I've got 78 taps (w/buckets) I put in on the 16th and 17th here in Galway and not much has been happening so far. Maybe collected 5 gallons as of yesterday. A lot of my trees are in hemlock woods and shaded. The five reds I have tapped at my house in Ballston Spa did most of the work.
Ren
Also in Galway, I tapped 24 trees last week, its been slow so far. I'm planning on tapping more in the next few days and finally finished my boiler today, So I guess I'm actually ready.
Had a solid run here since tapping yesterday - buckets closest to the house (I.e. In the sun) were full when I got home from work and ones in the woods weren't far behind. Expecting a slow down tmrw and Thurs but that's okay. Won't boil until Sunday as it is but we drink the first run of sap anyway as a tonic of sorts for Spring or so my wife says.
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2015: 8 bucket taps (7 red, 1 sugar) on DIY barrel evaporator
2016: 13 taps (bucket and tube) on block arch and hotel pans
2017: SAME
2018: 25 taps on 2x3 flat pan and resurrected barrel arch
2019: 25 taps...same setup plus DIY 3x150gpd RO filter
2020: 50 taps, all buckets..."new" oil tank arch setup
2021: 100 taps (50/50 buckets/3-16 tubing) on 2x4 divided pan
2022: 150 taps (50/100 b/t) on 2x4 pan with sap warmer pan
2023: SAME
2024: 150 taps, added single-post 4x40 RO system
I tapped yesturday. The big sugars dripped a bit during tapping but nothing out of the reds. I will fire up the vacuum today and dump it on the ground. Hopefully tomorrow we will get some sap. It seems like it slow going for me this year even though I had stuff ready for some reason it seems like so much more work. Well good luck to all. Jeff
2021 230 Taps on vacuum
Smokylake 2X6 pan set with auto drawoff
Homebuilt 2 4x40 membrane RO
Homebuilt filter press
Rebuilt arch with under and over the fire air we have named V 2.0
Smokylake steam bottler
Hoods and preheater
500 gallon vertical polytank to store sap for RO
Adding a laser eye to my bottler for autofill/stop
I tapped Saturday and Sunday, over half of the holes were dry when I drilled them. Between Sunday through Wed. (24 taps I think) I collected 40-50 gallons. Dumped 10 gallons that looked to have been quite a bit of brown tree runoff from the rain. Trying to build my cinderblock arch Saturday morning and boil the afternoon away!
Trevor
We tapped the weekend before valentines day and have made 90 gallons so far. Had a few huge runs.
Looks like a real nice run in our neck of the woods starting tomorrow. Has been sort of hit or miss over the last few days but hoping to do a big boil Sunday.
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2015: 8 bucket taps (7 red, 1 sugar) on DIY barrel evaporator
2016: 13 taps (bucket and tube) on block arch and hotel pans
2017: SAME
2018: 25 taps on 2x3 flat pan and resurrected barrel arch
2019: 25 taps...same setup plus DIY 3x150gpd RO filter
2020: 50 taps, all buckets..."new" oil tank arch setup
2021: 100 taps (50/50 buckets/3-16 tubing) on 2x4 divided pan
2022: 150 taps (50/100 b/t) on 2x4 pan with sap warmer pan
2023: SAME
2024: 150 taps, added single-post 4x40 RO system
My first week update. I boiled our first time on 2/26. I have collected to date 960 gallons off 217 taps. The sugar content has averaged 1.8 and I have concentrated to between 8 and 10 percent. So far I have made 10 gallons of dark and 5 gallons of amber. Last year was my biggest year with 33 gallons. Already half way to last year and on track for a 40 gallon goal. We will see what this snow does for us. Good luck to all. Jeff
2021 230 Taps on vacuum
Smokylake 2X6 pan set with auto drawoff
Homebuilt 2 4x40 membrane RO
Homebuilt filter press
Rebuilt arch with under and over the fire air we have named V 2.0
Smokylake steam bottler
Hoods and preheater
500 gallon vertical polytank to store sap for RO
Adding a laser eye to my bottler for autofill/stop
2018 Final numbers for me are 2300 gallons of sap
1.6 average sugar content raw sap
460 gallons of concentrated sap 8 to 10 percent
14 boils this year
21 hours on the evaperator boiling
42 gallons of syrup
217 taps all on natural or mechanical vacuum
.193 gallons per tap
2/3 cord of oak and maple pallet chunks.
Very good year for me and beat my goal by 2 gallons plus a little left in the evaporator. Only upgrades planned for 2019 reseal the floor in the sugar house and plumb the concentrate and permeate tanks with electric solenoids that can be opened and shut from the RO. I will also retube one bush as the main lines and laterals are 10 years old and showing thir age. Good luck to whoever is still going. Jeff
2021 230 Taps on vacuum
Smokylake 2X6 pan set with auto drawoff
Homebuilt 2 4x40 membrane RO
Homebuilt filter press
Rebuilt arch with under and over the fire air we have named V 2.0
Smokylake steam bottler
Hoods and preheater
500 gallon vertical polytank to store sap for RO
Adding a laser eye to my bottler for autofill/stop
Still going in duanesburg, 165 taps on buckets this year.
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