Southern Ohio 2021/2022 Tis the season

[buckeye gold]

It's almost December and these frosty morning turn my mind to Syrup season. Started moving wood to the sugarshack over the weekend. The other day I took out my old steam vent and put in a new section of roof, now I need to decide how I'm evacuating steam again.

Today I pulled the pan and cleaned up the firbox of the arch. I replaced any bad and broken firebrick an removed loose mortor. Mixed up a batch of refractory and put a new skim coat over all the brick. While the pan was off I decided to wash and bleach it as well and put new rail gasket on the arch. So the evaporator is ready to go. Put it all back together and sealed it up to keep clean. Next I need to clean and rearrange the shack.

I ordered all my tubing supplies last week and they came over the weekend. So now I need to hit the woods and do line maintenance and repairs( all 3/16th) . I'll cut out old tees and spiles and replace with new. Then retension lines and get ready to set up the collection tank. I figure I'll start with my usual 40-50 early taps around Christmas time, depending on weather. Then go full bore by mid to late January with 100 more taps.

So what's everyone else doing to get ready?

[bmbmkr]

Hidy Neighbor, good to hear from you. My daughter & I have spent the last few nights sittin by the fire cuttin drop lines. I've had my RO tore apart for about a month now, but she's slowly goin back together. Added two more 4x40's and doubled the pump and HP, keeping the original pump for recirculation. I'm really excited to be able to add more taps and STILL reduce boiling time. My wife went to see her folks in NC for the holiday weekend and came home with a new tig Welder, I'm goin to have her tig my preheater that I have had cut & drilled for some time now. We are goin to tap some silver maples this year, crossin my fingers I'll get a few good runs before they bud out. It's supposed to be in the low 60's tomorrow & Thursday. I have to haul some beef tomorrow morning, hope I get home in time to wash to some tanks and pump some water through my pump lines & mainlines. We're bumping up from 550 to 800 taps this year, and if I have time, I have enough taps & tubing for 900. Gettin close- I plan on tappin around 6-10 January.

[warnimct]

I'm trying to decide if and when I will tap trees this year. Forecast for where I am (Clermont County) has only 1 night below freezing in the 10 day. I know it will probably get colder, just a matter of when the runs will start and how good they will be.

Sold my big evaporator last year since I didn't have a place to tap and now that I can do about 50 taps, trying to decide if I want to make a new barrel evaporator again.

[buckeye gold]

Started cutting off all my old drops and disinfecting them and then installing new tees and spiles. Started repairing lines and reinstalling the drops with new tees and spiles. Iam about to go off on my annual ,"how much I hate squirrels" rant. Dang I spent two hrs on one short lateral today and finally said pi$$ on it a made a run of new tubing. I hope I don't have to do much of that as tubing has been scarce this fall. Arrrrggggg, I have I ever told you "I HATE SQUIRRELS

[OneLegJohn]

It sounds like we are tapping after Christmas this year. I know the guys want to get a jump on it.

[buckeye gold]

Still working on tubing and the squirrrel damage is the worse I have ever seen. My wife and I walked one lateral to cut off drops the other day and every drop was ruined and every tree had chews. Some tubing was on the ground and chewed. I only have about 200 feet of tubing left and tight now can't find any to buy. In past years I would never splice line with couplers preseason. I would always just put in new line from drop to drop on bad chews. This year I am putting in couplers to save tubing and out of 150 taps have around 20 splices, not happy.

I plan on tapping right around Christmas. I have two laterals left to fix and then clean up shack and wash head tank and collection tank and I am ready.

[bmbmkr]

Glad to hear you've been in the woods Buckeye. I walked a few laterals yesterday. I too have a general disdain squirrels. For the last two weeks I've been ready to hit the woods. Firewood for the house, haulin beef, haulin sheep, my mother had outpatient surgery, repairing fence in the pig pen, sorting sheep, hauling hay have all kept me out of the woods. I have been able to spend some time in the sugar house, and weld shop. My wife has my RO frame 95% complete, and is about to start on the sap preheater. I feel like the only thing I'm on schedule with is the RO rebuild. I spend most of the day outside, and am fortunate to be able to cut drops, work on the RO and a few others inside when it's dark/raining. ..farm life sure is busy..I love it, I'm not complaining. very thankful the Good Lord has blessed us with health, ability, lots of critters, and happy healthy maple trees!!

