Mt Washington Valley Sap Report 2017

[n8hutch]

Made 2 gallons of Dark Syrup last night, it was pretty close to Amber Rich, I'm sure it will lighten up next week, seemed like lots of sugar sand . Looks like I've got a few Days to get the rest of my Taps in. Nothing like some warm Syrup samples right off the filter tank. That never gets old.

[Jpitreau]

We have about 300 gallons in the tank. Gonna fire up tomorrow. Cant wait! This warm spell definetly helps with getting some thngs in order around the sap house and with the trees. Glad to hear you made a little syrup nate!

[n8hutch]

Tapped another 100 today, it was hard to get motivated to go out side this morning with the cold/wind/and snow squalls . I think i can finish up tomorrow, laterals are getting shorter. I can now walk under some lines that I was stepping over 2 weeks ago. At least I can travel on top of the snow now. Still 2 feet deep in the shady spots.

Got My Deep cycle Batteries for the sap guzzler Friday and built a Ice Trap/ Debris screen for the pump with a 4" sch 40 T fitting, and a clean out cap. Also mounted a vac gauge and a valve just after it. Can't wait to try it out on Tuesday.

[Ian MacMillan]

Very nice Nate. Our boil this past Thursday looked like it was going to be Amber but ended up Dark..

Hoping to get a few more taps out tomorrow before what looks like a few runs this coming week.

Ian MacMillan
Wakefield, NH

[BAP]

Let us know how the Guzzler works out. I assume you got the 12 volt version? Did you buy it directly from Bosworth or threw a dealer?

[n8hutch]

I Bought the Guzzler Direct from Bosworth, Had it in 24 hrs, I Hooked it up to 2 Interstate Deep Cells Battery's. I tried it last night Dry in my Garage and it was pulling 20". I think they pull better with liquid in them going to hook it up at the woods this afternoon.

[BAP]

If it's like my Shurflo pump it will pull more vacuum when pumping liquid. Be interesting to see how much.

[n8hutch]

Hooked my pump up to the mainline tonight, to my surprise the vaccum went up to 20 pretty quickly, no sap flow so still froze up tightly integrated guess, hopefully my system is tight will know better tomorrow I guess. Fingers crossed.

[Jpitreau]

250 gallons today. not too bad.

[n8hutch]

I'd say that is pretty good, I only got 25 gallons. Trees must not have thawed enough. I guess that's the difference between woods trees and headge trees/field trees.

[n8hutch]

Got My Vaccum pump going good today, it was pulling about 25" when I left sap is still not coming in that fast but hopefully it picks up today. Included a couple pictures.

[n8hutch]

Got to my sap tanks yesterday afternoon, found the vaccum down to 5" found a few leaks and got the vaccum up to 14", feeling kinda perplexed so went back up the mainline & found a 3/16 lateral with no sap in it followed that to the end and found where a critter had chewed off the line completely, actually chewed the latera's off from 4 trees right at The Drops, plugged the line with a end of line fitting. Went to the bottom and I was pulling 26.5" hg

Checked the tanks this morning looks like I have about 325 gallons. Hopefully it's not Frozen when I get out of work. Still pulling 26.5" this morning.

[n8hutch]

Sap has been trickling in this week, still no great runs, hauled 325 gallons last night. Vaccum has dropped off a little been steady at 25" , I think I have some trees that have finally thawed but are not producing sap because the root systems are still frozen and I'm thinking that lowered my vaccum. Hopefully a good run today, and maybe tomorrow with the low pressure coming in.

[Jpitreau]

thought we would do good today. Maybe 35 gallons of 200 plus taps. 52 degrees and sunny right now at 530pm. on a few trees are dripping in the direct sun. kinda bummed out!

[handtapper]

I expected more also. I have like 200 gallons from the whole week so I'm boiling off now. Sugars down too... maybe the rain. I was at 3% all year this week was 2%. Hoping for better luck after the storm, Sunday and monday look stellar

[MapleCamp]

My trees did pretty good today noon to 7pm was great. Tomorrow does not look good on forecast but you never know. Got something to boil anyway. I'm a bit NW of mt Washington on Cabot Mt.

[Jpitreau]

I checked my weather station graph and we only hit 31 degrees for about an hour this morning. I can't tell if some of my trees are too cold or not cold enough. looks like tonight is gonna be a little cooler. fingers crossed

[n8hutch]

I checked my weather station graph and we only hit 31 degrees for about an hour this morning. I can't tell if some of my trees are too cold or not cold enough. looks like tonight is gonna be a little cooler. fingers crossed
That's a bummer, I came home at 4 to find the vaccum back down to 10", up the hill I went, luckily the leak was only 100 ft off the mainline so I could hear it damb critters chewed the line again , found a hollow tree on my way down so I pulled that tap, vac is back up to 26", hard to say how much sap I lost but I collected 200 Gallons.

Great to hear from some other northern nh sugar makers, let's all hope we have 2 more weeks.

[n8hutch]

200 gallons Friday, 14" of snow today. Sounds like good sap weather the next 3 days,then it's anyone's guess,

We are hosting our first of what hopes to be an annual "Sugaring off Party" tonight 5 to 10 pm, hopefully we get a good turn out. I've got 500 gallons of sap to boil and plenty of snow for Sugar on snow, also ice cream & syrup, I made a batch of Homemade maple ice cream that people generally can't get enough of. So hopefully we get a good crowd

[Jpitreau]

started off good today. everything was dripping pretty early. not much collected at 5pm. we have about 300gallons in the tank. I'm thinking that it's about over. maybe leave the taps in for the rest of the week and see what happens. you never know!

[n8hutch]

I got 400 gallons Sunday, 450 gallons Monday and 250 yesterday. Hoping for another 250 today, did notice vaccum was down to 23" this morning so I'm wondering if a few holes have dried up. Going to try & chugg along through the warm spell first of the week and hopefully get some more sap next weekend. Sugar content is terrible but I will boil whatever I get I'm still making light syrup and the sap is clear.

[Jpitreau]

Nice that you are getting some sap. Boiled down about 4 gallons of beautiful syrup last night. I was surprised how light it was. Next year we are gonna do something on vacuum. Maybe I could check out your setup Nate???

[n8hutch]

You are welcome to check it out anytime, I Helped the Burkes in North Conway setup a small vaccum pump it's similar to a shurflow but a different brand pump , it was like 80 dollars at camping world. There getting 22" with it on 110 taps the other day they got 175 gallons.

My setup is about a half mile before hurricane mtn rd on the left. You can check it out anytime or swing by the house in the evening. Donny has my #.

Glad your still making light syrup, I got another 450 gallons today including yesterday's so I have 600 gallons to boil tonight . Going to be a late one, sad part is ill probably onlyou get 10 gallons of syrup out of it. but I'm not going to complain.

[n8hutch]

Made 12 gallons of Dark Robust last night, sap is still coming in clear this morning, 175 gallons over night. That put me over 60 gallons for the year. Hopefully I can weather the warm spell and get to 100 gallons, only time will tell.

[abbott]

Made 12 gallons of Dark Robust last night, sap is still coming in clear this morning, 175 gallons over night. That put me over 60 gallons for the year. Hopefully I can weather the warm spell and get to 100 gallons, only time will tell.

Hey Nate, are you boiling again tonight? I'm going to catch up with my sap this morning, then I'd be interested to come over and see your rig in action.

[n8hutch]

I think I am going to hold off & boil Friday night, it is supposed to rain pretty steady tonight and my steam hood doesn't work all that well on rainy/heavy air type days.
Your welcome to come by Friday night.

[n8hutch]

Had 325 gallons in the tank this afternoon, sap seems to be running pretty hard now compared to this morning. Going to leave the vaccum pump on right through this warm spell and see what happens, the one gravity line is have that goes straight into the tank is even running. I haven't had a freeze since Monday night.

[abbott]

I don't blame you for that. I'm definitely glad I boiled this AM - just a very light mist - the rain started to pick up as I was shutting down.

[n8hutch]

Full tanks this morning, I really think that half of my Trees are just thawing out. Looks like Saturday night may be the last freeze and a light one at that.

[n8hutch]

Made 8 more gallons last night, sap is still clear syrup is Dark Robust, lots of "mud" in the filters , I've never made any very dark maybe this is the year. Syrup pan is getting a much needed cleaning then back to boiling tomorrow.

