Eastern Wisconsin

[1arch]

I picked up 195 gallons of 3.5% yesterday. Looks like it is finally gong to go.

Nice! 3.5%
We cooked 190 gallons of 2.6% today. This was our first cook-filter-bottle&label right at the sugar house after cooking. Previous years we would filter and bottle at a later date. Feels good to get it completed.

[1arch]

I'm tellin' yer boss!
She knew. It's that ankle bracelet I'm forced to wear.:o

[Super Sapper]

Saturday was slow but I got 235 gallons off of 300 taps on Sunday.

[WI Sugarpop]

We got 235 gallons today, will have a 7 hour boil tomorrow and then go back out and collect again. This is what we were waiting for, right?:):D

[Super Sapper]

They didn't run by me until after 2 p.m. yesterday so I only picked up 20 gallons from the MIL and pulled those taps on Silvers as they were flowering. Tried the new filter press and bottled 14 gallons and then boiled off 130 gallons. Will boil the rest today and see what came yesterday and collect it. I should have another 15 gallons or so to bottle when done boiling today. It is all very dark but great flavor.

[WI Sugarpop]

I boiled yesterday's 240 gal today and we collected another 170 gal this aft and boiled some of that tonight. I'm bushed.

[Super Sapper]

Things were just starting to thaw at 2 p.m. on Monday so I did not collect. I had 405 gallons off of 253 taps waiting for me late yesterday. I will check the others today, it was 9:30 p.m. last night when I got done with the 405 gallons last night.

[WI Sugarpop]

When the weather was beautiful the sap didn't run. This morning we had rain, freezing rain, snow and sleet, and wind. So ya figure it won't run, but we collected 320 gallons today. A total of 730 for 3 days.:) Low barometric pressure!!!

[WI Sugarpop]

Nothing yesterday so we got everything boiled down. Got about 38 gallons so far. We will clean all the pans and tanks today to get ready for the next big run. Low pressure coming tomorrow. May go over to Drewry Farms for their maple open house and see their set of pans made by Smokey Lake.

[Super Sapper]

Finished boiling everything up yesterday. Looked early this morning at the taps behind the garage and it looks like it ran during the night so I should have a good haul this afternoon.

[Chemist]

6 gallons bottled. 120 gallons of sap in the last 24 hours. Should be going over 10 gallons soon.

[Pete S]

We have boiled about 600 gallons. Our pans in the 2x6 looked so filthy I didn't know whether to wash them out or plant taters!

OMG! We are in our 9th year I think and I have NEVER seen such dirty, dirty syrup pans!
Runnin' good again.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

We also had a tough time with sugar sand build up. this is our fourth year at this crazy thing called sugaring. use vinegar it comes off with some soaking time, and elbow grease.

[Super Sapper]

Collected 430 gallons Monday and boiled 315 on Tuesday and picked up another 335 gallons. Turned off shurflo pumps as I am out of storage and with the warmer temps no need to spoil sap I can't get boiled. I am at 2700 gallons of sap this year so far on basically 315 taps. If I get caught up by the weekend I may turn the pumps back on as we are supposed to get a freeze Friday night.

[WI Sugarpop]

The Frog Run is coming soon.

[1arch]

Cooked 275 gallons yesterday. Took 9 Hours. I usually average 40 - 45 gallons per hour but just couldn't get there. When I drained my syrup pan at the end of the day the sand was thick on the bottom.

I have heard of people hard boiling eggs in their flue pan but running frogs through is a new one:o

[WI Sugarpop]

I have heard of people hard boiling eggs in their flue pan but running frogs through is a new one:o
Just the legs.:lol:
The sand was bad here too. Ran 350 gallons yesterday to get caught up. Cleaning pans today.

[Super Sapper]

Picked 60 gallons yesterday to empty bags and tank. Boiled that and another 60 to empty a tote and am boiling 260 now to empty the other tote. If t gets dwn in the 20's tonight I shoud hit 100 gallons of syrup this season. A lot of work when you do everything yourself but rewarding.

[WI Sugarpop]

So is anyone pulling taps soon? I think it will be over by Monday or Tuesday.

[Troy D]

Pulled mine out Yesterday. I had some major mold in several buckets, and some cruddy looking sap. I had an awesome year with Dad and Uncle cookie.

[WI Sugarpop]

Collected another 180 gallons today. I guess we will be boiling tomorrow afternoon.

[Super Sapper]

Picked up 235 gallons and left about 50 in the woods. Had to get home in time for the badger game.

[1arch]

Collected another 180 gallons today. I guess we will be boiling tomorrow afternoon.
After church service Easter Sunday at the sugar shack for our family.
Looks like a few good days yet before taps are pulled:)

[WI Sugarpop]

Go Badgers!!!!!!!!!!!!

[WI Sugarpop]

I did our last boil today and will finish what's left in the evaporator tomorrow and go out and pull taps at one of our bushes. We had a good year but it is time to move on to other things. Doesn't look like it will freeze anymore.

[Super Sapper]

Did my last boil yesterday also, will use the sweet in the pans to thin down my heavy syrup when I filter and bottle. It was a very good year for me but it is time to clean up and get to everything I put off the last 2 months.

[Pete S]

Boiled till 11:00-11:30 last night. We be dun!

Now time to undo and wash, wash, wash.

[WI Sugarpop]

Got all of our taps pulled and all our stuff out of the woods. Will clean everything tomorrow. Then we just have to get all of the syrup bottled.

[Pete S]

While ya got's yer hands wet there neighbor,....................!

[WI Sugarpop]

:lol:When I'm done I'll be right over der.:lol:

[WI Sugarpop]

It seems like everyone is getting itchy fingers to drill holes but here in WI we have another month of winter.:cry:

[jmayerl]

Some in Wisconsin got sap last week.....

[littleTapper]

Very itchy here, but in the SE corner there are some promising days coming up if the forecast is close to accurate. Could have 3 days of sap flow this weekend and into Monday. Test tap on one of my silvers was dripping today at 33*. May poke a few more holes soon.

[Super Sapper]

Going to Myrtle Beach March 6 to 13 to watch my son play baseball so I won't get tapped until the 14th. I am hoping for a normal or later start for us.

[WI Sugarpop]

Going to Myrtle Beach March 6 to 13 to watch my son play baseball so I won't get tapped until the 14th. I am hoping for a normal or later start for us.
I hope you don't miss any big runs.

[cjmiller272]

Nobodys tapping yet? I plan to be tapped by the end of the week 2-12-16

[littleTapper]

I'm all tapped, but I'm in the SE corner of the state. Haven't boiled yet, but hopefully after today I can.

I have mostly silvers, and they've been slow. The Sugars and Norways have been running very well.

[jmayerl]

Tapped a run of tubing a few weeks ago. Have had 3 runs including today's.

[markcasper]

Tapped a run of tubing a few weeks ago. Have had 3 runs including today's.

Its hard to believe you got enough sap to consider it a "run". How much sap? How much syrup have you made already?

[WI Sugarpop]

We usually hang our sap sacks around march 7. Before that they just get blown off or get holes from tree rats. This year we will be doing 150 taps on 3/16 tubing that runs to a 300 gallon tote. Our plan is to install the laterals and drops on Feb 20. This week will be cold again so I don't think it makes sense to being drilling yet.

[markcasper]

We usually hang our sap sacks around march 7. Before that they just get blown off or get holes from tree rats. This year we will be doing 150 taps on 3/16 tubing that runs to a 300 gallon tote. Our plan is to install the laterals and drops on Feb 20. This week will be cold again so I don't think it makes sense to being drilling yet.

WIsugarpop...Some have ants in their pants apparently. You could safely get away tapping your 3/16" now with new tubing and spouts, but why if their not going to run and there is other things to get ready first....sounds like your making the right decision. There was only one year (2002) where I tapped mid February and it was worth it, and even that year it froze up after wards and didn't start again until the 10th of march. There have been a handful of years...1987, 1992, 2000, 2002 which were tapped the very end of February and glad I did, in other words, you would have missed if you weren't tapped in. Its time to have a earlier year again, but what do I know. Continue to get ready with plans of tapping in February are still on my horizon.

