Eastern Wisconsin

[WI Sugarpop]

How's everyone doing in eastern WI. We have 274 gals. of sap. Got our third boil finished today. Got 7 gals of syrup. Should really run this week. Gonna have to go like crazy after work every day this week.

[C.Wilcox]

I've only got 10 taps in (half in box elder), but managed a half gallon of syrup this weekend. Probably another half gallon by the end of the week.

[inthewoods]

boiled for the 4th time today,tolal of 850 gal so far. have 20 gal of finished going to filter and bottle tomorow.

[C.Wilcox]

Despite the warm weather my trees ran good yesterday. I have a small backyard operation so it doesn't take much sap to get overrun. Hopefully I'll have enough by tonight to make up another half gallon of syrup. The last batch of syrup was already visibly darker than the first boil. I also noticed that the buds on my soft maples are pretty fat already. I'm beginning to wonder if it's going to be a very short season.

[Pete S]

Gonna make our last boil of the season today! Screwed up and didn't tarp the wood,............and if flippin' snowed about 1".

Will be getting a late start to boil today, as we have a social meeting this AM, thus out come the work lights!

This is a sickness.

Pete

[C.Wilcox]

Starting yesterday sometime after 1 PM the trees really cranked out the sap. I had to boil all day to keep up. Still not tasting buddy despite obvious open buds on the tops of my silver maples. Anybody else get a good run yesterday/today?

[WI Sugarpop]

Good run today, 100 gals on 60 taps.

[inthewoods]

good run 285 gal on 200 taps at 4pm still running

[SHOCKERS]

I also got 100 gal. My trees also are budding out but still clear sap!!!

[WI Sugarpop]

Well, the sap is still good and it ran good today. Got 103 gals. That makes 732 gals. 12 more than last year.

[lpakiz]

Ran VERY WELL here in Clark County today--about twice what my best day was last year with just a couple more taps. I hooked up that Surge SP 11 and Bender Dairy releaser to 10 trees here at the house. MOST IMPRESSIVE!!! Every time I looked, the catch pail was running over. Finally had to rig up a bigger barrel. WOW!!!

[inthewoods]

sap ran good in manitowoc today got 350 gal, be buisy for a while

[WI Sugarpop]

On Tuesday we collected 76 gals. It ran a little today but didn't collect. May run good tomorrow. Right now we are at 808 gals. of sap and a little over 20 gals. of syrup. Almost all light amber this year.

[C.Wilcox]

My trees ran really well the earlier part of this week, but have been tapering off over the past few days. I had a really good batch of light amber cooking last night, but then I went and put a few too many pieces of cedar on the fire and it got dark in a real hurry. :mad: I don't have a hygrometer to test the sugar content, but I suspect it's starting to fall a little based on my firewood consumption to syrup ratio.

[falconer]

I'm just West of Mt. calvary. Just finished up the last of the sap. Anybody in the area throw a sugaring party at the end of the season? Small operation with home made equipment.
sweet addiction.
Larry

[WI Sugarpop]

Well, I guess we're done for this year. It didn't run on Friday so we finished everything Friday night and then when I got up Sat. morning I thought that it will probably really run during the day so I checked the bags at 11:00 and only a few taps were running a little. Our taps were in for about 5 weeks so I think they are starting to heal up and its getting so close to the end so it doesn't pay to ream the holes. God blessed us with 22 gals. of syrup from 858 gals. of sap. Four more gals of syrup then last year. Two batches were dark and the rest was light. No surgaring party that I know of, Falconer. Not unless you're having one. How did you do this year? It has been another fun year especially since we boiled inside this year. I hope everyone has a good summer.

[WI Sugarpop]

It was a good day today. We got 85 gal. from 142 taps. The squirrels are having fun biting the bags.

[Monroecheeseman]

It was a good day today. We got 85 gal. from 142 taps. The squirrels are having fun biting the bags.

What type of bags do you have? I've got to get some more bags after this year, so if there is a difference I'd like to know. I've been using blue bags for a couple years and haven't seen a problem with squirrels. Maybe I've just been lucky? I read on the forum somewhere to put duct tape on the bottom edge of the bag because the squirrels don't like that.

[Pete S]

I'm thinkin' "Sugarpop" might be munchin' on a peanut butter sanwich when he's hangin' bags! ;-)

Oh,..........we got 24 gallons from 40 taps today at 12:00.

[TF Maple]

My Sugar Bush is running a little on most of the trees, but by my cousin's, when you get one third of the way in from the south, nothing is running yet. His bush has a lot of trees that aren't maple and he has too much shade from them. I got 19 and a half gallons from 90 taps with 3.75% sugar which seems to be dropping each day. Started at 5% a few days ago.

[WI Sugarpop]

Monroecheeseman,
We get our blue bags from Andersons Maple Syrup. Thanks for the tip about putting duct tape on the bags.

[WI Sugarpop]

We've collected 650 gal. so far but weather doesn't look to promising for a while. We have 265gal. to get boiled.

[Pete S]

Our trees are just lopin' along too!

Maybe I'll stop over and watch you boil. We aren't going to boil till Sat/Sun,..........hope the weather dewds are WRONG.

[paul miller]

Everything has definately stopped running

need some cold nights soon

[Haynes Forest Products]

Im thinking Im a jinx every time I dont go back to Door its a bust year:emb:

[Pete S]

Well at least we'll have some rainwater to boil. Yippie!

Having a "social boil" hopefully, weather permitting, Sunday! (we ain't got no shack)

[C.Wilcox]

Finally got last week's sap boiled down. Made just over a gallon of some really light syrup. I was surprised it was so light given that the sap was fairly old. I had kept the storage drum buried in the snowbank on the north side of my shack and it must have kept it colder than I thought it would. It tastes good, but I like the darker variety myself so this might go as gifts (aka. "bribes"). As of right now, this is the most expensive gallon of syrup I've ever bought. :)

[WI Sugarpop]

So, is everyone putting in taps this weekend. Looks like better weather coming the week of the 13th. My bags are all ready so I'm ready to start drilling.

[C.Wilcox]

I'm waffling a bit, but I think I'm still going to put them in this weekend. We're usually all done here by early April so if I don't get them in soon I'll miss whatever little run we'll have. I might just put in a few and see how things go. I noticed that my last post in this thread shows the window in my kitchen is open on March 12. Everyone remember the 80 degree weather we had last year? Let's hope that doesn't happen again.

[Pete S]

Sugarpop, keep yer pants awn! There will be plenty of time to gather your Metric TONS of sap! Ha!

We were gonna tap this Sunday, but chasing lids and buckets for "sapcicles",......I'm gonna wait.

BTW,.............got an 8" stack on the "vapenator 2010"! Gonna really let'er rip this year!

[ehafkey]

I'm tapping tomorrow and we'll see how things go. Because of my travel schedule if I don't go this weekend then I have to wait until next Sat and I think we'll have a few small runs by then. I'll keep you posted.

Good luck everyone, I hope yall have a great season!

[WI Sugarpop]

Pete, I rebuilt our evaporator this year and was going to put a new 6" stack on but Fleet was out of it so I ended up getting 8". I did a test boil on Monday and it worked great. BTW, the evaporator is 5 1/2 ft long this year.:lol:

[Pete S]

Ron you DAWG! I'll be hearing that thing run from my place! You got wood enough?

