Tapping dates

[Woody]

Hey guys, Just curious about the dates when you generally start tapping. Do you start at the first good weather in Feb. or wait more towards the end of the month. Was trying to figure out the pros and cons and if you could drill too early and then have a long cold spell shut things down to where the hole dries up.

thanks

[Jim Schumacher]

I tap in the far north around the middle of march, buds appear at the end of April. Last year I missed one good run.

[C.Wilcox]

I live in the southeast part of the state and I typically tap about the first weekend in March and am done by the first or second weekend in April.

[red maples]

not in WI. but last year (my first year) I was watchin' one guy that lives in the next town and he tapped what I thought was early but he has been doing it for years!!!so I did the same which was around feb. 7 got some sap. but then got 2+ weeks of nasty cold. and some holes didn't run good after that. So this year I plan to really watch the weather. and I might even give my drill to my wife to hide until there is a really good stretch of good sap runnin' weather.

I wish I knew about the trader then!!!!

many mistakes last year. but much better prepared this year!!!

[dschultz]

I tap around the 1st of march,would like to tap a little later but can't cause it takes 6 days to get tapped in and then another 2 days to get the tanks and evaporator setup and ready.
Then it's between the 12th and 15th when I do my first boil.

[jfroe939]

Some years it's around the 10th of March, others toward the 17th. Usually it takes a little for the trees to "wake up" even if the weather seems optimal because the trees are still frozen inside, so missing out on a few days isn't a deal-breaker. Sap runs usually aren't more than 0.5-1.0 gallons from these first few runs. But, one hates to miss the first end of sap because that's the stuff that makes very light syrup. On top of that, you've been looking out the window since January and can't wait to get in the woods, so I'm guessing the tendency is most common to be early versus too late to tap. jason

[Alty78]

I am from central wisconsin and we usually tap around march 20-25 but our woods slopes to the north so it is always a week or two later then the neighbors.

[bison1973]

I'm in central WIS (clark Co). Typically, we tap from about March 15th-18th.

[Monroecheeseman]

I'm in southern Wisconsin, right next to the state line. Usually we tap the first or second week in march. Tried late February one year but didn't get much. Since it's just a hobby, we usually are done by the end of March.

[KenWP]

You guys are tres south of me and tap almost the same dates as we do. Hmmm. I tapped March 5 last year and should have stayed in bed for another week or so. Was the 18 before I got enough to make it worth boiling. Took another week to get another batch and then every 4 days and then every day for two weeks and then zilch on april 20.

[HOSER]

I too, am located in Juda. This will be my first year and am planning on tapping 15 or so trees on my property. I am on Lumber Yard Road just outside of Juda. Where are you tapping at? Maybe I could bother you for some pointers, if you would be interested?

Thanks,

HOSER

[markcasper]

Ken, It has everything to do with your proximatey to the ocean, even though you may be a bit further north.

[minime53]

I live near La Crosse Wisconsin.
I have been doing this for four years now and think the middle of febuary usually works for me. Just cause otherwise I'm running arould like a mad man trying to get everything ready.


80 taps and growing. to much fun!
Ford tractor with water container for collecting
3x5 and 2x3 home made evaporators

[marky the mapler]

Up in the Ladysmith area, we tapped around the 5th of March and had around 125 gallons for the first boil on the 9th of March. If the weather pans out, I'm stickin' with that plan this year. Spray a bleach solution in the holes to make 'em last longer into the season if you tap early!

[sap runner]

last year tapped 400 3rd weekend of feb and 250 1st weekend of march.Learned somthing,wait till march.this year I will be on vacation feb27 till march 6,that should keep me from tapping.Shawano,wis

[Trader Vic]

Last year was my first year at this and I believe we tapped around March 15th and the trees dried up about April 10th or so. We have a small operation compared to most and will likely stay that way. Last year we tapped 50 trees and this year I'll add about 15 more. Just bought 20 new (used) taps and 15 new (used) buckets.

