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Thread: What’s your best %?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Allegan County, Michigan
    Posts
    25

    Default What’s your best %?

    I was suspicious of my big yard tree, almost 3.2%. Much better than the woods. What’s your best?
    D72F2780-676E-4CE4-A26D-B277BDBD1926.jpg
    Youngbloodfamilyfarm@gmail.com
    https://www.youtube.com/user/jybshopteacher

    20 x 38 flat pan on extended barrel stove evaporator
    DIY RO with aqua tech pump and 3 150gpd membranes


    2020 53 taps
    2019 47 taps 18.5 gallons
    2018 28 taps. 12.5 gallons
    2017 17 taps
    2016 17 taps
    2015 17 taps

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Eagle lake Maine
    Posts
    280

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    Last season shortly after the beginning, we had a little over 3% for the entire bush for about 3 days. It was short lived though as we had a rainy period that kept the temps above freezing for 4 or 5 days and the sugar content steadily dropped after that.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Temperance Mi
    Posts
    411

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    I remember one year quite awhile ago when the sap was around 3.5 for most of the year, plus the weather was exceptional all season with a lot of freezing nights where you could through out the ice and got the sap close to 4. We made around 720 gallons of syrup that year on buckets with around 1250 taps.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Oneida NY
    Posts
    11,547

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    I don't test individual trees, but one day years ago I got 3.75% in my whole tank, the next day it fell to just over 3.0 and a couple of days later it was at 2.1%
    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.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Allegan County, Michigan
    Posts
    25

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by maple flats View Post
    I don't test individual trees, but one day years ago I got 3.75% in my whole tank, the next day it fell to just over 3.0 and a couple of days later it was at 2.1%
    That sounds amazing, it seems that when % is high, flow is low, but then again sometimes it’s just a crapshoot.
    Youngbloodfamilyfarm@gmail.com
    https://www.youtube.com/user/jybshopteacher

    20 x 38 flat pan on extended barrel stove evaporator
    DIY RO with aqua tech pump and 3 150gpd membranes


    2020 53 taps
    2019 47 taps 18.5 gallons
    2018 28 taps. 12.5 gallons
    2017 17 taps
    2016 17 taps
    2015 17 taps

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Oneida NY
    Posts
    11,547

    Default

    The next day I had a call from a Cornell volunteer forester asking, he had reports of several locations being very high that day. Back then I didn't keep detailed records, so I can't say what the flow was like or if it followed a long freeze, I just only recall the %. I do recall however that I only had a short sap hydrometer, which likely wasn't as accurate as the long ones I use now. In fact that is what prompted me to buy long hydrometers.
    Last edited by maple flats; 02-26-2020 at 07:08 AM.
    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.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Temperance Mi
    Posts
    411

    Default

    I've found that when testing individual trees the best running trees tended to be the sweetest.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Location
    Central Wisconsin
    Posts
    428

    Default

    2 years ago I tested the first 10 trees that we tapped and they were all over 5% with a refractometer for woods trees. I thought boy, this is unheard of. Later that day we had collected 30 gallons of sap, put it in a barrel and used hydrometer and it dropped to 3.2%. Moral of the story, calibrate a new refractometer out of the box.
    1960 - 1970s 70 taps on galvanized buckets with Dad and Grandpa.
    1970s - 1985 Acted crazy!
    1986 - 2005 20-30 buckets.
    2006- 2017 70 buckets and bags
    2017-2019 100 bags and buckets
    2020 Finally retired!!! 75 buckets, 50-75 on tubing. RO Bucket, New 12 X 16 Shack and a 42X42 flat pan.
    2021-Adding another 125 taps along with a second RO bucket.
    2022- Shooting for 350 taps, with 100 on lines.
    Lots of Family and Friends and dogs named Skyy and Nessy!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Central Ohio
    Posts
    318

    Default

    My usual brix level for sap is around 2.2. However, earlier this week I collected the sap in my buckets which had frozen--some had partially thawed. It was a struggle to separate the sap from the ice--sometimes I used a mallet to break open a chunk of ice with sap inside it. In some buckets that were overflowing the ice was frozen to the spile. Some of the sap I collect that day was 4%, and the average was slightly above 3. I made about 6 gallons in 4 hours boiling 137 gallons! The only problem was the temperature surges I was getting at draw-off. Syrup was suddenly way too heavy. How do you guys with RO handle this?
    20200223_maple sap 4 percent.jpg
    Central Ohio
    Leader WSE 2x6
    Old metal corn crib converted to "The Shack"
    Smoky Lake 6 gallon water jacket canner
    Daryl 5" filter press with air pump
    Deer Run 125 RO

    2023: 140 taps, buckets, 32 gallons
    2019: 100 taps, buckets, 45 gallons
    2018: 100 taps, buckets, 31 gallons
    2017: 100 taps, buckets, 15 gallons
    2015: 100 taps, buckets, 34 gallons
    2014: 100 taps, buckets, 30 gallons
    2013: 100 taps, buckets, 52 gallons

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    New Hartford, N.Y.
    Posts
    2,093

    Default

    Don't question your big yard tree. Try to find more just like that one! For years all we tapped were large (very mature) roadside and yard trees. The sugar content was always over 3%. I wish I had access to a forest full of those, lol!!

    Steve
    2014 Upgrades!: 24x40 sugarhouse & 30"x10' Lapierre welded pans, wood fired w/ forced draft, homemade hood & preheater
    400 taps- half on gravity 5/16, half on gravity 3/16
    Airablo R.O. machine - in the house basement!
    Ford F-350 4x4 sap gatherer
    An assortment of barrels, cage tanks & bulk tanks- with one operational for cooling/holding concentrate
    And a few puzzled neighbors...

    http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/t...uckethead1920/

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