The Official 2008 Maple Syrup Thread.
 

Place all your preparations, questions and pictures for Maple Syrup production here.

I think last year's thread was lost in the great crash of '07. 'Tis a shame, so please repost your pictures from last year also.

yeah, i tried to bump that one too late. perhaps we need a quintessential maple syrup thread/sticky...lol.

We are ready to try our hand at making syrup here in Kentucky. We were bit by the maple syrup bug the last two years in Maine so we are crossing our fingers. Our neighbor told us of someone here in the area that did make some so we are getting excited. We are going to tap some trees today since the temps the next few days looks promising.

I am getting ready for our first attempt at maple syrup. Thanks for the thread. I will be tapping 6 trees this year. I need to get some taps this week. I am not too sure when I will be starting. I'll be keeping an eye on all you pros.

I am going to switch to bags
 

Found a good price at RMG Sugar bush. I am not sure which spiles to order. I have called them and sent emails to of which I have not gotten a reply as of yet.But I will get them ordered by Monday at the lastest. Only going to tap 20 trees. I made a new stainless steel pan last year and it has not been tried out yet.So we will see how it works.

i think they use the plastic "Lamb" (a brand) spouts wit hthe bags. not totally sure. i am thinking of biting the bullet and using all tubing this year so i don't have to haul buckets.

I got hold of them this am
 

she is going to phone me back with a price.
Since we timbered last year, using tubing is out of the question. We sold about 125 maples.. and the remaining ones are pretty scattered. so it will be buckets and barrels for me this year.

i am curious as to what the maple brought if you remember. i decided not to sell mine when i timbered as i think they only offered 15-17 cents per board foot.

I am not sure off hand
 

But it was way more than that I am sure..

To dang cold to be getting the maple bug yet. I am tapping 20 trees this year. most are 4 feet throw so can use 3 or 4 taps on a tree. Got to get to the old chicken barn in Searsport to get more old taps. they are 1$ each. I like them much better then any new ones I have tried. I only have one qourt left from last year, everybody wants the stuff, but few are willing to do any work for it. I think I will be saleing it this year. Yea right, they will ask and out the door it will go, I must admit it makes me proud when thay brag about me and my syrup.

I gave away quite a bit myself
 

Kind of like my grapes.. I give a lot away too..But grapes go in grape form not wine or juice..

I am using my last quart of syrup now. I tap 6 to 8 trees. Just for us and my parents. I've always thought about tapping a few birch trees as well. I know others do this. I'm curious if the taste is a little different, of if its true what I've heard, that you can't tell. Pails and buckets here.

Ahhh, grapes. Full of wild grapes here. Great jelly from them. Hopefully our stash of wild grape jelly will hold out till fall.

Still a ways away from tapping here in Eastern Ontario, I'm getting ready though. Probably about 1 taps this year and more next. Chris

Yeah we won't be tapping for a coupla months around here, but I know a few of you will be.

We tapped 10 trees today just to see what happens. The low tonight is supposed to be 15 and the high tomorrow sunny and 45. We set up our evaporator today as well and are hoping that we get some sap tomorrow afternoon.

So as a question... I know this is really subjective but here goes. I'm going to plant some sugar maples this year in hopes of making syrup later on in life. How many trees would be a good number to supply an extended family?

We are gonna tap about 20 trees for a total of about 35 taps. We will be wait'in till early march tho. Here are some picks of the Pa mountain Gold. :)


Our collection method. We use Vacuum sealer bags and home made taps.
http://images30.fotki.com/v51/photos...00_0243-vi.jpg


Our simple boiling method. We now use pans and a wood fire.
http://images16.fotki.com/v283/photo...00_0244-vi.jpg

The result.

http://images6.fotki.com/v74/photos/...00_0246-vi.jpg

I'd plant 150.
50 for the deer.
50 for the storm.
50 to make syrup.
To make good runs the trees will need to be 40 or so years old. I hope your a young man. :)

i like to figure on a sap run lasting 10 days. it could be a week or it could be three. each tap should give 1/2 gallon to 1 1/2 gallons per day on a good day. it takes an average of (since the sugar content varies by specie of tree, canopy health, genetics etc.) @ 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. a tree can have basically one tap for every 10 inches of diameter in size. a 10 inch tree can have one tap, a 20 inch tree can have two etc. studies suggest that you gain nothing by using more than 3 taps on a tree...(we will see as i have a few hogs that look like they can take 4, lol).

so, figure how much syrup you will need. multiply by 4 and that should give you the number of taps you need based on a ten day run. let's say i want 5 gallons of syrup for my extended family for the year. i need 200 gallons of sap to make 5 gallons of syrup. so that means i need 20 gallons per day...or 20 taps since the average should be about a gallon for each tap.

Young lady :)

And yes, this is a longterm plan... a lot of it is something I can envision passing on to my grandchildren. My oldest is 15 months now.