Regards, Vic

[sap runner]

bored to death waiting for the season to start,where are you from and how many taps.Me-Shawano 2010- 850 taps.
May the sap run soon

[Alty78]

from marathon up by wausau. planning on about 1000 taps maybe more if we get motivated and have the time

[southfork]

Rhinelander, Oneida County.
800-1000 buckets in 2010
2 1/2 x 8 Dallaire and another 3 X 8 Homemade, stainless pans
10th year
USDA inspected

[Jim Schumacher]

This 40 degree stuff is FREAKING ME OUT!!!

[Rhino]

Steady......Steady.......Take a deep breath Jim and relax a little. Watched Wausau, channel 9 weather, and by next Wednesday only a high of 21. Even had a -1 thrown in there for a low temp. Would like to know if the trees weeped a little today though. I read that DRiske (Doug) started tapping in Athens so maybe he can give us a scouting report. With no frost in the ground (at least in Tomahawk), I would think the first sap weather should have the trees wakeing up fast.

[Jeff E]

Guys this is the toughest time of the season, we read the BIGSAP warnings from out east and lose control!
This is year 9 for me, and talked to a guy this week who has been tapping for 3 decades, he says no sooner than March 1 no matter what.
We always make more syrup in April here, so we dont want taps getting dry in mid April when the big runs often come.

so, BACK AWAY FROM THE DRILL, get everything ship-shape and when we hit the third month, watch the weather and make it happen! We were the 4th highest producing state last year...lets do it right!

[Rhino]

Jeff, Thats what my thinking is. Just watch the extended forecast and hope they are accurate and tap accordingly. Up by us it seems that first week in April is the bucket busting month. We are by Spirit Falls which always seems to be the coldest area on the Tomahawk radio station every morning. It takes us 5-6 days to tap so i watch and plan around that. Feb.27th and 28th is our wash/set up weekend so i hope the weather dosn't turn before that. Worked the last 2 days makeing wood for the 2011 season. No rest for a syrup producer i guess.

[TF Maple]

I checked the 15 day forecast for Appleton which is west of my location and the temps are predicted to fall for most of that time period until around March 2nd. They claim 85% accuracy but I don't know if that is true or not.
Then the temps are expected to inch up so the first weekend in March is looking pretty good. So while it was tempting lately with the nice weather, I'm glad I didn't put any taps in yet. Seems like we can always find something else we can fix up or get ready for the season anyway.
Stay calm everyone, but if you did some tapping, let us know what happened.

[bison1973]

My family has been in this area (clark county) since the 1850's; some of the first to settle the area. We've been making syrup in some form since that time. I grew up making syrup with my father and grandfather. Never ever have they tapped in FEB. The earliest ever for them was March 8th. Every year I hear people getting excited about tapping in mid Feb. Way too early... remember this is Wisconsin. Wait and you'll be glad you did.

[Rhino]

Bison, I remember only one time when we tapped in late Feb. and also made syrup in that month in my 21 years of doing this. I didn't write what year it was but guessing in the early 90's. Also remember it was a poor year for most, but the ones who did tap in late Feb. caught some early flows that most producers didn't. We were alot smaller back then so it wasn't something we lost sleep over if we tapped early. Now it's a diff. story. Excuse me.......I have to go check accuweathers 15 day extended forecast for the 3rd time today.............

[markcasper]

1987 was a early spring, alot of people tapped the 1st of March that year.

I tapped in late Feburary the following years and made quantities of syrup the 1st of March:

1992
1998
2000
2002

Have not tapped in Feburary since 2002 and that year I tapped 1/4 of them between the 16th and 20th of Feburary, boiled on the 23rd. That was the earliest ever, then was followed by 3 weeks of cold.

All the rest of the years it has been around the 18th-20th of March before things let loose and some of those it has been the 25th of March.

[Dave Puhl]

First week in March but as you know the weather gives us the sap..I dont like th eidea of tap holes sealing up whem tapping to early....this year might be different with little to no frost

[Hurry Hill Farm]

My rule? When it is above 40 degrees, four days in a row, with no possiblity of zero weather to follow.

Hurry Hill
Edinboro PA

[Chemist]

Ran the rest of my tubing today. I have four lines out. One has 7 taps, one has 5, one has 6 and the other has 5. Should be interesting. All running downhill in my yard. I buried a 24 gallon container, and 2 ten gallon containers so far. I packed snow tight around each one so it can't blow away and so it stays good and cold if we get some warm weather. Since it is in my yard I can watch it pretty close. Now time to get the buckets ready and watch the weather!

