Tapped in Saugerties

[mfchef54]

Put out 9 taps sunday afternoon late. Sap was Flowing as I was tapping. 22 hours later I'm boiling on the cajun cooker. alittle over a pint made. Can't wait until I have enough to start the evaporator. looks like I should be able to collect a little more today.

[mountainvan]

I think you have the most taps in NY right now! Hope I didn't have any influence on you being crazy and tapping in December.

[MaplePancakeMan]

nice! hope it goes well!

[mfchef54]

It will probably the last time I have the most. By the way I was already crazy you just showed me another way to prove it. my wife put me up to it.
Gathered another 5 gallons yesterday and put it in the freezer at work to lessen boiling time.

[mountainvan]

Why didn't you just leave it outside? It's 5 degrees up here and windy.

[MaplePancakeMan]

did that last year and took 25 gallons and condensed it into just over 11 gallons just by transferring buckets for 2 days!

Works real well.


BTW its ridiculous outside. How much snow did you guys get on the mountain? about 5" here

[mfchef54]

Van, Because I'm working 12 hours a day. I can boil it on the stove tomorrow.
and be warm.
pancake, we got about 5 in saugerties but that wind last night practically blew it all away. haven't had time to check on tree damage yet. sorry to hear about you tree damage. there was that much to prevent you from tapping?

[mfchef54]

wife reports that early run stopped yesterday.

[MaplePancakeMan]

I had a bush that primarily the taps were on and along big trails and when the ice came they had no support around them and large branches sheered off then there was the problems with the poplars falling into them. Really its a combination of things but if i did sugar this year it would be on a lot less taps then before. If the bush was by my house it would have sustained minimal damage, but its about 15 min north and they got crushed out there. Then the sugarshack is being built and my ducks aren't in a row.

I working on talking to a few neighbors about tapping some of their large trees to make up some taps. If i can get the go ahead on that i'll being sugaring ... if not i don't see the point on firing up the evaporator for a small amount of taps.

I should say i'll be doing it either way because if i don't have the taps i'm gonna help a sugar maker south of me that has had heart problems and shouldn't really be collecting anyway but just can't quit the maple bug. So i'll collect he'll boil and we'll work out a deal on some syrup.

6 degrees here right now at 8pm ish

[mfchef54]

At least you will be boiling. Made some maple sugar for the first time with the freezer ro'd sap. I have it in a plastic bag right now but the smell is great. wonderful thing maple.

[mfchef54]

cleared a few more pines from around some big trees. attended public meeting that passed our community's Right to Farm Law. Good thing I was there at the start. They almost forgot Maple Sap. finished pan gasket. Hoping to boil off some water this weekend. Picked up some more wood from truss company. too cold to do anything else yet.

[mfchef54]

test boil on New (new to me) evaporator. works fine. Blower throwing ash all over the place but once the tarp is up should not be problem.

[mfchef54]

Put in 50 taps yesterday. only 150 to go. Looking to do more today. have to work this weekend so maybe I'll be boiling by Monday. Weather looks great.

[mfchef54]

another 30 tonight. ran out of light. still looking good for Sunday and thru the week

[MaplePancakeMan]

Hows Sap flowing out that way? I TEST tapped a tree today 3% sugar not bad. 28-1 ratio for syrup. Trying to find a mason with a heated garage to brick my evaporator back up. Looks like another makeshift year but on a small scale this time.

[mfchef54]

Nothing happening last night. some trees had a little, the one I tested was at 3 so it looks like it could be a good start. It was 40 over here this morning so who knows. what a crap shoot the start to the season is. wife and I hung another 60 buckets so we are at 150. out of buckets right now with about another 30 tappable trees. I'm thinking some drops with totes. Here's to big sap.

[MaplePancakeMan]

thats the problem with this warm up... i think it literally will be too warm. Then after next week we go into the cold again. Its hard to judge because we've had a real winter this year rather then the mild ones we've had the last 4 years. Hope the sap flows for you! My one tap had about 1/2" sap in it lastnight at midnight from 5pm. Was still dripping too.

[mfchef54]

collected about 16 gallons from 50 trees that were running. big wind blew in around 1 which always seems to slow my trees down. went to my buckets and found that it NOTHING. I guess it would help if I put in it the hole I drill this year.LOL Should be good today. hopefully boiling tomorrow.

