Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

[spud]

I feel your pain for sure. Yesterday I started the day with vacuum down to 22.5 inches. I walked about 2 miles through very deep snow to find three spouts that had popped out. Of course they were all in the farthest section of my woods. I am now running 25.5 inches of vacuum to all my booster tanks. I hope the snow melts fast so I can get around the woods easier. I hope to get to 27 inches by tomorrow or Monday.

Spud

[EBG18T]

Went to collect barrels this morning only to find someone stopped and turned all my 55 gallon barrels on their side. I guess I should have collected last night instead of spending time with the family.

Do you guys secure your barrels to a tree to prevent behavior like this?


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[WestfordSugarworks]

That sucks.. at any time someone could come to either of our bushes and do a lot of financial damage in a short period of time but we've never had any sap or equipment stolen, nothing vandalized. Then again, both our properties are set back off the road a little with not much tubing visible as you drive by at 40 mph. So we escape a lot probably. sorry that happened.

[GeneralStark]

I was talking with one of my neighbors, a fellow sugarmaker, at our open house today about the issues he and others, including myself, have been having with vandalism and theft in this area of VT. It's a serious problem and it is a major PITA given that we all work very hard to make our crop. I'm lucky that I have only had some gloves and a bottle of defoamer taken. Others have lost considerably more valuable equipment. It appears as if about 12 sugarhouses in the area have been affected by the same family/group, and that they are using and or selling the equipment they are taking. They do this at night and they always drop a guy or two off that then walk in off the road and grab what they can and then load it up when they get picked up. The only hope in catching them is getting them on film. Someone suggested to me that a leg-hold trap may be a better option....

We were able to boil today from sap we collected Thurs. and Friday. About 1300 gal. came in with over 1gpt Friday. Today ran pretty well also so we have some more sap to process tomorrow. We made 27 gal. of AR right on the GD line. Lots of visitors and great sales. And the only mishap was I overflowed a permeate tank so no big deal. Also got to try out our new diaphragm filter press pump. All I can say is WOW, it is awesome and so far superior to a gear pump.

[mff]

Just over 1 GPT tonight. Cooled off quicker last night than I expected. Driveway is getting crunchy underfoot now.

[spud]

I was able to get a little over a quart per tap today. Sap tested at 2.2%. Tomorrow should be the start to a very busy week. Good luck everyone.

Spud

[blissville maples]

Fired pumps up Thursday to find 10-15 inches at all releaser, after chasing popped off t's and spouts back to 25+, 20-30 pop offs all together on about 3300 taps. Very frustrating. Final back to boiling pulled in 5200 gals from Thursday afternoon to Saturday midday, and made about 70 gals Amber but oh so close to fancy!! That's ok fancy and Amber are both 2.00 so no more premium for the light

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

http://www.cdlusa.com/wp-content/upl...nd-anglais.pdf

best money I ever spent in sugaring! no need to walk every line just turn up unit and sweep the lines at 40 ft.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

oceanstatejoblot.com maple syrup 10 QT

[mff]

About 1 GPT tonight. Tested at 2.0. A couple of weeks ago it was testing at 1.8.