[driske]

This warm spell is unnerving. We hardly froze last night. HI of 37F today.
We normally start tapping Feb24 and hope to be done by March 4th. I went a week early this year because of a couple factors. #1. Check valve adapters. #2. No frost in the woods and this mild weather.
In the end we need to be ready to make syrup in this neighborhood by St. Patricks Day. 80% of the crop comes the last 10 days of March to the first 10 days of April.
It's been really nice tapping so far, bare handed works so much easier than heavy gloves, when handling the small plastic pieces that adapters are.With the crust, light weight small frame snowshoes are carrying even the big guys easily. 4,000 in, 6,000 to go.
Still ,I hope the cooler nights usually brought on by a waxing moon are forthcoming.

[TF Maple]

Wow, big change in the forecast for my area from last night to this morning. Had been a gradual warmup starting about March 3rd to temps around 38 degrees for the first weekend in March. Now it is slowly warming up until the 4th then, BANG, perfect tapping weather. Highs 40 - 44 and lows in the 20's. If they are correct with this, this is looking like the big beginning we were waiting for(if you are still waiting that is).

[Rhino]

Seen the big change early this morning on accuweathers 15 day forecast also. This weekend if the local channels have their 7 day forecast warm like that, we will start drillin and fillin on March 1st. Get done around March 7th. Would like to hold off till March 8th to start the drills, but the no frost gets me nervous. Watching closely.

[markcasper]

Rhino, I seen the accuweather too , but they are seldom right and mostly wrong. What is true is NO FROST in the woods whatsoever, I confirmed that today.

[Rhino]

Now accuweather took all the 40's out of the forecast for the extended weather for Tomahawk. In fact they have it real cold for the week of March 7 It's just a big guessing game for them with alot of high tech equipment.

[C.Wilcox]

Just went out and drilled a 1/8" test hole in a soft maple. It started dripping right away and that's not good. I have way too much to get done yet to already have sap dripping. I have to check the forecast again, but as of now, I'm hoping to have taps in by this coming weekend.

[Steve G]

The weather is looking good for the southern part of the state. I will be tapping Friday afternoon.

[Pete S]

We're west of Sheboygan and plan to tap tomorrow/Thurs. Weather is going to warm up real nice, and plenty of sun!

We still boil outside, and need to coordinate sap run,..amount of sap collected,....................to day of boil,...........etc.

Actually the "Boss" is the one relly tryin' to hold back! I got'er softened up a bit so we'll be boilin' this Sunday,....I HOPE!

[WI Sugarpop]

Put 252 taps in last Saturday and on Monday and finished up yesterday. Some bags were half full yesterday afternoon. Might be boiling with three 2x4 pans this year.

[Pete S]

RON!

OMG! You're outta control!

IF,..IF we have some extra sap this year,.............give you a call?

[Packerfan]

40's coming here in Southern Wis. Next 10 days! Tap time!

[Pete S]

Still drippin' purty good at 5:30 pm western Sheboygan Co.!

[WI Sugarpop]

Hey Pete,
I see ya made a new rig. Looks good. How many taps are ya putting in this year? We have a new bush this year with 142 taps with room for expansion. Also, Dan & I help my brother put 110 taps in on his land. Plan on boiling it all at our place. Have a fun year.

[paul miller]

hey guys

just north of you in calumet co plan on starting to tap soon

hope good weather stays around

[SHOCKERS]

Put in all my Taps on Monday. Some are running good some are not running at all.:lol: Will be boiling tomorrow.

[TF Maple]

Added 40 taps today and any tree with a halfway decent southern exposure was dripping a drop a second. On the northern half of the sugar bush usually nothing.

[Monroecheeseman]

Tapped one "test" tree last Sunday, had about an inch in the bottom of the bag tonight. Tapped another 8 while i was in the woods. One of the bigger trees we have was dripping pretty good when i tapped it around 5:30pm. With 40's predicted the next couple days, i'll put more taps in Saturday and try to do a small boil on Sunday. I still have a good 6-8 inches of snow in the woods, i probably just should have waited, but the weather has been awesome around here!