[WI Sugarpop]

WIsugarpop...Some have ants in their pants apparently. You could safely get away tapping your 3/16" now with new tubing and spouts, but why if their not going to run and there is other things to get ready first....sounds like your making the right decision. There was only one year (2002) where I tapped mid February and it was worth it, and even that year it froze up after wards and didn't start again until the 10th of march. There have been a handful of years...1987, 1992, 2000, 2002 which were tapped the very end of February and glad I did, in other words, you would have missed if you weren't tapped in. Its time to have a earlier year again, but what do I know. Continue to get ready with plans of tapping in February are still on my horizon.

I agree with you 100% so when we go out and install our new laterals and drops, we can decide to tap at the same time if we want and if the 10 day forcast looks good then we can also throw up the sap sacks. We just never worry to much about the short runs in February.

[WI Sugarpop]

Supposed to be 48* on Friday so I better get moving.

[Pete S]

We are gearing up mentally. Although a smaller operation we still need to plan. We in the past have tapped early, and then only to chase pails and dump out solidly frozen pucks. I think with this last cold snap we really drove the "freeze" into the trees. I could be wrong, but that's what it seemed like in years past. Many of our trees are in shaded woods and subject to wind.

I would like to find a tried and true check so as to "tap when ready". A friend told me his dad would snap off some twigs on the maples and wait for them to drip.

Back in the day we'd sit with a revisit from the cold with 30 gallons of ice in a Rubbermaid garbage can waiting for the first run for what seemed like weeks! :-)

[WI Sugarpop]

We won't put bags out this early, but plan on doing the tubing this weekend just in case we have some good running days.

[markcasper]

We won't put bags out this early, but plan on doing the tubing this weekend just in case we have some good running days.

I noticed on accuweather it will only be one or two days of 40 plus, still a bit early, but then what if it changes last minute? One note on the 40's, it is to be cloudy, rainy etc.

[Super Sapper]

With new tubing you should be good to tap this weekend but it looks like it will cool off for the next couple weeks.

[WI Sugarpop]

Put 2 test taps in Norway maples in my front yard today. It was doing 2 drips/sec and got 4" in the bags in 2 hours late this aft. Sugar was 2.7%.

[SkardaMapleFarms]

For those who are tapped in eastern WI, how's the sap flow? We are in manitowoc county and was going to wait another week or so to tap our bags until the extended forecast warms up a bit but now getting antsy. Last year we didn't get much sap for atleast a week after we tapped in 2nd week o March but then also think we had a lot of frost in the ground last year unlike this year. Just don't want to miss out if it's flowing real good.

[pt creek]

Finished tapping last nite 441 Sap saks. Ran last nite and running now. Many are a drop/ second.
Located on Lake Michigan South of Manitowoc.

[handler]

Got 50 taps out on 3/16 tubing tonight most trees a drop a second flowing pretty good for cloudy and windy.. green bay

[WI Sugarpop]

We got our 3/16 lines up yesterday. Should have about 125 on natural vac this year. Will finish drops and taps this aft. Great day to be in the woods. I was wasted when I got home. This old body can't take it like when I was 20.

[Steve WI]

We put in 130 taps on bags yesterday. Dozens of wet holes!

I must need new batteries for my drill....We needed to stop tapping and come home to charge them

Steve

[WI Sugarpop]

We got 3/16 tubing in with 120 drops and need to finish tapping 25 tomorrow. We broke our last bit today so we couldn't finish. We wanted to get them all in before the nice day tomorrow. Today was a marginal day for sap on bags but the 3/16 was doing pretty good. Looks like we will be real happy with the results. We will be boiling on Wednesday I would think.
Good luck everyone.

[littleTapper]

Nice to hear Sugarpop minus the broken bit. Last few days sucked. Too warm at night. Same as you here today with my buckets. Meh. Hoping it gets cold enough tonight.

55 gal drum almost full of sap though. Can't complain especially since my silvers aren't doing squat. I will end up making more syrup in Feb this year than all of last year :)

[WI Sugarpop]

I put taps in two Norways last Wednesday in my front yard and already have 5 gal from each tree. Sugar was 2.7 %. I wish I would have planted 100 of those in my yard 30 years ago when I built my house.

[littleTapper]

Ha! I bet! Norways down here have been behaving the same. I've got some that just won't stop. Last year; barely a drop.

Another night where it just barely tickled the freezing point (31 according to my thermometer) :cry: Not expecting much today except a really pleasant 44 degree February day. Tonight is more of the same. Not cold enough. Stupid weather.

[WI Sugarpop]

We had 20* at 5:30 when I got up. Should have a good run today.

[littleTapper]

I hope you do too!

[SkardaMapleFarms]

Well we might be missing out on some early sap as we aren't tapped yet. Looking at the extended forecast, we may end up waiting until the 5th even. Looks like a drop in temperature after this weekend. Probably will miss out on some today, a little tomorrow and even Saturday. Just didn't feel like chasing around 1/4 full and frozen sap sacks.

[WI Sugarpop]

I hear ya. We have about 160 bags to hang yet and are waiting on the weather. They just get beat up if the sap isn't running much.

[markcasper]

I hear ya. We have about 160 bags to hang yet and are waiting on the weather. They just get beat up if the sap isn't running much.

Thanks for the update! I'm looking forward to hear how your 3/16 performs. I'm just finishing up about 100 new ones on 3/16, but this will have vacuum pump to it as well. Still undecided when to start tapping.....keep getting ready, keep the reports coming.

[littleTapper]

Yup, today was a dud. Only 5 gallons out there. :(

[WI Sugarpop]

Not much better for us either. Only 34* today. On 3/16 we tapped 25 on Saturday, 50 on Sunday, 25 Monday, and 20 today. For a total of 120 taps on 5 laterals and there was about 60 gallons in the tank. Now we need to get the bugs worked out. A couple of leaks. First timers!!!

[Cody]

Keep us all updated on your flow reports.Were ready to start tapping this weekend,I think.It will be a learning curve,but know better place than the woods.

[WI Sugarpop]

Collected 160 gal today from our 120 taps on 3/16 lines. 2% but that will go up. No bags yet. Boil tomorrow. This is the earliest for us. Looks like a good start of the season.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Were over by Viroqua in Vernon County sap ran here also, 205 gallons of sap on first gather since Saturdays tapping. 225 taps on buckets.

[WI Sugarpop]

Went by our woods at noon so I stopped in to pick up the rest of the sap that I couldn't get yesterday. So we have about 215 gallons to boil this aft. Nothing running.

[Super Sapper]

Sounds good for your start. I have to wait until we get back on the 12th. I will probably tap my 3/16 before we leave on the 5th and let run on the ground to flush the lines and have someone put the lines in the tanks on Wed, afternoon. I will tap the rest on the 13th and start my shurflo pumps. Good luck on the season.

[littleTapper]

Saturday sure looks promising; as long as it gets cold enough tonight. I'm south enough that it's supposed to only dip below 30F for a bit and then hang around 30 until about 6am, then climb to 54. 36 for a high today and it's looking pretty sunny so far. Might get a little sap today.

Really hoping it takes off Saturday and runs through Sunday.

[Troy D]

I am hoping the trees cut loose this weekend. Have a few gallons, Dads trees started and they have been first the last few years he got 9 gallons off 4 box elder. Mine are typically one week later and I had only 6-7 gallons off 24 taps. I Have my fingers crossed for tomorrow.

[littleTapper]

Troy, my box elders that have been bone dry so far this year were running today. Pretty good sign for tomorrow. Only got up to about 34 here and one box elder pushed out a gallon. Some silvers were dripping fast too.

Temp is now 28 and still going down. 54 and sunny tomorrow. Weeeeeee!

[WI Sugarpop]

At 5:30 this morning our landowner called to let me know that our 300 gal tank is full and 50 bags are full. 3/16!!! WOW!!!!! My son is going out to get 200 gal right away and I will be on my way after the coffee is ready. We haven't even tapped the 100 tap woods yet.