[WI Sugarpop]

No, bring some over.

[WI Sugarpop]

We put our 140 taps in today. By the time we got done, the first ones we did had 3" in. I guess the season has started for us.

[ehafkey]

My oldest son and i put out 40 today all on reds. The SAP was running most of the day. I have another 30 reds to tap then onto the sugars. Can't wait for the first boil on my new rig in my new shack. Should ne a lotof fun.

[Pete S]

If I had a shack as cool lookin' as your,............I'd have tapped in January!

[WI Sugarpop]

Our landowner called this morning and said some of our bags are half full. I didn't expect that. Now I'm getting excited.

[maplematt]

Well, ComputerSteve (my dad) and I are tapping today since we have time. Quite a few boxelders, but we'd rather have them in early than miss some good sap...hopefully this week there should be a few days. Good luck everyone!

[ehafkey]

trust me PeteS it's been a very long winter and every morning I wake up and walk over to the kitchen window and look out at the shack and think man I can't wait. I still have a few things to get done in the shack but I feel I'm ready. Then agian you know how it goes as soon as things get rolling I'll realize what I've been over looking.

Do you know who has the sugar shack just off of hwy 41 by Lomira? Looks like a nice little set up. I drive by there all the time, just wondering.

[Pete S]

Don't know about off 41 by Lomira. Probably best I don't go that way much cuz I be galkin' and probably wreck!

[WI Sugarpop]

I grew up in Lomira and know the family that is east of 41 and south of 67. Their name is Fellwock. A few years ago they had trouble with vandals. The shack burned down and ruined everything.

[Pete S]

Tappin' TODAY!

[WI Sugarpop]

Way too early! HA HA

[Pete S]

I just can't stand seeing those warmer temps! Besides,..............if I don't tap today, and tap NEXT weekend,...........you'll stop over and tell me you have a full tote and are boiling!

:-)

[WI Sugarpop]

Pete, did you get your taps in today? How many are you putting in this year?

[Pete S]

I think it was 36 or so. "Mom" thinks we could use a few more possibly. Our lower west trees were dripping yesterday.

[paul miller]

put in 50 taps yesterday and checked them tonite a few were dripping. hope to put in more this week

[C.Wilcox]

I put in a total of 19 taps this weekend, mostly box elder. Collected a total of 5 gallons this evening so they're dripping a little despite the cold. Talked to a neighbor about tapping his property. He said he had to check to see if another guy is planning on tapping and would get back to me. Keeping my fingers crossed because he has about 50 big old sugar maples with easy driveable road access. Hoping to drown myself in sap this year.

[WI Sugarpop]

We decided to get 800' of mainline tubing to make runs from our woods down to our tote in the truck. We use bags and then empty them in a barrel in several collection sites. We got that all hooked up today and tried it out. Worked good and certainly will save our backs from carrying all those buckets out. We collected 60 gals. today. Our first sap of the season.

[C.Wilcox]

Total of 27 taps in and got only 10 gallons of sap today. Hoping things continue to pick up. Should be able to boil a little this weekend if sap keeps running.

[ehafkey]

We have about 50 of our reds tapped hoping to see a run this weekend. I have another 25 reds and 35 sugars to tap yet. Maybe this weekend. Only collected 2 gal so far but we are on the north side ofu the busch.

[WI Sugarpop]

Our whole woods is on the south facing side which is nice for thawing out in the morning and and also for running the sap down to the truck. I stopped out to see if they did anything today and was surprised to see that there was about 100 gal. Will collect tomorrow.

[WI Sugarpop]

Collected 85 gals today. Now I gotta get boiling.

[Pete S]

We got 30+ today, but that was since we tapped. Only had one runnin' over. Southern exposed trees were awesome,...............others OK to poor.

[WI Sugarpop]

Got a fire going at 5:00 this morning. Gotta go check it.

[ehafkey]

I've been gone since Tuesday but I would expect my buckets to have some sap. I'm headed home today to gather and finishing tapping. I really would like to fire up my new rig this weekend.

Please, please, please let there be sap to boil! This is like torcher!

[WI Sugarpop]

We had a good day today. Collected 100 gals and made 3 gals of light syrup from yesterdays sap.:)

[goldenmaple1]

We had a good day today. Collected 100 gals and made 3 gals of light syrup from yesterdays sap.:)

Hey Ron,

I'm at Drewry Farms south of town on Winooski Rd, where in Plymouth are you? Also, what sugar concentration is in your sap. We're seeing low numbers compared to years past.

[Craig Rusch]

We live in Greenbush Wisconsin . From 3\08\2011 we collected about
600 gallons of sap until today. Today we got about 150 gallons of sap.
We have been boiling every day for the last week. We are starting to boil
on 3\15\2011 at 8:00 am.

[WI Sugarpop]

Hey Ron,

I'm at Drewry Farms south of town on Winooski Rd, where in Plymouth are you? Also, what sugar concentration is in your sap. We're seeing low numbers compared to years past.

We collected 210 gals today. The first day we collected we were at 3%. Since then we've been running at 2.25%. We tap north of Plymouth off of FF. But we live 5 miles west of Plymouth next to Dave Drewry Jr. That is where our sugar shack is. We haul the sap in totes and then pump it from our truck up to the sugar shack.

[Pete S]

We'll check ours today as we're ready to go out and gather.

Tapped 3-6 and gathered 3-10 with 2.8%. We were able to pull the ice out of the buckets.

Sap from 3-13 to 3-14 tested 2.4%. We did NOT have ice as the sun had things purty warm.

SO,...........tomorrow AM we're going to hope to have ice and pull it out, then we'll gather later and test again.

Hey, may be a bit crazy but it's necessary to do this maple syrup thing. ;-)

[treeman57]

Put bucket on a silver maple on Friday and collect this morning(Tuesday) there were 5 gallons in it. Then checked this afternoon in same bucket and there were a good 2 more gallons. Tapped 4 more Silvers and were dripping before I was done drilling the holes.

[WI Sugarpop]

How is everyone doing around here? We have collected 835 gals of sap so far. Didn't run yesterday but we're catching up on boiling. Hope it pours out today after a nice frosty night. Pete, how are you doing? Haven't heard much from you. Maybe I'll stop by today.

[Rockivy Farm]

Just finished our second bottle run for the season, last week bottled 6 gallons, today 9 gallons. Did not collect Thursday or Friday but today sap is running again, collected over 100 gallons. 60 trees tapped this year.

[Pete S]

Just pulled sap from 38 taps and threw out the ice. Tested the sap at 7 percent! Too bad it was only about 4 gallons!

[Russ]

Ice in the sap bucket = Poor Man's RO

[adk1]

Just pulled sap from 38 taps and threw out the ice. Tested the sap at 7 percent! Too bad it was only about 4 gallons!

interesting, was always wondering if that were true

[ehafkey]

I envy the guys getting 100gal sap from 60 taps. I have 75 reds that I tapped the first weekend in March and I only have about 125 gals total from them. I also have 35 sugars that I tapped on the 12th and they have produced around 150gal of sap. Is it possible that the reds are done already? If that's the case I won't waste my time next year. Anybody else tapping red maples in eastern WI.

[WI Sugarpop]

We tap all sugars except there might be a couple reds and they usually don't have much sap. We need to mark them so we don't tap them next year. We've collected 940 gals so far on 150 taps. 25 gals of syrup. Waiting for the big run the next 2 weeks.

