Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

I was hoping to be able to tap today but it looks like it is not going to get warm enough. We are now in for a week of cold. Looks like the last week of February the race will be on to get all tapping done. I have not tapped any South/East facing trees yet so these taps are going to be as fresh as can be. Instead of a run here and there I hope the season will just start about the second week of March and go till the 20th of April. Once the pumps get turned on they stay on for the season. I think we are going to have a good season.

Spud

Picked up the new Deer Run RO. It will be my first season with one of those. I ended up with the 125 expandable and will make it a 250 next season. I will be plumbing it in this weekend. I have added about 200 taps and have to cut in another 50 or so this weekend, which will bring me to about 650 total. Will be brisk out there, but I will be moving so it shouldn't be too bad. I still have to put the pans back together, but that shouldn't take more than a night. Have to travel for my real job next week, which considering the forcast is ok. I will start tapping as soon as I get back. Good luck in the woods everyone.

I did not think I was going to tap today but then it warmed up enough. Got 500 in today so it turned out to be a good day.

Spud

Added another 20 taps today after work. I'm getting closer to 4000 taps. Still have time with the forecast.

Added another 32 taps today. Getting closer to my goal. I think this weekend I may spend sometime in the garage. Has anyone used air injectors for sap ladders?? I bought some this year on the trader I'm going to try them. If anyone has any tips let me know

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wsugar

Added another 32 taps today. Getting closer to my goal. I think this weekend I may spend sometime in the garage. Has anyone used air injectors for sap ladders?? I bought some this year on the trader I'm going to try them. If anyone has any tips let me know

---

Air injectors? Hmmm, never herd of them. It's going to be cold today they say, looks like cold for a couple more days after as well. Not getting to excited yet, I think March we will all be flooded.

Air injectors for sap ladders? Never heard of that either, can you describe? Putting in my first sap ladder next week to clear the driveway and link 2 of my pipelines for vacuum.

Air injectors allow you to adjust the amount of air you put into your sap ladder. My sap ladder is built by using 5/16 lines and stars top and bottom. By letting in some air it improves the lift system. Defeats the vacuum but I had to do it to get the sap moving. I will try to get some pics this weekend and post what I'm doing. I'm not sure if this works on a two pipe sap ladder. Time will tell. 😄😄

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wsugar

Air injectors allow you to adjust the amount of air you put into your sap ladder. My sap ladder is built by using 5/16 lines and stars top and bottom. By letting in some air it improves the lift system. Defeats the vacuum but I had to do it to get the sap moving. I will try to get some pics this weekend and post what I'm doing. I'm not sure if this works on a two pipe sap ladder. Time will tell. 😄😄

---

Oh ok, I just did my first ladder. 5/16 with 2 6way stars. Lifting apprx 10'. I wonder if I should or will need one. Time will tell. I'm only lifting apprx 50taps.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by spud

Syrupn2v- Wow sounds like you have some big money tied up in your operation. In time you might want to be the sap buyer of the South. Put that 8 post to work. Best of luck on your season.

Spud

---

Spud,
I bought 45,000gal, and produced 70,000gal of my own last year. Processed on a 2 post machine. This year should be a "little" less RO'ing time! Always buying good clean sap!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wsugar

Air injectors allow you to adjust the amount of air you put into your sap ladder. My sap ladder is built by using 5/16 lines and stars top and bottom. By letting in some air it improves the lift system. Defeats the vacuum but I had to do it to get the sap moving. I will try to get some pics this weekend and post what I'm doing. I'm not sure if this works on a two pipe sap ladder. Time will tell. 

---

Adjust the injector to the reading of a vac gauge. When the ladder is flooded the vac will drop off, if you open the injector too much the vac drops off. When you reach your highest vac level during peak flow you have the injector set perfectly and will have the best vac transfer you can possible achieve.

Injectors actually increase vac levels. On my system with 8 injectors and 8 ladders I have less than 0.15 CFM of injected air. Simple to install and cost under $10 at the local hardware store. In 2013 half our taps were laddered and we did .47 g/tap of syrup. This season 800+ of 1100 will be thru at least one ladder and most thru at least two ladders.
Our system has had ladders since the late 1970's to bring those Vermont trees the the NY sugar house.... amazing how 185 feet makes syrup sell differently!