[C.Wilcox]

Test tapped two trees just a few minutes ago. The one higher up on the hillside in full sunlight is dripping once per second. The one lower on the slope isn't running at all. I'm going to put the rest of them in tomorrow. Still need to finish bricking the arch and cut a hole in the roof of the shed for the smoke stack, but I think I'm just about there.

Anybody on here know who taps the woods immediately west of USH 41 a few miles south of Fond du Lac? When I drove by yesterday I noticed they had all their buckets out already.

Good luck to everybody!

[TF Maple]

In 24 hours I got 6 gallons from 30 trees tapped on south or east or west sides. Really surprised by the sugar content which I didn't check at all last year. 3.5% is the lowest I saw on one tree and everything else is 4 to 6%. It certainly would be great to keep those percentages all season. Dream on!

[C.Wilcox]

Put in 28 taps yesterday, mostly in red maples. Some were completely dry yet and others were dripping slightly. There was still a bit of snow in the woods so hopefully it's just a matter of time before they take off. I did find 5 sugar maples in the new property that I'm tapping and those ran like crazy when I tapped them. Being that so many taps were dry I am holding off on putting in the nest 25 until I see a little more activity. Maybe by Sunday night we'll have enough sap from our 28 taps to fire up, but I don't think so. I did do a test boil with the new rig yesterday night with water. For a homemade operation I think it's going to work pretty well. A small, even fire (to set all the refractory cement) still brought 15 gallons to a boil pretty easily.

[Wanabe1972]

TF Maple how do you check your sugar content. I was just wondering if there is a simple method without a pricey refractometer. Ive always wondered what my sugar content is but never wanted to shell out 200.oo or so dollars.

[SugarHill]

TF Maple how do you check your sugar content. I was just wondering if there is a simple method without a pricey refractometer. Ive always wondered what my sugar content is but never wanted to shell out 200.oo or so dollars.

Look for a floating sap hydrometer to test your sap, similar to a brix syrup hyrdometer. Way cheaper then the refrac, but the refrac is the best.

[syrupdreamer]

I bought by refec from e-bay for $30 comes from china but very accurate and reliable. The range is 0-18 brix. I have compared it to a hydrometer and right on the money!

[marky the mapler]

Tapped Thurs and Fri...just have my drop lines to put in. Using two gallon alluminum buckets, and I expect them to be full by the end of today.

[jdesq]

I tapped 10 trees yesterday afternoon in Sheboygan county- checked them 1 hour ago and 3 were dripping pretty good the others not much. I collected about 4 gallons of sap so I'm off to a slow start.

[TF Maple]

I have an Atago N1 refractometer I used to use when I was farming to check sugar levels in alfalfa plants, has a 0-32% range and I don't remember what I paid for it. Certainly the fastest way to check sugar and I only need a drop or two compared to trying to float a hydrometer. I calibrate it with some RO water from my drinking faucet.
I also have my son's wine hydrometer which has a 0-35% balling range which is the same as brix.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Well they are taped and boiling in Door County the frost has been out of the ground for a month and the weather is ahead of last year by 15 days:mad: Im thinking Ill miss the season.

[TF Maple]

Collected 17 gallons from 90 taps today and sugar reading is down to 4% now. Might have enough to sweeten the pan tomorrow.

[elmcreekmaple]

One of us was at the shack today tapping just a couple of trees - they ran like crazy - we will be tapping full bore tomorrow

[WI Sugarpop]

Collected 175 gal. today from 250 taps. Got our work cut out for us now. We were used to 60 taps until this year. Me back is killing me!!!

[Haynes Forest Products]

I have 2 brand new finish pans 2 new cordless drill with extra batteries and a auto draw waiting and Im not going this year:cry: :cry: :cry: I might have to quit reading this thread.

[WisconsinMaple]

Tapped 16 Maples for the first time ever tonight. Kids named each tree and tasted all that produced drops of sweet sap water! The syrup project experience is catchin' on! Now onto build that block arch for the 2x2 pan.

