Yes, I was looking at our forecast as well. Going to be a warm week ahead. Ill collect tonight and have a big boil day tomorrow. probably boil on monday and then clean everything up while waiting for the warm spell to end. I am looking forward to the 12+ inches of snow to finally melt as its still pretty hard to get around by me. My Polaris ranger does not like deep snow....
2014 - 15 taps
2015 - 20 taps
2016 - 25 taps
2017 - 60 taps - added sugar shack and first evaporator
2018 - 70 taps on Bags
2019 - 90 taps - new 2x4 corsair with hybrid pro pan from Smokey Lake
Weather sure is nice today but for some reason the snow just isn’t melting by me. Open fields are going but snow in the woods is still DEEP!! Been an up and down year so far as I’ve gotten started but sure hoping things come together. Hopefully settling in for another 3+ weeks of season, but we can’t control the weather!! I’m hoping everyone had a couple good boils yesterday/today. It’s time to start actually bottling something soon!!
2014 - 15 taps
2015 - 20 taps
2016 - 25 taps
2017 - 60 taps - added sugar shack and first evaporator
2018 - 70 taps on Bags
2019 - 90 taps - new 2x4 corsair with hybrid pro pan from Smokey Lake
I did bottle up 4 gallons on Saturday. Got more keeping cool pulled off the evaporator yesterday and will boil again this evening to catch up to the decent run with this warmup. Thankfully the north side of our tree lines are deep snow yet, so I've been stealing that and buried the line to the IBC tote and the return/recirculation line for the Shurflo. Seems to help keep sap cooler; but I expect by tomorrow there won't be much flow and I can clean the tote out and flush clean water through the recirculation line. Hopefully laterals and drops stay clean...
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!)
Made it to a pint of syrup per tap today. Better than nothing! Better get myself back to scrubbing...
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!)
Dry
Tap north of Milwaukee. This weather has shut my maples down. Got about 15 gallons of sap from my last boil sitting in my chest freezer. Hope the next few days will run. Hope the season isn’t done. How are others doing....or thoughts on the remainder of the season?
Yeah, this warmup sucks. Forecast here (Wind Lake, SW of MKE) isn't very good. Good freeze on the way tonight, but then the next two solid freezes are the nights of the 18-19th and 19-20th. At that point, it could be it for my silvers (which is mostly what I tap).
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!)
Taps on vac are gushing. Buckets, meh. 10-day forecast is garbage. Might get just enough cold Sunday night, but it's not looking good here. Lows only to 29 and for a few hours.
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!)
Season is chugging along. No real great days but consistent 1 gallon per day average sap days... bottled yesterday and up to 17 gallons. Goal is 25 so I need a few more days. Boiling today, should need to boil tomorrow and then we will see what happens. I have had to clean out my 2x4 Smokey lake pro pan every 300 gallons or so as the sugar sand buildup is bad. The temp pattern that we have been on almost works great. A couple solid sap day with boil, then a couple days with no sap. Gives time to clean out evaporator, clean evaporator, finish and bottle and then start boiling again! Good luck everyone. For those of you that pull taps tomorrow, congrats on another syrup season!
2014 - 15 taps
2015 - 20 taps
2016 - 25 taps
2017 - 60 taps - added sugar shack and first evaporator
2018 - 70 taps on Bags
2019 - 90 taps - new 2x4 corsair with hybrid pro pan from Smokey Lake
Well today sucked.... I was really expecting a great day with temps at 24 degrees last night. Only got 41 gallons from 110 taps. I’ll cook that down tomorrow and clean out the whole pan that has the 150 I boiled today. Will clean the pan good as that might be it for me in Erin/Hartford. Thank goodness that I added a bunch of taps because it wasn’t a very good year sap wise. But there is always next year!!
2014 - 15 taps
2015 - 20 taps
2016 - 25 taps
2017 - 60 taps - added sugar shack and first evaporator
2018 - 70 taps on Bags
2019 - 90 taps - new 2x4 corsair with hybrid pro pan from Smokey Lake
Hi Gatzow - I'm not in your area - over in Vernon County - but I can relate - yours and my tap output is about equal - I had a friend and two of my kids over to our weekend place to cook what I expected would be a epic run,....about a gallon per tap. Can't quite square with past years and others in the same county, but what the heck. Good to know I'm not alone. Thankful for the 3 +/- gal I'll close with.
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