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Still collecting clear sap on the south border. Making about a drum per day of AR. No light, no dark all season so far. Sugar is getting low, about 1.3% but the best I get around here is 2% anyway. We had 34 deg. this morning. Cool daytime temps are keeping things going. A guy north of me near Springfield called it quits. Said he stopped getting sap. We've made about 1500 gallons with what's sitting on the truck right now.
I completely understand where you are coming from. We keep up (barely) with almost 200 taps with a 2x4 Mason. Flat pan and no RO make for long nights. We added a 550 cfm blower and burn hardwood splits. The blower is the single biggest thing that helped our operation. We went from an "honest" 8 gph with a natural draft on 20 feet of pipe to a solid 15 gph with the blower. Hardwood split wrist size, firing on a tight schedule helps a lot too. Often have to dial the blower back to keep the stack under 1000. Also, insulating the arch really well with brick and 1" blanket helped some. The warming pans that are offered with these small arches don't amount to much IMHO. The one on the mason might add 25 degrees when the stack is pushing 1000.Quote:
Originally Posted by MJPJ Sugars
As others have said a hybrid pan and a small RO are your best "bang for the buck" investments to cut down on time and wood. Even if you only go the RO route if you can RO one pass at a fast pace from, say, 1.5% to 3% you are removing half the water and therefore cutting your boiling time in half.
Attachment 16328Attachment 16329
Thanks for the tips & advice -- fantastic!! Really appreciate it!
Methinks the hybrid approach it will be -- a small RO (that bucket job looked really neat!) and at least a blower if not modifications to my flat pan as well.
Thanks again!!
JQ
Looking like I am done this weekend... boiling the stockpile of frozen stuff. Sugar content is really low this year:(, I can only guess, but at only 3 gallons done so far I am boiling way too long...
Compared to 11 gallons last year I am calling this a middling season. I will run out of wood before I finish everything up, but I am happy with how the rig ran and will just start planning for an small R/O next year to deal with the low sugar issue...
Hope everyone else had a good year ! :lol:
Sap ran all day but not great. I got a half gallon per tap today. Sugar is dropping to 1.7%. Dr. Tim do you think we will make it through the three day warm up starting Sunday? If so we could get another week or better.
Spud
Our sap sugar dropped to 1.9 Brix today also and ran about the same as you. It may continue to run after the warm-up if we get another freeze, but there is a good chance it'll be somewhat buddy if it does.Quote:
Originally Posted by spud
Sap has been running well here. Into that no freeze, pure vacuum induced, steady flow into the releaser at 27+ inches kind of situation. Maybe a freeze Saturday night but either way going to ride this out until the syrup flavor goes off. New spouts on new drops on south side of tree that were tapped in January have slime, but are still producing, though nowhere near the spouts on the north side. Same with CV spouts on 2 or 3 year old drops.
Sugar still dropping but made about 35 gal. of DR with classic Dark Amber flavor tonight from sap that came in since Sunday afternoon. Finally seeing slime in tanks and a bit more niter. Boiling smells more earthy as well (love that smell). No peepers yet so still have at least a few more days...
Sap still running in Poultney, hi vac pulled in 300 yesteday sugar 1.2, little home made ro working hard. Making Awesome flavor B.
Pulled in about 1 gpt since yesterday am. We hit 1/3 gallons/tap on syrup last night. Sugar going down.
I've been getting good sap the past few days... sugar has dropped to 1.8-1.9. first time this year it's been below 2.25, guess that's not bad. I'm definitely getting some slime, however the sap seems pretty clear besides the film on the bottom of my tank from the last couple days. gotta polish that out this afternoon! starting to get a bit more niter as well. I'm gonna boil what comes in tonight, clean up and hope for one last good run come Sunday/Monday!. good luck in the final stretch all!
Still pulling in a steady flow of clear sap. Made 70 gallons of AR last night leaning toward the light side. Every barrel I've made this year is the same grade. Weird.
@ berkshires...
I sprang for the bucket RO! Gotta say, Carl (from the Craigslist ad) -- absolutely fantastic with which to work/deal! Fast, courteous, generous, & knowledgeable. Some end-of-season deals going-on if anybody else is interested.
Unit gets here tomorrow - I grabbed a couple more tanks, and will put it through it's paces with this week's 60 gallons or so I have in the cooler. Wish me luck! :)
I'll post a note with the results.
Thanks again!!
JQ
https://syracuse.craigslist.org/for/6041111228.html
Sap ran steady but slow all day. In the last 24 hours I have gotten .75GPT. I am at .41sugar to date.
