Red Roof Maples 2010

[Russell Lampron]

I have to work this morning which is a pain but I will be turning on the vacuum pump this afternoon and drilling holes in trees. I have run some new mainlines for the upcoming season and so far have about 100 new taps ready to go. Supplies are running short but I should be able to add about 150 more before I have to buy more tubing.

My son in law Richard hurt one of his knees last month but it was a slight tear not one that needed surgery and he is back in the woods. He and I were both worried that he wouldn't be able to do anything this sugaring season. We have done plenty in the last 2 weeks getting ready to tap.

The extended forecast looks good. Mid to upper 30's for daytime highs for the next 10 days. The SP 22 has a new belt and is ready to suck.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Russ - I checked out Wildacres on the way home last night. He is 15 miles south of me. He has tubed a nice southern slope, snow was gone and 42 degrees, and it wasn't running. Think I still have 7 to 10 days. Gotta find my drill charger cord anyway. Bruce

[michelle32]

Hi Russ, nice to see you back on. If theres anything I can do to help you out. Give me a ring. We got some sap yesterday but not as much as the pryer days. 32 here right now. Going down to turn on the pump and them over to Sunnyside for more supplies. We plan to start boiling around noon if we can get some of the land purchase stuff out of the way. Keith

[3% Solution]

Hi Russ,
Well I guess it's off to the races for you then.
Nothing wrong with that, been waiting for 10 months to get started!!
Say hi to Richard for me.
In one of your post you said you had boiled your bucket taps "Tree Saver".
Did you boil them in just water or did you put anything in?
Send me a PM if you would.
Still got to get down there to see your operation!!
Thanks!!

Dave

[jtthibodeau]

A couple more hours of pump and vac work and I should be ready to go. Holes are all cut and it's gravity feed until I get a little help from PSNH. It's time......finally.

I hope all you NH sappers, as well as you other addicts, have a sweet weekend. May your buckets runneth over.....right into the evaporator!

[Russell Lampron]

We got about 200 tapped yesterday afternoon. The sap was running good. Still have 300 or 400 to tap today. All of the hard work is paying off. When we got done we had only found 1 leak, a hollow tree, and the system was holding 23" of vacuum.

The low snow levels have made it easy to get around in the woods and I am able to use my doodlebug tractor to get around. I can't wait to actually gather some sap with it. It will be the first time that I will be able to. Usually we have too much snow and I have to use the 4 wheeler.

Kieth and others we will be out there today finishing repairs and tapping if you want to stop by. By late afternoon or sooner all of the vacuum taps should be on line with sap flowing.

[red maples]

Hi russ,

glad to hear your tapping...had my first draw off's yesterday got 4 gallons light yesterday afternoon.

[1poorsap]

I think were about done tapping here in Deerfield. we were gonna try to add some more lats on but we ran out of record fittings.
vacs working pretty good though. were getting about 24" steady

[KenWP]

You guys are in the tropics down there. Meteo calls for above freezeing this week but I don't even think it will be warm enough just yet. I want to put out a test tap but can't decide what tree to put the test tap on yet.

[Brokenridge farm]

5000 taps out 1000 more to go no sap has ran yet. Time to clean sugar house.

[Russell Lampron]

Kieth came over with "Boiling Sodas" yesterday and we now have all of the taps on vacuum that are connected to mainlines tapped. Ran out of manifolds and the local supply house is out of them too. Sap runs good at 23" to 24" of vacuum even on a cold day like yesterday. The last time that I checked my tank in the woods I had 300 plus gallons in it. Looks like a good day for a good run today as well.

I've got to get the RO and evaporator ready tonight and should be doing my 1st boil of the season tomorrow night. It will be the 1st time that I have boiled in February since my 1st season in 2001. I boiled on the 20th that year. The 10 day still shows temps in the mid 30's everyday and mid 20's every night. The season is getting off to a good start.

[Russell Lampron]

Had my first boil last night. After bypassing the preheater because of a leak and swapping the membrane out in my RO I was finally able to light the evaporator just before 9:00 last night. Made 4 gallons of syrup and called it quits just after midnight with about an hours worth of sap left in the feed tank.

We've collected about 850 gallons of sap so far and left the vacuum pump on last night. The thermometer at the house said 32 degrees but we still has sap coming in at 8:30 last night.

[Russell Lampron]

1poorsap thanks for bringing my pipe over for Matt. Wish I could have been here to meet you. Matt couldn't remember the name of the road that you live on but says that you are only a couple of miles from my place.

Having problems with my releaser not dumping. The piston that slides back and forth is icing up. By taking it apart and drying it out I can keep it working for a day before it stops dumping again. I hope that it something that will fix itself when all of this rain stops. I think it is sucking in water from the vent when it dumps.

We have collected 1150 gallons of sap so far and it isn't even March yet. I hope that this means that we are going to have a good season and not one where it warms up and ends too fast.

[1poorsap]

no problem russ. i live off of piper hill so we were pretty much going by anyway. there are so many people who tap in loudon its hillarious... although i dont lol.

[michelle32]

Russ my double bernard releaser was doing the same thing. Spayed it with some low temp silicone I use in northern Maine on my rifle to keep it from freezing up will hunting. Seems to have cured the problem. Just got power back at 7:30 releaser dumping every three minutes like clock work. Ran good even on gravity over here today 150 gallons before power came on.

[Russell Lampron]

Just got the power back on at 11:30 yesterday morning. The first thing that got turned on? The vacuum pump! I only lost one tree because of the storm and had minimal damage to laterals from fallen limbs and non maple trees.

