Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

I made another 10 gallons last night, and passed the 100 gallon mark! All AR, but very close to the test standard, and almost Dark, once again. My 330 tank was full at the end of the day from my 330 taps, as it stopped running in the early evening. Still holding 1.5%. Good freeze last night, and just reached 31 at 10:30. Should be a good couple days.
I, like the General had some issues with foaming two consecutive days before yesterday, and had a very hard time controlling my flow. I think it was some sort of sap issue. I had completely cleaned my whole pan just 3-4 days ago. I had rotated my front pan after the first day, and it did not help. I drained and cleaned my front pan before yesterday's boil. Not a lot of niter, but it sure helped. Yesterday's boil went very smoothly.

Sap is still running 1100 GPH at 7:30 tonight. Started late today but I am up to 6000 gallons so far. It was supposed to go down to 19 tonight but now their saying only 30. Should be in the 30 range for 4-5 hours so things should go great tomorrow. Already passed last years numbers with 2-3 weeks to go. Got to love it. Sap is clear and testing 1.8% today.

Spud

My 107 taps are holding strong in Hinesburg. Steady run today but not record breaking. A bit over a gallon per tap.

For sap I'm at 23.9 gallons per tap for the season so far. My sugar content average is 2.2%

The temperature is hovering around freezing now and it looks like it might be around 30 for four or five hours tonight - hopefully that happens because it should help take advantage of tomorrow's nice warm day.

My sugar content is still strong - the stuff I measured today was 2.2%, it has been hanging in there at 2.3% most of this past week.

Yesterday's syrup was the lightest of the season - 81% Iight transmittance (gd) and great flavor. Today's was 67% (AR).

Sap was still running as of 11:00 pm. It didn't really start running strong until later in the afternoon. Made a little over 3 barrels tonight so we are at 42 barrels so far. Hoping for a big day tomorrow.

Sap ran well here yesterday and did freeze overnight. Pulled in almost 2 gpt between Friday at 5 pm and this morning. Sugar still about 1.3%.

Yesterday I cleaned the ropey crap out of the rig and rinsed, boiled, scrubbed, rinsed, boiled, scrubbed, and this morning will rinse again before sweetening the pans. It will be interesting to see what I make today. Still no peepers here and the red maple buds are in the same swell stage they have been for about a week now. If it does get to nearly 60 today, that may change.

When I cleaned the rig yesterday I found some seriously funky slime in the flue pan float box. It smelled of anaerobic decomposition (think septic tank) so my current hypothesis is that this is what caused the ropey syrup incident. Note to self: clean float box more frequently.

Good luck everyone! Today should be a gusher for all of us.

Sap is running hard in Hinesburg. It was freezing around 10pm and thawing around 6am and running hard by 8am.

Extended forecast is for a cold snap to come in around April 3/4th - current weather models have it below freezing all day one day that week.

I really hope the buds don't break early and get frost damage. If they don't pop, this season could have some more legs to it.

Total at 1,724 gal (0.40 gal/tap) after last night. Sugar still at 2.0% in both bushes. Sap quality is still good. Vacuum running 25.5-27.0" Hg (depending upon how warm it is and how much gas the trees are putting out). Froze here around 10pm, but tanks about 1/2-2/3 full this morning, so must have warmed up during the night. The Smartrek system is running great....and very interesting to watch the temperatures throughout the woods. Easy to see when things freeze up out in various sections, but still running in others.....makes me even more convinced that shutting off the pumps (which we don't do) when it freezes is a real crap shoot at times.

Spent some time looking closely at buds while measuring my chambers this morning. Everything here is still tightly closed and in their winter condition. No signs at all of bud swelling.

Running well right now. Will be boiling in a few hours.....HAPPY EASTER everyone!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ryebrye

I really hope the buds don't break early and get frost damage. If they don't pop, this season could have some more legs to it.

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Buds that are just swelling (but not yet open) still have a reasonable amount of cold tolerance. It is when the buds are fully open and new leaves emerge that they are at their most vulnerable and can't handle temperatures more than a few degrees below freeing (for a short time). Cold temperatures at that point can be damaging. Frost damage is pretty unusual on maples....it does happen, but not commonly.

My first scientific specialty (after getting my Ph.D.) before I was appointed Director of UVM PMRC was tree cold tolerance (mostly of spruces).

Faucet is on... Beyond my little 4x2's capacity for 25 buckets. We've been boiling since 5:00 AM yesterday and have boiled down about 140 gallons -- my 10-year old spent the whole night in the shack :) -- giving it our best shot, but methinks I hear someone calling "no mas" from the house... Happy Easter and good luck!!


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Dr. Tim based on your buds in Underhill at 1250 elevation how much time do you think you have this season?

Spud