Should market saplings from those trees!
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Should market saplings from those trees!
And I thought the 5.7 we saw today was good....that's just plain impressive!
Woke up to 2000 gallons in the tank. Sap is still trickling in a bit. Testing 2.2% this morning. Sunday it should run again.
Spud
i had a pretty dismal run yesterday. it set up to look like excellent conditions to run, but only got less than a gallon per tap. probably something to do with the 3' of snow still hugging the trees. However, the rings at the base are started! got some pretty heavy sugar snow coming down right now!
Dr. Tim is that really reading almost 10% raw sap? Can't be. I must be missing something.
Unreal. I ran into Philip at CDL last week and we were talking about his high numbers. Also said he had red maples that were regularly running 3%. Is it possible there are dissolved solids other than sugar being measured there? Would be interesting to test the composition.Quote:
Originally Posted by DrTimPerkins
Just pumped 50 gallons from the recent run and was shockingly surprised to have 3% sugar.
About 1 gpt for 41 road tree taps on 3/16 and 7 yard buckets.
Snowing and barely running now.
I was pleasantly surprised to collect 2.6% last weekend.
Last year I didn't measure sugar on the first run, but later runs were 2.3% and below.
after todays boil im at about 1/2 crop, .25gpt is full crop for me in my all gravity setup, forcast looks promising! could do without with snow though
We had 1.7gpt as of yesterday when I got home from work, and then got another .4 gpt overnight. RO took 265 gallons of water out and we boiled our 10% until 1230 last night, made a little over 9.5 gallons. This is good for our small op, and we even made some golden delicate, a first for us. Made for a long day at work on 2 hrs of sleep though!
Hi Ken! I bought your lapierre junior, its working great for us! Glad to see you are having a good season!Quote:
Originally Posted by TapTapTap
Brett, right?Quote:
Originally Posted by bj's sugaring
I'm glad it's working good for you and it sounds like you would have had 0 hours of sleep without it. I hope this snow doesn't f up your trees. I'm worried about mine.
Ken
I'd have to see it, and how it was collected etc, in person to believe it.... something just doesn't seem right to me!! Most sugar content are between 2-5 and this ones at ten???? Not saying I don't believe it however......... Perhaps the old wise tale is correct pure straight syrup used to come out of the tree not watered down sap!!Quote:
Originally Posted by DrTimPerkins
Yes, Brett. I just went out and cleared a bunch of stuff off my lines this morning. Its not great out there! Hope it warms up fast tomorrow and we get something after this.Quote:
Originally Posted by TapTapTap
Long range forcast not looking good. No freezing. Hopefully it changes!
The flood gates have opened. Running 400 GPH and climbing on my 4050 tap woods. I assume my other 4000 taps is doing the same. Lot of foam and testing at 2.2%.
Spud
just under 1gpt and still running testing 3.7% highest ever for us in 15 years!
Running hard here as well. Already about 1 gpt just since it thawed earlier today. It has been a busy few days. Had one of the best sap runs ever for my woods wednesday -> thursday with over 2.5 gpt in 24 hours. Had to run the ro at 1:30 am to make room in tank. Boiled over 2200 gallons thursday and made 55 gal of AR. SC over 2%. Most syrup I have ever made in one boil from these woods. It took about 6 boils last year to make as much syrup as I have in two this year. I think it's going to be a fast and furious season...
It snowed hard all day friday and the sap ran a bit. I was sweating it when the snow really picked up in the evening and started sticking to the trees. Power went out at 2 am and fortunately came back on by 5. Awoke to almost 2 feet of heavy snow saturday am for open house weekend. The driveway wasn't passable til 10:30 as my regular plow guy couldn't plow it with his truck. A neighbor was fortunately able to get it open with his tractor... Anyway open house was pretty slow, but made some good sales. Didn't boil as we barely had enough sap and attendance was so light.
Spent today clearing limbs off lines and digging out. A bunch of spouts got pulled out and drops disconnected due to falling limbs and heavy snow loading. Also had to re set a bunch of cv2 spouts. Got vac back up to 27. Back to boiling tomorrow. Looks like it could be a big run later this week...