[n8hutch]

Made 12 gallons today, had 800 gallons of sap in 48 hours, it was running really good at 10am , vac pump holding at 24-25" sap is still clear I'll be it as long as you don't let it sit. I'd definitely surprised if we make it past Tuesday but only time will tell. Still lots of snow but it doesn't look like a freeze in sight.

[Jpitreau]

Finished up yesterday. About done over here. Average season for us. You gonna boil tonight Nate?

[n8hutch]

Yeah I'm going to Boiling tonight for sure. Probably get started around 6, should have about 500 gallons.

[n8hutch]

Got home at 4pm today to find the Tanks overflowing, vaccum at 24" still, got 550 plus gallons since noontime Sunday. Still flowing good right now, made 5 gallons Dark Robust tonight , sugar content at 1.2, I really need an RO for next year. Going to try and make it to the weekend, it's 37 now at my house, just took a ride to town and it was nearly 50°. So hopefully I can hold onto that cold air.

[MapleCamp]

Good going Nate, you got a bit more snow than us, my runs are just a trickle now. I am bout out of wood anywho. We are in clean upand bottling mode. Good luck

[n8hutch]

Thanks, got another 400 gallons today, think I might try to hang around for the rest of the week, the tree buds are still looking good out here. I just wish the sugar content was better, maybe next year. I think it's going to Freeze Thursday night and Friday night. Still 2 feet of snow in the woods where the water isn't running. Glad the vaccum is holding at 24" because I really wouldn't want to slog up the hill looking for leaks again. Boiling tonight, really wish I had an RO

[n8hutch]

300+ gallons today, Diaphragm finally gave up on the Vac pump today it was only pulling 5" when I got home, changed it out quickly probably 10 minutes hooked it up and was back up to 26" in 15 minutes, I'm thinking that I may have had a few pin holes in the pump because I was pulling just 24" prior to the change. Diaphragm clearly ripped from Fatigue. I would say it had about 400 hrs on it. Thats not so bad, now I need to order a few spares,

Looks like a freeze Thursday and Friday night so we'll see what I get, the buds are definitely larger on the soft Maples but the Sugar Maples are nice and tight, still shooting for the weekend.

[BAP]

That's great that you are still going. Pretty impressive on the number of hours that the pump diaphragm lasted. How are you doing on your syrup total?

[n8hutch]

Syrup total is pretty poor, just about 85 gallons, sugar has been around 1.2-1.4 all season, I've boiled more sap than ever. I'd be happy if I hit 100 gallons at this point.

I really like the Guzzler pump for what I was using it for, I'm sure it's not as good as a traditional wet/dry line system on 5/16, but as a 3/16 hybrid setup it's hard to beat.

[n8hutch]

Got 450 gallons of sap today can't remember the last time we had a freeze, supposed to freeze up tonight, going to boil a little bit on the stove to make sure that the sap isn't buddy.

[n8hutch]

About another 450 gallons today, it was 23° this morning, looks like a freeze tonight, about out of wood, going to boil what I can and call it a season. Broke my sap hydrometer so not sure about the sugar content, but I know it's not great.

[n8hutch]

Got another good sap flow today, but it's just running on the ground, sugar content is around 1% or less and I'm not really into burning a chord of wood for 6-7 gallons of syrup. Made 2 gallons of Very Dark last night that had great flavor. Probably 6-7 gallons of syrup in the evaporator, that should get me to 95 gallons of syrup.

[Jpitreau]

definitely made some dark syrup with that sap. flavor was great though!

[n8hutch]

Started pulling taps tonight, got 255 done in 2 hrs, hopefully finish up tomorrow night.probably boil out the evaporator Wednesday night , pulling the taps with the vac on is great virtually no sap remaining in tubing. Almost no snow left in the woods, I swear some of my taps were at 8' plus, now I know why the sell those really long tap pullers at Goodrichs.

[n8hutch]

All my Taps are pulled finished up last night, counted 450 taps total, that's 100 less than I thought I had , that's fine with me, makes me feel better about my syrup total, although it was still not great. Lots and lots of Deer tracks in the sugar woods. I don't know if that is a good or bad thing.

[n8hutch]

It has been a slow start to the season here in Chatham. But everything came together for Maple Weekend which was Great. I had probably 4-500 people visit the Sugar house this weekend. It was good Family Fun Day For All. It was also my first 2 Days of Boiling in My New Sugar House. I saved Sap all week and I had sap to Boil and the R.O. running all weekend. I enclosed a Few Pics of the Sugar house. Hope everyone Had a great weekend.

[n8hutch]

I also Made 25 Gallons of Syrup this weekend so hopefully I can still manage a 100 Gallon Season

[GeneralStark]

Great looking sugarhouse! I like that live edge siding...

You must be loving that RO.

I think you'll go until May this year.

[n8hutch]

Thank you General, yeah The RO is probably the Best investment I have ever made, Save my wife's engagement ring. I also bought a Hood and Pre Heater from Leader this year. Once you get these things it doesn't take long to figure out why people buy them.

[Parker]

Has it been to cold to run yet? Do you have vacuum? Nice looking set up.

[n8hutch]

I live on the East side of Hurricane mtn most of my trees only get the morning sun and about half of them are in a mixed forest with lots of Hemlock. I was way behind as far as being ready to tap presidents week like I normally do, I didn't finish tapping until the 15th. It was my first true sugar house build and it took a looooooong time to say the least. I may be looking for a Barrel of syrup this summer if you don't dump all yours on the Packers this spring.

[n8hutch]

I do have vac on 500 taps. And 100 on gravity, didn't get the taps out that I had hoped. Got about 650 gallons today, I think i could go until the 15th of April possibly, that's about my average end date.

[n8hutch]

Made about 15 Gallons of Syrup last night in a couple hour boil, took my 2% sap to 10% in one pass. Sure was nice to be in the house at 10. Sap was running good this morning.

[n8hutch]

Had about 800 gallons last nite, turned that into abou 13 gallons of syrup. Vac was at 22" this morning, that is the best I've had all season. I'm thinking a fair amount of trees finally thawed out. I'll take it anyway. Next week looks good.

[n8hutch]

Made another 9 gallons tonight put of 650 gallons of 1.2%,
Had a pretty good scare at the First Draw about 15 minutes into my boil, about the whole syrup pan was syrup and I had a hell of a time getting the syrup in the first channel to make it's way to the Draw off point.I was drawing off 5 points heavy, I can't believe that it didnt burn on, I disconnected the float box and let it fly in. That the closest call I've ever had. Of course there had to be 10 people there watching me sweat lol. I think I have 2 weeks left looking at the weather.

[MapleCamp]

I think I have about 10 days left here, gonna be tight on the wood supply, been my longest season in a while. Sounds like your having fun, your new sugar house looks great. What kind of RO did you go with?

[n8hutch]

I think I have about 10 days left here, gonna be tight on the wood supply, been my longest season in a while. Sounds like your having fun, your new sugar house looks great. What kind of RO did you go with?
I went with a CDL 600 non expandable unit. You really can't beat the price , it really is a nice machine. Now I just Need to get more Taps out next year. I got another 600 gallons of 1% sap yesterday out of my 400 tap main line.
I would have probably called it a season if it wasn't for the RO.

[n8hutch]

Processed another 900 gallons last night, made about 10 gallons of syrup. Bucket trees are slowing down a bit but sap is still coming in.

[n8hutch]

Put another 900 gallons through the RO, turned that into 10 gallons of syrup, sugar content came up a little, about 1.3. I'd say that there is close to 5 gallons in the Bottled too. Going to try and get through the week and see how it goes, looks like it's may be too warm at night after Wednesday. But time will tell. Anyone else still going near bye? Sap wants to run but I still has ice in the laterals at noon time, hard to get a good run when ot only thaws for 6-7 hours.

[n8hutch]

500 Gallons Today, going to hold it until Tomorrow, the Vac is at 23" that's the best I've had all season, Finally found all the Leaks I guess, those hollow Trees are pesky. Going to try and keep it going until Thursday I think.good luck to those still going.

[NhShaun]

Good to see you're still making syrup Nate, and lots of it ! I collected 140 gallons yesterday and 85 today off my 280 taps. Boiled down about 120 gallons tonight, same planned for tomorrow and Thursday after work. Then time to pull the taps. Ive made close to 25 gallons so far this season, almost out of wood.

[Lensman]

I was just down at Fuller's in town this week and we were discussing that the season up here has yet to really get going, a few days here and there but it has spent more time frozen solid that the sap hasn't really run. I'm new but I got the feeling that the next week+ is the season up here.

[n8hutch]

Hey Lensman where are you sugaring this year? How many taps you got, I hope you get some good weather up there.

