2020 Tapping Season

[Cjadamec]

Even though it feels like we aren't even going to have a season this year with this weather I've been working on upgrades to my evaporator.

New for this year is a 2x4 divided pan from bascoms, adding AOF, and remaking my fire box grate.

Crossing my fingers for a season with enough sap to give it all a good work out. Next week looks cold but it doesn't look like its going to stick around for too long.

[bryankloos]

I'm seeing the same thing...
I'd like to think the cold weather at the end of the extended forecast sticks around for a bit and then ramps into a decent season.
I too have a lot of new gear this year and would love a good sap season to run it through the paces...
At this point, I'm totally unsure when I will tap.
what are the rest of you thinking in CT?

Bryan

[Kubota]

Also have some new equipment this year and an increased tap count. I've got the itch. I plan on waiting at least a few more weeks. My 14 day forecast only shows two days over 40. I don't think my trees will even thaw out in those two days. I'm looking for a more prolonged period of warmer weather. I had some incredible runs towards the end of last season and I'd like to be sure not to miss those this year.

[markct]

Nothing to worry about yet, it's still a ways off the good cold period is good to get the trees ready. Every year I see people freak out cause the weather is too warm or too cold but until it's all over it's anyone's guess. I remember a few years back we had such an extended cold spell it wasn't till mid March that it started to resemble tapping weather, tapped a full month later and it ran like crazy and ended up a decent year after all

[Kubota]

A week ago I was hell bent on waiting for February. Now I'm seriously considering tapping my 3/16 lines this Wednesday. I'll hold off on my 40 buckets for a few more weeks. I've heard 3/16 with CV spouts can last a fairly long time compared to buckets? My thought would be 3/16 this week and buckets in two more weeks and everything should hopefully finish up around the same time??

14 Day forecast attached for reference.

20562

[bryankloos]

Im seeing the same thing down here in Weston, with things start looking good towards mid week.
How long should we expect 5/16" on vac with CV Taps to flow before they give up the ghost for the season?
Very tempted to get things lined up and ready for Wednesday...

[maple flats]

Also have some new equipment this year and an increased tap count. I've got the itch. I plan on waiting at least a few more weeks. My 14 day forecast only shows two days over 40. I don't think my trees will even thaw out in those two days. I'm looking for a more prolonged period of warmer weather. I had some incredible runs towards the end of last season and I'd like to be sure not to miss those this year.
If you get to 70 taps, I hope you have at least a bucket RO.
My first year I had a 2x3. I started with 27 taps, then each time the sap ran I thought, "I can handle more than that" so I added more taps, 8-12 at a time. That kept repeating until I had 70 taps. Then the sap really started and I had more sap than that rig could handle. My wife and I took turns and we ran it for 2 nights and 3 days without stop. In that time we had not gained any, we started that marathon with 75 gal of sap and two and a half days later we had over 100.
I say 70 is too many unless you have some kind of an RO., try 40-45 max. and be ready for looong boils as the sap starts to run good.

[Kubota]

If you get to 70 taps, I hope you have at least a bucket RO.
My first year I had a 2x3. I started with 27 taps, then each time the sap ran I thought, "I can handle more than that" so I added more taps, 8-12 at a time. That kept repeating until I had 70 taps. Then the sap really started and I had more sap than that rig could handle. My wife and I took turns and we ran it for 2 nights and 3 days without stop. In that time we had not gained any, we started that marathon with 75 gal of sap and two and a half days later we had over 100.
I say 70 is too many unless you have some kind of an RO., try 40-45 max. and be ready for looong boils as the sap starts to run good.

No RO. I figure I had no problem doing 25 taps on my hotel pan last year at 3 gph. I think I can get the mason safely to 9 gph with AUF and good wood. In theory I'll be ahead of last years rate comparing last year, 25 taps to 3gph vs 70 taps to 9gph. My hours spent boiling should actually go down. If it's too much, lesson learned, but I don't think it will be an issue. And I don't mind endless boiling.

[PJTracy]

Got all of my lines up last week and tapped the first 18 of 120 yesterday. Hope to get the rest tapped over the next few days. Most of my taps are on a gravity tubing system. I've used check valve taps the past couple of years with great success; early tapping each season and they never dried out--even in late March/early April. I did invest in an RO Bucket unit last year and I love it. I'd highly suggest trying to make one on your own to save a ton of time and wood.

[Woodsrover]

Will install everything this weekend here in Cornwall. I've tapped earlier than this and was glad I did. First boil last year was February 9th, the year before January 28th. A friend of mine once gave me some advice about when to tap; "Is the sap flowing? Then tap your trees!"

[Cjadamec]

I'm very tempted to follow your lead on getting my taps in for this weekend. The past two years I've tapped around now and have had good results. This weekend and all of next week look like a nice run in my corner of the state.

[Kubota]

I tapped my 30 - 3/16 tubing taps yesterday! Will wait until (Hopefully) Mid Feb for my 40 buckets. Amazing stretch of weather coming for the next 10-14 days in south-central CT.

[Cjadamec]

I got one of my 3/16 runs patched up and tapped this afternoon. Some of the trees were running before I could get the drill bit out of the tree. By the time it got dark there was a steady drip going into my collection drum.

One more run of tubing to go tomorrow and then to finish off insulating and bricking the evaporator. First boil is right around the corner.

[merryall]

9gph with a mason 2/3 is very optimistic and 45 taps becomes a burden unless you have loads of free time

We probably all are guilty of saying “it’s just a few more taps” but when it becomes a chore to boil all day and night, it sort of defeats the purpose.

[Cjadamec]

Finished getting all my taps in today 79 this year. Three runs of 3/16 tubing so far everything is running great today. The pressure is on to finish up the evaporator now.

[Ghost]

25 taps on 3/16, with the warm temps I expected more of run, but only collected 30 gal of sap?!

[Sugar Bear]

25 taps on 3/16, with the warm temps I expected more of run, but only collected 30 gal of sap?!

I think it was too warm in most of CT, Hartford included, on Friday night to generate a great run on Saturday. I don't think you will have a great run today either. But let be know how you do today if you can.

Temps need to drop to around 28 or lower at night and then warm up during the day. Especially with the "green grass" we have this winter. (i.e. the ground is not even frozen )

I did not tap over the weekend for that reason, and I figure no sense in putting such warm air in new tap holes so early in the season.

May tap tomorrow morning but getting everything ready at least.

Even so, I do not believe the sap will run noticeably as well in late January with a given set of "ideal" sap running conditions as it will in say early/mid March with the exact same set of "ideal" sap running conditions.

I have no fancy institutionally documented research to back it up, just what I believe to be the way the old trees have been engineered by old man time.

Of course the space shuttle was institutionally documented with a few trillion tons of research and it blew up twice in 135 attempts.

So I don't take for granted anything I hear, read or am told, or even see with my own eyes for that matter. I do work with it however.

So cheers to those who are tapping on and seeing what the sugar gods has to offer.

[Cjadamec]

As of this morning I've got 60 gallons of sap out of my 79 taps since Saturday morning. Not the best run ever but a decent start. I'm chasing some air leaks on the tubing I finished up yesterday so that probably hurt my numbers a bit but with last night's rain I wasn't going out there to check for leaks.

[Cjadamec]

Evaporator is back together and I made my first sap collection run the for the year. 100 gallons of sap for the weekend and all the tubing is still running.

Got the pan filled up and ready for a boil. Going to put a fire to it tomorrow.