Wisconsin Maple
Campbellsport

[Rhino]

Our crew got an estimated 1900 taps in yesterday. First bag taps done in the morning had a quart in at around 4 oclock. (some) Still spotty as it depends on the location of the tree. Low land trees, and north side tappped trees still sleeping. Today we have an estimated 600 taps and we should be done tapping. Will start repairing flagged problems and should be ready.

[fernwood2009]

Put in 50 taps last Saturday and Sunday. Doing more this weekend. Have about 35 gallons of sap as of yesterday. No pattern to which trees are running. Some in heavily shaded areas and others that get a lot of sun are going full tilt.

[Sweet80]

Put in a little over 300 yesterday in NW Dunn County and most were running pretty steady by the afternoon.

[Jeff E]

We tapped this last weekend, and made our first syrup Sunday night. Sugar content was low, as expected, 1.75 %.

We still have a foot of snow in the woods, so tapping 2400 wore us out pretty good! Spent Sunday fixing leaks, getting vac up from 8" to 24". Now to go through again and find the minor leaks that didn't show up with the low vac.

Typical first few days of the season, troubleshooting, running around doing fixes, just less panic this year, as I am learning panic doesn't help:D

[Jeff E]

I have 2 brand new finish pans 2 new cordless drill with extra batteries and a auto draw waiting and Im not going this year:cry: :cry: :cry: I might have to quit reading this thread.

Haynes, keep up with us via this site, and spread the wisdom (and wit).

[buckandlindahein]

Tapped 41 Saturday, collected 21 gallons Sunday morning.

[markcasper]

I started tapping Saturday and am a bit behind due to work, I have vacation starting now over the next month so will get caught up quickly. The south sidehill trees were juicing well over the weekend, the ones on the ridges were bone dry as usual early on.

Forecast is for no freezing until this weekend with rainy conditions. I have a few neighbors tapping their trees this year. They have all bags and I told them not to tap until this weekend as nothing will be going on with no freezing at night. No sense having open holes drilled and nothing running.

[WI Sugarpop]

I'm glad we had our taps in all last week cause we've collected 600 gal. so far and the weather for next week or so doesn't look good for night time temps. I'm trying to catch up on boiling.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Jeff E I called a fellow producer that we stop at every time we go collect and steal some cold ones from and offerd my releaser and vacuum set up. I called to see how it was working and they were all standing around watching the releaser dump and I could hear the beast in the back ground :cry: They were pulling 22HGs on 500 taps. Sounds like the season up in DOOR is going to be one of those years that it payed to stay home. I hang a bottle of syrup in the rafters of the shack mid season as a record. I have about 4 that are empty bottles. Its one of those years. Hope all goes well for Badger state:)

[Rhino]

Haynes, How come your not going to make syrup this year? Or are you just going to start later and worried your missing the main part of the season? If your just starting later you might hit some great weather then? As far as our sap runs have been, you ain't missing much.

[markcasper]

Haynes, You won't be missing much if your home by next week. I am only half done tapping. Don't feel behind as alot of folks tend to jump the gun with tapping.

There are many other things in life which are important other than syruping. I for one am not one of the road construction syruping crew!

[C.Wilcox]

I was surprised to note that we had a slight run going this afternoon. It was so warm outside a t-shirt was all you needed and yet the trees (sugar maples) decided it was okay to drip a little. Still almost nothing from the red maples. They're calling for a single night of below freezing temps mid-week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because after that we aren't supposed to see another frost until March 20.

[sticbow]

Wow!!! There's frost this morning!!!!

[bearair]

The 10 day forcast is calling for perfect weather for sap flow Every Day. Time to get to work and start having fun. Ahh, the sweet smell of success is maple syrup boiling away!

[Pete S]

30 at night 65+during the day!
Spiders, moths, and ants,.......yuck!

Hope to boil Thursday,...........second.

Been gettin' a chubby 3% sap yet though.

[WI Sugarpop]

And flies.

[C.Wilcox]

Finally got enough sap to fire up for a few hours yesterday. Not enough to make syrup, but enough to justify heating things up for a little while. The red maples are still not producting anything more than a drop or two of sap so I'm not sure I'm going to bother with them next year, but my box elders ran pretty good yesterday. Looked to be an average of about a gallon per tap.

