The sugar has now moved below 2 percent. I had some that was down to 1.7 now.
The sugar has now moved below 2 percent. I had some that was down to 1.7 now.
Mark
Where we made syrup long before the trendies made it popular, now its just another commodity.
John Deere 4000, 830, and 420 crawler
1400 taps, 600 gph CDL RO, 4x12 wood-fired Leader, forced air and preheater. 400 gallon Sap-O-Matic vacuum gathering tank, PTO powered. 2500 gallon X truck tank, 17 bulk tanks.
No cage tanks allowed on this farm!
It looks like its on the way out. Ive only ever seen it move maybe.2 to .3 up after a few solid days of sub freezing, and that is usually pretty short lived before it starts the trip back down.
Mark
Where we made syrup long before the trendies made it popular, now its just another commodity.
John Deere 4000, 830, and 420 crawler
1400 taps, 600 gph CDL RO, 4x12 wood-fired Leader, forced air and preheater. 400 gallon Sap-O-Matic vacuum gathering tank, PTO powered. 2500 gallon X truck tank, 17 bulk tanks.
No cage tanks allowed on this farm!
Warning: it's dry out there!!
I've never started a fire from my cooker before, but we used the hose to put out no fewer than six small fires around the shack today. One of them escaped detection for a minute or so and burned a circle about 25' in diameter.
Anyway, the season is just about over for us. I was hoping that the freezes last night and the night before would bring us some sap, but we really didn't get much. I'm gonna cook a couple hundred gallons of sap in the morning, then drain my flue pan and run it through the syrup pan to finish it up. I haven't taken a very accurate tally, but I'm thinking I'll be right around 180-190 gallons of syrup, which is a record for us. This ended up being a great year to add vacuum!
-Ryan
Went off the deep end. Might be in over my head...
Tapped 3 yard trees to test this morning and to my surprise 2 gave up sap by 2:00! Maybe all the snow did some good insulating over the winter. Still a good 16" or so out there. Will have to give my boiling helper granddaughter a call to help me tap more this week. She's never helped me do that and was asking to do so and help is always good. Good luck to all.
2014 10 Taps for fun
2015 20 Taps for even more fun!
2016 20 Taps
2017 40 Taps to double my fun again!
2018 40 Taps
Getting everything ready,start to tap this weekend.Still a foot or better of snow in the woods,different than last year.
Sap Hauler
-1996 Ford F250
-2003 Yamaha Grizzly 660
2016 Year:About 925 Taps on 3/16
2015 Year:About 775 Taps
2014 Year:About 270 Taps
2013 Year:About 265 Taps
2012 Year:About 200 Taps
2011 Year:About 200 Taps
2010 Year:About 65 Taps
All tapped only took 2 days longer to tap this year with all the snow.Snow is still a foot or better in the woods.
Sap Hauler
-1996 Ford F250
-2003 Yamaha Grizzly 660
2016 Year:About 925 Taps on 3/16
2015 Year:About 775 Taps
2014 Year:About 270 Taps
2013 Year:About 265 Taps
2012 Year:About 200 Taps
2011 Year:About 200 Taps
2010 Year:About 65 Taps
I tapped 19 trees on Friday (3/9/18). I kicked a couple buckets yesterday afternoon and there wasn't much in them.
Trees on the south slope were running very well yesterday, the ones on top of the ridge were slow. Vacuum going in that woods and another this afternoon along with more tapping on a north woods.
Mark
Where we made syrup long before the trendies made it popular, now its just another commodity.
John Deere 4000, 830, and 420 crawler
1400 taps, 600 gph CDL RO, 4x12 wood-fired Leader, forced air and preheater. 400 gallon Sap-O-Matic vacuum gathering tank, PTO powered. 2500 gallon X truck tank, 17 bulk tanks.
No cage tanks allowed on this farm!
That's what I saw here too Mark. Ran pretty good yesterday and a fair amount on Sunday also. It even tried to run for a couple hours this afternoon at 31 degrees. I've got about 300-350 gallons of sap so far from 260 taps. Not enough to write home about exactly, but it's a start. I'm hoping to get a fair amount of sap over the rest of the week and start cooking on Saturday.
-Ryan
Went off the deep end. Might be in over my head...