Maple Syrup 2024

[Stephen1]

The weather broke and so did the sap. We pulled in 100 gallons of sap every  4 hrs yesterday, was waiting for amazon to deliver some 3/8" fittings for the RO, 
Hoping to get the RO running this morning. 
Sap ran all night and almost all our tanks are full. 

[Plankton]

Looking like 2 more weeks of good sugar weather here if the forcast holds. Ran for 7 days and 6 nights last week! Never froze but we got a good freeze sunday and monday reset the trees. We just hit half crop with todays boil so not looking like a record breaking year.

[SwampDonkey]

I haven't seen the first boil here yet. Can't be running too much.

[Chuck White]

We gathered another 260 gallons yesterday afternoon.

It's really been a screwy year, sometimes sap runs daily and sometimes not run for three days!

Won't last much longer!

[SwampDonkey]

I did see the neighbor boil some early this morning when I was walking up the road.

[Big_eddy]

We tapped 160 buckets on Feb 23rd. As of last night we had collected over 800 gallons, with 185 of that on Tuesday. I've been boiling steady for 2 days and I'm still 2 days behind.

Home made 20"x 65" drop flue, no RO.  Days like today an RO seems like a good idea. What one did you buy Stephen?

[Chuck White]

Nice looking evaporator, Eddie!

Especially being home-made, you've done a really nice job making that!

[SwampDonkey]

Nothing wrong with that.  I have a neighbor who made an evaporative pan a few years ago. Actually two, one for his brother to. That was after he sold one not long before that, one he never made. I think he had a brain fart, because he sold off some other stuff to. Then all the sudden he wanted to do syrup again. Neither one of them have much for maple trees.  The brother bought a piece of land with maple on it for cheap. Trouble is it's all red maple. He found out that red maple don't run too good. He has one red maple in among a little sugar maple grove and he said it doesn't produce much. But some stands of sugar maple don't either.

[maple flats]

After taking 3 seasons off, while selling down my stock I'm finally getting back into syrup production. I sold my 3x8 and much of everything that went to supporting it, while keeping my 2x6 propane finisher, my WJ bottler and the filter press (everything to re-filter, and pack syrup). 
I just sent a deposit to buy a 2x6 evaporator, it will be oil fired. The 4 evaporators in my past were all wood fired, at my age I think it's time to go with oil.
I do have a Deer Run 250 RO but I'm now thinking I might be better off with an RO that's able to get better than 8% one pass and 12% in 2 passes. I don't really need a much bigger capacity but on pass to 16-18% might be best, to save some oil. What do some of you suggest?
I'll have a hood, new head tank, new draw off tank and an auto draw, all of which I foolishly sold with my 3x8. I still have, in my bush, most of the mainline I'll need, but I'll be putting in all new laterals. I'm going to use an old Alamo vane pump, but I'll be increasing the oil flow to get higher vacuum, it last run at 20", I'll try to get 25". 
My plans are to put in 200-300 taps for 2025, maybe I'll grow to about 425 the next year, which is about the max possible without hauling sap from remote areas. I don't want to get back into hauling sap. I'm 77 now and will be 78 in a few months, all before the 2025 season, and I work solo, but my wife has volunteered to help with the boiling, but not help tap. I do still have one grandson who does help at times, buy he's in so many sports that he's not available for much of the time, he's now 15, great help but limited availability.

[GAB]

Nothing wrong with that.  I have a neighbor who made an evaporative pan a few years ago. Actually two, one for his brother to. That was after he sold one not long before that, one he never made. I think he had a brain fart, because he sold off some other stuff to. Then all the sudden he wanted to do syrup again. Neither one of them have much for maple trees.  The brother bought a piece of land with maple on it for cheap. Trouble is it's all red maple. He found out that red maple don't run too good. He has one red maple in among a little sugar maple grove and he said it doesn't produce much. But some stands of sugar maple don't either.

SD:
Concerning your last sentence, do you have any idea what the soil conditions are where these trees are?
The reason I ask is I had an old time sugar maker one time say that trees growing in sandy or gravelly soil were good for one good run per season.  
Has anyone else heard of this or have experienced it?
GAB 

[Big_eddy]

Nothing wrong with that.  I have a neighbor who made an evaporative pan a few years ago. Actually two, one for his brother to. That was after he sold one not long before that, one he never made. I think he had a brain fart, because he sold off some other stuff to. Then all the sudden he wanted to do syrup again. Neither one of them have much for maple trees.  The brother bought a piece of land with maple on it for cheap. Trouble is it's all red maple. He found out that red maple don't run too good. He has one red maple in among a little sugar maple grove and he said it doesn't produce much. But some stands of sugar maple don't either.

SD:
Concerning your last sentence, do you have any idea what the soil conditions are where these trees are?
The reason I ask is I had an old time sugar maker one time say that trees growing in sandy or gravelly soil were good for one good run per season. 
Has anyone else heard of this or have experienced it?
GAB

Don't tell my trees that. My bush is on a glacial esker. All sand and gravel. We usually get about 6 weeks of runs a season.  I tap 3 reds. All the rest are sugars. Pulled the taps on the reds this week as they are budding out. Nary a bud to be seen on the sugars. 

