Eastern Wisconsin

[littleTapper]

Welcome, I'm to your west in Wind Lake!

Got most of my maples tapped today in the short time I had after work. Just a handful left at my mother-in-law's and then need to tap the box elders. Most dripped and some really ran more than I would have expected for a 30 degree day. Even some of the huge silvers were dripping and usually those take a long time to do anything. Pump even pulled in a little bit as I got them hooked up. Here's hoping for a great season!

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[gatzow]

Well, I tapped. Forecast looked good to start. 40 on bags and 20 buckets. Sap was dripping slowly yesterday afternoon from most trees. Nothing worth bragging about other than I’m open for business!

[seasonaladdiction]

Fredonia (northern Ozaukee county) - Tapped on Sunday 2/18 as well. Not much action yet, but my season will be forced short by a vacation the week before Easter, so figured "go for it".

~65 bags.

[medic5794]

Not to spook the herd but is anyone else eyeing up this coming weekend to tap? I see the past 2 years I tapped at the end of February and did well.

[skinnerdk]

New guy on here but I also got 186 on 5/16 gravity and 50 on bags. Only about 1/4 of the trees were wet when drilled.

[1arch]

We hope to be ready to poke holes in the next week or so. Plenty of frost depth here, drain tiles in the fields don't show any signs of loosening up standing water yet.

[littleTapper]

Rain here seems to have helped a bit. 1.5gpt so far on my ~40 vac taps this early run. Some tubing to buckets looking pretty good (.5-1.25 gpt). Nothing crazy, but a good sign for the future. Have a large silver than has given me a cup of sap over the last two seasons now actually running. I was almost going to leave it alone this season. Going to be a freaking icy mess once it cools off. Yuck.

[WI Sugarpop]

We will be putting up our tubing on Saturday. Don't know about tapping yet. Still a lot of frost.

[gatzow]

Well, the bag experiment is working much better than buckets this year. I’m sold. Went out to my ridge to find 15 of the 20 buckets blown over. I came inside, placed an order with Roth’s sugar bush and hopefully convert the buckets to bags on Saturday. Half taps were going the other half weren’t. Stuff will shut down for a couple days now.

[littleTapper]

Well, that first run is over. Silvers on vac produced 81 gallons off 45 taps. Have yet to go collect all my buckets (will do that after work today). It's a start.

[ROCKRIVERMAPLES]

weather swing looks good will tap this weekend

[Troy D]

My trees are not running but driving through Hartford trimmed trees were showing signs of leakage.

[FechterNector]

Put a few taps out yesterday in West Bend, nothing yet. Going to tap the rest this weekend, looks above freezing in extended forecast! Happy sugaring

[1arch]

Got 24 in today. No flow which was encouraging. Didn't miss anything yet. I'm predicting Sunday/Monday I will See some flow. It time to hustle here!

[littleTapper]

Sap started flowing last night. Woke up to 15 gallons in the barrel off my 45 vac taps. I've got 200 gallons of storage and it looks like I could get really close to running out of room tomorrow. Good problem to have.

Next week is forecasted to not even drop below freezing at night here. Still, it's early so heading into that warmup might be a great run.

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[medic5794]

Have my sugar bush done. A couple wet taps but nothing major. A good sign though that things will open up this coming week.

[littleTapper]

Boiling today. 227 gallons to get through. Gonna take a while.

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[gatzow]

Boiling today. 227 gallons to get through. Gonna take a while.

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Ill be curious to know what sugar content you are getting in the early season. Ill probably have my first boil on Tuesday into Wed.

[littleTapper]

Me too :) I had 36 gallons to go when I pulled the plug last night (vac pulled in probably 12-15 gallons more while boiling despite lack of freeze). I'll finish that up today. Could be another late night as it looks like it could run well today. What I pulled off the evap while running says sugar content was/is good. Definitely not 1% sap :)

[gatzow]

.5-1 gallon per tree today on those giving up sap. I have a large ridge where my trees are and those on the west side that take the brunt of winter have not opened up yet. Those on top and the East side are doing pretty well. Its a start. Looking like first boil might be tomorrow afternoon or Wed sometime.

[littleTapper]

Just shut down the evaporator. Pulled in another 36 gallons off vac and another 20 gallons on buckets today. Cooked that with leftovers from yesterday's long boil. I've got 5 gallons of syrup at density and looks like another 2 or so. If I end up with an even 7 gallons that puts my sugar at 2.1%. That'll work.

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[medic5794]

Just got back from the sugar bush. About 22 gallons off of about 150 taps on buckets. Almost every tap looked wet so looking forward to the next freeze thaw cycle to get a good run!

[Troy D]

Report on the taps trees that start early was 2.5 gallons per tree today. Good start.

[FechterNector]

55 gallons off 110 taps yesterday. 3% sugar. Boiled tonight little over gallon finished. Sap hardly ran at all today which surprised me with the warm temperature.

[gatzow]

My taps didn’t run well either yesterday with the warm weather. Was hoping for more. Did a quick boil yesterday and got my first gallon. It’s a start!

[Super Sapper]

Put in about 260 on a hybrid system yesterday but not much happening. Most holes were wet but not much running.

[WI Sugarpop]

Did our first boil today. Will tap 120 bag taps tomorrow. We have one more 3/16 line to finish when we get more tubing. My 2 yard trees ran very well today. Hope everyone has a productive year.

[gatzow]

Off to a slow start this year. 20 trees flowing great and 40 not doing a thing. Had to be a strong frost in the ground on the west side of my hill. The positive is although sap has been tough to get, sugar content has been strong. Nearly 3 percent so far.

[Bobber006]

25 gallons came in today the yard trees especially Silver Maples are popping right now. The north side of my woods is very slow yet. Lottza Frosta.

[littleTapper]

Been somewhat slow, but steady, here in the SE corner of our state. Nights here haven't been getting quite cold enough to really recharge the trees, but enough to keep sap flowing in slowly. Boiled another ~180 gallons over the weekend. Finishing that up and bottling tonight. For my little operation, I can't complain one bit (except I'm going through wood like mad, but that's ok). Have pretty much matched last year's syrup production already and the forecast looks astounding. Let's hope it actually gets below freezing here at night and it just keeps on running.

[WI Sugarpop]

Its slow here but I think that will change soon. Sounds like it will continue to warm up next week. Saw 4 robins this morning. We made 5 gal of syrup so far which is a lot less than last year at this time. We have one more 25 tap 3/16 line to put up tomorrow and then we will be ready for the big run. Sugar % is nothing to write home about but hopefully it will go up.

