Who taps maples for sap on here?
- Thread starter alldaysit
- Start date
swat1018
5 year old buck +
I know it's a stupid question, but I'm in Indiana and have never tapped one myself. I can remember my dad doing so, when I was a kid. My buddy bought some taps and we were messing around with them last night. They didn't have instructions. Do you drill a pilot hole, or just drive them in? How far do they go in?
chucker66
5 year old buck +
Depending on the size of your taps. You will either have 5/16" taps or 7/16" taps. Drill a hole that size or I like to go 1/8" smaller about 1 1/2" into the tree at a slightly upward angle. Usually on the south side of the tree under a branch or above a root if possible but not necessary. Use a hammer and gently insert your tap into the hole. Sap will probably start running right away. Mine did yesterday when I tapped them. Good luck and there are no dumb questions, only dumb answers. One more thing go from 2' to 3' above the ground.
Chuck
Chuck
Bluecollaroutdoors
5 year old buck +
All of our taps are on the south side of the tree where the sun will heat it up the best.
Bluecollaroutdoors
5 year old buck +
I would guess on 15 taps my dad has 35 gallons of sap since Thursday. Not running wild but will be enough for us by the end of the week.
ruskbuckss
5 year old buck +
I ordered 10 taps this year. We missed the early run and started a little late. We tapped some of our boxelder in our yard. The kids were super excited to make maple syrup. We just finished boiling it down. I never had any respect for boxelders, but I do now. It tastes different than maple syrup, more of a light caramel flavor, but very good. I guess I will order some more taps for next year and tap our maples too.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Rusk - I never even heard of tapping box elder. Learn something new every day. If it's good ........ it's good !!
tylorklein
A good 3 year old buck
Since the 40 I bought is loaded with sugar maples we tapped some this year. We have 46 taps in now on buckets. Cooked today and made 48 8.75 oz bottles on finished syrup on a big homemade evaporator i found on CL for $300. Good excuse to be in the woods if nothing else...
Bill Loser
5 year old buck +
Cooked down my first 10 gallons of sap ever yesterday. All from.box elder. Turned out great ! Just gotta come up with better cooking process for next year. Took waaaayyy to long to cook that amount. 7 hours outside another couple in the house.
On the bright side found some silver and Norway on the property I can tap also. Found what looks like a black maple?? Is that common in s.e. Wisconsin?
On the bright side found some silver and Norway on the property I can tap also. Found what looks like a black maple?? Is that common in s.e. Wisconsin?
Redonthehead
5 year old buck +
Box edler hmmmm. can I tap my thorny locust and hedge trees?
Bill Loser
5 year old buck +
Tap what ever you want! I'll stick with maples.
rocksnstumps
5 year old buck +
Yes the range for black maple just extends into WI maybe the bottom 2 or 3 counties and does go further north as you go west of the area between the Wisconsin River and the Mississippi
rocksnstumps
5 year old buck +
Box elder is in the Acer (maple) family so while you have to boil alot more due to lower sugar content its doable. For trees outside of the maples, have heard of using birch but not the ones you mentionedBox edler hmmmm. can I tap my thorny locust and hedge trees?
Bill Loser
5 year old buck +
Had the syrup for breakfast today. Really good. Not exactly like standard maple syrup , has a honey like flavor to it. I got what comes out to 53:1 which from what I have read is pretty good. I think I boil led a little to long so might get closer to 59to 1 with the next batch. Sap is running like crazy right now. To bad I have to go out of state for a week or so.
IkemanTx
5 year old buck +
Anyone know if trees would be worth tapping down here in Texas? Most of the trees will grow down here even though they aren't native. We have a few very small native populations of bigtooth maples around the Guadalupe Mountain range referred to as the "lost maples" because they are all that's left from the retreat of the last ice age. Also, red maples are a very common decorative landscape tree.
I guess our mild winters would be the biggest drawback. I wouldn't mind planting quite a few for cover and browse, tapping them would just be a fun added bonus down the road.
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I guess our mild winters would be the biggest drawback. I wouldn't mind planting quite a few for cover and browse, tapping them would just be a fun added bonus down the road.
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Natty Bumppo
5 year old buck +
You need very a very specific temperature range to get the sucrose rich sap in maples to flow. Contrary to common belief, the sap actually flows down towards the tap hole during the day, not up from the roots. It's likely that you might get decent conditions every now and then for sap to flow and have some fun tapping the trees.
ruskbuckss
5 year old buck +
I guess black walnut can be tapped too. I don't remember if it was walnut or birch but the ratio is 100 to 1. That's a lot of boiling down.
tooln
5 year old buck +
I was wrong in my post above, here's a link with the correct information.
http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/produc/sapflow.htm
http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/produc/sapflow.htm
Jim Timber
5 year old buck +
Birch is 150-200:1. It's a premium product if you have the trees - sells for $$$.
Tapping isn't in the cards for me again this year. I'll just have to enjoy seeing you guys do it.
Natty, that's an awesome sugar shack! Did you do the frame, or buy it and assemble?
Tapping isn't in the cards for me again this year. I'll just have to enjoy seeing you guys do it.
Natty, that's an awesome sugar shack! Did you do the frame, or buy it and assemble?
