Southwest PA Tapping 2025

DRoseum,

Thank you for letting me know. Congrats on getting 17.5 gallons of syrup already! There's a big run coming. If the long-term forecast is correct, it will start a week from today. This could end up being a banner year for you!

How are the rest of you handling the weather and the sap run this week?

It's been cloudy all week with highs in the 40s and slight freezes at night. I've been keeping up with the sap flow without much trouble and could handle a much bigger run (like the one I'm expecting starting Tuesday next week).

On Sunday, when the weather turns cold, I'll bottle this week's syrup. I'm looking forward to finding out how much I've made.

It's been pouring in last 2.5 days! Won't complain at all... this is what we waited a whole year for! I made another 3.25 gallons last night off 220 gallons of sap. Not great ratio, but normal for me (nearly all forest red maples that only give 1 - 1.5% sugar).

I've been overrun with sap. My fault as I am using the 3/16 gravity fed lines on 81 taps for the first time. I didn't expect so much sap to flow all the time. I have 7 gallons in bottles and 5 more ready to go. It's the best I had yet in 3 years. I'm used to buckets on 5/16 tubing and not getting the flow as I am now. I'm boiling all day and the RO can't keep up. I sure could use a set up to have the concentrated sap ready for me in the am. The building is not heated or insulated, so I'm not sure how I would keep the system from freezing, Maybe a "heated insulated cupboard in the corner of the shack with a temp sensor and some kind of heater that won't burn the place down? Dan, I did see your set up in a cooler with the heat tape, but I like the openness of my dolly set up. Any ideas anybody?

Also, can I use 1/4 tubing on the membranes on a new RO system I'm building, or do I have to use the 3/8 tubing as I see on all setups. I have 400 Gpd "Membrane Solutions" membranes and am waiting on the TYP 8900k pump. I just have more 1/4 tubing than 3/8 right now....

SRM,

You're in a similar situation to the one that I was in before I built my first RO. Hopefully, you won't have to pitch sap and cut your season short like I had to the season just before I built my first RO.

I learned how to build that RO from Bowhunter here on this Maple Trader website and it worked so well that I built a second one just like it. My ROs use 1/4 tubing. The complete plans for them can be found online on this thread:

http://mapletrader.com/community/sho...eap-RO-be-5000

If you ever want to visit and see my operation in action (on Route 85 between Kittanning and Rural Valley), call me 724-783-6512 to set up a time after Monday this coming week (when the sap is flowing again so that you can see my ROs in action).

Howard

Yep mine is all in an insulated cooler with a mini temperature controlled heater. Latest update https://youtu.be/Og9JpgIfE8w?si=L5cPhFjAvpN1P0tk

The 1/4 will probably work, but it's a little restrictive on the flow and you will have more friction losses. Throw it together amd see how it works. You could always reconfigure it later.

3/16 is a game changer, isn't it? First year I ran that, I made 4x the amount of syrup I normally did.

Did you guys manage to keep up with the huge run we got on Tuesday and Wednesday this week? I had to keep my ROs and evaporator running all night Tuesday, which meant I had to get out to check on things every hour-and-a-half or so throughout the night. The flow continued throughout Wednesday. Yesterday, my wife and I pressed a huge batch through our filter press (to take out the sediment). The syrup is still fairly light in color -- not late-season dark syrup.

I'm expecting another huge run on Monday and Tuesday. I'll probably have to keep my ROs running throughout Monday night (and Tuesday night too if there's a frost Monday night). But, after that, the season is iffy. The current forecasts call for a whole week of very warm weather.

Yes it was busy week for sure! New high water mark for me on total syrup produced and its all been amber rich. I expect to get more through mid next week with the large warm up, but will probably pull taps and start the cleanup process right after that. The long term weather looks horrible (no freezing nights), and I hate when the sap gets all milky and yeast starts becoming a problem in the tubing and tanks etc. Plus, I've already made a lot of syrup.

DRoseum,

I'm not going to set a personal record, but it will be a decent year. You were right to tap a couple weeks before me!

Today's run is surprising me. The sap is really pouring out. Sunday's run should also be good, with a likely frost Sunday evening setting things up for Monday. So I should get a few more good runs before the warm week.

I probably won't pack up right away just because of the warm week. In the past, I've sometimes seen the sap come back strong in my sugar maples (but not my red maples) after a warm week

By the way, I just started a thread about my hot-sap-gloves elsewhere on this website. Here's the link: http://mapletrader.com/community/sho...ot-maple-syrup

They very well may bounce back just fine. I am predominantly reds and the buds are super tight. I just worry about not getting another freeze down here.

The link to your gloves in the other post doesn't seem to be working.