Maple Syrup 2024

[SwampDonkey]

Pretty decent collection on 25 taps. 

[Chuck White]

We've had a warm spell here for a while, when that started we pulled all of the lines out of the barrels, assuming that was the end of sugaring 2024.

It got real cold yesterday and this morning we had just 2 degrees and it warmed up to 35 degrees this afternoon, so we put the lines back in the barrels, since the forecast for the coming week is up in the mid 50's, and we're hoping for at least one more good run before it's over!

[SwampDonkey]

Wow, that's a cold dip. We were predicted to get there this morning, but the gauge says 18°F here. Suppose to be in the upper 30's this afternoon. I haven't seen 50's all month and none showing in the week ahead. Suppose to be snow/rain mix here for most of the week. It was like that 4 days last week, then the big snow bomb.

[Chuck White]

Well, our "expected run" didn't amount to much, so we just proceeded to pull the lines out of the barrels again and haul the barrels to the sugarhouse for cleaning and storage!

We'll go up again this morning and flush the lines and sanitize the spouts, after that we're done for the season!

[Chuck White]

We got a little over 1/3 of the taps and mainlines done today, we'll give it another try on Saturday and will probably finish!

On a happy note, being a no-boiling year for us, we've already got next years firewood sitting in the woodshed!  

[Stephen1]

We dropped to below freezing for 8 days, Winter was back with a vengeance,  a week ago and then we went above freezing last Monday, gushed  for 3 days and then we had a couple of good days and more sap. It finally slowed down last night and we have caught up, only just above freezing here today so a very slow run. Looks good for the next 3 days and then we should be done. We are over 200 litres, (close to a quart) for  my southern friends. We are still boiling today and will empty and clean  the evaporator tonight, and are guessing we have 40 liners in the pans. 

[Chuck White]

We finished up with the sap lines yesterday about mid-afternoon.

In a few days they should be airdried enough to go back and put the spouts in their appropriate cups until maple 2025 season.

Our production is less than 1/3 of our normal, good thing we are not dependent on the market!

Can't help but wonder how @celliott is doing, over in Vermont!

They are a very large outfit, but I do believe "everyone" is down in production this year due to the whacky weather!

[Old Greenhorn]

I haven't seen anyone mention it yet so I have to ask: What you you sugar guys seeing for sugar concentrations in your sap this year as compared to in the past? I don't not collect and boil, but there is a branch of my family in VT that has done so for 4 generations and it is still part of some family incomes. I won't be able to sit and talk with them about it until July or so. 
 I keep a very close eye on the winter weather and trends because it affects many mushroom logging and when I can cut. This year has been terrible for me and all I could think was with the lack of any long-term hard freezes in most areas, this had to be a terrible year for the sugar folks and I am wondering if sugar content in the sap that was collected was also lower quality, meaning more boiling and RO work?
 They didn't have RO's back in the 30's and 40's and they (my family) still used wood, then galvanized buckets, A big wood tank mounted on a sledge with a pair of horses to pull it. They had no plastic spiles, or tubing or vacuum lines. I wonder if a season like this might have put them out of business. 
 I don't know why, but it's been on my mind the last 2 months. I hope y'all come through this OK, and yeah, Celliott has been on my mind too.

[Chuck White]

We have only sap lines, no buckets!

Our lines are all gravity flow, no vacuum, so from end to end each line is on a long slant with the line going into a plastic barrel at the lower end!

Surprisingly the sugar content was good this season, our highest was 2.3 and the lowest was 1.6 percent!

[Plankton]

It has been a very funky season here really warm. We have been tight all season and the lowest our sugar got was 1.5 late february i think. It ran for 7 days and 8 nights non stop so the sugar was bound to drop. Were back up to 1.7 and clear sap still making amber rich syrup. Started at 2 for the first few weeks.

[Jeff]

Thought this would be a good place to share my U.P. neighbor's sugarbush.  The lumber was sawn out on my mill this last year out of trees cut down by the powerline company 2 years ago that crosses our properties. Also other reclaimed parts to make a nice shelter.

The evaporator came from @upnut who sold it to Gary a year ago. 

[beenthere]

Jeff
Looks like a good time with a neighbor. 
Reminds me of the time member nailhead (RIP) was setting up a planned visit to his sugar bush Spring 2008 in the UP. 

[upnut]

Does my heart good to see it up and running again! Thanks for the pics....

Scott B.

[Jeff]

Jeff
Looks like a good time with a neighbor.
Reminds me of the time member nailhead (RIP) was setting up a planned visit to his sugar bush Spring 2008 in the UP.

I've not been able to actually visit the sugarbush due to having been sick for 3 weeks. I seem to be over the hump, but just not right.  We went up to do some cabin chores, but I let everyone up there know, i was not dragging something up to them. Deb still dared the odds and brought us a jar of syrup.

[SwampDonkey]

I had a bad one last summer, no strength at all. Had to take off 3 weeks of work.

Spring has sprung with a vengeance up here with constant wet weather events days long, but we are starting the wood shop this morning. 

Have not seen much boiling going on. When you ask a hobby farmer around here if the sap is running well, you get told it's running. But running is expected no matter how rough it is, but at what output? :D Most big operators will say it's not a great year. :D Pretty sure Quebec said production is way down. That's significant because they out produce everyone else combined.

[cutterboy]

A local syrup producer taps trees on my sister's land across from me. He pulled his taps a week ago. He said he got about a half a crop. He uses tubing but hangs buckets on the trees in front of the house just because it looks nice.