Spud
Sap sugar still not bad. A little more niter, but not terrible. Grade dropped to DR. Made another 73 gal of syrup today. Total of >2200 gal, or 0.45 gal/tap at the end of the day. Hoping for at least one more freeze (Saturday night?) to bump up the flow and perhaps the sugar content. Temperatures not looking good for Monday and Tuesday.....it won't last long after that.
Pulled in over 1 gpt since yesterday. Flow slowed a bit since yesterday and I am wondering if that is due to the woods still being cold as it ran much better yesterday when the sun came out . Definitely still frost in ground...
Drained syrup pans to soak overnight and the niter has finally showed up, but still not real bad. Going to run ro tonight to make space so tanks don't overflow overnight and then boil tomorrow evening.
I made a copper pipe pan scraper yesterday and I am sold. If you have not tried this....do it.
Post some photos please.Quote:
Originally Posted by GeneralStark
This sure has been a different year. In the past I had good sap flow, but this year I am only half of last year. It has been just dripping after my first week or so. I have 18 taps on 2 5/16 lines. The only thing I have done different is use new Leader check valve spouts on gravity. I have only gotten a couple of gallons since Monday evening. I was getting 1gpt or better.
I made 20 gallons last year an so far 10 gallons this year. My sugar count is higher than last all season.
Could my check valves be sticking? My slope is more than minimum.
After I put them I should have only put some on one line, and new tree saver spouts on the other.
Any thing I could have differently?
Thanks
Will do tomorrow. I'll post them to the thread. For those of you that have not seen it, here it is: http://mapletrader.com/community/sho...rup-pans/page3Quote:
Originally Posted by DrTimPerkins
Freakin' brilliant!
All done sap smelled funky coming out of preheater, had rear flu temp to 620 Celsius. Gas a fication was working tonight blue and purple flames in wood area. Syrup total to come later.
We started to get our first whiffs and tastes of the buds down here in Dummerston as of our boil last night.
Good luck to everyone north of us.
Mike
The Bunker Farm
Dummerston VT
A couple of thoughts. First, this has been a very unusual year. Some producers who tapped very early (with vacuum) had record yields. Others who tapped later, even with vacuum, are short. A lot depends upon location (elevation, aspect) in addition to when you tapped.Quote:
Originally Posted by to100
Second....how old is your tubing system? That can have some influence depending upon other things as well. Slope won't have much of an effect with 5/16" tubing. On gravity, sap will not run after a few days without a refreeze (which we've not had for a few days) regardless of the spout you're using. With a gravity system, annual variation in sap yields tend to be far higher than with vacuum.
Third.....last year was a record production year for most areas in the northeast. Unlikely you're going to match that again right away.
In the last 6 days I have gotten about 5gal/tap. If this is the end that's how I like to go out! Sap still looks good, starting to get a little slim in my releaser. The guy I sell to is still making good syrup. Possible little freeze up tonight, and a better one Saturday night, then hit it hard to the finish! If I could pick up another 3gal/tap before we call it quits I'll be on par total wise with last year BUT with WAY better sugar this year. Should be good
Dr. Tim you mentioned earlier about the ones that tapped early are looking decent. I think your spot on. I picked up 1/3 crop just in the last 8-9 days of February.
our 3,000 taps in our home bush were all in by January 9th and we got a nice early run in that second week of January. We've been pulling 27.5 or higher the whole season on 2nd year setup, short laterals, few taps per lateral. Doing the best we can but still aren't where we would like to be for yields. We never really opened up here. Hopefully we can make it for another 5 or so days and get us up to the .5 gal per tap mark. Guess it's just nature.
We should be able to go till Easter Sunday for sure. The weather keeps changing every time I look at it. There is now only partial sun on Sunday and Monday and then back to cooler nights and cloudy days. The nighttime temps predicted for my town have been about 4-5 degrees warmer then what I have been getting in my woods. If they are saying 36 for a low I am getting 31 at my house. Their weather station is at 550 elevation and my woods ranges from 1000-1250.
Spud
I Hope you are Right Spud I have no signs of budding at all not even on the soft Maples. Hopefully I can squeeze one more week out toof. Latest I've boiled in the past has been April 15th.
My bucket RO in action for the 1st time! Home with a sick little one today, so I couldn't run for the plumbing from the tank that I had in-mind, but I'm making due. Concentrating about 1.5% to just under 4%, and I am absolutely thrilled!
Tank on the left is raw sap, tank in the cart is concentrate, & the barrel is catching the water.
Attachment 16357
Thats pretty cool. Lets keep this season going two more weeks.Quote:
Originally Posted by MJPJ Sugars
Spud
I'm in! :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by spud
Sweet! I'm glad this worked for you! If I had power at my sugar shack, I'd probably get one of these myself. That and a squirrel cage blower for AUF. Ah well, I make do.Quote:
Originally Posted by MJPJ Sugars
Cheers!
