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I pulled my taps yesterday. It had slowed down enough and the sap in the buckets was rather poor in quality. I dumped it all. Probably a few more days left of runs, but I am content for the season. 10 gallons of syrup made, a huge improvement on last years 3 gallons. And plenty to share with friends. I had tapped 36 trees, all sugar maples.
Pete- just west of Saratoga Springs where it starts to get hilly.
I pulled my 23 taps on March 26th, made 8.3 gallons of syrup, best season yet even though I think my sugar content was well below previous seasons. It was the most consistent season I have had in terms of sap flow. Was able to boil at least 100 gallons every weekend from Presidents day weekend on. Now everything sits waiting for me to stop procrastinating and clean up (hopefully all my buckets didn't blow out of the yard with last nights wind).
Has anyone tapped yet or planning to tap this weekend. We usually wait till Valentine’s Day weekend but the weather is so screwed up not sure.
I'm about an hour from you and plan on waiting till after Valentines day. Its tough though with the way the weather has been lately.
I’ve been watching the long range on accuweather. Not looking like tapping weather after tomorrow. They show 2-3 good days next week, then temps drop off again. I may wait until Presidents week or possibly the week after.
Of course their forecast is just as reliable as the groundhog’s so who’s to say? I don’t think it’ll be V-day like I shoot for.
Haven't tapped yet either but have been watching the weather forecast...it doesn't look like there's a good cycle in the next 10 days and I'm not organized enough yet to feel motivated to get out there so I'll wait till the second half of February at least.
I live east of Saratoga Lake, and got excited and tapped one tree (3 taps, 3 trunk split tree) yesterday. It was dripping in the morning with the sun, but I probably jumped the gun - only about 2 gallons of sap from the 3 taps in it today. I might do the rest (about 30 more taps) on Monday depending on the weather. Can't wait.
2018 - 33 taps, block arch with 2 hotel pans, 9.25 gallons
2017 - 5 taps, big pot over the fire, 1.25 gallons
Next week the temps look pretty good but from there on out they are only show 2 nights until 3/3 with lows above single digits. Even if there are a few high 30 days in there it's hard to get any decent runs with the lows that low. I'm sticking to presidents day week unless the forcast changes or a big snowstorm comes in. I'm pretty much ready to go I just need one good warm day to pressure wash my head tank and truck tank and collection barrels. I may even stretch out my seasonal lines today if the wind chill gets above 10 below. Jeff
My son is going to start next weekend as I am recovering from open heart surgery 3 wks ago ,sill got 3-5 weeks of recovery of do nothing and it is killing me that I can't get out there
I'm in Charlton and was planning on putting in my taps this weekend (just 75) but the long range forecast seems to be telling me to wait another week. I guess there's no sense in rushing it but was looking forward to getting things going.
I put in 25 more taps Wednesday. After work today my buckets (ten 5 gallon buckets) were about 1/2 full. Hoping to do our first cook Sunday!
Thinking of tapping later this week. May even put together a simple RO system this year and expand to 30 taps, the most I've done yet...piecemeal for most on here.
Crossing my fingers.
We got a couple hundred in today hopefully finish up tomorrow. Looks like the weather will be perfect from Thursday on. Still have to setup pump and tanks but hopefully we will be collecting by the weekend. Not sure if it went above freezing today but a lot of the trees with full sun exposure were dripping as soon as I pulled the drill out.
Collected just shy of 40 gallons on Sunday and started boiling, got 3 quarts of syrup to start the season. Looks like awesome weather this week!
Tapped 15 trees yesterday evening in Charlton. Holes were dry last night but hoping for a good run today!
Based on the weather and what you guys are seeing I am going to tap my 40 trees out here in the Duanesburg/Delanson area in the morning. I am interested to see what the sugar levels are this early in the season. Last year my first boil was about 80:1 which was not really worth it to me.
I tapped today. 24 taps (down from 36 last year, just too busy). I was a bit disappointed in the lack of sap today. The sun never came out and it was a bit colder than expected. Looking forward to a great season!
Pete
Sap was running in my neck of the woods. I have about 75 taps out right now with about 25 left on a north face area that will get tapped next week maybe. Got my shurflo pump set up on about 45 of those 75 taps and was chasing leaks last night. I have one line with about 12 drops that was not pulling well. I think it was blocked but I couldn't find a smoking gun in the dark. We shall see what happens today. Good luck everyone!
Just did a test tap of 2 buckets on a big maple in the sun...it's running but not much. Was my first try with "health" spouts and just could not get the hole tight enough with the bit I bought... switched to the old 7/16" metal taps and an old bit, they fit fine!
Anyone use 1/4" bit for the health spots for better fit?
