I know it has to be freezing at night and above freezing during the day but when are all you guys tapping. Im tapping about 15 trees how many galllons of sap should i expect each day on a decent sap run? Thanks!
When to tap?
I know it has to be freezing at night and above freezing during the day but when are all you guys tapping. Im tapping about 15 trees how many galllons of sap should i expect each day on a decent sap run? Thanks!
I can't tell you when to tap in your area. As for how much to expect, that depends on whether you're on gravity or vacuum, the type of maples you're tapping and the size of the taps you're using. On an average good day on buckets, a gallon or so per tap is about ballpark for me on my sugar maples. On really good days I might get 2-3 gallons or more but those days are few and far between. Many days you will get nothing. Red maples are harder to gauge. When I used to tap them they were temperamental. Some trees ran great and others did not run at all.Originally Posted by maple87
One thing I learned early on is not to count your chickens before they're hatched. Plan on about 10 gallons of sap/tap per season and hope you are pleasantly surprised.
Good luck and have a great year!
“A sap-run is the sweet good-bye of winter. It is the fruit of the equal marriage of the sun and frost.”~John Burroughs, "Signs and Seasons", 1886
backyard mapler since 2006 using anything to get the job done from wood stove to camp stove to even crockpots.
2012- moved up to a 2 pan block arch
2013- plan to add another hotel pan and shoot for 5-6 gallons
Thinking small is best for me so probably won't get any bigger.
If you are anywhere near me, it looks like late this week or next weekend (if you have a M-F job) is the time to tap. Looks like perfect weather is on the way.
Sean
Woodville Maples
www.woodvillemaples.com
www.facebook.com/woodvillemaples
Around 300 taps on tubing, 25+ on buckets if I put them out
Mix of natural and mechanical vac, S3 Controller from Mountain Maple
2x6 W.F. Mason with Phaneuf pans
Deer Run 250 RO
Ford F350
6+ hives of bees (if they make it through the winters)
Keeping the day job until I can start living the dream.
The different weather stations I have been checking say the sap should start flowing between Wednesday and Friday. Hopefully I can tap after school Wednesday or Thursday if everything is ready. I will tap trees on vac first then gravity then buckets last probably not till the weekend. I will keep checking forecasts several times a day through the whole season especially before I tap.
02 F350 powerstroke and 89 Toyota 4X4 5 speed sap haulers
16X16 sugar shack
30"X8' raised flue GH Grimm evaporator Smoky Lake Maple front pan!
Sthil MS 460, 026 (2), 009, husky 61, 365, 272, and a 42
2009 41 taps, 2010 72 taps on a barrel evapotator all buckets, 2011 151 taps 34 buckets 117 taps on tubing.
We reset tubing yesterday and plan on tapping on the 9th. Will be cleaning all holding and transport tanks this week along with the few buckets that we use. Weather looks very favorable for a decent run next week.
Can't wait to get a nose full of the sweet smell of
"the nectar of the gods"
2 x 6 W F Mason arch, Leader WSE AUF drop flue pans
40 taps 2009-
New 16 x 16 sugar shack 2010
180 taps 2012 -
200 taps 2013 -
220 taps 2014 -
250 taps 2015 -
300 taps 2024
shurflo pump 2016 -
new mainlines and saddles 300 taps 2017-
added Deer Run 125 RO, Lapierre 7 inch filter press and CDL water jacket canning unit in 2019
Bombardier 400
BX 22 Kubota
2024 is our 29th year making the " nectar of the gods"
Just a hobby
I tapped 1/31/2013 and 2/1/2013....about 80 trees... sap ran for me on 1/31... but too cold to run since... I plan on tapping the remained 320 trees (all on buckets) this week.
2011: 47 taps (Turkey fryer)
2012: 197 taps (Turkey fryer)
2013: 300 taps with oil tank evaporator (wrapping up construction...)
2014: 300 taps maybe more...
1 wife
2 kids
3 springer spaniels: mommy, brother and sister
1 beehive, soon to be 3
gardener, hunter, clammer, striper fisherman-sorta, lumber jack - 10-15 cord a year
East of Worcester, this weekend looks good. I'm tapping Sunday. If you're up in the Berks, check the weather.
If you use something that holds 5 Gal of sap, per hole, you'll be allright. On the best days you might get 5 Gal per hole, even more, but it would have to be a great tree and perfect conditions.
Rochdale, Central Mass.
Zero taps for 2016.
Still have plenty of syrup from last year.
6.72 kW solar array, and on our second Nissan Leaf all electric car.
I'am 30 min. north of Worcester @ 1300' elev. I think I'll wait till the 16th, forecast doesn't show highs in the 40's till then for my area and still need some time cleaning tanks, evaporator, sugar house
2 x 6 small bros raised flue
preheater and hood
200 taps on gravity
200 taps on vac
16 x 12 sugarhouse
New Holland tc40 (sap gatherer)
http://s679.photobucket.com/albums/v...3.jpg&newest=1
Well 'currently' it looks like Monday will be the day for me, I emphasize 'currently' because just two days ago I was looking at tapping on Friday. At this stage of the game you just gotta be ready to go at any time, at least for smaller tappers that can reasonably do it in a day.
I still got some minor preparation to do, gotta clean my buckets, sanitize my taps and make sure all my sap containers are in order.
Looking forward to this year. I got more potential taps than I do physical spouts, or a means of keeping up with. So come tapping time I'll probably be spending quite a bit of time out in the first week comparing sugar and flow levels of different trees so I only bother with the best.
I have only been tapping for a few years and always wondered when the best time was to tap ( got the taps out way too late last year waiting for the perfect weather) when I came across this study done out of the University of Vermont. It's a pretty interesting read.
http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/tapping.pdf
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