I had 500 gallons of sap sitting in the bulk tank waiting for the power to come back on. Started the RO early in the afternoon and let it recycle. The end result, 17% sap that we were able to boil in in less than an hour and a half. Made 4 more gallons of syrup and the front pan is really sweet. We should be able to draw off fairly quickly when we boil again.

[Russell Lampron]

Kieth is your releaser covered or out in the open. I think mine was sucking in moisture from the atmospheric vent when it dumped. I've got it covered now and it isn't missing a beat. Pulled in 300 plus yesterday afternoon.

[michelle32]

The releaser is covered. We were fortunet we only had small branches come down at the house and in the woods. We pulled in another three hundred gallons yesterday. So far were keeping up with it. We've made 7.5 gallons so far. sugar count went down hard. Last batch it was 61 to 1. Not so good. 8:50 am here just heading out to see if its running again and start to boil off yesterdays sap. Ordered a new vac this morning atlantic fluids. So if you now of any body looking for a pump i'll be selling this one when the other comes in.

[maple sapper]

So if you now of any body looking for a pump i'll be selling this one when the other comes in.

what size pump do you have that your looking to sell? I am exploring vac for my system and if the size and price of course is right I may be interested. Let me know the details. Thanks Gregg aka Maple sapper

[Maplewalnut]

Russ-keep that sp-22 chugging along and you'll have lots of sap. Hopefully you got the 'Maine' warranty also

Mike

[Russell Lampron]

Pumped 600 gallons up to the SH yesterday and turned it into 16%. Going down shortly to check the tank in the woods. We got a frost last night so it should run good today. I would like to have 1000 plus so that I can boil for a while. At this point it is getting to be a pain to keep cleaning the filter press.

[michelle32]

Russ niter sand here isn't as bad as last year by far. If you had the press last year you would have had to clean it half way through a boil.

[Russell Lampron]

Kieth the filter press that I have is one of the hand pump models. It has turned into a one man job just to keep that thing going all night. Richard runs the evaporator and I heat and press syrup. There is so much crap in the syrup that I can only get about 5 gallons through (2 draw offs) and have to change the papers to keep going.

On a lighter note I had 1025 gallons of sap to boil last night. Squeezed it to 16% and it was all gone in a little over 4 hours from the time that I lit the evaporator. Up to 40 gallons for the season so far.

I ordered a new NF270 membrane for my RO yesterday. Had it over-nighted so it should be here today. Can't wait to see what I get for flow rates with that compared to my hammered NF90.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Russ - you sure all that vacuum isn't sucking sand out the root ball? Better put a transit out there and make sure the trees ain't sinking! Bruce

[TapME]

Russ, nice to see that you have sap. I was wondering how do you pump the syrup through the press and hold your beer at the same time? I could see where that would be a challenge. I hope we all get buried with sap this week.

[Russell Lampron]

Deffinately can't drink a boiling soda and pump the filter press at the same time. I work up a good sweat though and pound the sodas when I can catch a break.

I could be sucking some sand through the root ball. None of the trees are leaning or sinking yet.

I've been getting sap every day since I tapped on 2/20. I even got a little on gravity when the power was out for 2.5 days last weekend. I've collected just under 3000 gallons so far.

My new NF270 membrane came this morning. Can't wait to get home from work and get it installed.

[michelle32]

Russ you need to hook a pedal bike to the pump leaves the hands free for the other important things. ( like boiling sodas )

[TapME]

I used the wrong term Russ, sorry. It was surppose to be boiling soda in your hand you know the red type.

[red maples]

holy cow I drink way to many sodas when I am boiling!!!!! even my wife is starting to notice a little she said something last night. I was in the sugar house and wasn't even boiling and came in with a soda in my hand and she said,"geez just going out to have a beer in the SH or what??!!!" :lol: I said not just a soda!!!!:lol:

I have gotten sap just about everyday since I tapped as well. out of commision with no power for 5 days hurt a little I don't know how much I got I lost track I am guessing somewhere around 1500-1700 gallons. but big sap today need to go boil!!!! can't have sodas yet have to wait til after lunch . but thermos of coffee is coming!!!:)

[Russell Lampron]

The RO is happy now. Getting much better flow rates with the new membrane and at much lower pressure than before. Really liking boiling concentrate in the mid teens. I have made 45 gallons of syrup so far but you wouldn't know it by looking at the wood pile.

The sap didn't run as good as I expected today. Got a good frost last night and had nice sun and temps near 50 but the buckets ran like they did the other day when it only got down to 29 overnight. The vacuum on the other hand produced over a gallon per tap again. Got 850 gallons from not quite 600 taps in 24 hours.

[Russell Lampron]

Finally getting the filter press figured out. I needed to heat the syrup to just under boiling. When I have it that hot it just flows right through. Pumped almost 10 gallons through it before I had to change papers.

I have to really pay attention to the amount of sap in the bulk tank now. The new membrane takes so much water out that I can only concentrate for about 2.5 hours before I have to get more sap into the tank or shut down. I processed 800 gallons yesterday and boiled it through in less than 3 hours. I'm at 58 gallons for the season now and the color came up a grade last night.

[Amber Gold]

Glad to hear it. Keep the press and RO running.

What's your sap sugar content and what grades have you been making this year? I've had 1-2 batches of MA and the rest have been DA. Last year was one DA and the rest B. I've noticed the bacteria are building up in the tank a lot quicker than usual. On the second day it's already getting cloudy. I think it's due to the warm nights.

