Tapped in Rhode Island

[Mike N RI]

After much thought and study of weather data we tapped with 450 buckets yesterday and today. It was 40 today and we expect 11 days out of the next 15 to be in the upper 30s including 5+ days in 40s. Many taps were met with sap dripping out of the hole... We have 20% Sugars, 30% Norway and 50% Reds. Next 2 days in lower 40s... expect to try new RO and boil Wednesday. Last year was our first on 275 taps we made 33 gallons of syrup.
We are trying for 80-100 this year.

[jemsklein]

well lets hope we all get more then we are hoping for

[tapper]

Hi Mike in RI

Allright!! Nice to see a poster from RI and his first to boot.

[tapper]

Hi Mike N RI

Allright!! Nice to see a poster from RI and his first to boot.

[tapper]

HAHAHA oopsss

[NedL]

I'm up in Foxboro, MA. I was thinking about tapping this weekend, but I'll be travelling alot the next couple of weeks. So looks like the 13th. Keep us updated on how things are running.

[dhbiker1]

I got anxious and tapped one red this afternoon and it is running. I still think it might be best to wait another 15 days though. Don't want the holes drying up too early. I was surprised to see it running because last year I was getting nothing when I tapped in early march while others north of me with all sugars were flowing away for a week or more.

[Mike N RI]

We only got 10-20 gallons yesterday--making "ice cubes" with that. We checked sugar% on what we had collected: Norways were at 3%, Sugars at 3% and Reds were at 2%. Six out of the next 7 days will be at or above 40--
hoping to get a good run this afternoon...

[Maplewalnut]

Mike,

Surprised you got such a high % out of Norways. Is that normal? Have you tapped them before? I alwys thought Norways were more on the ornamental side and noth worth the hole.

[Mike N RI]

Better run today with AM rain & 46F. We have 40-50 Norways, some 3'+ diameter, they ran strong, many of those buckets had 1.5-2+ gals each. This is the first time we have used the sap hydrometer. We collected 150 gals today from 300 buckets and the blended tank tested at 3% sugar. Sugar maples waking up and Reds going slow (same as last year) Tonight it will be 14F and 36F tomorrow followed by 7 days in 40's...Boiling tomorrow, hopefully with the aid of the new RO...(instructions are in French---the company is translating them to English for us)

[royalmaple]

There's pleanty of guys on here with RO's that can help. Just post a question. You get some responses right away.

And I bet most responses will be in english.

[Mike N RI]

Matt,
The RO we have runs on 110V and has 8 drain valves, and LS Bilodeau claims their machines do not need to be kept warm. It has a 4" x 40" membrane with 2 pumps that are 1/2 HP each. When we use it the first time do we run plain water through to clean it before processing sap? The company was not allowed to ship the detergent over the US border-- can we use any RO detergent? What other "chemicals" might we need to care for the machine? (I see preservatives, citric acid, sodium hydroxide, glycerine, etc. for sale on Bascom's RO page) Is rinsing with permeate alone o.k. or should we use detergent once per day?

Thanks for the help,
Mike

[Russell Lampron]

To clean your membrane for the first use of the season and any time you use membrane preservative run a concentration cycle with sap just like for concentrating sap. For the first 15 minutes run both the concentrate and permeate down the drain. After this direct both to the tanks you want them to go into and keep on concentrating.

Most RO's use the same brand of membrane so any brand of cleaner will work. Most manufacturers say to run a wash cycle after 10 hours of use. I wash mine after every use which is more like 3 or 4 hours. After running a wash cycle rince it with the permeate that you saved from that days use.

Russ

[Mike N RI]

Russ--

Do you think we could use the RO today without cleaning it with detergent?
We will have detergent Saturday.

Thanks,
Mike

[Russell Lampron]

Yes, you can follow the 10 hour rule to do the wash with soap. Rinse it with the permeate after you are done concentrating. Another thing to do is run the concentration cycle with permeate after you run out of sap for about 5 minutes to flush the sugar out of the membrane.

Russ

[Mike N RI]

Collected 120 gals of 2.5% sap from 150 taps today, many buckets were 3/4 full-- we have 300+ gals in the tank and will process it with the RO in the morning. We will collect from the other 275 taps in the morning (expect 150+ gals) and boil all day Sunday...GO PATS! ...and GO TAPS!!!

