michiganfarmer2
03-07-2011, 07:56 AM
I grew up on a 40 head dairy farm in Kingsley abuot 20 miles south if Traverse. My dad and his dad made a dozen gallons of syrup per year when I was preteen. When I was about 13, in the early 80s, mom, dad, me and my 2 siblings started makng syrup. ..just 10 gallons per year for the family. Dads dad had made a 3x3 flat pan back in the 60s, and we used that. Actually I still have it, and that pan is what I started with in 2000.
Fast forward... I got out of the marine corps in nov of 91, already married, and our first kid was born in March of 92. We bought this 80 acres in august. Dad had started milking cows again, and was working at a sharpenign shop in Traverse. He was working, typical for him, about 90 hours a week. He asked me if I wanted to milk cows. HELL YES! All I ever wanted since I was a kid was to raise my kids farming. I jumped on it. It didint last long. I was a jerk of a husband. The combination of that, and all the time spent in the barn almost ended my marriage, so I quit milking cows. Dad and I sold all the cattle, and I took a job in town. That was about 1996.
Sometime around 99, or 2000, I got the idea to make a little syrup. I asked dad about the equipment. He said he still had the pan, the buckets and spiles. I had about 12 acres of maples on the back of our 80. I hung a couple dozen buckets and made about 5 gallons one year. Expanded a ittle the next year. Made about 10 gallons for a couple years, then I found out about tubing. THE GAME WAS ON!!! LOL. The last year I used that flat pan, we made about 40 gallons. The hours of boilign about killed us all.
I took my income tax refund one year, skipped paying the property taxes(expensive decision), and bought a 2x6 raised flue evaporator. I knew noting about them. WHen the dealer offered all stainless arch, and stack, I said yes(another very expensive, un-needed expendature). Within a couple years I had the entire 12 acres tubed on gravity, and the tubing laying on the ground. That one year was a good sap year. I got 1500 gallons per day for 10 days. We were drownning in sap. Dad would start boiling about 4am. My wife woudl take over about 9am. Dad would come back at 2pm when the wife had to go to work. I would to go collect sap when I got home at 530pm, then Id boil till 11 pm. We coukld only get about 500 gallons of sap throught that 2x6. Luckily, well kinda, some neighbors, the Olds, was always buying sap. They paid terrible, 8 cents per percent, but it was better than dumping the sap on the ground. I asked them if they would ruund my sap through their RO. They said no. They were burried too. At the end of the season, I thoguht my dad and my wife were gonna disown me, or kill me, or maybe both. Dad said "THIS IS BS!!!" My wife ddint say much, but I could see it in her eyes. I think we made 80 gallons that year.
We left the tubing in the woods, but tied it to the trees, up over our heads. I talked to dad and my wife, they both agreed that they WERE NOT going to have a repeat of the previous year. I talked to the wife and we decided to borrow against her retirement to buy a bigger evaporator. We found this used 3x12 at sugar bush in Lansing. It cost $5000. We boguht in in feb of 07. I think we made about 120 gallons that year. It wasnt a very good year.
By 08 the squirels had ruined 12 acres of tubing. I dotn rmemeber what it cost to tube all that, maybe $4000, but it was so full of leaks, I only got about 1/3 the sap that I had gottan when I ran the 2x6. I was just sick! All that work! All the help from family and friemds to put all that tubing out...ruined.
I didn tknow what to do. Dad and my wife wanted me to quit. I couldnt. I had the bug.... actually more like insanity. Mom, Dad, My wife and kids helped me pull all the tubing out of the woods. We spent a month cutting all the spiles, and ts out of the 5/16, chopped it all into 1 foot peices and scrapped it. I felt terrible for all the work my family had to do because of my porr decision making. I couldnt bring myself to scrap the mains, so I left it lay in the feild, not knowing what to do with it. In 09, I heard about high tensile wire. I thgouht Id give that a try. I streched some high tensile, put some new mains up, bought a gas powered 3 diaphragm vacuum pump, and hung about 300 buckets on neighbors road trees. We made about 150 gallons that year. I marked the trees, and tubing and pulled it all out after the season. Last year I had the family, and 2 hired people help put it back iin. That worked, but it was so labor intensive, I knew I wouldnt be able to do that by myslef once the kids were grown and gone. I heard about people side tieing the mains away from the trees, and leaving all the tubing in the woods all year round so I tried it. We made 180 gallons last year, but I bought a lot of sap too. This spring I havent found much squirrel damage at all. I was, well we all are, pretty happy about that.
This year, Im adding more high tensile, more mains, and more taps. Im even putting the 5/16 on wire. After the season, Im gonna take the 5/16 and lay it on the mains so it wont get burried in the snow next winter, and to keep it away from the trees so the squirrels cant chew on it. IM optimistic that if we have a good sap season, there no reason why I, I mean we, cant make 300 gallons. I recently got my hands on a surge vacuum pump. I think if I can sell enough syrup this year for enough money to get my entire 12 acres tubed this summer, and buy a releaser, I might be able to make 400 or 500 gallons next year.
