Bigsap Warning 2009

TTHH(LONGHAULSUGARKING)- put a scoop across the top of every till,,the foam will hit the scoops then drop down,,and like MAPLECREST said put the defoamer right to it,,dont smoke a pan,,,,**** GOOD JOB!!!!! IMPRESSIVE!!

Today might be the last of my so called big run untill tuesday or wensday now. Night time temps are supposed to stay above zero again for a few days. The way it works around here trees just start to produce and then it warms up for a couple of days and then freezes solid.

Ken,

That's exactly what they are doing for me too. Certainly, the weather forecast does NOT look ideal, but I would expect to get a better run today than yesterday and it should run overnight and into friday, since the trees are primed and ready. Then we jst have to wait out a couple warm days and hope the weathermen are wrong about the NO freeze.

If you do NOT get 100 gallons from your 100+ taps between right now and Friday afternoon, I would think something is wrong.

You aren't tapping those telephone poles are you?

Put the defoamer to it. I have switched back to the Atmos 300 after using canola oil for a few years. I am still running my front pan at 1" and I put a small squirt of defoamer into the float box for the flue pan and keep that up while I am boiling. I'm not having problems with the front pan foaming up anymore.

The guy I do the sugarhouse with went up today to visit a big operation up north. He said that they had 45,000 taps that all fed into a giant sugarhouse with 6" lines strung on to cables. He said that the amount coming in today was incredible. The RO took it all down, and they boil it down on two 5x12 foot evaporators, both going at the same time!

They turned out 250 gallons just in the couple of hours they were there.

The RO takes it down to around 15% and it feeds the evaporators in a giant stream, not like the trickle coming into our floats.

He took a snowmobile ride up into the sugarbush and it was an immense bowl of pure maples which pump out the sap on a day like today. Blue skies, snow and silvery sugar maple trees, all the way up the mountain until it turns to softwoods.

He said they were turning out light syrup, and it got lighter as they boiled.

It sounds like sugarmakers nirvana.

BIGSAP UPDATE- Pretty much hanging things up I think down here. Shut the pump off last night for the first time in a month at least. January taps still running although at about half speed. Feb taps running good. Just cant get the sap worked through the evap. Foams up so bad I burnt my syrup pans two nights in a row. Had enough last night and went to bed for the entire night. I think if I had twice the ro I could go futher into this late stuff by working it up that night and boiling it but Ill have to wait to next year to find out. Right now Ive got 1150 gallons of syrup in the barrell off of 3600 taps on the pump and 150 buckets that weve only had time to dump a couple times. Im actually pretty close to a third on the pump so Im really happy with that considering the year here. Im hearing that the gravity guys in my area have had a terreble year with only two good runs really. Now if I had two columns for my ro I think I would have gone over the third maybe quite a bit so that tells me Ive found my bottom number for the bad year and thats about a third. Good year should do the half. Probly a good thing I didnt get any more sap becouse I never could have kept up. Next year I want to have 1200 gallon ro and then Ill be loaded for bear. Real happy with the year, had a lot of fun, learned a ton. Good luck to everyone still goin. Thee(sap so scanky cant do anything with it)roon

Buy some junk pans, or run the ones you smoked AND BOIL MAN BOIL,,,you will be JONESING in a couple of weeks,,,

Guys- IM BACK IN THE SADDLE!!! The other day I had burnt my pans for the second time in a row trying to make that stuff. Got fed up and was going to go open the gatevalves on everything and give up, only reason I didnt was I was too tired to walk down to the tanker. Had 9000 gallons of sap. Went to bed and slept 8 hours and changed my mind. Figured out how to do it. I was forced to concentrate a head tank during the night becouse Im out of vacation and boil it next day. Just cant to that. Have to boil as Im doing it. Other thing is I was taking the first draw off wide open and thats when I was burning the pans. If I boil as I concentrate and run the syrup pans real deep no prob. I started friday night and did a 12 hour shift till 5 in the morning and running the evap and the ro at the same time I can do 3000 gallons in that time. Yesterday did another 12 hour 3000 gallon shift and Im going out right now and doing another one. Got about 4500 gallons left becouse the sap keeps running somehow. The January taps the other day ran without a freeze 1000 gallons on 2600 taps. So its not crazy but it does keep coming. Anyone wants to tap early they should read the proctor research papers becouse my taps have mirrored thier experiance. Anyway, now Im over 1200 and Im going to try to hit 1300. I think I can. Im going through a ton of wood but I think I have enough to do it. I cant believe how much Ive learned this year. Just when you think you know what your doing you learn something new. Never tried to make the mersh before. Ive always quit but this is good bill paying money if I can keep cranking it through. Ill keep you guys posted. Season is about over here though unless you retap I think and Im derfinitely not doing that. Had all the sap I want to see for a while. Thee(making mersh so dark you could run your car engine on it)rooon.

TTHH(NOSLEEPTILL4THOFJULY)RROONN-NICE!!,,,I had to open up a can of *ALLNIGHTBOIL* last night,,,,started at 8 done at 4,,barrell filled....need some cold up here...

Parrr(so much wood they could make toilet paper for the nation for a year)ker- 1250 in the barrell still have sap. All tired out going to hit it again tomarrow night. Thee(butt draggin on the ground like a dog with worms)roon