Maple syrup

[Natty Bumppo]

View attachment 47211

My firewood project this afternoon.

Are you doing it by hand, or do you have a splitter?

 

[b116757]

Are you doing it by hand, or do you have a splitter?

Splitter I gave up hand splitting many years ago been eyeballing that 40ton Country Line splitter Tractor supply carries to possibly replace my old 22ton Swisher.

 

[Bill Loser]

Anyone tapping yet? I tapped 12 yesterday just to see . It's running, not strong but it's moving. Got the stove done and doing a test burn with water today.

 

[cavey]

Neighbor's run a decent sized commercial operation next door, due to the number of taps they always get tapping early. They have actually had sap running already on a few of the warm days which is more concerning than good...

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Not yet, though I visited some friends 30 minutes away and they were boiling. Sad the trees were absolutely gushing sap last week. I am still clearing trails from a nasty ice storm we got a month ago. Will probably tap later this week, though my average historical 1st tapping date is March 7th or so.

 

[Bill Loser]

Talked to my uncle, they started with 115 gallons, ran it through the ro and it took 3 hrs to cook it .
I tapped 12 more today. Getting everything set up to cook.

 

[Bill Loser]

Question, how many taps do you normally put out. And how much finished syrup do you usually get? I was just thinking today while putting in more, it seems like I get a pretty good ratio of syrup to spiles installed. Last year i had about 80 in and finished with a bit over 18 gallons.
I realize the variables, length of season, weather etc. Just curious.

 

[Apple Junkie]

Nice run this week in NY. Two of us tap 9 tree, 2 taps per tree. A couple good days will give us 150 gallons of sap to cook down to about 3-ish gallons of syrup. In a couples days, we've got all we need. Any additional sap is spread around among friends and neighbors who are also boiling for personal use.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Question, how many taps do you normally put out. And how much finished syrup do you usually get? I was just thinking today while putting in more, it seems like I get a pretty good ratio of syrup to spiles installed. Last year i had about 80 in and finished with a bit over 18 gallons.
I realize the variables, length of season, weather etc. Just curious.

I do 90 taps on average and make about 6 to 7 gallons....enough for my family for the year and to give away as gifts. I could make twice that if I really wanted to, but it's only a hobby for me and 6 gallons seems to be the "sweet" spot for me keeping it at the enjoyable hobby level and preventing it from becoming a chore.

 

[Ruttin1]

First time tapper. I tapped 8 trees on Saturday. Had 5 gallons of sap by Sunday night. Gonna do one more collection here and then it is supposed to get cold again for a while.
Should be just enough to do a nice trial run of everything before things really kick in a few weeks from now.
Think I’ll stick with 8 my first year and see how it goes.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

First time tapper. I tapped 8 trees on Saturday. Had 5 gallons of sap by Sunday night. Gonna do one more collection here and then it is supposed to get cold again for a while.
Should be just enough to do a nice trial run of everything before things really kick in a few weeks from now.
Think I’ll stick with 8 my first year and see how it goes.

Sounds great. What are you boiling on?

 

[Ruttin1]

Sounds great. What are you boiling on?

I have a fire pit with a grate I’m setting up. Using a couple 20 quart stainless steel pots. See how that goes and maybe invest in something for next year if needed.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Bill Loser]

That's kind of how I started. It'll be slow going but fun and rewarding.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

I have a fire pit with a grate I’m setting up. Using a couple 20 quart stainless steel pots. See how that goes and maybe invest in something for next year if needed.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Sounds great. Have fun.

 

[Bill Loser]

Wrapping up my season today, finished and bottled 6 and a half gallons today, giving me a season total of 14.5 gallons.
Weird season, could keep going yet even. I missed the first run by probably a week or more so never got the real good stuff this year. Looking at the forecast for here it looks like it could go a week or 2 yet.
No time anymore with baseball season starting. Got a few tweaks in mind for the stove for next year, and hopefully build a proper shack to cook in. Not as nice as Natty's for sure but something to keep out of the weather!

 

[chucker66]

Thinking about tapping in NW Wisconsin as we are supposed to be getting some above freezing temps the first week of Feb. We are about a month early. Anyone else in the Wis tapping yet?

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I'm waiting in SE MN for another month or so.

 

[chucker66]

Tapped 24 trees today. All were running and this is in northern Barron county. Should run for at least a week or so before we see daytime highs back in the high 20's.

 

[Bill Loser]

Tapped 24 trees today. All were running and this is in northern Barron county. Should run for at least a week or so before we see daytime highs back in the high 20's.

Have you checked the sugar content yet? Curious as to the quality of the sap this early.

 

[b116757]

Trees will sometimes heal back shut by the time main sap run occurs if tapped to early.