If this goes as planned, I need to buy an RO, and there is a neigbor who has about 20 acres of maples I want to talk to about buying, or leasing.
Fast forward... I got out of the marine corps in nov of 91, already married, and our first kid was born in March of 92. We bought this 80 acres in august. Dad had started milking cows again, and was working at a sharpenign shop in Traverse. He was working, typical for him, about 90 hours a week. He asked me if I wanted to milk cows. HELL YES! All I ever wanted since I was a kid was to raise my kids farming. I jumped on it. It didint last long. I was a jerk of a husband. The combination of that, and all the time spent in the barn almost ended my marriage, so I quit milking cows. Dad and I sold all the cattle, and I took a job in town. That was about 1996.
Sometime around 99, or 2000, I got the idea to make a little syrup. I asked dad about the equipment. He said he still had the pan, the buckets and spiles. I had about 12 acres of maples on the back of our 80. I hung a couple dozen buckets and made about 5 gallons one year. Expanded a ittle the next year. Made about 10 gallons for a couple years, then I found out about tubing. THE GAME WAS ON!!! LOL. The last year I used that flat pan, we made about 40 gallons. The hours of boilign about killed us all.
I took my income tax refund one year, skipped paying the property taxes(expensive decision), and bought a 2x6 raised flue evaporator. I knew noting about them. WHen the dealer offered all stainless arch, and stack, I said yes(another very expensive, un-needed expendature). Within a couple years I had the entire 12 acres tubed on gravity, and the tubing laying on the ground. That one year was a good sap year. I got 1500 gallons per day for 10 days. We were drownning in sap. Dad would start boiling about 4am. My wife woudl take over about 9am. Dad would come back at 2pm when the wife had to go to work. I would to go collect sap when I got home at 530pm, then Id boil till 11 pm. We coukld only get about 500 gallons of sap throught that 2x6. Luckily, well kinda, some neighbors, the Olds, was always buying sap. They paid terrible, 8 cents per percent, but it was better than dumping the sap on the ground. I asked them if they would ruund my sap through their RO. They said no. They were burried too. At the end of the season, I thoguht my dad and my wife were gonna disown me, or kill me, or maybe both. Dad said "THIS IS BS!!!" My wife ddint say much, but I could see it in her eyes. I think we made 80 gallons that year.
We left the tubing in the woods, but tied it to the trees, up over our heads. I talked to dad and my wife, they both agreed that they WERE NOT going to have a repeat of the previous year. I talked to the wife and we decided to borrow against her retirement to buy a bigger evaporator. We found this used 3x12 at sugar bush in Lansing. It cost $5000. We boguht in in feb of 07. I think we made about 120 gallons that year. It wasnt a very good year.
By 08 the squirels had ruined 12 acres of tubing. I dotn rmemeber what it cost to tube all that, maybe $4000, but it was so full of leaks, I only got about 1/3 the sap that I had gottan when I ran the 2x6. I was just sick! All that work! All the help from family and friemds to put all that tubing out...ruined.
I didn tknow what to do. Dad and my wife wanted me to quit. I couldnt. I had the bug.... actually more like insanity. Mom, Dad, My wife and kids helped me pull all the tubing out of the woods. We spent a month cutting all the spiles, and ts out of the 5/16, chopped it all into 1 foot peices and scrapped it. I felt terrible for all the work my family had to do because of my porr decision making. I couldnt bring myself to scrap the mains, so I left it lay in the feild, not knowing what to do with it. In 09, I heard about high tensile wire. I thgouht Id give that a try. I streched some high tensile, put some new mains up, bought a gas powered 3 diaphragm vacuum pump, and hung about 300 buckets on neighbors road trees. We made about 150 gallons that year. I marked the trees, and tubing and pulled it all out after the season. Last year I had the family, and 2 hired people help put it back iin. That worked, but it was so labor intensive, I knew I wouldnt be able to do that by myslef once the kids were grown and gone. I heard about people side tieing the mains away from the trees, and leaving all the tubing in the woods all year round so I tried it. We made 180 gallons last year, but I bought a lot of sap too. This spring I havent found much squirrel damage at all. I was, well we all are, pretty happy about that.
This year, Im adding more high tensile, more mains, and more taps. Im even putting the 5/16 on wire. After the season, Im gonna take the 5/16 and lay it on the mains so it wont get burried in the snow next winter, and to keep it away from the trees so the squirrels cant chew on it. IM optimistic that if we have a good sap season, there no reason why I, I mean we, cant make 300 gallons. I recently got my hands on a surge vacuum pump. I think if I can sell enough syrup this year for enough money to get my entire 12 acres tubed this summer, and buy a releaser, I might be able to make 400 or 500 gallons next year.
If this goes as planned, I need to buy an RO, and there is a neigbor who has about 20 acres of maples I want to talk to about buying, or leasing.