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Maple Syrup!

Started by jrose1970, January 11, 2016, 11:39:04 AM

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jrose1970

Hey Everyone! It's time to start thinking about maple slurp. (I mean syrup.)
Last year we tapped 12 trees. My Christmas present was 12 more taps, so I got the hint.
  I learned not to boil inside thanks my friends on the FF and my own time spent scrubbing walls. LOL
We live in Tennessee, so I have to tap a lot sooner than those of you up north. I tapped
Saturday, which was January the ninth, and got five gallons of sap in about 8 hours!
HFE-36; International 424-37HP; McCullogh Pro 10-10

GAB

Quote from: jrose1970 on January 11, 2016, 11:39:04 AM
We live in Tennessee, so I have to tap a lot sooner than those of you up north. I tapped
Saturday, which was January the ninth, and got five gallons of sap in about 8 hours!

How many taps do you have, and do you have any idea what the sugar content is?
Gerald
W-M LT40HDD34, SLR, JD 420, JD 950w/loader and Woods backhoe, V3507 Fransguard winch, Cordwood Saw, 18' flat bed trailer, and other toys.

r.man

Good grief winter just got started here, again. Flash freeze last night, cold weather only in the near future forecast.
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

jrose1970

Hey Gerald,
   I have 24 taps.  Normally a five gallon bucket will make a pint. That is 40:1, but we like to boil it down just a little more than that. So, I would say we go to about 50:1 so that it is pretty thick like commercial maple syrup.  It was 11° this morning and now it is already 35° at 12:30 noon.  I'm at work, but I bet it is running!
     :D I know what you mean about winter just starting.  This is the third or fourth year I've tapped, and every year I move forward one week. I started tapping around Jan. 26th, and this year I tapped on Jan. 9th. I think this is plenty soon though.  Next year, I may move back to around Jan. 12th. 
HFE-36; International 424-37HP; McCullogh Pro 10-10

Chuck White

As a matter of fact, even though it was 20° and the wind was howling through the trees, I went out this morning and repaired our 1" mainline.

A limb had fallen on it and one of the connections came apart.

We'll be tapping in about 5 weeks, we're getting anxious and will have the evaporator up/operational by the first week in Feb.

Be tapping by the end of Feb.

We have around 1240 taps, and once in a while we'll add another one, depending on the size of the tree!

Last year we made 150 gallons!
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

millwright

We don't start here until late march or even later

Chuck White

Keep in mind that this has been a wacky Winter!   ::)
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

coxy

I think around these parts there may not be a season the soft maple already started to  red bud  thats not good  chuck do you sell any or is it for the family

Chuck White

We do sell it by the Gal, ½gal & Qt.

Usually ship 1-2 barrels via Woody!

They then are shipped to Vt!
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

coxy

that's what I find funny you buy pure VT syrup but the sap came from NY  ???:D

Chuck White

Very true, and in this case, a barrel of SYRUP goes to VT and gets bottled and then a VT label gets stuck on it!   :-\
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

jrose1970

That's a lot of taps, Chuck! Congratulations.  Beekeepers call the trees budding earlier in the south and moving north the "green wave". LOL It's amazing how much difference there is in 300 or 400 miles of latitude.
HFE-36; International 424-37HP; McCullogh Pro 10-10

GAB

Quote from: Chuck White on January 12, 2016, 07:53:23 AM
Very true, and in this case, a barrel of SYRUP goes to VT and gets bottled and then a VT label gets stuck on it!   :-\

There is an outfit that got caught doing that with Canadian syrup.  The State of VT fined them for that practice.
Gerald
W-M LT40HDD34, SLR, JD 420, JD 950w/loader and Woods backhoe, V3507 Fransguard winch, Cordwood Saw, 18' flat bed trailer, and other toys.

celliott

We're gonna start tapping February first, the people I work for. Got about 20,000k taps, probably a bit more, not sure on the exact count. Hoping in the next couple weeks to add on a new 2-3k tap section.

Been doing repairs and retubing an older woods with 3\16 tubing.

Saw something I'd never seen before, thought it was pretty wild- Lightning hit somewhere on a mainline, and vaporized the high tensile wire from the anchor tree near the conductor, 300ft up the line. Left the wire ties intact, pipe was fine, wire, just gone, no trace. Tied in a new piece of wire and re-tensioned it, re-wire tied, good to go.
Chris Elliott

Clark 666C cable skidder
Husqvarna and Jonsered pro saws
265rx clearing saw
Professional maple tubing installer and maple sugaring worker, part time logger

Chuck White

That lightning strike is definitely weird!

