Tapping 2019

[boondocker]

With the weather being crazy this year and me being a month behind on everything I hope I can have everything ready to go in time. I started working with everything the same time I always do, but this year I had a wild idea of adding 300 more taps and adding a R/O system. I got everything plummed in on the R/O and had to change around some tanks, change the feed line to the evaporator, added a permeate tank and do some rearranging in the sugar house. I have 3 of the 4 sugar bushes ready to go with the exception of tank placement and replacing old taps. The new system all I have got done so far is get the main line wire up , tightened and trees marked. I feel a bit overwhelmed this year, I am always ready by feb 14th and usually all tapped in by the 22nd weather dependent. This year the weather has me nervous that I won't be ready but I can only do what I can do. Anybody else in the central Maine area behind the 8 ball? I keep checking the long range forecast on Accuweather and I don't see any significant warm ups and it staying like that so I am staying positive that I will be ready. So I guess I just wanted to check in and see what everyone is doing and jump start the Maine page.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

We have started tapping in the large operation we work for, mainly due to time constraints and the fact that there is vacuum there. For our own operation, we will hold off until the end of month. We caught the end of February run last year then had a 3 week freeze. I’m not sure if that was worth it or not. The longer March days and higher sun angle make March into April a lot better for sugaring than February where we are. We do new taps every year but being on gravity our window is considerably less than vacuum.

[bagpiper]

Hi All,

I'm down in very southern Maine about 15 miles from the coast. I'm tapping tomorrow afternoon when the trees have warmed up a bit. I've got about 100 on vacuum, so I'll get those done before the snow moves in Tuesday night. The ground is almost bare right now, so good time to walk the lines. I'll most likely hold off on the buckets until the 1st week of March. Good luck everyone!

[Hillwalker]

Good for all you guys with low snow totals. I still have lots of buried lines up here at 1300 feet in Central Maine. More snow coming tomorrow. Another foot? There is about five feet of snow in my Sugar bush as I write. I tapped early last winter and ended up with solidly frozen blocks of ice in my storage containers that lasted for weeks. Very frustrating to see all that sap sitting there with no way to access it.

[Mvhomesteader]

I think I'll tap Thursday morning after the snow storm. I've only got 24 to do this year, so more than last year (15) but still not too many. The past few years i have tapped around that time and it seems to work out fine. A lot of my trees are in a south or southeast facing slope so they get some solar gain early. Hopefully I'll be on the front end of an early run even if it cools off for a few days next week. Good luck to all!

Update 2/14: I got half in this afternoon. Nothing was running, but all were dripping and a few a somewhat aggressively. I'll get the rest in over the next few days and sit back and wait.

[woodsy]

All is quiet on the front here. After last years long and drawn out season starting mid Feb. looking forward to
a later start and shorter season. No warm up in sight for the 10 day temp outlook. Relaxed. Snow is 3'deep.

[eagle lake sugar]

I'm starting tapping today. It was -21 degrees this morning, so we'll wait until 10:00 or so to get started. There's at least 3' of snowpack, so it's going to be a challenge again this year.

[Jal-Bear]

I'm planning for the first week in March, unless there is some significant warm up.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Spent the day in the woods today changing drops and putting new taps on. Have 1/2 of our 375 taps ready to tap. One more day in the woods next weekend then hopefully tap March 3rd or sometime that week. Not gonna be a quick start for us on gravity.

[maineboiler]

I’ve been placing my buckets out for drop lines. Plan is to tap this weekend

[Hillwalker]

Finished putting on 215 sterilized taps today. I'm planning on beginning to drill and pound tomorrow as soon as the snow stops. I'm kinda concerned about all the snow in the woods. I have about four to five feet in most places and my sap lines are either right on the snow, or slightly above. More snow tonight ans again this weekend. I love snow, but stop will ya! There is a 1000 foot drop from my top trees to the sap house and it affects the temps over the whole bush. And, everything is north facing.

[turnerburner]

Finished installing new drops and tapping tonight. Got the lines rerouted to the new sugar shack. Only a few loose ends to take care of and we'll be ready to go. I know it’s early but I’m hoping to get some sap out of this weekend warmup.

[abbott]

I've decided this brief warm up isn't enough to be worth it. By the time all the taps are in, vacuum leaks are found, and lines flushed (if it even runs enough to truly flush the lines) I doubt there will be much sap left to boil. Looks like back to cold next week. Next time it warms up will be a go for sure.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

My thoughts exactly abbott. Hoping to tap the first weekend of March or maybe even the following week if it stays cold. We caught the end of February run last year but I'm not sure a few gallons of syrup was worth it. Had a 2-3 week freeze afterwards and I'm afraid we may have lost more than that on the back end being a gravity setup. Good luck this season.