[mfchef54]

collected another 20 gallons. Decided to boil. just enough to sweeten the pan. getting about 20/hr. thrilled in comparison to 5-6 over blocks. All the tree were running not great but sap showing. hoping this lasts.

[mfchef54]

another 50 gallons of sap collected yesterday. some of the buckets were over flowing. boiled for about 4 hours. Sugar content is 1.5%. reds are kicking in. will test the difference between reds and sugars today. first gallon in bottles. Had the mailman stop while I was collecting and she ordered a quart as soon as it was done. said she knew of a few people who would be interested. I guess this is how it works.. word of mouth. weather continues to look good through weekend.

[MaplePancakeMan]

Eh... my test tree has a full bucket from Sunday... not sure it would have been worth it for me to tap. Congrats though... always fun to bottle the first run.

[mfchef54]

Wind and rain and high temps. Nothing like it to stop a run. collected 5 gallons. Could be that it just didn't get cold enough last night. and yes it was very sweet to bottle. I did almost lose the whole batch. couldn't find my defoamer. lucky my wife was out side with me and found it for me.

[mfchef54]

Got out the bush around 3:00 things just starting to thaw. Collected about 20 gallons. some ice in the shaded areas but everything look like tomorrow will be a good run. where have I heard that before. Lol

[MaplePancakeMan]

chucked the ice from my almost full bucket 4gallons. Tested it at 4.25% sugar. Then boiled it and netted 15 oz of super sweet super light syrup with a not of sugar sand. Its currently sitting in the icebox waiting to settle out before i heat it and put it in a fancy bottle. Not going to break out a filter to filter 15oz ahha.


For the heck of it i tapped another one just to compare in the back. Let it drip for a few hours, slowly. Checked the content and that one was pumping 4% out of the tap! i'm excited tomorrow i'll pop another one to check percentages. If they are all up ill tap them all on the property and call it a year with 60-70 taps. if i can get 4% out of them thats like having 120-140 trees from last year at 2%

[3rdgen.maple]

MaplePancakeMan how long have you had your evaporator? Curious what you think of it. Bought a new one from Patrick this year can't wait to get boiling on it. Ran a 2x6 flat pan sustem for about 18 years before I got this one. NO MORE BATCH BOILING FOR THIS GUY. Been holding out here for better weather no sign off sap weather in the 15 day forcast.

[MaplePancakeMan]

3rdgen, I'm holding off too.. for a few reasons. tree damage, lack of a bricked evaporator. That being said.. patricks quality is pretty decent. My evaporator works decent but i have to regulate sap by hand with a ball valve. There is something wrong with my float and i tried to get him to look at it because he stands behind it for a "lifetime" and i'm too afraid to send it to him because it won't come back intime. The only other problem is the draw off handle port is crooked doesn't affect how it works but it was welded that way. Other then those few things the evaporator works as it should. Thinking back i would have rather had a one piece door rather then 2 but that's just semantics. I think i may have fixed the float though so hopefully this years the charm if not its probably more cost effective for me to take it to a shop to have it welded and fix the float arm rather then send it to canada. did you get drop flue or raisied?

[3rdgen.maple]

MaplePancakeMan I went with the drop flue for various reasons. Did not want to deal with two float boxes, Have no room left to raise the holding tank high enough without major construction changes. Patrick threw in a little suprise for me when it arrived. He put a drain valve in the flue pan at no extra charge, that was appreciated. He was really nice to deal with. I know he is under the gun right now. He is alone again in his shop right now. Hard to find good welders. Hope your float works out. Oh yeah forgot to mention when I bricked the arch I put slots in the bricks just in front of the flues. I put a peice of angle iron there that goes across the front of the flues to help protect the flues from wood damage. Hope everything works out with your floats.

[kmdfarm]

could not stop myself had to tap 3 trees. been pacing for a week driving wife nuts. first year that i have enough wood and am all set to go. waiting for the weather. got a whole cup of syrup for my panny cakes and home made sausage tonite. great site!

[cncaboose]

kmd, don't get too worked up yet. Here in the north country there's not much point to tapping before March. The last 2 years I tapped right around the 10th. It might run a bit now but these overnight temps in the single digits and highs in the 20's will severely limit it, even on sunny days like we've been having. I was able to test about 100 small trees (3-5") yesterday for sugar % to help with culling decisions though.

