North East Ohio 2022

[johnallin]

It won't be long before we get started in NE Ohio again...sure hope it's a longer season than last year.

Been putting wood up and changing zap-back spouts out on the 175 taps, or so, in the back & south woods.
The north woods taps are only on year 3 this year so I'm going to wait until next season.

Not much new this year, but the more wood I split, the better a new oil-fired rig looks <grin>
On year 13 with the Leader 2x6 and sometimes wonder how much longer I want to be wrestling with wood.

[johnallin]

Now that we've got some cold weather and the ground is starting to freeze up - it's time to get the Tundra snow mobile out of the sugarhouse.

Any one tapped yet? or have plans for when your going in this year? I've got a side bet there are some Geauga Co operations that have made some syrup by now. :rolleyes:

[Kh7722]

Hey John,
Hopefully going to be tapping here at the end of January, would like to be boiling the first week in February but will watch the weather and go from there. Basically all ready for the season except all the last minute setup which is usually a good day.
We added a woods up the road with a few hundred trees which ahould help is out.
Kevin

[heus]

Changes again here at my operation (what a surprise :lol:). Going back to fuel oil. Got a brand new 2x6 reverse oil fired rig from Creekside Welding. 9.25" flues, same side reverse, all the bells and whistle. Still have the NextGen RO and cdl vac filter. Will have about 100 buckets, 125 on gravity, and 75 on shurflo vac. Hope to make 50 gallons. Long ways from the days when I was making 300+ gallons per year.

[johnallin]

Jason what prompted the change ...curious as to why you went back, that makes you and Kevin both oil burners...
You guys are really making it tempting to switch over, I still have lots of dead standing wood over here, just running out of steam/desire to go buck, split and stack it!

[Kh7722]

John,
A wise man once told me, sell the firewood that you split and use the money to buy oil. That way you never run out and if you only want to make one cord than so be it. Its one less thing to do while boiling. Just my opinion
Kevin

[johnallin]

John,
A wise man once told me, sell the firewood that you split and use the money to buy oil. That way you never run out and if you only want to make one cord than so be it. Its one less thing to do while boiling. Just my opinion Kevin

I like that but... If I take the time to process it, it's going into my arch. It's a time-allocated issue for me.

Anyway, changed out more 3/16" T's from the back yesterday. It was amazing how many were plugged solid - more than a third.

With that woods now on vacuum; I'll being replacing with 5/16 for next year.

[johnallin]

Just left Richards Maple's open house in the new (to them) 25,000 sq foot building in Kirtland.
What a selection of equipment and supplies! If it's not there - you don't need it.
Congrats to Fred, Jen and Matt and the "new guy" Ryan.

Miles of tube, Mountains of DE and all the other "stuff" that everyone else says they're out of or can't get...<grin>

Quite an accomplishment, to say the least, and looks like there's lots more coming.

Richards Rocks.

[Kh7722]

Missed you at the big reveal.

Maple equipment for everywhere, great to see in Ohio, you know, where real maple syrup is made!

[DrTimPerkins]

Anyway, changed out more 3/16" T's from the back yesterday. It was amazing how many were plugged solid - more than a third.

Were you aware of the plugging before you cut out the tees? Any visual indication without cutting into the line?

[johnallin]

duplicated post Trader timed out...

[johnallin]

Were you aware of the plugging before you cut out the tees? Any visual indication without cutting into the line?

Some were visibly blocked - they looked "darkened" at the entry and exit area of the T when held up to the light - it was a rare January sunny day in NE Ohio - some had no visible signs.

Not being able to rely on visual inspection, and as they'd been up for 3 years I replaced all.

Maybe someone should market a Clear "T" fitting...you know, same idea as the Clear Press. Hey Fred, you out there? <grin>

[johnallin]

Missed you at the big reveal.

Maple equipment for everywhere, great to see in Ohio, you know, where real maple syrup is made!

Got there about 11 and 10-4 on real maple syrup.

[DrTimPerkins]

some had no visible signs.

Thanks. I knew the answer, but figured others might benefit from hearing it. I hear from several people each year that they can’t get good vacuum and have low sap yields but don’t have clogs in their 3/16” tubing. When I ask how they know it is usually because they can’t see them and they don’t want to cut into a perfectly fine tubing system. Most clogs are impossible to see unless you cut near the tee or have perfect conditions, in which case you can occasionally see hints they are there.

