2025 Season

[Jeeves]

Okay, ducks in a row......lets go! I am planning on tapping my maples and black walnuts in about10 days. The current predictions would suggest ideal conditions for the end of Feb and all of March. I am in Carver County and will post when I tap. Here's hoping for a productive season for everyone.
All the best, Jeeves

[schaapj]

I'm in Saint Michael and looking at the forecast planning on tapping Saturday 22-Feb. I'm still new (this will be year 3) but the weather looks good to hopefully see something start flowing. Will probably tap 10 trees again this year but may add a few more if I get an itch to do so...I'll post back on progress later next week.

[Keitha333]

Went out today and looked at the trees, looks like the river I tap along took a few trees away. Tap run may have to either be a little longer or reduce the amount of trees I tap a bit. Started getting equipment out of the deep storage and ordered a few things. Looking to tap the 1st or 2nd.

[sweet acer]

I am ready to go in northern Itasca county but I fear that the sap may not run till mid March or later. Last December was very cold with little or no snow in the woods and I think this created a lot of frost in the ground. With the ground frozen and the current snow to insulate it the sap cannot flow until the tree roots unthaw. Several years ago we had a similar situation and the sap did not run despite the 50 degree days and bare ground. I hope I am wrong because I am ready to jump on my snowshoes, gab my drill and head for the woods

[Thyfishingman]

Central Stearns County boiled one time by this time last year getting anxious 😃. Going to test tap some early runners tomorrow will keep an eye on them. The stand that I tap is usually 1 week behind the first gallon from the “yard trees” if the weather stays similar.
Looking forward to singed hair.

[Bombadil]

Looking to place some taps, 23rd/24th... weather is looking good and the test taps should give me a good idea were we are at.

[SDdave]

Heading out on the prairie this weekend. Looks like a normal year for timing down here, hopefully it turns out to be a normal length of season as well. Picked up some more trees to tap, but losing a very valued sap gathering partner to the spring track season. Hopefully I'll get a few sap runs in with him before his season really starts. I really do enjoy the time with him in the spring, why do they grow up so fast?

Have a great season everyone!

SDdave

[Pdiamond]

SDdave - I feel your pain. My youngest and his wife are expecting their second child this summer, July, I think. He lives in Texas.

[Keitha333]

Heading out on the prairie this weekend. Looks like a normal year for timing down here, hopefully it turns out to be a normal length of season as well. Picked up some more trees to tap, but losing a very valued sap gathering partner to the spring track season. Hopefully I'll get a few sap runs in with him before his season really starts. I really do enjoy the time with him in the spring, why do they grow up so fast?

Have a great season everyone!

SDdave

Yep I get it too....My oldest is now in college and my youngest just had knee surgery a month ago....He has PT today and I told him to ask if he is cleared to carry 5 gallon pails;)
I did not tap yet most likely this weekend Sunday if I get time. Hopefully if any of you tapped this week, you will get a run!

[Jeeves]

I tapped black walnuts and maples here in Carver County yesterday (2-23-25) and the sap is flowing nicely.

[schaapj]

Tapped maples here in Saint Michael (NW Metro) on Saturday 22-Feb-2025, a few drips from all trees yesterday...guessing with a high of 50 today things should wake up quick.

[MotoBBQ]

First time poster here. Trying maple syrup as a backyard hobbyist for the first time this year. Doing 10 taps with bags. Tapped 7 trees at home 2/23 and 2 trees at work 2/24. Taps at home at still dry, the 2 taps 25 min south at work have given about half gallon each so far. Will continue to post updates.

[Pdiamond]

Welcome aboard Moto - Caught the maple bug. Hard to get rid of once you get it. Just seems to grow. Make sure to keep it fun.

[Keitha333]

Welcome MotoBBQ! I just got done getting all my taps in. Sounds like I haven't missed much in the area as most are not getting much if anything. About half the taps I put in were dripping today.

[ThiefCatcher]

I tapped 35 trees today about 10 miles SW of Hutchinson, MN. Nearly all of them were dripping. No snow and warm temps this year for tapping.

[Thyfishingman]

I and my son tapped 100 trees over the weekend 80 on Saturday and 20 on Sunday, some of the trees where dripping Sunday and Monday afternoon but not much volume yet. With the current weather not expecting a collectible amount anytime soon maybe this weekend.
Happy Sapping

[Keitha333]

I was happy to find about 11 gallons today....they appear to be waking up all silvers along the Rum. Won't be long.