[Russell Lampron]

The very first draw off of the season was medium and turned to dark by the end of the boil because of the hot spot in my pan from when I burned it at the end of last season. All of the rest has been dark amber except for 4 gallons of medium last night. I haven't made any B yet.

For the most part i have been too busy to check sap sugar content but I did check it yesterday and it was at 1.8% on the vacuum. the buckets that are all yard and roadside sugars are running 3%.

[red maples]

I had alot of medium in the beginning right on the edge of light and real nice flavor. now I can't taste anything I have had a cold for the past week. I have been getting all dark now just pst medium but no B yet. and sap sugar is very low now too only 1.25 a vacuum this afternoon and road side sugars are at 2.5. and sap is getting cloudy quickly your right josh. We need another good freeze like we had friday night into saturday. but the forcast doesn't have much of it!!!

[Russell Lampron]

I was looking at my sap collection totals so far this season. I have collected 4250 gallons from the vacuum and 250 from the buckets. The buckets were tapped a week later them the vacuum on 2/28 and I have only gathered them 3 times. The vacuum has been giving me sap every day since the pump was turned on.

I have over 600 on vacuum with the last laterals installed yesterday. I'll have to check with my son in law but I think we have added about 175 more taps on the vacuum since the start of the season. I am going to have to add more mainlines to get any more on line now. I have made 58 gallons of syrup so far and have about 400 gallons of sap to pump up this morning.

[red maples]

I think I am just about 1/2 of what you have I have 250 on vacuum 35 on gravity and 20 buckets. got about 2400 gallons sap and have about 34 gallons of syrup.

[Russell Lampron]

Sugaring is fun again. All of the frustrations of clogged membranes and not being able to get the syrup through the filter press are behind me now. Had 650 gallons of sap to play with last night and the party was over before it started. Made 10 gallons of sparkling medium amber in less than 2 hours. I was able to pump it all through the filter press at once and could have done more if I had it.

When I first bought my evaporator I would have told anyone that making 10 gallons of syrup in less than 2 hours with a 2x6 was impossible. I really love boiling double digit concentrate. I can go to my daytime job rested.

[caseyssugarshack93]

russ what percentage are you boiling?

[red maples]

I have a few years to go before I get the RO.... need to fine tune, thin sugar bush, increase sap storage, increase taps, Bigger vacuum(to handle more taps) but I'll get there in time!!! Having fun!!! and the kids will be a bit older and will be able to help a little more 4 and 7 are a little small yet. I have grown from 25 taps last year to 300 and everything else I have so I need to make and sell more syrup so I can get more stuff:)

[Russell Lampron]

Nate the first batch last night was 22% and the second was at 16%. It took less than an hour to turn 240 gallons of raw sap into 16% and just in time too. My feed tank was just about empty from the 410 gallons that was processed in the afternoon.

Brad you will get there. I bought all of my stuff when I could afford it. I didn't want to have to make syrup to make payments. If I have a bad year I just can't expand as much the following year.

Up to 68 gallons now and and hoping for a lot more. The color went up from dark to medium now that I can concentrate it faster with the new membrane.

[caseyssugarshack93]

tongiht i only did 8 percent only 300 gallons of sap for 1500+ taps just dont seem right, dad said it ddint start running till like noon, it was 10 degrees this morrning, must be eailry still up here

[michelle32]

Hi Russ, sounds like you got the ro working good now. We made 2.5 gallons of that NH fancy yesterday great taste. Cleaned all the tanks and turned the vac back on and ended up with 250 gallons of sap. Pump decide it should run at 26 yesterday not sure why but those extra 3" definitly made a diffrence. Boil that all off tomorrow running again right now. On the below vermont B grade how do you label it? Not sure on sap count yet we have it writen down just have to add it up. Pretty busy with working nights and boiling all day long. Michelle also has been boiling at night for 4 or 5 hours when needed. I beleive the syrup count is 27.5 gallons now. Most of it already sold. Hows Richard?Making it around alright with the knee? We need mother nature to send us a week of deep freeze and a good snow storm. No snow left here. Probably have to get the lawn mower out if this weather keeps up. Keith

[Russell Lampron]

Kieth the RO is performing beyond my expectations. It is doing so good that I won't need to upgrade like I thought I was going to have to. Because i can get my sap concentrated so fast now my color has improved. I went up from dark amber to medium 14 gallons ago and the syrup keeps getting lighter.

In NH we go by the USDA grading standard and there is no color standard for grade B. I was told by an inspector that if it has good flavor label it grade B. If it has an off flavor, and this goes for any grade, it is commercial.

Richards knee is doing good now and he is able to get around in the woods with no pain.

[michelle32]

Thanks Russ, We got another 200 gallons today. So I will be boiling tomorrow morning. I can see a RO in the future of the farm for sure. Keith

[Russell Lampron]

Josh, AKA Amber Gold came over last night to see how 700 gallons of sap is turned into 8 gallons of syrup in 1.5 hours at Red Roof Maples. He wants an RO bad now! Started boiling a little over 12% and was over 17% at the end.

My buddy Matt AKA Royalmaple laughed at me the other day when I told him that I like to have 1000 gallons of sap on hand to boil. Josh got to see why that is true. When I first got my 2x6 1000 gallons would have meant many long sleepless nights and lots wood used. Now it's Kid Stuff.

My son in law went to check the tank yesterday at 9am and the flapper on the releaser was a 1/2" below the sap level in the tank. We got a good overnight run.

Got a little freeze last night that we weren't supposed to. If the extended forecast goes the way that it usually does for me I should get a couple of frost next week too.

