Anyone tapping in PA yet?

[Alleghenysyrup]

I haven't been up to check that shack yet this morning. I put as much as I could in 5 gal buckets thursday so I only have to thaw out 5 gal at a time instead of an entire 55gal drum! My boilers will be froze but they will thaw when I fire them up tomorrow. Sun is out and it's about 30 in the sun so my tubing may thaw out this afternoon

[Gary R]

Sugarmaker, looks like you guys have really been going at it up there. It was great talking to you yesterday.

Here in Venango County the tank has been half full We tapped on the 5th, right after that big run. Weatherman has screwed us a lot! We did get 240 gallons sap last Monday and Tuesday. Boiled it and made almost a gallon of some light syrup. I was really trying to get as much as I could out of it and burnt the pan while shutting down. I figured out my problem and hope not to repeat again. It was only about a third of one channel. My wife cleaned it up! We tossed what was in the front pan and drained the flues for this cold spell. Maybe start back up Monday. Better luck that me you all!

[D and D Sugar Camp]

Tapped in last weekend 2-8 . Collected 90 gallons. Have 28 taps on 3/16 gravity. Put in a new 3/16 line yesterday adding 15 taps. Looks like sap should flow good later today and early this week.

[Sugarmaker]

Folks, GaryR,
Recovery is everything! Glad you got that pan back on line! You may be covered up in sap about Tuesday this week.
We are having a warming day coming off the zero temps. I had to get everything thawed out in my un-insulated old sugarhouse. I dont expect much sap today? Should not have to gather. Ok here comes the sun. May have sap tomorrow.
Ready to order new tri clover butterfly valves for the draw off locations on the front pan. As a safety thing and to move closer to the rig, giving some additional room in the sugarhouse. (A few inches). Always worried about a kid pulling the ball valve handle open and filling their boot with hot sap! These have locks and are the 13 position grip type handles. I will try to get some pictures of the before and after set up.
Talked to local sugarmaker that just installed a new Marcland controller for syrup draw off. They had some minor bugs but all set to go now.. They will like that. Its just like having another person in the sugarhouse helping you. One of those I dont know how I lived with out it tools.
Will take the wife out for a nice steak today for putting up with my maple habit!
Report from other sugarmakers is that the sap is just now starting.
Oh yea looking at new trucks. Thinking of going from diesel to gas engine.
Keep boiling.
Regards,
Chris

[HowardR]

Here in Venango County the tank has been half full We tapped on the 5th, right after that big run. Weatherman has screwed us a lot! We did get 240 gallons sap last Monday and Tuesday. Boiled it and made almost a gallon of some light syrup. I was really trying to get as much as I could out of it and burnt the pan while shutting down. I figured out my problem and hope not to repeat again. It was only about a third of one channel. My wife cleaned it up! We tossed what was in the front pan and drained the flues for this cold spell. Maybe start back up Monday. Better luck that me you all!

One of my mottoes is "No use crying over spilled sap!" Making mistakes is part of making maple syrup. We need to put together checklists like pilots go through before they take off. Unlike pilots however, our mistakes are not fatal -- they just result in lost syrup and time.

[Sugarmaker]

I agree with Howard. I have a mental checklist for my old tri wing plane (King evaporator) But a new pilot might have trouble getting it off the ground and landing could be a problem too!
My wife says "too many valves"!
Regards,
Chris

[sbedilion]

Cooking day!

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Threw the bike and trainer outside...multitasking 2 very time consuming hobbies. The neighbors keep driving by shaking their head. haha.

Should have close to 6 gallons of syrup tonight. Doubt I will finish it tho.

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[sbedilion]

sorry about the sideways pics.

[Alleghenysyrup]

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Good day at the shack, once everything thawed out! I was within 4 degrees of making my first syrup with my pan and had to shut down because I was running out of sap!!! I'm sure it will happen next weekend.
I think I am around 80 to 100 gal through it.
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[Alleghenysyrup]

Guess I have a sideways pic problem too