tapping

[randy d]

Is any one making maple syrup we are starting to get things ready but weather is not cooperating

[Ed_K]

 To cold, but we're working at getting ready.

[Big_eddy]

Being 100% bucket spiles, I'm still 2 weeks away at a minimum.

Not a problem though, there's 50+ cords worth of firewood logs to keep me out of trouble until it warms up and we're supposed to be getting another foot of snow tomorrow

[NewYankeeSawmill]

Came and went down here already! ! I bottled what little I got last week. Came to a little over a half-gallon of syrup.

[thecfarm]

Probably May for us the way the temps are.   
Been a cold Jan and Feb so far. Very little above freezing.

[DbltreeBelgians]

Gonna try tubing this year and get away from buckets if I have enough slope to get a little vacuum. If it doesn't happen maybe a shurflo pump and a couple deep cycle batteries will get me there. Been cold here in NW Ohio but looking like upper 30's to low 40's next week. Guess I better get tappin'

Brent 

[NewYankeeSawmill]

Gonna try tubing this year and get away from buckets

I did like a hybrid of the two... if I had 2 or 3 tree's nearby that sloped accommodating, I would use tubing to connect them all to the same bucket...  Some tree's I tapped a little higher than usual to give me the slope I needed. Saved time when collecting, only required gravity.

[SwampDonkey]

Traditionally here, we never hung buckets until mid March. Cousins start around then, sometimes don't get going until April. We get a couple mild winters and you here people say, oh we start in February tapping here. Not at 10° weather, sap don't flow unless it's thawed.  Been below 32° ever since Jan 1st, and rarely above 25°.

[Chuck White]

We're not sugaring this year!  

It was my brother Jack's setup, and he feels that he wants to take that time back and use in other venues!

He has already sold most of the sugaring equipment and supplies!

[Ed_K]

 Rita's ready to go, but I'll have to put some snowshoes together so we can get around the bush. There's a foot of snow then 8" of frozen ice pellets then another 6" of soft snow on top, you can't walk on the top without breaking thru.

 Y'all have a great day.

[Ed_K]

Rita's got 100 taps done and say's it's running somewhat. I'm still setting up the pipping for the new tanks we put in last summer, and finish setting up the boiling pans w/ auto draw off.

 Y'all have a great day.

[chep]

I hung 270ish buckets last weekend

[Big_eddy]

We put 150 in last weekend, and then another 20 or so in the week when our son and dil and grandson were here.  Already drowning in sap. I boiled yesterday and have at least two solid days ahead of me before the tanks are dry. Very warm today, so no run expected, which is okay by me. Took our first syrup of the season off about 10 mins ago. Forecast is questionable, but it changes every day anyway. 

[chep]

I hung out out 270 buckets last sat/sun as of today gathered 1300 gal of sap.  I put 1 tap per tree, unless double stem. 5/16 hole and the new school bucket hooks. Testing as high as 2.5% sugar and as low as 2.1% lots of full buckets so far
Bottled about 18 gal so far and still have syrup in the canner and 275 gallons to boil. 

Hope for cooler weather but is what it is! Good luck ff sugarmakers

[aigheadish]

I wish! We have no maple, unless I go tromping around in what I believe is state owned woods up the road. Maple syrup is maybe my favorite food stuff. 

[twar]

Rookie tapper here, with 5 not-so-big Norway maples (that's the maple we have here in Norway ). We have had good tapping weather, with a good frost at night and then a "warm" day with a few degees above freezing. Getting close to 100 liters of sap. It boils down very nicely, with a beautiful amber color and I manage to filter it perfectly clear. It is quite sweet, but it does not taste particularly  "maple", more vanilla and roasted grain. We don't eat a lot of pancakes, but it's a great sweetener. I will do this again next year!

[chep]

@twar

Typically in early season maple syrup, there are a lot of different flavors (like you desribe) as the season progresses the flavor changes to the classic "maple". Right now i taste vanilla in my syrup. Many people with "taste" prefer early season syrup because of all the nuanced flavors. 
 I would suggest to keep processing and you may get that maple taste eventually. I've heard that Norway maples can give a lot of good sap if it's a healthy tree. No experience with them myself.

[doc henderson]

Bing Videos

[Big_eddy]

I've been chained to the evaporator for about 2 weeks now. We've collected more sap already than we did all last season, or the 2 prior years, and it's not showing any signs of slowing down.
No idea how much syrup I've made, but it's a lot.

I need a couple of cold days to reset (me - not the trees)
Currently surviving on steam and caffeine.

Thank goodness for wifi and the forestryforum in the Sugar House

Was collecting more syrup wood yesterday. 3 days of ice forecasted. Now I have enough wood for another 3 days boiling. I have enough sap too.

[chep]

Heck yeah big eddie!

My 270 buckets are still running strong. Gathered 4500 gal so far (shoulders ache), have surpassed the most syrup I've made (82.5 gal previous record). I'm boiling away on an additional 600 gal in the tank and more in the buckets. This has been the season of the heaviest sap runs I've seen in my 15 yrs tapping where I tap. 
Weather looks reasonable for more sap. What a season so far. 
I have my 3 year old napping in the shack as I boil and take a minute to write this. Good times
Boil on

[aigheadish]

Will the season last as long as you get decent freeze/thaw cycles? 

[SwampDonkey]

Should be good as long as we have 20's at night 40's in the day. Long range here is in that window for awhile yet. Cousin has been boiling now for a week. He's on tubing, brings it to his shop in tanks to boil. Further out away from the river and higher ground they boil into May. More snow out there to.

[Big_eddy]

The season ends with the first of the following 
The weather warms to the point there are no more nights below freezing, or
The buds open up.  

Once the buds open, the sap changes, and the syrup flavour is affected. "Buddy Syrup" tastes awful.

[Big_eddy]

I survived the weekend. We collected about 200 gallons of sap Friday ahead of the ice storm. I stopped boiling mid afternoon and went to collect more wood. Saturday it was freezing rain and by end of day we had an inch of ice on everything, and soon after the power went out. It didn't really bother me much. I had plenty of wood and plenty of sap so I just boiled until it was too dark to see. Started boiling again Sunday and did the same, and I also took care of a large elm the came down overnight and landed on the lawn. Power was still out Monday. By then my wife was asking me to  fire up the generator. The cover had blown off and it was coated in ice and frozen solid, so farted around with it for a few hours. Finally got it thawed out and going about 10am, 15 mins after the power came back. Still had no internet so back to boiling. Didn't have time to collect Monday, so went out first thing Tuesday morning before work. 215 gallons! Aieeeeee! So boiled all day yesterday. Collected another 60 gallons last evening. Anyone want to guess what I was doing today?

Collected some more wood this morning and 100 gallons boiled today. Only 265 gals left now. I should have enough wood to get through it all now. That's good, because we are back to freezing rain now.

Oh yeah- sometime between 10pm and midnight yesterday  I found an hour to fix our washing machine.

Back to boiling tomorrow!