boil down this weekend, we hope for a whopping 1 litre of the gold, again, this years plan was just to get setup and see how the process goes!
Good luck to everyone!

[Run Forest Run!]

Have fun Fort Wisers! We can all tell you how it's going to go - I guarantee you that we'll see you here again next year. ;)

[Fort Wisers]

Have fun Fort Wisers! We can all tell you how it's going to go - I guarantee you that we'll see you here again next year. ;)

LOL, yeah we already know that....although this is our first year actually tapping ourselves, we've been addicted for a while.
We always do a family gathering at one of the local sugar houses and have planned on tapping for a number of years now.
This year we almost didn't bother again (always a time thing) but, thanks largely to my wife, we finally just bit the bullet last minute and got started.
Been learning a lot and that's half the fun!
Kids seem to enjoy it too......
Thanks Karen, have fun as well.

[Snappyssweets]

Welcome to the addiction Fort Wiser,

I have yet to figure out why I didn't start out smaller...........Oh yeah Because I don't listen to my wife well. :lol:

Enjoy the fun and excitement not to mention the planning, the trying to find new ways to budget for new gear and supplies.
I keep telling myself well at least now I have something to do to get me outdoors in the nasty part of spring I don't really like.

[Fort Wisers]

Welcome to the addiction Fort Wiser,

I have yet to figure out why I didn't start out smaller...........Oh yeah Because I don't listen to my wife well. :lol:

Enjoy the fun and excitement not to mention the planning, the trying to find new ways to budget for new gear and supplies.
I keep telling myself well at least now I have something to do to get me outdoors in the nasty part of spring I don't really like.

Thanks!
Yeah last year we had grand plans of building a sugar shack and even semi-seriously looked into purchasing a small arch.
But this will have to be our start!

[Big_Eddy]

Late Sunday - after all my help departed for other locations - the trees opened up and we collected over 130 gallons. And Monday was even better - another 175 gallons collected. Of course - I'm back to work, so there will be some late nights this week.
Nice clear sweet sap, although the woods are getting pretty muddy as last week's snow melts.

Over the last couple of days, my son and I have made a good dent in the sap supply (and the wood supply). We have somewhere around 60gals of (frozen) sap left that should thaw out enough to boil on Saturday. We're thankful we had a couple of colder days to get caught up. No idea how much syrup we've made, but all 6 finishing pots are full, and it's time to start filtering and bottling.

Looking at the forecast today, the next few days may be it for freezing temperatures. Cross your fingers for more cold weather.

[JeffB]

Welcome Fort Wiser the addiction has started all it takes is 1 tap and you have 4 ...start planning for next yr you can never start planning early enough lol.

Just boiled down the 100 gallons of 3% sap. I ended up with 16.5 liters finished and bottled today . Day started out a little rough my storage tank had ice that had to be melted before I could pump it to my feed tank..
4 hours later I was out of sap .
Our yearly total for this yr is 42liter bottled .(more to come with luck )
Weather calls for 3 days of snow rain followed by plus 8 or more with no freeze up in site .
Hope this isn't the start of the end of the season

[DrewCP]

We're up around 400L of sap. It's all between 3.25 and 3.5%. Hardly ran today and don't expect much over the next 3 days due to rain/snow mix with wind and only a high of around 2 or 3*C. Haven't even had a spare second to brick the new evaporator. That'll be Saturday's job after I'm done coaching the young lad's hockey practice. We'll be boiling on Monday no matter what. Then most likely again on Wednesday / Thursday.

[Galena]

Fort, I am probably 5 min drive from you. Feel free to PM me with any questions!

[Fort Wisers]

Fort, I am probably 5 min drive from you. Feel free to PM me with any questions!

Will do thanks!

[Fort Wisers]

Welcome Fort Wiser the addiction has started all it takes is 1 tap and you have 4 ...start planning for next yr you can never start planning early enough lol.