[n8hutch]

Had about 850 Gallons tonight, sap is still around 1.2-1.3, Filled a 15 Gallon Barrel with Very Dark Syrup. Sap is Running Great but I can tell it's getting close to the End, Pulled the Plug on the 100 here at the Sugar House but I'm going to collect the others for a few more days.

[Lensman]

Hey Lensman where are you sugaring this year? How many taps you got, I hope you get some good weather up there.

Up in Lancaster, we have about 50 taps on buckets along the driveway but plenty more trees so I have been moving them around when they dry up. Made a little over 5 gallons on a barrel evaporate and RO bucket so far since the end of Feb with several more gallons that is still sap, haha! It has been a brutally cold spring, especially not having a shack, just under a car port from home despot....

[n8hutch]

Sounds like you are earning every Last Drop up there In Lancaster, I Boiled outside with some friends one year must have been15 years ago or more but it was fun, we only did it on nice Days.

Almost 500 gallons yesterday on 375 taps. Vac was off this morning some how a battery got disconnected over night/Broken wire. Still sap was running hard when I hook the pump back up.

[n8hutch]

Got about 400 gallons yesterday and made another 10 gallons of Very Dark last night, double passed my 1% sap and was getting it up to 16%, flow rate was way down on the second pass , maybe 5 gallons per minute total, sap was warm too 52° coming into R.O. on the first Pass, kinda neat to see it go that high.

Syrup is Very Dark But still tastes Good, going to collect whatever I get after this last cold Snap and Call it a season I think.

[n8hutch]

Sap was running hard this morning, be curious what's in the Tank after work today. The weather really looks pretty good for sap the rest of the week, may stick it out until Friday. Sap is clear, even the gravity stuff is running good.

[n8hutch]

Tanks were almost full last night, even with a ripped diaphragm on my guzzler, fixed the Guzzler got the vac back up to 22" and went up in the woods looking for leaks.

Found 3 latterals with plugged T's, couldn't really find any substantial Leaks. Stoped at the Tanks this morning and there was another 350 gallons there from overnight. I'm certain it will be overflowing at the end of the day.

The end is definitely in sight.

[Parker]

What was plugging the t's? How did you notice the t's were plugged?

[n8hutch]

These were 3/16 laterals and it just seemed like there was little or no movement in the lines . The plugging material looked like mostly shavings, which leads me to believe they have probably been plugged for awhile unfortunately. I had been kind of disappointed in the amount of sap i was getting some days and was certain it was from being a couple inches down on vac from last year. But now it's clear that I was probably not getting any sap from 75-8 taps. I always walk my lines looking for lines that are running "too" fast checking for vac leaks. I just need to be looking for slow moving lines better I suppose. I will say all my 3/16 tubing looks nice and clean .

[n8hutch]

700 gallons today from my remaing 475 taps, 375 on vac and 100 gravity. Made about 12 Gallons of Syrup tonight, terrific night for a boil and had some good company too. My sap is still clear but I think I may not have a freeze again until Saturday night so I may be done, going to leave the vac on for a few more days and see what I get.good luck to those guys still going.

[MapleCamp]

Im jealous , I wish I was still going. Im out of wood anyways. Hope you get another good run.

Jay

[n8hutch]

I can't help with the wood I'm running low myself. I haven't had a freeze since Monday night and I'm still getting sap.ive told the wife 5 times that "This is the last one" lol she'll get over it. Got another 550 gallons today, looks good and tastes good so I'm crunching it down to about 40 gallons. That seems crazy when you think about it, that should turn my 1% to about 15%. I may just be foolish and hang on until Monday afternoon. Syrup is Very Dark But it has had great flavor.

[NhShaun]

Surprised you're still getting sap and making syrup nate. You're season totals must be getting up there by now! I burn through my 4.5 cord or dry split slabs and called it a season last week. Best season so far for me.
I may have to take a ride up and check out your sugar house if you're accepting visitors.

[n8hutch]

I should be around pretty much all day Saturday and Sunday until noon.your welcome anytime really. I'll probably just be around doing next year's wood for the house and I might pull the 100 taps in the yard here. Made 5-6 gallons tonight still good syrup but it's starting to smell a bit Earthy around the Sugar house when your boiling.

[n8hutch]

Boiled off my rig Sunday morning, made about 15 gallons of Very Dark syrup. Sap was still running but it was getting pretty nasty looking in the tanks, need to setup a system next year for cleaning the woods Tanks . I just didn't trust the sap to keep that well on these 60° days we are having. It was a good season over all but I definitely think I missed probably the first 3rd of it. My first book was March 26th and the last was April 19th. Maybe next year I'll be ready in time. Haha, now it's off to Pull taps nights this week, I think I was in the ballpark of 550-600 taps but I generally do a much better job counting when I pull them. I desperately need to get more taps out next year.

[n8hutch]

Well here comes the 2019 season, I've got 250 drilled and 500 or so to go, the snow is deep, feel like I complain about it in every post. I think I've gotten about enough sap for the releaser to dump 1 time lol, its looking alot like last year when my first boil was maple weekend.

A few guys around here made a little syrup that first week of February but that's about it, I think that I'm still at least 4 or 5 warm days from any real sap runs. The trees are frozen below the snow line and they have significant snow around them, I think that the rain and warmth on Friday will really help get things going.

[n8hutch]

I've got 550 tapped, about 200 to go, I'm not going to get to 1000 taps this year but that's ok, the snow is getting more manageable ,unless its really warm then you go right to your waist. I've got about 250 gallons in the woods tank. At this point I'd be happy if I had sap to boil maple weekend. I'm kinda iffy on even that happening. I hate the thought of boiling Raw sap but I guess that I could. Best of luck to everyone else.

[BAP]

Nate, good to hear you are making progress. Maple Weekend is always such a crapshoot as to wether or not there will be sap to boil and if the weather is nice enough to get people to come out for it.

[NhShaun]

The snow sure makes it tough to get around when it starts melting. Every 3rd step is a post hole. Still managed to get about 200 taps out last weekend. It ran a little yesterday and looks like today is going to be a good one. Trying to reach my goal of 300 taps this year. I'm actually glad I dont have much sap, I was too swamped to make it around to any other sugar makers for maple weekend last year.

[n8hutch]

Hey Shaun glad to see that your still at it. Bap your right there is not always sap to boil on maple weekend, some years I have boiled the sweet from the flue pan in my syrup pan and boiled water all day, people like to see it run.

[n8hutch]

Maple weekend is in the books, I had a good turnout, sold some syrup and cream and sugar, went through 7-8 gallons of maple creemies, I think that alot of people came out for those, got an interview from a local paper right in the middle of things yesterday, it was alot of fun, some people traveled 150 miles to come out and see the sugarhouse,I assume that they visited others too.

I was boiling raw sap, that was kinda hard on the wood pile, I got about 1gpt yesterday that is my best run yet, hopefully get some real sap coming soon. Also finally got to use my 7.5" leader air powered filter press, that was like a dream come true, no more flar filters for me.

I let the vacuum pump run out of gas over nite and to my surprise the sap was dripping out of the releaser at 6am this morning, so I started the pump and went to work.

[n8hutch]

Sap really ran good on Tuesday I got 700 gallons, yesterday I got 500 but some of that was from Tuesday night, washed the syrup pan and ran the sap pan through the filter press and rinsed the sap pan, it really needs a good scrubbing maybe I can get to that tonight.

I had the R.O.recirculating while I was cleaning up the Sugarhouse, once the concentrate was up to 5 I cranked up the pressure on the R.0. And started sending it to the head tank. At 400 PSI I was going to 15% and flowing about 1 gpm.

Made 22 gallons in 3 hrs so it was a pretty good night, I noticed at the end of my boil that my condensation pipe was dripping right back into the flue pan so that wasn't helping much.

Up to 60 gallons, grade lightened up but it's still dark.

[n8hutch]

Sap ran ok yesterday, I got 500 gallons, its running pretty good now looks like I could have a good week next week possibly.

[NhShaun]

You made in 3 hours what takes me all season ! Jeeze I gotta upgrade my pans next year. Looks like a good week ahead for your area in Chatham. The temps in wakefield seem to be around 33 + every night so I think today will likely be the last run for me. I'm about worn out at this point anyway

[n8hutch]

So I went to a friend's house and boiled with them last night, they have a 2x4 and are hobby sugaring, it was alot of fun had a few too many boiling sodas so I didn't haul sap last night. So the Tank was over flowing this morning, oh well I couldn't have lost much, but it still seems foolish.

