Cool! Ya I work in ingersoll!
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Cool! Ya I work in ingersoll!
more snow ? march 31 ground is white sap ran hard yesterday. I need a new weather channel
It ran really hard yesterday. I'm afraid to go out and look this morning because I'm out of storage space. Whatever is out there this morning has to sit on the tree.
I emptied a few over flowing buckets last night and it was around 8:30 and they were still dripping :)
Busy day snow then latter on wind came up and the tree's had a snow fight got me down the back of my neck twice Bad tree Attachment 11503Attachment 11498Attachment 11500Attachment 11501Attachment 11502
I bottled twice today running out of glass have a few tins then on to plastic
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took a quick break from the sugar shack this afternoon see my pair of geese are back and a ship out in the lake Spring is Here
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Well sap is running today! All my trees are dripping like crazy!
didn't get as warm as weather man said. only half tank today hope it fills over night bottled again
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It was slow here today too. I don't think it got cold enough last night. Looking at the forecast, it looks like the season is drawing to a close.
Got to the hundred imperial gallon mark yesterday. 4 gallon of light, the rest medium. Inundated with sap.
Getting ready to come home tonight, I saw and heard peepers! Swamps still have lots of ice in them. Also saw a salamander crawling through the muck. Frogs jumping on the road as I drove home. Didn't need it to be this warm. Syrup went to amber today. Fought with the rear float all day.
So those of us in Ontario are now officially on notice. The frogs and peepers are approaching from the west. Thanks for the headsup argohauler.
Looking at the long range forecast it looks like this is the last weekend for me...
Yes I agree it doesn't look favourable. Percentages of rain everyday. Didn't even get as cold as they said it was supposed to last night. Supposed freeze tonight. Still trying to catch up, won't be till tomorrow likely.
yes i'm calling it also
Lots of sap flowing today south of Guelph. Can't figure it out. Snow all morning and only a few degrees above zero. Hmmmmm? 2 gallon Buckets all overflowing when collecting this evening they were emptied early this morning. This may be the last week if temps overnight stay above zero!
I had a good flow Saturday, 12 gallons. Yesterday was 3 gallons. Today will be lucky to get 2. The sap is getting a little cloudy, but so far the taste is okay. We're down to the end if you're in the extreme south.
Sap flow is out of control here today. Loving it!
1 more round up today. Too bad it has to stop freezing. The sap is nice and clear and sugar is still high, but rain systems have screwed us. Double digit highs are coming. Still ice in the swamps and I'm still driving on ice in places. Not sure if I'll make last years total. Syrup has the red tint to it, but it's still amber.
Boiled 30 gallons today and it only produced 3.75 litres of syrup. Had been getting 4.5 litres. Does the sugar content tail off when the season is winding down here in Mountsberg? ( Close to Milton)
Thanks for any answers. First year so still learning!
It certainly can JDP. I have found that is usually the case, but it can bump up again if there is another freeze. Invest in a sap hydrometer during the off season so you will know in advance what to expect from your sap before you put in the hours of boiling. Mine is indispensable.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/0-10-Portabl.../231157961168?
Run Forest Run. Do you think we are done this weekend? You are not far away from me. Sap has really tapered of yesterday and today. No temps below 0 are forecast but double digit highs. Will we get another run or does it have to drop below 0.......and how do you know when the sap gets " buddy" ? Thanks
JDP, it's not looking great for us, but there is some chance that Friday night and Saturday night might be chilly enough to recharge the trees. Beyond that, the evening temperatures are looking like they will be too warm. It really does need to below 0 for anything significant to happen. If the temperatures stay warm the sap will stop and you'll not have to opportunity to collect any sap, let alone any buddy sap. Whenever we have a season that ends more slowly than this one, I boil a few cups of the sap that I collect before adding it to a larger pot of boiling sap. If the steam smells foul, then you know it's buddy and don't use it.Quote:
Originally Posted by JDP
BTW, I'm jealous to see that you live so close to Sunset Villa in Puslinch. It's one of the only places in southern Ontario that serves traditional Danish food. I'd be there every night of the week if I lived in Mountsberg! I go every June for the big Danish picnic celebrating Constitution Day, and it's often our destination for special events. Nothing fancy, but it's my idea of comfort food. Any other time I crave Danish food, I have to make it myself. :)
Thanks for the info Karen. I'm collecting tonight I guess for the last time. Have 10 gallons of sap on hand and maybe 10 - 15 gallons to collect. Oh well it was a good run for a first timer boiling on a bathtub evaporator. It sure did the job though. Got it running at 8 GPH . Completed 15 gallons of finished syrup with maybe a gallon to go this weekend. Sugar shack gong up this summer with a new evaporator planned for next year. Running 35 taps. Don't need any more really. Just want to lesson our boil times each day we cook. Must say I got a lot of exercise cutting wood and collecting sap. Thanks to all on this forum for there help. What a great community! I'm hooked. Maple Syrup every year now. Off to Dominican Republic next Thursday. Thx again!
