moved my tiny lil sugar shack with the help of my friends, some planks and rails and a little tractor. And used refractory cement to patch up as many holes in my shack's woodstove so it isn't leaking like a sieve. Just need to get some gasket rope to help seal the areas that still need to be openable. And was glad to see my smokepipe was barely even sooty so I clearly did things right in terms of what got burned in there this spring.
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
We plan to finish the sugarhouse to get a little more weather tight. Then finish a 1200 mainline run which should add 600+ taps plus the ability to add more as time allows or as taps are needed.
Tapping since 1985 (four generations back to early to mid 1900s). 200-250 taps on buckets and then tubing in the mid 90s. 2013- 275 taps w/sap puller 25 gal. 2014-295 taps w/sap puller 55 ga. (re-tapped to vacuum theory) 2015-330 taps full vac. 65 gal, 2016-400 taps 105 gal, 2017-400 taps 95 gal. 2018-additional 800' mainline and maybe 400 new taps for a total near 800 taps. 2x6 Leader WSE (last year on it) supported by a 250 gph RO.
Entering fairs and just picked up my 2nd place finishers (class of 6)...happy to win back my entry fee and a shiny piece of blue satin :-)
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
Just got my RB20 kit from the RO Bucket folks and need to get assembling some rainy day. Looking forward to saving some time and a whole lot of firewood. 99 taps last year on a divided 2x4 was a lot of time and wood. I might add a few more trees next season
42.82N
2015 - Small operation. 25 buckets. One excited 5 year old and one 35 year old that feels 5 again.
2016 - One year older. New Homemade 2x4 Arch, Smoky Lake Pan and looking at 52 maples, 17 box elders and 2 walnut trees.
2017 - Shurflo 4008 hooked to 42 stingy silver maples and a few Norways. A couple buckets on sugars and Norways. 10 box elders.
2018 - ...a few more taps.
2019 - ...more taps on 3/16 gravity. This spiral is heading downward in a hurry.
2020 - 4x400 RO - RB20 (uh-oh!)
Just fixing sugar house foundation and building a tank room of the side of the sugar house. The father-in-law is thinning out another section of sugar bush for me to run lines this winter.
2019:250 gallons
2020:324 gallons
2021:?
Good day. Syrup rookie here.. one season removed. Tapped 18 trees this spring, boiled it down in a lobster pot using a propane burner on my back deck and finished the syrup in the kitchen. My buddy on the mountain had a similar rookie season. We both enjoyed it so we decided to pool our resources and expand into my back 40. We've been working on a little 16' x 8' shelter and bought an old wood stove with a flat top that should serve the purpose. We even have a gent building us a nice continuous flow evaporator so we can lose the lobster pot. Lately we've been putting the finishing touches on the shack, "grooming" the trail so we know where we're going in the spring and cutting firewood. Great therapy... makes me wonder why I waited til 57 to get started. Looking forward to our 2nd season. #sweeteningthepan
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