[gatzow]

I was out of town this week for work and came back to a bunch of bags filled with frozen ice cubes... At least my storage tank should have plenty of ice to keep new sap cold for a while... A lot of clean up work today though....

[littleTapper]

It's been nuts the past few days down here in the SE corner so today's cool-off is welcome. I've now surpassed last year's sap collection (maple) by 100 gallons and it's quite possible my little backyard operation pulls in 1000 gallons of sap this season. Been cooking and keeping pulled off syrup cold for the last few days and will bottle this weekend. Firewood is disappearing quickly, but I'm running on nearly 100% ash, so the boil rate is awesome. Forecast continues to look good for some more amazing runs. Silver flower buds are darn close to opening here, but that usually means some more good sap is still yet to come. We've been going for quite a while now; first decent run collected was 2/20-21. Sugar is good enough; not quite 2%, but it's fine with me.

[Super Sapper]

It's just starting to open up by us. Collected 450 gallons the last 2 days on 325 taps but some yard trees and north side taps are still being stubborn.

[ka9bxg]

Been slow here near Green Bay collected 140 gallons yesterday. Boiled off 100 of that .Hope we get some action soon or it will be a bad year here.

[Troy D]

Must have ran well the last few days. Dad had 32 gallons today off 27 taps. Which gives him 100+ for the last 3 days. He is happy. My trees did ok with maybe 20 gallons from 16 taps. One yard tree has give 10 gallons so far.

[littleTapper]

~1.5g per tap yesterday. Great run. Today should be a bit slower. Been boiling maple sap in the evenings all week to keep up, and I need to get to the 80 gallons of box elder sap I have to boil. Hopefully tonight after I clean the pan. A bit too much niter in it now - was knocking last night. Syrup coming off the evap last night was insanely light and really vanilla flavored. Amazing stuff. Overall maple sap results for vac and buckets so far is 12g/tap off 69 taps(and three of those haven't done anything). We'll see how long the buds hold off down here since we've been warmer for a while. Season's potentially got a lot left in it and the forecast is superb. Making last year's 10.6 gallons of syrup look like a joke.

[WI Sugarpop]

Glad you had such a good day and year so far. It's been slow here but really let loose yesterday. Last year was a really good year for us and will be hard to beat this year.

[Run Forest Run!]

~1.5g per tap yesterday. Great run. Today should be a bit slower. Been boiling maple sap in the evenings all week to keep up, and I need to get to the 80 gallons of box elder sap I have to boil. Hopefully tonight after I clean the pan. A bit too much niter in it now - was knocking last night. Syrup coming off the evap last night was insanely light and really vanilla flavored. Amazing stuff. Overall maple sap results for vac and buckets so far is 12g/tap off 69 taps(and three of those haven't done anything). We'll see how long the buds hold off down here since we've been warmer for a while. Season's potentially got a lot left in it and the forecast is superb. Making last year's 10.6 gallons of syrup look like a joke.

That sounds incredible littleTapper! How much syrup have you made so far this year?

[littleTapper]

Thanks! It's truly amazing what a big difference there is this year ~60 miles apart. You'll go a lot longer than I will though being I'm almost all silvers.

[littleTapper]

That sounds incredible littleTapper! How much syrup have you made so far this year?

I've got 10.4 gallons bottled and another 7+ ready for final finishing and filtering sitting in the cold, and some in the evaporator pan to finish off and way too much trapped in filters :). Have done only one small batch of boxelder (.6 gallons) but I've got 80-some gallons of sap to cook down now too.

I did manage to pump 10 gallons of sap on the ground several days ago; forgot to hook the line back up from the Shurflo to the tank after cleaning the manifold/screen out. Oops.

[Run Forest Run!]

LT, your numbers are insane so far for this season! That's so exciting for you! I'm hoping to make some pure boxelder this year as well, if the taps ever thaw out. It has such a wonderful flavour. Most of the time I blend that sap into all the other sap if I'm short on time or storage.

While I wait for my turn I'm living vicariously through sugarers like you. :D

[littleTapper]

LT, your numbers are insane so far for this season! That's so exciting for you! I'm hoping to make some pure boxelder this year as well, if the taps ever thaw out. It has such a wonderful flavour. Most of the time I blend that sap into all the other sap if I'm short on time or storage.

While I wait for my turn I'm living vicariously through sugarers like you. :D

Ha! Do what you can :) Yes, we love the box elder syrup too. Ours tends to go through 3 flavor phases. Early is fruity, like tart blackberries (awesome on ice cream), then it gets a buttery marshmallow flavor, and the later stuff gets dark and molasses-y (great for BBQ sauces). Amazing weeds, those box elders :)

[Run Forest Run!]

I don't think I've ever experienced the tart fruity stage with my box elder. Now I can't wait for those trees to start giving up their sap for this year.

[gatzow]

Yesterday’s 18 hour day helped get us past the 5 gallon mark with another batch waiting to bottle. My boil was horrible yesterday. The grate in my evaporator finally warped badly enough that airflow couldn’t get through and I had a giant ash pit that couldn’t burn hot. I normally get 8-9 gallons an hour and I was only cooking at 5 yesterday. Made for a long day with low productivity. Bought another grate so hopefully the next boil goes better. Also had to break out the wood splitter as my reserves are going much faster than planned. Looks like I’ll be cutting and splitting more wood. The positive side is sugar is still around 3 percent. No cooking today, it’s st. Patty’s day! Time for the parade!

[littleTapper]

Gatzow, bummer, never fun when you encounter issues that slow you down! There's not enough time to begin with 😀

Firing up again for boxelder in a few mins, then will have to switch back over for maple tomorrow. Forecast looks good for two crazy days back to back here.

Bottled up just over 7 gallons last night. Nice Amber with really good flavor. Probably my favorite batch ever. At 17.5 gallons total now (maple). What a season!

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[Super Sapper]

Have collected 1700 gallons of sap so far and bottled 44 gallons on 325 taps. It has been running about 32 to 1 lately and very little sugar sand. I normally have to clean the syrup pan after about 300 gallons of sap because it is flaking off the bottom but have not cleaned it so far this year. I do have a new same side reverse pan but do not feel much on the bottom after a boil but switch sides each time I boil. Having an RO and auto draw really make it easier to keep up.

[littleTapper]

Have collected 1700 gallons of sap so far and bottled 44 gallons on 325 taps. It has been running about 32 to 1 lately and very little sugar sand. I normally have to clean the syrup pan after about 300 gallons of sap because it is flaking off the bottom but have not cleaned it so far this year. I do have a new same side reverse pan but do not feel much on the bottom after a boil but switch sides each time I boil. Having an RO and auto draw really make it easier to keep up.