Unfortunately clear polycarbonate fittings don’t hold up well over several seasons.

[johnallin]

.

Unfortunately clear polycarbonate fittings don’t hold up well over several seasons.

Don't need to? .....if you're changing drops every three years, that should be long enough.

[DrTimPerkins]

Don't need to? .....if you're changing drops every three years, that should be long enough.

Some will last 3 yrs, some don't. All depends how much sun exposure they get and how much stress they are under. They tend to get brittle and crack or break. They'd last several yrs in the middle of the woods, but along edges or an open woods they won't.

[Pete Cerup]

Good Evening NEO Maple Crew! After 12 years of sugaring in Concord, Ohio my wife and I decided it was time to downsize our house which included my 16x20 Sugar House and equipment. We moved from 6 acres of Sugar Maples to Shaker Hts! We are looking to purchase 5-10 acres in Lake, Geauga, Ashtabula County and ramp up our beloved hobby. If anyone knows of any land available in the area, please let me know. I already miss it and will follow this thread and live vicariously through all of you until I can start boiling again. Best of luck this season! May your buckets over flow and your pan be free of sand....Pete

[woodburner]

Greeetings from South Madison, another year another chance to make good syrup. We are sitting on over 30” of snow and it looks like more tonight. We will be close to 3’ when time comes to tap. Not looking forward to that. We are all ready to go but it looks like 2wks yet unless the forecast changes. Sure is good to be getting a regular old fashion January. Looks like a couple 3 dog nights this week.

[johnallin]

Sure does look like an old fashioned January.
Got the snowmobile out last week and may actually be able to use it this year.
We’re sitting at 2’ plus in the woods with higher drifts in spots.
Thinking this cold snap is probably good for this season though and not complaining about having extra time to get everything all dialed in.
Got all my wood put up but still have a list a mile long!

[MapleCreekFarm]

Good morning,
I got started tapping yesterday. Got 500 of approx 1200 taps drilled. Going to finish up by Tues in time for the warmup next week. You old timers here in Ohio... How much fo you think it will run next week given the forecast? This is just my third year.

[fred]

Maybe someone should market a Clear "T" fitting...you know, same idea as the Clear Press. Hey Fred, you out there? <grin>

At least with a 5/16 clear tee it would be much cheaper to replace than a clear press plate which lasts the same amount of time. *bigger grin*

side note it will take several days for the trees to thaw then be locked up again. Southern Ohio should be good to go, anything north of rt30 and probably rt 70 is a hard NO for tapping. Don't rush mother nature, enjoy the frost!!

[Kh7722]

Good morning,
I got started tapping yesterday. Got 500 of approx 1200 taps drilled. Going to finish up by Tues in time for the warmup next week. You old timers here in Ohio... How much fo you think it will run next week given the forecast? This is just my third year.

Agreed, one day of above freezing is not worth the troubles, the woods is COLD. Id suggest using that one nice day to wash everything out. We are going to boil water to make sure everything functions and do a good cleaning of sugarhouse.

[johnallin]

Also agree. Two days up here above freezing will never be enough to overcome the several days/nights we’ve seen single digits. But the ground freeze should be fairly shallow with all the snow we’ve got.

Changing out the membrane on the little CDL RO this afternoon. Pull old one out, instal new and Rinse - Wash - Rinse.
Have 5 rows of wood all up and 200 Tees replaced in back woods and will do spouts when I tap. The 150 in the North woods are still good as only two years in.
Looking forward to an old fashioned Mid Feb and March…snow and cold then warm then repeat.
Game on!

[johnallin]

At least with a 5/16 clear tee it would be much cheaper to replace than a clear press plate which lasts the same amount of time. *bigger grin*…

Only if you’re careless and leave it out in the woods.
Leader hit it out of the park with that press…clearly superior but disruptive to the heavy metal crowd. <triple-wide grin>

[johnallin]

I think we need some more snow around NE Ohio.
Knee-deep in the woods gonna need a ladder to pull taps at season end!

[johnallin]

Been pretty quiet around here...everyone on FB or what?