[Smrdc1974]

Same here boys and girls.... I am eager to get going and start tapping here in the midcoast region (Durham). But, I don't see the trend that I am looking for yet. Sure, I am missing a little run over the next two days. Then it will be trending colder into first week into March. Hopefully this is not a drawn out season like 2017 was. Last year was text book perfect for my operation (31 gallons produced) in five weeks on my 2x4 mason. So, moral of the story, I am waiting for the "weather trend" that will favor the start of the 2019 season.

[twitch]

I'm in the same boat. Waiting for a better looking weather pattern.

[Road's End]

I've got a lot of set up left to do, but definitely have some time with the 10 day forecast looking pretty cold. I know of a handful of branches to pull off of lines but otherwise it looked pretty good in the woods a couple weeks ago. When I'm ready to tap it should go pretty fast.

[Lukie]

Same here I think I will start taping next week and hope the weather turns and some snow melts I do road side maples and the heater banks are to tall to get over

[ZenBoiler]

...I'm afraid we may have lost more than that on the back end being a gravity setup... What do you mean by this? What is it about a gravity system that makes you say this? This is my first season operating a gravity system, so I'm trying to learn all I can. We will have 100 taps on 3/16 lines with about 100 feet vertical from last tree to sugar shack. We're all set up, thinking about tapping this weekend...

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

The duration that a tap hole will produce syrup is less on a gravity system than on a vacuum system. Maybe 6 weeks or so on gravity and 8 or better on vacuum. Of course, Mother Nature can throw a wrench at any time and there's a lot of other variables involving sanitation, age of systems, etc. But all else being equal, it's a reality. My point was that we made syrup for 3 or 4 days, froze up solid for 3 weeks then ran again. We may have lost 3-4 days or more during a better part of the season by catching that early run. Maybe not, but we didn't get as good of runs after the deep freeze as we usually do even on the prime days.

[DrTimPerkins]

What do you mean by this? What is it about a gravity system that makes you say this? This is my first season operating a gravity system, so I'm trying to learn all I can. We will have 100 taps on 3/16 lines with about 100 feet vertical from last tree to sugar shack.

Then, assuming your system is airtight and unvented, what you have is a natural vacuum system. Gravity is the force that creates the vacuum. A "gravity" system traditionally refers to a bucket, bag, or tubing system that is not set up to generate natural vacuum.

[West Sumner Sugar]

We started tapping 2 weeks ago, ended up only getting maybe 1/3 of them in due to the 4+ feet of snow. Many of our 3/16 were buried and we spent most of the day digging them out. Hoping to get back at it this Sunday. End of next week looks promising. Just like to get the taps in before we toss another foot of snow out there.

[Revi]

We are basically tapped and ready to go, but the weather is not cooperating around here until some time next week. C'est la vie!

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Finished the line work and installing the new taps on Sunday. We are ready to tap next weekend. Planning to get it done Saturday and be ready to go other than a few odds and ends in the shack. Smoky Lake Simplicity Autodraw is in the mail. Pretty excited for that :cool:

[Revi]

It looks like it's getting warmer this weekend and all next week. It may be a short but sweet season! We'll be at the shack this weekend and it looks like until early April!

[Mvhomesteader]

Revi: just watched your video - excellent production! Your overview of syrup making was inspirational. :)

[bees1st]

I'll be finished tapping today. Been slow going, I've never had so much squirrel damage/ blow downs etc. Bring it on !

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Got the drill, tapping bit and hammer out and put the batteries on the charger to be ready to hit the woods tomorrow at 6 AM. Hoping I can get them all in, 350 or so. Walking may be a little better early tomorrow as cold as it has been. -15F and -12 F the past two mornings.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Got all the taps in today. Was good snowshoeing as the snow finally settled down some. I was also walking on top of my tracks from doing line work over the past 3 weeks which helps. South facing holes had sap running in the afternoon. We’ll finish work in the shack tomorrow and be boiling sometime next week.

[abbott]

The trees have been slow to thaw, but I now have about 600 gallons in the tank, enough for 5-6 hours boiling. Excited to try out the new rig tomorrow - first time boiling with a steamaway and forced air arch.

[twitch]

Is it just me or are the trees starting off kinda slow ??

[Danthemapleman]

Absolutely....I can't believe I've not had a better run given the weather. So slow.... Hoping things will trun around soon.