Just boiled down the 100 gallons of 3% sap. I ended up with 16.5 liters finished and bottled today . Day started out a little rough my storage tank had ice that had to be melted before I could pump it to my feed tank..
4 hours later I was out of sap .
Our yearly total for this yr is 42liter bottled .(more to come with luck )
Weather calls for 3 days of snow rain followed by plus 8 or more with no freeze up in site .
Hope this isn't the start of the end of the season

Thanks for the welcome, yeah we're planning the future already! LOL

[Fort Wisers]

Boiling today, never thought watching a pot of "water" boil could be so fun lol

[ashadedacre]

Tree pee, as I lovingly call yellow sap - so long as it's clear and has no off scent to it - is perfectly safe to boil though some like to dump it on general principle. It just means precip in the form or rain or snow has got in with the sap.
Thanks Galena we've come to same conclusion that if it doesn't smell or taste bad it's useable, and patterns seem to be about freakish snow (ahem last night) or sleet ((yesterday) and colour change in bucket . Someone said test boil a bit in a kitchen pot for the dirty sock smell. May try that later when budding is questionable. We're not there yet.

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

[Galena]

Thanks Galena we've come to same conclusion that if it doesn't smell or taste bad it's useable, and patterns seem to be about freakish snow (ahem last night) or sleet ((yesterday) and colour change in bucket . Someone said test boil a bit in a kitchen pot for the dirty sock smell. May try that later when budding is questionable. We're not there yet.

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

Of the approx 1/2 gallon sitting out there in buckets, I've currently got more tree pee than clear sap out there, so no way am I dumping it! It'll be part of batch 4. Hmmm come to think of it batches 4+ usually do contain tree pee...and they all taste really good...;-)

[BrutemanAl]

Hey everyone, been real busy the past week with appointments and so forth, getting old sucks, anyhow I collected 70 L yesterday, everything was running real good yesterday afternoon, I had not collected anything since last Sunday, all afternoon yesterday until bedtime I was boiling what I had, with the 70 L yesterday and the 47 L I collected last weekend, I had some catching up to do, I currently have about 40 L more to go, its steaming away as I type.

[Galena]

Sitting here twiddling my thumbs, trees not liking this weather at all. Great test of patience, good thing I have other projects on the go to keep me occupied!

[Fort Wisers]

Just dumped the last of our preheated sap into the main boil. Nothing left in storage. I'd say we got 30litres total since last Sunday night. And as Gelena pointed out, the tress haven't let go of a drop today. So we'll finish this batch tonight.

[Big_Eddy]

We filtered and bottled for the day yesterday. Was surprised to find about 60gals of sap last night so we have been boiling all day today. Have about 40 gals to go from Friday plus the 60 from yesterday. Evaporation rate seems to be a bit down today. Must be the humidity and low pressure. Can't consistently beat 20gph today even running at 3/4"

[maple75]

We filtered and bottled for the day yesterday. Was surprised to find about 60gals of sap last night so we have been boiling all day today. Have about 40 gals to go from Friday plus the 60 from yesterday. Evaporation rate seems to be a bit down today. Must be the humidity and low pressure. Can't consistently beat 20gph today even running at 3/4"

I am still struggling around here to get enough to boil. I have 30 gallons in the freezer, that's from the first 12 taps a month ago. Haven't got any sap since I finished tapping. How many taps are you drawing from Big_Eddy ?

[Big_Eddy]

I am still struggling around here to get enough to boil. I have 30 gallons in the freezer, that's from the first 12 taps a month ago. Haven't got any sap since I finished tapping. How many taps are you drawing from Big_Eddy ?

180 buckets

[Clinkis]

Collected 250 gallons Friday and Saturday thanks to the vacuum pump. Just finished getting it all RO'd and boiled and was surprised to see sap is running here like crazy. We'll see how long it lasts but will take whatever we can get at this late point in the season. Here's hoping for a strong finish.