[Pete S]

Things are running again! Got 33 gallons from 39 taps in 24 hours +/-.

Still running about 3%, but 'just at" now as we were at 3.2%.

Made two batches of syrup,........really dark this year! And we're boiling at a faster rate,...........if that has anything to do with it. I tell the Boss it is what it is.

First run: Gin clear sap, little or no foam, DIRTY filter!

Second run: cloudy sap, lots of dirty foam, not so much to filter out BUT very dark.

All flavors are great!

Last boil this week!

[WI Sugarpop]

We collected 193 gal. from 142 taps. Sap was nice and clear. Hope we can get some medium as everything up till now was dark also. We will be boiling around the clock for a while until we get 2 more pans set up.

[PETE FELCH]

What a season so far . Good vacuum is really paying for its self. A week and half without a freeze we made medium to dark amber . Last nite made 4 barrels of light, pays to keep everything clean!!! Did an inventoy when i left at 1:00 this morning, 1705 gallons, half an average crop in seven nites of cooking.

[MERIDIAN MAPLES]

Same here we were making darker syrup up till last night. The syrup even had the smell that you get at the end of season. Yesterday the sap cleared right up, and we made 2 barrels of light syrup. Very good flavor and smell. I was wondering if it got cold enough to start things over somewhat. There's some trees in town that had the buds bursting. We're also at about a half a crop right now for an average year.

[Ahnohta]

Just started tapping here in very N wisconsin 10 days ago. Started to run this past weekend esp Sunday and Today. Will take off work Wed and START 1st boil of the season. Will I get 3 more in after that? Send snow and cold.

[C.Wilcox]

Yesterday was great. It was almost as if the trees finally figured out that they were supposed to be running. Collected slightly over 50 gallons from my 50 taps and the red maples I tapped are now finally running as well. Had a hard freeze last night and the sun is already shining so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for another day just like the last. We may salvage the last half of this season yet.

[dschultz]

Tree's were running strong tonight.Was in the wood's at 2 this afternoon and nothing,so for the heck of it went down at 6:30 and the pails had half gallon to a gallon in them.So tomorrow should be a good day

[Woody]

Looks like the trees ran all night. People are getting tired and I'm running out of friends to haul buckets. 36 degrees and rain here......

[Pete S]

Boiled our last today,....and pulled ALL taps!

Some were running good,.......while others were bone dry for five days!

We are done for 2010!

Last batch is darker than the first but not as dark as the second.

3%+ sap all the way through!

[sticbow]

Just checked out the 10 day weather report. Temps looking favorable starting Saturday in my part of town. Would be an early start for me. Normally on bags, but I'm thinking with CV's and drops, what would it hurt.
I'm still kicking myself for not tapping that early run in March last year!!!

[elmcreekmaple]

Hardly any frost in the ground under the snow, even up in Sawyer Co. What effect will that have if any?

[sticbow]

No frost here either. Plenty of snow early this year kept it away. I would have to say, judging by research on Mapletrader, no frost is a good thing. Trees dont have to thaw out and the roots can start sucking water right away when it warms up. Plus the melting snow will go right into the ground instead of running off.

[LDF]

Not sure what to do. I was planing on putting taps in this weekend. With the way the weather was today, if I didn't have to work and everything was ready to go I probably would have put my 20 taps in. Time will tell.

[elmcreekmaple]

where we tap near Ladysmith, the temp isnt supposed to be above 35 until March 15th. I am in no hurry to tap. I am thinking 1 1/2 to 2 weeks.

[Pete S]

I just stepped outside about a 1/2 hour ago to take out ashes. I think our trees are frozen solid AGAIN!

[BobU]

6 below this morning, called off the Sat. tapping party. Dang it !!
Our plan is to tap on the 12th now. I may have to go out and put in a few "test" taps, just to feed my addiction. :lol:
Still have a few projects to do, but there'r not as much fun as tapping.

[guppy79]

I put in a test hole today in Medford area. To my suprise with 15 degrees out the hole was wet and produced about a cup. Im tapping tomorrow as there are going to be several favorable days this week yet.