[woodsy]

Slow for sure. Most of my sugar maples are starting to give some but the few reds I tapped are still dry.
Might get 5 gals sap from 24 taps by days end.

[Jal-Bear]

Very slow out this way also. Have about a dozen or so that are running well. The rest are just starting to weep or doing nothing.

[bees1st]

Last 3 days have yielded about 800 gallons of sap. Just enough to sweeten the pans and then some. Firing up tomorrow.

[Mvhomesteader]

The number of people who are seeing slow starts validates what I'm seeing here. You wonder what's going on till you hear what's happening with others. Is this season typical of what one might expect with mapling? My three previous seasons were not like this at all, but I'm too new at this to know!

Oddly I have one tree that is acting like it's done flowing, giving only a small amount of yellow tinged sap like it might be buddy. This is usually a good producing tree. I wonder if the warm snap in early February made it run sooner since it is in a sheltered southern exposure? Maybe I'll grab a sample and boil it separately to see if it is buddy.

In any case, today was an improvement with 12 gallons gathered bringing the tally to 40, so a boil is on for this weekend.

[Road's End]

I'm not surprised by the slow start, there's 3-4+ feet of snow in my sugarbush. I sank to my waist yesterday when I broke through a void space next to a piece of ledge, and I was wearing snow shoes. I think this warm weekend will get stuff going.

[Page Meadow Maple]

So, my giant old sugar maples are slow to start, but the other trees are starting to run. Finally got my first sap of the season up here north of Bangor! Collected 34.5 gallons in the last 24 hours from buckets on 80 taps. Sugar is 3.0 so I am hoping I can turn that into a gallon of syrup tomorrow. The flow seems to have stopped this morning, with the exception of a few drips from taps on the west and north sides of my biggest maples. Too warm I think—until (hopefully) Monday.

[maineboiler]

It’s finally started here In Oxford. Collected 85 gallons the past 2 days. Not huge but the trees are waking up. Sugar concentration should be high as I threw out a lot of ice. I’ll do the first boil this weekend. Much later than last year

[abbott]

The number of people who are seeing slow starts validates what I'm seeing here. You wonder what's going on till you hear what's happening with others. Is this season typical of what one might expect with mapling? My three previous seasons were not like this at all, but I'm too new at this to know!

Oddly I have one tree that is acting like it's done flowing, giving only a small amount of yellow tinged sap like it might be buddy. This is usually a good producing tree. I wonder if the warm snap in early February made it run sooner since it is in a sheltered southern exposure? Maybe I'll grab a sample and boil it separately to see if it is buddy.

In any case, today was an improvement with 12 gallons gathered bringing the tally to 40, so a boil is on for this weekend.

When you say "three previous seasons" you nailed it. 2015 was a very late spring and ended up being a very poor year. Not to say this year will be bad, but if it warms up too fast we're in trouble. Based on the amount of snow and cold we have had, it is not at all surprising that the trees have been slaw to produce.

Your one tree is not buddy. You've got a month before that happens. It's possible you tapped too close to a previous taphole or other damaged spot on the trunk. It's possible it will come out of it when the sap really starts to run, but I would guess not. Just for fun, pull the tap and shine a light in there to see how the wood looks.

[abbott]

Just to put a number on it... in terms of sap collected I'm at just about 10% of an average season's total. It's a late season for sure, but with as much snow as we have I'm holding out hope that we'll get there by tax day!

[West Sumner Sugar]

Collected 50 gallons from 65 taps here in Lewiston this morning. Just got a report that we barely have that much in Sumner. We were hoping for 2 to 300. Without vacuum, the trees must not be giving up my sap...that or we have some severe leaks in the 3/16. Find out later when we all get up there.

[Mvhomesteader]

Your one tree is not buddy. You've got a month before that happens. It's possible you tapped too close to a previous taphole or other damaged spot on the trunk. It's possible it will come out of it when the sap really starts to run, but I would guess not. Just for fun, pull the tap and shine a light in there to see how the wood looks.

Thanks for the information! I'm sure you are right. It is possible that I've been tapping too close to previous hole (I keep 4" , the cuttings looked clean) so that could be an issue. I'll try the flashlight tomorrow while I boil.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Collected 50 gallons from 65 taps here in Lewiston this morning. Just got a report that we barely have that much in Sumner. We were hoping for 2 to 300. Without vacuum, the trees must not be giving up my sap...that or we have some severe leaks in the 3/16. Find out later when we all get up there.