[jmayerl]

those are some impressive numbers pop! We have collected 370 gallons from 220 taps and made about 9 gallons.

[Chemist]

I just finished some and have 6 1/2 gallons so far on about 250 gallons of sap. This from 42 taps.

I think I am about halfway through or maybe a little bit more. I think that we have some very solid runs coming up in the next week or so.

I don't usually make grade "B" stuff, but this year I think I will because my Dad likes to cook with it.

[jmayerl]

yesterday finished and bottled everything I had for the season so far. 10.7 gallons off of about 370 gallons in 220 taps. So that puts me around 2.5% then I guess? could tell for sure if the sap hydrometer I bought wasn't broken out of the box. FYI....sent an email to leader(manufacturer) over a week ago, never heard back. so much for customer service. Glad there are other suppliers around that are more friendly and helpfull! cleaned pans yesterday and 20" of snow off the roof. heard a faint drip, and checked the buckets, all were dripping in the late afternoon. can't wait for this 24 hour shift to end then off for 4 days and it's gonna bust wide open. :D

[schmidt's]

Hey Jeff you should just give Joe a call I'm sure they would take care of it. When it is maple season email is kind of slow. It's been busy everytime I've been up there the phone never stops and always a line at the counter till well after closing time.

[Pete S]

IF the weather comes for this coming week as predicted,......................it should be shootin' outta the trees!

[WI Sugarpop]

Pete, I hope you're right about that. We've been waiting. Haven't collected for over a week now. Hope I can get the evaporator fired up tomorrow!

[cjmiller272]

Began two taps on march 2, sap was already flowing so the following weekend I put out a total of ten taps. Did my first run of roughly 100 gallons of sap. Came up with just under 2 gallons of beautiful syrup. Took four days to cook down over an undersized fire cobbled under a milk tank. Have a guy making me a custom pan hopefully things are more efficient. I'm predicting a short season the way the trees were flowing back a week or so.

Cody,
Rome WI

[jmayerl]

disregard previous post, Maple hollow took care of the issue with no cost to me! Thanks to the Polacks for coming through when Leader wouldn't!

[WI Sugarpop]

Well, it started running again today. Collected 70 gals @ 3%. They thawed out pretty good this afternoon, but now it's already down to 18 degrees. Good luck to everyone on the final big run.:D

[ComputerSteve]

We haven't collected in almost a week. Trees on our property were flowing again today. Did not get chance to collect or check other property due to "real" job needing attention. Wife going to collect tomorrow morning.

[Pete S]

I went out yesterday, and pulled some ice out of the pails. Some were drippin' a bit, the others were bone *** dry!

[WI Sugarpop]

Boiled down the 70 gals we got yesterday and then went out and collected 105 gals @ 2.5% this afternoon. It's getting better! Now I have work for tomorrow plus I need to pick up another cord of firewood.

[ehafkey]

Gathered about 40gal yesterday and the sugar content was 2.5%+. Finally my gravity tubing thawed out and was running like crazy. Although they are all reds and I can see the buds forming on some of the trees. Do you guys think the reds will just shut off or will I need to worry about buddy sap?

Boy it felt good to fire up the evaporator again. next 5 days look good for sappin.

[WI Sugarpop]

Just got in from boiling. Things are going great. Collected another 190 gals @ 2.1% today. Things look good till next Wed. Couldn't ask for better weather. Highs of 44 degrees and lows of 20 degrees and sunny and calm.

[Pete S]

Weather has been good but our trees are lazy! BUT we've been able to pitch out the ice! :-0

[cjmiller272]

sap started flowing again last two days. hoping my new pan is ready by this weekend to try out.

[WI Sugarpop]

Trees went crazy today. Collected 260 @ 2%. Now I have to boil like crazy. Pete S. it was nice you could stop in today. Happy sapping:lol:. Collected 635 gals this week.

[WI Sugarpop]

Well, it's been a good week for us. We collected 900 gals from Monday thru Sat. Totals for the year so far are 1835 gals of sap and 48 gals of syrup. Looks like the season is almost over. Maybe one or two more days. How has everyone else done in the area?

[Pete S]

Sugarpop, we gave up and have about 20+/- gallons of sap sittin that's not but a day or so old. Would you like it?

[WI Sugarpop]

What do ya mean ya gave up all ready? Was it too nasty out there today? I'll be boiling tomorrow so I could work that 20 gals in.

[Pete S]

It's in the two pails by the evaporator and the blue barrel with the spout on it. Help yerself! I'll be busy all day tomorrow.

[WI Sugarpop]

Pete, thanks for the 15 gals of sap. I think our season is close to being over. It's suppose to freeze tonight and be a beautiful day tomorrow. Tomorrow we will collect sap and pull taps at the same time. Then I have one more boil and it's over. We had a very good year. 50 gals of syrup from 150 taps.

[WI Sugarpop]

We collected and pulled taps on Tuesday. Finished our last boil last night. Started cleaning today, fun fun. Ended up with 53 gals of syrup from 150 taps. It was a good year for us.

[WI Sugarpop]

How did everyone else do that is done for the year?

[Pete S]

We made 8 gallons from 38 taps.

[WI Sugarpop]

Good job Pete. Did Karen give all the syrup away yet?:lol:

[C.Wilcox]

I haven't pulled taps yet, but I'm sure I'm done for the year as well. I made 7 gallons from 27 taps.

[WI Sugarpop]

I guess the season is officially over now. I went out to the bush today and heard the spring peepers for the first time.

[cjmiller272]

Pulled my taps last sunday. 10 taps, 200 gallons of sap, just under 4 gallons of syrup. Next year 150 taps!

[maplematt]

Well, after a lot of work :) we are doing a final boil down this weekend. We boiled down part way and froze everything. Now we are finishing in a couple large batches so its consistent. Looks like maybe 15 gallons so far, probly lose 25% cooking. I'll crunch the numbers and find out how much sap we collected and see how much syrup we end up with.

Now its time for morels! I think this coming week they are going to be out already, at least i'm gonna look, can't hurt!

[WI Sugarpop]

What's happening with everyone in Eastern WI. We have 111 taps in and had a great day on Thurs. Took home 200 gals. We boiled down 170 gal last night and the pans are almost sweet and ready to draw off. We got 10 plus inches of snow so it will be fun putting in 70 more taps today and collecting sap. Busy busy busy!!! Pete S are you tapped in yet?

[Pete S]

JUST in from tappin'! ALL the holes were bone dry, didn't even "sweat" when we drilled in. I felt it had to be today with the upcoming weather and our schedule. Going to actually put a few in our back woods,.............virgin maples ya know! :-)

[jmayerl]

Collected 400 gallons right at 3% yesterday and today. Final touches to the evaporator this morning, now were breaking in the new Smokey Lake pans!

[WI Sugarpop]

We put 69 more taps in yesterday and got all 250 gal boiled down today. Will put 15 more taps in tomorrow and the we will be at 195, 45 more than last year. We are now prepared for the be run for the next 10 days. The new evaporator worked well.

[WI Sugarpop]

We had a good run today. It started to run yesterday afternoon and ran all night and all day today and when we left the woods at 7:00 tonight it was still running. Collected 520 gal on 196 taps. The weather forecast looks like it will be a very short season.

