Sap ran well yesterday. From Sunday to Tuesday we made 30% of what we produced last year. Very tired....
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Sap ran well yesterday. From Sunday to Tuesday we made 30% of what we produced last year. Very tired....
100 litres per day out of 38 taps this weekend. tonight the pails weren't worth emtpying. started my boil at 2 pm, stopped stoking at 7:30, boiled off 2/3rds of a 220 litre barrel. I think thats 5-6 gph. started building my air injection hopefully will have air injection set up for the weekend maybe get to 8 gph.
I finally got the evaporator tweeked, did a quick boil today with the new (temporary) blower system, gotta lose the duct tape it looks soooo Red Green. haven't collected since Tuesday night, collected about 25-30 litres out of 38 taps tonight. I'm hoping to get 15-20 more taps in this weekend hopefully that will let me know if it's just the weather or if my holes have dried up. Any info from y'all would be greatly appreciated on how your flow is.
Too cold and windy to run much here neither. Out of 120 taps, picked up tonight from today 35 gals of sap. Will start boiling tomorrow around noon
and hope to get more sap in afternoon to boil for a while. Hardly worth starting up without having at least 45 gallons of sap.
thanks for the reply cheesegenie, I'm at that point too, if my feed barrel isn't full it's not worth starting up. I've only just got my pan sweetend after boiling 90 gals. Hope for a good run Sat. & Sun the wife's anxious for some syrup, I've gotta justify what I've spent on stainless stuff this year somehow.
I got about 10 liters of sap from 100 taps and most of that came from 3 trees. Tomorrow is suposed to be warmeer. Got up to 42 to here but that wind was like ice.
Justify? that stainless stack alone cost me over $500. and doesn't even look like stainless anymore after 3 boils. BUt you know.... the wife is starting to help me bottle and starting to ask questions about how it's running etc. She might
be getting the bug too..... only took 32 years.
Been keeping track this year.
99 buckets hung.
Here's the story to date.
Date.....6am...Morn....4pm...Aft....Wind.....Sap.. ....Boiled
07-Mar....-2....Sun......6.....Rain....Light.....Tapped.....N/A
08-Mar.....4....Sun......8.....Sun.....Med......25 Gals....N/A
09-Mar....-2....Frz Rain.0.....Sun.....Light.....25 Gals....N/A
10-Mar....-2....Clear.....2....Rain....Light......45 Gals....N/A
11-Mar.....7....Rain......1..Sun/Cld..Extrm.....50 Gals...30 gals
12-Mar.....-12..Clear...-4.....Sun.....Med......0 Frzn.....N/A
13 Mar.....-12..Clear....-5.....Sun.....Light.....0 Frzn.....N/A
14 Mar.....-5....Clear....4.....Sun.....Med......0...........4 5 gals
15 Mar.....-6....Clear....5......Sun....Light......75 gals....55 gals
16 Mar....-3.....Clear....8......Sun....Light......45 gals....75 gals
17 Mar....-3.....Clear....8......Sun....Light......35 gals....60 gals
18 Mar.....6.....Ovcst...8......Sun....Light.......10 gals...45 gals
19 Mar.....1.....Clear....8......Sun...Light........0 ..........N/A
20 Mar.....-6....Clear....2......Sun....Light.......30 gals...N/A
thanks folks, good to get some feedback. Nice format Big Eddy, maybe next year I'll be organized enough to actually track my stats. Cheesegenie the wife is still asking why we don't have any syrup this year after boiling 90 gals of sap. I think she'll be in for a big surprise when she's gotta help finish and bottle the next run. Ken, you'll get a better run when the english speaking sap makes it across the border, where abouts are you in PQ? Just trying to figure the run out regionally.
I have about 4 gallons in storage to finish off but I am waiting until next weekend as I will have a coffee urn to help with the bottling. I have not had a flow the last couple of day as it has been too cold, but my sugar content seems to be up as I should end with more than 3 gallons from what is waiting to be finishes from only about 50 gallons of sap.
Got a nice little snow overnight, but forecast for this afternoon still on the freezing mark. But when the sun comes out and warms up a bit, that snow
will trigger the big sap flow.
Snow here to today. My keeper has said for weeks that it could not be sugar season with no snow. I was wondering if the added moisture to the top of the tree was actually good for them.
Well it's been cold up here and sap has not ran since last Wednesday we had over 300 gallons collected we made 9 gallons of nice syrup all cleaned up and ready for the next round should start Wednesday! The new rear pan and float system we had custom built 3 weeks ago works wonders.
We had a good freeze here Friday night and a warm Saturday so we had a good run. But it did not freeze Saturday night/Sunday AM so the sap ran all night. We got a great collection Sunday about noon, but because there was no freeze, the pump didn't get primed and the flow diddle to a stop while we were collecting. Good freeze Sunday night but not warm enough today. Still ice in the bags and buckets. Only 70 US Gal from 300 or so bags and buckets.
Saturday's boil made darker syrup First time ever ( 5 years ) for Medium for us.