[TapME]

I remember when I was there Russ and the sap disapeared in a hurry. I wish I had your problem of not using to much wood. Have gone through 2+ cords so far and the season has only started. It could be close at the end again. Glad to see you have sap Russ, just wish all others had some too.
PS how weree the boiling sodas at the meeting?

[red maples]

Sounds like you're dialed in. the other day I had the golden poop touch!!! I t just wasn't my day. Passed it along to my wife who had the same problem yesterday. So I told here not to bring it home!!!!

If I go any bigger the next few years. Josh (amber gold)was my inpiration for the vac. and I think you will be the inspiration on the RO. once I get to that point. I have gone through 3 cords of wood this year so far...I think once I hit 400 -450 taps the RO will be the next big expense!!!!

Alot of work to be done before that point though!!!

[Russell Lampron]

Got 400 gallons on the vacuum today and it is still coming in. The temp is just above freezing and it was snowing when I came in at 7:00. The buckets ran some today too. Not a great run but better than no run. I will pump up what comes in overnight and gather the buckets tomorrow morning then run it through the RO and boil for a few minutes tomorrow afternoon.

[Russell Lampron]

Had a different ending to the boil last night. Was just getting to the shut down level in the feed tank and was in the middle of a draw off when the power went out and stayed out. Finished the draw off by cell phone light then went and got the Mag Light.

This the one time that I am glad that I have a hand pump filter press. I had just finished adjusting the density of the syrup that needed to be filtered and it was up to temp. Lit my Bernzo Matic flame wrench, set it on the shelf for light, added the filter aid to the syrup and commensed to filtering. My son in law watched the syrup level in the jugs so that I didn't overfill any with the Mag Light.

Made 11 gallons of syrup last night and I am up to 97 for the season now. My daughters boyfriend who said that he didn't like real maple syrup changed his mind last night with the first sip. Broke him in on maple syrup shots and Boiling Sodas last night. Now he runs to get the Boiling Sodas for us while we boil.

[Russell Lampron]

Made another 9 gallons last night. That puts me at 106 for the season. I have been getting about 400 gallons of sap every day from my vacuum since March 6. Up to 450 gallons of sap out of the 88 buckets now. Glad I have vacuum. I have gotten 7850 gallons from 600 taps so far and it is coming in good today. I have been averaging 40 gallons of syrup per week for the past 2 weeks and am 1/2 way there this week.

[PerryW]

Picked up 220 gallons of sap today and 130 yesterday and made another 8 gallons tonight for a total of 86. Some of the colder buckets ran well today. The next few days do not look good, but I'm still hanging on.

[Russell Lampron]

Froze again last night but not very hard. It wasn't supposed to but I'll take the 28 degrees over the predicted 37 any day. Pumped another 375 gallons out of my woods tank last night and had 3 or 4 inches of sap in most of the buckets. It was still running some so I decided to wait until today to gather the buckets.

Went to the local watering hole for some green "Boiling Sodas" instead.

My wife went to the local Market Basket to pick up a fresh supply of "Boiling Sodas". The Killians that I drink were on sale for $9.98/12pk. She got me 4 12 packs. She also bought 3 pieces of corned beef for a weekend feast. They gave an additional $1 off of each piece of corned beef because she bought the Killians. I like those kind of deals!

[1poorsap]

what are the boiling sodas you guys rave about

[red maples]

its root beer minus the root!!!:D thank Russ for that term!

[Russell Lampron]

Like Brad said it's a beer! A friend of mine used to call them "Road Sodas". I changed the "Road" to "Boiling" and introduced it the maple world. They taste great after a shot of hot maple syrup.

If any of you are in the area I will be boiling tonight. I usually start boiling around 7.

[Amber Gold]

Almost 70 gal of syrup and about 8 chord of softwood. I like your numbers better. I have another 7 chord left and will hopefully use it all....it means another 60 gal of syrup...

[1poorsap]

so its kind of like what we call a tree hugger... hot syrup with a shot of vodka lol

[Russell Lampron]

That tree hugger sounds pretty tasty too. I have also heard of maple jack and a few other boiling favorites. There is a thread on here about that.

The sap flow has slowed a bit but I still got 700 gallons over the last 2 days for last nights boil. I am at 115 gallons for the season now and only need to make 11 more this week to maintain the 40 per week that I have been making all month. The syrup looked rather dark coming out of the evaporator but after running it through the press it was lighter than the previous boil. Still making dark amber and no NH Fancy so far.

The weather prediction was for 37 last night but I woke up to 32. It is always colder in the woods so another light freeze. I'll gladly take it and continue getting sap.

[red maples]

I know your RO is work great but what is your raw sap %? mine is very low now I think I am just out of sugar and my sap turned buddy yeaterday. (I think) extremely cloudy alomst milky and sap had a woody taste to it. and steam has a definite butterscotch aroma to it.

and the buds on many not all red have swelled way up with all this warm weather.

[Mark-NH]

Right with you Russ on the sap. 250 gallons each day for the entire week. Was pleasantly surprised to see it freeze lightly overnight. I think it will help bridge the gap to colder weather the beginning of next week.

[1poorsap]

hey russ. how long do u usually end up boiling after u ro your sap. weve been ro ing our sap to about 12 and then boiling it off and weve prolly only boiled 2.5 hrs on our longest night. weve been in b grade tho for a while and i was wondering if it was because we werent boiling long enough or something.

[Russell Lampron]

It is taking about 75 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup so I think that the sugar about 1.1% to 1.2%.