Nice! Wish I could say the same about my ratio and sugar sand!

Silver flower buds opening up on a few trees down here. Sap's still good though. Decent last couple days; a bit over 1gpt each day. Didn't freeze last night, so hopefully I should be able to catch up boiling this evening. Not a whole lot of time left for me, which is ok, I need to get my legs in shape for the fast-approaching MTB racing season. Syrup season doesn't keep me in shape for riding bikes :)

[WI Sugarpop]

Sap volume is way down compared to last year but sugar is way up. 1230 gal sap collected and about 36 gal of syrup on 260 taps. Still waiting for a big day.

[gatzow]

I’m seeing the same thing, but I like it! A lot less work for your money...

I’m boiling up what came yesterday and cleaned up some trees today. Didn’t get the “big” rush that I was expecting yesterday. Less than 2 weeks left in the season for me unless someone takes over for me while on vacation.



Sap volume is way down compared to last year but sugar is way up. 1230 gal sap collected and about 36 gal of syrup on 260 taps. Still waiting for a big day.

[gatzow]

Any good ideas for a fire grate that can withstand the heat in a fire box? I just bought a new one and it melted on its second burn. I’m not buying cheap ones, it’s just so hot for so long that I’m losing them and I don’t want to keep spending 50 or 100 bucks every few boils... ideas appreciated.

[littleTapper]

Any good ideas for a fire grate that can withstand the heat in a fire box? I just bought a new one and it melted on its second burn. I’m not buying cheap ones, it’s just so hot for so long that I’m losing them and I don’t want to keep spending 50 or 100 bucks every few boils... ideas appreciated.I built mine with angle steel, 3/16" thick. Put it V (pointing down). Filled each channel with refractory cement. It's in its 3rd season and looks like new yet. Check my gallery for pics.

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[Super Sapper]

I used old unistrut with the open end up and am on my 6th year with it and no sag yet. It filled with ash and with auf have not had a problem.

[littleTapper]

Bottled over 3 gallons of maple (pictured) and a gallon plus a pint of boxelder last night. Both turned out great. Takes me to 20.6 gallons of maple for the year. Maybe a few more days of decent sap left, I hope. Lots of flower buds open on my silvers. Box elders are done, buds trying to open and syrup is coming out bitter.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180321/1f7f7e31b0c33f2e893387cd50078e4e.jpg

[gatzow]

I checked out your pictures, thanks for sharing. I see you built your own evaporator - what kind of a boil rate to you get with that? I am going to have to consider an upgrade if I am going to keep doing this....



I built mine with angle steel, 3/16" thick. Put it V (pointing down). Filled each channel with refractory cement. It's in its 3rd season and looks like new yet. Check my gallery for pics.

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[littleTapper]

I checked out your pictures, thanks for sharing. I see you built your own evaporator - what kind of a boil rate to you get with that? I am going to have to consider an upgrade if I am going to keep doing this....

No one will believe it, but I see 14-15 gph firing with ash/elm and natural draft. I run 10' of 8" pipe above the base stack. Have done it many times and run the math over and over to be sure. She flat-out rips.

[gatzow]

No one will believe it, but I see 14-15 gph firing with ash/elm and natural draft. I run 10' of 8" pipe above the base stack. Have done it many times and run the math over and over to be sure. She flat-out rips.

That’s solid. I bought mine 2 season ago advertised at up to 15 gph. Now they advertise it at up to 10gph. I get about 7 or 8 after getting lots of advice on this site. I would love to get up to 10-12 gph, would just save so much time...

[Zucker Lager]

Any good ideas for a fire grate that can withstand the heat in a fire box? I just bought a new one and it melted on its second burn. I’m not buying cheap ones, it’s just so hot for so long that I’m losing them and I don’t want to keep spending 50 or 100 bucks every few boils... ideas appreciated.
I used rebar 7/8" got it cheap pre cut from our local concrete products company. Zero cutting charge I only paid for the 10 foot lengths. A heavy angle iron frame on the sides of the fire box bottom holes torched through with a tack weld only on one side for expansion and easy removal if necessary. My bricking sits on top of the angle framework, Jay 18248 18249

[flying squirrel maple]

I used rebar 7/8" got it cheap pre cut from our local concrete products company. Zero cutting charge I only paid for the 10 foot lengths. A heavy angle iron frame on the sides of the fire box bottom holes torched through with a tack weld only on one side for expansion and easy removal if necessary. My bricking sits on top of the angle framework, Jay 18248 18249

If you can find an old catch basin grate you’ll never warp that. They are cast iron and thick, we got one and cut it with a bandsaw to fit. It’s been in our 2x8 for five years still looks good. Rebar will warp fast it won’t make it a day without warping. We used it in our first arch and had to rotate it everyday, pain in the arse.


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[littleTapper]

In a bit of an experiment, I pulled taps off my Norways. Some were showing some significant leaf bud swelling and are rather green inside when dissected. I had pretty early buddiness last year and noticed the Norways had swollen more than others. So, we'll see what this does. Test boiled some Norway sap from bucket taps last evening and it just wasn't quite as good as I think it should be; so maybe I just extended the season for me keeping only silvers on vac. Their leaf buds are still nice and tight. I can't imagine keeping things going much longer here as we've been pulling decent sap #s since Feb 20th. Well over the 1000 gallons of sap mark (for 66 taps actually producing anything). Gonna have to make a lot of firewood this summer....

[littleTapper]

Yesterday was slow despite a high temp of 47. Hopefully today makes up for it. Sap's still great (off silvers) here.

[gatzow]

Yesterday was a solid day in Erin. I am boiling today, have about 60 gallons to clean up plus what dropped after about 1pm yesterday. Bags look to have .5-1 gallon in them from yesterday afternoon. Gonna try to collect later today and boil whatever I have through tonight as I think things will be slower for the next couple of days. Always nice to get a day or two of a break. Next week looks to have a big warm up - maybe a couple day run if the trees get a good charge. I am still trying to be wrapped up by end of next week, but we shall see. Trees look like they will be good for a while yet, but I am getting tired!! Need more wood....

[littleTapper]

Yesterday was a cold east wind. We're on the West shore of a lake, so it didn't warm up for crap here, which gave us another slow day. Today looks similar, strong east wind. Ugh. Upcoming warmup should really let them loose for probably one last good run. Fingers crossed...

Gonna go make some firewood today to try to recover the heavily depleted woodpile.

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[gatzow]

Trees ran good today. I assume they are still running now. I wonder if warm weather will keep them going tomorrow or if they will shut down for a day or two. I’ve got enough sap for 2 days of boiling as is..

