2024 season

[Brian]

Well got the sleds started going to see if I can get to the woods tomorrow.Hoping to start tapping on monday. I hope the wind storm didn't do to much damage but we will see!!!

[Andy VT]

Well, Brian, how'd that go?
I'm doing buckets over here and thinking of aiming for March 1 tapping and letting the 10 day forecast move me up or down a week.
This is my 4th year and I've always tapped too early, but less so each year.
I have roughly half norways and half sugar, the sugars being far far larger.
The norways have good sugar content but far far less overall output.
A neighbor down the street tapped a norway on the March 11th last year and made more than a quart of syrup from one tap (probably didn't go to 70 brix or even 66 but still!).
So, whatever date I pick for the sugar maples, I'm going to try a few days later for the norways this year and see if they produce a bit more overall.

[Brian]

The north woods is tapped but took alot more time than last year, there is 15-16 hundred taps over there and 3 days with 3 of us because the snow was so deep. One section of it was redone this year and the brush is so deep that i feared breaking snow shoes so we post holed. The other section has a good brook that runs through it and it is hard to keep crossing with snow shoes on.The snow is about 2ft on the average over there. We started the southside yesterday and put in a 1000 taps, I should have brought more but was hoping to get that many in. That woods has 2500 taps, we are headed back tomorrow to see if we can get the other 1500 in. The snow on the south side is only to my knees on the average and smooth going. There will be 4 of us tomorrow I hope. None of my woods are easy to get to, they require alot of walking. None of the sap runs into the sugarhouse it is all trucked in. Hope to be done this week. I have a few things to fix!! Thank you Mr. Squirrel and Assoc.

When I ran buckets we took our average end date and back up 6 weeks and that was our tap date. That is what my uncle taught me to do and worked great for me. I start tapping early because I never know if I will have any help any more and planpn doing it all by myself because all the people that use to help are too old or moved on and you just never know.

[Andy VT]

Wow! That's some work! And will be lots of syrup.
Yep, that's one thing I've picked up... buckets and vacuum are two different animals.
Seeing a lot of first year facebook sugarers getting really confused by that, like I was at first!

[VT_K9]

We were lucky to re-route a mainline and extend it for a total of 1000'. This will pick up an additional 75 or so taps with a chance to branch off for a few more in the future. The mainline running was completed before snow started to accumulate. We are running the sap lines and will spin seal those in this week. Need to rebuild both releasers and plumb the new mainline into a releaser.

On a side note, a neighboring sugar maker has a new 20k tap bush and the tapped back in December. They have been boiling since and are tapping their other bushes. Definitely an odd year. I feel like I am a little behind and would like to be tapped now. Maybe this weekend.

Mike

[Brian]

Now hurry up and wait!! I am headed out this weekend to fix all the things that ars marked to be fixed. I hope to check for some leaks this next week if the weather warms up enough.

[Brian]

Well the home woods is up and ready and the vacuum was on today and got that woods up to 26.5. Not bad for the first run through,I hope to get the rest up and ready before the sap starts running this week. The squirrels have been busy, I think I will have to replace 40-50 drops this year. Time to go squirrel shooting.

[Brian]

Well I ended up with 14,000 gallons of sap this go a round. I got all the vacuum up to 25.5-26 inches at the end of every main line one more go around and things should be up to snuff. I got one tank of sap sitting at 20% and the other at 7% once I start boiling I will ro the 7% to 20% and send that over. I found a few things that need to be fixed before the sap starts flowing for the season. I was glad every thing froze up to give me a break. I am going to boil tomorrow, this will be the earliest I have ever boiled.

[Brian]

My wife and I boiled yesterday and sweetend the pans and ended up with 3 2/3 barrels of syrup in 4hrs.The filter presses pluged alot, we have 2 ten in. presses and my wife changed them constantly, we went through a whole bag of De. Some years we only go through 3 bags all season. The foam was bad also we used about a qt of defoamer. The trees here don't have the snow melted around the base yet so I believe the sap that we got was mainly in the tree all winter. It tasted good, grade A amber. If the filtering continues like this we will be getting a diffrent filter press.

[Brian]

We made 4 barrels on sat and 3 last night so we are up to 11 barrels so far ,finished up around 8:30. I went and checked the pump houses and one vac. system was down to 15 in. I checked the sensors when I got home and one sensor was down to 6in in the middle of the woods so I got 2 flash lights and went up and shut that valve off and walked the line and lost another maple and a main line so that is this mornings job. I think we could use a freeze soon. Good Luck to All.

[Brian]

Got every thing fixed yesterday and gathered 4000 gallons of sap. Went out this morning and gathered another 3000 gallons and the Ro is running now hurry up and wait. Hoping to make 2-3 barrels today.

[Brian]

Well it has been a trip, we have made 21.5 barrels so far this season. I got over a foot of snow too. So here we go, after this freeze it should be running this week. Good Luck to All

[Brian]

the sap has been running and the Ro has been turning. We are up to 27 barrels so far. Good Night To All!!

[Brian]

The sap truck blew an air hose, the tractor blew a hydro. seal and got 1 of my 4-wheelers fixed and droped off an other to get fixed 2000.00 later back at it. The barrels are getting low we are at 43 barrel and the sec best year so far. I have never made .5 per tap that would be great. Last year we only made 32 barrels.

[Brian]

The sap ran today and it was cold all day around 34-36 deg.F and was 24 deg. this morning. The truck is unloading right now and is the sec load tonight there is 1000 gallons behind the tractor to be unloaded. I still need to go get the sap on White Rd tonight with the sap truck. That should be about 8000-8500 gallons af sap in the last 24 hrs. The ro is running and hoping to get it through the first pass to night then the second pass tomorrow and boil in the morning. Good night headed to check the truck!!

