The day got off to a slow start.  Went to start the tractor.  Nothing happens.  The battery is dead.  The charger was on the battery two days ago so its not even holding a charge.   We took the battery out and went to Fleet Farm to get a new battery.  That was $45.00 which is a pretty good price.  With the new battery the tractor started fine.  But the tractor runs rough.  It takes  15 to 20 minutes to warm up to run properly.

Made it into the woods about 1:00 PM to break some trails with the tractor.  That was slow going.  There is not a lot of snow in the woods.  10” maybe.  But the tractor chugs along through it.  It rocks from side to side as the wheels spin down for traction.  And with the narrow front wheels it tends to snow plow rather then roll through.

The tapper, which sat unused for a year, started on five pulls.  Its such a hardy device.   Finally we got 50 buckets and headed out. 

The sap is moving in the trees.  Sap started flowing when we tapped.  We got the 50 taps out.  One way or another we were going to get some taps out today.

The weather during the next few days is a wintery mix.  Snow changing to rain changing back to snow.  Sunday looks good.  But next week a major snow storm may move in.  We’ll see.