Yesterday while poking around the sugar house, I found I had left 55+ gallons in my permeate tank (dumb on my part) and yup a 400 lb block of ice was the reward after several single digit nights the past week...
It's a 165 gallon vertical Norwesco tank, the bottom had rounded out so badly that it was leaning and weaving like a drunken sailor.
Managed to wrestle it out - all 400+ lbs - and get it in the wood/boat shop to thaw. As of this morning, not much had thawed over night but it was at least sitting flat.
Think I dodged a bullet and glad it didn't crack. I do have to replace the ball valve as it didn't do so well.

[Nogden3929]

Where on Facebook is everyone hanging out?

[johnallin]

I was being sarcastic…just seems like it’s been really quiet on Trader this year.
Don’t have a face book account, call me Canadian Dinosaur.

Still think Clear Presses rule and do plan to tap this weekend. <grin>

[fred]

do plan to tap this weekend. <grin>

only in the early mornings while its still single digits. just come down to the shop and we'll sip on some whiskey coffee

[johnallin]

... just come down to the shop and we'll sip on some whiskey coffee...

Ah Fred, for the Canadians and the Scots, there's no "e" in whisky, just like there's no "e" in Allin.
Proper spelling would be whisky, where's yer spellcheck Laddy?
Personally, I prefer a good Canadian Lager over a rye, but not in the early morning.

Trader's been real quiet this year non-the-less.

[woodburner]

All we have over here is Moosehead , and we will share. We sure have a lot of snow in the woods and it will take a few days to tap. So far the test buckets show nada even on the 40deg days.

[johnallin]

Hoping with the above freezer temps, now through Saturday, some of the snow will melt off.

Then it's down to 3° nights until mid next week and then ....BOOM!

Moosehead is good beer, I think it's filtered through a Leader Clear Press.

[Ekrueger]

I am trying to get ready for our season to start. Does anyone know if any NE Ohio dealers have sugarhill Ohio sweet gold gallons, quarts, or pints? I was calling around it seems everyone is waiting on shipments from last years orders. I don’t want to change the look of my bottles.

[Kh7722]

I believe richards maple (new store in kirtland) has plenty. Was there mot to long ago and were piled up.
Give them a call, im sure you can get them.



I am trying to get ready for our season to start. Does anyone know if any NE Ohio dealers have sugarhill Ohio sweet gold gallons, quarts, or pints? I was calling around it seems everyone is waiting on shipments from last years orders. I don’t want to change the look of my bottles.

[johnallin]

Eric,
Call Fred at Richards Maple. Don’t know if they have that specific jug but they’ve got a huge inventory at the new CDL Ohio Store. If anyone can get it for you, it’s Fred.
How’s the Siro Press working out? Let me know when you’re ready to move up to a Clear Press - don’t ask Fred though cause he’s challenged in that area. <grin>

Edit: Just saw Kevin’s reply, he had the same answer without the Clear Press jab.

[fred]

I'm not sure what a clear press is? But it sounds meek and vulnerable.

as for the golden jugs, we do not. per our agreement with sugarhill we can only sell the blue 3-color.

[miboss]

trudging through the snow kicked my butt today, I got about 2/3 of what I wanted to get done today, but my energy is gone. I have about 150 more drops to replace then looking to tap on Tuesday.

[johnallin]

I got 105 in today in our “north woods” but still have 30+ more over there and another 200 to go in “back” and “front” woods.
Slow for sure with snow depth but felt good to get it done. With 50’s forecast for this week it’s looking good for finishing up and getting sugar house all in order.
Drives here are solid ice as I plow with the Gator and it leaves about 2” of snow under the blade. Both are now Hockey quality ice. Trees all had melt rings so I’m thinking the ground’s not frozen too deep.
Let ‘er rip.

[Kh7722]

All tapped in here finished 500 ish this afternoon today its been a long 3 days of tapping as others have said this snow is tiring. Ran the vac and are basically leak free will chase more leaks as it starts to flow in Wednesday!
Best of luck all.

[Ekrueger]

Thanks all,
I found the bottles at May Hill Supply in Orwell. They are going fast.
Snow is testing my stamina as all others noted. Not sure if I will get tapped this week or not.
John, the Siro press has been very dependable. I like it. I can usually get through a 25 gallon batch except near the end of the year.