20609

[Woodsrover]

Set two runs yesterday before the rain. Did the rest today. I'm guessing about 300 taps this year on 10 runs? All but the last two lines were running when I was cleaning up tonight. Looks like we'll be boiling this Saturday!

BTW, but you already know, the weather looks great for the next week and a half.

[Ghost]

Sugar Bear: today’s run was about 1 gallon of sap per tap. Ok, but no record. I’m holding off on adding taps for another week at least.

[Cjadamec]

Finished up all of my tweaks to the evaporator and made use of this fine January day to get my first boil of the year in.

[woodguyrob]

Cjadamec What kind of temps are you getting from your pre heater. I just rigged one up and haven't boiled or tapped yet up here in Pomfret.

[Cjadamec]

At the current flow rate which I'd say is around 10-12gph and a freshly fuled fire the thermometer reads 171F coming out of the preheated.

[woodguyrob]

Nice. I'll be happy very happy getting 171* and or 10-12 gph

[Cjadamec]

You should do a test run or two with water to work the kinks out of the new rig. With enough fire you should be able to get in the 10-12 gph range when you are firing hard.

[Getwidit]

What do you guys think of these buckets are they bad news? I got them super cheap. The one on the right is the worst, the rest look like the one on the left with alittle rust. I'm thinking of plastic lining them. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200127/e8e8a5076218ea35b467383ad1b1c241.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200127/617345f14717cc2d2376fdd0a12f91b1.jpg

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[Getwidit]

I also got these taps with the deal? Should I just get new ones?https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200127/c399189df8e7e1435dcfa5361e97bd81.jpg

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[Person25]

Right, wrong or indifferent, I've used buckets over the years much worse than those pictured, with no known effect. I just use a soft brush so I don't wear off any zinc, to clean them, until they get rusty then I retire them. As some of my buckets have gotten worse (actual surface rust forming) over the years Ive begun replacing the fleet with plastic, but still run some buckets just like yours in places tubing wont work. I'm sure somewhere there is a heath study saying using galv buckets is bad, because of the zinc wearing off but I say run'em. As for the taps, they look like they're aluminum? if so they should cleanup with a little work and a soft brush.

[Getwidit]

[QUOTE=Getwidit;376644]I also got these taps with the deal? Should I just get new ones?

Right, wrong or indifferent, I've used buckets over the years much worse than those pictured, with no known effect. I just use a soft brush so I don't wear off any zinc, to clean them, until they get rusty then I retire them. As some of my buckets have gotten worse (actual surface rust forming) over the years Ive begun replacing the fleet with plastic, but still run some buckets just like yours in places tubing wont work. I'm sure somewhere there is a heath study saying using galv buckets is bad, because of the zinc wearing off but I say run'em. As for the taps, they look like they're aluminum? if so they should cleanup with a little work and a soft brush.I think they are cast iron? Patent-D they say on them.

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[Person25]

[QUOTE=Person25;376654]I think they are cast iron? Patent-D they say on them.

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Best way I found, thanks to the people in this forum, was to clean any metal tap, (ive had aluminum, cast iron, galvanized, stainless), by soaking in 50/50 vinegar/warmwater for a bit, then brushing and washing. Usually I boil them and repeated the process of brushing, they'll clean up well.

[18mile]

Both the taps and buckets have lead in them. Save them for decoration.

[Getwidit]

Both the taps and buckets have lead in them. Save them for decoration.What I dont understand is a lot of people are against galvanized. But you can look up the fact that it is fda safe as long as it's not in contact with acidic foods. Which cause the zinc to leach. Are you saying these buckets aren't galavinized? Are they ternplate? I can buy 500 plastic liners for 50 cents a piece if that's the case..

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[Cjadamec]

Its easier to say all galvanized buckets are suspect of containing lead than to say some do and some don't. Also visually people will equate rust in the bucket to rust in the syrup.

In either case a plastic liner solves both issues, real or not.

As for the taps I would use modern plastic taps if for nothing else other than you put a much smaller hole in the tree. So there is no risk of metal contamination and the tree is healthier to boot.

[Person25]

What I dont understand is a lot of people are against galvanized. But you can look up the fact that it is fda safe as long as it's not in contact with acidic foods. Which cause the zinc to leach. Are you saying these buckets aren't galavinized? Are they ternplate? I can buy 500 plastic liners for 50 cents a piece if that's the case..

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Ive always been told the biggest exposure to lead in these buckets comes in the case of a bucket that had been repaired....that being because of the lead solder that would have been used to repair leaks.

[raptorfan85]

What I dont understand is a lot of people are against galvanized. But you can look up the fact that it is fda safe as long as it's not in contact with acidic foods. Which cause the zinc to leach. Are you saying these buckets aren't galavinized? Are they ternplate? I can buy 500 plastic liners for 50 cents a piece if that's the case..

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Maple sap is slightly acidic, and leaches the lead out of it. Per Tim Perkins.

[swampyankee]

Anyone have sap running? not seeing much chatter on rates/volumes

[Woodsrover]

Anyone have sap running? not seeing much chatter on rates/volumes

I had 300 gallons last night. Hope to have 600-700 by Friday and probably another couple hundred by the end of the weekend? Weather looks just about perfect.

[Cjadamec]

I collected around 100 gallons over the weekend. There was a decent early season run over the weekend in the southeast corner.
I was finishing up getting my taps in on Saturday and have been chasing leaks since then. My 3/16 tubing runs have been slowly running the last few days. I think I finally got them all leak free so by this weekend I should get another decent run.

If you aren't on vacuum I wouldn't tap yet for another couple of weeks.

[markgm]

I'm at 2 gallons a tap, tapped Sunday (1/26) afternoon. Looking at the temperature history, I feel like I could have tapped at the end of December! Things should slow down Wednesday and Thursday before picking up again Friday.

[bryankloos]

Chasing my "to-do" list but almost there.
I was hoping to get my 70 taps in yesterday but will now have to wait until at least Thursday as work has a hold on me.
If I don't get the taps in by this weekend I'll probably wait out the weather as I'm barely seeing freezing temps all next week...

[Sugar Bear]

Here in southwest Ct I am waiting it out in hopes of striking the big flow days with a fresh hole later on in the season. Weather seems like it has just been OK but not ideal for good flow. I am not able to tap trees twice or re tap.

And I am beginning to think from the past few years that early season tapping is bit over rated. For a couple of reasons. The flows are never as profuse as I want them to be and the syrup tends to me very light in color which people do not like as much, myself included. Although this year would not surprise me if early season syrup were on the darker side.

Nothing like putting a 5 gallon bucket out on a fresh tap in late Feb and having it fill up in 1 day.

Think I might hold off till around Feb 10 unless the soft night freezes for next week turn into hard night freezes.

[CTfarm]

I still haven't made up my mind on whether I'll tap this weekend or not. I'm already to go but most of my taps are buckets or bags and as another person said I would hate to trade early flows for late March ones. It is just a hobby and I do enjoy it so.... we'll see.

[Sugar Bear]

Yep

Nothing like the flows of March.

Best to catch em fresh too.

[bryankloos]

Finished the "to do" list just in time for the warm up.
Whats up with this weather...??
I'll tidy up a few last minute things and then wait out the next decent cold snap with hopes things look better on the weather outlook.
With my first year on tubing/vac/RO and the new evaporator I'm hoping for a decent year. While I know its early and there is a lot of time, I'm anxious to test the new systems and boil some sap!
What are you all seeing/thinking?
Bryan

[Ghost]

I’m in. Collected 15 gal today on 15 taps before all froze.