[Rhino]

Guppy, That is a surprise, usually at 15 degrees all you get is a sapcicle down the tap hanging there. I suppose, if it is a open bucket that the sun can keep the tap warm on the south side, it might stay open? With bag holders it would stay froze all day and anywhere our pipeline goes on the north side of the tree it would be froze up also. The few days they are forecasting that it might be 32-35 degrees isn't enough for us to get excited just yet, mainly also because the nights are supposed to be so cold. Takes almost all day for the trees to warm. Keep us posted after you tap though if the trees in Medford break out in a gush. Thanks and good luck.

[Meridian Maples]

Started tapping my new tubing last weekend, got about 1000 taps in. I was in the woods yesterday fixing a couple of connections after work and to my surprise most 5/16" laterals were full of sap, and a very small amount had run into the tank. Going to try to get the rest tapped Friday-Sunday.

[jgavic]

Started to run our wire today for the 450 taps we are putting on tubing. Have never done tubbing before but we are setting it up for a vacuum for next year (5-7 taps on laterals). For us on the western side of the state it looks like about March 10th will be the hot date to tap. We should be close to 1000 taps if everything goes good this year!!!

[guppy79]

Im not trying to get overly excited but I don't want to miss the beginning. I don't want to miss the rush either of coarse. I work three days then im off for three. If I don't tap it tomorrow it will be 5 more days before I get out. Do you think its early enough to risk being too early causing my holes to seal up?

[markcasper]

there is nothing to miss in the next 5 days, hold the taps

[jgavic]

Guppy79- If I were you I would tap when you have your three days off. If I understand correctly...that would be the 6-8? The long term weather doesn't look the best so I would get those taps out 6-8 rather than after the 13th.

[Meridian Maples]

If I could I would hold out as long as you can if you don't have that many to tap. I started tapping only because I have over 3500 taps to put in and I work full time so I have to do it when I can. I have tubing with vacuum, so I like to do all of the tapping myself to make sure everything is done right. Years ago I would get help tapping, but it ended up being more work for me when I had to go and fix leaks. Taps were missed, holes drilled in bad spots, taps pounded in too hard, etc. etc. Now with me doing it all myself the last few years, it has taken a lot less time getting my vacuum up after tapping.

[guppy79]

Ok Thanks for the info guys. I should be able to hold out till Tuesday next week when im off. I only have about 200ish taps to put out. Ill put my positive energies into cutting more wood and more wood...........

[elmcreekmaple]

...and more wood. We never can seem to cut enough.:lol:

[suebayer1@centurytel.net]

Is anyone tapping yet? I put one tap in today (33 degrees for a high) and it dripped a little...very little.

[ComputerSteve]

My son (MapleMatt) and I just finished putting in 39 taps today. Very little flow! I put in a test tap 2 weeks ago that we got a 1.5 pints of light syrup from so far. We do this as a hobby and really like putting the effort and time into it and getting back a delicious, all natural, treat. Time for some more waffles!

[suebayer1@centurytel.net]

Good luck everyone.

[Haynes Forest Products]

When I get there its time to tap...AND not a minute sooner

[Pete S]

Tappin' TODAY!

[WI Sugarpop]

Too early!

[Pete S]

I've prayed to the sap god. The Sandhill cranes are here, and,...........well we just need to tap today, it's just that simple.

[Jeff E]

I started tapping last Friday. Mainly because I have a lot to do, and I want to be ready when the first real sap comes. That takes me about a week.
The down side to tapping early is that it starts the healing process in tree.
Using new spouts or adaptors, or if your on vacuum, check valves, helps with this.

Once we are into the second week of March, I dont think we can say it is to early anymore. Normally, a tap can run for 5-6 weeks, before it is healed. Tapping now gets you into mid the second week of April, or later, and I have not seen many years when we have good sap conditions later than that.

Also, remember that we were basically done last year on March 28, 75 degrees. That keeps me motivated to be ready for the first runs. I dont want to miss what could be 10% of my sap days.

[Bolen Creek Sugar Bush]

Started this last weekend tapped 800. But still have 850 grav and 400 pails to put out.

[Packerfan]

It's drippin' in S. Wisky!

[maple connection]

We tapped 40 yesterday and the other 260 today. Wow!! the snow is deep snowshoes are a must. The weather forecast looks great for this up coming week.