[Super Sapper]

Did not collect on Sunday and had 430 gallons yesterday to get and over half was from Monday. I started at 3 pm and it was going strong when I left and should run through he night. Hopefully the taps on the north side of the trees open up more. I still had some ice in the containers from the north side taps but not the others. I am at 71 gallons of syrup finished so far this year on 325 taps.

[littleTapper]

Slow runs now on the silvers and it appears that they're signing off. Syrup now just getting a slight off flavor but will make **** good cooking syrup and I need that. Got another 2 gallons or so to finish and bottle. Switched my one sugar on vac to a bucket yesterday and with the other sugar on a bucket, maybe a bit more will be had because why not? Will keep testing the sap that comes in though, but looks like it's at the end for me. Got just a bit longer than other seasons with these trees. Best season by far. 16.9g/tap of trees that actually produced (1116 gallons of sap total) plus another 102 gallons of box elder sap. Looking at what I still need to finish; made 23 gallons of maple syrup and 1.75g of box elder. I'm tired but now get to rebuild the woodpile. Time to look at efficiency improvements too. If we continue with good seasons like this, and possibly adding more trees like we want to, I'm going to need a RO.

My wife and I were relaxing later last night and she said at dinner my son was pretending that "invisible dad" was eating with us and he pretended his fork was mine and feeding someone who wasn't there (I was out boiling like I've been doing most afternoons/evenings). That hit me a bit. Yep, about time to call it a season.

[mmish]

Wow. You've got quite the totals. I'm still collecting tons of sap. How do you know when you're done? Some of my trees have a low flow, but the good ones are still putting out tons of sap. Overflowing the buckets that is. Since you're close to me, should I be finishing up now too?

[FechterNector]

Think I've had enough. 110 taps on buckets. Late nights, mad lady at home. Finished over 20 gallons. Can anyone use sap in west bend area? Have 265 gallon tote full plus 15 gallon totes. About to call it quits.

[littleTapper]

Wow. You've got quite the totals. I'm still collecting tons of sap. How do you know when you're done? Some of my trees have a low flow, but the good ones are still putting out tons of sap. Overflowing the buckets that is. Since you're close to me, should I be finishing up now too?If you've got sugar maples, or even reds, you'll be going for a while longer. I'm nearly all silvers and the sap has turned. Boiling you can smell it (vegetable-ish), and the syrup gets a flowery taste at first...hard to describe...continuing to get worse over time.

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[littleTapper]

Bottled up the last bit of "definitely not grade A but still good enough to use for all kinds of stuff" last night. 23.4 gallons for the season. Would be nice if my last two sugar maples still tapped take me to 24 even. That was fun and learned even more this year. Got filtering pretty much down this season. Time to start cleaning up. Gotta get the camper ready for MTB race season (and get the new bike and legs ready too).

[gatzow]

32 hours boiling and bottling between yesterday and today. Burnt out. And I’m 2 pints short of 20 gallons for year. I have 30 gallons of sap in tank, thinking of boiling that quick and calling it. I leave for the Cayman Islands on Monday, could be all cleaned up and not have to come home to work upon return. Will see though. Next week still looks good for sap...

[littleTapper]

32 hours boiling and bottling between yesterday and today. Burnt out. And I’m 2 pints short of 20 gallons for year. I have 30 gallons of sap in tank, thinking of boiling that quick and calling it. I leave for the Cayman Islands on Monday, could be all cleaned up and not have to come home to work upon return. Will see though. Next week still looks good for sap...

Ha! Good luck deciding on what route you'll take. :) Enjoy the time off, after that two day marathon, you'll appreciate it.

[WI Sugarpop]

We're not burned out yet but our wood is getting low so we stopped boiling Tuesday and are selling sap to a local producer. We made 60 gals of syrup. Now to get the maple house cleaned up and get ready for bees and gardening.

[Super Sapper]

I hit 93 gallons finished and packaged last night with a few gallons to be finished yet. Looks like it may have run decent yesterday and will collect later today. Not sure how much more I will make but will probably go until the 8th or so. I am boiling on halves with some guys that are new and just want to collect so they will not want me to stop too early. It is only 16 taps for them but in very large sugar maples and pretty sweet, the last batch was 4% and the first was 6%.

[littleTapper]

I hit 93 gallons finished and packaged last night with a few gallons to be finished yet. Looks like it may have run decent yesterday and will collect later today. Not sure how much more I will make but will probably go until the 8th or so. I am boiling on halves with some guys that are new and just want to collect so they will not want me to stop too early. It is only 16 taps for them but in very large sugar maples and pretty sweet, the last batch was 4% and the first was 6%.

Awesome sugar %!

[gatzow]

Started my last fire for the season at 2am. Pulled taps yesterday. Clean up is mak8ng good progress. Have some buckets to wash, but hopefully wrapped up around 5pm tonight. Should finish around 21 gallons. 13 last year and a lot less before that, so had a great year with high sugar levels. Syrup is still perfect color, so lots left in season, but I’m tired. 2 days til vacation!! Good luck to those still going strong!

[Haynes Forest Products]

Pulled in 2750 gallons off about 1700 taps yesterday. Put on 75 miles just collecting tanks. will cook all day today. its snowing and 30 degrees and I turnrd my pump on from the comfort of my kitchen table and as I type I see my lines are thawed and sap coming in.

Now I need to walk the rest of the lines and get the vacuum up to normal. The squirrels have been relentless this year.

[Bobber006]

82 taps on buckets and bags. We just finished the last of the head tank last night. 24 gallons finished. I am getting exhausted from cooking. 4 nights this week after work. The few silver maples are done and pulled. The north side sugar maples haven't even fully thawed yet. I am going to run until April 8th-9th and start pulling. I am east of Appleton in Hollandtown.

[Troy D]

We pulled all the taps. Sap was still running well on some of the trees. We just have enough. Best year for us dad did well over 300 gallons of maple sap. And idk how much box elder. Great year for us thanks to everyone for the posts.

[Super Sapper]

I passed up last years total in syrup on the last boil and that is a new record for me. I will give her one more shot with the run after this cold snap and call it quits. I pulled the few silver maple taps on containers last week but they look like they could still be good for a little bit. There isn't even much color in the tops of the reds yet and the sugars are still pretty tight. I have bottled 118 gallons so far and with using the RO I am not any where near burned out like most years and have plenty of wood left. Hopefully everyone had a good year and produced what they wanted.

[S.S.S]

Over here in Merrill we are under 50% of a normal crop yet.