I’m guessing you’re OK with the lines, just not running yet. We had 35 gallons off 300 taps in the totes. That was after letting the lines clean out for a day. Operation we work for on vacuum in Byron is ro’ing. That’s crazy, he is always a couple weeks behind us. It’s gonna go, just don’t know when! In the meantime, added 20 more taps today and will do the same tomorrow :cool:

[Revi]

It's going to have to start running soon! We only have about 3 weeks before the weather turns and it doesn't freeze much at night. We'll take it to the very end this year. We managed a very short boil but we need 30 gallons just to fill the evap, so we only did about a half hour of boiling before we had to shut down. Hopefully this week it happens!

[Revi]

Well it looks like today is the day it will start flowing! It's warmish and we had a freeze last night. We are saving sap for this weekend, so we could use a run! Good luck out there in maple land!

[West Sumner Sugar]

I've had great runs all week here in Lewiston. Over 100 gallons off 65 taps. All on a south facing hill side which I'm sure helps. Id say 75% of the snow is gone from it. This should be enough to get the evaporator going this weekend on top of what we collect in Sumner. Hopefully we are flooded up there.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

We got a little here yesterday in Peru on our south facing slope but it still hasn’t opened up. We should have enough to finally fire up this weekend but I don’t know when we’ll actually get a good run. Snow still tight around trees up here. I’ll keep you posted though!

[twitch]

Finally got to fire up the evaporator last night pulled off a few gallons. Hoping for a little better flow today. Definitely would agree that the South facing slopes ran best yesterday. Decided not to be open for maple Sunday . So would like to go on tour. Abbott will you be around on Sunday ?

[Road's End]

Finally got enough to run the RO and sweeten the pans. Had just enough sap to get one small pour and made our first ever golden delicate! The rain forecasted will help a lot, I have a handful of lines that haven't even run yet because there's so much snow in the woods and they have a bit more shade and don't get the afternoon sun as much. Interesting season!

19795

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Hold your beer Roads End. They just changed the forecast to 3-6” of snow for our area!

[Road's End]

Hold your beer Roads End. They just changed the forecast to 3-6” of snow for our area!

This is the winter that just won't end! :-|

[abbott]

Abbott will you be around on Sunday ?

I'll be open Saturday, 10-4. At this rate, I don't expect to have anything left to boil on Sunday. Not sure if I'll go visiting around or not.

For you (or anyone else who wants to come out tomorrow) I'm at 378 Bradeen Rd. Park at the farm at the dead end of the road and its a 2000' walk down to the sap house. My road is mud right now, so 4WD is recommended. Hopefully they get the road cleaned up well enough that it isn't necessary, though.

[abbott]

The sap was still trickling in this morning at 6 am. Froze up now, though. This is bringing back not-so-good memories of 2015, when maple season didn't really start until April and ended in a hurry. Not saying this season will end that way, but every day we go without real sap runs make it more likely we're going to have firewood left over this year.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Holy cow, we actually boiled tonight! Pretty big fan of oil. Just enough to sweeten the pans. Hope for more Sunday.

[Road's End]

Seems crazy that today was the first hard run we've had this year. Really coming down the hill today! Thankfully that means I can boil something for friends and family. Didn't try and publicize maple sunday for my farm this year.

[abbott]

Yup, running hard here, too. Turns out 90 gallons/hr maxes out my wet line, cause I have sap running down the dry line, too. Looks like it should be a gallon/tap today at 2.7%. Probably would have boiled for a while if I'd checked the tank sooner, but shouldn't have trouble catching up over the next couple days.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

There is a maple god! Running good here right now. Going to let it go and boil tomorrow afternoon before the cool down. End of the week looks good now that it shook loose some. Have fun everyone!

[Revi]

How's it running today? I am boiling this afternoon for sure. Got to start making some syrup! It may be a very short season this year, so we'll catch what we can!

[maine67]

Hey! I'm new to this forum. I've briefly read through everyone's posts. Some good advice!! I'm new to the whole maple syrup adventure as of last year. I believe that was our best. I do have a few questions for those that consider themselves "experts" in the maple syrup area.

1. Can you use the "brown" colored sap that's being collected? What is it? I've always just chucked it out.
2. What's the benefit of tapping on the south side of the maple tree? (I've read that numerous times)
3. When it comes to final boil down and can. I've noticed via online the variety of different colors of maple syrup. Isn't it the darker, the better?

Thanks!

[woodsy]

How's it running today? I am boiling this afternoon for sure. Got to start making some syrup! It may be a very short season this year, so we'll catch what we can!

Another good day with 1gpt +. Boiling Wednesday for 1st time this year.

