Southeastern WI 2020 Tapping

[littleTapper]

Might not be a lot of us in the southeastern corner on here, but it's worth a thread of its own. Who's in already? Currently sitting at 2.25 gallons/tap so far. Silver maples have been running really well until yesterday. Sugars just getting going but got rolling well on Monday. Riding out the upcoming bit of cold with a nearly full IBC tote (could use some ice given the upcoming temps so I'll let it make some ice) then RO and boil this weekend.

Had some folks stop and chat while I was checking my vacuum lines a few days ago. Hopefully they see this. Maple makes you meet some nice folks and I hope we all have a great season!

[Trapper2]

Jealous!! I went up to the Cabin central state yesterday, cut in 75 taps to the lines. Also staged 100 buckets to tapping areas. Sugar house now is wired for the generator. I'm tapping Sunday.
Have a great season little Tapper.

[littleTapper]

Jealous!! I went up to the Cabin central state yesterday, cut in 75 taps to the lines. Also staged 100 buckets to tapping areas. Sugar house now is wired for the generator. I'm tapping Sunday.
Have a great season little Tapper.

Hope you have a great season as well!

[bprifle01]

I put in 12 taps Saturday afternoon because a friend wanted to learn how to tap. She got very excited when sap ran out of the freshly drilled holes! I've gotten about 15 gallons between Sat. and Sun. Now with the cold setting in till the weekend I don't expect much of anything till Monday.

[gatzow]

Tapping today. Should have 90-100 taps on bags when all said and done. Storage tank is clean, evaporator is clean, bags are on holders... I have a bucket with taps, drill, rubber mallet... what am I forgetting?

We still have some deep drifts in areas so I hope the ranger can get through the snow!!

[clifford5555]

Hey Guys to my south! Good Luck to ya!

I boiled and used my new RO on Thursday.... I tapped on the 18th in Neenah. Got about 12 gallons sap on 4 trees. I do it for myself and I share my extra with my family. The RO made me almost not need my arch. I only had 3 gallons of sap after I got done running RO for 3 hours. LOL, very shocked. Pulled about 22oz of very nice Light Syrup.

Used some new filtering techniques I learned from Smokey Lake Class and wow, its so much better than last year. looked like store shelf stuff. I think you can still do good with cone filters...man I was in love with the filter press she showed us. (another 800$)

@bprifle01...Hey bud, I see you bought a fancy evaporator! congratz! I was at the Smokey Lake filtering class on feb 15th...and wow I wanted everything, but with only 5 trees and last season my 1st I had 80 gal of sap, I just couldn't see spending 1000$+ on a evaporator, even the small one. I might upgrade and buy an nice pan for my arch with a pour off spout. But what made ya go for the fancy stuff with your size of operation?

Good luck! Hoping for a BIG week!

[bprifle01]

clifford555
My decision to upgrade to a "real" evaporator was based on a couple of different things. First, I wanted to speed things up a bit. Boiling all weekend long wasn't as much fun as it used to be. And second, I promised to give all of my old stuff to a friend and her husband to get them started in this great hobby.
The StarCat evaporator and the flat pan aren't much of a change size wise from what I had been using, but it is an airtight arch and I have struggled with getting good under fire air. I think that alone will have to improve my boil rate.

[littleTapper]

First boil yesterday. Had 220 gallons I started concentrating Saturday night and the trees sure pushed a ton out while I was boiling - probably another 40 gallons of the 43 vac trees. Had the RO and the evap timed just right that my sap tank was nearly empty at the same time I pumped the last concentrate to the head tank. Gotta say, not sure why I didn't build a RO sooner. What a time (and wood) saver! Got a good, light, 4+ gallons pulled off the evaporator and will fire up the RO while I'm at work (via my phone, yay technology) so I'm ready to boil again when I get home from work. Had about 100 gallons of sap in the tank when I left this morning.

Forecast here is way too warm though. 10-day forecast shows tonight is the only night it's supposed to freeze until Friday night. :(

[gatzow]

First boil yesterday. Had 220 gallons I started concentrating Saturday night and the trees sure pushed a ton out while I was boiling - probably another 40 gallons of the 43 vac trees. Had the RO and the evap timed just right that my sap tank was nearly empty at the same time I pumped the last concentrate to the head tank. Gotta say, not sure why I didn't build a RO sooner. What a time (and wood) saver! Got a good, light, 4+ gallons pulled off the evaporator and will fire up the RO while I'm at work (via my phone, yay technology) so I'm ready to boil again when I get home from work. Had about 100 gallons of sap in the tank when I left this morning.

Forecast here is way too warm though. 10-day forecast shows tonight is the only night it's supposed to freeze until Friday night. :(

Forecast looks wild. A real lack of freezing temps at night. Love seeing temps in low 40’s but what happened to the 20’s at night??

[littleTapper]

Yeah, forecast sucks. Temp last night didn't drop as low as forecasted either. Clouded up too quickly, maybe? I only had a low of 31.