I use Canadian 5/16 for CV spouts. You gotta hold on the drill if you don't have a stop collar on it. It will suck that bit right in past your tape mark. Also don't "ream" in and out multiple times or the hole will not be true and most likely leak around the spout. I learned the hard way... ;)
Thanks - can you clarify, a Canadian 5/16" bit is what you use or Canadian taps? Also, what is CV?
Very little sap run since yesterday in my "test" buckets. Thinking it may be another week before I tap for real and get any significant yield.
Wow what a weird start to the season. I usually tap on the 21st of Feb every year or close to it. I did not this year as the weather didnt look that good. Im on vacation for 14 days starting Wed of this week and the extened forecast only shows 2 days barely above freezing in the following 10 days. I hope it isnt a year that stays cold till the middle of march then goes to 50 and 60 and no freezes. This happened a few years back and it was hardly worth tapping. If it stays cold i may add another 100 taps to a couple of hedge rows down the road to make up for the possibility of a short season. Keep your fingers crossed. Jeff
We finised tapping today,about 2200 in coule hundred left to do,weather not the nicest but looks like at least another week before anything will happen which is ok,more time to recovery from open heart surgery on jan 11th.Thank goodness for my son and all our friends who helped tap,looking like a season like a few years back when not a drop of sap till march 16th,happy surg'in
Minimal flow these past 4 days, not what I expected from the weather. Last weeks little run seemed like every day exceeded the weather prediction, this week was the opposite, barely made the highs and not much sun. Not looking too promising for the immediate future.
Pete
It has been a very weird start.. last week I got over 1200 gallons from just 750 taps and this week I was fully tapped with 1450 and I got 1600 gallons the last few days. The weather has been weird and the trees unpredictable.
ADK_XJ The Canadian tapping bit is just a different bit from say the Leader Tree Saver bit. I got it from Bascoms because they were out of the Leader ones. Difference? Not exactly sure.
A "CV" spout is a check valve spout.
I cooked about 20 gallons of sap into 2+ quarts of syrup Saturday, just as an excuse to be outside, but not as much flow as I'd hoped for. More in the buckets today but didn't go out in the wind to collect. Nature's RO will freeze them down for me the next couple of days...
Just under 1 1/2 gallons of syrup so far. Still hooked!
Looks like well be frozen up for the next week at least. Hopefully mid March it will pick up again. Any insight. Snow coverage on the ground will be increasing. Does that slow down anything?
The snow definitely slows some things down namely me. Took me 4 hours to set up 106 taps today. I can usually get all 225 taps in in one day but after 4 hours of wobbling through above my knees snow took it out of me. Back to your question I normally get my best runs when the snow has melted away from the base of the tree.
Got 230 taps in on Friday and Saturday. Just have a few buckets to go when the sap starts to run. Will work on tanks and pumps today. Looks like we will still be froze up until next weekend.
Finished our first 2019 syrup today - one gallon off our 15 taps. With some more cold on the way it looks like the tap holes will freeze up again for the next few days.
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Finally tapped the rest of our trees, 20 in total. Sap was running on all but the largest trees in the shade. First time I had the kids out tapping with me, they had to "taste the syrup" on each tap before moving on.
Happy sapping!
I finally tapped my trees Saturday, and so far (have not checked today) my trees have not produced. Between 24 taps I may have 10 gallons, I think everything is still frozen. Hopefully this heatwave of today and tomorrow help open things up.
Boiled about 30 gallons yesterday, got 3 quarts. Checked today, 30 more gallons in the buckets. Looks like a busy week. Need to figure out my setup - last year we got 5-6 gph on block arch without grate; this year seems like 3-4/hour with high temp (for kiln use) bricks and a grate. AUF and all that as well. Always fun to play with configuration...
It's been running like a faucet here in Northern Saratoga the last few days. I filled up my 35 gallon tank on the back of the ATV last night and imagine I'll have close to that again later tonight. Looks like I may do a boil tomorrow to get a good batch of the golden stuff while it's fresh. From there I'll probably batch boil for the strong Amber we like in our house.
Happy sapping!
Wife boiled 30 more gallons today, 3 quarts finished. Buckets full when I got home from work, like 50 more gallons. Looks like another busy day tomorrow, hopefully boil 40+ gallons, starting before sunrise. "Hobby!"
First boil of the year today, spent sun-up to sun-set out of doors and it felt great. Beautiful day to be around the ol' barrel stove.
Cranked through a good portion of 100 gallons of sap that I measured at 4% and will boil off the rest tomorrow, we'll see what we yield when finished.
Attachment 19820
Officially done for the year. It was a short but intense season. Wish I'd been able to get an earlier start but mother nature just wasn't having it.
I introduced a small RO into my setup for the second half of this year's boiling and learned a lot by doing that...excited to work out some kinks and use it for all of next year.
Anyone else in the area still at it?
We are in Albany county up in elevation a bit. Looks like Sunday will be it for us. Overall looks like and average syrup year with good sugar content. I agree, always looking to smooth out a few parts of the operation for next year.