Western Wisconsin Tapping

[markcasper]

Well thats it, I am starting to tap TODAY! Had to work 6/ 12 hrs out of the last 7 and now have the weekend off. Got home from work this morning and am not going to bed til 9 tonight. Must be that time again

I'm from DUNN county and live 1 mile north of I-94. Have heard a couple reports of some large producers just to the south of me that have started tapping as of yesterday. We have virtually no snow, except on the north sides of buildings and north hills.

Lots to do and may not be on here for a few days, but will get on and give an update. Nice knowing what you brothers are up to as far as progress. Mark

[markcasper]

I meant i am going to try and get tapping today. Last year i had good intentions on the first day- 2nd time i started the tapper, the recoil rope broke, got a few more done and the thing ran like crap. Called my neighbor and he said to take out that spark arrester from the exhaust. Bingo, it was filled full of carbon. Like the woods is gonna catch on fire in March 3rd.

Happy tapping and or cooking where you live. Mark

[Russ]

Mark:

Five additional inches of snow fell yesterday in our bushes in Lincoln and Price counties, so my brothers are going to be working in the shack this weekend cleaning and assembling the evaporator and other equipment. Hope to be putting the bit to the bark next weekend (3/11) without the need for snowshoes.

[markcasper]

Russel, Its still early to be tapping, about a full week and a half early for us here, but all things considered, frost, snow, off-farm work situation dictates that now is it. I don't see any large runs for at least a week to 10 days here. I will tap at least 1000, possibly 1500 depending on lots of things. Mark

[markcasper]

Got tapping and do not know how many. Not enough thats for sure. Had some unexpected things pop up the last 2 days and kind of slowed me down. The ones I tapped today were running fair as they were all on the south slope. The ones on top of the ridge were barely running. Will keep at it though as theres alot to do and the forecast is for good weather all week, but wet. Even talk on the weather of several nights not freezing. Thank you for vacuum, they will get a work out then. Mark

[markcasper]

Got about 3 inches snow today. Tapping in the snow sucks, but I did it anyway. Temps hovered around 32-33, so barley any flow. Was disappointed with what I got done this weekend. Only a little more than 300 tapped, but I was all by myself and did a fair amount of leak fixing...etc while tapping, plus my tapper died on Saturday. Got it running again, but not after being out of the woods for 3 hours-that hurts. Will continue tapping tomorrow a.m. as I have a 60 hour stint at work the next 7 days. Will tap before going to work for several hours each day. Should be half tapped in by Tues. evening. My vacation starts the week after this week, will only have to go in 2 days between March 16th and April 6th. Hope no big runs come this week. Mark

[jtcinv]

I was hoping to wait 2 more weeks to tap in Oconto County, but weather forecast looks pretty good (except for the precipitation...) and I may have to go up this weekend. I am still boiling outside so will not want to put up with much rain....

Anyone tapping above the 45th parallel?

Jeff

[sippls]

Started tapping in north central Wisconsin, picked up 5-6 inches of snow last night, we started on Sunday and are not quite half done but we still have about 2 feet of snow.

[Tomten]

Finished tapping Sunday for the most part. Temps are supposed to be good but alot of precip. forecast. Hoping for something despite experience...

Realized the new shack of sticks is to small leading to another bump out this summer hopefully then I can accomodate a more conventional evaporater rather than my collection of block, metal, & dryer stack!

Ran out of time this year to get something else squared away.

Good luck everybody, stay dry!

[markcasper]

I have close to 600 tapped as of tuesday night. Put the line in the tank on the ones I tapped over the weekend. I will be putting another group in for collection this morning and will continue to tap all day on my last group that has vacuum on it. Has not froze the last 2 nights here. Pretty drizzly and damp.

Started the vacuum pump yeasterday noon on the first tank and let it run all night. Hope its still running good when I get back there in a few hours. Have got some major looking for leaks to do. Only had 10 #'s at the pump with slow idle, it should be at least 15. I am thinking there is a leak in the dry line I ran out and will have to go over that this morning. I am hoping to get nearly done with my vacuum taps by tonight and tomorrow will be spent getting the evaporator ready to go as well as probably gathering the first sap of the new season.

Have to work all weekend, so will do my non-vacuum trees next week, as well as deciding how many bags I will or won't do. Happy tapping! Mark