[Sugar Bear]

Finished the "to do" list just in time for the warm up.
Whats up with this weather...??
I'll tidy up a few last minute things and then wait out the next decent cold snap with hopes things look better on the weather outlook.
With my first year on tubing/vac/RO and the new evaporator I'm hoping for a decent year. While I know its early and there is a lot of time, I'm anxious to test the new systems and boil some sap!
What are you all seeing/thinking?
Bryan

Here in Southwest CT at about 350 feet MSL, with a Northerly aspect, I am thinking around the 8th of Feb for tapping as next week looks like temps may not fall below freezing at night at all. No sense in dirtying up the holes.

As with every scheduled date in life, that date is subject to change. Up until the metal gets put to the wood.

Could be a different story in your area.

[Mike Van]

I got about 85 in today, about half what I plan. 19 F this morning, 35 later, never saw a drop of sap all day. I'll get the rest tomorrow.

[Cjadamec]

10am and I have 3 solid 3/16 diameter streams coming down off my hill. It's a good day for a boil.

[Rich R]

Hope to get 125 taps in tomorrow. Been a strange year for weather.

[Kubota]

Best flow of the season so far this morning, lines are running great. Up to 40 taps on 3/16 tubing. Waiting another week or two for my +/- 30 buckets.

[Cjadamec]

It sure is werid and warmer than it should be weather but it is making for a very nice run today. My only problem now is finding the time to boil the 100 gallons of sap from the week to make room for what flows today and tomorrow.

[bryankloos]

https://weather.com/weather/tenday/l/d8a8355e5a56b0cacc7fa2eec9f74c930142c1be302259ce5f 1deeb1ab41abbc

This is what I'm looking at... While I want to tap today waiting until next weekend may be best.
With this crazy weather I'm starting to wonder if we will ever get a good cold spell. It been so **** warm lately.
Its February 1st, right?

At least I'll have extra wood for the evaporator as the woodstove isnt eating too much this year...

[Mike Van]

I got the last of mine in today, about 140 right now. Sap started some late morning, not really killing itself now. Amazing how much the cold varies even in a state as small as Ct. Bryan - Looking at that chart you linked to, i'd have my drill going full tilt. This weather could be the new 'normal' for us.

[bryankloos]

The nice weather today got the best of me.
I tapped and have sap in the lines and collection tank.
Let the games begin!

[Cjadamec]

This influence of Long Island Sound plays all kinds of games with the weather in the state. The effect is far more pronounced along the coast but the whole state sees some effects at times.

Sadly with global warming I feel like coastal CT is turning into something similar to the Pacific Northwest in terms of climate. Lots of wet weather and not more snow.

On a positive note I'm super happy I finally spent the money on a real pan. This divided pan is a dream to boil on compared to my previous setup.

[Tobey802]

I got 86 taps in on 5/16 line done on Thursday still waiting on the sap to trickle in warren. I also have 30 buckets that I will put up must likely next weekend. Going to be in over my head with only a WF Mason 2x4 xl and no RO but let the fun times begin 🍁

[Sugar Bear]

Anybody have any sugar content numbers?

[Cjadamec]

I did a spot check on a barrel and it said 2%. Considering the last couple years it's stayed right around 1% I'm having a good sugar year for early in the season.

[Ghost]

Debating adding another 10 taps on 3/16. Tapped early not being able to resist the urge to fire up a new Mason 2x4 XL.
Collected 45 gal sap over the last 2 days on 30 taps.

[bryankloos]

I tapped yesterday at 2:45 pm and fired up the new sapsucker shurflo from Dave. This morning I'm at over 100 gallons in the tanks.
Turned the shurflo back on this am and steady streams.

I guess its time to pull out the RO and prep the membranes for the season.

Also need to attach flue stack to the 2x4XL and wire up the blower.

At this pace I'll have my first boil later this week. I"m thinking I'll need about 200 gallons in the tank to get me ~60-70 in the evap for a 5 hour boil? All this is new to me so learning non the fly.
Lots more to think about with all the gear but wow, this sure beats buckets!!

[swampyankee]

Thanks for all the updates - knowing the locations would also be helpful

(some have their towns listed - some do not)

[Sugar Bear]

Knowing the type of tree in addition to the count you are tapping would also be very helpful. I.E. Red Maple ... Sugar Maple ... Silver Maple

[Mike Van]

I picked up 55 gal this afternoon, some trees have just started to drip. The barrel read 2%. Never got above 38 here.

[woodguyrob]

In Pomfret~Just tapped 5 on buckets for sap I plan to freeze in small plastic pails . Plan is to drop the frozen 2 gallon blocks into my 55 gal. barrels to keep stored sap cold. Good flow on all 5 taps. Remaining 35 going in
probably over the next 2-3 days.

[bryankloos]

I picked up another 100+ gallons today.
At this pace I will need to boil mid week.

I only have 275 gallons of storage capacity.

[Woodsrover]

Brought 300+ gallons to the shack and had first fire yesterday. Could have drawn off but flooded the pan at 4:00 and went it. Looks like good weather this week and should be boiling pretty heavy this coming weekend.

[Cjadamec]

Was a propduct and busy weekend for me ended up with 4 gallons of finished, filtered, and packed up syrup. Not too bad for a quiet last weekend of January.

No problems staying warm feeding this hungry mouth every 7-10minutes.

[swampyankee]

North stonington. 36 taps in on Sugar maples with 3/16 tubes and gravity. More to go today.

The weather looks interesting and we are holding off on hanging buckets.

[Mike Van]

Got everything going this morning, more to follow - 20680 20681

[Mike Van]

Picked up 100 gal. yesterday, 140 today - Some 2 dozen moths also - earliest I have ever seen them in buckets.

[Woodsrover]

Boiled 400+ gallons Sunday. Collected another 500 gallons from Monday and Tuesday. Flowing pretty well with this weather.

20694

[markgm]

Picked up 100 gal. yesterday, 140 today - Some 2 dozen moths also - earliest I have ever seen them in buckets.
I was surprised how many moths I had flocking to my evaporator between batches. I've never had this happen before (had about a dozen).

[Cjadamec]

I've seen all manner of flying insects hanging around my collection barrels and evaporator. I've also had to start pulling ticks off me after going through the woods working the tubing. Never thought I'd have to worry about ticks in January and February.

[swampyankee]

Anyone else’s trees shut down?

[Ghost]

Nothing like it, 2 gal of syrup and the saga continues . . .

[bryankloos]

I’m out of town but the wife tells me the tanks are not filling up today.
Weather looks a bit iffy the next few days but should be good later in the week.

[Mike Van]

We need a freeze to restart the process, from the looks of the weather it's coming Friday night. Next week looks pretty good right now.

[Cjadamec]

The weather for this weekend looks like a nice soild freeze with a warm up Monday and Tuesday. Should make for a nice run. But yea everything pretty much stopped the latter half of this week.

[Cjadamec]

So I had about 100 gallons of sap that needed to see some heat. I think Ive got my evaporator dialed in to provide the needed heat.

[Bmeehan19]

Tapped 36 yesterday in Berlin at around 3:30. Had about 10 gallons by 5:30. My first year on tubing!

[Mike Van]

So I had about 100 gallons of sap that needed to see some heat. I think Ive got my evaporator dialed in to provide the needed heat. What are you using for fuel? JP4 ?