[mfchef54]

So glad to see others are tapping in Saugerties.
that Aside, things are starting to heat up here. 30 Gallons yesterday and another 20 today. Just under a hundred in the barrels so tomoorow will be a good boiling day. Hope to collect in the afternoon. Hoping to finsih tapping this weekend. bought some buckets at lowes to finish.

[mfchef54]

Boiled today. still trying to figure how open the valves should be. Another gallon made. today looked but collected only 30 gallons. hope to tap the rest of the bush tomorrow.

[mfchef54]

Put out another 30 taps today. Started to snow lightly. It was very quiet in the woods today. and pretty. Then i heard what I thought was a snow plow being dropped. Two minutes latter I heard the same thing. Turns out a car slid off the road and hit a tree. A second car, Trying to avoid the first car slid off the other side and took out a 6" red cedar. all this within 30 feet of where I had parked my car. God loves me. No one was hurt.

[Jeff E]

thanks for posting the activity. For us up in the frozen north, it keeps us on edge. (is it 35 yet? is it 35 yet? is it 35 yet....)

[mfchef54]

Therometer said 40 but the trees didn't seem to know it. Looking at last year's notes, I'm down about 100 gallons of sap even with the increase of taps. Looking for big sap soon.

[MaplePancakeMan]

Tuesday/Wednesday of next week on... thats when you're going to see it!

[mfchef54]

pancake
Should I take that to the bank? LOL figures right when I have to go back to work. Is that when you are going to tap?

[mfchef54]

collected another 40 gallons today. seem like there just isn't enough sun to get things really going. yesterday's taps produced well. snow, sleet, rain then back to snow, quite the mixed bag.

[MaplePancakeMan]

Sure take it to the bank! see what they give you for it haha. I'll probably tap on monday after work hopefully. Evaporator will be bricked saturday.

Its just this year was a real winter and its been marginally warm really for the most part less the few days where it was too warm. Even today it should have ran well in theory but it was cold last night and with no real sun the trees just didn't open up.

On a side note how about that snow today! 3.5" here.

[mfchef54]

with the way the weather moves around here you wouldn't think that you're really due east of me. Snow was only a 1.5, with rain mixed in. Yes this a real winter. Nothing running, and I agree about the sun being a factor. finally counted my taps, 176 not the 200 I had hoped for but all the buckets i own are either hanging or tubed to the ground. Maybe next year. have 60 gallons to boil tomorrow. with what's in the evaporator should get at least a couple of gallons.

[mountainvan]

You need more buckets? I have some I can part with, then I'm not tempted to hang them myself.

[MaplePancakeMan]

Been checking the long range... and looks like 25-27 will be good followed by 6-7 days of little if any sap flow at least on buckets. Highs only to 35 during that period. Its killing me... had trouble removing the evaporator from the frozen ground, so looks like tomorrow is my bricking day. Oh well. looks like no rush anyway.

[sapwelder]

Hey all,

Welcome to sugaring 09'. It has been pretty cold here in the central NY area. In years past I have made 200 gallons by this time. This year i haven't even tapped yet. Have been tempted and have been working round the sugar house but the drill is still on the charger. Will probably start tapping around the 26th of Feb. Made 500 gallons last year with out working too hard and hoping to do as well this season.

[3rdgen.maple]

Sapwelder are you on 48 near the high school?

[mfchef54]

Van, very tempting but I think I'll pass this year. Only got a gallon today. I still can believe how much faster I'm boiling with this evaporator. things were just starting to thaw around 3:00 only collected 20 gallons. I think I may change my work schedule around to meet my sap collection. If only it was that easy.

[mfchef54]

nothing much happening. taps still pretty much frozen. just isn't getting warm enough fast enough during the day. Hoping the weather reports are right for the weekend, unfortunately i have to work so if it does run it will be a late night on sunday

[MaplePancakeMan]

Yep... well i still didnt brick my arch yet! i keep getting the run around from the guy who was coming to do it and amazingly enough he has 4 doctors appointments this week. Time to just do a makeshift job this season and redo it over the summer.


Weather looks good for flow later today and tomorrow... friday not sure about if it rains it might not flow well but the weekend should be good.

