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Thread: Tapped in Lackawanna County

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Covington Twp. Pa.
    Posts
    580

    Default Tapped in Lackawanna County

    Most of my taps are now in. Collected about 75 gallons of sap tonight before the big freeze set in. Looks like we will be doing our first boil later tomorrow. Had tons of problems with the leader fittings bending and or coming apart on the 3/16 tubing. I have some DG fittings and they seem like they are built much heavier. I know I will not buy the leader fittings again.
    2x3 Patrick Phaneuf Divided Pan
    Homemade arch
    RB20 RO Bucket
    121 taps total
    Sugar Shack in future
    Wife into it as much as me
    Also do homebrew

    http://s928.photobucket.com/albums/ad121/ZMANSYRUP/

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Northeastern Pa
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    432

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    Weather is crazy. Too many nights above freezing right out of the gate this year in northeast Pa. Only time will tell on the season. Good luck

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Covington Twp. Pa.
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    580

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    Doocat, like you said weather is crazy. What I have learned over the years is to NEVER plan your collecting or boiling by looking at the forecast. It just never works out that way.
    2x3 Patrick Phaneuf Divided Pan
    Homemade arch
    RB20 RO Bucket
    121 taps total
    Sugar Shack in future
    Wife into it as much as me
    Also do homebrew

    http://s928.photobucket.com/albums/ad121/ZMANSYRUP/

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Covington Twp. Pa.
    Posts
    580

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    Wow what a run! My taps ran hard for almost 48 straight hours . Never seen that before. Mother Nature always wins though, see gave us huge amounts of sap but she kept most of the sugar. First time I have ever dealt with 1.5% sap. Sucks. Anyone else have trouble with low sugar? Still have about 80+ gallons of sap to collect in the AM and I am wondering if it is worth the long boil for so little syrup.
    2x3 Patrick Phaneuf Divided Pan
    Homemade arch
    RB20 RO Bucket
    121 taps total
    Sugar Shack in future
    Wife into it as much as me
    Also do homebrew

    http://s928.photobucket.com/albums/ad121/ZMANSYRUP/

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Northeastern Pa
    Posts
    432

    Default

    Yes lots and lots of sap no sugar!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Covington Twp. Pa.
    Posts
    580

    Default

    Well I guess I missed something. I didn't see any freezing temps in the last few days but as I drove past one of my white plastic drums today I noticed it had about 20 gallons of sap in it. After checking other tanks and pails it turns out I am sitting on about 170 gallons of sap. I have no idea when it got cold enough to reset my trees. I had to finish and bottle all the syrup I made this week so I couldn't start boiling today. I have my work cut out for me the next few days as some of the trees were still running today and we have a freeze coming Monday night. I am going to be spending a lot of time sitting there with my evaporator. I just bottled over 6 1/2 gallons of syrup from the first weeks run. What a start to my season!
    2x3 Patrick Phaneuf Divided Pan
    Homemade arch
    RB20 RO Bucket
    121 taps total
    Sugar Shack in future
    Wife into it as much as me
    Also do homebrew

    http://s928.photobucket.com/albums/ad121/ZMANSYRUP/

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Covington Twp. Pa.
    Posts
    580

    Default

    The sap is starting to run again after a 3 week+ shutdown. The taps are producing but not a large amount yet. I think they will let loose in the next couple of days with the warm temps coming. I boiled twice in the last few days and am happy to see that the sugar level has gone up to the highest levels we have seen this season.( 2%+) The syrup has also moved up to Amber, the first syrup we have made this year that wasn't Dark or Very Dark. I just hope that the holes stay open in the trees we have tapped with pails. Looking forward to a good week. Hopefully.
    2x3 Patrick Phaneuf Divided Pan
    Homemade arch
    RB20 RO Bucket
    121 taps total
    Sugar Shack in future
    Wife into it as much as me
    Also do homebrew

    http://s928.photobucket.com/albums/ad121/ZMANSYRUP/

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Covington Twp. Pa.
    Posts
    580

    Default

    Still making syrup here in the Northeast. Broke the 20 gallon mark tonight but it is getting harder. Temps are looking great for the next week but the taps are slowing down. Don't know how much more we will get but we will keep on trying. If the tap holes weren't drying up I think we would be buried in sap up to our eyeballs. This is our seventh week tapped so we are on overtime and grateful for what we are getting.
    2x3 Patrick Phaneuf Divided Pan
    Homemade arch
    RB20 RO Bucket
    121 taps total
    Sugar Shack in future
    Wife into it as much as me
    Also do homebrew

    http://s928.photobucket.com/albums/ad121/ZMANSYRUP/

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Covington Twp. Pa.
    Posts
    580

    Default

    Did our last boil today. 58 days tapped and some taps still flowing( we did ream). Most years we just barely make it into April but this year we made it to April 13th. Unbelievable. The craziest season I have seen. Big runs in February( without a freeze) froze up most of March and then April with some taps dried up and others running like there is no tomorrow. I don't usually ream but I was desperate this year and IT WORKED for some of the trees. Now time to wash and clean everything up and finish and bottle the last few gallons. It looks like we had our best year yet but we sure did work for it. Sugar content was lower then ever so we used more wood then ever before but we MADE LOTS OF GOOD TASTING SYRUP! That's all that counts.
    2x3 Patrick Phaneuf Divided Pan
    Homemade arch
    RB20 RO Bucket
    121 taps total
    Sugar Shack in future
    Wife into it as much as me
    Also do homebrew

    http://s928.photobucket.com/albums/ad121/ZMANSYRUP/

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Covington Twp. Pa.
    Posts
    580

    Default

    Finished and bottled the last of our syrup today. Finished the year with 25 gallons which made it our best year to date. Our sap to syrup ratio was 54 to 1 which although our worst ever was a lot better then some others around here. We are putting this season behind us but I doubt we will ever forget it.
    2x3 Patrick Phaneuf Divided Pan
    Homemade arch
    RB20 RO Bucket
    121 taps total
    Sugar Shack in future
    Wife into it as much as me
    Also do homebrew

    http://s928.photobucket.com/albums/ad121/ZMANSYRUP/

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