UPtapper, sounds good to me. i rarely try for the interwebs on my cell phone when at camp but texts generally work to get ahold of me (715-938-4700).
northernlite, i have fond memories of medora & zik's bar in the harbor. we used to make an annual pilgrimage to george's camp out towards caribou island every february til we got too old to fight all that snow. everything always seemed to me to be a lil more challenging in that rugged country. i imagine that's true for sugaring too.
I am tapping 50 trees tonight and 50 more tomorrow. Let the fun begin.
N 45 51.5406
w 88 2.607655
100 taps
sunrise 2x4 evaporator
new 12 x 20 sugar shack
Just a hobby for the family
We collected yesterday, 8 gallons off 140 taps , only the trees that had a direct exposure to the south had sap. There is still a LOT of snow in the woods up here. Hoping for a Saturday flow. We did take the 8 gallons and give our homemade RO a test run, it performed way better than expected. Process rate was 18.75 gal/hr, we started with 3.5% sap and returned 8% concentrate. Very happy and we still have some tweaking to do before it's production ready.
Latitude location: 45° 51' 48.0" N
2013 - 48 taps and a home made arch / pan = 19 gallons
2014 - 74 taps and counting, upgrades to Arch
2015 - 98 taps and counting, NEW custom made Arch, 30hp New Holland tractor
2016 - 0 taps :-( had to skip this year
2017 - 100 taps and back in the game
2018 - 145 taps, NEW Sugar Shack & family and friends to help.
2019 - 170 taps, 30 gallons of Sticky Bush syrup
2020 - planning on retailing some Sticky Bush
2021 - adding gravity pipeline with 60 taps
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It rough around the edges but once we get it working smooth we will dress the girl up for the dance.
Latitude location: 45° 51' 48.0" N
2013 - 48 taps and a home made arch / pan = 19 gallons
2014 - 74 taps and counting, upgrades to Arch
2015 - 98 taps and counting, NEW custom made Arch, 30hp New Holland tractor
2016 - 0 taps :-( had to skip this year
2017 - 100 taps and back in the game
2018 - 145 taps, NEW Sugar Shack & family and friends to help.
2019 - 170 taps, 30 gallons of Sticky Bush syrup
2020 - planning on retailing some Sticky Bush
2021 - adding gravity pipeline with 60 taps
Last year I tapped March 2 (central UP in a Lake Superior snow belt)
2016 was March 19
Still within a reasonable window but out of the thirty test taps I have placed over the last 8 days I might have 3-4 gallons. Strange early spring, all up and down with no steady rhythm. It’s frustrating my trees.
May end up being a tight year as far as finding the time to collect and boil. I have a sinking suspicion that my schedule of 7-12s will be perfectly timed to be at work for the heart of the season. Quitting my job is an option but if I do that I probably need to tap about 3000 trees and go all in. Not likely!
I put in my 38 taps throughout the week as time allowed, now I'm just waiting for a run! Temps in the 40°Fs forecast today, maybe I'll be able to get enough to boil before the cool weather bounces back. Spring is taking its sweet time this year!
All my life I wanted to make my own syrup. Now I'm livin' the dream!
230 taps gave 130 gallons of sap Saturday 17th. Running slow for me this year.
Last edited by mcgyver; 03-21-2018 at 11:20 AM.
2018 - 232 bags - ??
2017 - 120 bags - 15 gallons syrup
2016 - 10 bags - 1 gallon syrup
2015 - 5 buckets - 1/2 gallon syrup
2014 - 5 buckets - 1/2 gallon syrup
Foster City, Michigan
Ford 850 Tractor
Ranger 700
Husky 572XP
2.5'X7' Flat pan on a homemade wood fired cinder block arch
Still up here waiting, not so patiently.
38 taps in on 3/13 . only one semi decent day so far. hope it warms soon .
It's been a great year in South West Michigan, but will most likely end the beginning of next week. 280 taps and 6400 gals so far has been crazy doubling last year. Should end around 24 gals a tap on gravity (3/16th) Pulled some of my buckets, I have about 30 and the rest on the tubing. So good luck to the U.P. hope you get a bucket full of gold every day!
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