[littleTapper]

Holy moly!

Got 34 gallons of maple and 17 gallons of box elder on my buckets yesterday. There's a bit more to collect this morning yet. Got just shy of 100 gallons to boil today. Friends coming over to stand around and watch sap boil. Some folks from work are bringing maple-curious kids along so they can learn too. Should be a fun day.

[littleTapper]

Made a bit more than 2 gallons of really tasty dark syrup yesterday. Silver sugar content wasn't too high based on my yield; but can't complain. Made more syrup yesterday than my whole season the year before :)

My new arch with Smoky Lake 2x4 divided pan averaged just over 12gph startup to shutdown. I suppose the strong breeze yesterday that was pointed at the open ash door helped the rate.

[Run Forest Run!]

[QUOTE=littleTapper;298765] Made more syrup yesterday than my whole season the year before :)QUOTE]

That's fabulous littleTapper! Congratulations!

[Super Sapper]

I had most of everything done to get ready by Sunday morning and could not wait until back from vacation so I put in about 200 taps Sunday morning and picked up 315 gallons lost night. Now to boil it all before it freezes on me. Ran the evaporator for a couple hours lost night to get the bugs out as it is the first time indoors.

[WI Sugarpop]

I kinda figured.....

[Chemist]

Long delay to my season due to the rest of my life being very busy. I have 25 taps in and that may be all this year. I had 52 last year and got buried in sap. Cooked it all down to 12 gallons, but it started to not be very fun anymore.

Downsized to one wood stove and it is working out well.

[gatzow]

I don't see temperatures in the forecast that get below freezing for the next 10 days minimum. Might the season be done after today? My taps are dripping, but not very fast...

[DuncanFTGC/SS]

I am seeing the same forecast for a further north. Trees are running pretty good today, collected 30 gallons on 50 taps. Wondering if what I get the next day or two will be it?

[littleTapper]

I have mostly silvers and some buds are starting to open here in the southeast. I'll be done soon with them. The two sugars I have tapped and a few Norways may keep me going on a smaller scale if it cools down again. Box elders went nuts today and are still dripping. Will need to re-sanitize my buckets again since they've been out there a while.

Now, to work on keeping the sap cold in barrels or just say screw it and take a day off from work on Wednesday...

[WI Sugarpop]

Between yesterday and today we got 700 gal on 280 taps. I'm boiling like crazy. I love it. Half is 2.2 and half is 3%.

[littleTapper]

Sugarpop, that's awesome!

[Cody]

That's great Sugerpops,wife will have bigger role in guarding syrup:cool:

[Super Sapper]

Sounds like your 3/16 is working pretty good. Keep the reports coming, I will be back Sat. night and hopefully the will be some season left. One forecast hsa Thur. night close to freezing but then not until the end of the following week but teens for a low one night. My main woods is NE facing and all sugars so hopefully it will hold off budding.

[WI Sugarpop]

I am boiling right now.150 to' go and another 100+ in the woods. Love the 3/16.

[gatzow]

How long can buckets/lines stay out in these temps before having to worry about mold and other issues?

[littleTapper]

Gatzow, probably not too long. Mine have been out since late Jan and grew a few spots in the last few days.

Arrived home from work today to my woods topped with fuzzy yellow silver maple flowers. Last year they made good syrup for a week after that, but with no freezes in the 10-day forecast, looks like those are done. Going to clean a few buckets and see what happens with the sugars and Norways. Maybe cooling down later in the month will result in a small batch.

[WI Sugarpop]

70° today still got about 200 gal. Mostly on 3/16. When will it stop. Sap is good. Just boil fast.

[goldenmaple1]

Sugarpop what's your secret; we've been getting our usual 2.2- 2.5% sap here at Drewry Farms until yesterday when the bottom fell out. We've processed a couple thousand galls of 1%-1.6% but the color was fine. Today sugar was still low but color dropped 3 shades of amber from first draw off.

[WI Sugarpop]

Hey Neil, our sugar dropped to 2% and color got darker as of yesterday. Need a freeze.

[RobG]

With forecast so warm... Are we done? I'm up in the fox valley just tapping what is in my yard, Only 10 or so taps out for my second year. One Sugar maple whose sap is dark amber today. I'm guessing that's not usable?

[WI Sugarpop]

Nothing doing right now. Hoping and praying that tomorrow gets cold enough. So far we collected 1678 gal. Sugar varied from 2 to 3 percent. About 45 gal of syrup. The 3/16 tubing saved our behinds.

[WI Sugarpop]

Not sure if it's going to freeze tonight so I guess we will get everything out of the evaporator and get it all finished and then just wait until next Wednesday. Bob B. hope you can get back and make some syrup

[jmayerl]

Hit 31 degrees last night with a light frost, not enough to get trees running again, pulling tanks from the woods tomorrow and then boil down what's left in the evaporator. Vacuum hasn't pulled in sap for 3 days now. Should end up with 20 gallons on one boil for about 800 taps....worst. Year. Ever.

[markcasper]

You'll be boiling like crazy one week from now Mr. Negative, my prediction...........

[RIVERWINDS]

I agree...I don't think the lady has sung yet.

[motowbrowne]

You'll be boiling like crazy one week from now Mr. Negative, my prediction...........

Here's hoping you're right!

[littleTapper]

You guys and your sugar maples. I've got silvers. She's already walked off the stage. :)

Hoping it does cool down and you guys get flooded! Forecast down here shows it just barely tickling the freezing point starting the 18th.

[Super Sapper]

In the airport ready to come home. If it is done so be it but looks like some cooler weather late in the week so there is some hope. I have done well in the past after others have pulled.

[WI Sugarpop]

Welcome home Bob, I hope you and everyone in WI has a good run starting Thurs or Fri. We would like another 1000 gal of sap.

[Super Sapper]

I had a 140 gallons waiting for me, a friend put the lines in the tanks on Wed. afternoon. Looks like we will get some good weather this weekend.

[Chemist]

I am hoping for decent sap Friday through Tuesday and will then wrap it up. The big question is will the sap be good. I think we are just close enough to Lake Michigan that the high temperatures were not enough to get the buds going. I found that none of my trees had swollen buds yet so I'm giving it a try.

[1arch]

I am hoping for decent sap Friday through Tuesday and will then wrap it up. The big question is will the sap be good. I think we are just close enough to Lake Michigan that the high temperatures were not enough to get the buds going. I found that none of my trees had swollen buds yet so I'm giving it a try.
Chemist
I'm counting on this weekends run too! I have demand for the late season syrup so I hate to shut it down until it gets bitter and looks ropey. Late season means cooking smaller batches to keep up with the the spoilage though, which is ok after a few of those midnight runs.

[WI Sugarpop]

Ed, how has your season been so far. Are you running 3/16 tubing. How are your new knees doing. Hope we all have one last great run for those of us that haven't quit.

[Chemist]

Well so far no sap on Friday and none on Saturday. We are at 33 degrees at my house. I hope it starts to run soon. Just bought propane for my finisher.

[Pete S]

The trees are dripping. Not "fast" but they arte dripping clear beautiful sap. Glad we cleaned our pails and are ready for the Maple God's bounty! (right?)

[1arch]

Ed, how has your season been so far. Are you running 3/16 tubing. How are your new knees doing. Hope we all have one last great run for those of us that haven't quit.
I purchased 3/16 line and fittings but didn't get much in since I kind of got a late start. I do have a 5/16 with about 18 taps and good elevation change that pulls like crazy once the flow starts.
Knee is doing well, syruping certainly is great therapy to get my leg muscles toned up again.
10 day forecast is looking good and my front pan hasn't loaded up with the late season niter signal as of yet so I'm wondering if the season has just begun.

[Troy D]

Ran great yesterday and am looking forward to today. All the trees but one had an "above average" run. If I get the same today I will be very happy.

[WI Sugarpop]

Well, we brought home 245 gal today. Sap is 2.2 and crystal clear. Heard some peepers but the buds are solid yet.