[Pdiamond]

You sir are truly blessed. May you have a bountiful season.

[bmbmkr]

You sir are truly blessed. May you have a bountiful season. I am, we are. I'd like to believe anyone who partakes in the maple trade would find him or herself blessed. Same with the other ventures I've partook of in my life. I tell people all the time, if you don't believe in God, let me show you 15 minutes in a honeybee hive. Startin to feel the same way about maple trees. (been beekeepin a lot longer than sugarin). If we don't stop & taste the sap ever now & then, we are missing out on the best part of it all, the beauty and intricacies of the Good Lord's Creation. Thank you and may you have a great season as well!!

[buckeye gold]

I have one more lateral to repair and the woods is prepped. I'm waiting on a roll of 3/16th Max flo from Bascoms and then I'll tackle it. It was a brand new run last year and it's 80% damage now. So it will be mostly all new tubing. I need to clean up the sugar shack, move tools and gear down there and disinfect transport and holding tanks and I am ready to tap. I plan on tapping rhe 50 early taps next week.... it's almost go time. Yippeee or maybe I mean, "oh MY".

Good to see you so busy bmbmkr, that means life is being good to you

[DrTimPerkins]

It was a brand new run last year and it's 80% damage now.

Did you clean the lines with chlorine bleach perhaps?

[buckeye gold]

Did you clean the lines with chlorine bleach perhaps?

No I used calcium Hypochloride, the same as my other 5 laterals and flush. This lateral went through a primary oak section and a lot of understory. It got chewed off in a couple places mid summer and I just left it. Once on the ground then all the critters hit it. I'm only saving the part that is still up. You just have to ubderstand how many **** squirrels I have. Any given day I can step out and count 6-10 just from my porch. We have a constant war with them. They eat the fruit off our trees as well. They just keep coming. There's probably 2,000 acres of unbroken timber behind my woods and it is just like a head tank constantly feeding them to my property. I paint my trees with siracha sauce once I put lines up and through the season and then quit. This get's me through season, but Summer and fall is when they get my lines. I imagine all totalled I probably had 100 chews or bites this fall. Just repairs so far have used about 400 foot roll of tubing.

[SevenCreeksSap]

So it seems pretty early to tap,and I'm just north of you a bit. The weather is perfect right now, more like the early March usual tapping weather. Surely we'll get a good solid freeze for a couple of weeks? I'm going to get everything ready and shoot for mid January if it stays like this.

[buckeye gold]

sevencreekssap, I guess I should explain. Many who have known me on here for years know I do some early tapping. I have a set of 50 taps I always tap around Christmas to make some early syrup and boster my year. My regular bush is 110 taps I tap mid to late January. So I am not going all in, just starting a set early. There have been a few years those early taps made my season. If they quit running I will pull them when I do others.

[SevenCreeksSap]

Right, I've noticed before you tend to have some early taps, hope it works for you this year too. With the weather we're having now I'm considering going really early too, just figuring as soon as I do we will get a good long regular freeze and they would close up sooner. I've settled down to about a steady 70 or so taps for the last couple years and not ready to get bigger again. Just need to be patient I guess. If it stays in this pattern though we'll definitely tap in January. Such a guessing game.

[buckeye gold]

Well I been sitting waiting for about 10 days for the feeling I should put out my early taps. Yesterday I just said the heck with it and tapped the 50 early taps. Had a trickle of a run today, but not enough to flush the lines. Maybe tomorrow, but at this point I am guessing the early taps won't mean much this year. Let's hope for a good regular season.

[buckeye gold]

Got the first run of 2022 today. Sixty gallons of mice clear sap. Pumped it in the shack and built a fire. Figured I'd just sweeten the pan but low and behold I got a small draw of a quart of syrup. Looks nice and seems to taste good. After it cools I'll check the taste. It running good as I shut down so I will have at least a short boil tomoorow before the freeze. Sugar was low at 1.2%.

