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Ok, emergency over. Batch 9 at 12 liters nice amber colour, very sweet. Up to 79.5 liters on season. About 60 gallons left from today still to boil.
Trail is really getting interesting. Spots i added rock holding up pretty well, but rough in other areas. May have a trail maintenance Easter sunday! Can still walk on the ice in the swamp so theres gotta be quite A while left yet. Looks like after this week it stays warm though. Good news is second week of forecast is always wrong!!
I boiled Friday - about 100 gals sap total, then collected a cord of wood Saturday morning to replenish. Sunday was filtering and bottling day. I had 4 different batches sitting in the 20l stainless pots waiting for finishing. I always take off a bit thick so my finishing process is to heat the pot to almost boiling, adjust for density and then raise to a full boil and into the filter / canner.
Attachment 7628
Bottled up over 45 litres on Sunday - making my year total 68l so far. (Funny how 18l in the pot turns into 13l in the bottles after I fill the bottles to capacity)
My filter/canner was an excellent investment and highly recommended for anyone with 50-150 trees. It holds a single cone filter and can accept a full 20l pot at once, keeping the syrup and filter hot through the bottling process. I was able to bottle all 45 litres using a single cone filter. I used 4 pre-filters, washing them out between batches but didn't have to replace the orlon. First 2 batches were light, the last 2 medium although right on the edge with light. Even though that last 50gals of sap was starting to cloud, still making medium this year.
I only had 25 gals of sap collected on Friday and Saturday and none yesterday, so we'll have to see how this week looks. It's supposed to be cool again tonight. Yay.
We made 267 gallons from Saturday to Monday and I'm exhausted! The sap was coming in cloudy and it was amber - but a great amber.
All in all a good weekend. We didn't break too many things (there's always something every day!) and the entire operation is getting easier to manage. Hopefully this cold spell brings crystal clear sap and monsooooon flows!
I just pulled down half of my buckets I know it is to soon but I have made 16 gallons just to give away to family and friends so I have made enough. The other half of the buckets I split with a neighbour and I think he is going to boil a couple more times before we call it a season. I can't complain I have made more syrup this year than ever before.
Good for you Mark! I'm surprised you've done well on buckets. We've had so few days with really good flows that I figured buckets would be having a marginal year.Quote:
Originally Posted by markr
Thanks for the vote of confidence I think between my neighbour and I we have finished off and bottled somewhere around 23 gallons on 335 buckets. All in all I think we had a great season.
Surprised but there was a bit of a run today. Was flowing good about 5:30 but almost stopped now. About 100 gallons collected. Weather looks good tomorrow and depending what forecast you like maybe the next few days.
My trail likely impassible by end of weekend without alot of work so that may shut me down unless someone donates 1000' of mainline in a hurry
I collected at 6:00 p.m. and things had started to drip like they meant it! I'm really hoping for some fun tomorrow.
Every time I've said big sap tomorrow, it's been a bust. So forget tomorrow. Let it happen if it will. Boy, it's been cold though...
Steve.
Steve, you're absolutely right about the cold. My hands were completely freezing while dumping the buckets tonight. It wasn't as much fun as it usually is.
I am going to be pulling all my stuff tomorrow morning , I am busy doing home show's now for work every weekend for the next few weeks and will not have time to do the maple syrup for the rest of the season (however long that will be ) , I'm happy with what I got from 13 buckets this year , 8.5 ltr of syrup , not including what I have given away to family and freinds , probably closer to 15 ltr's in all.
If you had 15 litres of syrup from 13 buckets you should be estactic!
Looks like a gallon per tap back here! Crystal clear
Me too, things were running today in the afternoon and are still hard at it. Crystal clear and sweet.
Even though I'm done for the year I helped my neighbour gather tonight and we were at least a gallon per tap I hope he realizes he could be in for a very late night
big run today,got in around 1600 gallons of sap,ran it all through this afternoon after the bus run except for about 350-400 gallons,too tired out and fighting the flu bug
I guess I am , this is only my second year doing it , so i am not sure if that was good , bad , average or poor , but by going by your post , I guess it was a good year for me :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Yellzee
Ran as strong here as I've ever seen. Not sure what happened over night, but we collected a lot. The weather looks like there might be one more run...-6C tonight.
Steve.
yes it is running good , I just got back from the forest and pulled all my buckets and taps and every bucket was overflowing , made me sad to think I dont have time right now and had to dump it back onto the forest floor , I just kept telling myself i was giving it back to the tree's .
I went back to get some more sap about midnight and the tank was well above where i left it when i got my 5:30pm load, i'd guess 190 gallons yesterday. Lots of ice and frost when i was back there so i may get a bit more today.
If tomorrow brings another big run i think i'll probably start tear down on sunday, doesnt look like great weather coming and spring chores are piling up! I think i am going to try and coil up my lats at the mainline to try and reduce squirrel damage. Only challenge will be to remember the correct path next spring!!
Oh my goodness Steve! Thanks for the heads up. I'm going to check on the trees in my other location immediately!Quote:
Originally Posted by SPM in King
Steve, I owe you one! My buckets and pails were dumping on the ground. I'll have to go back in a couple of hours once I've got someone to babysit my burners while I make the trip. They were running so hard that I wouldn't dare to wait any more than three or four hours.
