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Thread: 2024 season

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Cabot Vermont
    Posts
    584

    Default 2024 season

    Well got the sleds started going to see if I can get to the woods tomorrow.Hoping to start tapping on monday. I hope the wind storm didn't do to much damage but we will see!!!
    Blaisdell's Maple Farm
    started on a 2x2 pan in 2000 and now
    custom built oil fired 4x12 arch by me
    Thor pans Desinged by Thad Blaisdell
    4600 taps

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2022
    Location
    Essex Junction, VT
    Posts
    276

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    Well, Brian, how'd that go?
    I'm doing buckets over here and thinking of aiming for March 1 tapping and letting the 10 day forecast move me up or down a week.
    This is my 4th year and I've always tapped too early, but less so each year.
    I have roughly half norways and half sugar, the sugars being far far larger.
    The norways have good sugar content but far far less overall output.
    A neighbor down the street tapped a norway on the March 11th last year and made more than a quart of syrup from one tap (probably didn't go to 70 brix or even 66 but still!).
    So, whatever date I pick for the sugar maples, I'm going to try a few days later for the norways this year and see if they produce a bit more overall.
    2024: Same plan as 2023 but w/ RB5
    2023: 30 taps on 17 trees on ~10 properties, Sugar Maple & Norway. 2x3 flat over propane & kitchen finish. ~11(!) gallons.
    2022: 9 taps, 5 trees, 4 properties. 3 hotel pans on 3 Coleman 2-burner stoves burning gasoline; kitchen finish. ~3 gallons.
    2021: 2 taps, 1 sugar maple tree, my lot. Pint or two. Propane grill then kitchen finish.
    All years: mainly 5/16" drops into free supermarket frosting buckets. Some plastic sap buckets hanging on 5/16 sap-meister.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Cabot Vermont
    Posts
    584

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    The north woods is tapped but took alot more time than last year, there is 15-16 hundred taps over there and 3 days with 3 of us because the snow was so deep. One section of it was redone this year and the brush is so deep that i feared breaking snow shoes so we post holed. The other section has a good brook that runs through it and it is hard to keep crossing with snow shoes on.The snow is about 2ft on the average over there. We started the southside yesterday and put in a 1000 taps, I should have brought more but was hoping to get that many in. That woods has 2500 taps, we are headed back tomorrow to see if we can get the other 1500 in. The snow on the south side is only to my knees on the average and smooth going. There will be 4 of us tomorrow I hope. None of my woods are easy to get to, they require alot of walking. None of the sap runs into the sugarhouse it is all trucked in. Hope to be done this week. I have a few things to fix!! Thank you Mr. Squirrel and Assoc.

    When I ran buckets we took our average end date and back up 6 weeks and that was our tap date. That is what my uncle taught me to do and worked great for me. I start tapping early because I never know if I will have any help any more and planpn doing it all by myself because all the people that use to help are too old or moved on and you just never know.
    Blaisdell's Maple Farm
    started on a 2x2 pan in 2000 and now
    custom built oil fired 4x12 arch by me
    Thor pans Desinged by Thad Blaisdell
    4600 taps

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2022
    Location
    Essex Junction, VT
    Posts
    276

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    Wow! That's some work! And will be lots of syrup.
    Yep, that's one thing I've picked up... buckets and vacuum are two different animals.
    Seeing a lot of first year facebook sugarers getting really confused by that, like I was at first!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Thetford, VT
    Posts
    450

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    We were lucky to re-route a mainline and extend it for a total of 1000'. This will pick up an additional 75 or so taps with a chance to branch off for a few more in the future. The mainline running was completed before snow started to accumulate. We are running the sap lines and will spin seal those in this week. Need to rebuild both releasers and plumb the new mainline into a releaser.

    On a side note, a neighboring sugar maker has a new 20k tap bush and the tapped back in December. They have been boiling since and are tapping their other bushes. Definitely an odd year. I feel like I am a little behind and would like to be tapped now. Maybe this weekend.

    Mike
    Tapping since 1985 (four generations back to early to mid 1900s). 200-250 taps on buckets and then tubing in the mid 90s. 2013- 275 taps w/sap puller 25 gal. 2014-295 taps w/sap puller 55 ga. (re-tapped to vacuum theory) 2015-330 taps full vac. 65 gal, 2016-400 taps 105 gal, 2017-400 taps 95 gal. 2018-additional 800' mainline and maybe 400 new taps for a total near 800 taps. 2x6 Leader WSE (last year on it) supported by a 250 gph RO.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Cabot Vermont
    Posts
    584

    Default

    Now hurry up and wait!! I am headed out this weekend to fix all the things that ars marked to be fixed. I hope to check for some leaks this next week if the weather warms up enough.
    Blaisdell's Maple Farm
    started on a 2x2 pan in 2000 and now
    custom built oil fired 4x12 arch by me
    Thor pans Desinged by Thad Blaisdell
    4600 taps

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Cabot Vermont
    Posts
    584

    Default

    Well the home woods is up and ready and the vacuum was on today and got that woods up to 26.5. Not bad for the first run through,I hope to get the rest up and ready before the sap starts running this week. The squirrels have been busy, I think I will have to replace 40-50 drops this year. Time to go squirrel shooting.
    Blaisdell's Maple Farm
    started on a 2x2 pan in 2000 and now
    custom built oil fired 4x12 arch by me
    Thor pans Desinged by Thad Blaisdell
    4600 taps

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Cabot Vermont
    Posts
    584

    Default

    Well I ended up with 14,000 gallons of sap this go a round. I got all the vacuum up to 25.5-26 inches at the end of every main line one more go around and things should be up to snuff. I got one tank of sap sitting at 20% and the other at 7% once I start boiling I will ro the 7% to 20% and send that over. I found a few things that need to be fixed before the sap starts flowing for the season. I was glad every thing froze up to give me a break. I am going to boil tomorrow, this will be the earliest I have ever boiled.
    Blaisdell's Maple Farm
    started on a 2x2 pan in 2000 and now
    custom built oil fired 4x12 arch by me
    Thor pans Desinged by Thad Blaisdell
    4600 taps

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Cabot Vermont
    Posts
    584

    Default

    My wife and I boiled yesterday and sweetend the pans and ended up with 3 2/3 barrels of syrup in 4hrs.The filter presses pluged alot, we have 2 ten in. presses and my wife changed them constantly, we went through a whole bag of De. Some years we only go through 3 bags all season. The foam was bad also we used about a qt of defoamer. The trees here don't have the snow melted around the base yet so I believe the sap that we got was mainly in the tree all winter. It tasted good, grade A amber. If the filtering continues like this we will be getting a diffrent filter press.
    Blaisdell's Maple Farm
    started on a 2x2 pan in 2000 and now
    custom built oil fired 4x12 arch by me
    Thor pans Desinged by Thad Blaisdell
    4600 taps

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Cabot Vermont
    Posts
    584

    Default

    We made 4 barrels on sat and 3 last night so we are up to 11 barrels so far ,finished up around 8:30. I went and checked the pump houses and one vac. system was down to 15 in. I checked the sensors when I got home and one sensor was down to 6in in the middle of the woods so I got 2 flash lights and went up and shut that valve off and walked the line and lost another maple and a main line so that is this mornings job. I think we could use a freeze soon. Good Luck to All.
    Blaisdell's Maple Farm
    started on a 2x2 pan in 2000 and now
    custom built oil fired 4x12 arch by me
    Thor pans Desinged by Thad Blaisdell
    4600 taps

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