Still waiting to tap. Getting really hard looking at the posts. My wife and I put some buckets out as testers. Waiting for the big lines though.
Trying to hold out
Still waiting to tap. Getting really hard looking at the posts. My wife and I put some buckets out as testers. Waiting for the big lines though.
You can wait til May or June and then you can work in shorts and a tee shirt. All kidding aside, unless you only want a little for the family, why wait? If you use CV's, or have new drops with new taps, the tap holes will remain open all season.
Dave Klish, I recently bought 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.
yea, one thing about the posts is i hear people saying holes are wet and filling up as they drill. if its above freezing the hole will always fill up right off the bat, come back in 30 minutes and they usually slow a bit. if you plug a hole and sap stats hitting ground in the first 5 seconds, then there may be something to talk about. theres a very sudden pressure difference so the sap near the hole is forced to it. my test tree has only had 1/2 gal in two days-seems like should be more, is new spout and drop into gallon jug, 4 weeks old at this point, either the sap isn't runnin or the holes drying up already which is hard to believe with new spout and drop.
18x30 sugarshack
5100 taps high vac
3x10 inferno with steampan
7'' wes fab filter press
10'' cdl air filter press
D&G 3 post reverse osmosis w/recirculation
I have 36 buckets out as testers and they haven't produced enough to get me excited. With colder temps in the forecast I think I'm making the right choice for me. If I were on vacuum I'd tap now. All gravity though.
I think that some people who tapped and are getting sap are making some syrup and that's great. I don't think those who held out are going to miss out on alot.
I know a few people who tapped near me that really didn't get all that much. Hopefully we can get back to a more normal weather pattern after this extended thaw.
Nate Hutchins
Nate & Kate's Maple
2022 1000 taps?
3x10 Intensofire
20x36 sugarhouse
CDL 600gph RO
A wife and 2 kids.
Days are still short and the sun is low in the sky. Until the days get longer and the sun gets higher, the amount of sap collected will be small because the trees don't thaw out enough for long enough time frame to run much sap.
Sugaring for 45+ years
New Sugarhouse 14'x32'
New to Me Algier 2'x8' wood fired evaporator
2022 added a used RB25 RO Bucket
250 mostly Sugar Maples, 15% Soft Maples. Currently,(110on 3/16" and 125 on Shurflo 4008 vacuum, 15 gravity), (16,000 before being disabled)
1947 Farmall H and Wagon with gathering tank
2012 Kubota with forks to move wood around
I have been hearing of some great runs, and some not so great. I am still shooting for Valentines day weekend. I am not one to look at long term, I broke though. End of Feb. and all of March is looking perfect. We all know how the weather in New England goes though.
I'm still holding out till Pres. weekend. If I'd thought this warm-up was really going to last this long, I may have made more of an effort to have been tapped in for it, but I really didn't think it was going to.
Those long range forecasts always look perfect, but reality is a completely different thing. My prediction is once it warms up, it's going to be go time, so be ready.
Josh
2009 - 370 on vac. & 16 buckets
2010 - 377 on vac.
2011 - 590 on vac.
2012 - 620 on high vac., 170 buckets, 110 on gravity tubing
2013 - 830 mine + 800-1000 others
2014 - 870 mine + 800-1000 others
2017 - 920 mine + 500-700 others
2018 - 902 mine + 500-700 others
2019 - 902 mine + 700 others
2020 - 902 mine + ???? others
Atlas Copco Pump
2.5'x8' 802maple Special with Dallaire pans
H2O Innovation 600gph RO
Spring Harvest Website
Tapped in CT 8 days ago...145 gallons on 49 taps, so non producers are getting pulled today and relocated. 2.5 gallons of syrup, some taffy (oops) and about 40G of sap in reserve ready for batch 3 soon...first timer
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Tapped half yesterday. As I was contemplating my decision (I'm in my third year) I was getting dripped on by all the squirrel nicks from up above. Enough that it was almost like there had been some ice on the branches, but nope. Trees were running. I do have mainly CV taps that were disinfected prior to, so I'm hoping that if we have slow periods where it's supposed to get colder will be outlived by an early season.
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