[Keitha333]

Decent little run yesterday in the Milaca Area of 23 gallons. Not all trees are awake yet for me. With the warmer week ahead I would assume they will if we can get cold enough at night.

[dew042]

Decent little run yesterday in the Milaca Area of 23 gallons. Not all trees are awake yet for me. With the warmer week ahead I would assume they will if we can get cold enough at night.

Oh that's music to my ears! I've been road tripping and was concerned I was going to miss all the fun this year. Maybe not!

[ThiefCatcher]

My dad and I have collected 120 gallons of sap so far after tapping on March 3rd (63 taps) in the Hutchinson area. We had 60 gallons by the 8th and another 60 gallons by the 12th. A few 5 gallon pails were full, a few were nearly empty and several somewhere in between.

[Keitha333]

I was able to get a similar amount with I imagine a decent run today. I plan to start up tomorrow afternoon and going as long as I can before the rain. Where I boil I do not have a roof overhead so I will most likely wait until the rain stops Saturday and then start it up again. If the weather looks poor I may wait until Sunday.....either way it is going to be cold! I will start the RO tonight and try to get it to half when all said and done for boiling time.

[dew042]

If the weather looks poor I may wait until Sunday.....either way it is going to be cold! I will start the RO tonight and try to get it to half when all said and done for boiling time.

The cold is one thing, that wind is going to howl. I hate the wind.

[Keitha333]

Got the first boil in the books. Ended up with 5.25 gallons with a 33:1 ratio. I will take that on pretty much all silvers. I never would have got that much sap on my own but I gave my buddy 25 gallons last weekend because he was going to be busy this weekend. He repaid me with about 50 which he didn't have to do. Got some good hours in last night before the rain came at about 10:00. Finished the rest today. Hoping to boil again next weekend if the trees and weather cooperate. Anyone else get a boil in?

[sweet acer]

North of Marcell our season has finally started. The trees went gangbusters on the 18th. However I was not home to turn the pumps on. Yesterday everything was froze tight till about 2pm and then the yield was sparce. Todays forecast looks much better but we again had a hard freeze last night. Happy sapping to all!

[dew042]

Got the first boil in the books. Ended up with 5.25 gallons with a 33:1 ratio. I will take that on pretty much all silvers. I never would have got that much sap on my own but I gave my buddy 25 gallons last weekend because he was going to be busy this weekend. He repaid me with about 50 which he didn't have to do. Got some good hours in last night before the rain came at about 10:00. Finished the rest today. Hoping to boil again next weekend if the trees and weather cooperate. Anyone else get a boil in?

Still a bit sluggish on the Rum - 60 gallons on 30 taps this week (Saturday-Friday). Silvers running well, Sugars all over the place. Back to normal 33:1 ratio this year after some miserable sub-1% draws last year. Confident on sap this coming week and maybe next week too.

Got to try out my new flow gauges on the RO, that's a treat.

Boy, the river is low after the weak "flood surge" last week. We need some consistent moisture. Been quite a feast and famine the past few years and basically no snow the last two.

[ThiefCatcher]

I collected 140 gallons of sap from 60+ taps from last Thursday through Sunday. Almost nothing flowed on Saturday for me. The family camped out with me in a canvas wall tent for the weekend and we all had a good time, but that darn wind was gusting up to 40mph at times. That wind made things much less enjoyable. I'm hopeful to get a little more sap before the buds break open on the silver maples.

[Keitha333]

I agree on the wind...it makes things not fun in a hurry. Hoping to make the wind irrelevant next year by changing boiling locations. I was able to get through 275 gallons this weekend ended up with just over 9.5 gallons. My true number of gallons is off because I did dump a lot of ice a few mornings. I don't believe it was under 30:1 and was probably more like the 33:1 I usually get. I am busiy the next two weekends so pulling taps today and sap goes to a buddy.

[dew042]

Wrapping up a 5 gallon week here on 150+ gallons of sap. Sap was flowing crazy yesterday in the bush. I expect the same or more through Wednesday, best weather stretch of the year. I plan to wrap up Thursday unless the weather shifts again. 4 week season, and I was on vacation road tripping the two weeks before that - planned it PERFECTLY.