[ScottP]

I passed up last years total in syrup on the last boil and that is a new record for me. I will give her one more shot with the run after this cold snap and call it quits. I pulled the few silver maple taps on containers last week but they look like they could still be good for a little bit. There isn't even much color in the tops of the reds yet and the sugars are still pretty tight. I have bottled 118 gallons so far and with using the RO I am not any where near burned out like most years and have plenty of wood left. Hopefully everyone had a good year and produced what they wanted.


I'm just on the north side of Wausau and we are at about 20% of a crop so far. We have finished 70 gallons and last year we had our last boil on the 2nd of April. Really hoping the next 2-3 weeks give up a lot of sap. Not looking good here till Tuesday next week.

[jmayerl]

10 degrees this morning and now 25 and sunny. Taps inthe sun are running well. Looks like below zero tonight then some solid syrup weather. I'm expecting some big runs with a foot of snow and no frost. Already at 120% crop and no reason to expect the best year ever. Wood supply is getting low, and need some more barrels.

[markcasper]

Already at 120% crop and no reason to expect the best year ever.

I suppose its possible since you stated that yours were running in February, while everyone elses' in the state were nil. I sure hope it starts running again soon, getting kind of deep in here, I am going to have to get a 2nd pair of waders out very soon.

So is it 120% of a quart per tap, or 120% of .666, depending on which one it is, you may only be at 1/2 a crop?

[Super Sapper]

Someone decided that I did not need to collect anymore and stole my 4 wheeler and 5 x 10 aluminum trailer out of my driveway after I went to work today. I will boil off the 200 gallons in the tank and call it a year.

[littleTapper]

Someone decided that I did not need to collect anymore and stole my 4 wheeler and 5 x 10 aluminum trailer out of my driveway after I went to work today. I will boil off the 200 gallons in the tank and call it a year.

Wow, that sucks. :o Sure hope you get it back.

[Run Forest Run!]

Super Sapper that's beyond belief. It makes my blood boil thinking about it.

[Super Sapper]

Thanks, I was going to pull the plug this week but it sucks to have it happen this way. It looks like it could be another good weeks worth of sap for everyone still in it. I had a very good year up to this point. The guys who brought me sap on halves ended up with 4 gallons of syrup on 16 taps and I got 4 gallons for just a few more minutes boiling. Worked out nice and maybe seeded an addiction in them.

[WI Sugarpop]

Hey Bob, sorry to hear about the theft. that's ridicules. I hope you can recover it somehow.
It sounds like you had a record, at least. Our year was down a little but the season just doesn't want to come to an end. After this 2 day storm blows through, it looks like another good week for sap. No moths, flies, ants, or peepers yet. we may just have a record year by the end of the week. 8 week season for us this year and the latest, strange year.

[jmayerl]

Well they actually way under forecast the blizzard. I was up last night boiling until 3am. Went out at 8 to fire up in flip flops since it was only supposed to be rain until sat night. Well went out to over a foot of fresh snow at 2 am.was a cold 50 yard walk to the house. Solid 30-40 mph winds all day and round 2 is starting up with another 12-18" coming. We are well over .5 gallons of syrup per tap in the bags so it's been a amazing year with a good week to go.

[bprifle01]

LOVELY WEATHER!!

What an awful weekend. Yesterday woke up to shingles from the house roof in the driveway from the 45+ mph winds. This morning 2" of ice & sleet. Slipped going out to get pellets for the pellet stove. Now my back is aching like mad because of the slip. Hope the roof doesn't leak when it warms up & starts melting. Missing shingles from about a 6' x 8' section up near the peak on the North side. This winter can end any time! Hope everyones season has gone well.

[GramaCindy]

OH MY. I'm so sorry to hear that. We are in a Blizzard Watch here in Bayfield county. The ATV is stuck down the hill, near my sapping trails, snowmobile is stuck on the trails from trying to pack them down. I don't think at this time, that I will have any season.

[bprifle01]

GramaCindy
You've all that new equipment to try out, I hope you get some kind of a season before it's too late! I talked to my brother who lives over in the center of the state yesterday and he said they're expecting another 12" of snow yet today. This is April for crying out loud! Where are the warm April showers to get the flowers growing? We're expecting 3-5 inches of snow today. Is this going to be another one of those years without a summer?

[jmayerl]

18555
Day two of going out to plow every 6 hours. Have gotten about 26" here just outside Green Bay. Looks like the snow will let up by midnight but the 40 mph winds are really making for tough plowing. I'm gonna head out and make sure all the people I lease from are plowed out and try to clear trails with the tractor.

[Dave Puhl]

26'' wow..

[Haynes Forest Products]

Been quite the last few days I got all my equipment put away and Saturday finalized the shack and house packing. Last night the top section of my wood stove stack flew off the roof onto the deck. Im stuck waiting the weather out and running to Codatt on Monday. Word was the roads out of Green Bay were closed.

[jmayerl]

Chuck, roads aren't closed, there actually pretty good, crews are doing great. We just went on 29 from pulaski to 41 DePere and back to Suamico. 4 wheel drive and did 50 the whole time. I know your use to doing 80-90 but heck what a bit slower? Right?

[Haynes Forest Products]

Thanks for the update Jay I'm on the road with with a full trailer so enjoy the rest of your new season that will start this Wednesday.

[jmayerl]

Trees let loose yesterday and today despite being cloudy windy and 36 degrees. Was able to get one bush collected with just a atv and trailer. Bags are all full inthe other bushes so looks like tomorrow I'll try moving the 8' drifts into one and try to pack a trail. Just can't believe all this snow so late into April

[WI Sugarpop]

I checked our bag woods on Monday and all bags were flying so when I stopped yesterday late morning many bags were full. I was surprised. By the time I got back to collect they were running over. The ones on the North side of woods were finally doing something. Tomorrow will be 8 weeks for us. Will be pulling taps on Monday and then cleanup.

[1arch]

I checked our bag woods on Monday and all bags were flying so when I stopped yesterday late morning many bags were full. I was surprised. By the time I got back to collect they were running over. The ones on the North side of woods were finally doing something. Tomorrow will be 8 weeks for us. Will be pulling taps on Monday and then cleanup.
I’m wondering too if Monday is the last day! Whata season! What if there is another week left?

[littleTapper]

Figured it's time to wake this thread up! Everyone getting ready? All set here for whenever the weather says go. I am really glad I put my tubing up during the nice January weather!

[Super Sapper]

I have most of my woods work done thanks to the warm spell in early January. Long range forecast looks like 3 to 4 weeks before tapping. Good luck this year.

[littleTapper]

Stumbled into the opportunity of a good lot of sugar maples from a coworker not too far from home. Good slope, enough drop at the end to make 3/16 worth it. So, time to scramble to get that going - need tubing, storage, fittings, transfer pump.... The little 2x4 is going to be working hard if the season ever shows up :)

[Trapper2]

I looked at last year, I finished up April 23rd.