[esetter]

Got the first run of 2022 today. Sixty gallons of mice clear sap. Pumped it in the shack and built a fire. Figured I'd just sweeten the pan but low and behold I got a small draw of a quart of syrup. Looks nice and seems to taste good. After it cools I'll check the taste. It running good as I shut down so I will have at least a short boil tomoorow before the freeze. Sugar was low at 1.2%.
Sir , that's awesome! Hope to get some taps in this weekend or first of next week! Congrats!

[DrTimPerkins]

Got the first run of 2022 today. Sixty gallons of mice clear sap.

Always nice when your sap is clear of mice (or squirrels or wildebeest). :D

Good luck with the rest of your season.

[buckeye gold]

Yeah, that's true Dr tim. Now squirrels you just ring out and go on, but a mouse you gotta dump. I had flushed my lines with hot water last week, just to find any leaks I missed so I hooked it right into the collection tank thinking I'd only get a few gallons overnight and I'd dump it. So I was surprised when the tank was full and I was also happy it was clean of line crud (that's what I meant). So I cooked it. My wife still set it aside to cook with, we won't use that first quart for true syrup, maybe maplennuts. Last nights short run gave me another 35 gallons of sap this morning and I made a better draw off today of about a half gallon. SO my early taps are starting out well. From here on out it ought to be all good table grade syrup. I always set aside the first gallon or so as utility syrup. I just feel better the system is fresher after the first run and boil.

[buckeye gold]

well I've boiled off about 125 gallons of sap from my early taps and made a little over a gallon of syrup with a draw sitting in the pan soon as I start the next boil. Seems like a good start
I tried to post a picture but it wouldn't let me

[220 maple]

Buckeye Gold,
Noticed you said you would check the taste after syrup cooled down, very smart in my opinion producers miss metabolism in there syrup because they taste it when it’s warm, lot of metabolism syrup made every year, two times in the last 5 years I’ve tasted syrup in sugar camps that was eaten up with metabolism, first off I’m not the syrup policeman, and second I can make bad tasting syrup with best of them! My standard line when I taste bad syrup in someone else’s camp! “I can’t taste syrup because I’m a diabetic,” Yes a lie! But it get me out the door before I offend someone, One fact in the producers world “My syrup is the best” If you believe that then your the one making bad syrup, I say that because that is the standard line used when someone said there are no crazy people in my family, if you believe that then it’s you��
Mark 220 Maple

[buckeye gold]

thanks 220 Maple, I wish I figured out cold tasting myself but someone said it at one of the maple conferences and I remembered it. It is definitely true and the colder the better for taste test. Now, my syrup is the best you ever tasted....just had to say it LOL . I guess the only opinion that matters is the consumer. I think your right there is a lot of off flavor syrup packed as good every year. My wife is the offical taste tester. She has a really sensitive pallet and is very picky, if she doesn't pass it, it stays at home. I have had people tell me they really don't like Maple syrup and I have found out they had bought bad syrup. I often give them some and usually they come back for more and say, "that's nothing like what I had".

[esetter]

Tapped 3 this evening just to check. They were dripping pretty good!! Exciting!!

[buckeye gold]

Boiled 4 times now off my early taps. Got a surprise run night before last and had 50 gallons of sap off my 50 early taps. Made 3 qts of syrup off it. Right at 3 gallons of early syrup so far. Looks like my all in date is around the first of February.

[esetter]

Made about a quart and a half off of some really fresh and apparently high % sap this past week. Was the lightest color finished I've ever done. Hope y'all flow like crazy this week!!

[buckeye gold]

Good report esetter, So far my early taps are preforming really well. If that's a precursor to the regular season then we'll all be tired and happy. No runs this week until later on, just too frozen right now.

[esetter]

Good report esetter, So far my early taps are preforming really well. If that's a precursor to the regular season then we'll all be tired and happy. No runs this week until later on, just too frozen right now.
Been awesome flow down here. Looking really good over the next week. Just out of curiosity , do you have much luck out of the red maples , especially the interior woods red maples up there?

[buckeye gold]

Been awesome flow down here. Looking really good over the next week. Just out of curiosity , do you have much luck out of the red maples , especially the interior woods red maples up there?