Recirculating sap for a long time can make the syrup dark. With my new high flow membrane it doesn't take as long for me to get my sap into the teens as it used to and my syrup has been lighter since I installed it. I am going to gather up all of the sap that I have this morning and boil it today. Stop by Doug and we can talk about running the RO. I am at the dead end of Pleasant St Ext, the last house on the right from the Rt 129 side, if anyone wants to stop by.

32 again this morning. I think that I am going to weather this warm spell just fine. Sap flow slowed quite a bit yesterday but I even have some in my buckets. Only had 200 gallons in the woods tank at 5pm yesterday. 100 gallons less than the day before.

[PerryW]

I picked up 120 gallons of sap yesterday and boiled it this morning bringing my total to 89 gallons. Looks like the cool-down starts tomorrow.


32 again this morning. I think that I am going to weather this warm spell just fine.

Russell,

I like your optimism and I hope your right. I am farther north and my sugarbush runs from 800' to 1200' in elevation and is east & north-east facing. What elevation are your trees at?

[Russell Lampron]

I am at about 600 feet elevation here. My trees are in a valley with most of them facing west or north. My woods are pretty clear so some of them get sun all day.

You've got to be optimistic in this business or you would be pulling your taps like some of the others that have called it quits for the season already. Bring on the cold weather.

I collected 280 gallons of sap today and only 15 was from my 88 buckets. After running it through the RO I boiled and made 4 more gallons of Dark Amber. I am at 119 gallons for the season so far and if I could add in the syrup that we drank and spilled I am probably around 125. Didn't spill much but it isn't in a container either.

I emptied the tank in the woods at noon and at 6:00 it had 125 gallons in it. Most of the trees on the vacuum are still running. The vacuum pump will be on as long as they continue to. I need to make about 40 gallons more to pass last years 162.

[KenWP]

I moved taps today to trees with no buds. If we out last the warm weather it might give me a bit more sap. Last year was the same at the end of March. It got warm and I moved taps and then it got cold again. I doubt if it will last as long as last year did but a couple good days counts for a lot.

[Ridgeland Farm]

vac is off for now. taps will stay in for the next freeze. hopefully we can get another run in. tree's are still runnin but sap has dropped to .7 not even enough to pay for the pump!! Talking about an artic freeze end of week. maybe we can hold on!!

[maple sapper]

So, in order to do a cost effective analysis on running the vac, you must take total collected and sugar content and then do some math and say, yeah keep it running or shut it down. I am wondering if I should turn my on and see what I can get even with this warm days thing going on. But I run my pump on a generator for now till I get some power established. So buying gas at $3 a gal dont excite me not to mention wear and tear on machine.

[Russell Lampron]

I hate to say it but the sap was coming in so slow that I turned the vacuum pump off this afternoon. I only got about 150 gallons of sap from 600 plus taps in 28 hours. The last 25 came in from 5 last night to 4 this afternoon. I am hoping for a freeze soon enough for the sap to flow again.

My buckets have only done about 1/2 of what they did last season and I got sap continuously with the vacuum but no big runs. I am happy with the syrup total that I made this season and hope to better before the fat lady sings. I am also happy that all of the syrup has been grade A so far. A big change from last season where all of it except the first 2 boils was grade B or NH Fancy which is good tasting commercial.

[Russell Lampron]

It looks like the vacuum pump will be turned back on today. The temp got down to 28 here last night! Not much of a freeze but maybe enough to get the sap to flow again. With rain coming the moisture might help too. I will know later.

[maple sapper]

Russ,

I recently (last week) got my vac set up, ran it for one day and then turned it off due to the heat wave. Id like to see what this thing can do before throwing in the towel. Is your vac doing anything for you today as of yet? Not having any idea what is ideal for vac vs. gravity, might it be a good time to try and get some sap. Its much cooler although it has not quite gotten to freezing. I am asking cause I am having to run a generator to run the pump. I would rather not burn the gas if im only going to get 30 gals of sap. Your north of me a few hrs. My sugar bush is in Merrimack. Whats your opinion on my situation.

[red maples]

So I know that Russ is a killian's fan.

If you like sodas along those lines like Killian's, Bass, new castle, Sam Adams for domestics (like the cherry wheat my self)If your ever at the store and you see smuttynose star island single...it has a picture of an ugly red headed mermaid on it. pick up a 6-pack its pretty good its alittle bit lighter and a tad sweeter than a killian's but very refreshing.

[Russell Lampron]

Maple Sapper I think that you will need a good freeze before you will get anything with the vacuum if it hasn't been too long without a run already. If it has been a week or more since you got a run it is probably too late. I am in a valley that gets cold here. It got cold enough so that I had ice in my laterals this morning. My parents live 2 miles away and it was 35 at their house when it was 30 here.

I did get a little run today. It has started to rain now and the sap was still coming in slowly at 4:30 even with the rain. It looks like I got about 35 or 40 gallons today. I am going to leave the pump on all night and boil what is in the tank tomorrow. I have about 225 gallons down there now. I'm hoping that it turns into 300 by morning.

[maple sapper]

So what your saying is 32 deg wont do it. I need a deeper cold to recycle things even for vac. I am going to search for a reliable long range forcast site. what I saw on my ipod was looking good at end of week but have noticed it always changes day to day. I so would love to run that rig for a stretch with sap moving to see it perform before putting it away. I also am using the check ball adapters, and this will be a test for sure with the warm weather we got. Hopefully they will pull their weight and perform.