Got at least a week left.

[n8hutch]

Sap is running hard today, 100GPH the best of the season, going to try and get through the weekend and see what happens. Only 1 freeze in the forecast after tomorrow but we all know how good that forecast is.

[n8hutch]

Sap ran the hardest of the season today, 600 taps over flowed an 800 gallon tank in 7 hrs. Looks like one more big day tomorrow and then no more freezes, I'll go until the vacuum isn't pulling it anymore.

[MapleCamp]

I too will leave the pump on until she pulls no more. Lets hope for a good last day. I think I will beat last year it just took 2 weeks longer. Looks like I will miss the worst of the mud. Good luck all I hear a fat lady singing.

[n8hutch]

I had 1300 gallons to boil today from Friday and this morning, made 20 gallons of very Dark syrup with great flavor, another 500 gallons came in today, I am not sure of the quality it was awfully warm, but it was a good bit colder in the woods with all the snow cover, I'll test boil some in the morning and see what it tastes like. I'm at 140 gallons .

[Parker]

Been following your season with interest..glad you are getting some goods runs here at the end..good luck!

[n8hutch]

Thanks Parker, Good luck to You, I had to wrap it up last night, Syrup was still good but very Dark, Wife reminded me that I had promised that we could go on a family trip during her April vacation, I was thinking it was next week, but everyone knows what thought thought, so I turned the pump off last night. And boiled out my rig, I ended up with 155 gallons. Ironically I got nearly 400 gallons of sap today with the pump off, must be my 3/16 lines still producing. I told a buddy he could have it although it is just 1% and he doesn't have an R.O.

Good luck to everyone still going.

[n8hutch]

Hauled my last load tonight, I got 200 gallons from 6pm yesterday to this afternoon. Its pretty yeasty, I was on a family trip for the last 6 days , went to Washington DC with the family. Went out through southern Vermont, out to Binghamton NY ,on rt88,then over to Waverly NY and down through Pennsylvania to Gettysburg, it was a nice ride, on the way home we went up through Hanover ,Hershey, over to port Jervis and up through to lake George then back to vt, it was about 100 miles longer than going through NY city but we saw some nice towns.

Probably missed out on a fair amount of sap but it's hard to say really, it was still coming in decent today with the pump off. But I now have the pans soaking in nasty sap and hopefully they will be nice and clean in 8 weeks.

[n8hutch]

Well 2020 is here I have been making some improvements this season
Sold my 4x8x4 CDL woods Tank and Replaced it with a 5x12x50" LaPierre Tank. Last season the CDL tank would overflow on good runs before I could get home from work.

Replaced my 600 gallon permeate tank with a 1000 gallon bulk tank that was my sugarhouse sap tank and purchased a 5x10x4.5' tank from CDL for the sugarhouse. Stuck the bulk tank out through the wall and trimmed around it so now the sugarhouse is secure. Will post a picture if it will work

Just purchased a Gast pump 2567 with a 1.5hp for my 150+ taps at the sugarhouse and A new LaPierre electric releaser to go with. This system will have lots of Ladders so I figured that the electric releaser was the best route even though it's such a small orchard.

Just took Delivery of a CDL modulating Auto Draw. I always said that I thought an autodraw was a waste of dough but I seem to boil alone alot more these days(what does that say about me) and it can get pretty busy firing with wood and make 10 or more gallons per hr.

Finally this weekend in the frigid Cold I am going to attempt to put up another 1500' of Mainline in an attempt to shorten Laterals and get more vacuum to the taps.

Hopefully all these improvements will make for a little more enjoyable and productive sugaring season. I have enjoyed everyone that I can remember in my 38 years.

I have been trying to be more involved or atleast present at our NH Maple Producers meetings. They really do a great job promoting Maple in NH. It amazes the amount of time a handful of people put into the association for everyone else's benefit. If your not a Member of your state or county Association you might want to consider it. They really are there for you weather you are in Maple for Sport or to make money they make it easier for us.

Looking to start Tapping around the 20th, good luck to everyone who takes time to read this , and everyone who doesn't.

[MapleCamp]

Impressive upgrades. Im just about ready to tap but will wait to 1st week in march. Good luck with the main line today, I wrestled with some yesterday at -1 was not to cooperative. My biggest addition this year is tracks for the quad what a difference . I also trimmed my laterals to 5-7 per and more main line. Good luck this season

[Dundee Ridge]

Nate, Are things running much over on the East side of the hill? Gallon per tap or more over on this side the last 24 hours.

[n8hutch]

Haha, not much sap to Report on this side of the Hill, mostly because I haven't drilled a tree yet. All my lines are repaired and ready to go, going to start tapping tomorrow. I went on a snowmobile trip last week. Probably missed a little but I doubt much, still lots of snow and ice over here.

[Dundee Ridge]

I’m south facing on a steep hill, so mine go early.

[n8hutch]

Finally got everything Tapped in the Mtn and sap is running good, took 3 days to do the tapping which would have been fine if I did it 2 weeks sooner. Will have my first boil tonight I'm guessing about 1200 gallons of sap maybe more. Some taps ran all night last night and some froze, I have about 600ft in elevation change I think in my orchard so it can be different top to bottom. So I have 600 tapped and maybe I'll get another 200 in for next weekend at the sugarhouse.

Still well over a foot of snow in most of the sugarwoods, and my yard for that matter. But wayyyyyyy less than last year.

[n8hutch]

I've gotten about 2gpt over the last 48 hrs, sap is still running but slowly maybe 25 gallons per hour. Was going to boil tonight but my vacuum was down to 20" when I got home from work. Maybe due to 3 nights w/o a freeze? Anyway I found some leaks/ hollow trees and got the vacuum up to 26". While getting a load of sap I watched the releaser cycle and immediately noticed that I only had 20" on one side, looking around I noticed that the tank was out of level maybe an inch , inch and a quarter. Pretty hard to level a 3/4 full tank of sap so I leveled the releaser up , and Bingo what do you know it stopped leaking and pegged just over 26"
So when the tell you that your releaser needs to be level to work properly they ain't lying. Atleast with a BHR.

Going to be a little late to boil tonight so I'm going to wait and boil tomorrow night. Probably have a pile of sap if it freezes up tonight like its supposed to. I'm not working Friday so a late night tomorrow will be just fine.

[n8hutch]

Good freeze last night, trees are just thawing out. I'll have 1300 gallons to boil this afternoon. 28 gallons so far.

[Russell Lampron]

It's good to see that you're getting some sap Nate. It's been running pretty good here, even through the warm spells. Good luck with your season.

[n8hutch]

Made some Nice Dark Syrup yesterday afternoon, had a few visitors, up to 51 gallons made for the season. Probably not going to warm up enough to get much sap today, it was 8° this morning

[Russell Lampron]

It was 15* here this morning and I'll get some sap, I just don't know how much. I turned on the vacuum pump when the temp hit 28* and went down to check the releaser. The sap was just starting to trickle in from the trees in the sun. I made some nice dark yesterday too.

[n8hutch]

I've got maybe 400 gallons of sap since Sunday afternoon, most of it is frozen solid, finally got my Gast Pump/electric LaPierre releaser setup at the sugarhouse and 2 sap Ladders built.

My 4 year old daughter came out with me this afternoon and helped me tap about 80 trees, it was the most fun I have had tapping in quite awhile. Probably another or 70 taps or so left and I'll have all the trees tapped I'm going to get this year. Should be at about 775. The next few days should be good for sap but it looks like a cold weekend.

[Russell Lampron]

It looks like it's going to be a cold weekend here after a high of 66* in the forecast for Friday. The overnight lows don't look good after the weekend. It could be the end of the season for me. It should be prime weather for you guys up north though.

[n8hutch]

Sap ran all night even though the temp hovered right around 30°, I'm thinking that it was because of the low pressure system coming in, 1.5 gallons per tap or better in the last 24 hrs, best run of the season so far. Should have nearly 2000 gallons to boil tonight.

[Dundee Ridge]

Sap ran all night even though the temp hovered right around 30°, I'm thinking that it was because of the low pressure system coming in, 1.5 gallons per tap or better in the last 24 hrs, best run of the season so far. Should have nearly 2000 gallons to boil tonight.

Last night was my best run too. My main collection point (96 taps) collected over 150 gallons from 5 pm last night to 6 am this morning. My color had moved to dark last weekend, but last night I was drawing off Amber again from sap collected earlier in the week.