[Mike N RI]

Collected 180 gals yesterday. The new RO works like a dream! Processed 480 gals of 2.25%-2.75% sap into 225+ gals of 4.25% sap. We cycled the 4.25% through the RO again and it was coming out at 6%-9.25% sugar!
We boiled 180 gallons of 6% sap in 6 hours and made 7 gals of syrup.
The pans are very sweet. We are also getting used to a new auto draw-off.
Really have to stay on top of boiling point of water-- started at 212.8F and 3 hours later it was 214F...

[royalmaple]

Mike-

I think you might have forgotten 100 degrees, but who's counting.

Good for you, can you not slow the concentration flow down anymore to get that sugar up in 1 pass through the membrane? Or is that how they tell you to run the setup?

RO is the only way to go. You'd still be boiling if you didn't have one.

[Mike N RI]

The manufacturer says not to exceed 225PSI-- we ran at 210PSI for about 6 hours total. Last year it would have taken us 20 hours of boiling for the same result! We modified the arch and using drier wood. That brought our evap rate from 23 gal/hr to 30 gal/hr. The permeate was passing at .1% to .2% sugar-- is that normal?

[royalmaple]

What membrane is in there?

[Mike N RI]

The membrane is 4" X 40". I believe it is made by Filmtec or Hydranautics.

[royalmaple]

Right, but what number, like NF270? or NF90? You'll have to look on the membrane.

[Mike N RI]

The membrane is Hydranautics 4040 LSA (from the box)
I can't find that one on their web site. I will pull the membrane when I get a chance.

[royalmaple]

I have no idea, but I am sure someone on here could tell you about that membrane. Reason I ask is some are rated a little higher on gph, but will pass a bit more sugar. Might be trace amounts but still. It all depends what you want to give up, speed or some sugar. Personally I'll done mind if mine runs slower to get all the sugar I can. When you get into 1% sap you don't have much to give away down the drain.

Maybe Father Masterson can give a sermon.

[maplwrks]

I think that these are the same membranes that Leader is putting into their small R/Os. A sugarmaker down our way just put in 2 into his old Osmonics R/O.

[Mike N RI]

It has been too warm-- 3 days above 32F, as high as 54F yesterday. We collected 80 gals Mon, 70 Tues & 25 yesterday. For 400+ taps we hoped to have a lot more... Fri & Sat look favorable-- then back to deep freeze Sun-Mon-Tue. Plan to tap 100 more today...

[MaplePancakeMan]

I hear ya, i collected 200 ish gallons on one days run, then it got too cold here rather than the warmth they thought for here. We only have 150 taps in so far though. Have you used the RO yet?

[Mike N RI]

The RO works great! I just wish we had more sap-- the RO is thirsty.
We processed 500 gals of 2.25% sap to 225 gals of 4.25% sap. Then recirculated through the RO to make 180 gals of 6.25% sap. At the end of recirculating the RO was putting out 9.25%! We did not want to go much higher than 6.25% concentration because we heard it might affect the syrup flavor... (we would run out of sap too!) We have 24 quarts bottled and the pans have 5 gals of VERY sweet sap...

[MaplePancakeMan]

Awesome, thats amazing.... i've got one last fix on my RO to see if its really gonna work for me.... if not its back to the drawing board.

[Mike N RI]

We made 9 gallons of dark yesterday, processed 510 gals of sap. Everything is frozen but thaw coming again Wed-Sat. As of Feb 10th we made half of what we made all last year & we boiled until March 28th last year!

[3% Solution]

Hi Mike,
Friend of mine across the way is up for the week, he lives in Wakefield, I guess 5 miles from you.
Says he goes by your set-up quite a bit.
He kinda laughed and said, "It's kinda of a small world when you think about it"
How's the weather holding out for you?
We haven't started yet here.
Guy across the way always comes over and enjoys the sweet smell.
Wouldn't be surprised if he seeks you out.
Stay safe and have fun!!

Dave

[Mike N RI]

Dave--

Our season is going very well. We have 3-4 good days for sap runs then a few days frozen up. It gives us some time to tend to our real jobs. The sugar shack in the picture is off Fenner Hill Rd in Hope Valley, RI. We bottled another 8+ gals last night. Thank goodness for the RO. Our total as of 2/19 is 25+ gals of Dark/B syrup. Last year (on less taps) we tapped on 2/17 and made only 33 gals all season. (it was our first year trying to make syrup) Today I'm heading to Glen NH for some skiing for a few days--looks like the sap will be frozen until my return on Sunday.
Have your friend email me if he would like to visit we love visitors.

Mike