[mmish]

Tapped 3 trees today to test & 2 were dripping well. I'm in Racine, so I may go ahead & tap all tomorrow. Previou years I had tapped sooner, but with all this snow... It still may be early, but I have to be done April 8th no matter what

[littleTapper]

Tapped 3 trees today to test & 2 were dripping well. I'm in Racine, so I may go ahead & tap all tomorrow. Previou years I had tapped sooner, but with all this snow... It still may be early, but I have to be done April 8th no matter what

Good to know! I'm planning on waiting out the next cold snap. Let us know how they run this weekend.

[mmish]

Changed my mind, I will wait a week or so to tap. Test taps going well today, but all that solid cold coming in next week has convinced me to wait. I'm usually a few degrees warmer than the weather forecast but the fore cast seems to keep changing lower and lower

[Bobber006]

Keep us posted. I am putting a test tap out after the first of March. I am about 2 hours north of you and will also wait out the next cold snap.

[WI Sugarpop]

Doesn't look like anything happening for awhile. A year ago today we had 640 gal of sap collected already. I need to make a quick trip to Tuscon March 4 thru 7 so when I get back, we will get tapped in. Then it may be fast and furious.

[Trapper2]

Looks like March 16th for me to tap in.

[littleTapper]

Most taps are in near my house (68 there) and putting in 30 on 3/16 at our new remote site tonight to have them all in by Thursday. Bring on the warm-up!

[gatzow]

Ill be putting all my taps in today. Don't know how many yet, probably ~80. Its time to get started!!

[AVALLES]

Put 185 taps out today in Manitowoc County not one drip of sap. Navigating through all the snow in the woods was a treat!

[littleTapper]

Started to trickle this weekend. North slope sugars on 3/16 have run a bit (not sure how much). Nearly .5gpt off my silvers on vac. Big (3') trees started to wake up yesterday afternoon. Sun today but still a bit cold. Fingers crossed they wake up a bit more for Tuesday-Wednesday.

[WI Sugarpop]

We put in 140 taps Saturday on 3/16 tubing. It ran enough on Sunday to flush out lines so we could put lines in tank. Will hang some bags today and see how that goes. 42* and sunny tomorrow so I don't want to miss an early run. Everyone better get ready!

[gatzow]

I went for a walk and picked up all the bags that had blown off in the storm the other night. Several taps were slowly dripping. Have around a quarter gallon in many of the bags. I think the season might officially start tomorrow!!

[1arch]

Man did I hustle to get 370 taps on so far... Looking forward to what tommorow brings!

[littleTapper]

Freaking temp controller on my Shurflo was acting up this morning. Reading about 12C low and bouncing around now and then - and the pump was off. Not sure if it's related to the rain or not - everything except the temp probe was dry (inside a tote). Just disconnected the two leads for the 12v and pump and wire nutted them together to get through the next day or two until new controllers (ordered a pair) show up. On a positive note, the remote trees I have this year on 3/16 took off yesterday. I don't have the desired 30' after the last tap on my runs, but the vac gauge on top of the longest run was reading 19" and sap was flowing well. Awesome. Now, to keep sap from spoiling with this crazy warmup on the way....

[Super Sapper]

I only had about 15 gallons yesterday off 155 taps on 6 runs using a shurflo with 3/16 into a manifold but it was only pulling 16 at the pump until I found a squirrel chew in one of the drops then it went to 24. The other one had the 3/4 main pull apart so no sap there. The trees we running some but still need some thawing. I put in another 25 on bags and 5 gallon containers and most were dripping.

[gatzow]

My trees ran good all night in Washington county. Many bags have 2+ gallons. Ill have to make my first trip out to empty later today.

[Super Sapper]

Picked up 250 gallons yesterday on about 250 taps. It was still flowing when I left but slowing down pretty good. Will get the rest tapped tonight hopefully.

[WI Sugarpop]

We collected 380 gals today. What a mess with melt water running thru the woods with bags. And then there was the rain. Oh well, now we are boiling where it is high and dry.

[Super Sapper]

I picked up another 310 gallons yesterday so I will boil tonight. WI Sugarpop if you see my 2 barrels and tote with a brand new shurflo going toward Sheboygan let me know. I had the stuff in the woods but not hooked up yet. I have not been down there but its a good bet it went down river.

[gatzow]

First boil with the new Smoky lake evaporator starting in a few hours! Pretty excited to break it in. Then I looked at the forecast and concerned that syrup season might be kind short... Forecast doesn't have it getting below freezing starting late next week. Could we really only have a 10-14 day season??

[littleTapper]

First boil with the new Smoky lake evaporator starting in a few hours! Pretty excited to break it in. Then I looked at the forecast and concerned that syrup season might be kind short... Forecast doesn't have it getting below freezing starting late next week. Could we really only have a 10-14 day season??

Yeah, I have basically that same forecast. It really could be that short....ugh. Last few days have been great, but if the forecast is what it is and doesn't recover, I'll have nowhere near the season I did last year even with about 25 more taps. Accuweather is showing colder temps further out, so I suspect we'll keep going a bit. Going to be fun keeping things clean when lows are around 40 for 4-5 days.

[WI Sugarpop]

In 2012 we only collected 5 days and it was over. Bob, l sure hope your stuff didnt float down river.

[1arch]

I picked up another 310 gallons yesterday so I will boil tonight. WI Sugarpop if you see my 2 barrels and tote with a brand new shurflo going toward Sheboygan let me know. I had the stuff in the woods but not hooked up yet. I have not been down there but its a good bet it went down river.
Supersapper I thought I was going to have to pick up my tank from the neighbors! The river in our sugarbush is up ~4' and swelled 30+ yards

[Super Sapper]

I'm going to check on it today, hopefully if the river got that high it just push it into the woods more and got hung up.

[Sunny Knoll Farm]

I got 160 taps on bags done Saturday and collected 85 gallons today. I have about 50 more taps to put in Monday now that the water has receded. 50/50 split between silvers & sugars. I had about 40 taps on sugars last year that never produced - good news is these trees produced more today than all last season. This one man operation is going to shurflo pumps next year! Just caught the weather - pretty warm next weekend!

[Super Sapper]

I checked on the pump and barrel and though the water got up to them they were still there. Got all my taps in now. Alex, it's good to here they are producing better this year. Hopefully we get a few freezes after this weekend.

[goose52]

1arch, that's just crazy!