[MaplePancakeMan]

so how about that forecast bust! 2 days ago they had today as 45... now the forecasted high temp is 27! Ran well yesterday, just went around rocking up all my lids cause the wind is really strong.

Snow on the way i hear too. and 3 days of 20's for highs followed by 4 days of mid -low 30's for highs. I don't know what to make of it.

[mfchef54]

Well i took your prediction to the bank and they said no. lol. it did run over here for a couple three days 150 gallons in four days.. still getting med but it may just that i'm still getting the hang of the new thing. Sold some here at work. $18 qt $10 pint no sweat. was able to collect yesterday so will see about today. got some boiling to do over the next couple of days. just hope my tarp holds up to the snow that's coming. happy sapping everyone

[mfchef54]

Boiled Sunday and finished what was in barrels Wife helped which was great. was able to finish and bottle all that we made. Checked taps on sunday just about froze. didn't seem to run much on saturday. Swamp bushes still not ready to give it up yet. same as last year. short but sweet run towards the end.

[mfchef54]

Still froze up. Weather looks like it will be ok for a couple of days but no beloww 32 after that. hope this isn't the sign of and early season.

[mountainvan]

Get everything ready, you may get a heck of a lot of sap. It's going to start flowing friday and not stop till monday night! Good luck, and if you're working call in sick. Sap comes first in March.

[mfchef54]

If only I could. I'll be ready though. have been waiting for Big Sap! Rested on monday and tuesday so my batteries are charged and ready.

[mfchef54]

collected about 50 gallons today, about 1/2 of it's ice. Guy from the woodstock Land Conservancy saw my buckets and took some pictures. we posed a picture of me collecting. going to put it in the next newsletter. just love that free advertising.

[mfchef54]

collected 60 gallons to day and no ice. most on a one day gather. all but a couple of taps were runnning hard. here we go. Made two gallons med and still have about 20 gallons to kick start tomorrow.

[MaplePancakeMan]

i tossed my ice

Got enough sap to make 4-5 gallons of syrup. without the ice the sap was roughly 5% sugar.

[mfchef54]

made four gallons over weekend sold 2. still trying to get the hang of evaporator. but 18 an hour on this rig is alot better than the 5 I was getting last year.

[mfchef54]

collected 135 gallons on Monday 400 gallons in five days. sugar content really bad. still getting med. cleaned the syrup pan again. first time I ever boiled four days in a row. I know for some this is nothing but with having doubled the taps from last year it's a whole new game.

[MaplePancakeMan]

How many gallons did you make?

[RUSTYBUCKET]

Michael and MPM,

How are you guys doing? I was hoping for a good run this past weekend but only pulled in 50 gallons. Boiled that down to some pretty good looking 60wt. Buckets are still hanging but I suspect this weekend I'll be pulling the plug on this season. A little shy of 17 gallons so far.

Russ

[MaplePancakeMan]

collected 90 gallons of crystal clear sap today... but it smelled a little off... can't boil it til friday though due to weather and work hopefully it will keep.


I pulled about 10 taps, that were not running. Some were running really well... but tomorrow will be the last collection thats probably certain.

i collected 75 gallons on sunday too. I reamed most of my property taps because i can and they are running well the ones i didn't were the ones i pulled.

sugar is low though.

like 1.5

[mfchef54]

only 60 gallons tuesday to sunday when we finnally decided to give a collect. Most of my early reds stopped and some of my early sugar also. for having doubled my taps It just didn't seem to be getting much from what should have been good runs. anyway I'm done for the year, first because most of what is running is cloudy, or just plain not running. Second because I need to clean up and get going on this years market garden. not counting last night boil, 17 gallons about 2/3's med 1/3 dark. thought last night's would have be b grade but it turns to be a very good dark. Goal was twenty so I'm pretty close. Lots of new ideas for next year and I have taken the time to write them down. good luck to those who are still boiling.

[mfchef54]

rusty,
how many taps were/are you running? sugars, reds, a mix? where in ulster park are you?

[RUSTYBUCKET]

Michael,

This year I set out 65 taps. When the runs were good, that was plenty enough to keep me busy. The bush I tapped this year is directly behind the IronMountain facility on Rt 9W. Sugar maple is the predominant species but there are a few reds in the mix. I hope to do some thinning in this bush this year and move to my second sugarbush just down the road for tapping next year. Like you, I'm collecting thoughts for next year already.

Russ