Boiled down all the nearup I'd collected last weekend. Final syrup for the season is 4.5 gallons. 0.3 galls per tap.
Gabe
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Boiled down all the nearup I'd collected last weekend. Final syrup for the season is 4.5 gallons. 0.3 galls per tap.
Gabe
2016: First year. Homemade evaporator out of little woodburning stove with steam tray pans. 6 taps on buckets. 1.1 galls syrup
2017: Same little homemade evaporator, but souped up. Still 2 steam tray pans. 15 taps on buckets. 4.5 galls syrup.
2018: Same setup. Limited time (New baby!) Downsized to 12 taps and short season. 2.2 gallons syrup.
2019: Still very limited time, with a one-year-old. Downsized even further to 7 taps and a short season. 2.1 gallons syrup
Congrats on a great season
1st Year Turkey Fryer Guru-10 taps and No Clue
2nd Year Warming Pans on a Barrel Unit-25 taps Still No Clue
3rd Year 2 X 3 Divided Pan on a NEW Homemade Barrel Unit-45 taps Starting To Learn
4th year (2017) Mason 2 X 3 Inside Small Shack-85 Taps I Think I'm Addicted!!
Tapped today. I admit I'm now wondering if that was wise. Nearly 40 degrees, and barely a couple of drops of sap from the trees that see the most sun. I'm thinking with all the snow, they're still pretty frozen up. Hope I don't regret tapping so early. We shall see. Forecast says 50 degrees on Tuesday. If that bears out, that'll get the trees running for a day at least.
2016: First year. Homemade evaporator out of little woodburning stove with steam tray pans. 6 taps on buckets. 1.1 galls syrup
2017: Same little homemade evaporator, but souped up. Still 2 steam tray pans. 15 taps on buckets. 4.5 galls syrup.
2018: Same setup. Limited time (New baby!) Downsized to 12 taps and short season. 2.2 gallons syrup.
2019: Still very limited time, with a one-year-old. Downsized even further to 7 taps and a short season. 2.1 gallons syrup
How's the flow looking so far?
2016 - 5 taps - soda bottles and water jugs - boiled over a firepit - 3 quarts
2017 - 15 taps - 5g buckets - barrel evaporator - "Bessie" - 2.85 gallons
I've wound up throwing away a lot of ice, so I'm not sure of total flow. But there have been a couple of good runs. I finished about two and a half quarts of medium-light syrup this weekend, from 35 gallons of sap. I probably tossed around ten gallons of ice, so I guess that's around 45 gallons of sap from 12 taps so far. Not a ton, but considering how early I tapped, it's nice I have something to show for it, now we're getting into the proper season.
As for current flow, this past weekend through today should be good, though I'm not there to see how it's flowing. I'm very worried that by the time I get back up there this weekend a lot of the sap may be spoiled from the predicted 70 degree day coming. Some of it is in pretty shaded spots, so I have my fingers crossed that some buckets will be salvageable. I guess time will tell.
Last edited by berkshires; 02-20-2018 at 10:30 AM.
2016: First year. Homemade evaporator out of little woodburning stove with steam tray pans. 6 taps on buckets. 1.1 galls syrup
2017: Same little homemade evaporator, but souped up. Still 2 steam tray pans. 15 taps on buckets. 4.5 galls syrup.
2018: Same setup. Limited time (New baby!) Downsized to 12 taps and short season. 2.2 gallons syrup.
2019: Still very limited time, with a one-year-old. Downsized even further to 7 taps and a short season. 2.1 gallons syrup
Well it's tough to have to wrap up the season early, as this is absolutely the peak weather for sap runs, but I must do it. Family obligations are... obligatory. So last weekend I pulled all the taps. I'll boil down the last of the nearup this weekend, then I'll know what I got to. Certainly not my best year, but at least I got out and did some tapping, made some syrup. And the trees will still be there when I have time to come back another season.
2016: First year. Homemade evaporator out of little woodburning stove with steam tray pans. 6 taps on buckets. 1.1 galls syrup
2017: Same little homemade evaporator, but souped up. Still 2 steam tray pans. 15 taps on buckets. 4.5 galls syrup.
2018: Same setup. Limited time (New baby!) Downsized to 12 taps and short season. 2.2 gallons syrup.
2019: Still very limited time, with a one-year-old. Downsized even further to 7 taps and a short season. 2.1 gallons syrup
Finally got to pull the trigger! Got six taps in today. Should have been seven, but I discovered i forgot to bring some of what I needed for the one hanging bucket I'm doing, so I'll do that one when I get back out to the bush next weekend.
Excited to finally be in the game this season!
Last edited by berkshires; 03-29-2019 at 04:08 PM.
2016: First year. Homemade evaporator out of little woodburning stove with steam tray pans. 6 taps on buckets. 1.1 galls syrup
2017: Same little homemade evaporator, but souped up. Still 2 steam tray pans. 15 taps on buckets. 4.5 galls syrup.
2018: Same setup. Limited time (New baby!) Downsized to 12 taps and short season. 2.2 gallons syrup.
2019: Still very limited time, with a one-year-old. Downsized even further to 7 taps and a short season. 2.1 gallons syrup
Did a final boil and pulled taps last weekend. Had some visitors join me, including a very enthusiastic three-and-a-half year old, who wanted to taste everything (repeatedly) and help pour sap into the evaporator. That was really fun.
A tiny harvest this year, only a bit over two gallons of syrup. But I did succeed in being very efficient. My evaporator ran much faster this year, so I was able to wind up with roughly the same amount of syrup as last year, with fewer taps, shorter boils, and a shorter season. Also, I replaced the rotting out stovepipe, so that's something that'll be good for many years to come.
GO
2016: First year. Homemade evaporator out of little woodburning stove with steam tray pans. 6 taps on buckets. 1.1 galls syrup
2017: Same little homemade evaporator, but souped up. Still 2 steam tray pans. 15 taps on buckets. 4.5 galls syrup.
2018: Same setup. Limited time (New baby!) Downsized to 12 taps and short season. 2.2 gallons syrup.
2019: Still very limited time, with a one-year-old. Downsized even further to 7 taps and a short season. 2.1 gallons syrup
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