Anybody Tapped Yet?

[sbingham]

Mike - Will do, today it was hit and miss.
Some bags had an inch or so in them, others nothing.
The forecast looks decent, hopefully it gets cold enough at night.

[Rhino]

Brothers and i made the decision to hold off tapping and see what happens after this week, Some forecast were hinting on a cool down and i see for us starting friday it is going to and even saturday. We got close to 20 inches of snow the last storm and had 10 on the ground so we got plenty for the season. Talked to 4 other producers and they also are going to hold off. One did put a few test taps in yesterday and they got wet but stopped soon after and he is 100 miles south of us with only 8 inches of snow on the ground. As one buddy of mine said in our area, our trees don't run good until the the snow is pulled away from the base of the trees..... Tuesday and Wednesday i will spend on the dozer plowing trails. Looks like 3 days of warm weather with breezy south winds so that should help compact the snow a bit and stiffen it up later for snowshoe tapping.

[grahamcreek62]

We are ready to go as far as equipment, but waiting for the right weather. We are just south of Eau Claire towards Eleva. Checked trees last weekend and the hole is still dry. We just make enough for our family and our little grandchildren just love the syrup. Getting real anxious. Hope it will be a good year.

[logboy]

I tapped last Thursday and Friday and had sap running out of the holes faster than I could tap them. Too cold the last couple days, tomorrow will hopefully be a flood.

[Skarda Maple Farms]

I tapped yesterday and it seems good. I have close to 300 taps and hopefully will do another 200 later in the week. Half of the taps had a pretty stedy drip. I plan to boil on friday.

[driske]

Hey Rhino,
Talked to Bob at Spirit Valley tonight. Your area got inundated alright.
Our paltry 10" had the consistency of wet cement. Let's just say, mobility has been an issue since last Weds.
Locally, trees still have a thick layer of snowy ice firmly attached to the NE face. Hopefully, the forecast 40's will give us the chance to check the tubing for some air leaks over the next 2 days or so. There's plenty of snapped off limbs and tubing stretched down.
In the end, I think we will look back and see that this storm was the right thing to put the upcoming season into a proper time frame. For the moment, the daunting task of doing anything other than moving snow is frustrating.
All the best with your prep work. DR

[Rhino]

Doug, I am thinking thats how it's going to end up also, sure the trees might weep a bit but until they get out of this snow/ice covered tomb, we won't get all bent out of shape that we are waiting. Talked to Bob this past weekend and at that time he was planning to start tapping this weekend. Our snow consistency is easy to plow now but i think the next 2 days of plowing will be a bugger once it starts melting and sticks to everything. I hate to say it but a good rain would sure help to settle and knock this deep snow down. (not good on the flooding side of things though). Keep us posted on how those sweet Athens trees are doing. Thanks.

[Huckster]

Northern Dunn Co. Put in 50 taps today and all were running pretty steady. 55F right now in the shade. I had enough sap to cover the bottom of the buckets within 2 hours on the first trees we tapped. Should be good weather for the next several days.