[gatzow]

looked like a really good day today, but I am out of time... Season is over for me. Good luck to those hanging on - I think you might have a few more solid days this week. My sugars still look pretty good.

[Super Sapper]

I picked up 165 gallons on Sat. and 290 on Sunday. Would have been more but my best line had the shurflo screen plug with limy growth both days. Burt 3 out of 4 sections in my syrup pan on Sat. got it clean and going again.

[WI Sugarpop]

We had a good day today. Picked up 350 gal. Sorry to hear about your pan, Bob

[Chemist]

It looks like decent syrup weather for the next week yet. With the snow, maybe we can hold off on the buds on the sugar maples. My sap was very clear yesterday.

[WI Sugarpop]

Only got 160 gal today. Better than 0. Will be interesting to see what happens the next 2 days with low pressure from the big snow storm.

[Super Sapper]

I got 215 gallons yesterday and 500 on Monday. 1170 gallons total in 4 days, would have been more but the screen before the shurflo on my best line was plugged 2 days with a slimy growth. Hopefully I can get caught up by the weekend. Thanks, the pan came out good but took some work.

[Chemist]

Collected 45 gallons on my 27 taps. However about 6 of them had no sap whatsoever, so I think the tap holes are healing up.

[jmayerl]

Bag busting Easter weekend

[Super Sapper]

Got 560 gallons on about 300 taps today. When leaving the woods I had to stop and collect the yard trees again. They gave another 8 gsllons on 11 taps in a couple hours.

[Troy D]

I pulled all the taps today. I feel fortunate I got what I did for the year. Ended having a decent run the last couple days. With the looks of next week, and other things going on it seemed a fitting day to end er'.

[WI Sugarpop]

We pulled in over 400 gal of 2% today. Still nice and clear. We tap all sugars so no buds popping yet. Getting close to the end.
Longest season we ever had.

[Super Sapper]

Collected another 475 today. So much for missing the season. That makes 2205 gallons in 8 days. Have the next 2 days off so hopefully I can get it done.

[WI Sugarpop]

Bob, I'm glad you saved the season. For a while it didn't look too promising. We had another 400 gal day also. How long can we keep going?

[Pete S]

We actually pulled ours on Tuesday. Had a good season. We needed to get other things done; Chicken coop build, Bee Vac Build, Cut Fire wood, etc, etc. If you want my flue pan "sweet" bring over a few pails and it's yers Sugarpop!

[Chemist]

Very heavy run today. I will be cooking tomorrow and Tuesday and then I will pull the taps. I might even pull them tomorrow. I am at 6.25 gallons which is great since I have half the taps I used to put out. I'd bet there is another gallon or so out in the buckets. However, some of the tap holes stopped producing. I'd bet that they are starting to seal up.

[jmayerl]

Just got home from my three shift, 12 hour work weekend. I'm back washing the RO and staring at 1400 gallons of 2.5% in the tanks. Getting up early to start the RO, fix the sap trailer tire. And hopefully fire up at 9am tomorrow to chew through all this before back to work for a confrence tomorrow night. Year was definitely made in the last 10 days. Might freeze tomorrow night for another great run.

[Super Sapper]

I am almost out of wood so I'll see what I have left after I get through the sap I have. Definitely need new pans snd an RO is on the list.

[WI Sugarpop]

FYI so far we are getting 17.4 gpt on 3/16 tubing and 9.5 on bags. What a difference. If it freezes tonight we may get another run. Who knows.

[handler]

Picked up 230 gallons of sap tonight since Sat afternoon noticed a little tint of cloudiness to it but finally back up to 2% sugar anyone one else getting a tint yet? I'm just east of green bay

[jmayerl]

Didn't freeze last night as expected. Got all the bags and tanks emptied today and boiled down. Sap was clear from vac but gets real cloudy fast in the tanks. Buds are still tight on sugars in Suamico so might have some game left to play.

[DuncanFTGC/SS]

Same here, I am about an hour north of you. Even the buds on the Reds are still tight, though my bee are bringing in pollen, just cannot figure out if it maple or willow! LOL
I am hoping that the freeze this weekend will get me a little more sap before I call it quits

[jmayerl]

Glad I washed and sanitized everything. Collected 450ish today and making some light syrup right now. Vac was pulling in very good today once it thawed. Tomorrow looks promising also. Sap is 2.3%, bags arnt doing squat.

[Cody]

Glad I washed and sanitized everything. Collected 450ish today and making some light syrup right now. Vac was pulling in very good today once it thawed. Tomorrow looks promising also. Sap is 2.3%, bags arnt doing squat.Hey I thought you said you was done a couple weeks earlier:confused:Being a smarty.Never say never,nevers a long time and time has a way of changing things

[WI Sugarpop]

Picked up 190 today from late Sunday. Still clear and still going. Up to 4052 gal on 282 taps.

[1arch]

Hey Ron
I pulled in another 200 gallons of excellent looking sap today. Looks like "one more" cook for the season. Not sure how many times I said that this year already. I'll know for sure by July:lol:
Not sure but I thought I spotted you across the room at Amy's farewell tonight.

[WI Sugarpop]

I didn't see you but I figured you were probably there. It was a full house.

[WI Sugarpop]

Another good day. Not sure how much yet but tote and bags were overflowing. We stopped boiling awhile ago and decided to sell sap.

[jmayerl]

Collected 900 before snaping a connection on transfer pump, finished with that all at 1am and fired up right away. Syrup tastes great. Most trees still running in the middle of the night and a good snow coming down now.

[WI Sugarpop]

For those of you that are interested in results of 3/16 nat vac vs bags, here are our stats for this year.
3/16 tubing 2420 gal 119 taps 20.34 gpt
Bags 1862 gal 163 taps 11.42 gpt
Total 4282 gal 282 taps 15.18 gpt
This was the longest season we ever had. We tapped Feb 20 started collecting Feb 24. We haven't pulled yet but need to be done.:cry:

[Super Sapper]

I'm glad the 3/16 worked well for you. I could still be making syrup but I ended up with more than I expected and have a lot of work to do on the Sugar Shack. Boiling for 12 straight days played into it also as when it came it came in hard. I had 2200 gallons of sap in 8 days on 300 taps. I could have had more but did not have time to check for leaks and plugged lines. I had an issue with a white growth plugging up the screen on the shurflo pumps and when I pulled taps noticed that I have a few 3/16 Tee's plugged also. On one run I replaced some 3/4 main with about 300 feet of 3/16 and had around 20 taps on a fairly level area and noticed that I only lost 1 or 2 inches of vacuum from the pump to the end of the line. They were cheap gauges and I was not able to get the other portion of the line tight so I was only able to pull about 12 inches when it ran good. I was able to hit 23 to 25 on the other line in that woods.

[RIVERWINDS]

I had an issue with a white growth plugging up the screen on the shurflo pumps

Super Sapper, I also had this issue...even went to a bigger mesh and still no luck...plugged right tight within an hour or so. I eventually just took the strainer out. Never have seen it before but most everyone I talked to around me also had this. I'd like to know what it is.

[littleTapper]

Sugarpop, great numbers! That 3/16 sure is impressive. Wish I could use it here, but I'm pancake flat. Surflo sounds like my future. Sick of scrubbing buckets and need to get the sap out of the silvers during the narrow window I seem to get with them.

I finally wrapped up too but was pretty much done in mid-March. Silvers were done ages ago and barely ran with the warm weather, but 2 sugars kept me going on a tiny scale up until earlier this week. Last sugar maple I pulled the plug on was tapped (tubing dropped to a bucket) for 68 days. On it's last day it pushed out 2 gallons of sap. What a tree!

Made 5.5 gallons of maple and 1.5 gallons of box elder syrup this year. Not great, but I'm not going to complain. It's all delicious and I had fun.

