Dunbarton

[SWEETSAP]

We tapped 120 on Wensday and had a slight flow today about 40 gallons. We are going to try for another 40 to 50 taps on Monday the 2nd.
Dan & Rick

[mtcrumpit]

sweetsap, sounds like things are starting to break for you also. In New Boston I got about 550 gallons between Friday and Sat. Boiled it off Sat night and Sunday. Now I need to finish. Thinking there should be close to 6 gallons when complete. Maybe it will run again on thurday. Sap was about 2%.

[SWEETSAP]

Well we ended up with about 75 gallons of 1.9 sap and ran the evaporator today. We just managed to sweeten the pans and draw off about 1/2 gallon to finish 3 pints on the stove. The sap here is just not flowing that well yet. We now have about 175 taps without vac.

[mtcrumpit]

The sap isn't running as well as hoped over here either. Maybe today.

[SWEETSAP]

Early this morning the sap wasn't flowing yet so we put out another 50 taps. By the time we were half way through the trees were squirting when we tapped them. Still though it take some time to fill those lines and when we quit at 2:30 in the afternoon we only had 15 gallons in the tank with 100 taps on it. Hopefully things will get better later this week. We are going to try to get a final count on taps tomorrow. We think about 225 but are not sure.

[mtcrumpit]

Early this morning the sap wasn't flowing yet so we put out another 50 taps. By the time we were half way through the trees were squirting when we tapped them. Still though it take some time to fill those lines and when we quit at 2:30 in the afternoon we only had 15 gallons in the tank with 100 taps on it. Hopefully things will get better later this week. We are going to try to get a final count on taps tomorrow. We think about 225 but are not sure.


how did you make out this weekend? I'm burried in sap. brought in more than the evaporator can handle. Very long days and nights, but this us what we have been waiting for. sugar content is very low so we are making some dark syrup with good flavor. give me a call

[SWEETSAP]

Well we had no flow for the past 3 days so we took off the sugar pan and cleaned it a bit. When we took it off our worst fears were confirmed. The oil burner was severly out of wack and coated the sugar pan and the flues with 1/8 inch of soot. While one of us cleaned the soot off the other took out the oil burner and started trouble shooting. After cleaning and adjusting the burner we decided to change the nozzle to change the fire flow pattern and increase the total efficency. The calculations produced a better boil and increased the efficency but the calculations were based on incorrect initial data. A reanalysis with the new data showed a we needed to make another change in the nozzle. The final result is now producing a 20% fuel savings, no soot, and a 15% better evaporation rate. Maybe now we will be able to make less NH FANCY.

[Russell Lampron]

Don't count on the grade going up. I have tried everything that I could so far and still making NH Fancy. It is something in the sap this year and I don't expect it to get any lighter until April if we are still getting sap then. Last season the sap was sweeter and I couldn't make any grade B if I wanted to. I made all shades of grade A right up to the end. This year I cant make any legit grade B either. It would be considered commercial anywhere else. The flavor is excellent though and I am going to can it up and sell it. If someone wants to taste it first that won't be a problem and that will sell it.

[SWEETSAP]

Well Russ we are still definately making NH fancy. I guess that we have to take what we get. Dan

[SWEETSAP]

Well today was a good day for us, 140 gallons of sap. This is our first year and we are doing well enough considering. I think our biggest mistake was tryng for more taps this year (250 instead of 100 we were planning for) and delaying vacuum until next year. We are only getting (on a good day) .5 gallons per tap. We are high and cold and the runs are only about 4 to 5 hours per day. I think that the vac would have paid off this year for us.