[Russell Lampron]

Sap ran good overnight here too. Wasn't planning to but I'm boiling again tonight.

[n8hutch]

Marginal sap run today.
Still wasn't coming in good at noon time and vac was at about 27" so I decided that I must have a vacuum leak and it froze the main. Turned the pump off and loaded my transfer Tanks, took maybe 20 minutes. Turned vacuum pump back on and after about 30 seconds that ice let go. All I can say is wow, that double releaser dumped every 5 seconds or less for what seemed like 5 minutes, the first chamber was within a half inch of the top and that thing was just hammering away. I cannot believe that nothing failed. There must have been 50 gallons built up in the line above the ice jam. Never seen anything like it.

I had a few Folks stop out at the honor system today and get some syrup. I was thankful to get the ones I did. I think that I have 2 weeks left. I'm at 92 gallons.

[Russell Lampron]

I didn't get much of a sap run here today either. I didn't get enough to boil tomorrow so there won't be any steam for the last day of maple weekend. Most of our friends that are coming are coming tomorrow and it will be easier to talk if I don't have to worry about the evaporator too.

[Dundee Ridge]

We didn't get a lot today either, but had plenty to boil all day and still have a lot to do tomorrow too. We are at 25 gallons from out 150 taps. No idea how much longer our season will last.

[n8hutch]

10" of snow overnight, trees are just starting to thaw , forecast looks promising .

[n8hutch]

Had about 1300 gallons of sap last night.
Made 15 gallons of syrup, forecast looks great should get sap just about every day, 122 gallons so far.

[n8hutch]

Good run yesterday, should be running good today, probably have near 1800 gallons to boil tonight. I have only had 1 little yeast bubble so far, going to clean the tank and releaser tonight and try to go 1 more week atleast. I'll go until the sap is bad.

[n8hutch]

Ended up with about 1500 gallons to boil last night, sugar has come up a bit and I surprisingly made 23 gallons of syrup last night. Cleaned woods tank last night and went down this morning with things froze up and cleaned the double vertical releaser. Sap is coming in clear and hard although it is noticeable when the wind gusts its almost like the lines pause for a second.

Last nights boil went smoothly, very little foam in the syrup pan, which I attribute to we started putting the defoamer directly in the sap pan rather than the sap pan float box, I noticed the last time I cleaned my rig that a bulk of the defoamer seemed to be hanging up on the sides of my float box.

I am getting very little niter devolving on my syrup pan, I made pretty near 40 gallons flow the same way through the syrup pan and I cant feel a bit of niter on the bottom of the pan. Earlier in the season the niter was horrible.

Still hoping to go atleast one more week. I'm at 145 gallons, I would really like to hit 200.

[Parker]

Keep pushing, you will get it!

[Russell Lampron]

Are you supposed to get any below freezing nights up there this week? Friday's freeze was the last one here and there's no more in the forecast.

[n8hutch]

They got me at 32° tonight, 27° Monday night and 25° Tuesday night, I had a modest freeze Friday night, it ran decent yesterday but not like it should have if it really froze good, I think that the upper part of my woods probably didn't freeze.
My tap holes are only about 5 weeks old and I am using CV2s so I shouldn't have an issue there. Better than half of my woods still has 6" of snow.

[n8hutch]

Temperature has dropped to 35° I am getting a mixed bag of snow ice and rain , for some reason my vac dropped from 26+ to 20 so up the hill I am headed. Hopefully I dont have to go the full 4000'. Murphy almost always wins.

[n8hutch]

Had 1200 gallons to boil tonight, that had came in since 3 on Saturday afternoon, Made 13 gallons of syrup. just went and gassed up my vacuum pump and the sap was really flowing in good in tonight's snowstorm. Supposed to freeze tonight. I will know for sure in the morning.

[n8hutch]

Very light freeze last night. Maybe an hour at 31 , only pulled in about 400 gallons on 725 taps , hauled it home and cleaned the woods tank up good, hopefully we get a good freeze tonight and it will run good again until Saturday when we are supposed to get our next freeze. Still some snow in the woods. I am at 158 gallons.

[abbott]

Very light freeze last night. Maybe an hour at 31 , only pulled in about 400 gallons on 725 taps , hauled it home and cleaned the woods tank up good, hopefully we get a good freeze tonight and it will run good again until Saturday when we are supposed to get our next freeze. Still some snow in the woods. I am at 158 gallons.

Keep after it, Nate!

I'm surprised you didn't get colder. I had a good freeze here, and I'm usually warmer than what the forecast says it will be. I'm thinking a couple more days... the taps are drying up, the sugar content is terrible, and the woodpile is almost gone. I have no plans to hold out hope for another frosty night this weekend.

[n8hutch]

If I made as much syrup as you steve I would have quit last week. No probably not. Well as predicted we got a good freeze and the sap is coming in good and clear. Unfortunately the forecast has warmed up a bit and it may not freeze on Saturday anymore. Only time will tell. I wont turn the pump off until the sap stops coming in

[n8hutch]

I've got about 1.5 gpt the last 48 hrs, sap is definitely slowing down, it is still coming in good and clear. This might be the first year in an long time that the sap quality is good but we are done because of a lack of Freeze. Most years I am worried about Tree buds but it's not looking like that will be the case this year.

I'll have 1500 gallons to boil tonight. Maybe the Last big boil of the season.

[Russell Lampron]

My season usually ends because I run out of weather, not buds or off flavors. It looks like the fat lady is warming up her vocalizer!

[n8hutch]

Made 15 gallons of Very Dark last night. Still making good syrup, pumps are still on, sap is still coming. Going to try and hold on a few more days.

[n8hutch]

I've got 500 gallons of .75% sap in the last 36 hours, still no yeast bubbles or off flavor, shut one vacuum pump off, going to keep the one at my 625 tap woods going for a few more days, looks like a good freeze Tuesday night and maybe a freeze Monday night.

[n8hutch]

Boiled off my flue pan in the front/syrup pan, boiled today's sap in the back pan just in case the flavor was off. I got 12 gallons out of the flue pan. Puts me at 185 gallons. Pump is still on, going to keep it running through tomorrow for sure, supposed to get a freeze Monday and Tuesday night. We shall see.

[n8hutch]

Tanks are clean, releaser's are clean, looks like I could get a few freezes this week and possibly some snow. This is the last Of it for sure. Going to try and make it to Saturday.

[n8hutch]

Well I am all done collecting sap, it is still trickling in but it has been so warm the last few days that it is more or less spoiled when it gets to the releaser. I will boil out my rig tonight, should end up with 195 gallons. It was A quick season here 4 weeks I think.

[Russell Lampron]

I'm glad that you had a good season. How was the grade? Mine was mostly dark with some borderline very dark. It's the first time that I haven't made any golden or amber since 2013.

[n8hutch]

I made mostly Dark syrup, I think that I made 25 gallons of Amber rich at the beginning of the season. I was running my front pan shallower at the beginning of the season and I think that helped me make lighter syrup. But I had a draw with my new new auto draw that at one point I could literally see some stainless on the bottom of the pan and I decided that I needed to run it a little deeper. As soon as I did that I went to Dark grade. It could be a coincidence, but last year I was only able to make 10 gallons of Amber Rich so I suppose I did improve.

Made near 50 gallons of Very Dark. But that's ok , I think the Dark stuff sells better anyway. To me the Golden Syrup is more useful as syrup to make a value added product. Very few people ask for it anymore. I guess being Fancy ain't as Cool as it used to be.

[Jpitreau]

I'm your dark syrup guy!

[BAP]

Sounds like you had a good season for how short it was. How does your total compare to previous years?

[n8hutch]

That's the most syrup I have made , but it was also the most taps I have had out, as far as syrup per tap it wasn't great. I had a year a few years back that I made 120 gallons on 300 taps w/o Vacuum. I had 725 this year. Maybe next year I'll get to 1000.

[n8hutch]

Well here we are 2021, the world is Upside down but here in Chatham Nothing has changed, I still strive "lol" to be the last one tapped and this year will be no different.

The Arch is in the middle of a rebuild, I haven't tapped a tree, can't keep up with syrup orders, and last week I went Snowmobili g in the County. I think I can be ready to boil by Tuesday. Good luck to ya'all with your seasons.

[Russell Lampron]

It's good to hear from you again Nate. If things up there are like they are down here you haven't missed anything yet.

Good luck with 2021!

