335 gallons of sap, 2 1\2 gallons of syrup....
I'm seriously thinking of shutting down for the year and save for an ro.
I'm usually 60-1at worse 70-1 but this is looking like a waste of time and firewood.
Something's amiss
335 gallons of sap, 2 1\2 gallons of syrup....
I'm seriously thinking of shutting down for the year and save for an ro.
I'm usually 60-1at worse 70-1 but this is looking like a waste of time and firewood.
Matt Durrell
2012 - 12 Taps hand me down 2x2 and made a barrel stove
2014 - 20 Taps 8x10 timber-frame shack
2015 - 25 Taps
2016 - 28 Taps new 110 acres
2017 - 12 Taps january, 55 Taps spring and 15 Taps fall, same ol 2x2
2018 - Helping another sugarmaker 5000 Taps, 57 at home
60-1 or 70-1?! Those numbers are insane. Are you tapping soft maples?
Been tapping since 2008.
2018 - 17 taps/7 trees...819l sap, approx 28l syrup
2019 - 18 taps/8 trees...585l sap, 28l syrup...21:1 ratio
2020 - 18 taps/8 trees...890.04l sap...gave away about 170l, 30l snafu'd....23l total for me from approx 690l
2021 - 18 taps/8 trees...395l sap, 12 l syrup
2022 - 18 taps/8 trees....7 sugars 1 red due to #2 having surgery so had the season off....582l sap, 18.5l syrup
2023 - 18 taps/8 trees...all sugars again. 807l sap, so far approx 14l syrup
Do your trees have any leaves in the summer. If you finished everything off, that is 134:1 I'd give up too.
Dave Klish, I recently ordered a 2x6 wood fired evaporator from A&A Sheet Metal which I will be converting to oil fired
Now have solar, 2x6 finish pan, 5 bank 7x7 filter press, large water jacketed bottler, and tankless water heater.
Recently bought another Gingerich RO, this one was a 125, but a second membrane was added thus is a 250, like I had.
After running a 2x3, a 2x6, 3x8 tapping from 79 taps up to 1320 all woodfired, now I'm going to a 2x6 oil fired and a 200-425 taps.
A few trees did have a rough year.in late spring the buds/leaflets got frozen off and it took a while for some to green up. I did have a few trees get that bacterial leaf scorch (I believe it's called) where the leaves just turned brown and fell off during foliage, otherwise the majority of the woods was healthy and putting in new growth. Have been slowly select cutting to open up some crowded areas and remove junk trees but all by hand in hopes I'll get 2.0 sugar in 20, 30 years.
Edit
That's all of it finished and bottled, a really nice light amber, lots of maple flavor, wish I got another gallon. I wouldn't have even blinked an eye at the ratio,.
Last edited by Sinzibuckwud; 03-03-2018 at 06:22 PM.
Matt Durrell
2012 - 12 Taps hand me down 2x2 and made a barrel stove
2014 - 20 Taps 8x10 timber-frame shack
2015 - 25 Taps
2016 - 28 Taps new 110 acres
2017 - 12 Taps january, 55 Taps spring and 15 Taps fall, same ol 2x2
2018 - Helping another sugarmaker 5000 Taps, 57 at home
Couple of reds but mostly sugar maples, woods trees with small crowns most 24-36"
25 on buckets on a sse hill lots of sun, 32 on two runs of 3\16, one yard edge run and one in the woods.
During collection period we were getting 20's at night for several hours and 40's 50's during the day with around 2 ft of snowpack and averaged 2 gallons a tap.
Matt Durrell
2012 - 12 Taps hand me down 2x2 and made a barrel stove
2014 - 20 Taps 8x10 timber-frame shack
2015 - 25 Taps
2016 - 28 Taps new 110 acres
2017 - 12 Taps january, 55 Taps spring and 15 Taps fall, same ol 2x2
2018 - Helping another sugarmaker 5000 Taps, 57 at home
Weird. I think Dr Tim is your best bet here. My 7 trees (17 spiles) are sugars all on flat land, mostly yard maples but a couple of bush maples who are 1-spilers but gawd are they good producers. I boiled down 123l to make my first batch, thinkin I'd get about 3 litres...it's just under 4.5l. So my sugar content this early is just under 3%. But your figures are just way beyond the pale.
Been tapping since 2008.
2018 - 17 taps/7 trees...819l sap, approx 28l syrup
2019 - 18 taps/8 trees...585l sap, 28l syrup...21:1 ratio
2020 - 18 taps/8 trees...890.04l sap...gave away about 170l, 30l snafu'd....23l total for me from approx 690l
2021 - 18 taps/8 trees...395l sap, 12 l syrup
2022 - 18 taps/8 trees....7 sugars 1 red due to #2 having surgery so had the season off....582l sap, 18.5l syrup
2023 - 18 taps/8 trees...all sugars again. 807l sap, so far approx 14l syrup
Yeah, the old "you gotta want it" doesn't even work in this thread. Those numbers are crazy!
301 buckets
Here in St Lawrence County, NY I'm seeing the same sort of numbers. We had a severe drought in 2016, which gave us a lot less sap in the spring of 2017. The trees responded to that shock by making more seeds than we've ever seen last summer. The leaves were healthy in 2017 but they were about half as big as usual. The leaves do all the work, and this spring I'm getting plenty of sap but it's much lower in sugar content. Thursday I brought in my 5000th gallon of sap, and Friday bottled my 93rd gallon of syrup. For many years my ratio was 34:1. This year it's about 54:1. Next year will be better.
Dang man. That's a labor of love right there. 335 gallons on a 2x2 must have taken forever....then to only yield a few gallons of syrup. I can see why you're frustrated.Originally Posted by Sinzibuckwud
16x24 Timber Frame Sugar House
Mason 2x4 Evaporator
90 trees on buckets
With my low budget extension I'm now a 2x3 1\2 hahhaha with a stack pre heater (thanks maple flats)
I loved every second of those 40 something hours, lots of friends, family, dogs and kids running amuck, great weather, couldn't have asked for a better week of sugaring...except the actual sugar part.
These trees generally run 1 gallon/tap at best usually half gallon on a good day, that's why my tap numbers are so high for my rig size.
Matt Durrell
2012 - 12 Taps hand me down 2x2 and made a barrel stove
2014 - 20 Taps 8x10 timber-frame shack
2015 - 25 Taps
2016 - 28 Taps new 110 acres
2017 - 12 Taps january, 55 Taps spring and 15 Taps fall, same ol 2x2
2018 - Helping another sugarmaker 5000 Taps, 57 at home
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