[Russell Lampron]

Maplesapper,

No 32 degrees won't do it. It needs to get into the mid to lower twenties for the trees to recharge. My extended forecast looks like it is going to be cold enough here Wed and Thurs and be really cold Friday. Maybe it will be cold enough for you to give it a try. I would like to know if your trees start running again.

I am turning an old 3 burner Weber gas grille into a finisher. I am going to Maine to pick up the custom made finishing pan for it tomorrow.

[Russell Lampron]

Made 4 gallons of nasty smelling and tasting syrup last night. I had 325 gallons of sap that had been coming in since noon Saturday and it had a sour smell to it although it didn't taste that bad. My total is at 123 gallons for the season so far and figuring a pint that was consumed, didn't add in any for last night, each time we boiled I can add in another 1.5 gallons.

I went up to Bill Masons to pick up the custom finishing pan that he made for me. It is alot nicer than I expected it to be. Now I have to get the Weber grille that I am making the base and burners out of cut up and welded together.

I am going to boil off the contents of my evaporator in the new finisher, wash everything up and start over. It will be a pretty good start to a mersh barrel for Bascom's.

[Amber Gold]

Why start fresh in the evap? Wouldn't pushing new sap through work the old out? Is the new sap going to start producing good syrup again?

I'd like to do that, but sweetening the pans with 1% would take forever. Maybe separate the pans...boil the funky stuff in syrup pan while sweetening the flue pan?? Once the syrup pan is syrup, drain that and start running the flue pan through it

[Russell Lampron]

I am thinking that the sap was starting to sour and by cleaning everything out and boiling fresh sap I have a better chance of making a good tasting product again. If I don't I don't if I do it was worth the effort. The low sugar content isn't a problem for me. The RO takes care of that.

[PerryW]

Russell, It looks like I need 33 gallons to catch up. I've been giving my trees a pep talk today, and I think they are ready to give up the mother of all runs tomorrow.

[Parker]

Sometimes I find it helps to have the "logging-Thinning talk" with my trees which usely ends with the line " you need to decide weather you want to be sugartrees or firewood",,,,works most of the time...:),,,helps if you have a husky 385 in your hand during the talk....

[Russell Lampron]

Got a good freeze last night and it looks like it will run today. Heading out to clean out the woods tank and releaser now so I can turn the vacuum pump back on.

Parker that pep talk works pretty good with a Stihl 026 in your hand too.

[red maples]

I will be doing the same I have to pull some taps of the budded trees but hopefully I can persuade them to give up a few gallons to get through the weekend and not have to boil water!!!

[PerryW]

We need to do a study. Take one sugarbush and play soothing music, give the trees positive, feel-good reinforcement. Tell them how mighty and sweet they are. maybe try some Reiki on them.

The other group, Play loud heavy metal music, threaten with chainsaws, and drill seargeant-type screaming, "YOU TREES ARE NOTHING BUT A BUNCH OF NO GOOD SLACKERS AND DESERVE TO BE CUT DOWN AND MADE INTO HARDWOOD FLOORING, SO RUN AND RUN SWEET, YOU MAGGOTS."

Okay. Enough goofing off. The fire is layed in the evap, filters & Drums are ready, water hauled to the sugarhouse, pack is loaded with tubing repair stuff & lunch. Sugar canning room is all cleaned up from packing 25 gallons of Light, Dark & B. Temps are breaking freezing. time to hit the woods.

Good luck everyone whose still in the game.

[Mark-NH]

Parker, that is a riot. Ran for the first time since last Friday, yesterday. 300 gallons. Pumps are on this morning and hoping for a decent run today. Russ, if you are going to sell Mersh to Bascom's no need to dump almost syrup. They pay the same no matter what it tastes and looks like.

Back in action after 5 days off. Finish line is in site and we are red lined on the energy level. 87 gallons to date. 100 here we come.

Mark

[Russell Lampron]

Sap is hammering today and it looks good coming into the releaser. BIGSAP is here and it looks good for next week.

Got the finisher that I built finished this morning and gave it a test boil. Cold flue pan sap took 20 minutes to get to a full boil. It should work good with hot syrup.

[Russell Lampron]

Just got in from boiling and trying out the finisher I just built. Boy that was fun! Wish I had more sap.

I had an old 3 burner Weber gas grill in my back yard that I had picked up for free. I used the frame wheels and burners to make a base for a finishing pan and I had Bill Mason build a pan for it. Now I have a nice portable finisher that fits right under the draw off. I still have to add the igniter from the gas grill and paint the frame to make it complete.

Only had enough sap to make 3 gallons of syrup but that's 3 more to add to the total. I had 200 gallons of sap in the woods tank at 4:00 and it is still coming in. I have to save that sap for Saturdays open house.

[red maples]

I am jelous! just like what an hour north of me ...I think and your still getting good sap!!! talk about micro climates!

[maple sapper]

I'm west of you and would be willing to bet, I could have gotten sap today. If I had the time to go and put the time in to get things going. I am tomorrow though. I plan on running my vac day and night till those holes are dry. I did ream alot of tap holes yesterday in prep for this weekend. So let the sap flow.

[Russell Lampron]

Normally I have the 5 degree curse here. This season it is a blessing. It generally gets 5 degrees colder here than in surrounding areas. When everybody else gets 23 and 40 I get 18 and 37. They get BIGSAP I get the new term (thanks Jerry) littlesap. Last week they never predicted a night in the 20's. Most of mine were in the mid twenties. It was enough to the sap flowing until the big freeze gets here.