[West Sumner Sugar]

Hey! I'm new to this forum. I've briefly read through everyone's posts. Some good advice!! I'm new to the whole maple syrup adventure as of last year. I believe that was our best. I do have a few questions for those that consider themselves "experts" in the maple syrup area.

1. Can you use the "brown" colored sap that's being collected? What is it? I've always just chucked it out.
2. What's the benefit of tapping on the south side of the maple tree? (I've read that numerous times)
3. When it comes to final boil down and can. I've noticed via online the variety of different colors of maple syrup. Isn't it the darker, the better?

Thanks!

As long as the sap isn't cloudy, run it. I believe rain water can cause the sap to brown up.
There may be some benefit to this as this side of the tree would warm sooner. Just remember to keep your tap holes spread out from year to year.
Color is a complete preference thing. We made the lightest syrup we have ever made last weekend. Usually our syrup is a littler darker than most but all our customers love it. Usually darker syrup has a stronger more robust maple flavor.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Boiled another 125 gallons last night. 3 hours from start to finish. Pans are all sweetened, we should get some good draws on the next boil.

[Cider Hill Maple Farm]

Had a great turnout for Maple Sunday, just wished we could have keep the evaporator running constantly. As of Sunday morning we hadn't even sweetened the pans yet. We would fire it up and shut it down as crowds gathered. After a fashion, we had enough sap to keep it going the rest of the day. So by days end, we boiled down close to 800 gallons making around 22 gallons of delicate. Last night we collected 275 gallons of 3.25% and around 300 still in tanks not yet collected. If it runs today, 1,225 gallons should be ready to run through the R.O.

[Revi]

We boiled off 150 gallons on Monday and made some syrup finally! We might just have a season yet! It's fun to be back into it. We didn't get much sap yesterday, but today seems a little warmer, so it may flow! Tomorrow for sure! We're going to boil all weekend, so that could be perfect!

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Looks good for a while, maybe a warm up with no freeze over the weekend to slow things down. That's the Portland forecast anyway, I'm optimistic we will dip below freezing if it's at all close. Still plenty of snow to keep things cool. Next week looking good as well. Time to make sugar! :cool:

[abbott]

Still not really letting loose here after those cold nights. But the sap is sweet, I've been at about 33:1 for the last couple boils. Syrup total is over 130 gallons now, so over 1/3 of the way there now.


Looks good for a while, maybe a warm up with no freeze over the weekend to slow things down. That's the Portland forecast anyway, I'm optimistic we will dip below freezing if it's at all close. Still plenty of snow to keep things cool. Next week looking good as well. Time to make sugar! :cool:

Here on a hillside, I expect no freeze if it's supposed to be close. But with the vacuum pump, a few warm nights in a row is fine, and in this case I think we could use it to thaw things out a bit more. As long as it cools down again early next week!

[West Sumner Sugar]

Still not really letting loose here after those cold nights. But the sap is sweet, I've been at about 33:1 for the last couple boils. Syrup total is over 130 gallons now, so over 1/3 of the way there now.



Here on a hillside, I expect no freeze if it's supposed to be close. But with the vacuum pump, a few warm nights in a row is fine, and in this case I think we could use it to thaw things out a bit more. As long as it cools down again early next week!

We are getting nervous because we really haven't seen any big runs this year. Last year the 3/16s were cranking and overflowing our tanks. Hopefully a little thaw will kick things into gear. But like you said....we need it to cool back down after. Runs have been decent this week in Lewiston, but not quite a good as last week.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Next Tuesday and Wednesday look prime after this much needed warm up to thaw things out. Be ready for it! Sap never ran much at all today for us either.

[Revi]

I think we'll get a lot today. I pumped out the tank, so we have about 200 gallons of storage. Hope to boil all weekend!

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

I hope you're right Revi. We are doing our open house this Saturday. Looks a little showery but hope we have a couple hundred gallons to boil.

[maineboiler]

Best run of the season today. 150 gallons at 3.4 brix. Open house on Sunday

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Hoping it ran overnight some. Didn’t start for us yesterday until the afternoon. Heading out to check tanks now!

[twitch]

Yesterday was the best run for me so far a little under a gallon per tap . Hoping for some better flow next week. I sure hope it cools back off .

[Revi]

I boiled off 75 gallons or so yesterday, which still leaves us with over 200 for the weekend. We're going to make some more syrup this weekend for sure!

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Well so much for that. 110 gallons since end of day Monday off 350+ gravity taps :rolleyes: Getting a little frustrated but we’ll boil what we have tomorrow.

