Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

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Originally Posted by DrTimPerkins

Given the high temperatures for an extended period of time, we decided to completely finish all the sweet in the pans to preserve all the good syrup we have.

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Oh, that makes sense, thanks! I should probably do something similar- the weather looks like it is going to remain unfavorable for several days- I don't see a guaranteed freeze until Sunday night here, the forecast has been drifting a bit warmer.
My setup is (of course) very different from yours, but I could do a version of this "boil out" procedure. I would have to drain the back pan and feed the sweet into the front over a couple of hours, since the volume in my back pan is maybe 4x the front. I also would have to go through the pan-sweetening process again if we get another run (no RO yet), but that is probably a risk worth taking to save the "almost syrup" I have. It would also give me the satisfaction of finally drawing off some syrup for the first time on my new rig- the run so far this year for me has been a lot less sap than expected, and the sugar content has been low too, so I have been stuck in pan-sweetening purgatory for a week.
This has been a tough first season for me, lots of learning, and many of my optimistic estimates have been REALLY far off from reality. I've still had a great time, but looking at the sap run potentially ending any minute scares the heck out of me, since I have a whole year's worth of work into this all and haven't produced a drop of syrup yet! I've boiled maybe 1000 gallons of sub 2 percent sap in four short boils, but the numbers say that I need close to 2000 gallons to sweeten my 3x12.
The good news is that I now see that I oversized the major components of my system to allow for a lot of expansion next year. The bad news is that when I expand my taps, I might only then hit the syrup target I was shooting for this year. The other good news is that I have gone through less than a quarter of my wood so far, so this summer's cutting can be very relaxed. I overdid that too.

i have sap frozen in 2 gallon buckets. i'm thinking tonight will be my last boil for a few days. i'm planning on putting those buckets in my flu pan tomorrow a.m and putting some foam insulation board over it to keep it cold. i'll boil down as far as i can in my syrup pan tonight and put what's remaining in the freezer. hopefully that strategy works out.

Later addition: About 1.5 gpt overnight (Tues afternoon to Wed morning) at 1.65 Brix. No freeze. Vacuum down to 25.2" Hg due to warm weather (gas production by trees increases when it is hot).[/QUOTE]

Doesn't the general rule of thumb 1.5 to 2 CFM for every hundred taps compensate for that extra gas?
On some of my larger trees and what is a larger I mean 25 to 30 in I have struggled this year with deciding whether or not to drill a new hole which I have a couple times or leave it be. And what I'm referring to is full Columns of sap in the tubing that are moving faster than I would like them to be because of these big trees in my opinion are still thawing out and aren't leeks consistent with a hollow tree. I noticed a couple times when I pulled these tabs the wood in the tap hole had split. I redrilled probably about a dozen of them probably left two dozen others, my release is running around 28 to 29 in and in the woods I show 27 to 28 so apparently these larger trees were the sap is moving faster than I'd like to see can't be too awfully bad?
Also on these bigger trees are the only ones I ever see that the ice pushes the Taps out and have to be reset, I never once have to do this on trees smaller than 14 to 16 in only the Big Daddy's- does anybody else find this also?

blissville maples

I'm glad its not just me. The larger trees always give me problems pushing spouts out. I tell myself its because of the thicker bark as I'm walking around resetting them all. I think tapping below the tubing comes into play with this on the larger trees to because they are peppered above the tubing but what can you expect to do in an old bush.

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Originally Posted by blissville maples

Doesn't the general rule of thumb 1.5 to 2 CFM for every hundred taps compensate for that extra gas?

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The general rule is 1 CFM per 100 taps. If you've got 1.5-2 CFM, you'll see less of a drop for sure. Some people who run really tight systems will go lower than 1 CFM per 100, but the vacuum level will really drop off when it is hot. That's why folks running Sap Pullers/Guzzlers (diaphragm pumps) will see a sharp drop off in vacuum during warm spells....they just can't move enough CFM (from tree gases) out fast enough.

The difference in pressure (vacuum) is what drives the sap to flow out of the tree, but it is the CFM removal rate (and the inherent capability of the pump to reach a certain level of vacuum) that allows us to achieve a certain level of vacuum. When it is hot, the trees put out more gases. The pump can only take a certain size "gulp" or "bite" of air in each rotation and expel it. That "bite" size doesn't change, but the # of gas molecules and their dispersal in the air does when it is warm, so the "bite" isn't able to remove all the air that is present, so vacuum level drops.

Larger trees with thick bark do tend to have more problems of spout heaving. We have a study ongoing for this now. Perhaps we'll start talking about it in the next year or two after we have sufficient results in hand.

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Originally Posted by blissville maples

I'm not too concerned about budding yet because the roots are still fairly cold and the ground frost is just about out of the ground the north slopes. The trees know what time it is and they know that this is just a fluke in the weather after the first week of March we had!

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I agree....trees are "smarter" (I should say "better adapted") than we give them credit for. In the 40 yrs I've been studying trees, I've only seen frost damage on maples twice -- one of those was 2012, the other, I think was 1983 or 1984. There is a really huge disincentive for trees to bud early....cold temperatures just a few degrees below freezing will kill new leaves, and it takes a LOT of energy to make new leaves. It's analogous to like building a new engine, tossing it out before you ever start it and building a new one without using any parts from the first one...would be very costly for the trees to do that. We still have some really cold days to come.

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Originally Posted by DrTimPerkins

I agree....trees are "smarter" (I should say "better adapted") than we give them credit for. In the 40 yrs I've been studying trees, I've only seen frost damage on maples twice -- one of those was 2012, the other, I think was 1983 or 1984. There is a really huge disincentive for trees to bud early....cold temperatures just a few degrees below freezing will kill new leaves, and it takes a LOT of energy to make new leaves. It's analogous to like building a new engine, tossing it out before you ever start it and building a new one without using any parts from the first one...would be very costly for the trees to do that. We still have some really cold days to come.

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Ahh some relief!! Lol

I am still worried anyway, especially with all the rain coming tommarrow

decided to pull the plug and boil out, final syrup was not buddy but pretty dark and strong, just under our .25gpt goal so im pleased(3/16 gravity), 1/3 of the season in 4 days, ripping the 2x6 12hr boils 4 days in a row, almost no niter at the end, we are toast and almost out of dry wood, ready to move on to manure spreading and spring field work, good luck to all those sticking it out

We boiled tonight and made another 90 gallons of DR with a great flavor , probably some of the darkest syrup we have ever made . Sugar was 1.4 and sap is starting to look a little cloudy but everything filtered fine . We will see what tomorrow brings .