Gabe
Woke up this morning to 5 inches of snow and it's still coming down. The temp last night hit 27 degree. Looks like sugaring is alive and well for a while. Sap may run a bit today with it only going to 38 degrees. Tomorrow it's full sun and 54 and the sap should run very good. Hoping to make it through the 4 day warm up thats coming up and then sail to the 20th.
Spud
Best of luck Spud. We got a little freeze last night too and we will be getting one tonight as well it looks like. Hopefully the weather is colder than expected and we can all get a few more days out of it.Quote:
Originally Posted by spud
Had a solid freeze and an inch of snow overnight here. I did pull in about 300 gal. after 5 or so until it froze. Sugar down to about 1.4. I boiled last night and made another 22 gal. of DR. Great tasting dark syrup. Boiling still smells great and the sap has not been too slimy. The niter is showing up but still not too bad. I am currently at .41 gpt and am 10 gal. away from my record. Tapping early is going to be the new norm I think...
Sap really hammered in at our Westford bush today. Definitely a top-3 run for the season (i don't know how). Started running around noon or a bit earlier maybe and we've pulled in 2400 gallons from 3,000 taps since then. We are about 180 gallons away from hitting 0.5 gallons per tap. i think we'll get there before the sap turns. Good luck to everyone
Got down to 30 early morning. Started running by 8:30. Can't believe how well it ran today with temps in mid 30's and wind. Down to 31 now and still running a little. Should get a decent freeze tonight and more sap tomorrow.
Sap never ran for me yesterday. It is 27 degrees out but here comes the sun in 30 minutes. Im hoping it's going to be a very good week despite the warmer temps. My weather is showing three cold nights in the next 9 days. We could make it to next weekend for sure. My pond still has three inches of ice on it and no peepers in sight. Good luck everyone. Way to go on the .5 Westford. I hope to be there mid week but the sugar is dropping up here. General I hope you hit the big .5+ also. I am very happy to see the early tapping payed off for you. I am at a .42 right now.
Spud
22 degrees in Essex this morning. Sap ran 1/2 gpt yesterday. Unfortunately, sap is now 1.05% if I look at the hydrometer real close. Sugar content has fallen rapidly from 1.7% on Monday to the 1% yesterday. With the poor sap flows this last week, production will not hit my goal of .5 gpt of syrup. At .39 gpt now.
Joe
Exactly the same here... not a cloud in the sky. Shadows now pointing dead-West -- fingers crossed! But I'll be surprised if we don't see swelling buds by the end of the week. A couple days in the 40's last year starting on the 8th, and the sap was buddy, so if we get a good run today, I'll take it and run! (Edit at 11:00 AM -- Sap running strong!)Quote:
Originally Posted by spud
BTW -- I was able to process a little over 7 GPH in my new Bucket RO on Friday -- took about 55 gallons of sap down to about 25 gallons of concentrate -- only 5 hours in the shack for the boil! (My shortest boil ever). Got a beautiful deep amber, great flavor syrup. Now I can't wait to expand next year!!!
Sap ran well here yesterday. Pulled in over 1gpt before it froze last night sometime after midnight. Sugar at 1.3 and the sap that came in after the lines got ice scrubbed was perfectly clear. Going to boil this afternoon to make room in tanks as I have to work all day tomorrow. Not sure the sap will keep too well with a sunny day in the 70's but we'll see. Tuesday boil could be the last as many signs of spring that tend to correlate with off syrup are happening here. I'm in it til the end though...
We boiled Friday afternoon -- made about 75 gal of DR. Sugar content still not bad. Niter is picking up some. Drained the pans and flooded them with hot permeate.Quote:
Originally Posted by spud
We had a little bit come in yesterday....but not much. Seems to be opening up better this morning though, and hoping for a real big day to push us over the 0.5 gal/tap mark. Might not be today, but should be by tomorrow afternoon. Sap is getting a bit milky looking, but no real big yeast bubbles or smell yet. Should make some good strong, dark syrup.
Might be hard to get past the next couple of days given the forecast, but we'll see what happens. Anticipate boiling with a t-shirt on tomorrow.
Another 22 gal. of DR with great flavor. Sap ran strong all day once it thawed out and it's still coming in at 1.3%. Have had some big yeasty bubbles, basketball size...Washed out all the tanks and going to see what happens tomorrow. Will either keep the sap and boil it Tuesday or will dump it and boil out the evap. No way I will get through this week even if there is another possible freeze after the warm spell. Way too many signs of spring...including ticks are out.
We're into the frog run here...peepers and wood frogs are singing in the wetland below...