[woodsy]

Finally today the trees are really spitting out some sap in zone 4b. Many trees were overflowing gallon jugs by 3-4 PM.
Looking forward to a 2nd boil Thursday.

[abbott]

Kept the vacuum pump running all weekend and hit the 50% crop mark on Sunday. After a couple of cold nights it really let loose today, closing in on a gallon per tap when I left the sap house an hour ago. Should be a really strong week, then we'll see!

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Best run of the year here so far today. Around 0.4 GPT on gravity and was running hard at 6:30 PM still. Boiling tomorrow, looking like some good runs coming this week. Trees have finally thawed.

[Revi]

We had a little frost last night, but not a hard freeze. Tonight looks like it's going to be one! It should flow tomorrow!

[maineboiler]

We hope. Tuesday was a good run but not much since. Tomorrow should be good if the wind dies down and my buckets have not blown away. I’ve got orders to fill

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Hell of a run for us yesterday and overnight. All boiled and bottled up. Not going to be a record year but looking better. Sap still very clear and still snow in the woods.

[Road's End]

Made over 10 gallons of syrup today from the last 2 days of sap. Sugarbush is still buried so it's not quitting time anytime soon.

[abbott]

Sure has been a week. Over the last 5 days, right about 5 gallons sap/tap, still testing at 2.3% or better. Tuesday and Friday were great runs. Syrup total is over 300 gallons, so call that 80% production, and going up fast. Looks like the weather is going to be colder than normal for a few days... exactly what we need to get one last good push and turn this into a good season after all. After that, I'm hoping for 60's during the day and 40's at night. Time to thaw the ground and move on to planting the gardens!

[maineboiler]

Friday was our best run yet. 175 gallons at 3.2%. Still clear sap boiling down to a light Amber Rich. Things are looking up. We won’t have the yield of 2018 but good quality syrup.

[Mvhomesteader]

Completed my eighth boil today and got 1.5 gallons from 55, so a 2.7% sugar. Syrup was darker- I'm sure a few of my buckets of sap were a little old, but the syrup tastes great nonetheless. I've got one more to go, 65 gallons for Thursday after the weather clears. After that it's pull taps, clean up, wash up, and move on to some other projects.

[Revi]

We're thinking about getting some vacuum for next season. It's not needed if it's a season like last year, but it would come in handy with a season like this one!

We are thinking maybe about a half horse with no releaser. Anyone know about them? We have electricity in the sugarhouse, and the mainline runs there.

Not much today, but maybe later in the week? Maybe one last boil on Thursday!

[abbott]

Sap ran hard this afternoon, could be a pretty good day depending on how long into the night it goes. Looks like a couple more big sap days, then see how long we can hold on using the power of vacuum...

[West Sumner Sugar]

Small run here in Lewiston, still holding out for another one this week. I think with vacuum we'd be doing much better. Even the 3/16's in Sumner haven't produced this season. Looking at building a test Shurflo system for next season. I think with a few deep cycles we could run almost a whole week without a charge, especially if we add a solar charger.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Emptied totes and boiled what we had tonight so we are ready for fresh sap tomorrow and Friday. Should be some good runs. Going to end up below average for us overall in all likelihood but we will stay plugged in to the end.

[Lukie]

Has an ones trees budded yet I have sugars and reds I know my sugars are ok but not really sure how to tell if the red are budded I think it has been to cold to worry about it !

[sg5054]

Small run here in Lewiston, still holding out for another one this week. I think with vacuum we'd be doing much better. Even the 3/16's in Sumner haven't produced this season. Looking at building a test Shurflo system for next season. I think with a few deep cycles we could run almost a whole week without a charge, especially if we add a solar charger.
I set up 3 shurflo pumps this year. 2 are being driven by a 110v x 12v power supply from Amazon ($20). 1 line goes about 700 ft, another one 500+/-. They go to one pump that pulled 25 inches of vac with ease. Another pump pulls the same on 2 5-600 ft lines. Both of them have to cross a woods road so they go up 10ft, cross the road, down to 6ft and then on to the shack. The 3rd pump is running off an Interstate GRP 27 marine DC battery. On a full charge that will go about 36 hours with ease. I just take a battery charger out to it and charge while it runs. That has 2 400 ft lines and that is doing 25 inches as well. I've made 18 gallons of dark robust so far. I'll get one more go at it this weekend and I'll be done I think. I expect I'll end up with 30 gallons +/-. I'm positive that I'd have half of that if I had relied on gravity only.
The battery driven pump is/has been filling a 50 gallon barrel in a day reliably. I built my manifolds for the line to pump connection out of 3/8 pex tubing.