[Cjadamec]

Seasoned white pine and AOF/AUF. Had to stop putting the magnetic stack temp thermometer on the stack because the magnet kept loosing it's magmatism. A little bit of engineering makes a lot of heat.

[aviboy97]

Good morning all...

I tapped last week expecting to fire up my new Mason 2x3. It took longer to insulate and brick than expected. After finally getting it ready, I wanted to do a late boil as a test run and was way more efficient than I could ever imagined, especially coming from boiling on turkey fryers the past 3 seasons.

Anyhow, I made an error and let the sap get too low, noticed it and ran to get more sap and my pan started to burn in one spot. Roughly a 4x6 inch mark that wouldn’t come off using a spatula last night. I have the pan filled with sap/water now. I miscalculated how long it takes for the evaporator to cool down vs how much sap I wanted to boil. You just can’t turn off the heat like a fryer! I’m such an idiot. Hopefully I didn’t warp it day one.

Anyway, i didn’t get much syrup on the first run, but it is golden color (fancy). It took more sap than usual to get the yield I got. Maybe the sugar content was low since it’s early in the year. Anyone experienced this yet?

[therealtreehugger]

I have a pan about 2 x 5 ish, on a wood fired arch, and from the time you stop feeding it, until the time I feel safe walking away is at least a half hr to an hour, and only if I filled it up to 3-4 inches of sap. I keep a bucket or two of sap handy just in case, and when I get down to the end, and want to use all the sap, I keep either a few buckets of water, or a hose nearby. It is amazing how much will still evaporate overnight, even when it has been “shut down”. I have come back to 1-1 1/2 inches after filling it to 3-4 inches the night before.

[therealtreehugger]

I tapped 30 on tubing yesterday, then sat at the end of the line watching it drip until it turned into a small steady stream.

[Woodsrover]

Good morning all...

I tapped last week expecting to fire up my new Mason 2x3. It took longer to insulate and brick than expected. After finally getting it ready, I wanted to do a late boil as a test run and was way more efficient than I could ever imagined, especially coming from boiling on turkey fryers the past 3 seasons.

Anyhow, I made an error and let the sap get too low, noticed it and ran to get more sap and my pan started to burn in one spot. Roughly a 4x6 inch mark that wouldn’t come off using a spatula last night. I have the pan filled with sap/water now. I miscalculated how long it takes for the evaporator to cool down vs how much sap I wanted to boil. You just can’t turn off the heat like a fryer! I’m such an idiot. Hopefully I didn’t warp it day one.

Anyway, i didn’t get much syrup on the first run, but it is golden color (fancy). It took more sap than usual to get the yield I got. Maybe the sugar content was low since it’s early in the year. Anyone experienced this yet?

Things happen fast! With luck you didn't warp it. Good practice is to run your pan pretty deep until you get to know how it boils. Better off with too much sap than too little. Keep a bucket of sap close by and remember you can always throw the door open when things are going bad. Won't cool the pan off to zero but it helps a great deal.

I was pulling 1.5% sap last week. Pretty typical for me early in the season. Still managed to finish and bottle a fair amount yesterday.

20728

[TheNamelessPoet]

I tapped Saturday, 1st time :-) Just 5 taps total in 3 trees. Mostly just testing the trees to see if they are any good as they are old(er) and I know just enough to be dangerous. My pan for the grill was delivered today and I can only freeze about 10 gallons so i was worried about doing too many and ending up with more than I could handle.

Never got warm enough at my house yesterday for any :cry: BUT when i left for work this morning... I had about 1/2" in my jugs so hopefully they do not over flow while I am at work!!! The fun begins this weekend it seems :-)

Been reading a TON on here, especially the smaller guys. i should eventually have about 10-15 taps. Going to see how the 1st run or so goes.... I dont want to get overwhelmed and have to boil for 20 hours straight... wife might kill me!

[TheNamelessPoet]

In Pomfret~Just tapped 5 on buckets for sap I plan to freeze in small plastic pails . Plan is to drop the frozen 2 gallon blocks into my 55 gal. barrels to keep stored sap cold. Good flow on all 5 taps. Remaining 35 going in
probably over the next 2-3 days.

Now THAT is an idea!

[Cjadamec]

I tapped Saturday, 1st time :-) Just 5 taps total in 3 trees. Mostly just testing the trees to see if they are any good as they are old(er) and I know just enough to be dangerous. My pan for the grill was delivered today and I can only freeze about 10 gallons so i was worried about doing too many and ending up with more than I could handle.

Never got warm enough at my house yesterday for any :cry: BUT when i left for work this morning... I had about 1/2" in my jugs so hopefully they do not over flow while I am at work!!! The fun begins this weekend it seems :-)

Been reading a TON on here, especially the smaller guys. i should eventually have about 10-15 taps. Going to see how the 1st run or so goes.... I dont want to get overwhelmed and have to boil for 20 hours straight... wife might kill me!

Sounds like as good a plan as any to start out with. Just wait by next year you will be talking about tubing and how to make a barrel evaporator. Best of luck to you this season keep us posted how it goes.

[Cjadamec]

Collected 120 gallons since Sunday morning. Not to shabby for 75 taps on gravity tubing. Cleaned up my pan and working making it sweet again tonight.

[bryankloos]

Collected another 275 gallons in the past 4 days with 25in currently on my Shurflo 4008, sap is flowing!
RO started up tonight with the hope to boil off another 60 gallons of concentrate tomorrow afternoon.

[Mike Van]

Looking out our kitchen window at 5 AM I can see a full 4 gal bucket that had about 3" in it last night. I know whats on the agenda today.............

[Person25]

Entered into the season on Sunday afternoon, couldn't hold back anymore with the weather forecast, Put in 30 taps, on 2- 3/16" nat-vac lines Sunday night. Collected 55gal Monday Morning at 2%. Added another 3/16" line with 15 taps Monday night, Collected 75 gallons this morning 7am, read 2%. I suspect its still running as I type, will check later today. All taps in Middlefield/Durham so far. I'm still waiting to tap in Somers on buckets, and will have a few more lines in Durham/Middlefield to put in.

In other news, I bought and put together an RO kit from the ROBucket, after years of window shopping....And i have to say, I can not believe it took me so long to take the plunge. I'm turning 2% into 8% with one pass. I'm amazed. I cant wait to boil this weekend and make some sweet!

[aviboy97]

Well, it turns out I did slightly warp my pan. Right by the draw off point. Not too bad though, and taught me to be way more careful.

I was able to get the burnt spots out and had another run today. Boiled roughly 23 gallons. Very happy with my 2x3 so far. Just need to time the cool down/final draw of the day.

That brings me to my next question...I have a few gallons left in the pan and will cap it tonight once my rig is cooled down enough. I can’t boil again until Sunday. Would the sap that’s currently in the pan be ok to start with on Sunday? It’s a mix of fresh sap and reduced sap.

Again, I’m new to the evaporator. I’m used to finishing all I started with on turkey fryers.

Thanks guys!

[Cjadamec]

If you can fit it in a bucket and store the pan contents in the fridge or freezer untill you are ready to boil again that is the safest bet.

Friday and Saturday look to be a natural freezer herewith temps going into the single digits. So chances are your pan will do just fine tomorrow and Thursday. If you have a chance to light a quick fire just to get the pan to boiling even for a minute tomorrow night or Thursday night that will also help keep anything from spoiling.

[Mike Van]

When it's going down to single numbers [as expected fri night] I drain my whole evaporator. May be overkill, but if the drop flues freeze & crack a seam, you're out of business. It gives me a chance to scrub out the front finishing section, which after 500 gal or so has sand stuck to it anyway. I have had the 5 gal pails i've removed freeze almost solid.