[Bruce L]

Just got back from checking one bush,still frozen solid,was walking on ice in the swamp next to the bush. According to accuweather supposed to warm up around 10:00 tonight,might be sap in the morning

[Fort Wisers]

Well, we finished our first little batch yesterday afternoon.....got all of 1.2 liters LOL
As mentioned in previous posts though, our goal was 1 liter just so we could finally say we did it, next year we'll be sizing up for sure.

All in all, considering it was our first year we were happy with how the whole process went.
The only part of our process we found more tedious then expected was filtering, next year this will be different as well!
I'm sure our little production amount has some of you snickering (ourselves included LOL) but we're pleased with our 5 little bottles of gold!

Buckets are still on the trees so we'll see what the next run brings.
Happy sugarin' everyone!

16236

[Lespetras]

Well, we finished our first little batch yesterday afternoon.....got all of 1.2 liters LOL
As mentioned in previous posts
The only part of our process we found more tedious then expected was filtering, next year this will be different as well!

16236

Great job! No snickering here.. we started 3 years ago and our first batch was very similar in size! It's the process that keeps me intrigued. Sounds like you nailed it!

[Lespetras]

So frustrated!
On my 3rd filtering job with one small batch.. I'm almost ready to throw the batch out!
I just don't understand ... it's so frustrating.. the last filtering on this batch took over 12 hours!!

[SRATHWELL]

First year giving this a go. Tapped 7 trees 3/17 and by the time we were able to boil this weekend we had about 95L of sap.....

Built a cinder block evaporator and used a single 14"x19" stainless pan.

Saturday we boiled 35L of sap in about 4 hours making just under 1L of syrup
Sunday we boiled about 60L of sap in 6 hours making just under 2 L of syrup.

Having a lot of fun with family and friends coming over and making a day of it.

Weather looks good for this week so we cant wait to do it all over again next weekend.

[Fort Wisers]

First year giving this a go. Tapped 7 trees 3/17 and by the time we were able to boil this weekend we had about 95L of sap.....

Built a cinder block evaporator and used a single 14"x19" stainless pan.

Saturday we boiled 35L of sap in about 4 hours making just under 1L of syrup
Sunday we boiled about 60L of sap in 6 hours making just under 2 L of syrup.

Having a lot of fun with family and friends coming over and making a day of it.

Weather looks good for this week so we cant wait to do it all over again next weekend.

Nice work! Nice evap rates for a backyard rig, one thing we plan to improve upon next year is our rates....

[SRATHWELL]

Ya the rig surpassed my expectation.

I always had another pot pre warming on the front that would get to a slow boil before I would add it to the pan. I was also firing pretty hard, 4 or 5 wrist sized sticks every 15 to 20 mins.

162401624116242

[ennismaple]

This forecast is about what we want to see - now the trees just need to cooperate! We have waaaaay too much wood left in the shed right now and too many empty drums!

16250

[Galena]

So frustrated!
On my 3rd filtering job with one small batch.. I'm almost ready to throw the batch out!
I just don't understand ... it's so frustrating.. the last filtering on this batch took over 12 hours!!

My last batch of just plain ol nearup, what will soon become batch #4, took forever to filter through too. Don't try to rush it like poking at the filter, stirring etc that will only force nitre through. Just change filters frequently!

[Hkb82]

Well, we finished our first little batch yesterday afternoon.....got all of 1.2 liters LOL
As mentioned in previous posts though, our goal was 1 liter just so we could finally say we did it, next year we'll be sizing up for sure.

All in all, considering it was our first year we were happy with how the whole process went.
The only part of our process we found more tedious then expected was filtering, next year this will be different as well!
I'm sure our little production amount has some of you snickering (ourselves included LOL) but we're pleased with our 5 little bottles of gold!

Buckets are still on the trees so we'll see what the next run brings.
Happy sugarin' everyone!

16236
One thing I can say as a first year person about filtering is get yourself some fabric cone filters that are for syrup and a bunch of the prefilter cones that go inside. Never wring then out. I actually use the pre filters new for final filter then I rinse real good with hot hot water and u use three or four together to filter my sap when I take it of the arch. Really makes the final filtering much faster. I have had what I think is lot of sugar sand (what do I know) this year and in the beginning was having trouble filtering also.