Lots of people are now switching to the 3/16" tap lines now, that would cost a lot to tear out all of the 5/16" lines just to make the switch.  ::)
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

Stephen1

Quote from: Chuck White on January 12, 2016, 06:54:20 PM
That lightning strike is definitely weird!

Lots of people are now switching to the 3/16" tap lines now, that would cost a lot to tear out all of the 5/16" lines just to make the switch.  ::)
As our 5/16 line dies we have started installing the 3/16. It is supposed to work better in the vacuum system. I notice they rave about it being able to create a good self vacuum for those on hilly terrain.
IDRY Vacum Kiln, LT40HDWide, BMS250 sharpener/setter 742b Bobcat, TCM forklift, Sthil 026,038, 461. 1952 TEA Fergusan Tractor

Don_Papenburg

Who do you get your spiles from ?  I would like to tap a few walnut these this year.   I have three plastic spiles for 5/16 tube .  I need about ten to twenty more .    Would any tube work or should I get the blue tube that I have with the taps I have now?   
Frick saw mill  '58   820 John Deere power. Diamond T trucks

timberlinetree

Food grade stuff is important. Can't wait for this year!

 
I've met Vets who have lived but still lost their lives... Thank a Vet

Family man and loving it :)

celliott

Yup, 3/16 seems to be getting more and more popular. We've actually done more 3/16 installs than 5/16 installs for other sugar makers this year.
The woods we are re tubing does have good slope. The tubing in it was nearly 10 years old. The man I work for installed all new 3/16 in another of his woods and was real pleased with the performance, so he didnt hesitate to replace with 3/16.

I know it's real nice to run tubing with! 800ft rolls of the leader 30p.
Chris Elliott

Clark 666C cable skidder
Husqvarna and Jonsered pro saws
265rx clearing saw
Professional maple tubing installer and maple sugaring worker, part time logger

Chuck White

I can see switching to the 3/16" as you go, but to switch out all of the 5/16" with 3/16", when there's nothing wrong with the 5/16", to me anyways, is a waste of money!

I've heard that the 3/16" will create it's own vacuum, but on the uphill end of the line there needs to be 30-40' of line with no taps on it, this is where the self-vacuum effect comes from.
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

jrose1970

Arg!  I burned my first five gallons of sap this morning. LOL It is just barely to black to be candy.
I may eat it, but I doubt the kids will. Oh well.
  I have a question. Do you all leave the lines out all year, or do you bring them in and re run them each spring? Just wondering. I still do buckets. Of course, I only have 24 taps.
HFE-36; International 424-37HP; McCullogh Pro 10-10

Stephen1

Quote from: jrose1970 on January 13, 2016, 08:20:57 AM
Arg!  I burned my first five gallons of sap this morning. LOL It is just barely to black to be candy.
I may eat it, but I doubt the kids will. Oh well.
  I have a question. Do you all leave the lines out all year, or do you bring them in and re run them each spring? Just wondering. I still do buckets. Of course, I only have 24 taps.
Easy to burn, add sap to bring it back to syrup.
We leave most of our lines out. A real challenge to clean them properly. I see where some are filling their lines at the end of the year, after washing, with a Alcohol. Anyone do this?
IDRY Vacum Kiln, LT40HDWide, BMS250 sharpener/setter 742b Bobcat, TCM forklift, Sthil 026,038, 461. 1952 TEA Fergusan Tractor

beenthere

Stephan
Did you leave something out regards that large blank space? just curious....
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Remle

Quote from: jrose1970 on January 13, 2016, 08:20:57 AM
Arg!  I burned my first five gallons of sap this morning. LOL It is just barely to black to be candy.
I may eat it, but I doubt the kids will. Oh well.
  I have a question. Do you all leave the lines out all year, or do you bring them in and re run them each spring? Just wondering. I still do buckets. Of course, I only have 24 taps.
Been their done that. That's the problem with a small quantity of sap, for your 5 gals of sap I would expect at a 40 to 1 ratio to get 16 oz of syrup. Control is the thing you must stay on top of, you either need to store your supply till you get enough to boil based on the size of you pan or every time the volume is cut in half reduce the size of the pans bottom area. Once it burns their is NO going back, yes you can add more sap, but the sugars have been turned to carbon and that cannot be reversed. As to your question about leaving the lines out most people leave the lines strung in the woods but the taps in the trees are removed as you do.

Chuck White

We leave our lines out year-round, we also backflush them with clorox/water at the end of the sugaring year!
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

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