Spring Harvest 2025

[Amber Gold]

Late getting this out, but here’s my first post of the season.

After using seasonal CV’s for X years, we’re switching back over to stubbies with reducers. I found they both have their pros/cons. We can tap/untap faster with reducers, and that’s more important to us. Their may/may not be more in season issues…not sure on this one, but I do remember stubby/reducers separating sometimes. For efficiency, we’re only making one pass through the woods and putting stubbies on as we tap. It’ll take longer this year, but it should be faster next.

Whitney and I started tapping Friday, Feb. 22nd, and got the sugar mainline done with about 250 taps. Saturday, we got backyard line done for another 250, and Sunday, we got the back field line done for another 220…720’ish in total. Long days with the snow, and I currently have a love/hate relationship with snowshoes. They are needed, but they also make walking around the lines harder.

Monday, I left work early to turn the vac. pump on and walk the lines, and I was hoping to get the field line done for another 100 taps. Usual issues: missed taps, squirrel chews, two trees on mainline, and leaking tree (got lucky on this one). Overall, this took longer than I wanted, so the field line didn’t get tapped. Spent more time in the woods Tuesday finding more vacuum leaks…squirrel chews. Got the woods to ~24.5” by day’s end.

Sap flow has been generally a trickle, but on Tuesday, it picked up, and today, it’s running better. Sap collection is minimal. I’ll probably haul a load out tonight to make room.

The sap hauling truck has a rare intermittent no-start issue, that’s become very frequent. Bad timing. Taking it to a buddies shop after work.

Overall, I’m more stressed starting this season than normal. Work’s over busy (which is normally fine, but not when adding maple into the equation), and I’m training for Boston Marathon again this year. Last year, marathon training and maple worked out well, but it does add to the business. A bit behind the 8-ball because this winter, I spent more time doing non-maple stuff (i.e. skiing with the family), so I’m crossing my fingers that everything works. Fortunately, now the vac pump/releaser are going, that’s about 50% of it. The next question will be RO machine.

Good luck to everyone this year.

[red maples]

Hey Josh, yes stressed seems to be the sign of the times.... Glad to see you are on your way. Good luck buddy!!!

[Amber Gold]

Thanks Brad!

Ya. It's been a bunch of little things at far. Like tonight, I mistakenly set the pump exhaust so it's was draining back into the pump and put water in the oil. Lost time to get it drained and going again. I fixed some vac leaks in the releaser while I was at it.
Not much sap today. Maybe 200 gal. Vac is at 27+".

[Amber Gold]

Quick update. Got the last main line tapped on Sunday, so we're up to 897'ish. There's a few more trees to be added in that are now big enough to tap.

Saturday, went to start the RO machine, and I was getting flow but not much pressure. Turns out, the pump head has plastic internal parts, although it has a stainless steel impeller, and the guide vane was in pieces. It turns out these are not a normally stocked item, and need to be ordered directly from Goulds. Today, I got a new guide vane ordered with an extra, and the Venturi tube and overnight shipping. TBD when it'll actually arrive, because Goulds takes multiple days to process orders.

Until then, I am out of commission and cannot process sap.

[BAP]

Quick update. Got the last main line tapped on Sunday, so we're up to 897'ish. There's a few more trees to be added in that are now big enough to tap.

Saturday, went to start the RO machine, and I was getting flow but not much pressure. Turns out, the pump head has plastic internal parts, although it has a stainless steel impeller, and the guide vane was in pieces. It turns out these are not a normally stocked item, and need to be ordered directly from Goulds. Today, I got a new guide vane ordered with an extra, and the Venturi tube and overnight shipping. TBD when it'll actually arrive, because Goulds takes multiple days to process orders.

Until then, I am out of commission and cannot process sap.
That stinks on your pump. Good on the tapping. Hopefully stars align at Goulds and the parts get shipped out fast.