[jmayerl]

Same as pop here. Ran all day and night we ended up around 500 gallons. I'm cooking all night before work tomorrow since it looks like season will end mid next week.

[Pete S]

We did bucket maintenance late yesterday as we were boiling our first batch this year. We yielded about 3+ gallons of syrup from 3% sap. This spile rippin, lid blowing, bucket twisting, blankity,balank, balnk wind can stop any time now!

We gathered this AM about 10:00 CST with a yeild of 92+gallons from 50 taps. All were empty yesterday and some brimming over today. Sap sugar content was 2.9%ish. Gin clear and we're going back out this afternoon to get what we can. Started seeing some ants,...........YEAH! (I'm being sarcastic) At best we'll make 3/4 of what we did last year. Oh well, BUT had a boil rate of 8gph+/- with the warmer weather yesterday! Looking to do the last boil Tuesday.

[WI Sugarpop]

We collected our last sap on Sunday (450gals) and boiled all day Monday. I am getting things cleaned up and will pull taps on Sat. We put 25% more taps in this year and got 25% less syrup because of the weird short season. But we did get 35 gals of syrup and we are thankful for that.

[WI Sugarpop]

Well, we put in 194 taps today. It was 25* and just about every tap ran after we drilled. It took us 3 hours and when we were done some of the first bags had 1 1/2" in them. That was a good sign. It was nice and sunny out and calm. Pete S, I did have my ears covered.:rolleyes: I guess the season is about to begin!!!!

[WI Sugarpop]

Sounds like another snow storm coming here tomorrow night and Tues. Like we need some more snow in the woods to hinder us collecting sap. So far they say 6-11 inches.

[Pete S]

My memory is fading, as I didn't remember this many lat year, but I got a bit more aggressive with the drill today. Set 47 taps with about 8 more potentials in the BACK woods which is butt cheek high in snow!

The snow shoes were a must today.

Many of the warm side taps were drip, drip, drip.

Maybe I should set up my evaporator, as it doesn't even have the stack awn it!

Who's excited!?!?

[Rockivy Farm]

Hello there, first time posting on Maple Trader, will try to figure all this out...
Just finished tapping 60 trees here in Cedarburg, all trees are running.

[kraemerp]

Got 32 taps out yesterday with the kids help..going to try and get out the remaining 20 or so today before snow comes in...did't accuweather call this round flurries last week...What happened to all my buckets?? Swore there were more of them...

[WI Sugarpop]

Last year we collected 450 gal. on March 11 and that was our last run of the season. This year it is March 6 already and we have not collected yet. Ya never know what to expect. But I'm waiting impatiently. Hopefully something will happen soon.

[Super Sapper]

Put 48 in this morning making 92 total so far. Will get back out and put some more in this afternoon. Hopefully we'll have some sap this weekend.

[jmayerl]

Loaded up the truck and headed out to get as many in before dark. Still lots to do on the evaporator but forecast cooled down so I think we have awhile yet. Full tanks of sap make for good motivation anyways.

[WI Sugarpop]

Went to the bush at noon today to drop off supplies for setting up our dumping stations so I checked to see if the sap was running. Yes, it was running about 1 drip every 2 -4 seconds. Some bags had 4" but most had less than that. Poured some sap in a cup and tested the sugar content and then drank the refreshing sweet water. It tested at 2 1/2 %. It's supposed to be sunny and warmer tomorrow so we may be collecting tomorrow and boiling Sat. Will keep you updated.

[jmayerl]

We got 550 sacks up today. Most were running good by 11am and had 1/3-1/2 gallon in them when we left. Need to get another 600 or so up but that may have to wait until after the weekend rain storm. Still a heavy snow pack in the woods. My new motto- snow is good for sappin, but not for tappin!

[SweetSyrup]

Trees are tapped, bring on the sap! Tapped 22 trees/48 taps on my 1.5 acres here in De Pere. Unfortunately, up by my dad's in Florence will be a no-go this year since he's not comfortable walking the woods yet with his new hip and I can't be in two places at once. Still should be plenty of syrup for family and friends though. Can't wait for those first big runs!

[WI Sugarpop]

We set up our dump stations today and collected 50 gal on 200 taps. At least it's starting and sugar content from the whole mix was 2.8%, so I can't complain about that. Will get the evaporator ready tomorrow.

[WI Sugarpop]

We did our first short boil today, enough to get the pans half sweetened. It was a good time to get everything working properly. Just had some fun messing around in the shack.

[Tom M]

I've only got 10 taps in (half in box elder), but managed a half gallon of syrup this weekend. Probably another half gallon by the end of the week.

Hi everyone - new to this tapping thing this yea, but it's in my blood already. Tapped my first 2 tress in my backyard (urban) and tapped 6 trees on some hunting land today. Hoping to do a couple quarts this year and see what happens. I meant to mark all the maples on the place last year and neve got around to it - there might be 30 all told. This is awesome.

[WI Sugarpop]

Went to check the taps today and collected 70 gals at 3.25%. It was 35* and snowed lightly all day but the low pressure must of helped. Now it looks like we have to wait a week again for the next run and then I think it's going to let loose.

[SweetSyrup]

Looking forward to a day where we can hit 40 degrees. Slow going here in De Pere. Tapped on the 9th and only got about 30-35 gallons of sap out of about 20 trees/40-some taps during that time. Best day so far about 8 gallons of sap. Good news is that the neighbor said we can tap his trees, so have just about doubled the amount of trees/taps we have out. Trees were running when we drilled but the first trees we did had sap-cicles on the taps by the time we drilled the last tap. Will be interesting to see what it's like when the trees start running like crazy.

[WI Sugarpop]

It got up to 40* today. Sap started running at noon so we will be collecting tomorrow afternoon. It looks like we will be having a good run by the end of the week. Will be having our family out for Easter dinner and mapling.

[Rockivy Farm]

Good morning, sap is still slowly flowing here. Had our first boil on the 16th and bottled 5.5 gallons of Fancy. Hope warmer weather this week will really get the sap flowing.

[SweetSyrup]

Slow going still here in De Pere. Half the trees been tapped since the 9th, the other half since the 19th, and only about 60 gallons of sap collected in that time frame, mostly from the same 12-15 trees out of the 47 we have tapped. Making good syrup though, getting maybe a pint or two shy of 2 gallons out of that 60 gallons of sap. End of the week though i hope to see the trees finally let loose. Crossing fingers though that we still get a good stretch of weather for sap and we don't jump right into the really nice spring weather that most people want.

[WI Sugarpop]

Well, I think the season is finally starting again. We collected 90 gal today at 3.5%. I hope it stays running now so we can get some good boils. Is anyone else doing any thing?

[Pete S]

Not trying to "one up ya" there Sugarpop,....but I just dipped into our 25 gallons we pulled this afternoon,......we're at a chubby 4%! I used the cup and a sap hydrometer. I could see the line below the 4 in the meniscus. (sp?)

[WI Sugarpop]

That's great "one up on me Pete".:evil: I figure we haven't got a lot of sap yet but at least the sugar is high. We're averaging 3.12% on 329 gal of sap. That's 27 to 1. I certainly don't mind boiling that!!:cool:

[Super Sapper]

I got 16 gallons off 48 taps in one spot and the other 2 spots and yard trees were just starting to drip. I'm hoping today will be a good day finally.

