I have some sap running

[gleasondaddy]

I live about 30 miles north east of muskegon and I went out this morning and on a whim i drilled one of my small maples and sap began to run down the trunk of the tree pretty good. Does that mean the run is here or is it just because its realy sunny today?

[LawnMowerMan]

I have the same here today (I am east of muskegon) problem I think is I just read the local guys take on the next 3 weeks, looks like Mid Jan. Lots of snow and cold through at least mid march. He said the cold air just keeps on comming.........I know the next 3 days are supposed to be above freezing, then back to winter.

[Ausable]

Hi - We live in Glennie or North East - Michigan. 37F and Sunny and had to test tap - did five trees and all flowing. Still have a lot of Winter - but - we figure this should hurry Spring along -- Mike

[LawnMowerMan]

haha yea after this thread i checked the 1 I had tapped in the back yard, it was flowing so I headed over to where I have 10 nice big sugars and put in 5 taps and wow one of them was almost a steady stream. They all dripped like crazy, maybe in the next 2 days Ill get enough for a micro batch. Pancakes for dinner Sunday night!;)

[shane hickey]

lower central michigan tapped 850 today the 1" main line was running completly full the weather sure is nice but it doesnt look like its going to last. :mad:

Hilltop Maples

[farmall h]

Shane, I like the name of your town.:)

[shane hickey]

Thanks bob It's the home town of th Vermontville Syrup Festival this is where all the syrup producers get together the last weekend of april and sell maple syrup to the public, my grandpa happens to be the president of this assocition. I always wanted to go to vermont I hurd that there are a alot of big producer out that way. I have 7400 taps, for this area I am huge but the wood lots are small, and I have to travel long distances to bring home the sap
nice to hear from you have a great season bob

Hilltop Maples

[LawnMowerMan]

Well I am about to go check mine that I tapped yesterday. Looks like after Monday we will be below freezing till at least the first week of March. Oh well :(

[BoarsNest]

I'm glad it's going to get cold, because I am not ready. Since this is my first year, it's a little more work than I thought.

[LawnMowerMan]

Yea they are not running that heavy (2 out of the 5 were good) and looks like big storm comming Monday then cold after that. Looks like 2 more weeks or so till we get back to above freezing. I may squeak out enough sap for monday night pancake dinner!....lol

[shane hickey]

tapped 1357 today trying to get most of them in before the big storm monday. The sap was running, but tomarrow we will see what the true yield will be we'er turning on the vacume. I have over 2200 taps in now, good luck to everyone.

Hilltop Maples

[BoarsNest]

I just tested the sap from the red in my front yard and I got about 2 cups in 24 hours and it tested about 2.25%

[LawnMowerMan]

I checked the 5 trees I have tapped today, 24 hrs looks like about 4.5 gallons.

I am happy, since this is my first year and just for my own use, I should have 20 gallons or so by Monday night. Gives me enough to do a small batch this week.;)

Looks like I will be snowplowing the next 2-3 days though.

[Tweegs]

Looks to me like it's a go for this weekend. Figure to start tapping Friday night and get the rest on Saturday. Forecast for the weekend is perfect.

A little work left to do on the arch. Tried to build a little brick wall to mount the door for the fire box, found out my brick laying skills aren't quite up to snuff. :lol: It's ok though, I have a plan B. :D

Let the games begin!!

[ehausinfrats]

I put out 137 taps on Saturday the 20th. Sunday I got 70 gallons. Now it shut down. Doesn't look like it will start up again till Sunday.

[LawnMowerMan]

I have 3 trees that just refuse to slow down, I have to check them 2 times per day as I only have gallon jugs for collection. They are overflowing each time I check. The 2 other trees in the area (about 300 yards and 30foot drop in elevation) produce next to nothing.

I really just tapped a few last friday just cause its the first year i am trying this and could not wait....now it looks like tomorrow morning I will light the fire and see what happens........I think I may have to switch to some 5 gallon buckets and tubing so as not to let so much drip on the ground. I have no fancy equipment for testing sugar content.....my daughter says it tastes good so thats all I have to go on......lol Must have some sugar in it :)

I will post my results Tuesday night either good or bad!

[shane hickey]

I should be able to finish the tubing tomarrow, Then start tapping the 1400 buckets the snow in the woods is more then 2 feet in certain ares I hsve close to 1300 hunded gallons of sap, so tomarrow night we will be able to start boiling.

[TF Maple]

[QUOTE=LawnMowerMan;100065]I have 3 trees that just refuse to slow down, I have to check them 2 times per day as I only have gallon jugs for collection. They are overflowing each time I check.


I had a couple trees last year that did the same thing. Wait until really good weather comes along and they fill up even faster. We had jugs last year too and are switching to tubing into 4 gallon pails from the local bakery so we don't have to check as frequently and hopefully won't have any overflows. The pails with covers were only $1 each, hard to beat that price for food grade plastic. Have fun!