[Lespetras]

My last batch of just plain ol nearup, what will soon become batch #4, took forever to filter through too. Don't try to rush it like poking at the filter, stirring etc that will only force nitre through. Just change filters frequently!

Thanks Susan,
Finally got it clear after 4 filtering jobs! Wow! A lot of work.. but the product is beautiful! On the last filtering job.. there was spoonfuls of sludge on the orlon filter.. yuck!

[JeffB]

What type of filter are you using cone or flat bottom?
If your using a cone filter use 6 pre-filter and make the cone shape like the picture.
With cone filter in this shape you use a lot more area of the filter to filter.
I can filter 20 25 liters @ 190-200 degrees before I have to remove 1 pre-filter.
20 to 25 liters takes about 5 minutes to filter and I have perfectly clear syrup in my bottler and glass bottles after they filled
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[Big_Eddy]

This forecast is about what we want to see - now the trees just need to cooperate! We have waaaaay too much wood left in the shed right now and too many empty drums!

16250

I'm ready for a break. Boiled 10hrs yesterday and today and looks like the same again for tomorrow. Was stealing wood from the house supply today to get through the last sap. Will need to go bring some more down before I can boil today's sap. Would have thought the weather has been too warm, but the sap has been running regardless.

[Lespetras]

What type of filter are you using cone or flat bottom?
If your using a cone filter use 6 pre-filter and make the cone shape like the picture.
With cone filter in this shape you use a lot more area of the filter to filter.
I can filter 20 25 liters @ 190-200 degrees before I have to remove 1 pre-filter.
20 to 25 liters takes about 5 minutes to filter and I have perfectly clear syrup in my bottler and glass bottles after they filled
1625416255

Using the same.. orlon filter and cone pre-filter.. just not as many.
Thanks for pics. May try more filters next time

[Galena]

Using the same.. orlon filter and cone pre-filter.. just not as many.
Thanks for pics. May try more filters next time

Meh, I find those orlon and felt filters just suck up all my syrup cause I make small batches of maybe 4l max. I'll stick with my paper coffee filters! :-)

[Bushfrosh]

ennismaple said it right in the Southwestern Ontario thread - it's crazy the differences across the province. Especially when some of the distances seem so small. Here, we continue to have a great season. After yesterday's large collection of 430L from our 50 buckets, that brings our season total to over 3800L of sap (over 76L of sap per spile!). We currently have made over 82L of syrup and there is likely at least another 10L from yesterday's collection. Haven't heard any peepers yet but maybe tonight is the night for that (I always enjoy that sound and we may even get some Northern Lights on top of it). I have to think our buds will be too big in the very very near future with the current forecast (and they are looking kind of big although there is absolutely no off-taste in yesterday's collection which I am about halfway through boiling).

[JeffB]

Wow I'm 30 minutes northwest of you in Havelock and struggling to get 1300liters of sap from 105 taps of main line system (No vacum)

[Clinkis]

Wow, Yeah I hear ya. I'm pretty much right in the middle of both of you. Collect around 9000L but have 260 on vacuum which works out to around 35L per tap. You must have a micro climate or some supercharged soil to have more then double what I've been getting especially on buckets. And I thought I was doing ok. Good on you if that's the case.

[Bushfrosh]

Wow, Yeah I hear ya. I'm pretty much right in the middle of both of you. Collect around 9000L but have 260 on vacuum which works out to around 35L per tap. You must have a micro climate or some supercharged soil to have more then double what I've been getting especially on buckets. And I thought I was doing ok. Good on you if that's the case.


Yup, that's the case. Just 50 buckets catching the drips, one spile per tree. We tapped Friday, February 17 and the trees have been kind again this year. I can't explain it although it sounds like Big_Eddy to south of us is having some good runs too.

[JeffB]

I will know in 30 miles if my trees leaked out..I'm just about home from Quebec City for the night.... will update in a few hours once I check it out !