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Posting from Topsfield, MA and new to this forum. Tapped 5 trees last year and boiled on a block arch with 2 steam table pans and got 4 gallons of syrup which lasted us almost one year. Tapped 5 trees again on 2/18 but it has been a very slow start this year due to the cold. Finished my arch (3 pans this year) today and had planned to boil the 20+ gallons I have collected so far tomorrow but found my holding tank was frozen solid. Only one tree was running today and I don't think I will be able to boil until next week. Wish I had tapped more trees this year.
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Attachment 9305Attachment 9306
40 gallons boiled last night...ready to start drawing off sunday
Also, is it me or does the long-range forecast indicate the season will end in two weeks or so in Essex County?
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It looks like we should have a decent run at the end of the week, after that I don't have a clue. I will probably tap another 10 or 15 trees tomorrow to make sure that I get what I can from this next run. After that who the F knows. Doesn't feel like enough sugar has comeback up into the trees for it to finish up, but I have no real idea.
There are 4 gallons in my kitchen all set to bottle up. Mope for one more batch that size and I will have more than enough for the family, gifts, and trading.
Sam
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I was just doing some mental math and I feel like the sugar content has been pretty high in the sap I have gathered so far. While I didn't put a hydrometer on it I have 4 gallons of syrup from what I expect was a little less than 150 gallons of sap. What is everyone else seeing for sugar content?
sam
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2-2.2% is the highest ive seen so far this season, im just hoping for another 1000 gals of sap, if not more. but who knows , the season hasn`t ended yet .
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Well they have adjusted the forecast here up by a few degrees. As of now night will be 33-38 until early next week with plenty of rain. I'm boiling outside and only have about 50 gallons of sap in my tank. I'm hoping for decent flow so that I can put up 150 - 200 gallons to boil next Wednesday. After that I'll be all done.
Sam
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just picked up another 325 gal plus at 3% things are looking up, atleast for now
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I have 40 in the tank i'm boiling with the reenginered stove tomorrow, and prolly another 40 in the buckets hopefullI can have 60 for Sunday
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adding a pic of the re-worked innards I'm curious as to how the draw might be affected with the reworking. I'll see tomorrow...I need more grate and have to trim the heat shield some so it's more flush...I'm worried about that wall. Only refractory cement is holding it up and the refractory cement, which is allegedly good to 2000 degrees, was gone from a lot of my upper bricking.
Attachment 9488
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Drop a couple of concrete blocks behind the heat shield. It will keep you from knocking it the partition over.
Sam