[ChaskaSap]

I'm up near Mpls and tapped two weeks ago. Had pretty good flow until the chilly weather last week. The flow over the last few days has been slow though, and like you the temps are warm, but we have a forecast a little more favorable...with only still a few days in the next week that won't hit freezing....hoping for better soon!

[MapleMaisy]

Good Morning,
March 3
First time posting ,so I hope I’m doing this right. I’m sure someone will straighten me out if not. Location of our sugarbush is Dodge Co., Town of Rubicon. Began sugaring in 1992, at least that is my first recorded record of sugaring. Put in 47 taps on Sunday, had difficulty with atv pulling cart of supplies to tap. Had enough help so carried supplies into sugarbush. Have great farmers in our area that let us tap in their woods. Couldn’t get into our 2nd location because too much snow on trails for atv. Walked in again, got another 14 taps in. Have another 51 to go. Today will be our first day collecting.
When we started in “92” we cooked down in an aluminum bushel basket over a propane burner. In 2008 switched to an English tin pan about 36x48 over a wood fire. In 2017 we began using an`18x60 hobby size evaporator. We have always used sap sak holders.We maple sugar for the fun and fresh air; not necessarily the hard work it is. Have lots of help from family and friends that are interested in the process. Even grand nieces and nephews and our grandchildren enjoy maple sugaring.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Hi Maple Maisy, Sounds like an old snowmobile and ice fishing sled would have helped. our woods still have too much snow for atv use also,and its great to have family and friends to share your passion with. Good luck this season and God Bless.

[littleTapper]

Welcome MapleMaisy! Hope you have a great season. Temps should be more favorable for you than me given the forecast.

We're up to 5.5 gallons per tap now. Trees have run rather well considering barely any freezing at night. Haven't checked the 175 gallons in the tank, but previous stuff was just over 1.8% - so not horrible (better than the 1.5% of the first stuff we pulled). Might have froze just enough last night to get more today....we'll see.

[fisheatingbagel]

Good Morning,
March 3
First time posting ,so I hope I’m doing this right. I’m sure someone will straighten me out if not. Location of our sugarbush is Dodge Co., Town of Rubicon. Began sugaring in 1992, at least that is my first recorded record of sugaring. Put in 47 taps on Sunday, had difficulty with atv pulling cart of supplies to tap. Had enough help so carried supplies into sugarbush. Have great farmers in our area that let us tap in their woods. Couldn’t get into our 2nd location because too much snow on trails for atv. Walked in again, got another 14 taps in. Have another 51 to go. Today will be our first day collecting.
When we started in “92” we cooked down in an aluminum bushel basket over a propane burner. In 2008 switched to an English tin pan about 36x48 over a wood fire. In 2017 we began using an`18x60 hobby size evaporator. We have always used sap sak holders.We maple sugar for the fun and fresh air; not necessarily the hard work it is. Have lots of help from family and friends that are interested in the process. Even grand nieces and nephews and our grandchildren enjoy maple sugaring.

Sounds like a great family tradition, keep us posted on how it's going!

[littleTapper]

Forecast really blows....

http://www.isaacolson.com/web/Screenshot_2020-03-06_08-18-07.png

[gatzow]

Yes, this isn't good.... Nothing that we can do about it. Leave taps in as long as we can and hope that things turn. Otherwise, all sap is based on tomorrow's run (maybe they will go through the night into Sunday for us???)) It could be a sad year having to tell all our customers that we have no syrup to sell until next year...



Forecast really blows....

http://www.isaacolson.com/web/Screenshot_2020-03-06_08-18-07.png

[littleTapper]

Yup, will just leave things in, clean everything up and hope it gets cold again for a bit. Could be a super-short season for my silvers. I have hope in the 30 sugars I have on 3/16 to extend things a bit but that trend is not good at all. Oh well!

[gatzow]

Well, I was honestly hoping for more sap today but pulled about 3/4 gallon per tap today. I was really hoping for 1.5-2 gallons per tap based on temps but trees just didn’t get started until noon or later. Will be boiling tomorrow. Hope the sugar improves from 2%. Last years 3.5 average was much more fun to cook...
Best of luck to all!

[Irish Ridge]

Kind of had the same output from my sugars the last couple of days. Just finished collecting once more today so until the trees run again my pails are empty. Sugar content for me has been consistently at 2.5 to three so I am happy there. At this point it is all up to the weather. Working in a tee shirt isn't bad though. Best of luck and a bit lower temps to us down-staters.

[littleTapper]

Good run over the weekend; now up to nearly 8 gallons of sap per tap. Forecast still sucks this week. Maybe a Freeze Friday night but that's it looking 10 days out.

Bottled over 12 gallons of delicious stuff yesterday. Boiled everything I had collected yesterday due these 60+ temps. Might have another 4-5 gallons in that.

[littleTapper]

Silver flower buds opened today. Forecast still sucks.

[gatzow]

Had a really nice run yesterday. Around 1.5 gallons per tap. Wasn’t expecting it as it didn’t get that warm out but beautiful clear sap came out of the trees as fast as it has all season. Cooking all day today to keep up in hopes of a few good sap days this week!