Back when I done buckets I knew what each tree done, but I Have been on tubing for a few years. When I done buckets it was hit and miss on interior red Maples. They done less for sure and some would not give any sap. I had a couple that just gushed and I never understood why. I tap them all now under natural vacuum and figure it's worth tap to get whatever they give while I'm taking a line around them anyway.

[buckeye gold]

Looking at our forecast, I am planning on going all in next Monday 1/31/2022. Will tap my main bush of 110 and still keep the 50 early ones in for 160 total.

[christopherh]

What has the Sap Brix been? I think we’re still a couple weeks out up here.

[johnallin]

Chris, I'm thinking the same over here...going to warm up next week but back in the freezer after that

[buckeye gold]

My sap brix has been a tad higher than average for early taps. In most years early sap is 1.0-1.2. This year it's been running 1.3 to 1.4. I wouldn't judge my sap brix as an example of any other bush. It is very rare I see sap over 2.0 % and my average is 1.6 to 1.9% in prime time. I see a lot of 1.4 sap even right in the heart of season. I just sigh when I see people reporting they made 2.5 gallons of syrup from 100 gallons of sap.

[esetter]

Back when I done buckets I knew what each tree done, but I Have been on tubing for a few years. When I done buckets it was hit and miss on interior red Maples. They done less for sure and some would not give any sap. I had a couple that just gushed and I never understood why. I tap them all now under natural vacuum and figure it's worth tap to get whatever they give while I'm taking a line around them anyway.
Yea , that's my experience with them. Some that flow look exactly like the ones that won't give a drop....?

[esetter]

My sap brix has been a tad higher than average for early taps. In most years early sap is 1.0-1.2. This year it's been running 1.3 to 1.4. I wouldn't judge my sap brix as an example of any other bush. It is very rare I see sap over 2.0 % and my average is 1.6 to 1.9% in prime time. I see a lot of 1.4 sap even right in the heart of season. I just sigh when I see people reporting they made 2.5 gallons of syrup from 100 gallons of sap.
Had my friend who runs a brewery check my sugar content. All mostly big open crown sugar maples , 2.4%. Was the highest I've had since he's been checking it for me.

[Redbean]

We tapped 118 trees yesterday. Waiting for the thaw next week. Hope the season is great for everyone.

[buckeye gold]

I am tapping 110 tomorrow....it's go time here in Ross County. I think we'll get a couple days of run Wednesday and Thursday, redbean. Our season is here for sure.

[TapHammer]

I spent the last few days tapping my trees, all on 3/16 and on a steep N facing slope. A few big trees on the ridge top were starting to thaw, and this afternoon I had a trickle from the mainline. Tomorrow and the next couple days should be very productive before another good freeze. It’s the most wonderful time, of the year!

[buckeye gold]

Same here taphammer, tapped the 110 and some were weeping. I think we'll be boiling by Wednesday

[Redbean]

Had a good run yesterday after fixing some holes and weird anomalies! Got about 140 gallons of sap. Haven’t check the sugar content but it taste sweet. Probably will start cooking tonight.

[buckeye gold]

Not the run I hoped for. Got just under 50 gallons of sap off 110 taps. Really slowing up today, so probably not boiling again until late next week. Looks likes another 2-3 week boom at the end of Feb and then done. This gets old every year.

[buckeye gold]

Getting clobbered here with a huge ice storm. Just got everything tapped three days ago and boiled yesterday. Limbs and tress coming down all around. Looks like a lot of line repairs next week. Why can't we just have a normal winter for once.

[buckeye gold]

Absolutely got clobbered. I still am running off generator power and only got internet back a while ago, because it comes across land line and the ISP providers booster station finally got power. MY sugar bush is an absolute disaster. I counted 14 trees down and almost every line is down. I had one small cherry on my shack which I got off without serious damage. They say we might get electric back tomorrow. Having wood heat and back up generator means we're doing fine, but a lot of people are really having a tough go. No electric is tough enough but highs in the teens make it miserable with no alternative heat. I can't post pics or I'd show you the carnage.