[aviboy97]

If you can fit it in a bucket and store the pan contents in the fridge or freezer untill you are ready to boil again that is the safest bet.

Friday and Saturday look to be a natural freezer herewith temps going into the single digits. So chances are your pan will do just fine tomorrow and Thursday. If you have a chance to light a quick fire just to get the pan to boiling even for a minute tomorrow night or Thursday night that will also help keep anything from spoiling.

Ill do that today. Rig was still hot last night, so I couldn't drain last night. I appreciate the advice.

[Person25]

Ill do that today. Rig was still hot last night, so I couldn't drain last night. I appreciate the advice.

I agree, best to drain into a pail in the event of a freeze if your shack is unheated or your just open air. Theyre are little tricks people use, like having a lite lightbulb close to the pan so it stays thawed, or start a small fire everyday to keep it warm. The small fire thing also helps keep the sweet in the pan stay 'sterile' so it can say in the pan for a few days without you having to finish it off.....that said, i can only boil weekends so I prefer the safety of draining into a bucket at the end of each run. I made the mistake my first year with my mason of not draining it only to return the next day to find the floor of the shack with 5 gallons of sweet on the floor as the brass drawoff valve froze and cracked, then thawed and drained the pan..... From then, on I drain, and make sure i leave the valve open at the end of the day.

Also, I wouldnt worry about the little warps here and there, they can be fixed. My mason pan has all types of 'character' and she still runs great. Youll learn the level you need to maintain so you wont burn. But, little warps in the bottom is inevitable.

[Tobey802]

Just added a shurflo 4048 this afternoon to my set up what a night and day difference it makes!!

[bryankloos]

Just added a shurflo 4048 this afternoon to my set up what a night and day difference it makes!!


This is my first year with a 4008 and SS3 Controller... Wow!
My advice is to plumb in a small recirc line if possible. Yesterday afternoon I checked on my system and sap flow was drastically slowing down for the day. I opened the recirc line a bit, vac increased greatly, and sap was again flowing heavily for a few extra hours. I probably gained an extra 0.5 gallon/tap after opening the recirc. These Shurflo's like to pump fluid a lot better than air...
Enjoy the 4048!

[Tobey802]

I was going to add one this afternoon!! I want to also get the s3 controller for next year right now I’m just keeping an eye on it, I do have a bypass set up so I can just turn 2 valves manually to keep it going on gravity.

[Gord]

I'm going to tap a new section of maples on my property. When is it best to do so; today, before the deep freeze to single digits, or after when it warms up on Sunday?
Thanks

[Biz]

This is my first year with a 4008 and SS3 Controller... Wow!
My advice is to plumb in a small recirc line if possible. Yesterday afternoon I checked on my system and sap flow was drastically slowing down for the day. I opened the recirc line a bit, vac increased greatly, and sap was again flowing heavily for a few extra hours. I probably gained an extra 0.5 gallon/tap after opening the recirc. These Shurflo's like to pump fluid a lot better than air...
Enjoy the 4048!

Glad the controller is working well for you!

Dave

[Mike Van]

I'm going to tap a new section of maples on my property. When is it best to do so; today, before the deep freeze to single digits, or after when it warms up on Sunday?
ThanksI don't think it matters Gord - The day I tapped 80 some of mine, there wasn't a drop of sap all day - just too cold. I did the last 60 on a warmer day, sap was just starting. Right now i'm into my best year ever, 850 gal/sap so far. My back is happy for 2 days off right now. Don't drive the taps in too hard when their frozen, it'll crack the bark and they'll leak for a few days.

[Gord]

Thanks Mike. My first batch of taps didn't run the first day either.
Still a newbie.

[Agent914]

Finally, dug out and dusted off my stuff and tapped 20 trees last night - started at 8p and finished at 10p ....wife & neighbors think I am crazy ... but give me some time and I will show them what crazy is!

[Woodsrover]

700 gallons to boil tomorrow. The local Cub Scout Pack (of which my son is a member) is coming over to see how maple syrup is made. Fun stuff!

[Mike Van]

I drained mine this AM for the big freeze tonight - Got vinegar in the front 2 pans to get rid of the sand before next batch - looking like Monday right now.

[bryankloos]

Update.
Brrrr....
Lines are frozen!

[Person25]

Great day to boil! Lines and buckets are frozen, you’ll find me cracking a few beers, watching the boil.

[bryankloos]

I boiled last evening, emptied the pan which is now soaking in vinegar.
I plan to tap a few more on buckets today with my daughter.
Then I'll sit down and enjoy a cold beer myself!
Beautiful day out there today.

[Cjadamec]

Stayed up late Thursday to finish boiling before the freeze. Jarred up a little over 2 gallons of syrup. Makes 7.5 gallons finished and packed so far this season.

It hit 8 here this morning, I'm going to wait till tomorrow to scrub the pan and enjoy a beer inside where it's warm. A nice little pause to get everything prepped up for the next run.

[Woodsrover]

Had 650 gallons to boil yesterday. A chilly start at 8 degrees. Had a heat lamp in the arch and some heat tape wrapped around the milk tank outlet. Was up and going pretty quickly. Wife made dinner reservations for 7:00 so I did what I could and flooded the pan at 5:30. Have a pretty full pan and about 80 gallons of concentrate to finish up today.

Looks like some good flow days coming this week.

[Rich R]

Are taps have had varying results so far.

some trees producing a lot and some almost none.

Our 3/16 lines that have good drop are running the best. Next year we plan on running more 3/16 and less bags.

Also thinking about using backflow taps. Anyone have experience with these? I think this may help us by allowing a longer run and not worrying so much about tapping to early.

We have about 300+ taps, most of them in a new area we just started to thin out. We are not getting much from them but hopping thinning other trees out of the bush will help that..

I have not quite figured how to add information to my profile but when I have time I will.

We live in Willington, CT

[Rich R]

Boiling today while we bottle :)

[Mike Van]

Wife made dinner reservations for 7:00
Looks like some good flow days coming this week. Where did you go?

[TheNamelessPoet]

Are taps have had varying results so far.

some trees producing a lot and some almost none.

Our 3/16 lines that have good drop are running the best. Next year we plan on running more 3/16 and less bags.

Also thinking about using backflow taps. Anyone have experience with these? I think this may help us by allowing a longer run and not worrying so much about tapping to early.

We have about 300+ taps, most of them in a new area we just started to thin out. We are not getting much from them but hopping thinning other trees out of the bush will help that..

I have not quite figured how to add information to my profile but when I have time I will.

We live in Willington, CThey I live in Tolland!!! Howdy neighbor!

[aviboy97]

Anyone have taps flowing today? I thought because of the temp my taps would start flowing again after the past two extremely cold days. Hasn’t happened tho.

[Cjadamec]

My lines are moving today temp has been around 40 since 10am. Not much sun though to really get things moving.

Monday and Tuesday should make for better days

[pyro]

Took previous two years off. I ended up tapping last Sunday Feb 9. So over a week collecting. Some 5 gallon buckets are overflowing, other reds are 1/3 full. Planning to test out the new badgerland 2x4 flat pan. Going from 2x3 14 gauge to 2x4 22 gauge. Excited to see the difference.

[bryankloos]

Same boat here.... Was expecting a good run but very little by the end of the day.

Today and tomorrow should be better. Next weekend is looking promising as well...