[Brian]

Well I ran out of fuel boiling on sunday, that was a first. I told my wife we should dip the tank and see how much fuel we had left, well now I know. Went to the fuel place and got 260 gallons of off rd to get us through.The oil co is coming today to fill it. We are at 2000 gallons and hoping for 2300 because that will be .5 per gallon per tap. I hope we don't lose our power in this storm!!

[Brian]

We are still at it but the sap is slowing down. Tonight was the first time we boiled since last thursday and only had 5000 gallons of sap to ro and boil. We only made about 60-70 gallons. We will hold out as long as we can and 53 barrels full, the best we have ever done to date. We are very thankful for the crop we got and thankful to all the ones that helped us get to where we are today.

[Brian]

Got all the sap together and got it through the ro and boiled and got the evaporator cleaned out and ended up with 55 barrels of syrup. Now the clean up begins. Well good night, and no vac pumps to check on tonight.

[BAP]

Got all the sap together and got it through the ro and boiled and got the evaporator cleaned out and ended up with 55 barrels of syrup. Now the clean up begins. Well good night, and no vac pumps to check on tonight.
How much syrup is that total? Don’t know what size barrels you use. How does that compare to other years?

[Brian]

We ended up at 2200 gallons, the best we ever did. 5 or so years agowe made a barrel short of 2000 gal. Most years we make 30-40 barrels. The syrup tasted good to the end. I didn't do much today because i was exhausted and had an insurance inspection on all the sugaring stuff. The sugar house could have been a little cleaner, there was barrels every where. I think if this happens afew more times we are going to need an expantion on the sugar house!!

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Congrats on a good season Brian, pushing 0.5g/tap is a big feat!

[Brian]

The worst year was 2015 we only made 700 gallons. The snow was so deep, we never started tapping until the 15-18 of march and that season was over april 7. It was fall before I got all the maple venders paid off. I called them and made payments and no one complained and they still give me credit at times.

[Brian]

The peepers are out tonight so that is it, the season is over. Thanks, It was a great year!!

[BAP]

Congratulations on a great season. That’s always an awesome feeling when it happens.

[Brian]

Getting ready to wash pipeline this sat, then the next sat, and hopfully be done after that. The clean up takes a while, the sugar house looks like a bomb went off getting things sorted and put away. The pans are clean and throwing out the membrains and going to get new ones these are 8 yrs old and starting to slow down. Time to speed her up!!

[Brian]

Well I got every thing fixed that I could see after all the rain and bad weather we had this year. I lost at least 10-15 trees and had some mainlines get smashed. I don't know how many taps I lost but that is the way it goes. Some people lost every thing they owned so I feel pretty greatful that I only lost a few trees.

[Brian]

The last pump shack that had all the lead free valves and fittings got replaced with stainless valves and fittings. What was legal last year is now not. I guess no copper, no brass, even lead free. All fittings must be plastic or stainless, also some pvc is not legal for sugaring.
What a waste of money. This fall I changed out 5 2" Lf brass valves to ss, 2 1.5", 4 1", 15 3/4, 6-1/2 valves. Not to mention all the nipples and male adaptors.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

That's a lot of extra work Brian, but sounds like you're getting on it!

[maple flats]

Does anyone have a copy or referance for these new regulations. I'll need to change plenty. I have several lead free brass valves in my evaporator. Sounds like I'll need to switch to SS sonner than later. I had planned to convert over the next 2 seasons about half each year. Now I guess it'll be all before any syrup is made.

[BAP]

Does anyone have a copy or referance for these new regulations. I'll need to change plenty. I have several lead free brass valves in my evaporator. Sounds like I'll need to switch to SS sonner than later. I had planned to convert over the next 2 seasons about half each year. Now I guess it'll be all before any syrup is made.
I may be completely wrong, so someone correct me if I am, but I think that it is Vermont regulations that have changed, not nation wide.

[Brian]

That sounds right, what ever they do in California they do in Vt. Check This out https://vermontmaple.org/client_media/files/Sugarhouse%20Certification%20Checklist_Jan%202024. pdf

[Brian]

I know there is alot of equipment new with copper in them. I think Leader was still making pre heaters with your choice of copper or stainless until last year or the year before. I know the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association is pushing bulk buyers to not buy from producers that are not certified. I feel like a Farmer with 35 cows not enough money and too much work.

[Brian]

I was told that lead free had to go but found this in frequently asked questions.
13. If my sugarhouse has equipment that might contain lead, what is the highest
reading (%) I can receive on a lead test and still be Certified?
VMSMA will not be Certifying any sugarhouse that has equipment containing lead (so the
percent allowed is 0%). The solution will be to eliminate any equipment that might contain
any trace of lead such as brass fittings and valves, and galvanized buckets and tanks. We
understand some of the new brass is stamped “LF” for lead free and that will be allowed.

So I changed a bunch of things for nothing!! I wish the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers asses would get things figured out

[Brian]

I got off the phone with the Vt maple sugarmakers and this is the new #13 of frequently asked questions. I left a message yesterday and they called back and up dated the site to fix the lead free questions. There is no mention of lead free brass at all so they still did not clarify if you can use lead free brass or not. They did say the legal limit for lead in maple syrup is 250 parts per billion or less.


13. If my sugarhouse has equipment that might contain lead, what is the highest
reading (%) I can receive on a lead test and still be Certified?
VMSMA will not be Certifying any sugarhouse that has equipment containing lead (so the
percent allowed is 0%). The solution will be to eliminate any equipment that might
contain any trace of lead such as brass fittings and valves, and galvanized buckets and
tanks.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Yikes- sounds like they pooched that one. You won't be the only one upset :o