The OFFICIAL MAPLE SYRUP thread

[Forerunner]

We sell very little.

Our syrup is much more labor intensive than you and other fancy pants operations.


Our best year, so far, we made 113 gallons. Our worst was a very short season, weather-wise, and we made 18 gallons.
We use 30-40 gallons a year for our home sweetener supply, so a good year can carry us for a few.
This year is shaping up to be a good one. 25-28 gallons, so far, and we're just starting to roll.

[chickenman]

Originally Posted by Forerunner

We sell very little.

Our syrup is much more labor intensive than you and other fancy pants operations.


Our best year, so far, we made 113 gallons. Our worst was a very short season, weather-wise, and we made 18 gallons.
We use 30-40 gallons a year for our home sweetener supply, so a good year can carry us for a few.
This year is shaping up to be a good one. 25-28 gallons, so far, and we're just starting to roll.

Any chance we could see some pics of your set-up Forerunner?

This will be my first year cooking down my own sap, up until now I have been trading it for finished syrup.

[Forerunner]

There are some pics early on in this thread.......

I'll have some more shots in a few days, to go with.

[tab]

MF, I remember you were dabating a few years back to go larger. How is it working out for you? Sounds like you have the whole setup.

FR, how many taps? That's a lot of syrup!!! I have been tickled to get 5-6 gallons. That is mostly by myself in addition to chores and an outside job. Hope to have some help as ds offered ws his family is acwuiring a taste for syrup. 50 - 60 taps is the goal this year. Looks like midweek, next week. So much for spring cleaning!

[Kris in MI]

Max (MichiganFarmer) are you tapping yet? I keep looking at the weather forecast for my area, and it's 2-4 days of good weather followed by 2-3 of too cold weather. Since I totally missed out last year, I'm getting antsy to get my taps going this year. What do you think?

[Forerunner]

Here's some random shots to give you some idea.

I was commenting to my photographer that it looked like a train wreck that someone reconfigured just a little so they could cook sap in it.

Note the firewood supply.....and overflow........ and the ox that pulls the maple cart when the river bottom gets soggy.


Tab...we're runnin' about 1800 taps, at the moment......almost all soft maples.


Pay no mind to the kid at the bottom. Somehow she manages to squeeze herself into just about everything I got goin' on.

[chickenman]

Excellent! Thanks for taking the time to post more pics.

I especially like the woodshed.

As far as tapping soft/red maples, how much difference is there in sugar content? I have three soft maples here that I went ahead and tapped this year. Yesterday was a decent day and I think I collected about 7 gallons of sap from those three trees.

[tab]

That's a lot of work, FR. Looks like you have a cutey helping with the ox. What's your definition of soft maple? I have heard different explanations with no real consensus....I know any maple can be tapped with silver and red being on the bottom of some people's list. I won't tap them. I do see a difference in the tree bark of the trees I tap. Some are very dark bark.

[Forerunner]

The wood shed was a gift from a fellow scrapper.

He cut up the frame and drive train, and didn't want to mess with the shell.
I noticed how good a condition the roof and floor were in and knew exactly what I was going to do with it.

I've seen the time that 30 gallons of soft maple sap made a gallon of syrup.

My experience is that sap quality is the same......but a hard maple will give twice or more sap in a season, and the hard maple won't go buddy until a month after the soft maples in the river bottom. If a man had a patch of both, he could tap the soft maples for the early, early run and then tap his sugar maples for the late run, or some such.

[Forerunner]

The maples I'm working are silver and red, except for the few sugar maples on the hill.

Check the bark on the trees in my first post, page one. Those are 98% of what we have to work with......but there's hundreds of them.

......and the ox I was referring to somehow missed the last photo op.

Here's what I was referring to.......

[bassmaster17327]

I want to try making maple syrup for the first time, I am not great at tree id. It looks like if the tree has opposite branches that it is probable a maple, What happens if I tap a tree that is not a maple? It was really cold the last two weeks, teens, but this week is in the 50's but it will probable get cold again. Should I put taps in now?