[bmbmkr]

So sorry to hear of the ice damage Buckeye. We didnt' get ice too bad, but the rain. 100 yds of my driveway has been underwater since Thurs night. I have 750 taps in as of last week, had a few small runs this week just letting the lines flush out. Thurs night I ran up to my folks and moved my collection tanks(2 330gal IBCs) up the hill. They would have floated on down here to my house if i hadn't. The creek went down some but came back up yesterday. The OH river hasn't crested yet in Huntington WV, where my creek empties into the river- it's goin to be up for a while. The bad part about that is more than half of my sap, I can't get to, I can't even get up there to move my tanks back and put the mainlne into them let alone haul sap out. And Thurs night came down with a head cold- thought for a minute I had the covid, but I haven't been anywhere but the maple woods in two weeks. I think the non stop hill climbin in the snow, rain & teens to 30s finally got the best of me, been laid up the last two days. Goin out here in a minute & look for squirrel bites. Found a few already. Sap should run for us every day this week if the water will go down so i can go get the other half I'll be VERY happy.

[esetter]

Sounds like you guys have had a rough week! Some of the best sap flow I've ever had down here. All bags and buckets but man we've had the rain! An absolute muddy mess everywhere I tap. SOOOOO tired of climbing hills that are covered in grease!!!

[buckeye gold]

got all the lines back up and sap was starting to run. Electric came back on last night around 9:00PM. Back in The game.

Got another call from the FDA today asking about how much I sold and made and where I sold it. They said it was to verify I was exempt from registering and being inspected. If they hassle me I'm just going to quit selling any and only make enough for friends and family. My gosh, I'm not Kelloggs, I'm a little old hillbilly working in an Amish made shed on a small evaporator, selling to local yocals, and making 20 gallons a year. Surely they have bigger fish to chase after. Here's my advice: if you have never registered and sell less than 50% of gross sales wholesale or in retail stores, DO NOT EVER REGISTER! I thought I was doing the right thing when all this started by registering and then was told to unregister, but once they got your name they always have it. It doesn't matter if you unregister. They been bugging me for two months

[buckeye gold]

Well most all the ice is gone and all the repairs are made. Had a couple good runs this week and a couple small ones. I am up to 7.5 gallons and counting. Next week ought to be a good week. Sugar is coming up and nitre is low so I am not complaining. My fear now is a quick warm up that sends everything to the slimy side. Filtering is some of the easiest I have seen in years and good flavor. Hope this continues.

[buckeye gold]

Big run today, 130 to 150 gallons. I fear this warm weather will be the beginning of the end for me

[Redbean]

Well had a pretty bad start this year! Had to dump about 160 gallons of sap at the beginning because of an unknown contamination. I dumped to just be safe! Then I had a barrel fall over and lost about 40 gallons of sap. On good news my 116 taps are really running swell. I have made a little over 11 gallons of syrup since Feb 10th after the restart! I think the weather is looking good!

[Redbean]

The sap flow is epic last night and today. Had about 40 gallons in the tank after we pumped up 100 gallons around 5 last night. As of 10 am today I have 285 in the tank that needs to be pumped up. Going to be a good day!

[buckeye gold]

Good run here also. My early taps are all but done (50 put out 1/4/22). So I am just getting sap from my 110 in the main woods. This warm weather is affecting gear. I washed tanks as I emptied them today and all the syrup is dark rich. My pan is getting nitred up too, but I am just going to siphon out the loose nitre and keep going. I'm thinking I got 4-5 boils left and then I am calling it quits. So I'm not breaking down to clean now. My main blower died today, so I rigged up a shop vac for the end run. Sugar is up a little at 1.6%, but I boiled a bunch of 1 -1.2% this year. Right at 12 gallons finished. My goal is 20 and I won't make that.

[Redbean]

The nitre was getting bad in my pan so I cleaned my front pan out. Was harder to boil than normal hopefully the clean out will help. Cleaned all barrels and tanks ready for the next run this weekend. Have close to 18 gallons made. This cold spell will be good. Also the new vacuum filter I got was a great purchase! Really cuts time down with filtering. Onward

[Redbean]

Had another great run yesterday and through the night. Got about 300 gallons so far and still flowing. Hopefully I will be able to hold off cooking till tomorrow.

