Spring Harvest 2020

[Amber Gold]

My runs last week were all about the same...about 3/4 gpt.

[Amber Gold]

Not much has happened since last week because everything’s froze up.

Boiled Thursday night. Sap from GZ and I. SSC is testing low…about 1.5%...uggh. Made about 19 gal of syrup and filled my first keg of the season. Fortunately, vac is holding steady this week because I haven’t had time to deal with issues. I found out that you’re never as ready for the season as you think you are….

Friday, I got my new toy of the season…security camera. I mounted it inside the pump shed and now I can check on vac. level and sap flow at any time, from anywhere…this is soooo cool. Works like a charm too. Saturday morning, I saw the vac levels were good with sap trickling into the releaser. 1.5 hrs later vac is 0”. I needed to wait until the customers I had coming left, but then I shot over to the woods, and found the moisture trap was full of sap. Drain and back in business. This new toy is going to save me many unneeded trips to the woods, and it’ll get me there when I need to!!

Sunday afternoon, I upgraded my permeate tank stand. I was able to put 975 gal in it last week, and it looked OK, but was hesitant to put more…there may have been some bowing of the joists… I replaced the joists with deeper ones and added a center beam to shorten the span. I should be able to freight it up this week.

For the first week of March, I’m not really a fan of the forecast. 40’s the next couple nights and then some normal swing days.

[red maples]

I want to do a camera or 2 as well. they seem pretty cheap for the time and sap they can save.

[Amber Gold]

I hauled a load of sap out last night...about 500 gallons. SSC barely got a bump with the cold snap though. Only tested at 1.6%...

The camera saved me again. The woods was all set last night. Sap running in (barely), releaser working, vac. on...check. Get up this morning and the camera shows vac at 0". I make a trip to the woods on my way to work and find the moisture trap full and vac. off, and the releaser pumped down. The best I can figure is a slug of sap came in when the releaser was about full and the pump couldn't keep up. I pumped it down again to make sure there was plenty of room for when things break loose today.

I got the camera on Amazon. EZVIZ and I think it was $80. I already had the hotspot to get the signal out.

[Russell Lampron]

It froze here last night so it took awhile for it to start running but when it did everything broke loose, even the cold sections.

[Amber Gold]

Yesterday, I was still finding some trees that weren't running well, but the ones that were running, were more than making up for it!

Moisture trap filled up Monday night. Reset Tuesday morning on my way to work. Slight freeze overnight, so no flow. Test pump and all works. Check on releaser (via camera) around 9:30 and find vac is 0”. Get there early afternoon and for some reason the moisture trap is full, so the vac was shut off again.

Even without vac, the sap was still coming into the releaser, and I had say 200 gal in the tank. Got vac going, and the sap was hammering into the releaser. Pump was cycling every 4.5 min for the afternoon…rough figure is 120 gph. At 5pm, it’d settled down to a bit over 100 gph. I brought a truckload home and with GZ’s sap, processed about 1160 gal of sap. Sap is testing at 1.5% most of the season…uggh. Made about 20 gal of syrup last night.

This morning, I stopped at the woods to check on the tank, and it was 1” from the top…so close. Pumped a load out and left it on the truck. Sap flow slowed down, but still a good flow.

Security camera is offline…not sure what happened. Maybe something to do with the hotspot.

[red maples]

hope your still alive over there and haven't drowned yet...

[eustis22]

Red, I'm in Haverhill and I'm concerned about sap flow this week with the warm up. Your thoughts?

[CaptT820]

I think we are all a bit concerned about this warm up. Especially due to the predicted above freezing temperatures at night for nearly the next week. I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on this.

[Amber Gold]

Thanks Red for checking in. Still alive, just no time to post! I'll get to it later this evening I guess.