[Super Sapper]

I got 65 gallons on 136 taps today. One bush is primarily Black and Sugar maples and it did about 1/2 gal per tap. The Bush with the reds (40 taps) ran well in the lower spots and the higher ground just had a dribble. The yard trees are starting to pick up also.

[Rockivy Farm]

Collected close to 90 gallons last evening. Decided to start the boil so we can hopefully be bottling our second run this weekend. Weve had some great runs the past few days.

[AVALLES]

60 gallons on Tuesday and 80 yesterday from 116 taps. Looks like everyone will be busy boiling!

[Rockivy Farm]

We had a very busy Easter Sunday, we bottled close to 17 gallons. Should be another busy week looking at the forecast.

[Super Sapper]

Picked up 100 gallons on 136 taps today. The best run before this was 75 so maybe things will let use here. I still have about 20 taps that are on a NE facing slope that still are not giving much.

[treeman57]

I have been collecting sap from my Silvers and one box elder and just finished boiling and filtering today. Ive got about 7 gallons of Maple Syrup so far on 21 taps. With maybe 20 gallons more sap left to boil. My silver's this year have been 3-3.5% and one Box elder is always 2%. My taps really are barley dripping today.

Hope for some colder lows in mid 20s next week.

John

[Rockivy Farm]

Another busy weekend, bottled another 16.5 gallons making our total this year a little over 40 gallons bottled.


60 taps/buckets
70 gallon evaporator

[WI Sugarpop]

Well, we made a decision today that we are pulling the plug and calling it quits for another year. Sunday was our last run and we thought we might get another run today thru the weekend but all it seems to do here is rain. It's supposed to be windy, rainy, and snowy for the next week. Our taps have been in for 6 weeks. Time to move on. Tomorrow we need to finish what's in the pans. We should be at about 45 gal. for the year. Better than last year at 30 gal. How did everyone else do this year?

[Sako]

Pulled taps Saturday 4/6, had 41 trees tapped 4 silvers rest sugar, ended up with 38 gallons and 1 quart for the year on about 1 cord of cedar slab wood. Very happy with my new Smokey lake pan also.

[lpakiz]

Sako,
Wow, you made 38 gallons on 41 trees? I need some of those seeds here.....
Still going in Clark County. Had a decent run yesterday and today. Just hoping the snow in the woods keeps the buds away for a while yet. Looks like good sap weather for a few more days.

[Super Sapper]

I have bottled 19 gallons so far. I am going to stick it out another week or so. My Silvers are about done but the red and sugar/black are still tight and start late. I got 25 gallons this morning from the sugar/blacks and that is since last Sunday. I wasn't expecting to get any but some of the trees didn't know the weather was not right to give sap. The rest were better educated.

[Jeff E]

Sako,
Wow, you made 38 gallons on 41 trees? I need some of those seeds here.....
Still going in Clark County. Had a decent run yesterday and today. Just hoping the snow in the woods keeps the buds away for a while yet. Looks like good sap weather for a few more days.

That is amazing production. Trees I am guessing are yard or fence line trees. High sugar.
I have a smallish (9") yard hard maple, that has a fairly deep crown. Put a bag on it and checked the sugar. 4.2%. That tree will make a lot of syrup over the years!

[AVALLES]

Did the last boil of the year today. Ended up with 28 gallons of syrup from 116 taps. Overall it was a pretty successful season. Can't wait until next year!

[sweeteffinsyrup]

My last boil was Friday April 5th, only because we had to go out of town. Very happy with my 2nd year as 19 taps gave me 27 quarts of syrup. Need to find a way to cook more and cook faster... but I guess almost all of us do. I survived my 1st year with no scars, but this year I somehow managed to BURN AND WARP my pan. I look forward to next year

[Super Sapper]

Boiled 55 gallons on Sat. and 105 on Monday. I pulled the taps on the Silvers on Sunday but the Reds and Hard Maples hopefully have a little time left. Another freeze would be nice for one last run, it seems to only get down to around 33 or so by me lately. I have made about 24 gallons so far on 136 taps.

[Super Sapper]

Looks like I might get one more run this weekend.

[Super Sapper]

Picked up 70 gallons this morning from 96 taps. I will boil it when I get back from working the ambulance brat fry today. We are having an ice cream machine so I am donating some syrup to see how that goes. They have to have dead taste buds if they do not love it.

[Super Sapper]

It seems that this year was a good year for the amount of syrup produced in Eastern Wisconsin. Seeing as I am new to this, I was wondering how the year was for the volume of sap you got this year compared to others. The sugar concentration of the sap was high (mine ranged from 3 to 5%) so less sap was needed to make the amounts of syrup produced. I only hit 1 gallon of sap per tap once this year and made 31 1/2 gallons on 136 taps. If the volumes were typical of a "normal" year, I would be looking at less syrup produced unless I increased my taps. I am just looking at what I need to do for next year if I want to make about the same syrup.

[Sugar Daddy]

It was a very good year! Between my neighbor and me, we collected 870 gallons of sap from 53 taps – using bags and buckets – and finished with 20 gallons of syrup. Most of the trees we tap are reds, with a sap to syrup ratio typically between 45 and 50:1. This year’s 43:1 ratio is indicative of sweeter sap, as many have reported. And the 1½ qt of syrup per tap yield is about 50% more than normal. Overall, sap flows and sugar levels were both up this year.

[WI Sugarpop]

We tapped 192 on Sat. and I checked them yesterday. One third had 1 to 3 inches, the rest were dry. The snow level came down like crazy and we have one little pothole full of runoff. When that goes down we will know that the frost is out and then the trees will run well. We also have 50 more taps to put in at another bush. Good luck to everyone.

[Super Sapper]

Checked my taps today and some of the woods trees were going pretty good but the yard trees are still tight. I will collect tomorrow and see how much I have.

[WI Sugarpop]

On Thursday we put in 48 more taps at our bush near Plymouth. All were running yesterday until the wind picked up. Today we collected at both bushes and got 95 gal. on 240 taps. Not great but it is starting. The trees are getting thawed out and most of the snow in the woods is gone. Both slope south southeast. On Monday or Tuesday I have 46 more taps to put in. Then we will be maxed out at 286. We keep making more work for me.

[1arch]

Our three test taps were flowing today and I noticed some wounded trees were seeping today.
"Qoute" "dad I think it's time to get some taps in today".... "dad says" naw this block of ice in the bucket on the porch is still pretty solid not time yet. Guys I'm dying here dealing with my elder!
He let me tap until it dropped to 32 degrees today and said that's it. No tapping until the tree's are flowing again.
Help me out guy's. Is there real advantage to tapping during a flow and see the tap hole washing out?
Well I got about 60 taps in today and they rinsed the lines out nicely.
240 to go!

[motowbrowne]

It was the opposite for me. I was pushing to wait, we were tapping, but nothing running. Dad said, might as well get them in. I don't think a week either way is a big deal, mine aren't gonna dry up, and you probably won't miss anything.

[WI Sugarpop]

We did our first boil today. Our new arch was awesome and I could smell that our pans are getting sweet.

[WI Sugarpop]

Well, I put 42 more taps in today for a total of 287. The taps I put in this afternoon were running heavy. I expect good runs the next 2 or 3 days. Should be boiling Fri. and Sat. Is anyone boiling around here yet?

[1arch]

Well, I put 42 more taps in today for a total of 287. The taps I put in this afternoon were running heavy. I expect good runs the next 2 or 3 days. Should be boiling Fri. and Sat. Is anyone boiling around here yet?