[littleTapper]

Busy weekend, now I get a break going to work at my normal job :) Boiled all weekend and tried to catch up. Sap just off vacuum was running hard enough Saturday that it felt like I was barely making headway with my 4x2. Nearly caught up yesterday but shut down late afternoon so I could go collect at my remote 3/16 trees as the 55g barrel was overflowing there. Now I'm back to about 130-ish gallons to boil. 9 gallons of syrup pulled off the evap so far. Rough math says higher sugar than last year (yay). Forecast sucks for down here in the corner. One more solid below freezing night then we just tickle 31 a few days out of the next 8 :( Going to be a few late nights early this week to catch and keep up but that could be it. Hopefully my 3/16 trees see a little colder temps (that area tends to be a bit colder).

[Sunny Knoll Farm]

I got another 50+ taps in so I'm up to 210 taps on bags. I did something stupid ( acid left in float box ate it ) and had to rebuild my float valve assembly with bubble gum and Tupperware float! Finally got my first boil in last night but still have 250 gallons to boil to catch up. Operating without RO again this year so this is going to be a long day but should see some syrup hit the bucket this morning.

[littleTapper]

No freeze last night. Will get closer to catching up tonight - for sure tomorrow if no freeze. Forecast shaping up for a few more nice runs this weekend and early next week. I've got 14 gallons pulled off ready for finishing and bottling. The little evap has been working hard and this season is doing all it can, in quite the hurry, to match the 24 gallons I made last year.

[WI Sugarpop]

Good year so far. Lots of 3% sap and low in nider. 35 gals made so far. This week has been tiring.

[gatzow]

Glad others seem to be having a good season. Trees not running by me and haven’t for 2 days. I’m boiling my 140 gallons that I got from a few days ago. We will see after filtering but syrup looks to be turning darker very quickly. Hopefully weather holds out for another week or two. We shall see.

[Super Sapper]

I'm at 50 gallons of syrup made and picked up 500 gallons of sap yesterday. Had a couple dead batteries and when replaced it was still running into the tank. Yard trees on bags and containers have not done much the last 2 days but he shurflo setups keep producing. This weekend into next week should be pretty good.

[littleTapper]

Nice to see everyone making some liquid gold! Been warm here for a few days so I finally caught up last night. Now to finish off the sweet in the pan and get bottling. >7 gallons of sap per tap so far (99 taps) and I've got something like 18 gallons of syrup to finish (sitting at about 64-65 brix) and bottle (not counting what's in the pan). A few more days of decent runs here in the forecast. I need to get a RO. Lots of boiling on that little 2x4.

[Eastridgevilla]

Hello! PeteS here,...………… new Account as the old had email issues,...……….. who knows.

Mud, mud, mud. Looks to be drying up quite a bit. First run or so was good but now a bit lack-luster. Hope the cold snap this weekend will restart things.

Good to be back!

[Sunny Knoll Farm]

Nothing Thursday but was able to catch up. First good night's sleep in a week! I'm a little jealous of those running the shurflo pumps. Like I said - next year. Bob, I've forgotten what your setup looks like. What is your current spout/drop annual rotation? Are you using 5/16 drops onto 3/16 mains to pump manifold. Looks like Saturday will be a big day.

When you get a certain age you realize your memory is the 2nd thing to go - I don't remember what the first is!

[Super Sapper]

I use 5/16 drops into 3/16 lines and am considering putting up new tubing each year. I am liking the manifold over the 3/4" mainline also. I have to take down the lines each year and just putting up new is actually less work as there is no cleaning and then trying to figure out how they run through the woods.

[gatzow]

Well, I don’t have any sap to cook so I did a full clean out of the pan today. Niter was building up fast after the 3rd boil and I wanted to get it out of the flues. Bottled 5 gallons out of the pan which makes sap right around 3.3% on average this year. Sap totals are way down when compared to the last 2 years but at 30:1, I’m holding up better than I was expecting. 5 gallons out of the sweet was a pleasant surprise. I’m also really happy with the flat filter from Smokey lake. Much easier than working with the cone filters of years past.. hoping for a few more good run days. Sitting at 50% of last years haul, so I have a long ways to go before I hit a new high. Good luck everyone. Maybe tomorrow will free everything up!!

[gatzow]

Boiling around 170 gallons today. Taps aren’t doing anything now as it just didn’t get cold enough last night. Looks like no sap for a few days. Might do a clean out tomorrow and see what sap runs late this weekend. Apple tree buds are coming out. Maples still look good, but the end of the season isn’t far away in the Hartford/Jackson/west bend area. Oh - and validate that your evaporator is still level. Stuff wasn’t working great today and I found that the back of my evaporator settled into the stone as all the ground warmed up and I was a half inch off... stuff went right back to normal once I got that fixed.

[Super Sapper]

I'm at 91 gallons finished and concentrated 1200 gallons down last night and am boiling it now.

[littleTapper]

Silver sap is off/funky here. Flower buds aren't even open yet but very close. Can definitely see the leaf buds are swelling and the insides are soft/green when I check lower branches/saplings. Sugars still amazing. Passed last year's syrup total yesterday and there's still sweet in the pan and I'm guessing I'll have a nearly full 55 barrel of sugar maple sap to collect this afternoon. Nearly done though. Crazy short season.

[WI Sugarpop]

Ponds are still frozen and no peepers or bugs yet. We're at 85 gals made. Running low on wood so we will probably sell the rest of our sap.

[Trapper2]

1986819869
Silver Maples on my yard on Lake Winnebago. Glad I'm tapped in 80 miles north of here. Pulled 250 gallons yesterday off of 90 taps.

[Super Sapper]

Ended up making 35 gallons from that 1200 gallons of sap that I concentrated last night.

[Sunny Knoll Farm]

Sweeeet Season - half my taps are on silvers and the weather didn't look favorable so I pulled taps last night. Finished boiling out the pans tonight. I averaged 4% sugar ( I had one 150 gal day at 4.2+) this year and was able to get 37 gallons out of 820 sap. I just love those big yard trees. One silver I tap is 16' around. Things were running sweet and smooth so I didn't bother running the RO again. Just need to filter/bottle and clean up. My to-do list for next year is only 2 pages long but I swear I'm going to get most of it done - especially the shurflo/tubing setup, kitchen, walls, plumbing, etc, etc ! If (when) I get this stuff done 100 gal. syrup should be manageable.

[littleTapper]

Sweeeet Season - half my taps are on silvers and the weather didn't look favorable so I pulled taps last night. Finished boiling out the pans tonight. I averaged 4% sugar ( I had one 150 gal day at 4.2+) this year and was able to get 37 gallons out of 820 sap. I just love those big yard trees. One silver I tap is 16' around. Things were running sweet and smooth so I didn't bother running the RO again. Just need to filter/bottle and clean up. My to-do list for next year is only 2 pages long but I swear I'm going to get most of it done - especially the shurflo/tubing setup, kitchen, walls, plumbing, etc, etc ! If (when) I get this stuff done 100 gal. syrup should be manageable.