Back to a slow start this week it finaly started to run about 2pm yesterday, collected 55gal. we hope to have more tonight to start boiling again.
Today looks good for a better run and the same for tomorrow so far. I would say the season is just starting here fianlly.
It flowed pretty good here. Got 150 US gal off the pipeline. Finally put the pressure guage in and the little sap sucker was drawing 16" vacuum.
Got another 130 gallons off the bags and buckets and did not finish the last round., Got two totes full of sap and 3 of the 18 gallons barrels with varying amounts of syrup in 2 different grades we gotta bottle before we can boil. Another day off the day job
I'm waiting patiently. Got 25 litres this weekend but it's shut down almost completly. Checked the buckets last night and there's only about an inch in the bottom. I put in 10 new spiles and they're flowing at the same rate as the 3 week old taps so I don't think my holes have dried up. Weather last 2 days should have produced something, it's going to warm up here tommorrow and friday with some rain, hopefully that will give it a kick start. I've only got 8.5 litres of finished syrup pretty dark too so I'm praying for another run.
Just got home from work, 1st bucket I checked was 2/3 full Yew Haw.........gotta go Boil:D
Collected 150gal of sap last night boiled for 5hrs after work will finish off this batch tonight, looks like it will be a busy weekend!
Never got the fire lit yesterday. Had to dump 3 day old sap from the gravity feeder in the top of the sugar shack. It was starting to ferment.
Collected until after midnight. Had about 150 gal in the pipeline tank. Brought in 140 from bags and buckets and that filled the tanks near the sugar shack.
Put another 80 into the pipeline tank. Got another 70 still in the tanks on the gator and we did not get around to 1/3 of the bags and buckets. Phhheeeew
But it had run out of steam as we were hitting the last buckets. Almost no dripping and without the freeze last night it will not run much today.
Gotta boil !!!!
We got frost here last night again so today should be okay. The next three days call for no frost at night so probbably be back to nothing again. It will thaw out a lot more trees most likely so that the other half of my trees that do nothing will run a bit next week. My sap has ice in it still so will last till tomorrow when I boil and I have a bunch in the freezer for ice chunks if it need cooled off a bit. Still have big snow banks around the green house where the snow slid off all winter into big piles.
Updated summary - 99 trees on buckets, Belleville area.
Date.....6am...Morn....4pm...Aft....Wind.....Sap.. ....Boiled
07-Mar....-2....Sun......6.....Rain....Light.....Tapped.....N/A
08-Mar.....4....Sun......8.....Sun.....Med......25 Gals....N/A
09-Mar....-2....Frz Rain.0.....Sun.....Light.....25 Gals....N/A
10-Mar....-2....Clear.....2....Rain....Light......45 Gals....N/A
11-Mar.....7....Rain......1..Sun/Cld..Extrm.....50 Gals...30 gals
12-Mar.....-12..Clear...-4.....Sun.....Med......0 Frzn.....N/A
13 Mar.....-12..Clear....-5.....Sun.....Light.....0 Frzn.....N/A
14 Mar.....-5....Clear....4.....Sun.....Med......0...........4 5 gals
15 Mar.....-6....Clear....5......Sun....Light......75 gals....55 gals
16 Mar....-3.....Clear....8......Sun....Light......45 gals....75 gals
17 Mar....-3.....Clear....8......Sun....Light......35 gals....60 gals
18 Mar.....6.....Ovcst...8......Sun....Light.......10 gals...45 gals
19 Mar.....1.....Clear....8......Sun...Light........0 ..........N/A
20 Mar.....-6....Clear....2......Sun....Light.......30 gals...N/A
21 Mar.....-6....Clear....5......Sun....Light.......45 gals...45 gals
22 Mar.....-6....Snow...3.......Sun....Strng......25 gals...55 gals
23 Mar.....-6....Clear...-1.......Sun...Light.......0..........N/A
24 Mar.....-4....Clear...7........Sun...Med.......30 gals....N/A
25 Mar.....-2....Clear...8........Sun...Med.......75 gals....N/A
26 Mar.....11...Ovcst..
Tipped my trailer over in a rut with 75 gals in it last night - was down to 40 gals by the time I had it right side up again. :( Oh well - better than losing it after it's boiled.
I get upset if I spill a couple of ounces of sap right now as it comes pretty scarce around here. I have no place that you could run a trailer here as walking is a challange. I have one place where I have to walk down a log carrying buckets to get through one patch of downfall. Has to be a thousand cords of wood on the ground out in the neighbours wood lot and he dosn't burn wood.
We had another big day yesterday. We're at 70% of last year's total (a bad year) and 50% of what an "average" year should be. Almost all our syrup so far has been light so hopefully we'll make a bunch more medium and then fill the rest of the drums with amber before calling it quits by the end of Easter weekend!