Sugarpop
Looks like my schedule is coming together the same as yours. I have 268 in so far and hope to get about 30 more in tomorrow.
I have a little setting up to do with my pumps yet.

[Super Sapper]

I only got 22 gallons on 265 taps last Sat. and is frozen in my tank. The yard trees are still tight but starting to drip some. Today looks to be a good day and I have a few inches in the bags on the woods trees from dripping this week. I will collect today and hopefully do my first boil on Friday.

[Super Sapper]

Collected 94 gallons on about 200 of the woods taps today. The yard trees and edges of the woods are still frozen up tight. Even the higher areas of the woods are not flowing just the slopes and low areas.

[shiirooms]

Have 42 taps out near the devils river bottoms, Maribel. Collected 60 gal over this past week. On again off again with the cold snaps. Sun seems to help get the sap going on these cooler days. Still have frost in ground down in the woods. Hopefully all will break loose this coming week. Path down to sugar shack getting slick from mud on top of frozen ground.
DB

[Dave Puhl]

Shiirooms, hows that hoop shed working out? have any trouble with condensation

[Super Sapper]

Boiled 60 gllons on Friday, 100 on Sat. and 150 Monday. The yard trees are still not giving much if any. The trees in the lower parts of the woods are going good and each day a little farther up hill but the higher parts are not doing much yet. They should all do good ater this warm spell hopefully.

[WI Sugarpop]

The trees in the lower parts of the woods are going good and each day a little farther up hill but the higher parts are not doing much yet. They should all do good after this warm spell hopefully.

We're having the same problem plus our trees really get hit by the wind and they don't like that. We've only collected 535 gal of sap so far and got that all boiled down. Our new arch is so fast compared to what we had in the past so we need sap bad. We need to get some of our wood burned up. Our sugar is running at 3.25 % again this year.
So how is everyone else doing this year?

[Super Sapper]

I have been running at 3 to 3.5% also. I have a couple of Boxelders that are doing 5%.

[Pete S]

We had brought in 90 gallons +/- and boiled that, just got 75 gal on Sunday, and I'm guessing maybe 20+ in pails in the woods. BTW I HATE wind. So we've averaged about 2.8 gallons per tap,.......................IN OVER THREE WEEKS! Yeah us! Very disappointed with our spring weather. Some of the trees were dripping today.

[Super Sapper]

I bottled up 13 gallons yesterday, I am all caught up now and looks like it should run today.

[WI Sugarpop]

Collected 180 gal today. Now I will have something to boil tomorrow. Looks like some good runs on Sat. and Sun.

[Super Sapper]

I picked up 185 gallons last night, will start to boil in a little while.

[Super Sapper]

Collected 300 gallons over the weekend and boiled it down in 8 1/2 hours yesterday. I do know if it ran yesterday but will find out after work today.

[WI Sugarpop]

Collected 220 on Sat. and 165 today. Today we had moths and flies and finally heard the peepers so we're close to being done. Won't pull the taps for a while yet. Not the best season in the world.:(

[Super Sapper]

I collected another 100 gallons last night and the flies and some moths were in the bags. It looks like there may be a freeze tonight and early next week so maybe we can get a few more runs. My main bush in on a NE facing slope and the trees do not show any signs of budding yet so hopefully I have a week or two left.

[Pete S]

Pulled our taps today.

Running slow, taps been in for almost 5 weeks, moths, ants, and cloudy sap. Still at about 3.25% sugar though. Boiled it all down and will finish boil probably later this week.

Did better than what we thought we would for 2014.

Time to clean up all the stuff and move on to yet another project.

[WI Sugarpop]

We're all done for this year. It wasn't a very good year. We put 90 more taps in this year and got 10 less gal. of syrup. I'm cleaning up now. See ya all next year.

[1arch]

How did the year shake out for you Sugarpop?
Cooked another 300 gallons of sap today. The first 2 gallons came off dark then the next 8 came off exceptionally light.
We pulled 45 gallons on 317 taps so far and I'm refusing to stop yet.:evil: Really hoping for more with the freezing coming early next week.

[WI Sugarpop]

We made about 37 gal. on 287 taps minus all the trees that decided they weren't going to run at all. We would have been better off pulling them and tapping telephone poles.:lol: We caught a lot of cold east wind off the lake and the trees don't like that. I don't think it's worth waiting till next week. With the warm temps. we would have to clean everything just for a little more sap that might be garbage by the time we cook it. My brother has land up by New London and he made 70 gal. on 320 taps.

[Pete S]

I feel the same Sugarpop. It wasn't really worth waiting and MAYBE having more sap. The syrup we made is wonderful.

[Super Sapper]

I'm waiting it out to see what this week brings. I waited all year and most of the trees are not close to budding out. It looks like it could be good this week, a fair share of the trees just started giving decent sap just as it warmed up so we will see.

[Sugarmaker]

Glad to see you guys are still at it. A friend near Gillett said it was still cold there so that might mean a extended season for maple producers? We are done for the year in Northwest Pennsylvania, and in clean up mode. So many other projects to get going on, that my head is spinning:) We had a good year.
Regards,
Chris

[shiirooms]

In the northern part of Manitowoc County, I tapped 44 trees around March 10. Sap flow was on and off all season for me. Collected a total of 550 gal sap and finished off to a little better than 7 gal of syrup. Goal was to made 20+ gal this year. This past week the sap slowed to a trickle and started to appear cloudy. Collected less than 2 gal since Wednesday morning. Shut it down Friday. Pulled the taps and cleaning up. Turkey season started and didn't want to upset any neighbor with my collecting for such a small return. Eternal optimist: always next year.
DB

[WI Sugarpop]

So are any of you guys that didn't pull taps yet getting any sap? I know that the conditions around here have not been too favorable. We pulled the plug last Friday and got everything canned and now I've been cleaning. Not the best weather for that either.

[lpakiz]

They are running really good right now. I was gone til 3 PM, but when I did get home, those pails were filling fast.....

[Super Sapper]

I collected 115 gallons this afternoon and a lot of the taps were running pretty good. The rest of the yard trees finally started to give some sap also.

[markcasper]

Trees just absolutely poured, started at 1-2pm! I hauled 1200 gallons and have another 800 to pick up yet and their still running good. Will be boiling all night. Sap really cleared up too.

[sticbow]

Last three days have been good ones here in the Southwest. Frozen gravity lines not popping loose till 2pm on Monday and Tuesday, but lines are running full bore till sundown. North slopes running like crazy this afternoon Should run for a while tonight with the predicted temp. Crystal clear and 1.9%. Everyone sugaring around me pulled the pin two weeks ago. Glad my brother talked me into hanging on longer!!!

[treeman57]

I have 26 taps in Silver Maples and one boxelder. All trees ran. Collected 18gallons of sap from yesterday sugar content ranging from 2 to 5% a tree. Even one of the Silver Maples had flowered from previous warm spell and it was running, even tasted that sap and it was sweet. A brief check this morning and the taps were dripping through the night. low was only 34 here this Morning. We should have another 2 good days after today with lows in upper 20s forecasted. :) I will be boiling this weekend or on Monday.

