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Thread: 2018 Missouri Tapping Season

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Missouri
    Posts
    92

    Default 2018 Missouri Tapping Season

    Well, we're certainly getting the cold temps this year. Hopefully this is priming the trees for a long flow.

    This will probably be my last year making maple syrup because I'm building a cabin an a small farm that doesn't have any sugar maple trees. There are some walnuts though...

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Defiance, MO
    Posts
    10

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    Well this is my third year as a hobby sapper and I just now found this forum. First year I tapped 10 trees, second year 25, and now I plan to tap all 85 sugar maples on my property using 5/16 tubing on a gravity setup. Most of my trees are on the side of a very steep hill so I'm planning to gravity feed them down to the bottom of the hill and collect in 5Gallon buckets. I'll then use a homemade sled with a long rope attached to my ATV to pull up 8 buckets at a time on the sled. I'm located in Defiance, Missouri which is about 45 minutes west of St. Louis.

    Last year I didn't tap until the 4th week of January and it's looking to me like I should probably start tapping the south facing trees in the coming week. I wonder how many days it'll take to thaw our trees out after this multi week cold spell? Is anyone else thinking we should start tapping soon?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    203

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    In Tennessee. Thinking about tapping a few tomorrow. I was thinking the same thing about the trees needing to thaw.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Defiance, MO
    Posts
    10

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    I got antsy and installed about 20 taps today. Only 2 of the trees were running and only barely. I'm going to try to wait a little longer for the rest of the trees unless I see some good flow soon. The ground here is still very frozen.

    Am I the only one with no patience in the state?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Defiance, MO
    Posts
    13

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    In the 12 years I have been doing this I have always tapped in the first 2 weeks of February. I may try putting taps in a little early this year see how it goes. I am also in Defiance not a a lot of syrup makers in Missouri. With 85 trees tapped kgingerich if we get good weather you are going to be busy!!

    John
    50+ taps mix of sugar maples, blacks and reds
    Home built oil tank evaporator airtight w/Auf blower
    2x4 flat continuous flow pan
    Steam pan filter bottler
    Honda big red and 6gal containers for sap collection
    55gal blue barrels for storage
    Looking to build sugar shack for equipment storage

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Defiance, MO
    Posts
    10

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    Its slowly warmed up over the past two days and we're in the 50s today. I just checked and only got about a qt of sap total from the 20 trees i tapped a couple days ago. The only two that were running were on the top and bottom of my hills. All of the trees on the sides of the hills haven't produced a drop. Looks like I was too soon on my taps this year and I'm waiting to tap the other 60 trees until after this next cold spell.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    SE Missouri
    Posts
    289

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by kgingerich View Post
    Its slowly warmed up over the past two days and we're in the 50s today. I just checked and only got about a qt of sap total from the 20 trees i tapped a couple days ago. The only two that were running were on the top and bottom of my hills. All of the trees on the sides of the hills haven't produced a drop. Looks like I was too soon on my taps this year and I'm waiting to tap the other 60 trees until after this next cold spell.
    You weren't too soon. Typically won't flow well until 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th day of warm up when your trees have been frozen like they have been the last couple weeks. Even if you don't get much sap, there's no harm in having them tapped. As long as the wind doesn't get too crazy, I'd say you'll have a fair amount of sap to collect by Thursday pm.

    And with 85 trees, you had better be ready. If this is only your third year, I take it you've never experienced a BIG sap run. I've had trees average well over 2 gallons in a 24 hour period when the right type of warm-up hits. Just a couple hours ago, I collected sap with one of my classes (I teach HS Science) and gathered about 3.5 gallons from 6 taps, 3 of which hadn't run much at all.
    Last edited by Goggleeye; 01-10-2018 at 12:54 PM.
    Now I have an outdoor hobby for all 12 months. Like I need anything more to do
    About 1000 taps on gravity tubing, MicRO2 RO, 2.5 X 8 Leader King, and a 1953 Willys Jeep to run around the maple woods with.
    http://www.gihringfamilyfarm.com/

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Defiance, MO
    Posts
    10

    Default

    Thanks for reassuring me. Why does the wind play a factor?

    I only have maybe a third of my 85 trees tapped currently because I wasn't sure of tapping this early. Today a couple more trees started to flow and I collect about a gallon of sap. Not as much as I had hoped considering the nearly 60 degree day we had. Tomorrow we have a little more warmth and then it's going back to deep freeze for a week.

    Last year I used a turkey fryer pot over a flame to boil my sap and this year I purchased three stainless steel steam pans to use in a concrete block evaporator setup. Hopefully I'm able to keep up.

    Good luck to you this year!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    SE Missouri
    Posts
    289

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by kgingerich View Post
    Thanks for reassuring me. Why does the wind play a factor?

    I only have maybe a third of my 85 trees tapped currently because I wasn't sure of tapping this early. Today a couple more trees started to flow and I collect about a gallon of sap. Not as much as I had hoped considering the nearly 60 degree day we had. Tomorrow we have a little more warmth and then it's going back to deep freeze for a week.

    Last year I used a turkey fryer pot over a flame to boil my sap and this year I purchased three stainless steel steam pans to use in a concrete block evaporator setup. Hopefully I'm able to keep up.

    Good luck to you this year!
    Don't know if it's been shown scientifically, but I would say that the wind increases movement of twigs and branches, and the dissolved gasses in the sap diffuse through the surface of the twigs instead of creating pressure as they expand, the pressure that normally drives the sap down and out the tap hole. What I do know through my experiences is that high wind (above 20 mph) seems to decrease sap flow. Anybody out there sure about the science behind it?

    I didn't have near as much sap as I thought I'd have this evening. I think things may still be somewhat froze up, and the wind hasn't helped things. Maybe tomorrow.

    As for your set-up, I think you may find yourself wishing you had a bit more boiling capacity when you get a big run. When I started with my homemade arch and fabricated pans, I had 15 sq ft of boiling area, which was about right for 120 taps. I think I have some pics of past set-ups here. or here.

    Oh, and if I were you, I'd get them all tapped. But then I'm a little OCD about never missing a drop of sap. You know, wringing out dead squirrels that drown in your sap buckets. Things like that. If you don't understand yet, you will soon!
    Last edited by Goggleeye; 01-10-2018 at 08:28 PM.
    Now I have an outdoor hobby for all 12 months. Like I need anything more to do
    About 1000 taps on gravity tubing, MicRO2 RO, 2.5 X 8 Leader King, and a 1953 Willys Jeep to run around the maple woods with.
    http://www.gihringfamilyfarm.com/

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    hills west of Jeff City Missouri
    Posts
    134

    Default

    Looks like this coming week will be good for sap flow once this warm spell passes. Tapped 47 trees on Thurs Jan 18 but there was no flow as trees were too cold still. Im going to tap the other 155 trees tomorrow and Monday and get the pans set up. Please all Missouri producers share your progress and experience or questions. Looking for Skinny in Callaway County to join in and give us his status.
    2020: 220 trees, most smaller than 20" diameter, made 25 gallons
    remote location in western Cole County
    5/16" plastic spiles, drain into plastic buckets or sapsaks
    haul sap out of woods using atv & trailer
    wood-fired pans on concrete blocks
    one Leader Half Pint 24 x 33" plus 24 x 30 ss pan from a junkyard
    cook batch process then finish in the kitchen;
    we dont sell our syrup; its for family & friends
    see website www.mosyrup.com

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