[Forerunner]

I would definitely tap now, and learn to identify your local trees.

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by tab

MF, I remember you were dabating a few years back to go larger. How is it working out for you? Sounds like you have the whole setup.

IM loving it! My lack of organization makes things very frustrating at times, but I love working for myself, and being outside on my terms. Im hoping to be able to make 6,7,8 hundred gallons of syrup per year from my own woods once I get the tubing and vacuum optimised.

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by Kris in MI

Max (MichiganFarmer) are you tapping yet? I keep looking at the weather forecast for my area, and it's 2-4 days of good weather followed by 2-3 of too cold weather. Since I totally missed out last year, I'm getting antsy to get my taps going this year. What do you think?

IM not tapping yet. The forecast for traverse area is still wintery for the next 10 days. I wont tap untill either I get all my tubing the way I want it and have time, or the forcast calls for a bunch of 45-50 degree days in a row. The concern with tapping too early is the holes healing shut. If you buy some check valve spiles, and the "stubbies" they connect to, you should be fine tapping now. The check vavles stop the natural bacteria from getting in the holes, and making the tree heal itself shut. You can buy them from sugar bush supply in lansing. 517-349-5185. 'course these are made for tubing, so you will need to sit your buckets on the ground and run a peice of tubing to the bucket, or tube a few trees into a barrel.
Check valves rock
.

[tab]

Fr, I thought a little girl, a little ox, .
MF, what is your production level now?
BM, check your long range forcast, sounds like now is the time to tap. Maybe try you tube for some visuals on tree id. Once you get it, you'll wonder how you didn't always know.

[Missy M]

So happy, boiled 16 gallons yesterday and got just shy of 4 pint (1/2) gallon. YUMMY!!!

Funny thing - my candy thermometer never reaches 212. When it gets to 204 my syrup is done. I do the spoon test. Last time (my first time) I kept boiling it to reach 212 and ended up with mostly crystal in my jars. This time I went by consistancy not temp. We'll see.

What do you all filter your end product with. I used cheese cloth folded over several times, I seem to have a lot of sediment.

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by tab

Fr, I thought a little girl, a little ox, .
MF, what is your production level now?
.

I have enouhg taps on vacuum to make abuot 500 gallons. maybe 800 with a better vacuumpump. Last year was terrible and i only made 160 gallons

[michiganfarmer]

Originally Posted by Missy M

So happy, boiled 16 gallons yesterday and got just shy of 4 pint (1/2) gallon. YUMMY!!!

Funny thing - my candy thermometer never reaches 212. When it gets to 204 my syrup is done. I do the spoon test. Last time (my first time) I kept boiling it to reach 212 and ended up with mostly crystal in my jars. This time I went by consistancy not temp. We'll see.

What do you all filter your end product with. I used cheese cloth folded over several times, I seem to have a lot of sediment.

If yuo let the syrup sit for a few days, a lot of the sugar sand will settle to the bottom making filtering much easier. We used to use clean cotton t shirts.

[HappySevenFarm]

Originally Posted by chickenman

Excellent! Thanks for taking the time to post more pics.

I especially like the woodshed.

As far as tapping soft/red maples, how much difference is there in sugar content? I have three soft maples here that I went ahead and tapped this year. Yesterday was a decent day and I think I collected about 7 gallons of sap from those three trees.

When we were in Maine all we had were red maples and our ratio was 60/1. It seems ive read somewhere that the red maples have a 1.5 to 2% sugar content verses 3% or more in sugar maples. Also it seems the silver has more nitre in the syrup.

[solidwoods]

I'm shopping taps/spiles. I see the ss sheet metal type and cast aluminum and plastic.
The sheet metal type require a insertion tool?
Seems like the cast would hold up a little more.
Any opinions?
Thanks
jim