Learned a lot this year too. Tapping early may have helped with my silvers, but tapholes did dry up a bit with the insanely warm stretches we had and may have offset early gains. Very few above/below cycles in March and silvers' flower buds opened on 3/8. Pattern was warm up and stay above freezing for several days, then drop and stay below freezing. Noticed a big difference with Sugars and Norways compared to silvers that when the days would start to cool off (yet still be above freezing), the silvers would stop dripping as soon as the temp went down. Sugars and Norways kept on going until it froze again or got to 2+ days above freezing. This leads me to think I can prolong the runs of the silvers with vacuum. Some monstrous silvers this year gave me only a couple gallons of sap. One (>48" in diameter) gave me about a pint total :mad: Only a few ran decently and at least 15 taps didn't do squat. For taps that actually ran, my yield was about a pint of syrup per tap. I suspect more normal weather and vacuum will drown me in sap, and that's ok :)

My new arch and pan performed wonderfully. Best part of the year for sure. Awesome to watch something I slapped together average north of 12gph from startup to draining each time and on natural draft. That was fun. Friends and neighbors enjoyed standing around and watching firewood disappear, sap turn into syrup and visiting.

Perhaps I should just take a month off of work during maple season and string up 3/16 on the steeper slopes of the family farm in western Jackson county. Sucks it's about a 4-hour drive to get there...but there's thousands of trees there too.

[DuncanFTGC/SS]

Ran good up here, yesterday, was running a little this afternoon, even with the snow and wind. Hoping to collect a little more over the weekend and one more boil next week.

[inthewoods]

I just want to let everyone in northeast Wisconsin know that we started carrying supplies for maple producers. We are not a full-line equipment dealer, but we have a lot of the consumables a maple producer needs. Some of the things we carry are taps, tubing, bags, bag holders, filters, filter aid, glass/plastic bottles, and more. We are located in Manitowoc. If you have questions on products that I carry and pricing info, call or message me (Jesse). (920)242-9050

[gatzow]

Forecast has me getting anxious!! That 15 day for southeast looks like it's almost time to get in the woods!!

[gatzow]

I put 60 taps out. Did I go to early? Maybe. But sap is absolutely pouring out of trees today. I was just going to do a couple test trees, but when I saw it, I couldn't stop... I'm officially open for business.

[gatzow]

.5-1 gallon average per bucket in first 24 hours. Wind did take out 4 buckets. A couple trees filled up my 2 gallon buckets already. Not much in the biggest/oldest trees. I might have gone early, but it's a solid early run that makes me feel better about missing some on the tail end. Just means I can get to spring chores sooner.

[Irish Ridge]

Looking at it the same way as you over by Prairie du Chien. Collecting sap Monday morning early. Checked sap output today - same results as you. Wind was just as wild over here today. I truly believe we are not jumping the gun. Heres to a good season.

[Chemist]

Just tapped near West Bend yesterday. Seems I could have tapped earlier. Trees ran well except for what looks like 2 dead holes. 30/32 were dripping like crazy as soon as tapped them.

[littleTapper]

Just tapped near West Bend yesterday. Seems I could have tapped earlier. Trees ran well except for what looks like 2 dead holes. 30/32 were dripping like crazy as soon as tapped them.

I boiled yesterday (near Waterford). I went a bit early since I have mostly silvers and CV2s on vac. The warmup forecasted for later this week is insane. Will stay above freezing, even at night, for basically a week straight. That's not good. :(

[gatzow]

Wife is collecting as I am out of town for a couple of days. Averaging 1 - 1.5 gallons per tree right now over past 48 hours. Don't know sugar percentage yet.

[gatzow]

1 gallon per tree average today. Solid day. First cooking is tomorrow. Expecting a slow next 2 days and then hopefully things open up heading into the weekend.

[littleTapper]

Nice gatzow. Good to hear!

Yesterday was a dud for me down here in Racine county. Didn't freeze at night. Definitely a bummer. The Shurflo I added this year for most of my (historically stingy) silvers has really helped - pulled in 1gpt the day before (Monday) and only .25 gpt yesterday (Still better than nothing). Silvers on CV spiles/tubing to buckets have done pretty much nothing so far. Had it been just a few degrees colder.... :(

Looking forward to Friday/Saturday, but down here the forecast gets stupid warm for a very long time after that (guess I'll just go ride bikes in the nice weather instead). I'm sure it'll help my silvers get closer to opening their flower buds. Just hope when that happens we get a good freeze and sap gets good again. Boiled 95 gallons on 2/12 and made 2.3 gallons of some incredibly tasty syrup. Looking like this weekend will be even more for me. For a little operation making syrup for the family, I'm happy so far. The box elders are waking up too....and my wife is happy (she really loves that stuff). Hoping with the warmth they gush.

http://mapletrader.com/maplegallery/data/652/medium/IMG_20170212_195341_1_.jpg

[gatzow]

Cooking, cooking and more cooking. I bought a new wood fired evaporator and was hoping for a better cook rate. Averaging about 7.5 gallons an hour on a 2 foot by 4 foot pan. Was really planning on 10 gallons an hour. I'll have to keep playing with it as I only got though 60 gallons today. I won't keep up at this pace...

[gouldjs]

Do you have air to your fire? Best thing I ever did was add a blower. I also learned that too much wood is not best in my cooker, there is a sweet spot as far as how much wood to add in my stove to get the entire thing rolling. Small chopped wood helps too, wrist size.

[SkardaMapleFarms]

gouldjs, How big of a fire box do you have for the air over fire (AOF)? Is your door completely sealed off/insulated? Do you have forced air under fire as well?

We modified our 2x6 Maple Pro evaporator this year with AOF and excited to see how well it works. I've heard concerns in that you won't get true gasification due to the small fire box size and the door not being fully sealed up. If you don't get gasification the AOF could actually hurt me due to blowing cooler into the fire box dropping the temperature. Everyone on here seems to swear by it though. Just curios what your setup is. I'm excited for the season to start and testing out our setup.

[gatzow]

Averaged 1 gallon per tap today. Very warm, but most trees didn't wake up and start until about noon. Hoping they run all night. Half my trees did around 1.5 gallons and about 25% had just about nothing..... Those 2 oak trees that my dad tapped didn't produce anything........ Ill be moving those taps to maple trees tomorrow.......

[jmayerl]

3/16 running great today and yesterday in Green Bay, this bush doesn't get much sun so I'm hopeful for the frost to hang for a day or two. Frost is out in the other two woods with bags, hard maples running well, softs not. Hope the vacuum brings in 500+ gallons by tomorrow so I can fire up. 64 degrees right now so not looking good.

[gatzow]

My taps have gone to a trickle. Pulled a half gallon a tree from last night to this morning but not much happening anymore. Too warm.... who thought you'd be saying that in mid February... boiling everything that I had right now, but not certain when they might run again. Starting to think the gamble to tap early could have been the wrong call. But who would have thought its because it is too warm out!!! Won't see a freeze for another 4-5 days!!!

[Irish Ridge]

Hi Gatzow.
Don't be over thinking your decision just yet. I believe that I am due west of you on the western shores of the state and after finishing my boil later tonight and if I collect even 1/2 gallon per tap overnight tonight I will have 1/4 of the final results of my best year ever. I just chalk it up to our location further south. Actually I enjoyed sitting in an easy chair last season reading the threads from da boys (and girls) up north just beginning to get into it heavy while my season had already come to an end.

[gatzow]

Hi Gatzow.
Don't be over thinking your decision just yet. I believe that I am due west of you on the western shores of the state and after finishing my boil later tonight and if I collect even 1/2 gallon per tap overnight tonight I will have 1/4 of the final results of my best year ever. I just chalk it up to our location further south. Actually I enjoyed sitting in an easy chair last season reading the threads from da boys (and girls) up north just beginning to get into it heavy while my season had already come to an end.

I am not over thinking it. It is what it is. I had high hopes for today being a great run day - kind of hoping for a 2 day run yesterday and today, just didn't happen. I bought a shiny new evaporator and doubled my taps from last year, so I was just a little excited to really give it a test. Having said that, I have been boiling since 4:30am and I am ready to be done today..... Good luck on the West side of the state.