[littleTapper]

Nice! It didn't get quite cold enough here, but we got around .75/tap. Tested the silver sap, still makes great syrup. Froze really well last night; hoping for a gusher today since there's no freezing in the forecast now until Friday night.

[gatzow]

Maybe heading into the last week of the season for us?? Got a very little run today but hoping for that last run the next few days. We shall see. Solid season so far. But I’m also up 15 or 20 taps from last year... hope everyone else is doing well and staying healthy. If lockdown comes, I might miss having boiling to do! But I guess I can focus on restocking the wood pile...

[littleTapper]

Forecast says this is it for us; last day or two of sap flow. The past two days were way colder than initially forecasted and that adds to the disappointment. Definitely not going to match least year's production and last year wasn't too great due to how short the season was and way less than it could have been had the past 2.5 weeks been decent weather. Have 21 gallons bottled at this point. Another 50 gallons of sap in the tank and hope to get maybe 150-200 more if we're lucky. 96 taps total; so yeah, not too great.

Still, we made some great syrup and I found out that buying/building my RO was the best thing I've ever done for my hobby. It's helped my marriage tremendously :)

[Irish Ridge]

Nice report. I am pretty much due west and am experiencing the same weather. Tomorrow is my last sap collection and boil. Best year ever was 7 years ago and I might just pass it depending on Tuesday. Long steady season for us. My best was 17 gallons so we will see what the today and tomorrow bring. Long days of tending a fire are coming to an end. Way down on wood. Sounds like I need to be thinking RO.

[littleTapper]

So mental exercise. Upcoming 'shelter in place' directive. I've got my best 30 trees 12 miles from home. Guess I better pump out the tank tonight. I'm not sure how much leeway there will be in driving around do make syrup; even though I interact with nobody else....

[1arch]

So mental exercise. Upcoming 'shelter in place' directive. I've got my best 30 trees 12 miles from home. Guess I better pump out the tank tonight. I'm not sure how much leeway there will be in driving around do make syrup; even though I interact with nobody else....the governor's executive order exempts food production and agricultural activities.

[gatzow]

Got the fire going for what could be the last boil of the year. I’ll leave taps out for the rest of the week as there might be one or two more days. Pretty disappointed in yesterday sap flow but I can’t control weather. Glad I went up 15 taps this year as it’s been slow and that helped make up for some of the difference. Should pass the 20 gallon mark but did 25 gallons last year with a shorter season and fewer trees. Starting splitting wood as I ran out. Man this blower can burn through wood fast!! Let’s hope for another day or two of sap!!

[littleTapper]

Gotcha. Makes sense.

[gatzow]

Surprise, surprise. My trees ran through the night. Collected 2.5 gallons per tap over last 36 hours. Not a bad little run considering I was just complaining earlier today... hope everyone else had the same flow!

[Mr Sugar Maple]

I am also low on wood, have two days left. an RO is the answer.

[gatzow]

Cooking early this morning and saw frost on my roof as daylight broke. Maybe it got cold enough for long enough for another run today? Highs in mid 50’s? I’m cooking to get rid of everything from last 2 days and will see what happens today. But I’m here and cooking until nature says it’s over!

[littleTapper]

Surprise, surprise. My trees ran through the night. Collected 2.5 gallons per tap over last 36 hours. Not a bad little run considering I was just complaining earlier today... hope everyone else had the same flow!

Mine did as well. Silvers on vac gave 2gpt and sugars on 3/16 ran 3gpt and were still going when I emptied the barrel last night around 8:30pm. Didn't appear to get cold enough last night to kick start them once more, so we'll be signing off soon if the forecast is right.

[littleTapper]

I am also low on wood, have two days left. an RO is the answer.

Every RO maker should have a motto "RO Saved My Marriage" or something along those lines :) I can't believe the difference in having one, it's awesome. So much less wood burned and I can actually sleep at night while doing my day job.

[gatzow]

Bottled 6 more gallons of syrup today. I haven’t had much sugar sand this year up until this last boil. And my goodness did the sand come on. Actually cooked on the pan to the point that I had flakes of it floating in sap that was boiling. I drained the whole pan and finished over propane and the pots were “popping” on the heat. I see burnt spots on my pan so I’m hoping it’s just sand that I can get off. Gonna be really sad if my pan has permanent burnt stains from this batch. The whole thing made the clean out and finish really hard. Might make me fold up for the season and say “forget it”....

[littleTapper]

Wow! I thought my sand was bad in this last batch, but not that bad, holy cow! Bottled up another 5.5 gallons last night of dark stuff with a really buttery flavor - very unique compared to what I've made over the last few years. Might be it save for a few (30 or so) gallons of sap in the barrel on my sugars (3/16 just never stops running). 26.5 gallons of syrup off 96 total taps is essentially it for us this season. 32 sugars, 56 silvers, 8 Norways. Spent a few whole weeks above freezing during the time since tapping (2/14). Could have been better; could have been worse too. Tons of fun though!