Only a half gallon per tap here but Coming in at 2.5. The highest I've seen from my woods. :D
We had our first boil of the season on Friday. Had run the RO and stored (at 25 deg F) the high-Brix concentrate for several days, so had about 920 gal of 35 Brix concentrate to start, then ran the RO all day Friday as we boiled. About a 7 hr boil (first hr was sweetening the pans). Ended up with 14 barrels of syrup -- about 22% of our minimum target season crop (0.5 gal/tap) in one day. We're shooting to only boil when we max out our bulk tank storage, and hoping to boil only 5-7 times all season.
Vacuum still holding well (27" Hg or better) in spite of the wind we had over the weekend. Had to add a CDL Vacuum Protection Valve to the releaser to prevent sap from tripping the moisture trap during rapid flow periods. Seems to work most of the time, but still evaluating.
Decent run Sunday afternoon. Don't have totals yet, but will post later. Concentrating today. Looks like a couple of days off, then we may have good sap runs from Wednesday through Monday (as far out as our reasonably reliable forecast goes).
Afternoon update...total of 5,293 gal of sap from yesterday's brief run...just a little over a gal of sap/tap. 2.6 Brix from both sections of the bush. 390 gal of concentrate @ 35 Brix (about 155 gal syrup equivalent) now sitting in the refrigerated bulk tank for processing. Will probably collect/process sap until Friday, then boil what we've collected til then.
Air temperature is 31-32 deg F, but it started running a wee bit this afternoon.
we had a good run here yesterday afternoon as well. didn't test the sugar content, but it sure tasted sweet. will be firing up the evaporator late this afternoon. hard to imagine we boiled 17 times to this time of the year last year! tonight will be our 3rd boil!
Yesterday was certainly a great day for sap, nearly 2 gal per tap from 10 am to 12 pm last night!! 1150 taps running at about 130-40 gals per hr on 27.5"..... So far sugar holding around 2%. We made 105 gallons other day and 80 yesterday on our 3*10 vortex- 105 is a record in one day! So far we're at 497 gallons, sitting on 4300 gals sap now and will be running soon so it should be another hundred gallon day!
Been reading a bunch on here ever since I got bit by the maple bug! Trees haven't quite opened up here in Middlesex in my location but things are starting to move. Made our first gallon of syrup ever and our second boil ever! Was pretty happy to see a very light grade. Sap had tested just over 3%, all sugar maples. Have a great neighbor up the road that's been helping making it such a fun first season. Love reading all about the pros on here!
It didnt run as good as I thought it would have for me yesterday. Not sure why, I Know it took awhile for the lines to thaw.
.5 gpt today back down to 2.6%, trickled through the night and froze briefly early am. a few moths in one tank today.
Ran better than I thought yesterday after a 9° reading yesterday morning. Ran a little today but the wind kept the temps down. Looks like things will be slow for tomorrow but end of the week we’ll be in the sap.
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1.3 gpt last run, ro to 8%ish and boiled it today to make 6.5 gal. Heres to hoping the season holds on for me, the forecast looks like a big run mid week and then no freeze for 4 days
i just got done draining and cleaning my syrup pan, but noticed that the pan was showing signs of buildup. What is the best to use on getting the stainless clean? In the past I have used an extra fine steel wool pad. Your input is appreciated! And for the record, having a hard time keeping up with "mom nature"!!!
Soaking the pans with permeate tends to work pretty well. If that won't move it, then a little pan acid (or white vinegar) in water should do it. Do NOT use steel wool unless it is stainless steel wool, otherwise you'll have spots that rust.Quote:
Originally Posted by woodfordmark
Are you switching sides occasionally during boiling to avoid/reduce niter build-up?
Barely made it to 32 deg F yesterday afternoon after a very cold night, but the sap trickled in a little for a couple of hours starting about 4pm. Only about 450 gal of sap total. Today will probably be about the same. Should open up late-Wednesday afternoon and run into early next week, with a few freezes tossed in every couple of days.
