Bigsap coming your way!!!

[PATheron]

Ive been studying weather patterns lately and if things hold true I think were right in the middle of a cold front for most of the northeast that looks like its going to be around till mid Fubruary or early March. Then I think its going to be followed by a warming trend that could trigger something very special, a freeze thaw. You know what that means? Firewood, fuel oil, tubing all over the place, tanks that need cleaned, trees that need bored, releasers that need to be unstuck. FOCUS PEOPLE, FOCUS!! This is serious, I dont think were going to have BIGSAP this year I think were going to have SH@#ASTROPHY SAP!! Plus its going to be sweet. BIGSAP= BIGSYRUP=HAPPY CHILDREN AT CRACKERBARRELL= BIGPAYCHECK. Call your poloticians about things and get to making drops or something! Criminy! Theeron

[Thiems sugarshack]

Anything will be better then last year i had almost five times as many taps then i had in 2009 and only make 14 gallons more.2009 i had 30 tapes and made 6 in a half gallons on a barrel evaporator then in 2010 i bought a used 2 by 6 leader king jr and had 140 taps and only made 20 gallons.

[smitty76]

I hope you are right, looking forward to a SH@#ASTROPHY SAP!! as you put it. Plenty to do and running out of time already. Can't believe it is almost christmas already.

[Randy Brutkoski]

You had better be right Theron. Since you said that, I am now going to take the whole month of march off. Actually I was going to take it off anyways. Will be the first time I have had any time off in 3 years. 3 years without a week off is a long time. Thats what i get for haveing my own buisiness. This will be my first year boiling and I am shooting for 2000 gallons. Going in balls deep. Still alot of work to do, hopefully the snow holds off for a little while longer so it is easier to get stuff done in the woods.

[smitty76]

Wow Randy, why are you starting off so slow, only 2000 gal your first year. Holy crap, i'd say balls deep, thats all the way to the berries. you go man and good luck, hope you double that.

[Thiems sugarshack]

2000 gallons of syrup or sap? May be dumb question I dont know.

[PATheron]

Randy- Im going to give you some good natured competition. Last year was terrible. Down here most people that made anything made about half a crop. I hope you can take the month off. Thats a great time. Ive basically done it. The smells and excitement are awesome. You just cant beat the anticipation and going outside on afrozen morning and feeling it warm up and see the sap start coming. Im hoping to hit 2000 gallons too. How many taps do you have? Theron

[Randy Brutkoski]

syrup, been selling my sap for 15 years,until now. Have about 5500 to 6000 taps right now, all on vac. Shooting for 10,000 next year.I need to stay ahead of Thad.

[Randy Brutkoski]

Need to figure out this posting picture thing and starting a photobucket. I want to show off my new Force 5. Baby steps will probably do it.

[smitty76]

I'm with Thiems you two, is that sap or syrup? No dumb ? here, just experience verses experience.

[PATheron]

Randy- You and I are just about the same exact size. What do you run for an ro and how big is the force five?

[Thad Blaisdell]

syrup, been selling my sap for 15 years,until now. Have about 5500 to 6000 taps right now, all on vac. Shooting for 10,000 next year.I need to stay ahead of Thad.

Randy, you better start moving quickly, I am as I type trying to buy another piece of land 4 miles from me that has between 10-15k taps. Hard to sleep at night thinking about that.

[Randy Brutkoski]

Theron, I have a 1200 GPH Lapierre Turbo,which is going to be a huge learning curve for me. But I have learned so much by just listening to you guys all of the time. My Force 5 is a 4x14 with a preheater.

[Thad Blaisdell]

What percentage to you plan to RO to?

[sapman]

Must be nice to still be snow free! Since Sunday, it hadn't stopped til today. Now about 18" on the level, and lots to do in the woods. Hoping for a thaw real soon!

[DrTimPerkins]

Must be nice to still be snow free! Since Sunday, it hadn't stopped til today. Now about 18" on the level, and lots to do in the woods. Hoping for a thaw real soon!

About 30-36" of snow on the ground at UVM PMRC in Underhill Ctr., VT.

[Thad Blaisdell]

3 inches here..... in East Randolph barely a dusting.

