2017

Tapped out on February 18 - 99 taps (91 on 3/16" tubing with check valves and 8 sap bags)

RO - 6 - 150gpd membranes - processing 10gph at a 7.5% concentrate.

2/23 sugar dropped well below 1.5% the refractometer has not been very accurate so I re-calibrated on 2/28.

2/22-3/1 - temperatures were as high as 70 during the day and above freezing most nights.

3/2 - Boiled and finished off everything collected to date - flooded the pan with water - everything is empty in the woods

and the lines stopped running.

3/3-3/7 - Temperatures were only in the low 30s during the day and down to single digits at night.

3/10-3/17 - Temperatures dropped highs in low 30s and lows down in the 20s and teens - no sap runs

3/26 pulled the taps at 8AM there was another 170 gallons of clear sap nobody wanted it so pumped it to the ground. Out of wood and containers

but if I left them until April 2nd could easily of made another 10 gallons of syrup - will plan on more wood and containers for next year.

Totals for the year:

Season lasted 5 weeks

Gallons of sap - 2280

Gallons after RO - 405

RO removed 87% of the water

Averaged 67 gallons of sap for every gallon of syrup - sap was around 1.3% sugar which was .2 lower than our 18 average.

Total hours involved from collecting, boiling and filtering as well as tapping out and cleaning up 104. Averaged 3 hours for every gallon of syrup.

Total syrup produced - 34 gallons (14 dark and 20 amber)