Getting anxious

Ivyacres, My plan for next year is for more runs with the 3/16ths lines and limit the bags being used.

Pdiamond, How many taps can your Smokey Lake handle? Do you ro anything yet?How many more taps can you do?

We are at 41 gallons syrup from 175 taps in gaylord and the trees are still giving good clear sap and the buds are not swelled in the least bit. I don't know how much more i can take. Im wore plum out.

Ivyacres, I could probably handle 200 taps. My plan for next year is to get out 100 to 110 taps. I'd like to put 75 of those on 3/16ths lines and the rest on bags. I like to rotate trees from year to year in my woods. To answer your question about the RO, no I do not use one. The evaporator will boil off 45-55 gallons of sap per hour depending on how well I fire it. If I had an RO i wouldn't be afraid of having 250 to 300 taps. Then you would have to deal with storage of concentrate and permeate. i will keep it on the small side for me to keep it fun and not to much work. Next year my 400 gallon bulk milk tank I bought will be set-up for use and that will be a big help.

I collected my last sap today. It is hard for me to figure out why the trees have not yet shown any budding,( sugar Maples ). When I checked the sugar in the sap it was still at 2.8%. The lowest it ever got this year was 2.6%. I have never seen a year like this. But I am finally done collecting and will finish off the pan tomorrow. Then I have a bunch to get bottled. and the dreaded clean up.