[red maples]

last year was so much different than this year. we still had snow on the ground. and the trees didn't bud here until the second week of april!!! I am in a cold spot too. but just too warm this year and more north eastern winds than I have ever seen. and with frost in the ground gone too quickly the trees just matured to fast!!!

[michelle32]

Where done here. All the buds broke yesterday. I'll have the totals later. Doubled or better over last years. Keith

[Russell Lampron]

Cleaned out the evaporator and have about 8 gallons of mersh in the finisher. Starting over today with about 300 gallons of sap that came in over the last day and a half.

I hope that it warms up fairly quickly today so that I can get things thawed out. 14 degrees here this morning. Just about froze working in the cold and wind yesterday to get everything washed up for today's open house. This is the coldest weather we have had since January, brrrrrrrrrrr!

Hope to get enough of a run today to have sap to boil tomorrow. Looks like the end is near.

[caseyssugarshack93]

russ do you push you syrup out with water before u clean the pans to get all the sweet out? i did it the other day, i wasnt thinking and kept my sap level the same as i do with 20%and went though alot of water and still didnt get much sweet out, but now i know how to do it anyways, the trees still going strong down there?

[Russell Lampron]

Nate I just built a finisher and I drain the flue pan and front pan and boil it down in that. It took a while but I liked doing it that way better than chasing with water.

I started fresh today and didn't have quite enough sap to get a draw off. It got so cold here last night that the trees didn't start running until mid to late afternoon. Not much sap for tomorrows open house.

Had a good turn out for today's open house and more people said that they are coming tomorrow. Syrup sales were good and even had some people trying to buy my doodlebug tractor. It's not for sale!

[Russell Lampron]

Had another good turn out for day 2 of the open house weekend. Sold alot of syrup with most people looking for grade B. Medium used to be my biggest seller but when the customers have a choice they go for the B and the dark now.

I had 100 gallons in the tank yesterday am so I had sap to boil for the open house. More sap came in during the day and I was able to boil until just about closing time. It was the first time that I had boiled raw sap since I got my RO machine. The sap was still coming in good at 4:30 when I went down to cover the releaser back up. Looks like one more good boil and the season will be done.

Starting over with a clean evaporator and tanks worked out good. I made some good tasting but dark B yesterday. Private stock for my wife to make baked beans with! No buddy taste or smell to it and several people had a taste to confirm that.

[red maples]

glad to here you had a good weekend!!! as did I sap was flowing good yesterday to bad it was buddy. it was clear but I boil a little and it tasted very buddy. yuck!! did a quick boil with vinagar before the weekend and flue pan was sparkling for the weekend. flooded the pans extra deep yesterday anded vinegar fired it 3 times to good rolling boil and shut her down. let it sit for a few days then finish clean the under side and cover her up for the season:(

[Russell Lampron]

The 550 gallon tank in the woods was "nutted" this morning. Got 85 gallons of sap from my buckets and the last report was there was 200 more in the woods tank at 3:40. It was empty at 10:30. My son in law is pumping it up now and I will know in a little while how much more we have.

Haven't had a problem with buds yet and I hope that tonight is the same.

Josh the sap is running better than it has for most of the season. Especially overnight last night. Should have left your vacuum pump on.

[PerryW]

It ran okay for me. Picked up 220 gallons of sap at 3 PM and it was still running pretty good. FIred up the rig and promptly scorched the front pan. Had the front float set too low. First time in 15 years. Had to dump out and clean the front pan. Probably lost 3 gallons of syrup and put another warp in the pan.

Managed to make 4 gallons good tasting dark anyway for a total of 99 gallons. Should be some more sap tomorrow.

[Russell Lampron]

Sorry to hear about your pan Perry. I did that to both of my front pans at the end of last season.

Had 935 gallons of sap last night that wasn't very sweet. Had to resweeten the flue pan last night after boiling raw sap on the weekend. Made 5 more gallons of good tasting syrup. The buds haven't popped yet. I haven't added it up lately but am getting close to 140 gallons for the season.

The sap was still coming in and the buckets were still dripping. Why didn't it run like this last week when I was on vacation.

[PerryW]

Well I'm gonna see if I can solder up the two leaks. One of them sugared over, but the other one is dripping pretty good.

I guess I probably won't catch you this year Russell, but I should get close to 110 gallons before the real heat hits thursday & friday. I am probably a week behind the weather in Loudon but that will be a moot point if we hit 78 degrees on friday.

[michelle32]

Hi Russ, Glad to see your still at it. What are you using to clean your pans. Keith

[Russell Lampron]

After last Sunday there weren't and aren't any freezing temps in the forecast. The vacuum pump keeps sucking in the sap though. I got another 300 gallons in the last 24hrs. It looks like the buckets are done though. If it keeps coming in like it has been I could hit last years 162 gallons.

I was looking at the buds on the reds in the woods tonight and they aren't very big. The red by my sugar house is almost in full flower.

Kieth I use white vinegar to clean my pans. It works as good as the pan cleaning acid and is non toxic.

[maple sapper]

My vac is working its magic as well. I have gotten a min. of a gal per tap for 3 days. Very happy to make the enhancement and tonight I'm working on redesigning my releaser. If I get one more day to install it and see it work I will be happy with that. Historically, how many days does the sap run on vac after a cold spell. I have not shut down my pump since friday. Will the low pressure system passing right now make a new run? I have seen a 5 gal bucket of mine today with 4 gals. in it

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Russ,

My opinion on reds budding is that the ones that are tapped are well behind non tapped trees. Way it is with all the few reds I tap. Guess the little extra stress slows down the budding.