[NhShaun]

Always good to have a little fun before the season kicks off, eventually it will be here. I just started tapping yesterday so you aren't too far behind me. Glad the weather is colder for the weekend, it bought me some time to get stuff ready. Hope it's a good season up in Chatham. I will likely be heading up to check on my property, perhaps I'll stop by and say hello.

[n8hutch]

Drive by that lot frequently. I haven't noticed any activity. You are welcome at the sugarhouse anytime.

[NhShaun]

Drive by that lot frequently. I haven't noticed any activity. You are welcome at the sugarhouse anytime.

Glad the property hasn't had any squatters yet. I am hoping to build a small A-Frame cabin there before Chatham gets caught up on modern building codes and restrictions.
I will let you know when i'm heading that way and hopefully it works out for a visit, It's been quite a few years since I've seen your operation.

[BAP]

You haven’t missed much yet. I know what it is like to be under the gun with an arch rebuild. I reworked mine earlier this winter to improve it and the first boil Monday, it didn’t work, so I am using this freeze up to make more improvements. Looking for reports from you that you are having a great year.

[n8hutch]

I have about 400 tapped, not getting squat, 27" at the sugarhouse small orchard, and 22" at the big not finished tapped, and some leaks. Its just been too cold, Friday, Saturday nights were both bow zero, Sunday through last night in the teens. Going to take awhile to thaw out, trees have ice frozen to them at the snow line. Ill be ready when the real sap comes.

[Parker]

Keep after it!

[n8hutch]

Ive got about 600 tapped and the Arch Put back together, somewhere near 1000 gallons of sap to boil, might get to it tomorrow afternoon, ive got maybe 150 left to tap tomorrow. I cut back a bit on my taps a little. Trying to only run 2 taps on trees over 24" and 1 tap on the rest.

[n8hutch]

Ive Made about 5 Gallons of Syrup, got all the Taps in and the Vacuum is good, hoping for a good weekend of Sap, only time will tell

[NhShaun]

Nice to have 5 gal made, glad you got your taps in before April haha. Weather looks great this weekend for both of us, hoping for a big run. I can't have another record low syrup yield season. The buds haven't budged but the weather next week looks frightening down here.

[n8hutch]

I'm pretty Certain that I will survive the warm up, if it was later in the year like April 10th then no way. But its still March and the Trees haven't had enough time to do their thing.

[NhShaun]

You've got a point there, you buds are usually a week or so behind mine down here. Hopefully the predicted temps drop a bit so we can get another week or two. I could use a little break, so a few nights without collecting buckets and boiling sounds nice, especially after these 45 hour work weeks lately.

[Russell Lampron]

The temperatures that I have been getting so far have been lower than what has been predicted and hopefully that trend doesn't change this coming week. If it's the same for you guys in other parts of the state there is hope.

[BAP]

Same here as Russ reported, temperatures are tending to be lower than predicted, so hopefully it doesn’t warm up as much as they are talking about later this week and sap keeps chugging along.

[n8hutch]

Made 20 gallons tonight. Getting close to 50 for the season, still a foot of snow in the woods, quite a bit colder in the woods, my Hemlock shaded Maples did finally Thaw yesterday. Hopefully a few weeks to go here in Chatham. Anyone seen an Abbot Post?

[n8hutch]

Had 1600 gallons to boil today, made 30 gallons of Syrup, it was a great day, probably had atleast 300 visitors. Sap is still running surprisingly well considering it hasn't Froze up since Tuesday. Hopefully get through next week. I am not getting that Funky sap smell or making very Dark Syrup. There's still some time left for me I think. Just over 90 gallons made

[BAP]

Good to hear Nate. Calling it quits here. One tank still running good but it is down to a very dark strong flavored syrup and I really don’t need too much of that. Plus, sugar content dropping.

[Russell Lampron]

I'm surprised that it's been that warm up there too Nate. I hope that the weather cooperates and that you can keep going for a while. I'm done here.

[n8hutch]

Thanks guys, made another 10 gallons today, sap is running well surprisingly in this hard rain, looks like a hard freeze 20° Monday night, if that works out i could get another week. Strange year for sure, knocking on 100 gallons. Sold my evaporator yesterday, nice guy from Vermont wants it mid summer. Looking at getting a true Gasifier. Going to be Hard to decide on which one.

[n8hutch]

Got another Gallon per tap today , really quite remarkable since it has been 5 consecutive nights w/o a Freeze. Sap looks good, no yeast bubbles like yesterday's, washed the tank in the woods too, going to Boil tomorrow night for sure.

[n8hutch]

20° on the nose at my place this morning, I think it froze up around 10pm, sap tested 1% yesterday, curious what today will bring .

[Parker]

How far along are your soft maple buds. Good luck with the rest of your season! Keep us posted on your sugar content

[n8hutch]

The Big soft Maples out in town(Fryeburg) are like the size of a quarter, but the ones out in Chatham where my taps are on woods trees are more like dime, they are not too concerning to me yet. Not talking about you specifically but I think people get wayyy to excited about the soft maple buds, they are much different than a sugar maple and the fact that they are so visible gets people excited , I don't get too nervous until I see the red flowers( if you will) start falling to the ground.

[DrTimPerkins]

...I think people get wayyy to excited about the soft maple buds,...

Agreed. Some people suddenly realize that trees even have buds at this time of year. Soft maple (flower) buds seem to have little impact on syrup flavor. By the time you can discern sugar maple buds swelling, the season is over. Our season typically ends due to flow stoppage rather than buddy off-flavor.

[Russell Lampron]

I agree, I've tapped mostly reds since 2005 and I've never made buddy syrup. Until this year I have been one of the last producers in my area to call it a season. In 2012 the season pretty much ended in the 2nd week of March and most of the producers around here had called it a season. I kept going until the 21st and could literally see the flowers opening on my reds as the temperature went into the lower 80's. The sap was miraculously still running and was loaded with bacteria. When I boiled it it didn't smell bad but the bacteria gave the syrup a bitter almost molasses like flavor and it had a strong aftertaste with no bud taste. The reds generally just stop running before the leaf buds pop.

[n8hutch]

Had 500 ish in the Tank when I got home from work, and the sap was running at 50 gph, there was alot of sap line "Garnish" lol in the bottom of the Tank from the freeze thaw. Gave the tank a quick scrub and headed back to the sugarhouse to boil. Sap tested 1.2 and the 700 gallons from the previous day was still good so I started the R.O. and started boiling the 1200 gallons. Over flowed my 1000 gal permeate tank about 5 minutes before the R.O. ran out of Raw sap, I call that a win . Loaded the firebox for the last time about 20 minutes later, Made 15 gallons of Very dark ,11 on the Hanna meter. Syrup still tastes great, no funky smells. 112 gallons on the season. Probably my best boil tonight, started at 7 and done at 9:30. I'm going to push through atleast this week as long as the sap quality cooperates, I am thinking that it should be better quality tomorrow now that the lines are cleaned out.

[Parker]

I always go to the bitter end..much later than anyone else I know of or read on here about...and most years I make at least some buddy syrup,,Bascomes always buys a barrel of 2. Dr. Tim,,how many soft maples do you tap? All I remember seeing in Underhill are hard maple.
Red maple buds break, once that happens you get a buddy taste. Sugar maple buds will turn bright green, once that happens you make buddy syrup. Be for the red maple buds break they become very big...
I'm going to be touring northern N.H, V.T, and may be the Golden rd and the Big 6 when I'm done here,,,I was wondering how far people were from being done. How far buds are along helps me gauge that. With the poor crop I'm sure many people will make many bbls of buddy off flavored syrup..
Hope your season continues to go well

[n8hutch]

Parker, Judging bye when we closed our snowmobile trails around here, and when they closed up to Pittston Farm area I would say they are 10-14 Days behind. Me here In Chatham. Lots of New sugarhouse operations Up there , one that is quite large and hard to miss on the Golden Rd maybe 20 miles west of where the Northern rd meets the Golden rd. I was up there in November and June, I like the big woods. Also I am certain that you know your tree buds and what buddy sap is. I was speaking in General, I have made Buddy Syrup once years ago when I was tapping with some friends in North Conway

[DrTimPerkins]

Dr. Tim,,how many soft maples do you tap? All I remember seeing in Underhill are hard maple.

About 1/3 of our total taps (5,400) are red maple. Prior to the mid-1990s very few red maples were tapped at PMRC. The "Main" bush (the historical production area here) is 90% sugar maple. The "Red Series" bush is 50:50. The "Martin Block" bush is about 40(red):60(sugar). The "New" bush area of about 1,100 taps is about 50:50, and will come online for spring 2022, bringing us to about 6,500 total taps. We probably have another 500 taps here and there from ingrowth, so will likely max out at right around 7,000 taps. There is one other section of woods that is remote, no power, with 250 taps or so which we do a little research in, but don't collect the sap from.