[johnallin]

Looks like the snow's going to melt off, so I'm going to finish this week and get ready for the tsunami early next week!
Wed and Thurs in the 50's will make things go much better in the woods. vac is all ready, new membrane in the CDL Hobby RO, got all my wood put up.
Only thing left is to check the sap lifter at the bridge and do another rinse on tanks and arch.

[miboss]

I'm going to wait to Saturday now to tap, as John said, I'll let the warm temps mid week clean up a bit more snow. I have a couple lines that I take down each year that are on neighbors properties and they are still too frozen to work with.

[Nogden3929]

I forgot how much easier tapping in the snow is than the mud, especially on the hills.

Digging out buried lines will need to wait till the snow melts

[woodburner]

Finished tapping yesterday, the good wife and I had to use snowshoes and it took two days to do 300. We still have 2’ of snow in the woods . I have some low laterals buried in the snow. Go time .

[forager]

Tapping this weekend - Hopefully all those tapped are seeing some good flow today and tomorrow!

[CrossBroMaple]

Tapped in yesterday and chases leaks til dark. Woke up to a full tank and currently boiling down our first run

[woodburner]

First run did not live up to expectations, sweetened the pans, 3batches taken off but not enough to finish. Quality is very good, light and very creamy. Sap at 2.5deg . Spent time chasing leeks also. I hate squirrels. It looks like Mother Nature thinks we need to plow through some more snow.

[DrTimPerkins]

...I hate squirrels.

Looked out our front window today and saw one of the several squirrels in the area (our neighbor feeds birds) had a stubby tail, so I guess there's something nearby eating them. :D

[johnallin]

Plan to finish the back woods today. Replaced all of the tees back in Dec now just need to replace ZapBack spouts and then tap.
Looked out my window and saw another 6" of snow from yesterday and 15° temp and lots of wind again. Don't think that's going to help much but it is what it is. Tomorrow looks much better temp wise but still need to get tanks and lifter ready and put stack back up on the steam hood.

Doc..that squirrel with the stubby tail must be the one that "got away".

[miboss]

All tapped in yesterday, fired up the releaser today and chased leaks. With all my lines turn off (via valve) releaser showing 27" (not sure where I'm losing 2"". At the end of the day, all lines opened, releaser showing 26", so I have a couple more small leaks to chase. They will be easier to find when things thaw more and I can chase bubbles, but not running very strong today yet for first day.

[miboss]

First boil tonight, sap % was normal for my woods, about 1.5%. Collected about 1400 gal since Sunday, sweetened pans and made a small batch of very light amber (hanna 71). Looks like I'll be getting a week break with the cold snap, not expecting much sap, I'll have to drain my pans to buckets and put outside.

[fred]

Not heard of anyone making delicate again so far. Hoping for that to change next week now that the lines are flushed and bugges worked out. Sugar has been 2-3 points lower than normal and a slow start as trees are still waking up.

[fred]

releaser showing 27" (not sure where i'm losing 2"

several others have said the same thing even with new pumps and lines shut off. It has me baffled for sure.

[johnallin]

Got my vac hooked up last night and cleared out the lines before the freeze this morning. Everything ran as it should but was only seeing 22”. Thinking I’ve got some leaks to find this weekend. Quick cleanup in sugar house and we’re ready for next week.

[miboss]

several others have said the same thing even with new pumps and lines shut off. It has me baffled for sure.

I wonder if there may be a small leak where the pump joins the pvc...While it's froze up, I may check out that connection, or the ones at the moisture trap.

[miboss]

sap is running very well this afternoon/evening, big boil tomorrow

[johnallin]

Sap ran last night and today and is still pouring in.
About 300 RO’d so far and another 100 in the tank
1.75% which is good for up here in the Federation of Kirtland Hills 🇨🇦
First boil tonight, hard it and at trying to remember if the wood goes in bark up or bark down😎

[fred]

trying to remember if the wood goes in bark up or bark down��

Well you have a Leader pan so they go in sideways. bigger grin....................

[johnallin]

Well you have a Leader pan so they go in sideways. bigger grin....................

Should have gone for SL. I could get 60-70 GPH!

[fred]

Should have gone for SL. I could get 60-70 GPH!

Yup but 3 years later you'll be buying new ones again........