[SkardaMapleFarms]

Well we decided not to tap and probably won't for at least another week to 10 days looking at the current forecast. We are banking on a traditional March after the temps drop back down again. Hopefully we can make up what we missed out on this warm streak in late march and into April with fresh tap holes. I am thinking we made a good decision however it's painful to be 60s and sunny with no syrup made yet and not a single tap in the woods yet. How's it going for everyone else?

[jmayerl]

Sap ran well again today even though it was 65 and sunny. Vacuum still is bringing in a good steady stream. Hasn't froze for 5 days now and the frost also went out in all the woods now. Up to about 4 gallons per tap so far......so weird with sap and golf in the middle of February

[markcasper]

Well we decided not to tap and probably won't for at least another week to 10 days looking at the current forecast. We are banking on a traditional March after the temps drop back down again. Hopefully we can make up what we missed out on this warm streak in late march and into April with fresh tap holes. I am thinking we made a good decision however it's painful to be 60s and sunny with no syrup made yet and not a single tap in the woods yet. How's it going for everyone else?

I have opted not to tap either, more because I am not ready yet. I did get all of the tubing fixed and ready to tap. I may start tapping Wednesday, but that is up in the air at this point. There are people tapping around here, but there is just as many that are waiting as well. I think many are not ready to go yet as well. It'd be beautiful syrup if you could get it processed quickly despite the warm t temps. My biggest fear would be all the bacterial precontamination in the tubing lines as this heat is to continue through mid week. If your doing bags, I would not tap this early unless you had new trees to go to later, because they will shut down if the season continues into April.

They said this will be the longest stretch of 50 plus degree days in Feb. since 1930, long before checkvalves, tubing and vacuum. Will see how these guys that got going pan out in a month or so.

[WI Sugarpop]

Tapped Friday and yesterday and collected 500 gal so far. Boiling right now.

[Super Sapper]

I wasn't ready last weekend and had concerns about all the warmth but I will probably start tapping Wed. or Thur. to see if the trees will still give up their sap yet for 1 run before it freezes Friday night. Next week looks like good sugaring weather.

[littleTapper]

Silver maple flower buds open here in Racine county. Sucks when almost all your taps are silvers. Hoping they get frozen off and sap recovers...

[jmayerl]

Well here we are with 8 straight days in the 60's with lows in the 40's, might almost hit 70 today. Sap is still trickling in on vacuum. Had to let 1000 gallons of sap sit for 5 days in the bulk tank due to work and family emergency. Sap is thankfully clear, cold and ready to cook. Rinsing the RO right now then it's time for steam. Heck might even mow the grass!

[Sunny Knoll Farm]

I'm still working on moving equipment to my new home! I might have to write off half my taps - the Silvers are budding pretty heavy.
I'll start tapping next week once I'm confident I can boil!!

[littleTapper]

I'm still working on moving equipment to my new home! I might have to write off half my taps - the Silvers are budding pretty heavy.
I'll start tapping next week once I'm confident I can boil!!
Let's hope they freeze off and sap gets good again. Leaf buds are still tight. I've still made more syrup this year than last, so if I'm done, oh well. Looks like I should put the dock in :)https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170222/19c5f5cb93724f48aabf148163e3525e.jpg

[WI Sugarpop]

My 3/16 lines decided to run today so I went to pick it up so we are cooking right now. Don't want to leave it sit till tomorrow. Got another 100 gal. That was a big surprise.

[Super Sapper]

I finally started tapping after work yesterday and got in 245 on tubing. Had some **** mosquitoes while I was tapping. Not much flow but turned on the shurflo pumps and will look for leaks today. I should be ready for next weeks colder forecast.

[gatzow]

I was expecting a really strong run today and just checked my taps - nothing. 42 degrees today after 20 last night and nothing.... I ended up emptying buckets that had some dirty rain water from the freezing rain the other day - they were giant ice cubes. It is what it is. Tomorrow is another day. Hope others had better luck.

[littleTapper]

Had a few gallons today, but the Shurflo had no recirculation sap since we were out of town, so vac wasn't too strong. I test boiled some sap since my silver maple flowers opened on the 20th and the syrup is great. Hoping they really run tomorrow and the sap stays good.

[WI Sugarpop]

We made 15 gal of syrup during the early run. I'm glad we put in when we did. We're all cleaned up and ready to go again. We went and checked both bushes this aft and things were running slow. I kind of figured that would happen after getting cold for a couple days and all the ice on the trees. Tomorrow should be good.

[littleTapper]

Sugarpop, how'd yesterday go? Guessing it's still going strong this morning.

Have pulled in nearly 1.4 gpt in the last 24 hours. Test boiled some of that silver sap after work yesterday and it was still good.

[Mrrdan]

Went out and collected 25 gallons today, 14 gallons yesterday, 3 gallons the day before. Looks like we're on the right path. This will be my second batch. First batch we boiled about 50 gallons and got 1.5 gallons of syrup. Hoping for the same this time.
I'm tapped into 6 huge silver maples. They are budding pretty good, but I did a test boil last night. Happy to report "The sap is still good"

[littleTapper]

Went out and collected 25 gallons today, 14 gallons yesterday, 3 gallons the day before. Looks like we're on the right path. This will be my second batch. First batch we boiled about 50 gallons and got 1.5 gallons of syrup. Hoping for the same this time.
I'm tapped into 6 huge silver maples. They are budding pretty good, but I did a test boil last night. Happy to report "The sap is still good"

Nice! I've got a huge silver I've tapped two years in a row now, but won't tap again. I've gotten about 2 cups of sap in the last two seasons from it...can't get vac tubing to it, so it's on gravity, but my other monster silver gushes. Here's hoping our sap keeps being good!

[WI Sugarpop]

Sugarpop, how'd yesterday go? Guessing it's still going strong this morning.

Have pulled in nearly 1.4 gpt in the last 24 hours. Test boiled some of that silver sap after work yesterday and it was still good.

Between yesterday and today, we pulled in close to 500 gal.

[littleTapper]

Between yesterday and today, we pulled in close to 500 gal.
Awesome!!

This run keeps on giving. 2gpt now. Little Shurflo is doing a good job. Silver sap is still making great syrup. Cool down coming, but Friday and Saturday should be good. I better split more wood.

[WI Sugarpop]

Little Tapper, did you run 3/16 tubing this year? If so, how is it working? We're having a good year so far. With all the sap we got in Feb it will make about 27 gal of syrup. Was it worth tapping in Feb? Certainly! Not much sugar sand this year. Sugar per cent went up from 2% for the first run to 3% now.

[Super Sapper]

I collected 120 gallons early Monday afternoon and another 415 early (6:30 a.m. start) Tuesday morning. Did not go back out Tuesday and will collect this afternoon.

[littleTapper]

Little Tapper, did you run 3/16 tubing this year? If so, how is it working? We're having a good year so far. With all the sap we got in Feb it will make about 27 gal of syrup. Was it worth tapping in Feb? Certainly! Not much sugar sand this year. Sugar per cent went up from 2% for the first run to 3% now.

Sadly, I'm flat as a pancake. CV2 spiles on 5/16 with a Shurflo 4008. Has really improved my silvers. Trees on buckets will be barely dripping or not at all, but the trees on vac will produce. I'm 125 gallons of sap ahead of all of last year already. Also really glad I tapped early too.

[Mrrdan]

I'm still new to all of this, but I'm hooked. I really got to do some searching, about hooking up one of them Shurflo's. Anybody wanna help me out with a link?;):emb:

[littleTapper]

I'm still new to all of this, but I'm hooked. I really got to do some searching, about hooking up one of them Shurflo's. Anybody wanna help me out with a link?;):emb:
Just start reading the vac/tubing forum here and Google "site:mapletrader.com Shurflo"

So much good stuff to read here. If you have good slope, you'll want to read up on 3/16 as well...you may not need any pump.

[gatzow]

Lit the fire at 430 this morning. Have 80 gallons or so to boil. My biggest 1 day batch to date.

