done for the year

[steelguy]

I have had enough :):D
had a fantastic year , made 39 gallons total.
ended up taking 48 gallons sap to make 1 gallons syrup.
sap is still running , but I have more than enough to give away and I do not know if I will be able to sell all of the extra , so it is time to stop.
first year with using 3/16 gravity , had 50 taps on it and I loved it , much easier than lugging 5 gal buckets.
until next year!!
good luck to all.

[michael marrs]

i am thinking this will be my last week here in Flint area, It was fun, but am getting burnout now. I do not tap at home, so it requires me to be here at the site for generally 10 hr days, well 6 weeks of that is enough

[sugar daddy 1]

We'll be done this week as well, over 60,000 gallons of sap, over 1600 gallons of syrup made. What a great season.

[steelguy]

We'll be done this week as well, over 60,000 gallons of sap, over 1600 gallons of syrup made. What a great season.
now THAT is what I would call a GRREAT season!!!
good job

[steelguy]

i am thinking this will be my last week here in Flint area, It was fun, but am getting burnout now. I do not tap at home, so it requires me to be here at the site for generally 10 hr days, well 6 weeks of that is enough
yep, five weeks was plenty long enough for me

[Mark79]

That was a Great season! Last year I started late and wasn't ready for it to be over but this year I can happily say I'm done. Still have 25 gallons of concentrate to finish. :) With my taps still pumping out sap like crazy I came up with this little trick to prevent wasted sap flowing onto the ground along with bug infestations and will pull once the taps are dried up and flow is stopped.18326 Anyone know of any negative to doing this?

[Lethalbowman]

I pulled the last of my taps yesterday. Don't want to risk having the local bears tearing up my bag holders. It's been my best season yet but I need some down time now.

[Lethalbowman]

18327
The woods are all theirs now.

[Mark79]

18327
The woods are all there's now.

I would call it a year too if I had those in my area. Lol.. I only have coyotes but they can make you a little nervous collecting at night when they get a kill and howl/bark like crazy. I see signs of them checking out my buckets all the time.

[Greenthumb]

That was a Great season! Last year I started late and wasn't ready for it to be over but this year I can happily say I'm done. Still have 25 gallons of concentrate to finish. :) With my taps still pumping out sap like crazy I came up with this little trick to prevent wasted sap flowing onto the ground along with bug infestations and will pull once the taps are dried up and flow is stopped.18326 Anyone know of any negative to doing this?

If it builds up too much pressure the tree might explode. Just kidding

[Gardootz]

I am also done for this year. It is still flowing and looking at the weather forecast it looks like it is going to be a good week to have the sap flow. But my schedule these next 2 weeks I do not have much time to boil. I also collect on bags and starting to have a lot of bags starting to have holes, This is the first year that the bags have gotten holes. I started back in January with good weeks and slow weeks.

[HannahL]

I'm in the same boat, calling it a season this weekend. I have about 35 gallons of concentrate left to finish up and will end the season with about 14 gallons of syrup. That makes this season our best season ever. I would keep going but the wood splitting and sap hauling along with trying to do it all on an 18" X 28" flat pan is very time consuming. Next year I hope to have 2x6 Corsair or equivalent to handle the amount of sap I am getting.

[BoarsNest]

We were done last week. We made about 43 gallons which I'm very happy about. We dumped a little sap, but I still have to pick up about 140 buckets and I'm sure there will be 300-400 gallons in them. I could boil another 5-6 hours with the wood I have left.

Casualties for the year.....burned the syrup and flue pans, broke 2 hydrometers, 40 gallons of spoiled sap in the pan.
Blessings for the year.....new sugar shack so we didn't have to stand outside in 20 degree weather, another safe year with family and friends!

Blessed Easter to all.

[steelguy]

We were done last week. We made about 43 gallons which I'm very happy about. We dumped a little sap, but I still have to pick up about 140 buckets and I'm sure there will be 300-400 gallons in them. I could boil another 5-6 hours with the wood I have left.

Casualties for the year.....burned the syrup and flue pans, broke 2 hydrometers, 40 gallons of spoiled sap in the pan.
Blessings for the year.....new sugar shack so we didn't have to stand outside in 20 degree weather, another safe year with family and friends!

Blessed Easter to all.
I see you are located in GR.
I am located in hastings not far from you.
nice looking set-up you have.
your syrup looks nice and lite, what kind of filter process are you using?

[BoarsNest]

Actually our shack is in the White Cloud area. We tap trees in GR and White Cloud. I have a WesFab small bank filter press, but found that it didn't work with the batch sizes we do. We've been using a cone filter the last few years and it just seems easier. I draw off the arch into a large SS pot and pour that into a 8 gallon pan on a 2 burner until I get about 5 gallons. I keep that warm and check density and then filter as we go into 5 gallon jugs. I store the jugs in a refrigerator or freezer until I bottle.1844918450