pulling taps tomorrow

[wally]

not a bad season for us, higher than average total syrup volume, although it was all dark. ended up with a little bit more than 20 gallons, up from the 17 gallon average over the last 30 years.

appx. 240 taps in new london and sutton, all gravity-fed tubing, and all north slope. still running in new london, but the content is down to 1.0 to 1.1. not boiling it for 86 to 1. sap is still clear though, not cloudy. the sutton lines haven't run for a few days.

last year had "higher quality" syrup, but only about 15 gallons.

next year, we'll change the tubing system a bit. currently have 6 lines with about 40 taps per line, all running through 5/16. we'll see how 1/2 does for the mains. would like to eliminate the new london lines, and only use the sutton lines, so hoping that the larger mains will result in higher volume from the same number of taps.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Wally - I've got a similar setup and went to 1/2" mainlines two seasons ago and got dramatic increases in sap volume. No more than 5 or 6 taps on the 5/16 and get it into the 1/2" asap. Bruce

[wally]

hope to have similar results. it's a physics thing.

[Dill]

Hey Wally.
Seems like most everyone made darker than usual this year.

[wally]

pretty much, alden. except for the RO folks.