[WI Sugarpop]

We normally don't tap until the first Sat in March but we broke the normal last year and this year. This year we tapped Feb 17 and 18 and we've already made 31 gal of syrup. Looks like a good week coming up.

[littleTapper]

And I'm south enough that next week sucks. Won't get below freezing at night until next Saturday. We'll start tickling 32 on Thursday. Hopefully the forecast changes and we dip down just a bit more.

[gatzow]

Taps just stared dripping at about 2pm. A quart or 2 in most buckets. See what happens tonight into tomorrow.

[gatzow]

Trees opened up good and stayed going all night. 2 gallon average last 20 hours or so. I lit the fire to get going on what I collected at noon today. Taps were still dripping strong leading up to this cold front coming in later today.

[littleTapper]

Trees opened up good and stayed going all night. 2 gallon average last 20 hours or so. I lit the fire to get going on what I collected at noon today. Taps were still dripping strong leading up to this cold front coming in later today.

Nice! Roughly the same here. Took a bit yesterday to get them going, but in 18 hours since then I had 1.5gpt for my taps on vac. Hope a whole lot more is waiting for me when I get home and that's it good sap.

Boiled yesterday, made a couple gallons of syrup and just as much stuck in my filters. Lots of ice in my barrels. Up to 8 gallons of syrup so far for the season. Nearing double last year. More than I need - so the family will be happy to get plenty of syrup.

[bprifle01]

Boiled yesterday and collected while I was boiling. Only about three gallons off 20 taps at around 4:00 PM. Collected today after work (3:30) and got more than 30 gallons. I only have silver maples and the flower buds are popping! I'm hoping it still makes good syrup, but this will be my last batch. I've more than doubled my syrup production from last year.;)

[gatzow]

Had another gallon per tree average or more as of this morning. I simply didn't boil enough yesterday and am way behind. It's gonna be a long day and night to get caught up. Leave for Arizona for a couple days tomorrow, so I have to be caught up no matter what... it's a great problem to have but man it's gonna be a long day. I hope I have enough dry wood!!

[WI Sugarpop]

Haven't had time for anything but collecting and boiling. Lots of sap.

[Super Sapper]

Haven't had time for anything but collecting and boiling. Lots of sap. I her ya, 1200 gallons the last 2 days.

[gatzow]

Volume is great, but finish syrup is getting very dark. Don't know if it will stay like this or maybe clear up a bit after this cold spell. I'm ready for a couple days to refresh myself, get stuff cleaned up a bit and split some more wood...

[littleTapper]

Went to boil yesterday afternoon. Sap in my barrels didn't survive the nasty warmup despite the ice I had tossed in them. 90 gallons :(

Need an old working 200 gallon bulk tank. It's tough to boil during the week given work and family obligations. I knew I should have boiled Monday after work, but couldn't.

[WI Sugarpop]

I didn't think today would be a very good day for sap but we went out late this afternoon and did we ever get hit with sap! We ended up collecting in the dark cause it took so long with just 2 of us. We ended up with 230 gal. A little farther north it didn't even run cause it was too cold.

[Super Sapper]

Went to collect yesterday and found a valve open on one tank. Ended up with 135 gallons. I have 400 to boil today and the I can filter and jug what I made this week.

[littleTapper]

And down here to the south of you, it didn't freeze at night, so yesterday resulted in nothing. Forecast was to dip to 26, but it just made it to 31 for about two hours. Bummer. Oh well. Got my stock of box elder sap boiled down to 4 gallons. Will finish it this weekend.

[WI Sugarpop]

We're all caught up now and will enjoy rest for a couple days. We made 58 gal of syrup so far.

[1arch]

We're all caught up now and will enjoy rest for a couple days. We made 58 gal of syrup so far.
I'm with you Ron. I can use a few days rest!
53 gallons myself filtered and bottled for sale!

[Super Sapper]

I filtered and bottled up 31 gallons of Friday making 47 gallons so far this year. It looks like we may get another big run this weekend going into next week.

[gatzow]

I just got back from Arizona and have a frozen solid mess. Have about 50 buckets filled with frozen sap. What do others do with this, try to thaw it out or just toss it? I hate to waste it, but I have no idea how long it would take to thaw out as they are frozen blocks. I have to get them out prior to Friday in case we get a run. Was hoping to get some ideas.

[motowbrowne]

I just got back from Arizona and have a frozen solid mess. Have about 50 buckets filled with frozen sap. What do others do with this, try to thaw it out or just toss it? I hate to waste it, but I have no idea how long it would take to thaw out as they are frozen blocks. I have to get them out prior to Friday in case we get a run. Was hoping to get some ideas.

Get the blocks out of the buckets, either by waiting until it's warm enough for them to come out, or by running some water over the outside of the buckets. Toss the blocks in your collection tank and use them to keep incoming sap cold. Tossing them would be wasting a lot of sap.

[gatzow]

Boiling the frozen blocks today. Probably 50 gallons of frozen stuff to melt down and boil. Figured I'd try to get this done today so I am ready for the weekend if it runs. My taps have got to start to dry up soon as I was one of the first to tap this year.

[littleTapper]

Pulled in a decent amount Friday-Saturday given it was cool and overcast. Got 60-ish gallons to boil today so it doesn't sit. Hope last night put enough cold into the trees to reset. If so, today and tomorrow could be great.

Test boil yesterday to check the sap and the silvers are still pushing good stuff. Leaf buds still look nice and tight.

Very interesting looking at a map of temps and how Lake Michigan keeps me a good bit warmer than I'd like. At the coast it was about 4 degrees warmer than here last night (we dropped to 27), but just a few miles west it was in the lower 20s. Not going to complain about my location though. But, it sure is different than when I made syrup as a kid on the farm in western Jackson county.

[littleTapper]

Gee, what a horrible way to spend part of the day 😁

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170319/2d7bb83eeeb9de172594ccd424d24723.jpg

[gatzow]

Boiled another quick 30 gallons yesterday. Nature is pretty cool. Color came back to being a perfect golden brown and sugar content was the highest I have had all year. Taps should be done, but I am still getting solid flow from most. Going to keep going until Sunday, then it is clean up day for me. Ive been going since early Feb - hate to say it, but I am ready to be done... And my wood pile is just about gone....

[gatzow]

Taps going strong still. Just pulled buckets. 1.5 gallon average since yesterday.

[littleTapper]

Well, my sap went buddy. I think it's actually my Norways. Oh well, had to be done by this weekend anyways.

[Super Sapper]

Collected 1340 gallons over the last 3 days on 340 taps. I had 710 yesterday and is a new high for me.

[littleTapper]

Collected 1340 gallons over the last 3 days on 340 taps. I had 710 yesterday and is a new high for me.

Holy cow!!!

[gatzow]

And I get nervous when I have 80 gallons to boil...



Collected 1340 gallons over the last 3 days on 340 taps. I had 710 yesterday and is a new high for me.

[Trapper2]

Curious, fellow Wisconsinites, What % is your sap coming in at?

[Super Sapper]

It has been running between 2 and 2.5 on my refractometer.

[gatzow]

I have had similar numbers. 2.1 and 2.2 for most of Feb and early march. It has been up to 2.4 and 2.5 the past week.


It has been running between 2 and 2.5 on my refractometer.

[Trapper2]

My Febuary sap was struggling to hit 1.5 and my early March was just over 2.. My taps have been pulled for 2 weeks now as I made close to my 10 gallons needed and time constraints.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Here in Vernon County Have been checking sap. several times, and always 2 percent.

[gatzow]

Had a nice run today before I pull everything this weekend. 1+ gallons per tree. My taps are now going on 7 weeks and most are still going pretty good. Looks like this would be the end of the season regardless, so most of my taps made it the entire season - early February to late March. Not too bad....

[WI Sugarpop]

Our taps have been in for 5 weeks and didn't do much the last 3 days. That drought ended today when we were out most of the day collecting. To our surprise we collected 560 gal today. We made over 70 gal of syrup and decided to stop boiling and sell the rest of our sap.