Thank you breezy. Can you send me a private message with a phone number. I would love to talk with you or see your set up

Attachment 10634Attachment 10635

This is a pic of one of my lifts

In the woods this afternoon for awhile. Wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. But kept moving and was fine. Probably got another 50 taps hooked to the mainline. Then hooked the whip to the wet dry. I think tomorrow after I get done plowing I will extend the last mainline. This will allow me to pick up another 200-250 taps. Don't know if I will get them all on this year but going to try like hell for the next week to get as much as poss. .looking at the long range for my area I think I will start tapping end of the month, unless something changes. I do no we don't need any more snow. Snowshoes on and still making it hard to get around on. I think we are up to somewhere around 70 or so new dsD saddles. Seem to really like the way they install, really like the Ss hose clamp. Time will tell if there as good as they seem they are.

Got to plumb the RO, and work on washing tanks soon. Rebuild one vac pump then should be done.
PM

There is nothing going on here at the Border town. It is way too cold to tap. Kids are going to have the last week of the month off from school so the tapping will get done then. I hope we don't get sap till the third week of March so some of this snow has time to melt.

Spud

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by spud

There is nothing going on here at the Border town. It is way too cold to tap. Kids are going to have the last week of the month off from school so the tapping will get done then. I hope we don't get sap till the third week of March so some of this snow has time to melt.

Spud

---

What do you think is this freeze going to hurt the production this year? I think for me we will have another wicked short season. But might be wrong. Just need to get out of this deep freeze so the sun can start warming things up. I think the last day we had above 32 was back in December so it's going to take awhile. I'm not going to start tapping this year until it's running. I want wet steaming drill bits. Long range forecast on accuweather keeps changing so they do have a clue what's going on.

It's a guessing game for sure. I do think the last two weeks of March will get us some sap and then the first three weeks of April the big runs will come. Last year I only had 3 runs in March. The extended forecast in my area is saying April will be sugaring weather. Back 6-7 years ago when the price of syrup went to $4.00 lb I was told that it was because Canada had so much snow and frost in the ground that their sugaring season ended before the ground thawed. Can anyone confirm that? I am wondering if Dr. Tim could tell us. I still think we are going to have a very good season. My wife say's I better be right or else.:D

Spud

My temp here this morning just as sun was coming up -25 I have not seen any temps that cold in a long time around here
With the full moon in the first week of march I don't see any real sugaring weather til at least 2nd week of march
just my two cents which I dare say is as good as any weather person!

Looks like I might be able to tap some tomorrow. This weekend is also looking good with temps around 25-30. Big sap on the way.

Spud

Finished up the repairs to our east sugarbush this am. It had been a number of years since this lot was used by my grandfather. So it was in rough shape. But finally today I cut in the last drop line and capped the ladt main. Going to clean up all tanks this weekend, set the vac pumps and plumb the RO. Should b smooth sailing from here. I'm thinking of starting tapping next weekend. 2weeks later then I usually do but what's usuall know?

Let the sap gods bring on the warm weather 😉
Parker Maple

My Father and I plumbed the vacuum today. We have to finish tying up the 1 1/2" vac line and plumb the releaser. We also have to finish extending the 1" mainline to the releaser and wire the vacuum. Hopefully we can get a good jump on the 1" mainline and some work on the releaser done on Sunday. As much as I would like to see warmer and great suger weather NOW, I am happy to have the extra time to get ready.

Mike

Almost done with my new tubing installation. Some saddles and a few mainline fittings left to install. Finished modifying my releaser with a 1 hp 3 phase well pump and vfd. It should work real well. 27.5" 24/7

Waiting on tapping until it warms up a bit. Spending the cold days finishing plumbing for the new ro in the heated room.

Looks like we won't be sugaring until march.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GeneralStark

Almost done with my new tubing installation. Some saddles and a few mainline fittings left to install. Finished modifying my releaser with a 1 hp 3 phase well pump and vfd. It should work real well. 27.5" 24/7

Waiting on tapping until it warms up a bit. Spending the cold days finishing plumbing for the new ro in the heated room.

Looks like we won't be sugaring until march.

---

Couldn't agree more general, hopefully March brings better weather. This below zero stuff is getting old

Was able to get 400 tapped today but then my back started giving me problems. Taking tomorrow off and then hope to be back at it for the weekend. I have close to 5000 tapped so far.

Spud

Finally got into the woods on Wednesday. Replaced all the old 1/2" mainline with 3/4". Still need to extend the mainlines and tie into the lower bush with a sap ladder over the driveway. Hoping to make some headway on that this weekend.

Looks like the first of March it's going to start warming up. I'm all set to go if it warms up enough Sunday im going to wash the RO. Made up a few more drops so I got to find a place for those. Thank you breezy for the great conversation the other night.