You're very welcome. Have fun in the sun.
Well it is all over for me. Pulled the pug yesterday. A total of 94 liters of syrup this year. I am very impressed with the 3/16 vacuum gravity tubing.
I will be selling my buckets including 2 gallons buckets , lids and spiles at 3 bucks per set if any are interested. I have 40 available.
Finished off what was in the pans on Monday. Ended up with 948 litres or 209 Imperial gallons or 251 US gallons. 2116 taps this year. Lost 8 taps due to wind blowovers (November wind storm) and death, but I gained 4 new taps on the lines. So I averaged .45 litres per tap from my not very good running bush. I made 13 Imperial gallons more than last year.
Cloud cover killed us at night and we had a lot of small runs towards the end where it would just get to freezing. The trees still had high sugar and they wanted to go, but mother nature said otherwise.
Ended up with 4 flying squirrels this year and one mouse nest in the buckets.
Friday was a beautiful day for bringing buckets in. It was T shirt weather. It was nice until I found someone had stolen 10 buckets from the back end of the neighbours 5 acre lot. They took 4 aluminums, 4 of the 3 gallon blue plastic buckets, and 2 - 17L pails and their droplines. They took nine lids, but left some of the spiles still in the trees. I suspect it could be one of a couple neighbouring 5 acre lot owners, so I talked with them and nobody saw anything. I made a police report and the officer said thanks for the report, but there's nothing we can really do, except keep us informed if anything else happens. I wonder if they'll be stupid enough to tap their own trees next year because I'm going to be able to see. The lots are long and skinny. Also found 2 missing droplines in the neighbours bush that butts up to the back end of the the 5 acre lots. One still had the 5/16th reducer still in the tree.
Anyways all the buckets are in and I still have likely most of a day bringing in lids. Still have to pull lines and bring in the collection barrels, then haul wood. An ash tree blew over yesterday, so there's some more wood for next season.
Late January 2016 and it looks like winter outside , maple season is right around the corner
Was out today preparing equipment and wood for upcoming season and couldnt believe the sap flowing from a branch I cut last fall. would have easily filled a bucket today. maybe an early season for us this year folks? Getting the itch I cant scratch yet!
Ya its looking that way, took the last two weeks off of March off so I could go all out without working 90 hours a week but looks like I booked to late in the season but time will tell..
At this rate we'll likely not have a long deep freeze that will take weeks to thaw out. That would mean tapping several weeks earlier than usual around here. My trigger finger is getting itchy.
I'm guessing the first week in March? ?? Quick question for any one on this site? For the last couple of years iv used 7 16 tap with a 5 gallon pail hanging off the hook, I got given a large amount of 5 16 tubbing and was thinking of buying some of the 516 eco tap. Do you notice any different with the amount of sap you get from the 7 16 tap re the 5 16 taps ????
Hi cat tech. From my personal experience, and having used both, I've not noticed any discernable difference at all. Anyone else?Quote:
Originally Posted by cat tech
I have not noticed difference and I have used both and still use both .
Tough not to tap today with 3 days of daytime highs of 3- 8 and nightime below 0......should be a run but will likley freeze solid after that. Gonna wait til Valentines day to tap I think. Will continue working on upgrades......Yee haa! Weather will not get me this year with shack shaping up nicely. Learned how to weld and oil drum arch will really bring boil rates up on new pan. Cant hardly wait.
So I use 5 gallon pails hanging off trees but with no lids, any one have any good idea on what to make cheap covers with???? With no lids on rainy days the sap turns yellow and get dumped.
Put 80 taps in today and they are all running good.
If you have or know someone with some leftover shingles you should get 3 lids from each shingle. A 3.5 inch framing nail will hold them in place and allow for bucket removal.
Shingles, they keep the rain and snow out of my house they should do the same for my sap pails. Thanks.
So now for another question ???
So my idea this year is to connect multi trees together with 5 16 eco taps and 5 16 tees with5 16 tubbing and run them to number of pails set in one spot. What is the max number of taps that should be connected together if all are connected with 5 16 tubbing and then gravity dropping into buckets??