[esetter]

All Done down here. Some trees budding out. I have some frozen concentrate to boil yet but other than that should end up with around 3 gallons.

[buckeye gold]

good for you esetter. I am most likely calling it quits Wednesday March 2nd. Made enough syrup and just ready to quit. Sap is starting to cloud and syrup is all dark, so I'm ready to be done.

[Redbean]

Got over 300 gallons of sap yesterday. It started to flow again around 10am today. Going to be a good couple days then it looks like it will be over this weekend. Have almost 23 gallons all jarred up. We are hoping to get another 10 gallons this week. Have a grateful week everyone! 🍁

[buckeye gold]

Done. Finished up yesterday with my sweet. Washing and cleaning for the next few days. A fair to good season. My goal is 20 gallons and I made 16+. I could of made a couple more gallons, but all these 60 degree days were making everything funky and I was satisfied. What I really like was the low nitre. This is one of the best years ever for low nitre and easy filtering. All my syrup shot right through filters and was sparkling clear. Made a lot more dark. So 2022 is done. Good luck to all you northern producers

[Redbean]

Yeah I think Sunday will be my last day. My syrup been really easy to filter also! Just cleaned my tank of some sour smelling sap and flies. All clean and the lines are all ready running again. I should get a good run Friday and Saturday after this freeze tonight. We have a total of 32 gallons so far. Getting close to my goal of 40 gallons on 116 taps. Buckeye how long do you wait to clean your lines after you are done?

[buckeye gold]

I mixed the solution yesterday, because it's granular and I can get it dissolved better if it soaks a day. I had planned on doing it today, but I had a burst waterline in the rental, so that derailed me. I will try and get it done tomorrow. I leave the drops hang to drain the line good first. I'll start at the bottom and cap off as I fill the line going up. Let it set over night and drain and recap. I don't flush until fall. If any residual is in the line I leave it. I use a small garden sprayer and have the spray end fixed so a tap fits it and just pull the trigger and fill the line to that drop and then move up. I think waiting only lets crud start worse. I have had good success doing this. This year I cut out only two small mold spots before tapping. That is on 6 laterals and over 3,000 feet of tubing. I mix my solution hot at probably 400ppm calcium hypochloride (pool Shock). Be sure and get the bag rated for potable water systems(it says on the back of the bag).

You done really well on 116 taps, Redbean. I always have low sugar content, it's just my lot. I boiled 944 gallons of sap this year for 16+ gallons of syrup. Your sap production had to be really good too. I do a few early taps, but my main woods I tap in Feb. is 110 taps. That's where my 16 gallons came from. Are you on natural oor mechanical vacuum? I am all natural 3/16

[Redbean]

I am on all 3/16 with great slope. I have 9 runs that make up my 116 taps. Some of my sap smells a little sour. I wonder if I should dump or try and make syrup with it? Any thoughts?

[buckeye gold]

Redbean, look at the color. If it is just cloudy or milky it'll probably be ok, but if it looks brownish or yellow toss it. Next see what it smells like cooking. Put some in a stock pot on a burner first and smell the steam. If it smells slightly musty it's probably ok, but if it's a strong soiled laundry smell or off-putting dump it. I would be cautious running it into a pan of good sweet. If your putting it through the pan I'd drain my sweet and have it held back. You can always add it back.

My trees just aren't as good a producers, it seems. I have very few with big crowns and a lot of damaged trees. I would like to see better production, but I make all the syrup I want to make.

[Redbean]

So I decided to dump and wash my tank. I think it was a good decision. We had great runs Friday through Saturday got well over 300 gallons. That last run made some nice dark syrup for me. Our total for the year is 37 gallons of syrup. We dumped well over 375 gallons of sap from contamination and soured sap. Guess live and learn! Not bad for the second year with the new to me evaporator and sugar shack. And the 116 taps we run this year with all new line. Hope next year we can make over 40 gallons. Now to clean everything. Has anyone left sap in there pans for a couple weeks? I was told it will clean all the sand out of your pan. I mean you still have to scrub but no need for pan acid. Any thoughts?