[red maples]

oh bummer. sorry man. I hope they get it out quickly. but the one good thing is the trees at least mine anyway aren't wanting to give up much sap. my best 1 day run is 195 gallons on 560 ish taps. then we froze up. I boiled once but only sweetened the pans no syrup made and maple weekend is a week and half a way. I know its still the 3rd week but its just too early I aint gonna have any syrup. Last year which is nothing like this year at all. but my first run last year was 800 gallons in 24 hrs. but there was no sugar in the sap. whats coming in now is 1.6 so I'll take that over sub 1 anyday.

[Amber Gold]

Parts came in yesterday...I guess Goulds can process orders quickly... Thanks for the thoughts.

Got the new parts installed and RO is going...that's a huge relief! Concentrated the 1500 gal that I collected last week, sweetened the pans, and made about 7 gal of syrup. I didn't check SSC, but based on how much syrup I made, the SSC may be OK.

Woke up this morning to the woods tank almost overflowing because it ran all night. Emergency trip to the woods to haul a load out and make room for today's run. We'll be boiling again tonight.

Brad, I'd give the Moore's a call and hit them up. I'd rather have product for sale next weekend, even if it's not mine. We're in a similar boat, and not sure if we'll be able to make enough by next weekend. We'll see.

[BAP]

Great news on parts and sap

[red maples]

that's great news. glad you are back to making syrup again.

I did that once about 10 years ago season didn't get going until late and couldn't get enough syrup made in time. we will see there is some good sap weather coming hopefully the sap will flow enough!!!

[Amber Gold]

Spent the weekend mostly making maple confections. Mainly just need to label everything now.

Collected 700+ gal Friday, another 700+ gal yesterday, and boiled last night to make about 26 gallons of syrup. Last week, I tested the SSC, and it was 1.6%. Lower than I was expecting with the cold winter, but reading trader, that seems to be the general consensus.

Behind on syrup production and not sure we'll have enough to get through maple weekend. Season total is about 46 gal so far.

[Amber Gold]

Sap ran well Monday/Tuesday, so I boiled both nights. About 80 gallons made so far and bottled in prep. for maple weekend. This season, the grade started out dark, almost very dark...likely because the sap sat while waiting for the RO parts to come in. Grade is lightening up to a mid-grade dark. Flavor's been good.

Walked a mainline yesterday and got the vac. from 24.5" to 25.5". Still more mainline to walk to get the vac. higher.

[Amber Gold]

Sap's been running every day, even though there was no freeze from Friday night through Monday. However, Monday, sap flow did slow down below 1gpt/day. Finally got a freeze last night, and trees are running better today. Monday afternoon, I finally got a chance to walk the woods (it'd been over a week), and found some minor leaks. Vac. went from 25" up to 26.6". Vac. today is 25", so not sure what changed. I know on Monday, there was a mainline that I didn't walk and had leaks on it.

Since season start, I haven't checked SSC (1.6%), and yesterday, it was ~1.5%. Based on nightly syrup production, I think it got higher in-between then.

Through yesterday, season total is 12,400 gal of sap, which on ~900 taps I figure is a little better than a 50% sap crop. After Monday night's boil, syrup production is ~180 gal, which counting what's in the pans, is also better than 50% crop.

Thankfully, it looks like cooler temps are on the way, and through the rest of March the forecast is showing 20's/40's.

[red maples]

hey you wanna buy what I have left with NH on the containers. I have a few association jugs different sizes, and the glass galone type containers with the NH on it. I think I have a 2 cs 250ml and 2 cs 500 ml. pretty sure they are unopened. I will shoot you an email when I am completely done.

[Amber Gold]

Quick update because I didn't realize it'd been so long.

Sap quality has improved this week. Still cloudy, but looking better. Syrup flavor was quite strong Wednesday. I usually find there's a one boil lag in syrup flavor because it takes a boil to push the previous sweet through the pans. We make about 20 gal/night, which is about what the evaporator holds.

As of yesterday, we're ~18,000 gal collected for the season, so 20gpt of sap. Sometime next week, we'll be ~25gpt which I figure should be an average season. Syrup production is ???. I need to count up what's in the canner and kegs but I think we're approaching 250 gal.

SSC. Based on Wednesday's syrup production, guessing about 1.3%.

Red, shoot me an email with what you have at the end of season. And, congrats on the potential house sale. I hope it works out.