-10 to -20 today with the wind. Sure makes it hard to work in the woods. My friend was telling me this morning that the frost is deeper in Winooski this year than anyone can remember or is on record (3 water main breaks this past week alone). I am sure the extra deep frost applies to the whole state. What will the deep frost do to the trees I wonder? maybe make it hard for them to run until it warms up a lot? Does anyone remember a season with real deep frost and how it affected production?

My guess is it will take the season a while to get going and will extend it well into April.

Ben

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that only applies to frost in the streets. Frost gets a lot deeper there because the roads are kept plowed. Just before we got all this snow, I was driving fence posts in the woods and didn't hit much frost. We've gotten a ton of snow since, so it's kept the ground insulated from all this cold weather, and if anything, some of the frost should've come out. Please correct me if I'm wrong because this is my understanding.

What I don't know is how this deep snowpack affects how well the trees run. If there isn't much frost in the ground, and we have the right temps, but there's 3' of snow the ground, will the trees run???

I have to say where I live in the Conway Nh- Fryeburg ME area there is frost in the ground where people have not traveled , I.E. the woods & meadows. I think that it will take 3-4 days above 40 to get the sap to run.

The frost in Burlington (in the roads) is 3-4 ft deep. 3 water breaks today in Burlington. Water department has been putting a lot of long hours. Where there is snow about a foot of frost.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Amber Gold

What I don't know is how this deep snowpack affects how well the trees run. If there isn't much frost in the ground, and we have the right temps, but there's 3' of snow the ground, will the trees run???

---

You are correct. In the woods, frost is not real common. The leaves insulate the ground pretty well, and then later, the snow provides insulation. There might be a little freezing in the upper inch or two, but not much beyond that unless we have a long cold winter with no snow cover.

As far as snow goes there usually isn't a huge problem UNLESS the snow is packed tightly around the trunk of the tree, which causes it to stay frozen at that level, preventing recharge of moisture in the tree during a freeze cycle. Usually a few warm days causes the snow to melt away from the trunk a little bit, forming a depression (or in Inuit/Eskimo -- a qumaniq), allowing the sap to be pulled upward (during a freeze) so the sap can run when it gets warm again.

Hear in Deerfield NH the town had to and has winged the snow up on the road side trees four and even six feet deep. Most of these trees had a snow pack of three feet until they got winged. Are these trees shut down to a point.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Marc Duclos

Are these trees shut down to a point.

---

It'll be late when they run. Packed snow around the trunk will keep them from running for a while until the snow melts and loosens up some.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DrTimPerkins

It'll be late when they run. Packed snow around the trunk will keep them from running for a while until the snow melts and loosens up some.

---

So what's umv up to for tapping and sugaring this time of year.

The wind was bad today in the woods so I never tapped. I hope tomorrow will be a good tapping day. I sure hope I will be done tapping by next weekend. My dream of being a coffee farmer in Kona is sounding more desirable for my wife. She hates winter and hates snow. Talked to a few of my friends from Alaska today and they both said they have no snow on their lawns. It's been in the 40s there.

Spud

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by spud

The wind was bad today in the woods so I never tapped. I hope tomorrow will be a good tapping day. I sure hope I will be done tapping by next weekend. My dream of being a coffee farmer in Kona is sounding more desirable for my wife. She hates winter and hates snow. Talked to a few of my friends from Alaska today and they both said they have no snow on their lawns. It's been in the 40s there.

Spud

---

Mid 30s and raining in Anchorage today, Spud. We had 2 weeks of seasonably cold (lows about 0F and highs about 10F). Otherwise the whole winter has been much too warm. Iditarod start was just shifted to Fairbanks. If I liked winter on the coast of Connecticut, I woulda friggin moved there! So almost sugaring temps here, except no maples (yet).

Rand

Put in 500' of new mainlines yesterday and built a little pump house atop the 500 gallon collection tank. Still need to bring in the laterals, build the sap ladder and get the sugarhouse in order. Another 10 days of Alaska weather and we may just get it all done!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PARKER MAPLE

So what's umv up to for tapping and sugaring this time of year.

---

Last month has been getting lines cleared, new pumps and releasers squared away, and some research studies set up. We plan to start tapping the middle of this week unless the weather is too bad.

Was able to get 850 tapped today with my son and a friend. The snow is about three feet deep. If weather permits I would like to get another 500+ done tomorrow.

Spud

Got some of the tanks out today for cleaning, man I hate washing poly tanks. Wicked nice today trigger finger was getting itchy. Will get these tanks washed and set this week. Then set the vac pumps and releasers this weekend, hopefully weather permitting start tapping Sunday