New Brunswick 2018

[Marvel26]

Just wondering who has taps out yet?

I missed two great weeks, the last week of January and this week just past were amazing but unfortunately work got in the way. I put 2/3rds of my taps in this weekend ~90ish. The small trees were flowing but the larger ones haven't started pumping yet. I did put 3/16 out on one run which has about a 12% slope....fingers crossed that works as well as the research says it does!

[ronnie 1]

Just started putting our taps in this weekend, got about 350 done another 75 or so to finish tomorrow nothing flowing yet to cold in our area, but things are looking good for next week, at least we'll be ready.

[Maple Lady]

I put four taps in Feb 15th as forecast was calling for ideal temps. I got roughly a gallan of sap just over night from two taps with tubing going to one bucket. The two trees more in the woods didn't do much. I tapped a couple more on the 18th, it was a nice day. Both ran right away but didn't yield alot. I've only emptied the two going to one bucket so far and have 11 litres of sap. Hopefully I won't miss a good run. Last year was terrible. I only have about 20 taps, I will wait until it picks up before doing the rest.

[Big Daddy's Sugar Shack]

I have not tapped yet. Last year I tapped early and feel like nothing ran well. Could have been the year, could have been the early tap... either way family can get together March 3rd to tap, so that's the day 75 taps go in at the woodlot. I might do the 15 around my house this weekend....

Here's hoping for a better year than last year.

Good Luck!

[Marvel26]

I just finished all my taps....well I have been asked to put some in on yet another neighbour's yard so I will put more in in the next few weeks. Almost every tap was giving sap, and lots of it. I only have one run of 12 sugar maples with the 3/16 line and that 55 gal drum is over 1/3rd full! The reds are all giving sap nicely....hopefully the season is long this year.

Maple Lady, based on your location you are not very far away from me ;-)

Rob

[Maple Lady]

Marvel26,
Hopefully this will be a good week. I boiled a very small batch yesterday and my best tree was running like a tap, �� I don't have all my taps out, time factor. Work is really interfering with life,lol. I converted an old wood chief stove to an evaporator for this year, it works better than the old cook stove, but I still need to do improvements to make it more efficient. I wish I could find some ceramic blanket. The shipping is so expensive to Canada. The budget is very limited.

[MarkNB]

Just came in from putting in another batch of taps, about 18 yesterday (Feb 24) all of which were running, then another 40 or so today, not running. Hoping to do 80-90 this year. And I have to agree with those that had a terrible year last year, we did too. Although I heard elsewhere like some places in Quebec had record years. Sure wasn't the case here. Fingers crossed, the forecast isn't perfect, but it does appear there will be cold overnights and above freezing during the day.

[Marvel26]

I just heard back from the land owner with the sugar maples, 12 taps on 3/16th, 2 days of actual running...30 gal of sap so far. If only i had more high slope trees!

[murferd]

Marvel26,
Hopefully this will be a good week. I boiled a very small batch yesterday and my best tree was running like a tap, �� I don't have all my taps out, time factor. Work is really interfering with life,lol. I converted an old wood chief stove to an evaporator for this year, it works better than the old cook stove, but I still need to do improvements to make it more efficient. I wish I could find some ceramic blanket. The shipping is so expensive to Canada. The budget is very limited.
You probably can get ceramic blanket from Briggs Maple in Moncton. I got some in my area from Royal View Maples & they use some of the same suppliers.

[Maple Lady]

You probably can get ceramic blanket from Briggs Maple in Moncton. I got some in my area from Royal View Maples & they use some of the same suppliers.

Thanks for the info, I'll check them out.

[Maple Lady]

Marvel26, That is awesome. Must've done well today too. My trees that weren't doing anything ran a bit today. I think I may have done better already this year than last,lol. I haven't kept records in the past, but have so far this year. I tapped my limit for this year after work tonight. Only 19 taps total,but that's all I can handle it they run good.

[Maple Lady]

Just came in from putting in another batch of taps, about 18 yesterday (Feb 24) all of which were running, then another 40 or so today, not running. Hoping to do 80-90 this year. And I have to agree with those that had a terrible year last year, we did too. Although I heard elsewhere like some places in Quebec had record years. Sure wasn't the case here. Fingers crossed, the forecast isn't perfect, but it does appear there will be cold overnights and above freezing during the day.

How did you make out today? Mine started to run pretty good. Tomorrow looks like it'll be a good one too. I wish I could take all maple season off of work,lol.

[Marvel26]

165 gal of sap so far. That's not a bad start. I will try not to get my hopes up as my Reds are sporadic..

[Big Daddy's Sugar Shack]

All tapped at home and at woodlot. 90 taps in all, most ran well at home in Fredericton, lots of snow in my yard so they are slower than the woodlot tipically. We’ll head there on Saturday and see how we did.

[Maplefrix]

My wife gave me a kit as a gift and I just drilled the two taps into the largest of backyard red maples this morning. The buckets are already collecting sap. I can't believe how easy this is! I need more taps lol.

[Big Daddy's Sugar Shack]

My wife gave me a kit as a gift and I just drilled the two taps into the largest of backyard red maples this morning. The buckets are already collecting sap. I can't believe how easy this is! I need more taps lol.