[Parker]

Dr Tim, wow,,I don't remember seeing any when I was there years ago, but, I was distracted by one of your co workers. I am curious, you say soft maples flowering don't make buddy sap?

[n8hutch]

I got 1gpt today of 1.4 % sap, crunching it through the r.o., its coming into the r.o. at 49°, wont hold up long at that temp. It is pretty clear sap, a Few yeast bubbles. I'm going to boil it tonight.

[Tmeeeh]

We turned the vacuum pump off on Tuesday two days ago. We made .45 gallons of syrup per tap. We usually make .5 or a little more. The season started late and ended early making first syrup at the end of February usually we make syrup through the first week of April. We tapped the last week of January. We re tubed about 1/3 pf our woods this past summer. Following best practices with tubing and pipeline in the woods paid off this year. We saw SSC around 2% until last week when it no longer froze at night, then a slow decline in SSC to around 1.4%. We tap 90% sugar maples. The flavor went off, sap got slimy and the syrup got lighter two days ago so we stopped even though the sap was running harder than ever.

[n8hutch]

We turned the vacuum pump off on Tuesday two days ago. We made .45 gallons of syrup per tap. We usually make .5 or a little more. The season started late and ended early making first syrup at the end of February usually we make syrup through the first week of April. We tapped the last week of January. We re tubed about 1/3 pf our woods this past summer. Following best practices with tubing and pipeline in the woods paid off this year. We saw SSC around 2% until last week when it no longer froze at night, then a slow decline in SSC to around 1.4%. We tap 90% sugar maples. The flavor went off, sap got slimy and the syrup got lighter two days ago so we stopped even though the sap was running harder than ever. sounds like you had a good season.

[n8hutch]

500 gallons last night. It was supposed to freeze Hard and did so I left it in the woods 15° at the house this morning, probably very little sap today. Need a day off anyway. Back at it tomorrow, try to squeeze 1 more week.

[Parker]

Hold the line!!!!!!!

[n8hutch]

Froze hard again last night, brought the releaser home and cleaned it up good, buy did it need it. Put it Back on and now it leaks more than it did before. Guess I've got some Work to do there. Saps running 50 gph thinking it might clear up but there is alot of Gunk in the lines. Going to try to make it a week.

[n8hutch]

Hauled 700 gallons home and boiled it this afternoon, filled another 15 gallon Barrel, the sap is still running good and clear, although my clean tank has some white line Garnish settling out on the bottom. Definitely have a few more days here, going to drain my rig tomorrow and give it a quick scrub a dub dub, the flu pan is about as dirty as I have ever seen it. Its strange because I am not getting that much syrup pan Niter.

[n8hutch]

Got about another 1 got today. Sap has cleared up, tested 1.2 this evening. Was going to boil tonight but it would be a late one, probably wait until tomorrow evening when I can start earlier. Hiked to the top of the mtn and found 3 leaks total. Got the vacuum back up close to 26" , got a few days left atleast. But the old lady is definitely warming up chords.

[NhShaun]

Hope you get a couple more days in, sounds like you've been getting nice runs lately. I'm calling it quits after tonights boil, Boiling raw sap and collecting with a 2wd atv is wearing me out.

[n8hutch]

I believe tonight was the last Boil , had 900 gallons of 1% , trees have really slowed down. Made another 12 or so gallons tonight, probably boil out the flu pan tomorrow night depending on what comes in tomorrow.

[n8hutch]

Let the vacuum pump run out of Gas Tonight. Sap was still coming in clear but there just isn't enough of it to make it worth while. I will boil out my rig tomorrow night . Probably finish up with 175 gallons. If anyone reading this has a barrel or 2 of NH amber rich I am looking for some. I'd like to pay 2.50 , I think that is a fair bit better than the big guys. Shoot me a PM.

[BAP]

Nate, check your inbox

[n8hutch]

2022 here we come, ive got my wood in, my new Evaporator setup and 200 taps in, going to try and get the rest Tapped this week. It's been cold around here. I'd post some pictures but it won't let me Upload. Good luck to anyone following with your season.

[Russell Lampron]

Good luck with the new season Nate. I'm helping a friend in PA this year and it's been cold here too. It looks like it will run on Tuesday and Wednesday and then freeze up again for a couple of days. It was originally forecasted to be cold all week.

[Parker]

Good luck!

[n8hutch]

I've got about half my trees tapped, I went on a snowmobile trip the last 3 days needed a break. I've got 25" of vacuum but no sap coming in, wife Said it's been cold. I'll be ready when it really starts to run.

[n8hutch]

I've got 3000 gallons to boil tonight, trees are running good, weather looks good here through the end of the month, and beyond. I'll keep my fingers crossed 🤞

[NhShaun]

That should keep you busy for a little while. Crazy what a difference there is in weather between your location and mine. It's only a 1.5 hour drive.

[Russell Lampron]

It's good to hear that you're getting sap Nate. I hope that you have a record season.

[n8hutch]

Took me 5 hrs tonight to Boil in the 3000 gallons, after about an hour and a half I started making syrup, this was my first boil of the season, and on my new rig. I made 20 gallons of Dark Robust , it is froze up here now so hopefully get a good run the next few days. I was going about 27-30 minutes on average between firing, and evaporating 125-130 GPH I am happy with that. I am sure I can squeeze a little more out of it once I get used to it.

[NhShaun]

I would be very happy with those kind of boil rates. How does that 5 hours for 3000k gallons compare to your old rig? It would take me 150 hours to boil that much sap off with my little rig and an RO. What did you get for a new evaporator anyway? I wish this site would let pictures to be posted still.

[Russell Lampron]

I would be very happy with those kind of boil rates. How does that 5 hours for 3000k gallons compare to your old rig? It would take me 150 hours to boil that much sap off with my little rig and an RO. What did you get for a new evaporator anyway? I wish this site would let pictures to be posted still.

Nate's signature shows that his new evaporator is a 3x10 Intensofire. It's a real nice evaporator for making a lot of syrup in a hurry.

[n8hutch]

I've been making some great tasting Dark Syrup, starting to get used to the Intensofire. Last night I went almost 35 minutes between firing and was able to maintain my target stack temp of 725°, at 8% the syrup just comes off steady. It is unbelievable how much easier it is to boil alone when you only add wood 2 times an hour. Anyone hear from Parker Lately?

[BAP]

Great to hear

[Russell Lampron]

Haven't heard from Parker lately but he did post a couple of times when he tapped and after he got started.

[NhShaun]

Glad to hear your new setup is working well and making the process easier. Having to add wood every 15 minutes really takes up more time than you would expect, i would be happy to cut that number in half.

[Russell Lampron]

Glad to hear your new setup is working well and making the process easier. Having to add wood every 15 minutes really takes up more time than you would expect, i would be happy to cut that number in half.

I was lucky to have my son in law fire my evaporator. He did it every 5 to 8 minutes depending on the type of wood. It gave me the time to tend to the other things that needed to be done.

[NhShaun]

This past weekend i entrusted that task to my girlfriend while i worked on other things around the sugarhouse. I got a lot done and never had to worry about burning syrup, this was the first season I have ever really had any help. After 6 seasons of using buckets to fill the pans i finally had the time to set up a 100 gal head tank with a valve on the wall next to the evaporator. Pumping it up from my truck tank and never having to handle a bucket was a huge upgrade, and almost felt like we weren't doing anything.

[n8hutch]

I still have A guy that likes to fire the Evaporator for me but he doesn't make it everynight, had A big run today , got Over 2000 gallons of 2% in the last 48 hours. I only ended up with 800 taps this year. So I'll take a sap run like that. Made just over 40 gallons of Syrup tonight. Off to bed now got to be at work at 6am

[n8hutch]

Made 27 Gallons today. We had an open house, lots of visitors came through. We'll over 100 Gallons on the season, think I Amat about 120. We have an open house tomorrow too, so I'll spend the whole night making Maple Sugar and bottling syrup.
Had a friend come this year and setup her mini Doughnut machine. All I can say is yumm fresh mini Doughnuts and warm maple syrup or maple sugar is unreal.

