softwood

[adk1]

I have quite a mixture of softwoods in my "sugarbush" of sorts. never been tapped so this is all new. should I eliminate them? They are mainly hemlock...I ahve never tapped the stand yet. My plan is to collect using sap sacks, dumpign itno 5 gal buckets and then takign them to a dump station or two. The trees are directly behind my house on a pretty good grade. Talking 50 taps to start I would say, could tap more.

[red maples]

Depends, Are you thinning? are the woods overgrown? They will block out the sun from the trunk and the ground but thin slowly especially if the woods are fairly dense by making release meaning only taking a few trees at a time on one side of a particular tree this way you won't sun scald on your trees.

[collinsmapleman2012]

i say thin it so that the trees will have room to expand their crowns. it makes a difference, because bigger crowns=more leaves=more sap
adk1, where are you in the southern adirondacks?

[maple flats]

Red maples is correct. Don't thin too fast or you get 2 or more problems. One is sun scald, another is windthrow ( trees uproot because they have not had time to send out new roots in response to the new light) and epicormic branching. That is when a bud that has been suppressed because of lack of sun now gets sun, new branches form on the trunk. To a syrup maker this is not in itself bad, but if you want to log it someday to open the bush up, more, the first 8 ft are usually low grade because of the staining, but above the 1st 8' log could be a grade or 2 higher unless it has epicormic branching. The biggest problem is probably windthrow, and if one uproots it often takes others with it.

[wally]

epicormic branching. That is when a bud that has been suppressed because of lack of sun now gets sun, new branches form on the trunk. To a syrup maker this is not in itself bad, but if you want to log it someday to open the bush up, more, the first 8 ft are usually low grade because of the staining, but above the 1st 8' log could be a grade or 2 higher unless it has epicormic branching.

epicormic branching does occur in sugar maples, but it is a far bigger concern (in the northeast) with red oak, which is far more susceptible. also, as you pointed out, the first 6 to 8 feet will have stain/defect from tapping, and above that should be better. the first 8 feet are generally the best, grade-wise, for veneer/logs. really, for a sugar bush, i'm not sure i'd worry too much about epicormic branching ruining the value of your logs. that's already happened by tapping.

[adk1]

yeah I dont ever plan on logging this section, we arent talking about alot of acreage here. Where I plan on tapping is about 3 acres of trees, somewhat spiratic mixture all on a fairly steep grade. there are alot of hemlocks mixed in and it is definatly shading it. the slope faces S/SE.

I dont plan on going too big at first. planning on sap sacks, collecting in 5 gallon pails and having 2 dump stations that will carry down to my future sugarhouse, which is located behind my garage. it is an old shed, not to big but in an ideal location.

Still all in the planning stages. Since I am not going to go big at first, I will probably thin out the bush as I go, since i will use the hemlock as my evap fuel. I was thinking about curring all the trees down prior to setting everything up but I guess there are reasons for not doing that!

[red maples]

yes definitly bigger crown=more sugar etc etc, From what I have read on hear with results from thinning is about 2-5 years you will start to see an impact on the quality of sap you are getting.

What I do as far as thinning I have alot of thinning to do but I am not planning on going anywhere, (moving that is) for a good many years if ever. But I am thinning as I need the wood, Hard wood for the house and soft wood for Evaporator food. it took me 2 years to get rid of all the dead/dieing standing I have heated my house on that and I haven't cut live tree unless it was in the way. This year will be the first cuttin glive trees. as far as soft wood goes we had so much of it come down in the last few years from bad freaky storms that I still have plenty for hopefully the next 2 years sitting around and in the woods. Some I still need to cut and stack.