Cousin in Hardwick has 14,000 taps most above 1700 feet... Not running as here was below 0.. He runs taplines Major sugar house 5 miles down road is commercial operation not boiling yet.. As no steam but high today was 6 degrees so not running.. Going to start soon as snow in woods starting to sink around trees!!
Forgot to mention I went up to clean pans for my cousin. While the boys wete taping, you can hear him holler, tap below your knees!! tap below your knees. Everyone was on snowshoes must be four feet of snow. Taps over 6 feet high or hard to get out once the snow melts
Nice batch there, Mitch Newton! Mornings have been below zero here all week. Finally looks like we are breaking the cold today for some better sap flow temps. Next week I’m hoping to be scrambling to catch up on sap!
I’m way behind. The weather has been crappy. The guys with tubing have had a few runs, but the guys with bags/buckets have had little flow. I tapped on Tuesday since i’m working 12’s at my day job through Saturday. Right about 120 taps at two locations. Next week is looking good though, so I should see some nice runs. Here’s my syrup wagon. Pulling it around with a farmall A. I have another tote for my pickup truck and a Dolmar water pump to transfer the sap from tote to tote.
First time collecting. 40 gallons or so at one farm and a tad more than 150 at a friends wooded property.
Awesome stuff, AJ. Love the old Farmall! Hard work pays off. Keep on boiling. Weather looks great for sap runs here this coming week as well. Finally...
I added in a dozen more taps today on 3/16ths lateral lines in the crappy weather. Little mid-season tapping experiment based on some Tim Wilmot papers I recently read. Hoping to see a great sap flow this week.
Last week I gathered 755 gallons on 124 taps, with probably only 115 really producing. I don’t have any expectations, but I was happy with that. This week looks good and then it will probably be over. My chainsaw dealer has made 60 gallons of syrup so far.
Great setup AJ. Looks awesome! That’s a good haul. I had similar numbers last week on my 156 taps. A strong handful of the trees I tapped in early February have stopped producing for me but the sap is still flowing strong from the rest. Today it was like a faucet was left running. Noticing some buds on the red maples. Hoping to get at least a few more days of boiling in before the sap turns buddy. Fired up my arch at 3:30 this afternoon and still going! I can’t keep up with demand but I’m not complaining about that!! Heard from a friend who knows another sugar maker that he thinks this is the worst season he’s ever seen in 30 years of making maple syrup. Sounds like he tapped the first couple days this month. Not so sure I agree but I’m glad I tapped some of my trees a month earlier to catch some of the February sap runs.
Not to worry Woodsman ... Northern VT will make some.. Our trees generally won't bud with snow on ground. Still feet of it in woods high today is 33.
This is the first year for me, just wanted to try it out. Countless hours, 10 taps, 5 trees, 3 propane burners = 3.5 gallons of syrup made by me.
I’m not tapping this year. Too many things going on, and wasn’t ideal boiling in the stock trailer last year. I finally got the green light to pour a pad for a starter sugarhouse (it will be the processing room or woodshed of the eventual full size dream sugarhouse).
I visited a neighboring sugarhouse today, where a friend helps boil. They have a 2x6 with a steamaway and can boil 90 gph. A beautiful sunny day, and great tasting samples.
Friends and family gather up about 100 plus gallons of sap every year and make a day of turning it into syrup. Did some splitting this year as well. Good day. Can see the high tech evaporator in the distance. Works great, but our syrup has a smokey taste.