[Woodsrover]

Where did you go?

Drove past your place to Kingsley Tavern.

[Agent914]

I got nothing in Middlebury on 25 taps since Thursday - weather looks promising, expecting a good run and an extended boil by end of week

[Mike Van]

Drove past your place to Kingsley Tavern. Good choice !

[Rich R]

Not much flow yesterday, hoping for some today. Bottled yesterday and boiled some sap we ran thru the RO. 12 gallons syrup so far.

[therealtreehugger]

I was also expecting more of a run than what actually happened the last few days. I boiled what we had yesterday, just to boil it and help it keep, but didn’t finish any. The sterilized “half sap” will sit in the pan and wait for next weekend.

[Kubota]

Also a very slow day yesterday. Came home expecting full buckets. Things didn't break free until late afternoon. Hoping for good flow through Wednesday.

[bryankloos]

I picked up maybe 40 gallons yesterday... Was hoping for double that, and the flows didn't start unitl later afternoon.
Today should pick up.

[Cjadamec]

Picked up 120 gallons of sap since Sunday. Not spectacular but it's enough to crank up the evaporator and start reducing it.

The tubing is still running very strong so I'm guessing I will have a good amount to deal with tomorrow as well. Looks like I'm gonna get a good season out of this mild year yet.

[Person25]

I had a really good sap run last yesterday and into the last night on the tract in middlefield/durham. Quick freeze overnight and it ran like gangbusters today. Collected 55gal from monday night, and 110 gal today at last check about 4pm it was still running very strong. Bottled 4 gallons from over the weekends boil, and still have about 2 gal of sweet from the pan I need to bring down. plus a good buddy dropped off a 5gal bucket of fresh dug steamers. Looks like ill be busy boiling a bunch of good stuff!

[Cjadamec]

Ive got some room on the evaporator to cook those steamers that sounds delicious.

[Mike Van]

Looking out the kitchen window at 5 AM there's an almost full bucket staring back at me - The steam will be rising here good part of the day as another 2 day freeze up is coming tonight.

[bryankloos]

I picked up 120 gallons yesterday through last night.
My 275 IBC storage tote is expected to overrun today, so I fired up the RO.
I'm expecting a boil later tonight and/or tomorrow morning depending on how things shake out today...
Weather looks promising for a good top off of the tanks today.

[Agent914]

I collected another 40 gallons from 24 taps last night but I got some moth's in my covered buckets last night.

Any body else findings moths?

[therealtreehugger]

No moths, but got a few mosquitos!

[Cjadamec]

Also no moths but flys and mosquitoes. That and another 60 gallons of sap since yesterday afternoon.

The pan is back up to a boil hopefully I will get thru all the sap today.

[Mike Van]

All you with no moths - They all flew to my place - must have picked out 2 dozen this AM. All caught up here, sap at 1035 gal so far.

[Sugar Bear]

Tapped February 16th.

My Big trees are at or over 3% ( measured 3.25% the other day )
My Small trees are around 2%
My 1 Red Swamp Maple is at 1%. ( no more reds till I get a RO up and running )

Made close to 2 gallons of 66+ syrup on 75 gallons of sap in my first boil on the 19th. ( this includes what should amount to about a half pint of sugar sand after it is fully settled. )

So far I am glad I resisted the January temptations to boil water.

[aviboy97]

Quick question.....i emptied my evaporator 12 days ago and stored the partially boiled sap (yellow color now) and stuck it in my refrigerator. I’m boiling again today and question using it. It smells fine....no rotten smell....hoping it’s ok. Any thoughts?

[Cjadamec]

If it smells and tastes fine it should be good to go.

[Person25]

Welp, was a busy week of collecting, running the RO and boiling off on Saturday. Finished another 4 gals off 245gal of sap and added another few gal of sweet to the bucket in the chest freezer for later finishing. Noticing it seems like that my syrup is a little extra heavy with niter this year, not sure what’s up with that. Checked my 60 on lines in Middlefield/durham this afternoon, found both my two 55gal drums overflowing from Saturday/Sunday’s run. Had to fire up the Ro again.

[bryankloos]

Busy week here... Boiled off another 4 gallons and collected 120 gals of sap today.
Assuming I get the same tomorrow I'll be boiling and bottling again soon.
Bottled up 5 gallons from last week and still rocking!

[Cjadamec]

Another late cold spell and weekend warm up gone by and another 150 gallons of sap collected. Had a late night boiling last night and probably another late boil today.

I swear I heard tree frogs this morning leaving the house for work. Lots of moths around the barrels yesterday too.

[TheNamelessPoet]

Another late cold spell and weekend warm up gone by and another 150 gallons of sap collected. Had a late night boiling last night and probably another late boil today.

I swear I heard tree frogs this morning leaving the house for work. Lots of moths around the barrels yesterday too.omg yes! the area around the weeping spots were covered on moths!

[Rich R]

Sap running good in Willington. Wish I had time to collect this morning, collected yesterday and bags are half full this morning. Have 14 gallons bottled so far.

[Woodsrover]

Up to 19 gallons bottled so far. Good runs the past couple days but the temps have me nervous. Think I'll take Wednesday off of work to boil what I have. Too warm to keep too long! Really need to get my milk tank cooling!

I get a sneaking suspicion that this syrup season is going to come to an early end.....

[Cjadamec]

Up to 19 gallons bottled so far. Good runs the past couple days but the temps have me nervous. Think I'll take Wednesday off of work to boil what I have. Too warm to keep too long! Really need to get my milk tank cooling!

I get a sneaking suspicion that this syrup season is going to come to an early end.....

I think all the bugs and woodland critters might agree with you on that. The rest of this week is way too warm around me to keep sap for more than a day or two.

[Woodsrover]

Pumped 600 gallons up to the sugar shack tonight. Still had some ice in the tanks and totes and the sap was very clear. It was, however, only 1.5%...maybe. Gonna recirculate through the RO most of the night and take the day off tomorrow to boil.

Weather is really mixed for the next week or so. Who knows what we'll get....

[DaveB]

Pumped 600 gallons up to the sugar shack tonight. Still had some ice in the tanks and totes and the sap was very clear. It was, however, only 1.5%...maybe. Gonna recirculate through the RO most of the night and take the day off tomorrow to boil.

Weather is really mixed for the next week or so. Who knows what we'll get....

Same over here but the sugar content was around 2%. My tanks were filling up and the flow has been great since Saturday.

I wouldn't say the weather is mixed for the next week though. Looks like a good cool down/freeze over the weekend starting Friday through Monday and then another thaw. Later next week is still too far out but it looks like it will be colder again. Given that I think we'll have good runs early next week and the following if things hold.

[Tobey802]

Just finished up catching up for the week up to 12.25 gallons made

[Mike Van]

My best Feb. ever, just over 1500 gal/sap so far - I can remember several years back one Feb was so cold, nothing ran at all. I have a school field trip coming tomorrow - Should be fun -

[Sugar Bear]

My best Feb. ever, just over 1500 gal/sap so far - I can remember several years back one Feb was so cold, nothing ran at all. I have a school field trip coming tomorrow - Should be fun -

My fifth year now and definitely the best sap flow for my trees.

Not getting much of a break between runs with no dry spell at all on the bigger trees. Big trees giving 3% and small trees giving 2% and I have 1 Red Maple giving 1%

Having a difficult time keeping up with 41 taps on 4 steam pans with 3 rolling hard, but able to just barely.