[Stephen1]

We are all done, boiled the last of the sap on Monday. 
The trees budded, and sap had turned and we made about 10 litres of BBQ syrup. Has a very strong taste. 
I would say we had an okay year for syrup, but we added more trees to vacuum than previous years. it definitely was the earliest we had ever boiled, end of February. Actually I boiled on Feb 29, 1st time ever and the weather was beautiful, like warm April weather. 
We will start wash up this Sunday, clean the lines and tanks. All our lines stay on the trees.
We flush with water and then put alcohol in each tap and seal with special caps to seal the system.
What does everyone else do with their lines?

[SwampDonkey]

First wagon of sap I have seen go to my cousin's sugar shack was yesterday. I've not seen a boil today yet.

[Plankton]

Boiled everyday for the last week got a bunch of wet snow and another freeze up today. Pretty sure we wont see another good run after this though. Sap has not gone buddy and syrup flavor is still good. Tap holes are starting to dry up though.

On dealing with lines at the end of the year we pull them with the vacuum on thats it. Were not running stubbys so snip the spouts and plug into the tees nice and tight to facilitate fall vacuum walking next year.

[peakbagger]

Have not seen much boiling going on. When you ask a hobby farmer around here if the sap is running well, you get told it's running. But running is expected no matter how rough it is, but at what output? :D Most big operators will say it's not a great year. :D Pretty sure Quebec said production is way down. That's significant because they out produce everyone else combined.

Strategic reserve nearing empty in Quebec | Sap & Syrup | The Maple News

[Big_eddy]

We were done boiling Monday. I still have pails of syrup that need final filtering and bottling and our buckets are still hanging, but it's been wet snow for two days so they can stay out a few more days. I don't have a final tally yet, but overall I think it was a decent season. Will know more when the filtering and bottling is done. 

[Big_eddy]

Linked Quebec report was from last November. Haven't heard how this season went yet

[SwampDonkey]

Last year the NB crop was down by 1 million pounds, normally 3 million pounds. A drop in the proverbial bucket as they say. Quebec buys most of the syrup we make in NB if I'm not mistaken.

[maple flats]

While I was out of the picture this season, I'll be back for 2025. I sold my 3x8 wood fired and was working off my syrup in ss barrels. I'm now down to 3 barrels of dark and 1 barrel of Amber, all 26.5 gal barrels. 
I bought and just picked up a new 2x6 raised flue evaporator, made by A&A Metal shop in Monterey, Va. this past week. If my plans are completed it will be oil fired and ready to go before the end of the year. If not it will likely be wood fired. It was bought as wood fired but I have my mind set on going to oil fired. If things prevent that from being completed, I do have a good stock of wood for one season only and likely only if I don't tap over 250 taps for 2025. My plans are to do 200-300 my first year with the new evaporator. I can cut and split enough if needed, I have several standing dead ash trees that need to come down and all are between 10" and 16" I believe. My brother also just bought a processor that goes on his skid steer, it would make short order of the initial bucking and splitting  but I'd need to resplit everything to get it to wrist sized but that could also be done in a day or 2. I'll see, if I get to August and it's not looking like the oil will be a go for 2025, I'll get the wood going. Dead ash ca be fairly dry in 4+ months, maybe not perfect, but it would burn fairly well.
I forget the name of this processor, but it's a beauty. I mounts on the front arms of his big JCB skid steer and with it he can pick up a log, buck it and split it into 6 pcs an maybe 3 minutes or less. He can also run it on his Toolcat but he prefers using the JCB.
Back to me, I'm going to be , in addtition to converting to oil fired, falling and sawing enough lumber to build a 14x32 addition on the side of my 14x28 shop. Then the time to build it and get it dried in. The shop is a hip roof design, so the rafters will need to be long enough to reach from the peak of the shop to out 14' + overhang on the addition. Since my Woodland mills has a max length of 16'9" I may choose to join 2 rafters at a knee wall rather than trying to cut logs at over 20'+. I'm leaning heavily towards the knee wall approach. In fack even if I decide to wrestle with longer logs and cut the rafters long enough to go it in 1 piece, I'll still have a knee wall to support the rafters at the outside wall of the current shop. Then I'd only need rafters at just under the max of my mill, the over hang will only be about 10-12", because I want to keep a driveway back into the woods beside the addition. The  walls at the far outside will only be about 6.5-7' high because I plan to continue the slope from the hip out across the addition, a 3/12 pitch it appears. When I drive the cab tractor into the addition I'd just need to keep towards the original shop wall, but that fits my plan fine. The only issue might be that my grandson, at 15 is already over 6' and his uncle is 6'7", his dad is only 6'2". He may need to wear a hardhat when in that side of the addition. We'll get it figured out, I don't have that issue, I'm only 5'6", infact I might now at 77, be down to 5'5".
Back to Syrup. I hope to get the oil conversion done and all set by early December. Before then I'll go out and decide if my existing mains are ok to use. They were last used in 2022. I know the laterals will all need replacing, but the mains were only up since 2016, some were in 2017, all were 3/4" or 1" blue maple tubing most was Leader brand. The laterals which will all be new were Leader, D&G or Lapierre. My Saddles were all the hose clamp type, but I forget the name at this time, it will come to me. I used to buy them from Homestead Maple, In Chazy, NY but I have an idea they are no longer dealers for some reason. The name DDS or something similar to that seems to ring a bell.
Along with the evaporator I also bought a 2x6 hood, a 100 gal head tank, a 20 gal draw off tank and all of the stack to get up well over the peak of my cupola, with the sugarhouse walls being 10', a 6/12 pitch roof on a 16' wide sugarhouse. I bought 18' of ss stack including the 4' base stack, it should easily be high enough. The cupola stands 36 " tall at it's peak.