Another decent run last night, we're boiling the 150 litres I collected today. I fubar'd yesterday and left my feed tap on by accident, I had 6 inches in the pan before I caught it so I didn't draw any off. I should be able to get 1-2 gals out of the pan tonight though and be back on track. I've got 8.5 litres of finished syrup and with tonight and tommorrows boil I reheat and do a big bottling session on Sat.:D :D
Today looks okay for sap for a change. Boil tomorrow all day it looks like. Finally getting some action but the fact there is no frost tonight will probbably toast things.
Well 2:45am and were 1/2 way done bottling 3 1/4 gallons of medium good thing work don't start till 8am may get a few zzz!:D
I thought I saw that faint glow on the northern horizion. Long day in Trout Creek.
We started yesterday with almost 400 US Gallons. Boiled 12 hours non-stop.
Then collected more. Total collection for the year is now near 2250 US gallons. The extra 150 trees on the new pipeline are eating into sleep time.
Got a light freeze last night. Should get a moderate flow today.
Sap has stopped here, not freezing at night.
We had a light freeze here last night and it was enough to turn on the taps.
Pun intended.
We will end up hauling in between 475 and 500 US Gal. today. Got lots of it boiled already and with better sap management ie boiling it fresher, we made about 12 gal of light, after cleaning out a few gallons of med / dark at first boil this morning. Ran the little GE Merlins all night again and they had cut the 250 gallon tank in half by the time I started boiling today. Really starting to like these little guys.
The fat lady is singing.
Actually not the fat lady, but the little peeper frogs. And for the last few years it seems when they start to sing, the season is all but done. I hope not.
Today we collected about 170 US Gallons. Dripping was all but stopped by late afternoon and the trees tops had a slight redish hue to them. With the PLUS 6 forecast here tonight and real warm tomorrow, there will be no flow. If we get another frost, I'm guessing it will start flowing buddy. Been a good experience this year. Close to 12000 litres collected and no problems. The Merling RO's are still working great. Ran then all last night and they cut a 260 litre tote down to about 125 by the time I started boiling this morning.
collected a great run yesterday 20 gallons off of 17 taps (two days worth) and it was running well yesterday. I looks Like I might be able to extend our season until next weekend here but not really holding my breath. Bottled 9 liters so far
Never frozeh here last night so not a drop today anywheres that I can see. Have to walk over a half mile and see if anything is dribbling over there. Supposed to freeze Monday night maybe.
I did a boil yesterday which was my best and hotest of the season found out when I drew off that my thermometer is sticking and I was way over syrup. I saved the batch on the finishing pot but I've got stuff stuck on the pan both sides, it's only a one divider pan. After pushing my syrup out with fresh sap I used the heat of the sap and a spatula to scrape off the most of it. I haven't checked this morning to see if it loosened up overnight or not.
2 questions. How do I clean it up if it's still stuck on? Do I need to toss the sap in the pan or can I drain it out and filter out the guck that comes out the draw off then put it back in the cleaned pan?
Wow there's a lot to learn about this and it seems like every evaporator has it's own idiocyncracies.
I think our time is done here too. I've got about 20 litres of finished syrup to bottle and I think that'll be about it. It got up to 15 yesterday and didn't freeze last night, it's rained steady since 8 last night and I'm noticing the sapling maples are looking about ready to bud.:(
Forget the nitre question, I checked my pan this morning and it's all loosened up on the pan, so I'm just going to push it to the draw off and filter everything before my next boil.............if there is one.
I have not yet figured out why nitre sticks some times and flakes off at others. I think it is a thermal thing. The pan which was hot when it was deposited, shrinks as it cools, and the nitre does not shrink so much so it separates. Just the theory of the moment.
What I can tell you is do NOT start to use any kind of metal scraper. In the long run you will only create scratches and gouges in the stainless that make it harder to remove the next time.
This year I tried some plastic razor style scrappers from Lee Valley and they are better than anything I've tried yet.
You have to work away at the edges of the scale about 2-4 mm at at time. They get dull fast and you'll go through a few each cleaning. The best of a less than satisfying bunch of tools I've tried.
See
http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page...=2,42194,40727
Furthermore, if you already have scratches, Lee Valley has some MicroMesh sanding discs. I have used Micromesh patches to clean and polish the windshields (canopies ) of aircraft. They are so fine ( 12,000 grit ) that they polish to optical qualify. I have only done a quick test and it seems to look promising for the pans that I already scratched.
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...46&cat=1,42500
They also have the square patches. Try the kit with one of each grit because you have to go up scale in grit to get the effect.
Good luck
I'm starting to clean the sugar shack. Just finishing what I think will be the last boil.
Thanks Brent, I did use a spatula when the pan was hot but I don't think I did any scratching, I guess I'll see when I clean the pan. I have a lot of stuff to write down this year so I don't make as many mistakes next year. Now that I know I can handle more taps I'll probably increase to about 75 next year. I did add 10 2 weeks ago so I'm now at 48.
Another weekend gone and 6 more gallons packed April 15 2008 was our last boil last year will see if we can hold out till then!
Well I had a good weekend 5 gals from 17 taps aprox 70 gals of sap. taps are still in hopefully til next weekend.