[johnallin]

Nah I’ll pass. My leader pans are awesome even after 14 years…am thinking of replacing the 2x6 arch with an air-tight and some AOF and AUF doo dads for next year.
The old Leader WSE just doesn’t like some of the wood I’m feeding it lately.
Have cut most of the deadfall stuff around here…locust and cherry which burned like rocket fuel…and am now into lesser quality fuel.
Now back to the movie:
Pulled in 450 gallons of 1.50% today on my 275 taps. Got it squashed down to 120 at 5%. In the tank and ready to boil off.
Lifter and releaser are cleared out for the deep freeze tonight. It looks good for the weekend and into next week.

Side Note:
There are easily 400+ available taps up here…until I decide to retire, it’s a lot more fun trying to make really good syrup than lots of syrup.

[miboss]

Yup but 3 years later you'll be buying new ones again........

4 years later, my SL is still like new and consistently boils 85 gph or more so I'm not sure why there's all the SL hate, I can still reach the SL owner on his cell any time of day. Now if you want to talk about that CDL releaser that I've been waiting on parts for 4 years ... I know it's not your fault, but big CDLs

[buckeye gold]

4 years later, my SL is still like new and consistently boils 85 gph or more so I'm not sure why there's all the SL hate, I can still reach the SL owner on his cell any time of day. Now if you want to talk about that CDL releaser that I've been waiting on parts for 4 years ... I know it's not your fault, but big CDLs

I have no complaints on my SL pan. It's 10 years old and been run like a runaway freight train. Still holding up and making good syrup. I lost a gasket one day and called SL and they send a gasket right away and no bill. I called and they just said it's on us. I know it wasn't much, but I was happy.

[miboss]

had a nice big boil last night. sap @ 1.5%, made 20 gal of mid amber (65 hanna) in 2 hours. woke up early this morning to drain releaser before it froze solid. Should be a busy weekend of boiling.

[woodburner]

Finished up yesterday’s run this morning, time to rest. We had a good run yesterday, sap at 2.4deg. The releaser was dumping every 4 minutes for about four hours, just as the wind shifted north it slowed. That is a good run on 300 taps.Hope everyone is feeling better about the season now as I am.

[johnallin]

Finished up yesterday’s run this morning, time to rest. We had a good run yesterday, sap at 2.4deg. The releaser was dumping every 4 minutes for about four hours, just as the wind shifted north it slowed. That is a good run on 300 taps.Hope everyone is feeling better about the season now as I am.

I started my vac yesterday about noon...sap was also pouring in and kept up until about 10. I shut down for the freeze up, pulled lines off the sap lifter and releaser leaving both open to drain whatever may trickle in until it completely froze over...didn't do that earlier this week and ended up spending an hour with a heat gun to thaw out the pump on the releaser - ugh. Should make some nice syrup tomorrow and then again over the weekend.

[christopherh]

I was happy to see 2.5 over here. Haven't seen that in awhile!

[johnallin]

Boiled Thursday's run last night and made some really nice light syrup. Started vac back up this morning but had to un-thaw the releaser again.
Sits outside the sugarhouse facing East and even though drained out still seems to hold enough water in the pump to require a half hour every morning to get freed up. Going to look into some heat tape maybe to prevent that from happening.

Today and the next several sure look like record-setting runs are coming.

Glad I've got lots of wood this year and figured out last night that it doesn't matter if i stoke the evap with bark-up or down (grin).
Am going to try to jury-rig an AOF setup this week to see if I can give it good boost, only seeing a max of 35 gph so far after 2 boils.

Get ready, it's game on.

[miboss]

Made 12 gallons from yesterday afternoons run, surprised it already turned dark (hanna 42), with all the ice that was still in the tank. Sap ran well today, I'm expecting full near full tanks by tomorrow morning if it runs through the night.

It seems syrup is darker than normal this season.

[miboss]

had a tree like branch come down last night and broke a lateral line, easy fix and back up to normal vacuum, sap all pumped up from yesterday evening and last night, getting ready to boil again. With these high temps, got to process fast.

Wind seems to be calmer than last night, stay safe out there!

[buckeye gold]

Made 12 gallons from yesterday afternoons run, surprised it already turned dark (hanna 42), with all the ice that was still in the tank. Sap ran well today, I'm expecting full near full tanks by tomorrow morning if it runs through the night.