[n8hutch]

The vacuum pumps are getting a much needed break and the releasers a good scrubbing. We had a great open house weekend with lots of visitors. Maple Sugar was very popular and I need to remember to make more for next year. I feel like we are kinda in the final stretch of the season, if we get some rain I think I could go 2 more weeks, but if it stays dry I probably only have a week left. It's getting dry in the upper part of my woods already, and it seems to me in the past when the woods gets dry the sap flow gets slow, freeze or no freeze. Good luck to everyone else

[n8hutch]

Sap finally let loose last night, 2 GPT over the last 24hrs, the trees at the sugarhouse are still running good too. They usually quit a week before my main woods. Got atleast another week I think.

[MapleCamp]

Yesterdays run was great, nice and clear. Today ran good but getting cloudy, smells fine and hanging at 2 %. Looking at the forecast I think 2 maybe 3 more runs. Might be my best and I missed the February run.

[n8hutch]

Yesterdays run was great, nice and clear. Today ran good but getting cloudy, smells fine and hanging at 2 %. Looking at the forecast I think 2 maybe 3 more runs. Might be my best and I missed the February run., that's some good sap you are getting, my last few runs have been 1.2-1.3%, I've got a few days left I think. Might hold on to Friday. Curious what the rain will bring. Made about 15 gallons last night on 1300 gallons of Sap.

[MapleCamp]

Yesterday I dropped to about 1%, run slowed a bit but still very clear, buds are swelled pretty good . Sadly I think today is it for me, can't wait for it to be over , but sad to see another season in the books. Good luck with the rest of the season Nate.

[NhShaun]

Hauled in my last 80 gallons of 1.3% sap last night and boiled that off. Just need to cook down what is left in the pans and ill be done with maple for the season. The buds are getting real close here and no nights below freezing so i guess that's it. Better luck next year folks.

Going to take a stab at tapping a few birch and making some of that.

[n8hutch]

I hung it up Thursday night, Vacuum pump got really noisy the last few days, thinking I am loosing a bearing. Was still pulling 27" but ot was really loud. Made 240 Gallons on 800 taps. I'm pretty happy with that, I didn't Tap until the 5th or so of March. Going to boil out my rig tomorrow and start working on next year.

[Russell Lampron]

I'm glad that you had a good season. I hope that the vacuum pump is a cheap fix.

[BAP]

Not bad for the length of season you had. Good luck on your pump repair and getting ready for next season

[BAP]

Did you make syrup this year? Missed seeing your posts like you have done in past years.

[NhShaun]

I was wondering the same thing.

[n8hutch]

I'm still at it Making syrup. My life is a bit of a zoo with Young kids and a Busy "Real Job" 2023 was kind of a lousy season for me, this year 2024 has Been good so Far, I've only made 80 Gallons but the Sap is flowing hard and I Have fresh tap holes, I've got 900 tapped & 25" of Vacuum. I got a late start tapped my last 250 on Saturday. because I was putting up more 1" Mainline. I've got up 7000 Feet of Mainline now and it definitely helps with the shorter laterals.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

I'm still at it Making syrup. My life is a bit of a zoo with Young kids and a Busy "Real Job" 2023 was kind of a lousy season for me, this year 2024 has Been good so Far, I've only made 80 Gallons but the Sap is flowing hard and I Have fresh tap holes, I've got 900 tapped & 25" of Vacuum. I got a late start tapped my last 250 on Saturday. because I was putting up more 1" Mainline. I've got up 7000 Feet of Mainline now and it definitely helps with the shorter laterals.

Good to hear from you Nate, give it hell!

[n8hutch]

Got 2000 Gallons of 1% over the last 48 hrs, I was pretty happy with that I think the trees have only had about 10hrs a day to run, and Wednesday was quite windy, the syrup is Dark but on the edge of Amber. Hopefully the sugar comes up we have what looks like a 4 Day Freeze.

[n8hutch]

Sap is running good today. I would say I have 2 weeks left looking at the forecast, 108 gallons so far. So I hope I get the days. 2 feet of snow in the woods now, it's hard going on the snow shoes.

[n8hutch]

Made 22 gallons today, had 40 middle school kids come bye for a tour and a few lessons, also had a group from the local senior center come over in the afternoon. It was a great day in the sugarhouse. Sap is running hard tonight, I'd say nearly 100 gph. We will see what the tank says in the morning. Sugar is back up to 1.5% it was 1% last week, got inspected by the department of Agriculture today nice woman named Janice, she checked 2 bottles of pints, one dark and 1 amber, the Dark was a bit on the heavy side but the Amber was spot on. We also discussed grading and there is no Grey area as far as grading goes, if it's a 49 and tastes like amber you still should grade it as Dark robust, although their is a 4 point +/- variation in the Hanna so I don't think you would get too much gruff as long as you are within 2-3pts.

[n8hutch]

Gusher overnight, 2 GPT of last 24 hrs. Going to keep it & boil Friday night.

[BAP]

Sounds like you are having some good runs and making up for a later start.

[n8hutch]

Thanks Bap, it's been really good lately, I can't believe how hard it is running despite not a freeze for 4 nights, still coming in around 75 GPH, made 50 Gallons of Dark Tonight. 46 on the Hanna, great tasting Syrup. I am Heading to buy some more Barrels in the Morning all mine are Full.

[n8hutch]

Still chugging along in Chatham. I think that I have about 1 week left looking at the forecast, might get 10days. Sap is a bit cloudy today but I think it should clear up tomorrow with the cooler Temps returning. Should go over 200 gallons made tonight.

[n8hutch]

Pulled in another 1000 gallons today, sap cleared up a bit, I really washed my Tanks up good & the Releaser. I should freeze up tonight & be frozen all day tomorrow I think. Going to hold on for as long as I can. Maybe a week left .

[n8hutch]

Hauled another 1000 gallons of sap today, tested 1%, the Sap is running as hard as it has all season. The Sap has that late season haze to it coming into the releaser but it looks mostly clear in the tank. There's definitely a few yeast bubbles and some moths around. Looking at the forecast I have 5-7 days left. Should have over 3000 gallons to boil tomorrow. Too bad it will only make about 33 gallons of syrup. Thankful for the R.O.

[MapleCamp]

I think this is it for me , I'm also at a cloudy 1% . pretty much just getting the permeate now for the shut down and clean up. Good luck with the rest of the season.

[n8hutch]

I think this is it for me , I'm also at a cloudy 1% . pretty much just getting the permeate now for the shut down and clean up. Good luck with the rest of the season. are you running an R.O., I remember when I wasn't and it sure takes awhile to make any syrup at 1%. I hope you had a good season MapleCamp

[MapleCamp]

are you running an R.O., I remember when I wasn't and it sure takes awhile to make any syrup at 1%. I hope you had a good season MapleCamp

Yes a single post 4 by 40 that I put together, crunches it to about 10%, a bit slow , but I'll fix that before next season. Still saves me a bunch of fire wood.
Good luck with whats left of the season.

[n8hutch]

900 gallons of just under 1% sap today, we'll call it 9% sap. I'm going to boil it in tonight, probably be about 70 gallons after R.O.ing, made about 35 gallons last night. Going to make some Eclipse Syrup tomorrow night, should be worth an extra 50%.

[n8hutch]

I decided to forego the eclipse boil and hold off until tomorrow, I got maybe 1000-1100 gallons in the last 24 hours, we had a great freeze last night but I think the trees are just done. It has already slowed considerably so I think that tomorrow may be the last day I haul sap back to boil.

[n8hutch]

Sap was really slow this morning, I'm going to leave the pump on for today. But it will definitely get turned off tonight. Buds are still tight but the highground is drying out and the tap holes have had it.

[BAP]

What is your season total and how does that compare to past seasons?

[n8hutch]

Sap actually ran better yesterday than I expected and I was Able to haul about 500 gallons home and boil it In with the other for a total of 17 gallons made last night and 267 so far this season . The vac pump is still on but only 150 or so gallons came in overnight so unless it picks up today I am done. I will boil out my rig tonight & start cleaning up.

As for totals I didn't tap the small woods at my sugarhouse so I am at somewhere between 850-900 taps this year. I am hoping to get a more accurate count when I pull taps. I think I will finish up with 280 gallons, that's pretty good considering how late I Got started first boil was pretty late March 12th, I definitely missed the early sap, my sugar content was lousy all season , best I saw was 1.6% and my average was probably closer to 1.2. I did add alot of Mainline to my woods this year 3500 feet of 1", it definitely helped alot & I will Add some more this summer to try and get every lateral under 100'.

[BAP]

What did end up with for season total? How does that compare with past years?