Sleepy forest maple 2021

[Old County Road]

Took a look at your video of your first boil on your Smoky Lake pans - looks like a nice set up! I have purchased a few things from Smoky Lake as well, and both Jim & Angela are super nice and they are building a great business. I also noticed your collection of boiling sodas - I have quite a few of the same Long Trail Vt IPA and Sierra Nevada Hazy IPA “dead soldiers” (as my uncle used to call them) in my sugarhouse.

Hope you have a great season!

[Russell Lampron]

Nice video Jake. If those boiling soda cans are full you need to move them to a colder place to chill them down. Your arch looks good for homemade and Those Smokey Lake pans look good too. Have you had a chance to calculate the gph? It's starting to look like it's going to be a short season.

[raptorfan85]

Nice video Jake. If those boiling soda cans are full you need to move them to a colder place to chill them down. Your arch looks good for homemade and Those Smokey Lake pans look good too. Have you had a chance to calculate the gph? It's starting to look like it's going to be a short season.

So far I've only been able to boil twice but it's averaging about 42-44gph. I haven't been pushing it to hard until I get a feel for it. The season isn't looking to great, hopefully the weather for next week changes. If not I'll be at maybe half crop of last year, with 120 more taps this year...

[Russell Lampron]

Like you I'm worried about the forecast but it's usually colder here and I'm hoping that trend continues. I got a good freeze last night when the forecast was for a low of 34. I got .7 gpt so far today and the sap was still running good at 7PM. I hope it's the same for you.

Mid 40's is good for a 2x6 and don't be afraid to push it! Get the most out of it and enjoy the sweet ride.

[raptorfan85]

Boiled down 250 gallons Saturday and another 200 last night. Made 10 gallons of syrup. Still making amber. I figured with the warm temps it would go to dark but it hasn't. Looks like it should run good today. The mud outside was frozen this morning, hopefully it got cold enough for the trees. Might be the last run of the year. It's supposed to be 70 on Thursday and no freeze until next week. I might keep the taps in and see what happens if the reds don't go buddy. Finally got a new o ring on the moisture trap Saturday. Vacuum went right to 25 where it should be. Maybe to little to late but we'll see what happens.

[raptorfan85]

To my surprise I came home yesterday to 100 gallons of sap. Went down to check the releaser and sap was flying in. No idea why. It was warm the day before, no freeze overnight, and really warm during the day again. The sap was a little cloudy but on a 70 degree day that will happen. That's the most I've collected in a24 hour period on those 115 taps. Can't explain it. Boiled that down. Came out as dark but not quite very dark. The gravity taps have done nothing for a few days but that's understandable. The vacuum might just keep me going long enough to get me to the next freeze up! The reds are flowering but no buds yet, the few sugars i have are getting a little plump but nothing crazy. Who knows, might turn out to be a decent season after all!

[raptorfan85]

Forgot to add, after a few boils on the new pans I've gotten comfortable enough to really push it. I was trying to see the other night how high I could get the gph. I dropped the level in the pans to 1.5-1.25 inches, kept up on my firing, used all pine, and measured what went in and what came out. I really put the boots to it, so to say. In 4 hours including start up and cool down I went through 230 gallons of sap and drew off 3.78 gallons of syrup. If my math is correct that's 56.5 gph. I feel pretty proud of that considering it's a homemade arch. Obviously a lot of that is in the pans but I'm very happy with that.

[raptorfan85]

I was able to suck in 150 gallons of sap over the last 2 days. It was all buddy. I finished what was in the syrup pan and it came out very dark and strong. Tastes like roasted marshmallows. Should be good on ice cream. I'm bottling up the 8 gallons of syrup i have today and then it's time to start cleaning tanks. I made about the same amount of syrup as I did last year which is a little disappointing considering I added 120 gravity taps this year. The weather just never cooperated. Next year those taps will be on vacuum as well.

[Russell Lampron]

I called it a season here too. I made a little over a half crop which is disappointing but it was actually all that I wanted to make. I hope that you have a better season next year.

[raptorfan85]

Back at it again this year! Trying to get things in order for tapping. This year I'm adding vacuum to 100+ taps. Should make a good difference. The trees are mostly reds and didn't do much on gravity last year. Picked up a lapierre single vertical, seems like a much better design than the older Bernard I have. The Bernard will go close to the house in case it acts up. Got another gast 1550 for the pump.
I just love these little pumps... no oil and they run at 26hg for me all season.
This warmup is tempting but I think I'm gonna hold off until the 20th. Looks like another freeze up and there's still lots of frost deep. Still got some line repairs but they are minimal. Adding air over fire this year as well. Got the manifolds made and the pump ready just have to put it in the arch. Hoping to gain some efficiency to cut down on wood use and also reduce the smoke from the evaporator... it's always "rolled coal" lol, even with the blower.
Hope everyone else is going to be ready in time. It's almost here!