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Thread: SW Wisconsin

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Viroqua, WI
    Posts
    62

    Default SW Wisconsin

    Chatter has been minimal from our beautiful driftless region of SW Wisconsin so a new thread is in order. I'm curious if you've been able to hold off with tapping or on the other hand tapped early and are now calling it quits for the season after the warm spell. I was tempted to tap before the warm up but knew that sap would have spoiled in the buckets between my weekend forays to our land. So, in the mean time, I'm on this site and 3 different weather sites about 3 times a day! Trying hard to spend more money but ultimately am pretty content with my simple operation (cinder block and single flat pan) and keeping it to scale. Last year I produced about 4 gallons. Do hope for at least 5 gallons this year. I'm planning to tap my usual 20-25 trees this Sunday as temps look promising most of next week. Love this version of March Madness!!

    2014 - Cinder block fire box, 2 roaster pans (thanks Mom), mix of 11 red and sugar maples tapped, 1.75G syrup.
    2015 - Same fire box reconfigured for Smoky Lake 24" x 33" pan. 17 taps on 16 trees with tubing to 5 gal buckets. 114g sap down to 2 3/4g
    beautiful syrup.
    2016 - Cinder block fire box is holding up fine. 20 taps, 155 G sap, 3.37G syrup. Great fun with friends.
    2017 - 21 taps on 5 gallon buckets. Good sap runs and reached my goal of producing 5 G syrup.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Vernon county
    Posts
    8

    Default

    We tapped 100 on the 15th and another 120 the 18th, by Tuesday the 21st we had collected 600 gallons... Only about 100 Gallons since. All of our taps are on 3/16 tubing with a lot of drop for good natural vacuum.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    Mishicot Wi.
    Posts
    4

    Default

    Tapped the box elders and the silvers . Waiting on the maples for a week and a half. Checked out the accu-weather and it has a 30 day forecast. The maples aren't budding much but the silvers look more active so I thought this made a good plan. Most of my maples are on north facing slopes with snow on the ground even before todays snow. Its a plan, is it a good plan??? who knows.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Viroqua, WI
    Posts
    62

    Default

    I tapped 20 trees today in Vernon county. All are on a north facing slope and all except one were running nicely. A beautiful day in the woods.

    2014 - Cinder block fire box, 2 roaster pans (thanks Mom), mix of 11 red and sugar maples tapped, 1.75G syrup.
    2015 - Same fire box reconfigured for Smoky Lake 24" x 33" pan. 17 taps on 16 trees with tubing to 5 gal buckets. 114g sap down to 2 3/4g
    beautiful syrup.
    2016 - Cinder block fire box is holding up fine. 20 taps, 155 G sap, 3.37G syrup. Great fun with friends.
    2017 - 21 taps on 5 gallon buckets. Good sap runs and reached my goal of producing 5 G syrup.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    West branch Kickapoo River Valley, Southwestern Wisconsin
    Posts
    192

    Default

    We tapped our 225 today also. some trees have bud swell and others very little. Seems like the large trees were the most advanced. Have fun and take it all in.
    12x16 Sugar House 2x6 Maple Pro wood fired evaporator Arctic Cat 4x4 1980 Snowmobile 225 taps on buckets 17 Taps on 3/16th tubing on steep hillside

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