[SwampDonkey]

Aspect and elevation has more to do with it. My cousin abandoned one grove the last 3 years on a north facing slope. The soil is like dark brown garden soil around here under maples. Classed as sandy clay loam on top of calcareous shale. Another grove on lower elevation, lots of fir undergrowth, was not a good producer according to dad's uncles. That stand was cut and sold for logs 30 years ago now. Still like garden soil under them. Lots of sugar bushes here are on glaciated thin soil with sand and rock not too far down and rocks on the surface. They are out beyond settlements, abandoned settlements or on the edges. High ridges.

[Big_eddy]

IMO the biggest factor for sap volume is competition from other trees and crown size. Soil affects the flavour. Not so much the amount of sap. 

And weather of course.

Larger trees tend to provide more sap over a season, but can take a few days to get going after a cold spell. The younger trees are more eager to get going, but give up sooner too. Kinda like people that way ;)

[Stephen1]

After years of putting it off we bought the RB25 from the RObucket company out of New York.  It is 1/3rd the price of the other syrup producers RO systems. There is a guy in Almer  Ontario, that is importing and selling them.  
In 2 days we have process 600 gallons of sap. It takes our sap from 2.5% to 5% taking out 1/2 the water in 1 pass. it came as a kit and we have installed it in a cabinet on the wall with heating in it as we have no heat in our sugar house or running water. We now have lots of water and are using 1/2 the firewood. The next thing we noticed is the syrup is coming off the evaporator at 2x the speed. 
It is a game changer that we should have got years ago. we have 330 taps on vacuum that is finally working to it's capacity.  

[SwampDonkey]

Goes without saying crown size affects sap. But seen site influence it to, it affects growth after all. One of many factors.

[OH logger]

We had a woods of all sugar maples that were on the smaller side (12"-17"). Very high sand and gravel unlike most woods around here that are in the wettest part of the farm. We tapped the woods every other year. I thought we just tapped them small trees on the wrong years but a very experienced sugar maker here said it never produced much sap was cause the high and dry ground. The other wetter laying woods always out produced that woods.  I gave up on that woods.  It's a shame to cause it's ALL sugar maple and never slopped in the mud and very open and easy to get around in.  You all saying I should give that woods another chance?

[Peter Drouin]

Everybody around here is boiling.
Best of luck all.

[Plankton]

I would give them a chance for sure. Ive worked at a lot of different outfits from medium sized (3k taps) to large (28-30k taps) with trees in all sort of different site exposures locations soils elevations and states etc.They all made syrup.

That being said there are definitly sites that have better soil and exposure for maples that seem to run a little sweeter and slightly longer. Better site conditions make for healthier trees so in the end more sap I would think.

Did some tapping a few years back for a guy with 8k taps on a north facing cliff that was all rocks and streams and he was averaging 1/2 gal per tap.

[Chuck White]

If the tree's getting water (meaning it's alive) you should get sap!

The amount might be less because of location, but you should get sap!

[Stephen1]

We are up to 145 litres of syrup. Another small run today will happen and then we are back to winter all week with lows in the mid teens and highs still below freezing all week. 
Maple syrup is like wine, every bush has a slightly different taste, caused by soil, weather, trees, red or sugar maple, how its boiled and collected. Probably more noticeable in smaller bush, as it would be more site specific. these big operations with 100k taps are spread over such a huge area that it would not be a noticeable. 

[SwampDonkey]

Cousin says it's not running enough to bother with so far. I saw the neighor run one boil, but he's not getting much either.

This time of year there is usually 4-6 feet of wind drifted snow up against by north line. Might be 4".

[Ed_K]

Ohio Logger, do you have a forester your friend's with? Could be that 12" -17" wood's needs to be trimmed some. My whole 10 acres is timber logs, no branches for 30' to 50'. I got with my forester and we decided to log the woods so that the tops weren't close to each other. It's really hard to cut hard maples when that's all you have for extra income. Rita an I did the logging in 2022 and some of the trees are starting to grow new branches already. My soil is gravel, rocks and stones over ledge.

 Y'all have a great day.

[Chuck White]

The weather turned cold yesterday, with on-and-off snow showers, and snowed through half of the night.  Got up this morning to 20 degrees and about 3 inches of snow!

Maybe the Sugaring Season will gain a few days.

[SwampDonkey]

Been wet snow in the air for 3 days here and looks like 2 more. The snow is a little drier today because it's still only 30F, but very light and doesn't add up to anything. Colder weekend, not above freezing. If the weather is like this all summer, it'll never dry out. Just keeps churning and swirling out there. :D

[mitchstockdale]

@SwampDonkey 

I am down in the Norton area just outside Sussex.  I only have 25 taps this year produced about 125 Gallons of sap so far, all collected from about Mar 6 to the 15th.  Hasn't really run since Saturday. I almost feel like the run is over in my area, located on a side hill with shallow dry soil (24-30").  The best production was in the areas that hold surface run off.  Temps are looking like they will only be around freezing here for the next week or so....so i guess we will see.   Its been a great winter for cutting firewood .