[buckeye gold]

You had a good Year and done well. The bad news is the sap total usually falls off a little after the first year with new lines, no matter how well you clean. I have left the sap to ferment as a way to clean many times and it works. It will take longer then 2 weeks though. I usually let mine set 6-8 weeks. It needs to ferment and turn to vinegar.

[Redbean]

Yeah that’s what I heard about sap production after the first year of new lines your sap will be less each year. But for me that isn’t the case. On my homemade evaporator and with 51 taps my first year I made 13.5 gallons, then 17 the next year and then 22 the following year. Last year I only made 20 gallons on 51 taps because it took us longer to build the sugar shack. So I tapped later than I wanted. So I am going to keep a positive mindset and believe I will make 40 gallons.😃

[Redbean]

It really takes that long for the sap to clean. Wow!

[bmbmkr]

My season was a total bust this year. I got 775 of my 900 taps in and made zero syrup. Only went about about $8k in the hole. I had a really hard time with it at first, but I tried as hard as I could. I think this is the hardest thing I've ever went through, short of someone dying. We had 3 floods, all of which kept me from getting to half of my sap- the first, I had to move my collection tanks up the hill from the end of the mainline so they didn't float off. I got sick- thought I had Covid- but it was a sinus infection. Got hurt- slipped walking around the hillside, grabbed a little beech tree and my shoulder wasn't quite expecting the 225 lbs of me and 50 lbs of clothes, tools, a roll of tubing and the backpack & toolbelt I was carrying. When I finally got some sap, my new RO upgrade failed miserably. Blew the end cap off a post at only 150 PSI, torqued it down and blew it off again at only 175. Over nighted a new vessel, it took 3 days to get here. On a plus note, my 660 procon fed by a HF drummond pump was pushing 720 gph though my RO, instead of the 475 or so I was expecting. I was gettin Permeate without even closing off the needle valve. I got my pans sweet and drew off a little syrup. Got the RO back together and my procon 660 sounded like a meat grinder. Took it off and tried to get the RO running off the original Procon 330, ran out of HP tubing, my hands were so sore from arthritis and doin all that plumbing I couldn't tie my shoes. Then we had some warm days and my tubing slimed up for good. I ended up pulling my top taps last weekend to let the sap drain out of the laterals. Hopefully I'll get everything flushed out with disinfectant this coming week and button up my tubing for the year. I took a lot of notes and learned a lot. Tapped some silvers for the first time this year-89 taps on 2 laterals, pulled them with a shurflo averaged 2 gpt/day and 1.6% sugar, they were sweeter than my sugar maples. Next year, my plan is to tap about 200 silvers around the first of Dec to have a few weeks of silver maple syrup to sell for Christmas gifts, then tap the sugars regular time, around mid Jan. I'm goin to ditch the 4 40" posts on the RO and go with one 8x40. The recirculation I ran with the 300 worked ok, but instead of coming in after the main pump feed, I'm going to feed INTO it, this will reduce the time it takes to empty the main tank, but will concentrate to a higher % in the first pass. I also added a third 100 watt panel to my shurflo set ups this year, and they ran 24/7 without me having to hand hump batteries down to the woods every three days or so when I only had 200 watts. Shurflos with a strainer will not get damaged by ice, The screen stops the ice as it freezes and protects the diaphragms. Once it starts warming up, the screens have to be changed sometimes 2x a day. Lastly, the one batch of syrup i did get boiled off, I had to throw out, I bought the defoamer cup from Roth, talked to the guy on the phone about how to set it up before I bought it. Glad I did because it didn't come with instruction. I set it so the top of the cup was about 2" higher than my sap level, which is 3" higher than the flues in my raised flue. He said to put it in where the raw sap or concentrate enters, which is the front of my flue pan, as I have a 2" pipe coming from the float box. Well that's the place where the most violent boil is and it over flowed a weeks worth of defoamer in one batch. tasted like crap. I guess I'll not be lazy next year and put a few drops of liquid defoamer in every time i draw off. I thought the auto would be better since we added a steam hood last year. Cost me near $2k in one night. Been hard, but its done & over now, I'm over it and thankful for what I've learned, and that I'm not dead, I'm down but not out. Will be back next year rip roarin & ready to go.