In the past 24 hours I collected 110 litres (29 gallons) from 8 taps. No complaints here!
Thats awesome !!! I now wish I didn't have to pull my stuff yesterday , but had no choice , hopefully next season is just as good .Quote:
Originally Posted by Run Forest Run!
Boiling boiling boiling. Cant keep up to the sap. Gonna go until we run out of wood some time tommorrow then shut down!
Me too. Except I had to make a propane run instead. Couldn't be having more fun if I tried!Quote:
Originally Posted by Yellzee
I have 2-3 days worth of wood left, til then gonna go til they stop. Have 4 gallons on the woodstove evaporating, and another 5 gallons waiting. Oh yeah and that doesn't include batch 5 which I plan to finish tonight, should give me 6 cups of yumminess. That's all I ask!Quote:
Originally Posted by Run Forest Run!
Just shut down the fryers. I don't dare take the 'nearup' any lower in the pans. Another marathon boil and still a 20 gallon storage pail full of sap staring at me. When I emptied my buckets and jugs today at dinnertime they were running like they meant it. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to deal with all this sap. Who knew I'd be saying that EVER!
Collected 120 gallons on Friday to go with the 55 on Thursday so had lots of sap this morning. Boiled off 140 gallons and after collecting today (early) still have 90 gallons in the tank. Will be steaming again tomorrow. Trees were still Rumning well when i collected so therell be more in the morning. I'm running low on wood so will have to put the kids to work stoking tomorrow while I go collect some more. Syrups getting darker (and tastier). Tomorrow will likely be it given the forecast.
Huge sap day! Running very strong. 2 55gal barrels completely overflowing this morning and it just keeps on coming. the kids are tending to the buckets. I would guess that it will slow down this aft....
Steve.
Picked up 200 gallons this morning at second bush which is only 120 taps on tubing,gravity,was gathered yesterday at lunchtime,kept running most of the night.Waiting for another 200 to come in at home on vacuum so I can fire up
Me too Steve. I've got more sap than I can handle right now. Everything is overflowing faster than I can collect and boil. I'm guessing the hurricane force winds we currently have will start to slow down the sap.Quote:
Originally Posted by SPM in King
Not much flow here i am actually glad to say! Over 200 gallons at the back still and at least 150 at the shack. Thats 35 hours boiling for us. Time to pull the hose i think.... Oh, weatherman now saying zero tonight which would definitely be frost here.
I have about 6 gallons in sap waiting and 4 gallons sloowwwllly evaporating...and pretty much out of firewood!! Trying to decide if I should buy another 1/2 cord to tide me over, or just wait til 7 this evening and boil like crazy on the stove (least preferable option). Might just go for a scrounge in the woods and see what I can bring home.
Planning on pulling the spiles probably Wednesday. Already pulled the spiles on #9 yesterday, checked this am and glad to see the holes aren't leaking. I've got 5 gorgeous batches (see linky for latest pics) so not complaining, wouldn't mind another couple gallons for batch #6.
Also very glad that my best trees, which were the last ones to really start producing this year, did indeed come through and kick into gear...not that I was worried they wouldn't!
A good weekend for us.
Collected 55 on Thursday, 120 Friday, 20 Saturday and another 75 on Sunday.
Boiled 140 on Saturday and 70 on Sunday and still had yesterday's sap left this morning so it seemed like a good day to take off. Down to about 25 now but haven't been to see if there is more in the bush. Have at least 20l of syrup in the pots pending filtering.
Did have a little excitement this morning. Was sitting in the shack reading when I heard the unmistakeable sound of a crackling fire from OUTSIDE. Yikes! Dashed outside to see I had a little grass fire going which was quickly dealt with. Things are drying out!
If this season goes on much longer we may be raking up leaves, twigs and bark to feed the evaporator! I can't complain about burning too much wood because we burned so little last year! We're now towards the back of the woodshed which is 3-4 year old softwood that's split way too fine - meaning it burns like gunpowder in the Force 5!
Father in law boiled all day and now im at it. About 130 gallons to go. Hope it doesnt go bad in these temps. At least the sun held off. I pulled the hoses out of the collecting tank in surrender yesterday! Will be interesting to see where the syrup total ends. I may need to hire in the marketing department!
I'm done. Ran out of sap about 4pm, so boiled what I could and drained the flue pan, then backfilled with water and finished off the remaining sweet using the syrup pan. I'm going to be over 100l made from 145 trees. Not a banner year, but more than enough for our needs, even with 4 boys who like their pancakes and waffles.
I'm all out of bottles so will need to get more glass before filtering and bottling the last 30l or so.
Will let the buckets hang until next weekend then do the big clean up before getting to the list of improvements for next year.
When it started again last week I was hoping for another 100gallons. got 50 gallons wednesday and thrusday, 170 Friday, 285 Saturday and 60 Sunday all from 185taps. Boiled 3 nights still 200 gallons in the tanks. Anyone see the buds? The oaks and poplar are starting. Supposed to get cold again Thrusday.
We just finished one of our best yrs, our 177 taps dripped out more sap than we could boil. Probably dumped 100gal of clear sap yesterday when pulling bucket then dumped another 75 from the bulk tank.
We just had enough and we run out of wood! Time we are done bottling we should have 20 gallons of sweet stuff.
Hope everyone had a succesfull season as well.