[Mike Van]

21082 My first tour group was a great success -

[CTSap4Maple]

Slowly thawing out here today in Simsbury, but looks like the first part of this week will be too warm for another run?

[Mike Van]

Slowly thawing out here today in Simsbury, but looks like the first part of this week will be too warm for another run? There will be a good run starting tomorrow, going into Tuesday until the sap is all up. Then we'll need another freeze to reset the process. Too many warm days thawed with no freeze at night is not good, trees tapped 4 weeks ago will start to slowly run less & less. Thats my experience anyway.

[pyro]

So this is my first year after a 2 or 3 year hiatus. Filtered and bottled 1.5 gallons of syrup. I don't track sap exactly, but I estimated I had boiled 60 gallons, but I guess it must have been a bit more. I desperately need a better filtering process. I use maple flat filters on a ~1.5 sq ft mesh flat pan and barely anything goes through it. I wasn't able to filter while it was thinner than syrup and there was a lot of niter. I thought I stopped boiling at 65-66 brix but the additional steps of filtering and bottling evaporated more than I realized. I ended up with syrup that's 70 brix so I'm sure that's partially why.

Will prob boil again next weekend, which will be another 2 weeks sitting in buckets. But with the amount of ice in the buckets, I think it should be good.

[CTSap4Maple]

There will be a good run starting tomorrow, going into Tuesday until the sap is all up.

Yes, collected 210 gallons today.

[Rich R]

Sap ran pretty good yesterday, ran real good last night. 22 gallons syrup so far. We need to figure how we are going to sell it all. We put a sign on the road when we are just boiling (not bottling) and have had a few visitors to the shack. It is fun to share the process with other people.

[Rich R]

How do I add information about us to the bottom of post?

[bryankloos]

Settings top Right.
Edit Settings Left middle
Edit Signature

We had a huge run yesterday as well. Lost a few gallons as my transfer pump fuse blew but still managed to collect over 300 gallons in the past 2 days. RO is running and I'll be boiling in a couple hours...

[Rich R]

Thanks for the help.

[Mike Van]

I picked up a record for me 225 gal/sap today. Several of my 3 gal. buckets were overflowing in 24 hours. My back feels it too. Lots of steam tomorrow -

[Rich R]

Record for us also. 200 last night and didn’t get to barrels next door. At least another 100

[bryankloos]

Well over 500 gallons in 3 days.
Boiled yesterday.
Boiling today.
Getting tired!

[Mike Van]

This morning I started boiling about 5 AM, by 6 I had to shut down as I couldn't stop the foaming in the front pans. Lost an hour as I had to shovel out the fire, get the front pans cool enough to drain & add some vinegar. About 15 minutes of scrubbing had them shining like new, reloaded, refired. Later went and picked up another 175 gal/sap for tomorrow - that put me over 2000 for the year. Weather needs to cool a little.

[Tobey802]

My sap has very low sugar content not sure the exact percentage because I don’t have a hydrometer or refractometer for sap I just boiled 80 gallons and only made about 3/4 of a gallon syrup

[Mike Van]

Tobey - if you get over my way bring a sample of sap & syrup, we'll test it -

[Rich R]

Got another 140 last night. Sap was 1.5 percent. Recycled through RO to boil today. Trees ready to bud.

[Tobey802]

Mike - I may stop down later this afternoon if your around.

[merryall]

Broke my sap hydrometer but bottled a few gallons today at 46:1

[bryankloos]

Weather is very iffy starting next week. Reds have buds that are starting to swell.
I’m thinking the next couple days may be it for me....

[Sugar Bear]

Record sap flow for me last week. One 11 tap run on 5/16 was on a steady stream into the barrel. Probably had some vacuum on it. Managed to keep the 55 gallon barrel from overflowing but just barely. Other 5 gallon buckets were unfortunately putting a little bit of sap into the ground.

My trees have been running quite a bit one and two days or even three days after it has not fallen below freezing the night before. Has anybody noticed this also this year??

I tapped Feb 16 which is 19 days ago and it seems like sap has run at least some on 17 of those days.

[DaveB]

Yeah, I'm still getting good sap flows. I have trees in cold hollows and up around 1K feet so I tend to collect later than most. I have about 600 gallons to boil this weekend and we'll see how the sap flows into next week. I just wish we had the snow to keep things cold.

[Woodsrover]

...I just wish we had the snow to keep things cold.

Floated a sleeve of ice in my 600 gallon tank last night.

[Sugar Bear]

This could be the most "Snowless Winter" in my 55 years.

4 sure!

[Mike Van]

In spite of a near perfect frost of 26 Thursday night, 16 of my trees up & quit - After 60 degree weather coming Mon & Tue, the end of a great year is just about here.

[Cjadamec]

At least some of my trees started going buddy. The sap I was getting at the beginning of the week tasted bitter and off coming directly out of the tubing. I've already started cleaning and pack up for the year as the weather doesn't predict any temps below freezing for at least another week or more. Still ended up with 12.5 gallons of syrup in the end which for me is a great season.

[Mike Van]

I have never seen as many moths as this year - Started early Feb, now I get 6 or 8 in a bucket, what a pain. No sapsucker damage this year though - maybe the moths ate the birds? 8 more taps didn't run today.

[Woodsrover]

Trees ran well today. Boiled for a while this morning and finished 9 gallons between Friday night and today. Left a pretty thick pan and 50 gallons of 6% sap in the head tank will get finished tomorrow. With whatever runs tomorrow I'll flood the pan and let it set for a few weeks. Seemed to help with clean-up last year.

Should end the season with 40 gallons. More than I need and better than last year.

[pyro]

My buckets have been collecting from the past 2 weeks. I think I really pushed it since I wasn't able to boil last weekend. I know there was ice in the buckets last weekend, so it was good up to that point. The past week had some warm days that were questionable. The sap is pretty cloudy, has a very slight smell. It wasn't ropey and tasted fine. So we'll see how this batch comes out. Boiled about 100 gallons today which is my limit.

[aviboy97]

Had decent flow this week, but last two days were virtually dry on the majority of my trees. I’m boiling today, but it’s not as much as I was hoping to boil.

With temps not getting below freezing for the next 15 days, I can’t see this season lasting much longer. I’d assume I’m about done for the year. Whatta shame. Was hoping to run towards the end of March, but winter was just too warm.

[tommythetapper]

Amen, brother.

This season has got to be the worst ever in CT. Too many consecutive days that did not go below freezing at night.

Already pulled my taps as everything is virtually dried up.

Now I'm going to have to dry out as this season has driven me to the drink!


2020: 50 taps, Leader Half-pint.

[bryankloos]

I'm still flowing today, and picked up about 200 gallons in the past 3 days on my 70 taps.
That said, its looking pretty **** close to over...

I'll keep the taps in for another week or so but not expecting much.

Next weekend may get close to freezing here, but the forecast as of now is just flirting with 32.

Time will tell, but as the grass is starting to green up it may be time to start getting all the yard gear out and ready...

[Woodsrover]

Just as well I guess. Sunny trees look like they're starting to bud and syrup was getting dark anyway. With the weather coming at us I'm not in the mood to struggle keeping sap cold.

Boiled everything I had left and ended up with close to 13 gallons for the weekend. Dark. Sap ran pretty good today but the richest I measured was 1%. Some was 3/4% maybe. I used it to push out what I had ROed yesterday and left the pan rich to sit and ferment for a few weeks.

Gives me 40 gallons for the year. More than last year so I can't complain.

Now comes the pulling of the taps, the washing of the tanks!

