Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Dr Tim,

What is the new beast at Proctor that is eating the 32% to 35%??

From the UVM thread:
http://mapletrader.com/community/sho...-Collaboration

[GeneralStark]

Gotcha. But just to be clear, since I'm looking for some advice... If I have, for example, a tank that is half or less full, and I know it may freeze solid, would you recommend leaving it for the next run? Was that your situation? Just trying to picture how that 2000 gallons is distributed. All in one tank? And what's the total capacity of the tank?
Thanks!

It kind of depends on your tank situation and how it is all plumbed but my general rule is I am ok with about 1/3 - 1/2 of the tank capacity being taken up by ice going into a run. I have one bulk tank (out of 3) that I will not let freeze however because the valve is easily damaged but my 2-400 gal tanks have gate valves which handle freezing well. So I'm ok with about 400 gal of ice between two tanks as that still leaves me with 700 gal. of capacity which is the least I need to fire up the ro. Fresh sap coming in, and recirculating from the ro generally thaws the ice pretty well, or at least enough to quickly make more capacity.

[drewlamb]

Thanks General. That's very helpful. Now I feel like an idiot for dumping the 300 gallons I did yesterday. It was split between two 520 gallon tanks in the woods and each was only 1/4 full. Of course I thought twice before doing it and guess I decided wrong. Anyhow, thanks for the input.

[GeneralStark]

You're welcome. I fee like an idiot quite often during sugaring season, like this past weekend when I thought one of the valves on my tank was closed but in reality it was jammed with ice and was still partially open. The ice thawed overnight and in the morning the sap in the tank was gone. Was only about 100 gal. but still...

[WestfordSugarworks]

You're welcome. I fee like an idiot quite often during sugaring season, like this past weekend when I thought one of the valves on my tank was closed but in reality it was jammed with ice and was still partially open. The ice thawed overnight and in the morning the sap in the tank was gone. Was only about 100 gal. but still...

or when you are trying to rinse the RO and are 'rinsing' with raw sap from your bulk tank instead of permeate.. we all make dumb mistakes but beating ourselves up over them lead to further mistakes down the line and we have to stay clear headed to operate as best as possible regardless of the idiots we sometimes are.

[spud]

Well I was hoping for a good run today but it never happened. In all I got .25GPT today. The ten day forecast is now showing the days will be a bit cooler then originally forecasted. It is freezing rain outside now and the sap stopped running. I'm still hoping for a good week.

Spud

[PARKER MAPLE]

We also had a very poor run through the weekend. Temps only came above freezing for a few hours. Just long enough to let the sap start coming in good then freeze back up again. Very quite around the sugarhouse for the open house weekend. I think someone stopped yesterday from Tennessee but that was it. We need to warm up a bit this week slowly. As I'm getting nervous every day it continues like this. April is knocking on our doors as we speak.
Best of luck
Jbm

[rhwells2003]

yesterday was odd for us. Sap started to trickle in around 11am so I turned the vac on. The first hour it came in pretty good but I think that was just the lines thawing out. After that it just trickled in throughout the day and thru last night. At one point yesterday it was mid 40's and sunny, I would have thought it would have been pounding yesterday but I guess not. We got about as much as Spud was saying maybe 0.25gal/tap maybe

[billyinvt]

Sounds like a similar story statewide. 7 degrees when I got up Sunday morning so I imagine it took a bit to thaw out the branches. Just when it felt warmer and sunny for a couple hours the south wind picked up and clouds rolled in. On the plus side, I was able to float the block of frozen sap in my tank with the little that we did collect yesterday afternoon.

[drewlamb]

Yup, same here over the weekend - just a trickle. As my friend and fellow sugarmaker Craig Line said, plenty of "hurry up and wait" this month. Tomorrow looks to be a different story with mild temps overnight and high 40s tomorrow. Good luck to all.