[treeman57]

By 10am had another 26g of sap through the night and they are still a drip.drip.drip.drip

[1arch]

Sap flow was good again today. Collected 350 gallons between yesterday and today. Some on buckets were running over. Gonna have to dock someone's pay;)

[Super Sapper]

I've collected 600 gallons of sap from Wed. evening to noon on Friday. Sap ran throught he night on Wed. and bags and containers were full. I lost quite a bit from bags pulling off holders when they were full. All the yard trees finally are flowing very good, I got 80 gallons off of 53 yard taps on Thursday and several 5 gallon containers were overflowing. I hadn't gotten 1/2 of that the whole season up to that point.

[Super Sapper]

I pulled my taps on Monday and bottled up the rest of my syrup last night. I ended up with 1715 gallons of sap and 58.125 gallons of syrup on 270 taps. I pulled in just over 700 gallons of sap the last week.

[1arch]

65 gallons on 317 taps

[WI Sugarpop]

Looks like I may wait till about the 10th of March before I get too nervous.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/plymouth-wi/53073/march-weather/341503?monyr=3/1/2015&view=table

Pete, I agree with you on that. We just need to make sure every thing else is ready to fly. What is everyone else thinking?

[Dave Puhl]

With all this below zero temps it will be awhile. I normally tap around the 10th of March..but not this year..hope it don't go from zero to 8o degrees like it did one year...

[Super Sapper]

I did my first boil on 3-20 last year and it doesn't look like it will be any sooner this year. I still have stuff to get ready yet, it's been too cold to get much done in the woods. With the lack of snow and cold the yard and roadside trees may not do too well like last year. It took until the week before Easter for them to start and then it was over.

[WI Sugarpop]

Pete and Super Sapper, now check the numbers starting March 7. That is the weekend that I normally like to tap and it looks like we better get ready to go for it.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/plymouth-wi/53073/march-weather/341503?monyr=3/1/2015&view

[lpakiz]

Here in central wisconsin, I usually don't get too excited until the 15-17th of March, that's St Pats day. I WILL go a week earlier, if the forecast looks really favorable.

[WI Sugarpop]

I see everyone is wondering what everyone else is doing so for the record, we are tapping Sat. March 7th. Unless the weathermen really screw up again!!!!!!!!!! I finally got my ropes and pulleys up in my cupola. Tapping equipment is all ready to go. Just need to rinse and set pans on evaporator. Here we go!!!!:)

[Super Sapper]

I'm planning on starting tapping this Friday. I have a few more tubing to put up and finish my temporary shelter (wife calls it Hooterville) and move the evaporator into it. Some other odds and ends and I should be good to go. I have 100 on 3/16 tubing and using some shurflo pumps for the lower parts and will see how it goes.

[WI Sugarpop]

We gotta get past today's snow and 2 days of cold and then we should be good to go. Happy tapping everyone.:D

[Super Sapper]

Put in 209 taps yesterday. Have to strip up some tubing at MIL's and tap the other spots this weekend.

[WI Sugarpop]

We put in 300 taps today and they started dripping mid afternoon. In the pics are my son and his two sons. I had 12 of my 13 grand kids out helping today. That is the fun of doing this hobby. It is an annual event with lunch in the bush.


1090010901

[1arch]

I tapped 66 today on the steepest part of the woods. Had to fix some lines and added a couple maturing trees. That hill Kicked my but.
You guys must have really been hustling to get 300 in!
Some were moist but nothing dripping yet.

[Pete S]

Sugarpop, there should be a law about kids working for their Grandparents,................it should be MANDITORY! That is very cool! Creating memories!

[WI Sugarpop]

Checked and picked up blown off bags today. Some had nothing and some had 3-4 inches. I might collect tomorrow. Here we go.:)

[WI Sugarpop]

Ran some today, but not like I thought. I didn't collect but hopefully tomorrow and boil on Wed. BTW I was itching to boil today so this AM I made a batch of sugar. That helped my itch.:lol:

[WI Sugarpop]

Collected 45 gal at our 100 tap bush today. We didn't collect at our 200 tap bush cause it didn't do as well. Hopefully will be better tomorrow.

[AVALLES]

We collected a little more than 20 gallons off 160 taps today. Pretty slow.

[goldenmaple1]

We're not getting much of anything. We don't even have enough RO'd sap to fill our evaporator yet. The weird/scary thing is that the sap is 1%. I'm hoping it'll bust loose soon. It's like Mother Nature has her own plan for things. Sheesh!!

[Super Sapper]

Not much running for me except the 3/16 lines. I have 3 runs of 3/16 running into 2 separate lines (77 taps total) with shurflo pumps with other taps on a 3/4 inch main. I have 90 some taps on each pump and the only sap running is on the 3/16, the lower taps filled the 5/16 drops but no movement in them. I had about 40 gallons total last night in that woods. Bags are not doing much either. I will check the other woods with a 3/16 line today.

[1arch]

We may have to combine all our sap to make it worth starting up the evaporator.
Pete has a brand new 2*6 we could all meet there and burn the shine off his

[lpakiz]

Ed and Pete,
I'm here in Clark County and I'm getting a little sap. Brought 150 in this AM from yesterday, and looks like there might be 200 or so in the tank by tomorrow morning. Built a 12 volt releaser and the old SP-11 is putting 25-26 out at the ends of the mainlines. (Remember this only 200 taps). I'm running the pump on an old 3.5 HP Tecumseh motor with the motor turning around 1000 RPMs. I estimate the pump going around 200?? RPM.
Be patient, your time is coming and soon you will be saying "Enough, already, when is this SH.. .. gonna stop running...."

[1arch]

Ed and Pete,
I'm here in Clark County and I'm getting a little sap. Brought 150 in this AM from yesterday, and looks like there might be 200 or so in the tank by tomorrow morning. Built a 12 volt releaser and the old SP-11 is putting 25-26 out at the ends of the mainlines. (Remember this only 200 taps). I'm running the pump on an old 3.5 HP Tecumseh motor with the motor turning around 1000 RPMs. I estimate the pump going around 200?? RPM.
Be patient, your time is coming and soon you will be saying "Enough, already, when is this SH.. .. gonna stop running...."

OK I'll hold you to that:)

[Super Sapper]

I collected 90 gallon yesterday morning and boiled it off. I went later in the afternoon and not much had run, maybe 25 gallons total for everything I have (335 taps). The only taps that seem to be giving anything is the ones on 3/16 and a few bag trees but not much. At least I finally go the evap. set up and running. I have 1 run of 3/16 that is pulling 21 inches but the other 2 in the same woods are 10 to 14 only. The one pulling is mostly on trees on the west side and the other 2 are in the woods farther and not as thawed out yet. The better trees lower in the woods are idle even on shurflo pumps but the ground is just barely starting to get greasy.

[Pete S]

We put our taps in yesterday. I believe all were at least "weeping" when tapped,..............some were running. MUD, MUD, MUD!

As we always say,..............you don't have to be crazy to do this, but it really helps!

BTW Ed if you want to be the first to "dirty" my rig,...........that may be best as I don't think I can do it myself! Too purty!

[littleTapper]

Hi, new guy here. I'm in northwest Racine county. Slow start as well (20 taps). There was some flow yesterday on trees that had dry buckets the days before. Hopefully things get moving here soon.