[LawnMowerMan]

[QUOTE=LawnMowerMan;100065]I have 3 trees that just refuse to slow down, I have to check them 2 times per day as I only have gallon jugs for collection. They are overflowing each time I check.


I had a couple trees last year that did the same thing. Wait until really good weather comes along and they fill up even faster. We had jugs last year too and are switching to tubing into 4 gallon pails from the local bakery so we don't have to check as frequently and hopefully won't have any overflows. The pails with covers were only $1 each, hard to beat that price for food grade plastic. Have fun!



Funny thing is it got down to 25 last night...and sure enough they were overflowing again this morning(it was 28 when I checked and they were dripping very fast) I think I will switch those 3 trees over to buckets as well, Not sure how much is dripping on the ground but I am sure a decent amount.:)

[arics]

Between Friday night (2/19) and Saturday morning (2/20) I put out 40 taps on drops to buckets. By Tuesday night (2/23) 50+ gallons have been collected.
Game on. Boiling begins tomorrow.

[hymer02]

This is my second year.I had so much fun last year I went from a barrel stove with a 16x30 pan to a 24x48 arch I built over the winter.Should be a little more efficient,I hope.Sunny and 36 today.I nicked a tree yesterday accidently with my tractor and sap was running so I put in 28 taps today.Supposed to be warmer here in NW MI. this weekend on so I'll see how my testers do.Good luck everyone.

[shane hickey]

boy did we get hit hard with snow, theres nearly 30 inches in the woods, if you kick around there's no frost in the ground, and all this moisture we should have a great season. I imagin this will probaly be one of michigans better years I will finish tapping tomarrow total this year. Will be over 7800 taps. I
have boiled 1 time already and got 38 gallons. And hymer it sounds like to me you should avoid those trees.:o :o But good luck and have fun



Hilltop Maples

[farmall h]

Shane, Vermontville...this a subsidiary of the state of Vermont?

[shane hickey]

Subisdiary ? Vermontville is a very small town 30 miles west of lansing or 120 miles northwest of detoit, Though it's a small town there are lot of big producers around here and compition is getting worse land rent is up to $1.10 a tap I was wandering If there are any goverment programs out there for maple syrup producers? Like there are for farmers. Please let me know ant information, and Farmall H sorry vermontville has nothing to do with vermont, at least as far as I know :cool:

[farmall h]

Shane, you know I'am not sure. Maple syrup production is considered agricultural but not aware of any Federal grants/stimulus/bail-out moneys that are available. Probably depends on the size of the operation and full time employees. Really, not sure. Dairy farming has many financial woes vs. the maple syrup industry. Federal gov't & milk plants determine the price per/hundred # for the dairy farmer which is currently at a 30 year low. Anyway, there may be something out there for business start-ups.
You rent by the tap??

[LawnMowerMan]

Well guys, I am now no longer a maple syrup virgin. Finished my first batch yesterday afternoon!

I had started it Tuesday but a snowstorm put the kabash on the boiling as I had to spend all day and night in the truck plowing so I slept 3 hrs and got up and boiled the rest.

I MAY have made it a bit thick, we will see if I get anything crystalizing but man is it good. Of course we had to have blueberry pancakes and fresh warm syrup last night for dinner!

I am looking foward to getting more now, would like to try out all the candies made from maple syrup.

This was from 3 trees over 4-5 days (1 tap per tree)

Turned a bit darker I would assume cause I had to shut it down for 16 hrs or so and then restart boiling it.

[BoarsNest]

Good job LawnMowerMan! I hope to finally get my taps in this weekend and with the weather we are suppose to get next week, hopefully I'm tasting the good stuff next weekend.

[3rdgen.maple]

LMM great accomplishment. It does not look to dark to me looks perfect. So now that you lost it what are your plans for next year? Oh by the way, is it not amazing how long it takes to make and how fast it takes to get to the bottom of the jar. I use to cringe when one of the kids just poured the stuff on. Then I said the heck with it and joined them lol.

[LawnMowerMan]

lol yea we will have to see what next year brings, I have plenty of available trees if I want. Need a more efficient evaporator for sure. I do believe most of this will be gone by the weekend as my daughter wants to make candy tomorrow (fri) she is off on winter break and we will be spending the day tapping a few more trees, and making candy!

as far as the syrup dissapearing yea its amazing when you can pour it on and not "drizzle" I have loved maple syrup all my life but it is expensive. We have plenty of local guys that I buy from from year to year but in the middle of winter I cringe to go to the store and pay $8.99 for 12 oz of real syrup...........(WOW thats almost $100.00 gal:o )I would like to be sitting on at least 2 gallons for my own use after the season is done......That and the fact I went into this as cheap as possible. So I have spent $15.00 on taps, 25.00 on buckets/stroage tanks, everything else I already had, so I have very little invested.

Oh and my wife does think im crazy already.......lol:lol:

[LawnMowerMan]

Just looked at the forcast for my area for the next 7 days, and if the last week, and the amount of sap I got" is any indication(temps around 34/20) I am going to be busy next week!