Still planning to boil on Friday. Bulk tank and overflow should be close to full of concentrate by then.
Dr. Tim, how is your north face woods running up there? I was up there last week picking up a truck from Clark's and noticed less snow than Middlesex. We've still got cold spots with almost 3' of snow and those trees have barely produced any because the bases are still frozen. Of course this is with buckets so those running vacs might be having better luck. Everyone who's sugared for many years have told me it's the latest they've ever got started.Quote:
Originally Posted by DrTimPerkins
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I soak syrup pans with vinegar or permeate at least over night and then use a scraper made with a copper pipe to remove any lingering niter deposits. I learned this trick here on the trader...Quote:
Originally Posted by woodfordmark
http://mapletrader.com/community/sho...r+pipe+scraper
Pulled in about 1 gpt yesterday despite the cold wind. That March sun sure is powerful! Had another big boil and made over 45 gal of AR.
The ice block in my bulk tank from february finally melted and I was able to clean the tank for the first time since we started collecting sap. Maybe that will lighten up the grade a little bit...
Not very well today. :lol: Still in the mid-20s up here.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mead Maple
We still have 1.5-2' of dense snow in the woods. Tree bases had mostly thawed out, but this last snow filled those in a bit. Trees ran fine last week, but certainly took a bit to thaw them out. Sun (with no wind) makes a bit difference this time of year, and the vacuum gets things moving at a lower temperature than you'd think.
Shouldn't matter much in a few days. Temps will be well into the range to thaw things out well, and the sap will be flying into the releaser soon enough.
I do switch sides frequently and have used stainless steel wool....looking for a quick fix and thank you!!
My sap drop to 2% yesterday it had been 3%. And niter has been a big issue so far. I am going to have to empty pan and filter as well as reverse it before boiling today.
Sap is starting to roll today. About 300gph and climbing. Still testing at 2.1%. Monday I only got 450 gallons and yesterday I got about 100 gallons. I'm at 25% of what i hope to get for the season. Lots of great sugaring weather to come. Running 28.5hg at the releaser and 27.5 in the furthest section of the woods.
Spud
Found a couple of squirrel chews in one line which resulted in icing in the mainline. This was plaguing us for the last week or so and finally had a chance to walk some of the lines last night. Our vacuum was staying just shy of 26" so it was a smaller leak, but enough to freeze. I hope to find some time later tonight to walk more lines. We found three taps to add which we left out of the sap lines when I replaced them quickly for a repair.
Sap is finally flowing decent around here. Still quite a bit of snow in the woods. We are at 15 gallons (last three years were were around 80 gallons now) of syrup so far and hopefully will still get close to 100 gallons of syrup.
Mike
Hey Mike...or anyone else. Should you happen to see this again, get a few good photos of the squirrel damage, but especially get a few shots of the mainline freezing. We've seen this a couple of times over the years, but haven't recently. We're working on a series of videos on different factors important to high production, and this would be a good shot to include.Quote:
Originally Posted by VT_K9
First one who sends me a good photo of these (squirrel chew and/or mainline freezing due to a nearby leak) that we end up using in the video will receive photo credit in the video and a Snickers bar! :D
Spud, we seem to usually have similar weather and runs. Curious where you are at lbs/tap? Im certainly not that close to 25% of a crop here, although I do often lag behind other producers until later in the season in years past, seems like it's just not thawing out here.Quote:
Originally Posted by spud
I am at .13 gpt so far. Sap in now running 500 GPH. I was just told that my friends in Bakersfield are not running great yet. My woods faces South/East so I get early sun .
Spud
We saw 6° this morning here in Middlesex. There was no skimming the ice off the top of the bucket, just a giant icicle. But was running well this afternoon. Best running trees are roadside where the back slope of a ditch is south facing. Hoping it will continue to run well for us bucket boilers! Neighbor had me jealous with his Surflo just moving bubbles like an assembly line! Got over 50 gallons in the IBC tote so another gallon of syrup ready to boil. Taking the day off Friday to boil in the driveway.
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