[Super Sapper]

Got around 1200 gallons of sap from Wed through Friday, 750 of it on Friday. Pulled my bags and containers as I am almost out of wood and should make close to 100 gallons.

[gatzow]

That's it for me. One last 12 hour cook yesterday and it's time for clean up. I'm out of wood, was using scraps and some pieces from the house to finish late last night. Left the syrup on evaporator too long when I got tired and messed up the last batch.... syrup tastes ok but looks like coffee. Congrats to all that are wrapping up this weekend. Til next year!

[gatzow]

Good news is that I did not ruin the batch as I thought. This batch just had a lot of sand in it which I did not have any leading up to this cook. Filtering is taking forever, but syrup looks very good once clean.



That's it for me. One last 12 hour cook yesterday and it's time for clean up. I'm out of wood, was using scraps and some pieces from the house to finish late last night. Left the syrup on evaporator too long when I got tired and messed up the last batch.... syrup tastes ok but looks like coffee. Congrats to all that are wrapping up this weekend. Til next year!

[WI Sugarpop]

I guess the maple season is almost over. We put our bags up on Feb.17 which is 6 weeks ago today. They are done now because of the lack of freezing nights. We made a lot of syrup from those bags in Feb. which is very unusual for us. We are very happy with the 3/16 lines. 40% of our taps (tubing) produced over 60% of our sap. This week we have been getting 100 gal a day. We made 72 gal of syrup so now we are selling all of our sap. Over 1500 gal so far.

[gatzow]

Swung up to Cadott today to pick up my new storage tank. Pretty excited about it. Also got to do some supply shopping while I was there. My wood is split, sugar shack is clean, I am ready!! Now just need the calendar to tick forward a few months....

[Mrrdan]

Anybody getting itchy and gonna tap a tree or two? With the up and down temps coming, I wanna tap now!:cool:

[Trapper2]

Anybody getting itchy and gonna tap a tree or two? With the up and down temps coming, I wanna tap now!:cool:
The itch is always there. Tapped February 17th last year. Cooked 3 weekends in a row. 8 gallons.

[littleTapper]

Gonna wait a bit more. Everything is ready. Tubing up, pump checks out. Ready to drill at a moment's notice, but it's just too early yet. Lots of season ahead. Last year I went in on 2/4 given the weird winter and it worked out very well. Buddy syrup in late March down here in Racine county. CV spiles on vac had the trees gushing to the end; so I'm not afraid to go soon - but not too soon :)

A few days ago I put a staple into a small box elder to hold up my barrel recirculation tubing and goofed so i had to move it. Pulled it out and I didn't think those two tiny holes could release that much sap. The itch was almost impossible to ignore.

[Mrrdan]

When is everyone thinking about tapping? Because of the extended forecast and the already wonky winter, Im leaning towards next weekend.

[Super Sapper]

I am not near ready but even if I was I would wait. After Wed. it looks like normal winter temps through Feb.

[Trapper2]

Starting March 9th.

[gatzow]

I'm just about ready. Need to do some final things on the evaporator. Having said that, I won't go until the extended forecast looks good. Won't be afraid to go if it looks good, but not seeing it yet.

[Mrrdan]

After doing some searching. It looks like I'll be waiting 2-3 more weeks. All the extended forecasts show it's going to stay pretty cold through Feb. Everything is cleaned and ready, just have to wait for mother nature.

[gatzow]

Well, I made the decision to move from Buckets to Bags for this season. Going to try to make the clean up process a little easier. Washing all those buckets was exhausting. Take forever as I would run out of hot water.... Anyone have thoughts on bags versus buckets? Anything that I should look out for with Bags?

[OCHTO]

Although I never used buckets my father used 5 gal. jugs on his 70 tap operation and it was a chore to wash all those jugs. I started using the jugs also but soon found the same chore as I expanded. Like bags a lot. A lot of ice will get caught in my funnel which I then throw out which I like. Don't let them freeze full it's a pain and hard on the bags if there's a wind. Looking for a disposable tap to use with them. Trying a 45 degree clear on dealers recommendation. Some trouble with wind blowing them off and tried a washer on the tap but it was hard to get the bag holder back on. The wind blow offs were minimal though. And every year I get a few leakers. I'll have about 70 bags out this year. Dad is 88 this year and is only boiling and the neighbor is going to collect then split the syrup so he should have him wash the jugs.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I was out plowing sidewalks all Saturday and into Sunday morning. Took a long nap and the sun came out and I power washed the ATV in shorts and bare feet. But thats' what its like to live in Parker Co. I guess I be tapping around March 10 or so. Please don't be spooking the herd with talk about tapping anytime soon.

[markcasper]

I was out plowing sidewalks all Saturday and into Sunday morning. Took a long nap and the sun came out and I power washed the ATV in shorts and bare feet. But thats' what its like to live in Parker Co. I guess I be tapping around March 10 or so. Please don't be spooking the herd with talk about tapping anytime soon.

It could change like a switch, like , hmmmm, last year.

[Trapper2]

For my sake, I hope the thawing holds off until March 8th or so. A litter of Pups are do on March 3rd.
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[gatzow]

I might tap around Feb 24th. I am taking the family on vacation for Eastern break so I have to be cleaned up before the end of March. Figure that would allow me to tap a little early if I want in case I miss out on the better back end of the season. Every drop counts with early clean up, so might as well go for it! I think I can get 5 weeks out of my taps before they would dry up - at least most of them.

[littleTapper]

Looks like Friday (tomorrow) for me here in the SE corner. New CV spouts plus vac have proven to keep pouring until the end even when tapping in early Feb (last year). Mostly Silvers and Norways, so I'm done by late March no matter what. Perhaps if we don't get huge warm-ups I could maybe tickle April...not likely though. Truly amazing what newer "tech" has done compared to the old reused-every-year spiles I used as a kid. Couple weeks of being tapped and those red maples said "no more!"

[Troy D]

Tapping 4 box elders that start a week before everything else this weekend. We have our marker then.

[Super Sapper]

Good luck to you guys and keep us posted on how it runs. I think it is still a couple weeks out for me as everything is froze up pretty good. With the lack of snow there is probably a few feet of frost to get rid also.

[gatzow]

15 day forecast warmed up considerably overnight. Looks like snow will be gone in 5 days. Coyote hunting season is going to be done after this weekend and sugar season will start... I might even tap on Sunday. trying to fight the itch, but sunny days around 40 degrees should get the trees running a bit starting late next week.....

[littleTapper]

Forecast here looks nearly perfect! Drilling this afternoon once I'm done working. Last couple days warm up plus a nail hole in a box elder says the trees are ready to go.

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[WI Sugarpop]

I've been busy building bee equipment and took 2 weeks off to go to Southern Texas so I'm not exactly ready for tapping but when the weather is right it won't take too long to drag the tubing out in the woods. I think we need to wait until the frost comes out which may take a while. The last 2 years were early but our normal start date is the first week in March. Happy tapping and cooking everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

[gatzow]

I've been busy building bee equipment and took 2 weeks off to go to Southern Texas so I'm not exactly ready for tapping but when the weather is right it won't take too long to drag the tubing out in the woods. I think we need to wait until the frost comes out which may take a while. The last 2 years were early but our normal start date is the first week in March. Happy tapping and cooking everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

What bee equipment do you all make? We have a small bee operation down here in Erin. Its been a brutal fall/winter for us. Only have 2 hives alive. Most of ours left us for dead in late fall for some reason. Didn't die, but abandoned their hives when they were full of honey and had plenty of space.... We are in the Washington/Ozaukee county beekeeping group and a lot of people have really struggled this winter. Guys with 60-80 hives down to 10-20 alive. Many have had 100% kill off. Brutal...

[WI Sugarpop]

Beekeeping is new to me but I did woodworking and cabinet making most of my life so I'm making all of our wooden ware.

[mmish]

Hi Y'all. I'm a newbie. Did 6 taps last year and planning 30 some this year. Got a few in today as I had the day off and the sap is running, dripping all over the place as I was trying to get the taps in. I'm in Racine, WI