Wow!! Yes, I tap a handful of huge yard silvers as well. Amazing trees. Blink and the buckets overflow some days.

[gatzow]

Yesterday was the best run of the year for me. And probably the last. Gonna cook it up later this week and call it a season. Low sap count overall, but high sugar saved the year. I think I’ll be right on from last year but I added 15 more trees.

[littleTapper]

Gatzow, yes, when I went to pump out the barrel at my 30 sugars on 3/16 yesterday, it was running in fastest I've seen all season; solid stream out of the three lines. Sap's still making great syrup but today will be the last collection and boil. I added 25 trees this year, but will probably make another 4+ gallons over last year. I'll call it a successful season for sure. Sap:Syrup has been 36:1 overall and that's nice! RO for next year or my wife will kill me :)

[1arch]

I'm still in the game. exceeded my finish filtered product from 213 gallons last year to 227 gallons as of tonight. We'll see what nature offers yet this week. This could be our most productive year so far.

[littleTapper]

Bottled up my last bit of syrup for the season last night. Unreal amount of niter in it. Drained the evaporator pan after it had settled overnight and the next day so what I pulled off was pretty clear. While finishing that, the build-up of niter was unreal. I filtered off 2 gallons of syrup and probably had a pint of crap in the first prefilter.

Anyways, decent season for us and our little (and learning) operation. Had 99 maple taps this year. Some didn't do much, but we ended up with 28 gallons of syrup off a bit over 1000 gallons of sap (no precise #s due to forgetfulness to record properly). Most taps are still silvers and were done on 3/26, but our 32 sugars kept us going longer this year. 4 more gallons of syrup over last year (and that was with 1200 gallons of sap). Not going to complain, but it sure was crazy. Now to clean up and get moving on MTB race prep (not quite in shape yet!).

[gatzow]

Just lit the last fire of the year. Had to go on a work trip for a few days this week. Sap in main storage looks fine but the sap in my 40 gallon tank looks to have gone bad. Doesn’t have a smell to it but it definitely got cloudy. I’m curious what your “rules” are. How do you know sap spoiled and you won’t use it? I have 40 or 50 gallons out in bags on the trees that I have to check and collect as well. Regardless, today is the end for me!!

[1arch]

Just lit the last fire of the year. Had to go on a work trip for a few days this week. Sap in main storage looks fine but the sap in my 40 gallon tank looks to have gone bad. Doesn’t have a smell to it but it definitely got cloudy. I’m curious what your “rules” are. How do you know sap spoiled and you won’t use it? I have 40 or 50 gallons out in bags on the trees that I have to check and collect as well. Regardless, today is the end for me!!
"Rules"?
Cook it until it isn't syrup any more. Hers the challenge.... dont know sometimes until you cook it...

[WI Sugarpop]

Putting up tubing tomorrow and then tapping. Don't want to miss the good weather this coming week. Hope everyone does well this maple season.

[Super Sapper]

Same to you and everyone else. It is our turn now and the forecast looks good for some strong runs this coming week. I had a couple dripping yesterday when tapping and it was only 24 out.

[clifford5555]

Hey Guys! Good luck to ya.

I tapped on the 18th(kinda crazy) and it's been dripping good. I'm glad I did, because I am a personal producer for myself and I am a little worried I might not get enough to share this year.

Hopefully the forecast is wrong. Cuz I see 50-60 degree weather on tap for March 8-9th....Good sap could be short lived in 2020 (I tapped mar 7th last year)

For what it's worth, I washed my car in my driveway with my pressure washer on December 29th, it was like 45 out, so I thought why not....kinda worried that was not a good sign for syrup season

[WI Sugarpop]

Collected 250 gal this afternoon. Got all 265 taps in. Started to sweeten the pans tonight. Here we go!

[Super Sapper]

Have boiled twice so far and have 35 gallons of very light syrup. Will collect again this morning and boil. Looks like forecasted lows are a little lower later this week and should get some freezing.

[Super Sapper]

I collected Monday morning and boiled it. Brought me up to just over 90 gallons of syrup. Collected last night and ended up bringing home 1060 gallons and left about 100 in the woods.

I started at around 75 to 81% transmittance and it has gone to around 68% now on the syrup and more sugarsand.

[Super Sapper]

I ended up with 225 gallons of syrup made. I quit collecting last Wed but could still be going as the trees are still producing. I was getting about 300 gallons per day on about 350 taps when I stopped but I was low on wood and no freezes in the forecast. We did get a couple mornings in the upper 20's but I am happy with what I made.

[Mr Sugar Maple]

Are you on tubing or buckets?That RO must be a blessing. Deer Run work well?

[Super Sapper]

I am mostly on 3/16 tubing with shurflow pumps. I did have some bags and drops into 5 gallon containers but pulled them earlier. The Deer Run RO works great, it ahs high and low pressure shutoff so what more could you need.

[WI Sugarpop]

Getting ready for a new season. Planning to put up tubing Feb 27. Hopeful to tap sometime the first part of March. Got all supplies and maple shack is ready and lots of wood. How's everyone else?

[Super Sapper]

Got my tubing mostly up in early January while it was still nice out. Need to go over the shurflo pumps and get them into the woods and rinse out tanks. Looking to tap second week in March.

[1arch]

Tapped and have our first 25 gallons bottled and labeled. Only 200+ to go!

[Super Sapper]

I was out of town last week so I did not get tapped until Sunday. I collected 760 gallons yesterday from 370 taps.

[Super Sapper]

I started getting an off flavor last night when boiling so I am done for the year. I made 160 gallons and am happy with that. Sugar content was down to 1.2% at the end, lowest sugar content I have seen.

[WI Sugarpop]

I guess its been awhile since I've posted here. Just checking to see how everyone has done the season. For us it has been a record season. Our first sap collected was March 1 and has been running strong ever since. We collected over 5000 gal of sap which puts us at 19.25 gal per tap. We're thinking of being done this Saturday.

[littleTapper]

Sugarpop, nice to see how it's gone for you! I've been updating the SE WI thread. Crazy being just 75 miles south of you, I was tapped nearly a month earlier (Feb 4th). Record season by a huge margin here.

[Super Sapper]

It looks like I have a few days yet to go and should get at least a top 3 year if not a record year. My second best was last year with 190 gallons and I should pass that this weekend. I am in the tired category also and will need a break.