[Randy Brutkoski]

Plan on running the concentrate in the high teens maybe 20%. But we will see when I get my feet wet.

[danno]

Tim, I have you beat for a change. Closing in on 60" of snow since Sunday - with compacting from the lake effect, the snow is over my waist. Shoveled the roofs this afternoon, still have to do the sugarhouse tomorrow. Forecast is another foot by mid morning tomorrow and is now snowing nicely.

[PATheron]

Randy- You wont have any trouble at all with that equipment. That sounds like the perfect setup. If youve never really boiled before just kind of work your way up as you go on the concentrate and it wont take long and syrup will be coming off like crazy. Make sure your setup so that you draw off into a tank and then you can just put your earth right in it and press becouse your going to have a lot of syrup coming your way quick. Do you have a buddy that will run your press for you? Theron

[Randy Brutkoski]

I am going to have some help. My drawoff tank has a divider in the middle so i can keep the grades seperate if I want. 15 gallons on each side. Should be plenty of room when I am cleaning the press.






i

[cncaboose]

Theeeron, Somebody needs to dip you in defoamer just to get you calmed down. I have started counting the days til tapping though. Less than 3 months to go,even here in northern NY.

[Thad Blaisdell]

You guys and all your help.... I am a one man show. My father helped me last year tap for three days. That was all the help I had or needed. Now I have doubled my size we shall see.

[maplecrest]

well thad i guess we all know what your doing on christmas

[sapman]

Hoping I can get my niece to help with tapping again this year. She can keep right up with me, putting in cv's and stubbies, even when they're 7 ft. up! But she's a year older, and with more schoolwork this year.

Tim

[sapman]

Danno, I know things are different this year. My nephew works with me, and lives south of Baldwinsville. They've had several inches more than us every day. The sugarbush has more than here, too. :(

Sure don't envy you, Doc Perkins! Where is your snow coming from? Ours has been all lake effect. Don't think Champ does that.

[DrTimPerkins]

Sure don't envy you, Doc Perkins! Where is your snow coming from? Ours has been all lake effect. Don't think Champ does that.

Not Champ this time, although Lake Champlain occasionally produces small lake effect flurries in some areas, nowhere near the Great Lakes "lake effect" snow. Ours comes from being 1,400 ft up on the side of Mt. Mansfield. Moist clouds get pushed up...snow comes down.

[Thad Blaisdell]

well thad i guess we all know what your doing on christmas

Just trying to razz a few people.... I only have to haul sap from 900 taps and that is only 2.5 miles. All the rest come straight into the sugarhouse. That makes a considerable difference in the help I would need.

[TapME]

Doc. That's the same effect that gives you the warm weather during maple season that is giving you snow now?

[tuckermtn]

here is my theory- the weather this whole year has off by two or three weeks. Last winter our break-up and end of logging season came two weeks early. Sugaring season ended two weeks early. Hay was ready two weeks early. Apples were early. Now its early December and we are having temps tonight around zero. That doesn't normally happen till closer to January.

So I better be ready to tap by the first weekend in February if this keeps up...

[Randy Brutkoski]

Your right, I have a weird feeling this will be a permanate trend.Everything was 2 or 3 weeks off. Even apple crop was early. The Doc should tell us if this could be a permanate trend.

[PATheron]

Thad- You are pretty fortunate that everything comes to the shed like that. Youd laugh at my setup. All we have down here where I am is woodlots. No big woods. Im running five releasers this year just for five thousand and some taps. It does make it a little tougher probly. I think Im fortunate though to have that many taps within a mile of the house. I dont know how you run that big rig though and keep the syrup pressed. My dad runs the evaperator usually and I press and keep track of ro's and Im on a dead run. Im pretty happy this morning with how our stuff is coming. I think as of next week Ill have all the taps on the house pump, which is around 4500, totally ready the way I wanted them. Thats a big load off my mind. Weve almost got the shed all done too. By the end of the month well be pretty close to ready. Another month for misc and we'll be good. Feb one were drilling. Ive got a pretty good feeling about this season. Its more like winter should be this year. Its going to be fun. The other thing Im excited about is having equipment enough in the shed so now I can really keep track of the woods. Cant wait. Theron

[Thad Blaisdell]

For all of my sap I would say there are 4 releasers. My neighbor who ended up with 2500 taps. His sap pumps 300 feet and goes into a tank that I have. That tank has 12-1500 taps running into it. That tank is right next to the road and right next to a power pole. I ran a 1 inch line from it 2500' around and into the sugarhouse. I will have a float set up with a 10 gal per min pump. Then I have roughly 900 on the back I have to collect and that will get dumped into the other tank and pumped around to the sugarhouse. Should run smooth.

