I had a 140 gallons waiting for me, a friend put the lines in the tanks on Wed. afternoon. Looks like we will get some good weather this weekend.
I had a 140 gallons waiting for me, a friend put the lines in the tanks on Wed. afternoon. Looks like we will get some good weather this weekend.
I am hoping for decent sap Friday through Tuesday and will then wrap it up. The big question is will the sap be good. I think we are just close enough to Lake Michigan that the high temperatures were not enough to get the buds going. I found that none of my trees had swollen buds yet so I'm giving it a try.
16 in by 36 inch stainless flat pan on wood burning stove, with 10 six inch 1/2 inch-diameter copper drop tubes.
File cabinet arch with steam table pan new in 2017.
4, 12, 18, 24, 35, 50, 50, 48, 51, 51, 52, 52, 27, 32
Syrup making since 2004
I picked up 165 gallons on Sat. and 290 on Sunday. Would have been more but my best line had the shurflo screen plug with limy growth both days. Burt 3 out of 4 sections in my syrup pan on Sat. got it clean and going again.
Welcome home Bob, I hope you and everyone in WI has a good run starting Thurs or Fri. We would like another 1000 gal of sap.
150 on 3/16 gravity 2018 and 120 sap sacks
14 x 20 sugar shack
2014 New custom 2x6 arch "The Firestorm" w/ preheater, AUF & AOF
Smokey Lake pans and water jacket bottler
2024 new 2x8 set of drop flue pans and hood from Smoky Lake. Lengthen our arch.
Just a hobby but seems like more work every
year
3 generations working together
Wife that guards our syrup
43.74° N
looked like a really good day today, but I am out of time... Season is over for me. Good luck to those hanging on - I think you might have a few more solid days this week. My sugars still look pretty good.
We pulled in over 400 gal of 2% today. Still nice and clear. We tap all sugars so no buds popping yet. Getting close to the end.
Longest season we ever had.
150 on 3/16 gravity 2018 and 120 sap sacks
14 x 20 sugar shack
2014 New custom 2x6 arch "The Firestorm" w/ preheater, AUF & AOF
Smokey Lake pans and water jacket bottler
2024 new 2x8 set of drop flue pans and hood from Smoky Lake. Lengthen our arch.
Just a hobby but seems like more work every
year
3 generations working together
Wife that guards our syrup
43.74° N
Sugarpop, that's awesome!
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!)
Nothing doing right now. Hoping and praying that tomorrow gets cold enough. So far we collected 1678 gal. Sugar varied from 2 to 3 percent. About 45 gal of syrup. The 3/16 tubing saved our behinds.
150 on 3/16 gravity 2018 and 120 sap sacks
14 x 20 sugar shack
2014 New custom 2x6 arch "The Firestorm" w/ preheater, AUF & AOF
Smokey Lake pans and water jacket bottler
2024 new 2x8 set of drop flue pans and hood from Smoky Lake. Lengthen our arch.
Just a hobby but seems like more work every
year
3 generations working together
Wife that guards our syrup
43.74° N
Gatzow, probably not too long. Mine have been out since late Jan and grew a few spots in the last few days.
Arrived home from work today to my woods topped with fuzzy yellow silver maple flowers. Last year they made good syrup for a week after that, but with no freezes in the 10-day forecast, looks like those are done. Going to clean a few buckets and see what happens with the sugars and Norways. Maybe cooling down later in the month will result in a small batch.
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!)
Ran great yesterday and am looking forward to today. All the trees but one had an "above average" run. If I get the same today I will be very happy.
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