[woodsy]

Sap ran hard today, some 2 gal per tap + sugar maples. Reds not so much.
Hard to keep up at that pace.
Have to finish up tomorrow now. When it rains it pours.
Beautiful day to boil outside !

[abbott]

Has an ones trees budded yet I have sugars and reds I know my sugars are ok but not really sure how to tell if the red are budded I think it has been to cold to worry about it !

Best way to know is to check regularly and look for differences. That being said, I think my sugars are real close. Buds are maybe a bit bigger, a bit more white color. Either way, this is almost certainly the last cold night. The end is near.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Hell of a run today and probably still going. Hopefully it freezes tonight and goes again tomorrow. We’ll have a lot to do Saturday but nothing the oil evap can’t handle. Might boil out the flue pan this weekend too. We will see.

[Revi]

I think this is the last run. Tomorrow may be the last of it, and then we are boiling every last drop we can find! I think this will help us out! We are catching up, but it's not the season we had last year! Vacuum for 2020 for sure!

[West Sumner Sugar]

I set up 3 shurflo pumps this year. 2 are being driven by a 110v x 12v power supply from Amazon ($20). 1 line goes about 700 ft, another one 500+/-. They go to one pump that pulled 25 inches of vac with ease. Another pump pulls the same on 2 5-600 ft lines. Both of them have to cross a woods road so they go up 10ft, cross the road, down to 6ft and then on to the shack. The 3rd pump is running off an Interstate GRP 27 marine DC battery. On a full charge that will go about 36 hours with ease. I just take a battery charger out to it and charge while it runs. That has 2 400 ft lines and that is doing 25 inches as well. I've made 18 gallons of dark robust so far. I'll get one more go at it this weekend and I'll be done I think. I expect I'll end up with 30 gallons +/-. I'm positive that I'd have half of that if I had relied on gravity only.
The battery driven pump is/has been filling a 50 gallon barrel in a day reliably. I built my manifolds for the line to pump connection out of 3/8 pex tubing.

How many taps are you running? Without a doubt we will be running pumps next year. We should have been in the 70 gallon range and we will be lucky to finish out with half of that.

[sg5054]

110 I think. She knows, I’m just the hired help..
The 4 longest runs go up and over the hill behind the shack. Probably a 150 -200 ft elevation change. One run has to pull uphill behind the crest maybe 20-30 ft rise. Trees are pretty spread out. A lot of new growth in there but I’ll be pushing up sap by the time they are ready.
Just finishing boiling 60 gallons of concentrate from yesterday and todays haul. I was drawing off at 219 and have about 15 gallons to finish Saturday. 17 1/2 gallons in the bottles so far.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Check your tanks ladies and gents. Had our biggest 2 day run that I can remember. 1.5 GPT and still running. She might go out quick but will definitely be with a bang around here.

[GotSap?]

No doubt! Collected 400 gallons yesterday and have another 200 in the tanks today. One final collection tomorrow, then calling it a season. After a late and slow start, this season has turned out great. Should easily top our all time high of 51 gallons from last year.

[woodsy]

Well that was an interesting sap season. Agriculture will always keep you guessing.
Late start, one 24 hr period this week was yielding 4-5 gpt . Some of my Red Maples starting running at the same time my early
Sugar Maples were shutting down so didn't get much sap from them.

[sg5054]

I’m done. 100 gallons of sap Thursday, 100 more Friday, 50 or so overnight. Concentrated and boiled today. Have 20 gallons of 90% syrup to finish tomorrow. 17.5 already bottled. A good season overall. Also a total mystery as this was the first year tapping this property. Turns this place very good potential. Had to set up everything from a blank page this year. Looking forward to next year when I can walk out and just flip the switch (well, sort of)...

[Page Meadow Maple]

Same here north of Bangor. Sap ran like mad for 2 days. Tired of lifting those buckets. And now I am pulling the taps since there is no freeze in sight.

[Mitchman]

Yup, looks like most are calling it quits around Kingfield, Carrabassett Valley also. Getting to warm, buds are out. Come on home Black Fly's!!!! Ready for some heat now after the cold windy winter we had in this neck of the woods!!! I will be back in service next spring!!! Retired, so i can make time for myself. Yea Right!!!! Have a great summer everyone!!!

