Hop Kiln Road 2024

[Hop Kiln Road]

Nailed it. Tapped about 600 on 2/8 and 2/9. As of last night I'm at 3 gal/tap and have filled a keg with light. Today looks perfect. Will tap out the rest during the break in the weather.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Perfect mid March day, in February! Brilliant blue sky, mid 40's and sap's running well. Trying to crunch the 700 gal into the sugarhouse before the pipe freezes. Then boil during the storm tomorrow.

[red maples]

Hey Bruce, I think the storm is going south. Looks like you are off to a good start!!! Good luck on your season!!!

[BAP]

Great to hear that you are off to a good start. It’s a good start for me here in Walpole too. Boil On!

[Hop Kiln Road]

Thanks guys. One start up glitch. Membrane canisters had lost all their fluid. New MES membranes last year and built new canisters and kept the older H2Os. Guess I didn't get the endcaps glued very good. Did a normal start up and the flows were down 20%. But after a wash, flows were back to normal but the operating pressures were down 5%, but I guess there is nothing wrong with that, I can just crank the concentrate down more, right Red Roof?

[Hop Kiln Road]

20F and a windchill of 0F this morning so that officially ends the first run. 2500 gal from 600 taps. No sap weather in the forecast for 8 days. Drained all the pumps and opened all the valves. A little sap stored here and there in the field tanks. Got 2 bushes left to crank up while we wait. One I'm 3X the solar array to increase the charging power for the shurflos. The other is getting a pump to move the sap uphill to a closer road tank location. It’s going to be a 110V system. But it requires adjusting some of the lines to the new low point, but only 60 taps total on the system.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Using this freeze time to redo and simplify several sap pump stations. I also tapped a new section after several years of thinning and fertilizing. It runs down along a brook and then the (3) 3/16 lines cut across a flat field for 300 feet to a garage. I put a 110v shurflo there and discharge it into a 5/16 line which goes up 12 feet to the peak of the garage then up another 3 feet over 150 feet to a tree limb before running 300 feet down to a road tank. After I tapped I was undecided how to prime the dry shurflo so I tapped another section. Three hours later when I checked, sap was being pushed through the pump, up the combined 15 feet and into the road tank...and at a remarkable flow!!! So I turned on the pump and it increased the flow some, but not a lot. I am still stunned by the results.
Also found a new 12v temperature switch to run the other shurflos. Hoping it will save on battery charge. Also added a 2nd solar panel to try to help.
Still no sap weather until the end of the week anyway.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Going to tap the last 200 today for the 2nd run coming up. The heavy 1st run, 2/9-2/12 was 25% of an average season, and from only 3/4 of my taps. Pretty happy to have that since the season feels a lot like last year and will probably be over by mid-March.

[Hop Kiln Road]

A couple spots got to 38F yesterday and the sap dripped, a little. trees still frozen. Should unthaw by noon today. Big week coming up! Got to clean the syrup pans once the sugarhouse warms up a little.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Temps got up to 38F again yesterday but it wasn't enough to unthaw the trees. This is actually more typical weather for late February, slightly too warm but far more typical than what we've been seeing. Did clean the syrup pans. Wasn't really necessary but I had boiled 2500 gals with only reversing and no swapping out. Lazy! Won't be able to get away with that next week. 32F this morning with 2" of new snow. Going to hit 40F this afternoon and then freeze tight for the weekend. If it is a weak flow may let it freeze in the field tanks.

[Hop Kiln Road]

So even the short-term forecasts are imprecise. Wasn't enough mid afternoon Friday to pump but then it ran a little until 1AM so I let 700 gal freeze over the weekend in the field tanks. Then, the weekend was much colder than predicted. Now today it is going to get much warmer much faster. I guess the ice has cut the capacity of the field tanks by 30% for a couple of days, a good thing as now some afternoons in the 50s are predicted. Should be a very busy week.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Yup, head to chisel a couple holes to pump the field tanks Monday morning. Sap was fine and boiled out to a 65. Ran okay Monday but 3/4s of the early February speed and even though the temp hit the 50s there was still ice in the tanks. 46F Wednesday morning, so it ran until it stopped. Going to have a hard rain and then a hard freeze. I'm about 60% of an average season and the current forecast isn't very good.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Ok, frozen back up for two days. Just over 50% of last year, which was slightly over average volumes. Sugar has been mostly a tad lower and also the grade, steady in the mid 60's instead of low 70's. Forecast says a warmer week before returning to seasonal temperatures. Last year the trees didn't restart in mid March, but the temperature fluctuations were more extreme.

[Hop Kiln Road]

13F this morning so things won't get started until after lunch. Put a third solar panel on a remote pump system yesterday. Now have 300w feeding two 100 amp deep cells. It runs a 4008 pulling 120 taps downhill on a temperature switch and a 4048 on tank sensors pumping 500' and up 50' to a road tank. Should handle all night runs after a cloudy day.

[red maples]

yeah same way behind of last year. and warm temps coming...

[Hop Kiln Road]

Very little sap by yesterday afternoon. Boiled the sap from the day before and the grade was still in the 60s. However, the season is definitely in trouble.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Pumped the field tanks dry to sit out the no freeze spell. So far it has been cloudy with drizzle, but warmer weather with heavy rain is forecast for two days before a freeze. I think the trees will start. Had a valve accident. The clip holding the handle on a plastic valve stem had popped off and I guess I didn't replace it correctly, so the handle indicted closed when it wasn't. Unfortunately, it was an anti freeze drain line and some of the sap feeding the RO escaped. Grade slipped into the upper 40s.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Got 1 g/tap Thursday and Friday. Should get more sap this weekend and maybe even some next week. Should hit my 20 average for sap production by Sunday night. Pretty surprised. But syrup production is lagging behind due to low sugar.

[red maples]

how you doin' Bruce? I have been crazy busy Hope things are still running for you.