[bryankloos]

Woodsrover,

What happens when the pan sits and ferments? Is there any advantage to this, versus dumping and rinsing with some permeate?

Thanks,

Bryan

[Woodsrover]

Woodsrover,

What happens when the pan sits and ferments?

Bryan

I read about it here a year or two ago....When it gets all ropey and goopy it seems to help get the scale off the pan. I think I let mine set for close to a month last year and it took a lot of the gunk off the pans.

[Agent914]

I heard the peepers Saturday night and got more moths in the bucket so yesterday I pulled my taps and finishing off the rest of sap having made several gallons gallons for family and friends. Started cleaning and storage last night. my plan is to be more proactive in making the upgrades to my syruping process since things are still fresh in my mind and on the tip on my tongue now versus the start of 2021 .... but the honey due list in now starting to get in my attention.... yes dear I heard you the 1st time!

[Mike Van]

I'm done too - The last of my buckets will be down tomorrow morning, many are done anyway, the hot day yesterday took all the joy out of it. Buckets full of flies, cloudy sap, etc. It was a record year for me, boiled off just over 2400 gal/sap.

[Sugar Bear]

Pulled taps today. Might be able to catch a small run next weekend but it is just too warm.

I liked this year better then last year with the exception of the 1/2 gallon of syrup that jumped out of the finish pan on me. I am also glad I resisted temptation to tap early.

Here are my numbers for last year and this year.

2019 Totals: 508 gallons of sap, 7 boils, 11.4 gallons of syrup. Spouts in on Feb 1 - Spouts out on March 25

2020 Totals: 448 gallons of sap, 4 boils, 10.5 gallons of syrup. Spouts in on Feb 16 - Spouts out on March 10

[Sugar Bear]

Also found the following in my trees.

Big trees peaked at 3.25% in late Feb
Small trees peaked at 2.25% in late Feb

Big trees dropped down to 2.25% in March
Small trees dropped down to 1.25% in March

My 1 Red Maple never seemed to get above 1%. While they make good syrup, I will never go near them again with a tap unless I have RO.

[Gord]

Pulled taps today. Might be able to catch a small run next weekend but it is just too warm.
I liked this year better then last year with the exception of the 1/2 gallon of syrup that jumped out of the finish pan on me. I am also glad I resisted temptation to tap early.

I can understand why you and others are pulling taps. I did too.
My question is, why do you say you're glad you resisted temptation to tap early?
I didn't resist, more out of being small time and still learning and experimenting. The taps I put in early were some of the best taps I had all season, and kept up with, and surpassed most of the taps I put in later in February.

[DaveB]

My taps are still in. I'm collecting today and this weekend looks like several days with good temps. I think next week might be the last one but if the sap is running, I'm collecting it and I'll boil as log as I have enough. If I finish next week, that would be 1-2 weeks earlier than normal. From where I am in the season it's been a pretty good season. I've already made more this season than I did all last season.

[Sugar Bear]

I can understand why you and others are pulling taps. I did too.
My question is, why do you say you're glad you resisted temptation to tap early?
I didn't resist, more out of being small time and still learning and experimenting. The taps I put in early were some of the best taps I had all season, and kept up with, and surpassed most of the taps I put in later in February.

I tapped on Feb 16 and I had 4 boils that ended on the following dates with the given amount of sap boiled.

2/20 75 gallons
2/27 152 gallons ( Second place for amount into my barrels for a boil )
3/5 166 gallons ( Record amount into my barrels for a boil )
3/9 55 gallons

So I feel in my region the best two weeks of the season were the last week of February and the first week of March.

I would suggest to anyone that the ideal time to tap with gravity is 1 week before the best two weeks of the season. Not certain how to suggest finding them other then "resisting temptation" BUT as Dorthy once said their is no place like home. As a southern New England small time sugar maker I would say their is no place like a sap run in the last week of February and the first week of March. While we all think the seasons are going away they are not. Not that I know anything about it scientifically, but they will still be here for thousands of years. The odds that I am correct about that are heavily in my favor. Two years from now we may have our record cold or record snow. While the climate is clearly trending warmer without a doubt, I believe the trees are "STILL" programed by the ages to do what they do best at a "REASONABLY" tight and fixed point in time. 9 years out of 10 easily. And even pretty much so on the 10th year like this one, and my numbers above and below support that.

Last year I boiled 508 gallons in 8 weeks of season. On 7 different boils. Made 11.4 gallons of syrup. A great season but a lot of work.

This year I boiled 448 gallons in 4 weeks of season. on 4 different boils. Made 10.5 gallons of syrup. ( lost 1/2 gallon due to brain cramp ) A better season then last year because it was half the work.

So for the first two weeks of February I was able to tie salmon flies for my salmon fishing in Maritimes this summer and now for the back half of March I to tie more salmon flies. And I have nearly the same amount of syrup as last year to bring with me on my salmon fishing trip.

I hope that explains why I am glad I resisted my temptation to tap early.

This year was by far the most educational to me. And while Bernie Sanders may have a different opinion, education is already free! It always has been. Ever since the first brain cell was conceived.

Cheers to tapping on time.

Cheers to tapping on time.

[Rich R]

Started cleaning up the sugar shack this week. Despite the strange weather we think we did pretty good. 38.5 gallons of syrup bottled. Adding more 3/16 lines next year and doing half in cv taps. Tapping those early next year.

[therealtreehugger]

My trees have been running quite a bit one and two days or even three days after it has not fallen below freezing the night before. Has anybody noticed this also this year?


I pulled my taps last weekend, but for the last week before I pulled them, there were a few days when I expected a good run, due to appropriate temperature swings, and didn’t get diddly, or didn’t expect much of a run, and came home to buckets overflowing. Weird! I know everyone has their own micro climate, but it was not what I expected!

On another note, I may try soaking the pan before cleaning. But I don’t have anymore sap, so I’m just going to fill it with water and see what happens, unless that’s a bad idea?

[Sugar Bear]

I pulled my taps last weekend, but for the last week before I pulled them, there were a few days when I expected a good run, due to appropriate temperature swings, and didn’t get diddly, or didn’t expect much of a run, and came home to buckets overflowing. Weird! I know everyone has their own micro climate, but it was not what I expected!

On another note, I may try soaking the pan before cleaning. But I don’t have anymore sap, so I’m just going to fill it with water and see what happens, unless that’s a bad idea?

Good to know it was not just me with that same kind of season.

[Mike Van]

On another note, I may try soaking the pan before cleaning. But I don’t have anymore sap, so I’m just going to fill it with water and see what happens, unless that’s a bad idea?[/QUOTE] The water won't do anything to loosen up the crud - better to put a few gallons of vinegar in the pans, swish it around a few times a day.

[therealtreehugger]

On another note, I may try soaking the pan before cleaning. But I don’t have anymore sap, so I’m just going to fill it with water and see what happens, unless that’s a bad idea? The water won't do anything to loosen up the crud - better to put a few gallons of vinegar in the pans, swish it around a few times a day.

Ahh - okay. I was thinking would adding some sugar to simulate sap (and then bacteria) work?

[30AcreWoods]

At the end of the season I do a 50/50 vinegar/permeate water mix in my evaporator. Bring to a rolling boil. Walk away. Come back a few days later and the thing shines like it is brand new with minimal scrubbing. If possible, cover the pan after it is boiling and the evaporation condensate will coat everything and make it even easier to clean.

[therealtreehugger]

Interesting! I will give it a try - thanks!