Maple Season - 2005
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Update as of 2/28/05:
Well, we decided to take the plunge and go for 300 taps on gravity tubing and 60 taps on buckets this year. I spent most of the end of January planning the new tubing routes, putting up wire, cutting and fitting mainline and finally putting up branch lines. All in all, about 1/4 mile of main line and 3/4 mile of 5/16 branch line.
As of late January, the weather outlook called for 50's, so we got everything tapped on February 3, 4, 5 with the new gas tapper (my Christmas money!). Overall, it took about 10 hours to tap all 360 holes.
We have about 4-1/2 runs as of the writing of this message. About 1200 gallons of sap and 27 gallons of syrup. 15 gallons of light amber and the rest medium. Great tasting stuff, I must say. And don't take my word for it, just ask my kids!
Running low on dry firewood. I figured on everything but extra wood when upsizing the operation. Got some slabs last week, but they are slightly too wet to burn well.
Looks like cold for another week. I'll clean the pans and wait for the next run...
Update as of 3/24/05:
Cold snap ended after 1-1/2 weeks!
Started to collect again, but making dark amber syrup. Looks like there are no freezing night in sight, so the season might be over.
I have collected 2350 gallons of sap this season in total, with about 50-55 gallons of syrup. I'll leave the taps in for another few days just in case the weather forecast is a little off...
Final update 3/26/2005:
Well, the weather skunked me this week. About 20 gallons of sap total since Tuesday. Buds aren't out, but the bacteria is in force. Taps are barely running. Finished the last bit of sweet in the evaporator, then filled with water. Time for cleanup and making some product to try to get some money return on my investment!!!
Will finish the year with slightly less than 50 gallons of syrup. 20 gallons of light, 10 gallons of medium and 20 gallons of dark.
Looking into running another 2 x 6 evaporator fired with oil in parallel to my existing unit for next year. Have to do something to cut down on boiling time as going to bed after 1am is getting old.
2005 March Weather