I have to still..... put up 2800 drops, and the saddles that go with them. Connect/build manifolds for those lines. On the 17th I have 4 2100 gallon tanks coming, 3 need to be put in the upstairs of my sugarhouse. The 4th needs to go around the hill and be put in the shed that I need to build, 8x18. The floor is done needs sides and roof. Then I still need to pick up and install my new pans. I should be ready in about 5 months.....:cry:

[Sugarmaker]

T&T,
As usual I get tired just reading all the stuff you guys are doing.:)
Keep up the good work! I know it will pay off for you.
Regards,
Chris

[PATheron]

Chris- Im all the time looking at roadside trees like you do. If a guy could get permission you could make a ton of syrup on just those things. Especially in town you see trees that make you drool. Theron

[Haynes Forest Products]

Well its been dipping down to the low 20s everynight freezing solid and getting up into the mid 40s nice clear days with nice sunshine all day.................................. ~^#$@%&*&)*^& THATS RIGHT I LIVE IN COLORADO and the only Sugar Maple is only 6" diameter and in the neighbors yard:mad:

[steam maker]

so the shiny new ro is in...... to bad its gonna snow, sleet and rain tommorow dont wanna get the new girl covered in salt mist.... guess ill have to wait to pic her up....:cry: still plenty to do.. first thing though is fire up the woodstove in the sugarhouse:D

[PATheron]

Pouring rain here today. Perfect day to work on saplines. Hoping to pretty much wrap up everything today on the house pump as good as Im going to get Id say. Tomarrow start tuning up the Booy bush. Working in the shed evenings a little every day. Ro room is starting to look pretty good. Dad cleaned field tanks yesterday. Gotta get ready for Sh@#astrophy sap. Theron

[Brian Ryther]

Did you ever figure out the filter housings?

[danno]

here is my theory- the weather this whole year has off by two or three weeks. Last winter our break-up and end of logging season came two weeks early. Sugaring season ended two weeks early. Hay was ready two weeks early. Apples were early. Now its early December and we are having temps tonight around zero. That doesn't normally happen till closer to January.

So I better be ready to tap by the first weekend in February if this keeps up...

Not that longe range forecasts are worth anything, but the forecast was for a cold/stormy NE in Decemeber, and a moderate rest of the winter. Maybe we need to be ready to drill Jan. 1? That's not gonna happen, way toooo much to do.

[PATheron]

Brian- The tops came off just like we thought. Its just a tight fit like the top of a high pressure vessel. Ive got them all plumbed in. They look like they are going to work good. Are you working across from the shed up in Red maple heaven yet? Theron

[Brian Ryther]

If all goes well this week I can start up in red heaven next week. I have been making my other bush perfect. I also ran a 1000' of 3/4 from a year round stream to supply the new LR pump. It will have 40 degree seal water constantly. If I don't do better sap #' than Proctor this season I will be very disappointed.

[PATheron]

Brian- You need to get up there to Red Heaven PRONTO! I hope you beat proctor but your shooting high. I think the doctor gets his big numbers by having those kids on constant survaillance in his woods. I know thats what Id do. I cant pick on you Im supposed to be putting new taps in too but Im still finetuning. Started this morning at 0330 and it was warm and finished up an hour ago and was freezing to death. The ground is going to freeze here for sure this year. Its real cold. Theron

[DrTimPerkins]

.. If I don't do better sap #' than Proctor this season I will be very disappointed.

Best of luck to you. We're happy when anyone can replicate our numbers.

[Brian Ryther]

I do feel that it is much more valuable to have the best possible installation vs high tap numbers. To think that not that long ago 5000 taps has the potential to equal 2500 today. Tap count is irrelevant. Sap production is what counts.