welcome to the insanity...when to tap is going to be a huge question for all of us to face from now on...especially if the global warming zealots happen to be right..Last year was the best I have ever had...BUT...I was the one everyone said was nuts when I tapped all in the first week of January..ended up making just over 100 gals on 350 taps...yes it was a big gamble that paid off in spades...some days i had almost 600 gals to boil on that little 2x6...made for some very long nights...bottom line is this...you cant boil anything if it is still in the trees...a 5x12 with flat pans?? do you have any idea how much wood you are going to burn for that 60 gals an hour??? I have a 5x12 raised flu and she will burn close to 300 gals an hour on the same wood... the last year she boiled Bob burned a tick over 30 cords on 1500 taps...and was averaging about 7 gals of syrup an hour...with the new ro and the change to oil we will see how she does...