Good luck! It get harder as the addiction grows. I collected 500L of sap from 73 taps today with the help of my father and father in law. Now I have probably 10-15H of boiling to do. This one week was better than 3 last year!

[murferd]

We started today, it's been hard to hold off until now! We will be ready by Thursday probably, by the time we repair lines, replace drops & get tapping done. Too much snow to run any new black branch lines this year. We usually have the warm early weather, then it turns cold for awhile, hopefully that won't happen this year.

[Maple Lady]

I'm really surprised that the trees are producing during these past few days of clouds and wind. It's not full tilt, but still better than last year. I have surpassed last year as well. I'm envious of the folks that can evaporate so much sap so quickly, compared to my small amount that takes a looking time.

[murferd]

Weather has delayed things this week, hopefully finish repairing & tapping today. Replacing drops & tees is time consuming. Probably could run a bit later today, but lots of cleaning to do before we save sap.

[Big Daddy's Sugar Shack]

I am working on my second batch. First batch boiled last Saturday came up to the right temperature but now seems thin in the bottle. I seem to remember my first run in previous years was a bit thin and really light like this too... lower sugar content or should I bring it up to 221+ vs the 219.5 or 220 I usually shoot for?

[Marvel26]

If you accounted for atmospheric pressure it should be good. Light syrup is common on a first run, you should have your highest sugar content in the first few weeks of sap collection. The complex nature of syrup colour, taste, clarity from batch to batch are incredible....search it on this site when you want some light reading material ;-)

Try this App the next time you finish a batch: https://www.saptapapps.com/ it saves boiling water for an hr while getting your thermometer calibrated.

I bring mine over temp (thicker than syrup) in the evaporator, let it settle for a week, decant it into my finishing pot, bring it to temp and thin it out until the specific gravity is spot on, then bottle. Way faster during finish.

[Big Daddy's Sugar Shack]

Cool App. Thanks for the site info. The second batch went much better and is significantly thicker at 220, as I am used to. Makes sense too according to the site you shared as it says my temp goal is 118.72 according to my location.

Thanks!

[murferd]

All tapped, boosters, releaser & tanks cleaned. Started saving sap around 6 last night, shut vacuum off around 8, probably got 150 gallons. Today looks good, who knows about the rest of week!

[murferd]

Had a good week! Finished boiling our last sap until after this cold spell passes. We bottled twice yesterday while still had enough heat in the shack. We're up to 40 gals, great start. Kind of nice to have a couple days break, has been a busy week.

[Maple Lady]

That's awesome! I'm glad to have the little break too, however, I am much much smaller scale than you. Looks like they may pick back up in a couple days looking at the forecast. Hope the next run is just as good for you.

[Big Daddy's Sugar Shack]

Had a good week! Finished boiling our last sap until after this cold spell passes. We bottled twice yesterday while still had enough heat in the shack. We're up to 40 gals, great start. Kind of nice to have a couple days break, has been a busy week.

Good stuff. We had a great week too, freezing up on the weekend caused its problems and ended up boiling from 5:30am Saturday morning to Sunday morning at 3:30am trying to get the batch finished in an uninstalled shack. My wife officially thinks I have lost it, but, in 3 weeks we have done 42L of finished syrup which is way better than last year.

Happy for a break like the rest of you, but excited for the next weekly collection on Saturday.

Filled one of your old bottles the other day Murray, from when we visited many years ago with friends... glad to hear things are off to a good start for you guys.

[Maple Lady]

I pulled my taps March 31st. What sap I had was yellowish and only 10 litres so I didn't keep it. Best year for me. Any others done for the season?

[murferd]

It's an awesome year! We've got sap coming out our ears this week, tanks are pretty well overflowing. Sugar content seems down a bit, so makes for more boiling.
Got 129 imp gallons so far & looks like quite a bit more to come. Thinking we will get to next weekend, probably able to go as long as wood lasts.

[Maple Lady]

It's an awesome year! We've got sap coming out our ears this week, tanks are pretty well overflowing. Sugar content seems down a bit, so makes for more boiling.
Got 129 imp gallons so far & looks like quite a bit more to come. Thinking we will get to next weekend, probably able to go as long as wood lasts.

Glad to hear it! Making up for last year. Hope the wood holds out.

[Marvel26]

I am pulling my taps this weekend....final tally is unknown yet but it looks like my best year yet!

[Big Daddy's Sugar Shack]

Has been very busy here. We have bottled nearly 90L of syrup, most recently this weekend it was very dark and so we will likely be pulling our taps this weekend also. If we keep having years like this I will need to add some air flow and pay closer attention to the wood (size and dryness) as my efficiency was not very high.

[Marvel26]

Well, I am not sure what the 2018 yield will finish out at yet, but the total so far is 13.5gal of heavy syrup. By heavy, I mean i run it thicker than syrup so i can dilute with the semi-syrup in the pan.

My best year yet!

[murferd]

Finished up last week, had a great year! Got 194 imp gallons, 2nd best year. Now onto the cleanup.