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Same here, Brad. Sap up on the mountain was still trickling, but nasty looking. And when I looked up............the reds are popping.
So that's it. Just a bad and disappointing season. Probably end...

Holding on for dear life here. Yesterday, collected and processed 136 gallons of 1% that has been barely dribbling in from the last couple of days. Normally I wouldn't bother with 1%, but I needed to...

Tough that you had to call it. Best wishes to your wife for a speedy recovery.
Still hanging in down here, but forecast looks scary. Collected and processed 385 gals yesterday from the last two...

Collected and processed 275 gals. yesterday @ 1.4%. Grading out to Dark, so I guess that's it for Amber from here on out. No freezes for the next 5 days, so here we go again...........shutdown.
Time...

Saw a huge two day run mid-week and then the brakes went on.......again.
2/27 - 402
2/28 - 441
Overall, still ahead of last year at 2,542 gals collected, mostly 1.4-1.6%.
Looks like another two...

After a 10 day break between runs; looks like we're about to get back to it. Collected 210 gal. on Saturday morning, and processed it yesterday. Season total is at just shy of 20 gal. - all Amber....

I try to kill two birds with upcoming long freeze periods.
Drain the pan...........and then do my least favorite thing - CLEAN IT :)

Nextgen 1x40 RO that I've added a second post, and bypass. Pairing up nice with my new Smoky Lake 2x4 hybrid pan. The second membrane and adding in the bypass has made a huge difference. I'm sending...

Glad we made the early tapping decision again this year. Caught a nice run over the last three days.......160, 195 + 404 gal. Not happy about the sugar content though, running avg. of 1.5%. I wonder...

About the same here. Lines have been replaced where squirrels and deer went crazy, followed by new drops in some areas. Ready to go for Feb.1 tapping. Moved my tap date up to Feb. 5th last year, and...

I just upgraded my 2x4XL with a new Smoky Lake Hybrid Pro pan, with float box and Simplicity draw off. The SL 2x4 pan fits perfectly on the Mason arch, and you can leave Bill's preheat pan in place....

Walking the lines yesterday; next step changing drops.
What a disaster! Hundreds of squirrel chews and drops bitten in half (deer I guess). So many chews and breaks, no other choice but to run new...

I am a small producer, and have the time to do this. The following works well for me and my tubing stays clean as a whistle year after year:
1. After pulling taps, leave all lines open, including...

Anyone look at the inside of your sugarhouse PVC piping lately? Not very pretty. Especially the concentrate line from the RO to the head tank and evaporator. I religiously flush mine with permeate...

That's it. Last boil of the season was yesterday. Collected 190 gallons on final trip through the bush and shut down the pumps. Cloudy, but no smell. Tasted fine on the last boil...........and it was...

Still at it Mike. Just passed 4,100 gal. sap. Only have bottled up 30 gal. syrup so far; but the freezer is bursting with stored syrup as well as Mother Nature's snowbanks. Probably another 35 gal....

Easiest way I found is a vinegar and permeate combination. Heat it up with a few scraps of wood.......scrub...and the best step of all is time to soak. If you have the luxury (temperature depending)...

Just hit 2,950 on sap collection yesterday. Way above last year at this time 1,254. All due to early tapping in Feb., and some nice early runs. Sap still running crystal clear; and sapsicles in tanks...

On my 5th year with the Mason 2x4XL. Love it, but have to really dial in my batches on the Mason and RO on big flow days. Processed 540 gallons the other day and found that if I crunch 100 gal....

Did pretty much the same yesterday. Cleaned tanks and shut down the Shurflo's to keep battery capacity (wasn't much solar charging happening yesterday in the rain).
Glad I made my early season start...

Very surprised myself, Mike. Didn't make a drop of light last year; and just a couple gallons the year before. I suspect that with this warm stretch coming up, we'll be seeing darker syrup from here...

Still running pretty well; but will slow up with higher temps later this week. Averaging 250 ish per day on collections. Bottled up first batch of syrup last night. 15 gallons Golden.... 98 on the...

Still running pretty well; but will slow up with higher temps later this week. Averaging 250 ish per day on collections. Bottled up first batch of syrup last night. 15 gallons Golden.... 98 on the...

210 tapped so far. Will complete rest on tubing this weekend. Two collections......260 + 355 gal........1.9 % avg. Two boils yielding about 6-1/2 gallons of great tasting Golden.
Glad I started...

Tapped about 100 yesterday on my mainline. Reds were already running. Nothing from the sugars yet.
Weather looks decent, and I think I'm all done with waiting until mid-late February to tap. Reading...