[West Sumner Sugar]

We also threw in the towel today as well. Boiled off what was in the pans to finish things out. Ended up with 28.5 gallons of nice syrup. Probably the best we have ever made, and about 7 gallons of cooking grade. Like everyone else, this season was a interesting one. We thought we were in for 70 or so gallons of syrup going off past years growth rates. But we made half that. Big plans for next year, time to get cleaned up. The grass will be growing before to long.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

We are staying plugged in for a possible mid week freeze and one more run but will be checking sap before boiling and while we boil. Thinking we will be OK. Sap was OK yesterday just low sugar. Flue pan is going boiled off by Friday and we’ll be done.

[Road's End]

We are staying plugged in for a possible mid week freeze and one more run but will be checking sap before boiling and while we boil. Thinking we will be OK. Sap was OK yesterday just low sugar. Flue pan is going boiled off by Friday and we’ll be done.

Same here, waiting it out. I pushed all the sweet out of my pans and letting it soak in permeate just in case it doesn't run. Not too bad overall though, made 60 gallons as of yesterday. Was shooting for 85+ but the season was fairly short.

[abbott]

Will finish up today. The sap is barely trickling under vacuum, isn't very sweet, and the syrup is filtering really hard. My yard trees (which aren't tapped) have visibly swelling buds now. They're ahead of the woods trees, but still I'm getting paranoid about buddy syrup now. Total looks to be just shy of 1/2 gallon syrup per tap - worse than any of the last three years but almost equal to '16 and '17, which I considered well above average at the time. Funny how 4 straight good years makes you start rethinking what average should look like.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

We'll end up just about average for us. Over 30 gallons is above average for us and we'll be just shy of it. We may actually crest over that mark if we get another run with good sap. New evaporator has certainly helped to boil things quicker. We would have never got through 550 gallons in 2 days on the old batch pan. Sugar content seemed to be up as well which helped. Good year overall especially considering the late start. We found 180 new taps for next year and got permission to add the tubing yesterday.

[sg5054]

Grand total for the year is 31 gallons of dark robust. Couldn't have done it without the RO bucket RB-15 kit and the Shurflo pumps.
Very pleased with how it all went. Next year will be a whole lot easier to start up.

[maineboiler]

I pulled the taps on Sunday. The sap was still clear and 2.8%. We sure started slow but had a great last 2 weeks. 900 gallons of sap less than last year, but higher brix and better yield. Hardly any bugs to deal with. We ended up with 40 gallons of syrup. Now the clean up.
Overall a good season, I think the quality of our syrup was the best we’ve produced.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Well I guess it’s time to tap out in Peru. 25 degrees last night and no run here just a few trickles from the trees that still had some to give. Boiling down the flue pan tomorrow to get a final tally.

[Road's End]

I was really hoping for one last hurrah today with a frost last night and tight buds on the trees but no dice. Just a trickle. Guess I'll shove it through the RO and boil in a big pot considering there's only 75 gallons at most of low sigar sap from the last 3 or 4 days. Luckily I have excess permeate to flush with.

The fat lady is singing!

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

I thought for sure we would have a run. Well below freezing and buds still tight like you said but you never know. No such thing as a normal year. Had a lot of fun, a bunch of friends and family stopped by and even made some syrup :cool:

[JohnsSugarShack]

Same here finished up last Sunday, collected 767 gallons of sap ended up with 22 1/2 gallons of syrup. Was a great season on my new evaporator. All cleaned up and waiting for next season. Time to start thinking food plots and deer season.:)

[Lukie]

How much wood did you go through why I am asking is I go through 4 cord of wood on a 2X3 flat pan and I make 25 to 30 gallons with the barrel stove I am looking at getting a real evaporator to cut my wood consumption in half ?

[In da bush]

I ran a 2x4 flat on a Mason arch with an AUF and was ripping 15-16 gallons of steam an hour, burned about 1.5 cord and made 14.5 gallons,was also running a preheater under a thrown together hood. I’m happy with my production considering I’ve been out of the game a few years and this whole rig was new to me.

How much wood did you go through why I am asking is I go through 4 cord of wood on a 2X3 flat pan and I make 25 to 30 gallons with the barrel stove I am looking at getting a real evaporator to cut my wood consumption in half ?

[Revi]

Lukie, I would say about a cord to 10 gallons with a 2x6 evaporator. We ended up making about half the syrup of last year, but the good news is that we have about half the wood left!

[Road's End]

I burned maybe 3 cords at most and made 61 gallons on a homemade 2x6. But I'm cheating because I have an RO ;)

[Lukie]

ok so with me using a 2X3 flat pan I am not doing bad 2X6 has a lot more surface and yes Roads End you are cheating next step for me is a Mason evaporator and then a RO thanks guys for the info