Those conditions will be just about right. And right about now, good sap or bad sap does'nt matter- any sap will be just fine!
Steve
Those conditions will be just about right. And right about now, good sap or bad sap does'nt matter- any sap will be just fine!
Steve
2014 Upgrades!: 24x40 sugarhouse & 30"x10' Lapierre welded pans, wood fired w/ forced draft, homemade hood & preheater
400 taps- half on gravity 5/16, half on gravity 3/16
Airablo R.O. machine - in the house basement!
Ford F-350 4x4 sap gatherer
An assortment of barrels, cage tanks & bulk tanks- with one operational for cooling/holding concentrate
And a few puzzled neighbors...
http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/t...uckethead1920/
So far I've only gotten just over 800 gal of sap total for the season. Now it looks like nothing until the end of the week. Then it should break wide open (for 2 maybe 3 days) and then too warm for too long. This might be a record bad year. All I have to hope for at this point is that the forecast is wrong again. They rarely get tomorrow right, 7 days is far worse and for sure the 30 day never looks like it resembles what happened as we look back on it.
Dave Klish, I recently ordered a 2x6 wood fired evaporator from A&A Sheet Metal which I will be converting to oil fired
Now have solar, 2x6 finish pan, 5 bank 7x7 filter press, large water jacketed bottler, and tankless water heater.
Recently bought another Gingerich RO, this one was a 125, but a second membrane was added thus is a 250, like I had.
After running a 2x3, a 2x6, 3x8 tapping from 79 taps up to 1320 all woodfired, now I'm going to a 2x6 oil fired and a 200-425 taps.
Well, it looks like Friday might be the "real" start to the season for most of the Utica-Rome area producers. Finally, some favorable weather. I'm looking forward to it, since I have forgotten what above- freezing temperatures feel like. However, I worry about Monday's forecast of 50 degrees. The local hospitals could see the first victims of the year for heatstroke. Be carefull out there!
Good luck everyone!
Steve
2014 Upgrades!: 24x40 sugarhouse & 30"x10' Lapierre welded pans, wood fired w/ forced draft, homemade hood & preheater
400 taps- half on gravity 5/16, half on gravity 3/16
Airablo R.O. machine - in the house basement!
Ford F-350 4x4 sap gatherer
An assortment of barrels, cage tanks & bulk tanks- with one operational for cooling/holding concentrate
And a few puzzled neighbors...
http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/t...uckethead1920/
Lol Steve. Yeah, looking at the forecast for Friday and the next 7 days, it seems like we'll get a decent sap flow, hopefully. A few nights in the 30's, but then mid to upper 20s on other nights. I'm sure we're all welcoming the warm weather, but hopefully it'll be a great sap run first.
Last edited by RobbieH; 03-26-2014 at 02:41 AM.
Just an update - we're getting the right temps but sap is coming out slowly. It's been such a cold winter that the ground is frozen at least a foot and a half down. Not to mention about a foot of snow out there. I'm thinking (hoping) the sap is just starting to break up now and it'll really start flowing later this week.
Had a sap tidal wave yesterday. 75 gallons from 100 taps. It's like we went from famine to feast. I see late nights in the sugarhouse ahead...
its been a tough few weeks here. just cam in from first boil, didn't draw yet, but the pans are almost sweet. would have made a few gallons, but I completely overlooked bracing the feed pipe, and I broke it out of a fitting. lost 100 gallons of sap that was close to spoil anyhow, but its frustrating. woods flooded over the weekend, had to pull my transfer pump out and get the water out of it. vacuum is going good, 22.5 inches steady, yesterday was the longest its run all season. gotta go get it going soon to pull some sap. your right about the frost, in some places I hear its 3 feet deep. there is still 3 inches of ice in the woods, makes easy walking, until you break through. I guess that's what I get for tapping in a swamp. good luck everyone!
7000 taps on vacuum, just trying to get a little better every year.
Yes, had a great run yesterday too. Today, surprisingly, wasn't so great. Not sure why. Maybe a little too warm? From now until the weekend it's supposed to be good temps for sap runs, both day and night. It's been a pretty bad season for sap so far. Hoping to do a decent boil this weekend.
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