It seems syrup is darker than normal this season.

Just a note from one of your southern counterparts. All my syrup was darker this year, I never made any light and just a little medium and a lot of real dark, but it all has a great flavor profile

[fred]

quality and grade should come up this week now that it will be rocking everyday

[DRoseum]

Just a note from one of your southern counterparts. All my syrup was darker this year, I never made any light and just a little medium and a lot of real dark, but it all has a great flavor profile

Same for me in southwest PA. Normally make about 1/3 of each grade but this year all amber and dark.

[miboss]

made another 15 gal of dark today, same hanna as yesterday (42), sap seems to be slowing a bit, but in a few days we should be returning to normal.

Made a point of checking trees for buds, not really showing any worrysome signs yet, looks like this is going to be "normal" season.

[Kh7722]

quality and grade should come up this week now that it will be rocking everyday

This is what we are seeing, slight sugar increases and great flavor medium.

[johnallin]

So I was about a hour in boiling solo yesterday and all was going just fine.....I have a Leader Revolution pan, drained and cleaned earlier so had both draw-off box valves open to the Auto-Draw.

Yup, about an hour in, temps start coming up and the valve cracks open, then further, then further, then full tilt - "wow this is a big draw" - may take the whole pan.

It tried to and am I ever glad I like to watch the Auto-Draw open on it's own, had I not been there this would have ended much different.

Yup. I had closed the wrong valve, temp kept climbing but I was draining from the wrong box. I closed the valve, dumped a bucket of permeate in quick as I could and opened the firebox door. Took about 45 minutes to exchange the permeate in the pan with what had been drawn off and I was back in business.
Lesson learned: "It's a really good idea to stick around"

[johnallin]

Last night I boiled Sunday's run but I think it was a mistake...both Saturday and Sunday were too warm to not process right away.

With the big runs last weekend I've been playing catch up being one day behind on both runs - temps in the 60's and 70's here didn't help things.

It's good looking syrup but has a slight off odor to it..(metabolism maybe?) will probably dump it. Sugar also dropped from 1.5 to 1% Sunday so I shut down waiting for a re-set with the freeze.
Anyone else seeing funky smells or taste from the weekend?

[miboss]

Anyone else seeing funky smells or taste from the weekend?

I haven't noticed any, but I boiled Saturday, Sunday, and Monday so I didn't let anything sit too long

[christopherh]

Haven’t noticed anything like that either John. I boiled Sunday afternoon and again an Monday.

[johnallin]

Haven’t noticed anything like that either John. I boiled Sunday afternoon and again an Monday.

Boiled Friday, Sunday and Monday. But missed Saturday as we had a grandson's basketball game to attend with a family gathering after. That's the day I fell behind
It was Saturday's sap that sat (pun) 'til Sunday that had an off odor/taste. (Gave it to our son who's buddy has a still)
Bottled Monday's boil last night and it's fine - it got cold here Sunday and that helped keep it. Hopefully it's limited to the one warm day and that run. fingers crossed

[MapleCreekFarm]

Just wondering if our season is going to be over by the end of next week. Forecast surely doesn't look good.......

[Nogden3929]

Let's hope not, don't have nearly enough syrup, I missed the first two runs.

[MapleCreekFarm]

I surely hope not too! Forecast is saying 9 days above freezing with 3 of those days being in the 60's with the rest in the 50's.

[RC Maple]

To my surprise, I did have some taps dripping yesterday. Not much though. Good freeze this morning. I have been hoping the future forecast would change but after Saturday night I do not see another freeze. Still hoping that may change between now and then...

[johnallin]

Boiled both Monday and Thursday this past week, all good syrup with no funky odors or taste.
All locked up over here now but looks promising for tomorrow and maybe even into Tuesday.
Kids and G kids all coming today to boil off Friday's haul, have the little Buddy heater running in the sugar house to try and keep everything thawed out!
So far this has not been a record setting year - average at best - and not much reported from some of the other usual suspects around here.

[woodburner]

Not to bad a season so far, up to 73gal. Last run made medium , demand is very strong and moving out really fast.Looks like a busy week and should be done and cleaned up by next weekend.

[Nogden3929]

How's the sap flowing for everyone today? Not getting nearly what we expected for a sunny day after a freeze.

