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Thread: Deja vu

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Knapp, Wis
    Posts
    1,872

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    Quote Originally Posted by jmayerl View Post
    Your weather might be a bit different down there, but here it looks nothing like last year. Last year no real frost and decent snow cover. This year we have almost 5 feet of frost and avg snow. Going to take a lot of days in the 40's just to thaw them out.
    Kind of hard to believe the frost is down 5 feet already!? I think thats a bit of a stretch. I know its going down, we only have about 2 inches of snow on the ground over on the west side of the state and the above zero days have been pretty scarce since Christmas, but I really don't believe its down 5 feet....at least yet and for sure not in the woods. Another 2 solid weeks of this and it would be believable, but from what I hear temps are forecast to moderate.
    Mark

    Where we made syrup long before the trendies made it popular, now its just another commodity.

    John Deere 4000, 830, and 420 crawler
    1400 taps, 600 gph CDL RO, 4x12 wood-fired Leader, forced air and preheater. 400 gallon Sap-O-Matic vacuum gathering tank, PTO powered. 2500 gallon X truck tank, 17 bulk tanks.
    No cage tanks allowed on this farm!

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Suamico, WI
    Posts
    1,176

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    Quote Originally Posted by markcasper View Post
    Kind of hard to believe the frost is down 5 feet already!? I think thats a bit of a stretch. I know its going down, we only have about 2 inches of snow on the ground over on the west side of the state and the above zero days have been pretty scarce since Christmas, but I really don't believe its down 5 feet....at least yet and for sure not in the woods. Another 2 solid weeks of this and it would be believable, but from what I hear temps are forecast to moderate.
    Well that's how deep the water line was that we had to dig up and repair because it was frozen, so you can believe whatever you want to I guess. We also just had our swamp woods logged out and they had no issues breaking though with skidders or log trucks so I just guess our weather on this side of the state has been more extreme than yours.
    custom made 2x7 intensofire
    With SL pans
    250 deer run
    300 3/16 (new 2016)
    500 sacks around the neighborhood

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Haubstadt indiana
    Posts
    20

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    Here in Haubstadt, Gibson County Southwest Indiana. Cleaning buckets and working on my arch today. planning to set taps tomorrow. I figure it will take a few days to thaw out enough to start flowing. Looks like its supposed to be mostly dry for the week. It would be nice this year to not have to slop through the mud with full buckets.

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Freedom, IN.
    Posts
    184

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    Actually had one tree starting to drip. [ATTACH=CONFIG]17016[/ATTACH

    Sorry it’s orientated wrong, wasn’t paying attention.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    Crawford County Indiana
    Posts
    93

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    I got 32 taps up today on 3/16. Nothing was flowing. Caught me off-guard this early. I hadn't even ordered my new tubing and taps. Used some left-overs from last year. Had to split time between that and fixing my frozen water system. Next weekend will be a full work session. I've marked out 4-5 new runs; but don't have the tubing yet to tap them.
    2014 - 30 taps
    2015 - 50 taps
    2016 - 140 taps
    2017 - 115 taps - 85 taps on 3/16, 30 buckets
    2018 - 150 taps, all 3/16

    Smokey Lake 2x3
    Homemade 2x XLE-4040 RO Unit
    Kubota L3940 - big sap hauler
    Polaris Sportsman 570 SP - little sap hauler
    I'm 1:20 remote from sugarbush, so I let run awhile between boils, and time is at a premium, so I try to oversize things

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    Northern Indiana
    Posts
    100

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    I'm up here in Laporte Co. just getting all my gear set up for the season, I plan on tapping between the last week of Jan. And 2nb week of Feb. watching the temps really close though.
    2016:100 taps added a JD 1023 sub compact tractor
    2015:break (new baby)
    2014: 70 taps, replaced my concrete arch with a manufactured
    2013: Added 15 more taps and a 18x24 warming pan
    2012 : 36 Taps, 2x4 divided pan on a concrete arch
    2006-07: Assisted an 'Old Timer' with 200 tapps, and his wood fired evaporator up in Wis.
    1986-1993: 5 taps, Boiled on a wood stove in Northern Mich.

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    Indiana
    Posts
    44

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    I'm tapping today

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    North Shore Lake Lemon, Monroe County
    Posts
    135

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    I put in 116 taps yesterday and it was really flowing. I'm letting it run to clear the lines and then will start collecting after this next cold spell.
    2014 - 8 taps, turkey fryer, 130 gallons sap, just under 2.5 gallons syrup.
    2015 - 50 taps and counting.
    2016 - 60 taps on 3/16 and a Bill Mason evaporator on order.
    2017 - 115 taps on 3/16, homemade r/o.
    2018 - 150 taps on 3/16, r/o a big help, but lots of leaks killing yield.
    2019 - sticking with 150 taps or maybe less, focusing on good vacuum and less waste to increase yield. Doubling up my r/o, and made a vacuum filter that looks promising.

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Location
    Crawford County Indiana
    Posts
    93

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    Another 1000' of 3/16 tubing showed up; so be seeing how many more runs I can get set up. I think I have trees for 5 more runs; but the 1000' won't cover that. However, I just realized a critical error in my planning. I should have purchased another 3/16 fitting tool. I'm going to have lots of helpers since the whole family is coming out; but they can't really do much if I only have one tool. Oh well, lesson learned; order another tool. I think I'll grab all my vice grips and see if I can jury rig semi-useful tool.
    2014 - 30 taps
    2015 - 50 taps
    2016 - 140 taps
    2017 - 115 taps - 85 taps on 3/16, 30 buckets
    2018 - 150 taps, all 3/16

    Smokey Lake 2x3
    Homemade 2x XLE-4040 RO Unit
    Kubota L3940 - big sap hauler
    Polaris Sportsman 570 SP - little sap hauler
    I'm 1:20 remote from sugarbush, so I let run awhile between boils, and time is at a premium, so I try to oversize things

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    North Shore Lake Lemon, Monroe County
    Posts
    135

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    Funny, dsaw...Yesterday when I was putting in my taps I was wishing I had the family to help, lol! I was worn out by the time the sun went down. Maybe I'll pick up another tool in the hope that next year I tap on a day the kids don't have basketball practice or games...not likely though. Good luck this season!
    2014 - 8 taps, turkey fryer, 130 gallons sap, just under 2.5 gallons syrup.
    2015 - 50 taps and counting.
    2016 - 60 taps on 3/16 and a Bill Mason evaporator on order.
    2017 - 115 taps on 3/16, homemade r/o.
    2018 - 150 taps on 3/16, r/o a big help, but lots of leaks killing yield.
    2019 - sticking with 150 taps or maybe less, focusing on good vacuum and less waste to increase yield. Doubling up my r/o, and made a vacuum filter that looks promising.

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