You probably wont either.


I bought my evaporator from RMG.

I have since changed suppliers.

I buy from Hide away sugar bush. 231-885-2900

These are last year. It was a very bad year. I sure hope for more sap this year.

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/3...ruckzs3.th.jpg

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/2...treeqf3.th.jpg

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/7...oodspc4.th.jpg

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/6...ouseaq3.th.jpg

http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/3528/mexf0.th.jpg

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/605...atoryq1.th.jpg


http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/466...ousecg7.th.jpg

I'm thinking of tapping a few trees this year too. I've got a few nice maples in my front yard and a few more out back. I won't get a lot from them, but I figure I might as well get what I can.

Michelle

If they are big trees you might be pleasantly surprised.

Like Bob said, large trees can handle 3, and sometimes 4 5 gallon buckets, and when you get a good hard freeze, then a 50 degree day, the tree will fill 3 or 4 5 gallon buckets....AND, if the trees are road trees, I mean trees that have a full canopy like the trees along the side of the road, the sugar content will be 3% or more witch means it only takes 28 gallons or less to make a gallon of syrup.

Thanks guys! These are very big trees-- they used to be tapped every year when I was a kid, but I haven't done it since I lived here. I think back then ( up to 30 years ago) the old guy had 3 taps per tree, but I might try 4?? What do ya think??

The ones in the front would be considered 'road trees', but the ones out back are in among quite a few other trees. I might go tap a few at my parents too.

Michelle

If you are going to tap them every year, I think 3 is plenty. If you are only going to tap them every few years then I think 4 would be ok.

Jus think about it. 4 holes every year...it wouldnt take mane years and there would be a lot of holes.

Thanks. I'll go with three then because I'll probably do it every year. Nobody has tapped them in probably 15 years-- the old guy died in '95 and he hadn't done it in a few years before that-- he was in his 90's by then.

Michelle

Had a friend growing up who lived on a small lot in town. One VERY large Sugar Maple and they could get a couple of gallons of syrup out of it in a good year.

WOW, LOL that is amazing

Maybe I'll be that lucky :)

Michelle

I'm getting excited...I asked DH today where our buckets and taps were. :)

Thank you everyone for all of the information and suggestions.

I don't mean to cut in on this thread, but I figured this would be the time to get a question I've had since I was little answered. Can you make syrup from the sap of a Boxelder tree??? I know it is a Maple, and we have several of them growing in the coulees around here. Will they even bleed out like a Sugar Maple? Would this be a waste of time to try? Thanks if anyone knows.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/for-fact/0036.html

Yes, but it's not sweet and light like maple syrup, more heavy like sorghum.

seedspreader, I sure thank you! Talk about quick to answer! I am all excited now, cause I may be the only soul in this country to have ever created a bottle of maple syrup, LOL! Thanks again friend. Joel

I count on one liter (1/4 gallon for the American folks) of finished syrup per tap per year. I haven't been disappointed yet.

I even tap a large number of silver maples, which seem to make up for the low sugar content with an inordinate amount of sap.

Pete

We tap about 75-80 trees now, about 2 or 3% of what we have available.

We have plans to expand, as we want to go from a hobby that pays for itself [sorta] to an actual cash crop. The current thinking is to tag our trees with numbered cattle tags, and keep track of how each tree produces. We will probably add 30 or so taps this season (about a month or so off), and see how it goes.

I have used a lot of different spiles, and have concluded that the formed stainless ones, look like they're curled around a cone to make them, I think those have produced the best for us over time. They're easy to get out and clean up, as well.

Like the fellow in Michigan said, it was a dismal year in Wisconsin last season.

But hope springs eternal :-) Sap is the best time of the year.

Don

I do not have a lot of maple on my place but a lot of box elder along the creek.Have tapped these for years and have gotten good results.It takes about 10% more water then sugar maple but cooked down I can not tell any diff. I have a diff. way of tapping, I use a hoof knife and make a line about a foot long up and down on the tree and then 4to5 cuts that angle to the main cut. I make about a 3/4 inch hole and use hard plastic pipe with about 1/2 of it open on top. On a good day have saw it almost a steady stream for a few seconds. Box elder are not long living along the creek and does not seem to hurt them,they are a member of the maple family.

Holy Cow! I am new to the site and my mind is racing... sooooo, what kind of maple trees can you tap? Any kind or does it have to be a particular species? The thought of collecting sap and making my own syrup... are you kidding me??? Where the heck have I been? (Can anybody tell that this is a very exciting proposition for me?) I think I have some quick homework to do but wanted to know about which maples can be used. Wow! You guys are so amazing. (Yes, I am easily entertained but this is very cool and I hope those of you who know how to do these things are amazing!)

you want the native maples...sugar maple, black maple, red maple and silver maple. avoid norway maple as it has cloudy sap. box elder can be tapped as well.