[johnallin]

Not much in the Federation either. Just went home to check and was surprised to see so little. It was running good when I got everything thawed out this morning. Funny year for sure.

[miboss]

made another 16 gallons tonight, still dark, but lighter than the last 2 boils (hann 38). started with clean pans, and the niter now is crazy. went from little to no niter up to this point, but I actually had to reverse flow half way through the boil cause pans were popping.

Tonight's boil brings us to 98 gallons, hopefully we can squeeze out a few more boils, but this is shaping out to be a very low season.

[johnallin]

Yesterday didn’t kick in until mid afternoon. Woke up to an overflowing tank and got the little CDL Hobby RO fired up. By 6 tonight I had pulled in 650+ gallons, certainly the biggest run we’ve had so far this season.
Trees must have been froze solid as the lines were cold as ice this morning. Noticed as I was walking and checking with my hand running over some of them… never noticed that before but it made sense.

Boiled off 125 gallons at 5.5 % tonight for about 6 gallons of what looks like dark amber. Smells amazing and tastes the same. I’m a happy camper.

[miboss]

boiled again yesterday, color holding even with the high temps, sap yield going down. This morning, sap yield not looking too good, may need to boil straight sap just to have enough to fire for an hour. It will be enough to push some sweet out of the pans, but it looks like it's really drying up.

Also, over night, I swear the buds grew twice their size.

Right now I'm at 115.5 gal (26 amber, 89.5 dark) on approx 475 taps, worst season by far.

[woodburner]

All done over here, pulled taps Thurs. and finished boiling out yesterday. Ended up with 90gal. Sap was holding at 2.1 but sap quit here. Heard the spring frogs last night so for sure its over. Not bad 90 gal with 300 taps. Short season , very dry, wonder how the buckets guys did, had a lot of high pressure. Demand has been really up this year. Hope everyone had a satisfying year.

[johnallin]

That is a lot of syrup for 300 taps, wow.
Just dumped 120 or so gallons I’d RO’d down to 4.5% from Wednesday Thursday, cleaned out sap tank and releaser.
Couldn’t get to it until today. It was milky but still smelled good, boiled down a pint on the kitchen stove and wasn’t happy with the end result.
Cleaning front pan again now. Looking for a small run mid week with forecast temps to push out what’s left in the rig.
All syrup made so far, except for first boil has been darker than normal for us but has amazing taste.
If nothing comes in this week I will be done also.

[miboss]

only collected about 50 gal of sap yesterday, draining pans today an opening valve on collection tank until the freeze next weekend then will evaluate quality of sap if trees don't bud out this week, but I think I may be done.

[CrossBroMaple]

All finished here in north Madison. Ended up with around 100 gallons all dark. We hung 100 buckets that never really produced a lot of sap but our 350 on vacuum picked up the slack this year.

[johnallin]

Ran vac today with no results and began cleanup in the sugar house.
Have tanks all cleaned out and looking for something this week.
If the forecast doesn’t look good for mid-week, plan is to chase what’s in the rig with 120 gallons of permeate, I still have, tomorrow night.

Just not ready to stop, but it is what it is. So far, with dumping 2 runs of sap that got away from me, we’re just about even with last year’s- also short- season. All good tasting syrup, just not as much as I was hoping for.
Peepers don’t tell me anything ‘cause I can’t hear that good. <grin>

[Kh7722]

Thats a wrap here.
After last nights freeze and the less than impressive run im glad we pushed with water and start planning for next year.

[johnallin]

Pulled taps yesterday after having nothing "worth the wood" since Mar 15. Sap was running pretty hard and was tempted to test it but decided enough was enough.

Goofy year this year. Seems that when it got cold enough for a run...it shot to 60's and sun and stayed there.
Just weren't many grace periods with low 40's allowing dummies like me - with day jobs - to boil off at night, and it became even more important process asap.

Working on Maple Festival contest entry today - sure don't have any Delicate.

[Kh7722]

All entries for the maple syrup contest must be into Richards maple products or Gingrichs in Middlefield by 4 pm Saturday.
Thanks

[johnallin]

All entries for the maple syrup contest must be into Richards maple products or Gingrichs in Middlefield by 4 pm Saturday.
Thanks

Dropped mine off today...have no idea where it may score, but it's our best and waiting to see how it stacks up.