Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

[spud]

Sap started running hard late afternoon yesterday. Sap ran all night on the back side of my woods but froze on the S/E side. The S/E side is just starting to trickle in now. Should be a very good day. I'm seeing 4-5 freezing nights in the next ten days for me. I think we have 2+ weeks to go.

Spud

[blissville maples]

Also had a freak run here, primarily just from lower elevations, totally unexpected. Heeding Dr. Tim's advice I'd "put my feet up" and gone to Burlington to track down some parts for work and, of course, the obligatory Al's burger. Very early this morning I had disconnected the float switch to our booster pump which lifts sap from a pump station about 2000' to the main tankshed. I had been concerned that with the ice in the line i might blow up the pump, or a connection in the line if the float tripped the pump. A few miles from home I remembered this and talked myself into turning around and reconnecting it despite the cold and wind "just in case". Glad I did, when we got back from town we had gotten over 3000 gallons and it was coming in hot. With all the screw-ups i manage to create in a season, it feels good to get something right!

Lol....never a time during sugaring to 'put the feet up' unless you have others running the show!!! I always stick close to home bc you never know what mother nature will do, that's why she's a woman!!!

I've been fixing everything in last 24 hrs...my airtech electric motor starter circuit has issues after replacement of startup capacitor that was leaking oil didnt fix it. Had to reconnect old faithful- delaval 74....not 29" but 18" better than gravity. Had a lapierrie releaser plunger break as it must have been frozen in place due to condensation and the 28" snapped the plastic upon trying to swap sides in the night. Happened last year once also glad I have spare parts.....up to 1305 gallons and 2800 gallons sap in tank now to boil today, should run good for couple days. The next 60's and sun will surely kill the sap!! Sugaring is 1.4-1.5.......

[MJPJ Sugars]

Sugar content dropped a bit this week, but still higher than most years. Color still light too, not yet the good April dark gooey stuff.

We're at 64% of last year's syrup haul with only 48% of last year's sap total; .32 gallons of syrup per tap.

More syrup with less bucket-lugging. I'll vote for that again..

[spud]

Tempature only got to 36 today. Sap has slowed way down, but still doing 150 GPH. Should run all night and tomorrow. I'm at 65% of where I want to be.

Spud

[DrTimPerkins]

About 6,000 gal of sap came in between 7pm yesterday and 7am today (about 1.1 gal sap/tap). Starting to pick up again this afternoon -- temps in the low 40s in the woods here. Sugar still about 2.2 Brix. Ran the RO and produced 375 gal of 35 Brix concentrate (150 gal syrup equivalent) in the bulk tank. Once we boil that'll put us at 0.43 gal/tap. Forecast looking a lot more positive for a good freeze Wed night. Vacuum has been great (27-29" Hg) all season despite the wind we've had.

[DrTimPerkins]

Just curious what the temp of the “very close syrup” is for the 2-3 days is, or the sugar house temp is? I have 3 days coming up with the high of 50 and low of 38. Will it keep that long?

The sugarhouse is not heated, so air temps...buffered a bit. We use oil heat, so it doesn't really get very warm inside.

The front pan contents go into the drawoff tank HOT, and is covered immediately afterward. Should keep for several days unless the weather gets real hot.

[VTfarmboy]

Pulled the plug yesterday down here in the valley and boiled out, we met are syrup goal of .25gpt, almost out of wood and flue pan needs cleaning, sap droped to 1.5 and 1.3 the last 2 runs, no ro. Had a great year ave 34:1 compared to last year 48:1, good luck to all those still going!

[spud]

Sounds like it was a good season for you vtfarmboy. My sap is running at 165 GPH this morning. Woke up to 3000 gallons in the tank. Going to run another 36-40 hours straight before freezing tomorrow night. The gallons per hour does not seem great but at the end of each day I get my 1 gpt. I should have at least two more weeks and maybe more. My vacuum is at 27 in the woods and no signs of tree gas due to the lack of sun and cooler temps. I have 5 freezing nights in the next ten days. Gotta love it.

Spud

[blissville maples]

Still trickling in, sugar certainly dropping off. No hard freezes coming so the end is near......the ten day forecast isn't reliable so I don't get to excited about their prediction!! They have been off quite a bit lately, like the other night they said 36 low and was 31. Last night they did 38-40 and I see frost on ground!! Still getting good sap flows of over 1gpt per day. Once again glad I didn't tap in January or early February. My neighbor did, we both have 1100 taps coming into tank, usually he is neck and neck. This year he tapped feb3 I waited til Feb 23. In last week his tank level hardly changes as I'm still getting 1gpt. Very clear to me he tapped to early. Tap holes don't last forever and on a year like this what good is January tapping?? There was no sap until end of February, let me correct myself, there wasn't enough sap to worry about- some guys made a barrel Early February on 4000 taps woo hoo leaps and bounds there, I bet they aren't getting full production now!!!

[steve J]

Well it took the entire season to figure out how to make this Leader Supreme pan separate the syrup properly but yesterday I finally figured it out just in time to end season. I still have sap flowing but my sugar drop to 1.1 and I have no ro. I will total up numbers later after bottling but given the slow start it looks lime it will be a good year. The shurflo pump saved my bacon. I will expand it to cover my whole hill next year.