[jvolkman]

Ok, I have been reading this forum for about 2 years but never posted. You folks mentioned that this hobby would get you hooked, but did not mention it would be a full on addiction, like sappers anonymous or something.
I started out 4 years ago with some sugars on work property in Milwaukee. Made about 3 gallons of syrup with LP and buffet pans in my garage. Hooked.
Year 2. 2012....well nuff said there. Still hooked though.
Fast forward to 2015 season. Craigslist ad got me 50 trees in Washington county, 2X4 divided pan, 32 quart brew kettle for finishing, homemade RO (spectacular by the way).
And my favorite, a 125 gallon Fleet Farm tank in the back of my 2003 Caravan with a 12V bilge pump for transfer. Full on addiction
"Hi, my name is John and I'm a syrup guy"
Anyway. Very fun hobby. Get me outside after a long Wisconsin winter. Hoping for 10+ gallons this year. Homemade RO is fantastic. Thanks to the flux capacitor thread for that.
So far, very slow start. 50 trees and about 15 gallons so far. Better days to come.....
Good luck to everyone this year.

[WI Sugarpop]

Welcome LittleTapper and jvolkman to the Eastern WI thread. I just did my first boil of the year and almost sweetened the pans with 94 gal. Hope the sap flow picks up a lot.

[littleTapper]

Thanks for the welcome! Feels great to be tapping trees again.

Got a little sap today (3 gallons), which is sad, but an improvement. Sure hope it cools down enough tonight. Saying low of 34. Thankfully we're on a lake so we have a giant block of ice to help cool things down a little more than they forecast.

[Super Sapper]

Welcome guys, it is an addiction. I collectd 85 gallons today and will boil in the morning. The 3/16 lines that were giving most of the sap were dried up today. Some yard trees gave a little but pretty slow.

[littleTapper]

Sure got colder last night than forecasted. 26 degrees right now. Run, trees, run!

[littleTapper]

Pouring out of the trees today here in Racine county!

[Super Sapper]

Collected 125 gallons yesterday and boiled it off. More of the yard trees are starting to give but lower woods trees are still froze up.

[littleTapper]

Open buds on some of my trees :(

[WI Sugarpop]

What kind of maples are you tapping? I went to one of our bushes today and was cutting brush to make it easier to carry buckets and I checked buds and they are not even close. We are just getting over winter. Not a lot of sap today but it went from 1.75 to 2.5.

[Pete S]

Tapped last Wednesday afternoon. Dumped from 76 taps,.......................and got,.....................after 5 days,......................50+ gallons! Whooo Hooo!

Really hope things pick up.

Anybody have a recipe for "moths"?

[WI Sugarpop]

Tapped last Wednesday afternoon. Dumped from 76 taps,.......................and got,.....................after 5 days,......................50+ gallons! Whooo Hooo!

Really hope things pick up.

Anybody have a recipe for "moths"?
Pete, we have gotten 200 gal from 300 taps, similar I guess. As for the moths, we were just talking about them and we figured you could serve em on an oak leaf.

[littleTapper]

Sugarpop, mostly reds. Sugars are still ok.

[GreeneSchool]

Hey Pete,
Not much better by Adell, we have collected 140 gallons off 90 taps. Hoping that it will pick up this week.

[1arch]

Just poured 200 gallons of 2.1% into the evaporator and got 1/2 gallon out.
"She is sweet"
Now we're ready for the heavy flow this week:D

[Super Sapper]

I picked up 60 gallons last night and boiled it. I have gotten 360 gallons on 335 taps so far. Most has been from the 3/16 lines I put in. As far as Silvers and Reds budding, is it the flower buds or leaf buds opening that signal the end?

[littleTapper]

As far as Silvers and Reds budding, is it the flower buds or leaf buds opening that signal the end?

Good question. These appear to be the flower buds...so maybe not done yet? Thought it was leaf buds that was the end. Been trying to do research. Past tapping experience as a teenager was based on "ok, that's enough sap for me - time to stop" :)

[Sunny Knoll Farm]

Getting nervous - pickup up 25 gal. last night from 450 taps. Season grand total of 130 gal. and climbing real sloowww. . Hope to get syrup out of the evaporator tonight after we empty bags! We never had time to run the RO last year with all the upgrades. I was hoping to put it good use this year - but really need 300 gallons to fire it up. We'll see maybe this weekend.

[Pete S]

Dumped last night. In 24 hours on 76 taps, we could ALMOST fill a quart jar with sap.

2015 Syrup: $10,000.00/gal

1/2 pint of moths: $20.00

Come AWN already!

I'll fill my new 2x6 with tap water if I have to in order fire it up! :-)

[WI Sugarpop]

Zero gallons today plus half the bags on the ground. Something better happen soon!!!!!!!!!!!:cry:

[1arch]

Dumped last night. In 24 hours on 76 taps, we could ALMOST fill a quart jar with sap.

2015 Syrup: $10,000.00/gal

1/2 pint of moths: $20.00

Come AWN already!

I'll fill my new 2x6 with tap water if I have to in order fire it up! :-)

Pete if your gonna get that much for syrup you should consider tapping more trees:emb:

If you find a market for the moths I'll split mine with you for 50% of the profit!

[Pete S]

On Tuesday we had about 2" of sap in a pail,...............and 8-10 moths.

This WHOLE "no sap" thing is my/our fault,...........we bought a new rig. The unspoken "Newtons Law"

[Dave Puhl]

I hear ya that's the same way it happened to me when I bought my 2x6 in 07..we just gotta hang in there..

[lpakiz]

Pete, look out! Ran great here in Clark County yesterday, and wind is from the west. I think you're gonna get hit today!

[Troy D]

The buckets were running over today. I had 2 one gallon milk jugs overflowing today at 4 pm I never thought these smaller trees would do that. Two of my better trees had darn near 3 gallons. I hope for more. Good luck the rest of the week for all of you.

[WI Sugarpop]

We had a good run today, for a while we were starting to wonder what was going on!!! Monroecheeseman, how are you doing this year? Haven't heard much from you.

[Pete S]

"Ma" went and checked this afternoon about 5ish. Things were running well and well have full pails tomorrow.

We'd have dumped today but we had a new evaporator to get dirty!

Ran 100+ gallons through her this afternoon! OMG just like a Toyota,...............Oh what a feeling!

[WI Sugarpop]

Did ya squeal the tires a little? Oh, it's front wheel drive.

[Ormsby,WI Sapper]

Great run today just North of Antigo, 250 gallons on 100 taps. Most of the buckets were over flowing. Only a gallon of syrup cooked so far.
Looks like next few days should be ok.

[Monroecheeseman]

Things are slow just like last year. I started putting 20 bags in on the 11th and another 30 pails on the 15th. Only have around a total of 30 gallons of sap so far. Monday it was around 70 degrees seemed like i had more moths than sap. Monday night/Tuesday morning it was so windy some of the bags were blown off the trees, no sap that day. I did finally get 15 gallons of sap today (18th), so maybe it's starting to come around.

[1arch]

;);)Ahh
Excellent run today!
I'm playing Hookie from work tomorrow

[Pete S]

I'm tellin' yer boss!

[Sunny Knoll Farm]

Running - western Fond du Lac Co. Collected 250 gallons on 450 taps at 3.5%. All Silvers opened up, most of Sugars are running but not as strong. Sweet!

[Super Sapper]

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

[Super Sapper]

Collected another 115 gallons today.

[WI Sugarpop]

We collected about 180 gallons yesterday but the cold SSE wind stopped things today. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.