[Russell Lampron]

You could be on to something there Brandon. I was thinking that it might be because the woods are colder than around the buildings. I know that when I get a mild freeze at the house I get a hard freeze in the woods. Some of the trees are in the sun all day down there and get pretty warm just the same. Either way I will take the good flavored syrup while I can.

[Russell Lampron]

After only sucking in about 50 gallons of sap in 24 hours I saddly shut off the vacuum pump last night. It has been a good season. I will be close to 150 gallons of finished syrup when I finish what is left in the evaporator. I will post final numbers later.

I didn't have any saptastrophys this year. No RO soap in the evaporator and no forgetting to switch a valve and pumping the contents of the bulk tank onto the ground. I didn't leave any tank valves open either.

The best part was that I made it to the end of March still getting sap and boiling. My dad had said that I was going to be all done 2 weeks ago. The last batch of syrup was one of the best tasting batches too. Not the worst.

After some early disasters I figured out how to best use my hand pump filter press. I am going to keep it for a while now when I was ready to make a trip to Bascom's earlier in the season to trade it for one with a motor and gear pump.

[Russell Lampron]

Check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX7nQrCgALM It mentions maple syrup at 1:13 into the video. It also pretty much describes life in NH.

[Russell Lampron]

Check this out http://www.comics.wombania.com/2009/03/maple-syrup-forever/ The guys at work put it on my desktop when I was on vacation.

[Amber Gold]

That video was great. Nice find.

[Russell Lampron]

Happy Easter Everyone!

Finished what was in my front pan yesterday and made 4 gallons of good tasting dark amber. Pumped that through the filter press and moved on to the flue pan. Had jelly coming out of the draw off. Bruce will like that, but at $2.00lb, maybe more if the bulk prices go up, it is worth the propane to turn it into ropey syrup.

Got the taps pulled and tubing washed in the old section yesterday afternoon. On to the big mainline today. Should have everything pulled and washed today.

[maple sapper]

Most of the fellow maple heads like me must not have 1. day jobs. 2. young kids 3. own business . I wish I had to the time to wash up my stuff so soon. I am jealous.

Russ, was it you saying last season that you use your vac to wash the tubing? If so, do you carry a bucket of what ever mixture from tree to tree and suck it in? Im thinking you dont dunk it in. You hold it up and make air go in at the same time for turbulance? What type of mixture do you use? Thanks Gregg

[Russell Lampron]

Gregg I have a full time job that is why I devote my whole weekend and most nights to sugaring. I also feel that it is best to get the taps pulled as soon as possible after they stop running so I make that a high priority. The weather this weekend was perfect for it too. I have been out there when it was cold and even raining. It wasn't much fun then.

I made a manifold that I can hook a garden hose to and an air hose to the other side and use water and compressed air to clean my lines. I did it with the vacuum on for the first time today. I just used well water and I suck water and air into the spout so that it agitates like it does with the water and compressed air. Both methods work good. It takes longer with the vacuum but you don't get soaked.

Some season ending totals here; I made 153 gallons of syrup this year. 9 less than last year with 180 more taps on vacuum and 11 more buckets. I collected 11140 gallons of sap from the vacuum, 17.2 gallons per tap. I collected 8875 last year, 19.2 gallons per tap. I collected 675 gallons from 88 buckets this year, 7.7gallons per tap, last year 935 gallons from 77 buckets, 12.1 gals per tap. Last year I made 162 gallons of syrup. This year sugar content ave 1.1%, last year slightly over 1.4%. this year .21 gallons of syrup per tap, last year 3.0 gallons per tap.

Am I happy with that? Hell yeah! The bucket and gravity guys did much worse.

[PerryW]

I also feel that it is best to get the taps pulled as soon as possible after they stop running so I make that a high priority.

Russell, I agree with you 100% on that, but I still spent the day skiing in shorts & a tee shirt at Bretton Woods.

I do have a pretty good jump on the clean up though, considering my last boil was just yesterday. All take-down tubing, buckets, tanks, barrels and hoses are all cleaned and the evaporator is filled with water and ready to clean. Woodshed is already 1/3 full. Should end up with 115-116 gallons for the season once I finish off the contents of the pans.

[Russell Lampron]

Perry it sounds like you had a good season. You must have been getting some good frost at night when it wasn't freezing at all down here.

[Amber Gold]

You packed your 5-gal jugs heavy last year, so I bet your total syrup produced and average sugar content were better than you stated.

[Russell Lampron]

I inflated the numbers a little last year to compensate for that. I added a half gallon for each 5 gallon container because it usually took that much water or more to get the density right.

[wally]

Most of the fellow maple heads like me must not have 1. day jobs. 2. young kids 3. own business . I wish I had to the time to wash up my stuff so soon. I am jealous.


lessee. day job? check

young kids? check

self-employed (the day job)? check

and all cleaned up prior to april 1st? check

;)

[michelle32]

Gregg I have three jobs. I work nights 3 to 1:30 4 nights a week. I work days 8:30 to 12:30 Three times a week and I have a landscaping business. Most of the time it's sugaring season the landscaping is very slow. I average about 4.5 hours a sleep a night in the busy season. Which is just starting to kick in. Keith

[maple sapper]

This wasnt intended to be a contest. I guess we all have different things going happening and time is always consumed in one way or the other. I am not 100% cleaned up yet. One thing I can say is that Im way ahead of last year. So, Im happy with that. This good weather has got me running to estimate after estimate and thats a good thing. One of the other things that makes it tough is that two orchards are not a walk in my back yard. So planning time to and from also has to work with daylight left and other tasks.