Hard VS soft maple?

[John c]

I understand the whole sugar content thing, but it seems like soft maples flow sap at almost twice the rate. Is there truth to this or am I crazy?

[Kev]

I understand the whole sugar content thing, but it seems like soft maples flow sap at almost twice the rate. Is there truth to this or am I crazy?
thats been my observation also. but they seem to end the season earlier too.

[adk1]

I will be tapping a mixture of both, have to tap what you have

[John c]

thats been my observation also. but they seem to end the season earlier too.

Yeah, I tapped one yesterday and it was just gushing out like I've never really seen before! I ended up with 5 gal in a 20 hour period. To me that is a lot of sap in 20 hours from one 12" tree! If they all ran like that I would have to upgrade my operation, big time!

[Kev]

Yeah, I tapped one yesterday and it was just gushing out like I've never really seen before! I ended up with 5 gal in a 20 hour period. To me that is a lot of sap in 20 hours from one 12" tree! If they all ran like that I would have to upgrade my operation, big time!

I noticed the trees I tapped later in the season ran MUCH harder than the rest. I think they might have caught up with the earlier taps in a couple of weeks.
makes me think about waiting a little longer to tap next season.

[PerryW]

I tapped a few red maples last year and this year and they don't seem to run much at all. They are woods trees though.

[jgavic]

Talk about sap pouring out of trees...I just tapped 40 more yesterday since I found some more taps and look at this!!! I have never seen sap come out of a tree like this before...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmM-xhwEuWw

[John c]

Talk about sap pouring out of trees...I just tapped 40 more yesterday since I found some more taps and look at this!!! I have never seen sap come out of a tree like this before...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmM-xhwEuWw

That's about how my soft maple was running yesterday! If it was like that all season long I would upgrade and retire early. Lol!

[SPILEDRIVER]

hey john,the reds in glen aubrey run like mad as well just got to watch the flavor,i put in 20 more taps sunday to take advantage of the upcoming forcast

[spud]

John,

I used to tap about 100 soft maples in my woods years ago. They always ran a lot at the beginning but they slow way down as the season goes on. Research has shown they do not produce as much sap as sugar maples. But even so they still are worth tapping. I hope you have a great year:).

Spud

[500592]

My first year one tree was spitting it out at little intervals it was pretty funny

[John c]

hey john,the reds in glen aubrey run like mad as well just got to watch the flavor,i put in 20 more taps sunday to take advantage of the upcoming forcast

Howdy neighbor! Yeah I banged in a few more taps aswell, but man this weather isn't cooperating at all! Other than that soft maple the trees just don't wanna run much!

[3rdgen.maple]

I think what you guys will find out after a few years tapping soft maples is that they are unpredictable from year to year. The Hard maples seem to be pretty darn consitant from year to year. What seem to happen is you get a great running tree one year and then the darn thing wont put out a drop the following and vice versa. Weird but I see it happen every year and so have alot of other guys. Atleast I know when I tap a hard maple Im going to get sap from it unless it is a jack maple and I dont tap them. It takes a couple season to figure out which hard maple is actually a jack maple. Okay so you guys are saying to yourselves " What the heck is a jack maple" well it is a maple tree that doesnt give you jack sh!t for sap. lol

[John c]

I think what you guys will find out after a few years tapping soft maples is that they are unpredictable from year to year. The Hard maples seem to be pretty darn consitant from year to year. What seem to happen is you get a great running tree one year and then the darn thing wont put out a drop the following and vice versa. Weird but I see it happen every year and so have alot of other guys. Atleast I know when I tap a hard maple Im going to get sap from it unless it is a jack maple and I dont tap them. It takes a couple season to figure out which hard maple is actually a jack maple. Okay so you guys are saying to yourselves " What the heck is a jack maple" well it is a maple tree that doesnt give you jack sh!t for sap. lol

So from my limited experience I've found that there are quite a few "Jack maples"! The one thing I can't stand is when I tap a tree and it flows like crazy, so I think I hit a good one then it stops running in a few days!

[DrTimPerkins]

I understand the whole sugar content thing, but it seems like soft maples flow sap at almost twice the rate. Is there truth to this or am I crazy?

If those are the only two options, I'd take the second one. :) However if there are other explanations, the most likely is that trees display a very wide range of flow both in terms of sap volume and sugar concentration and you just happened to hit a very good one.

[SPILEDRIVER]

Howdy neighbor! Yeah I banged in a few more taps aswell, but man this weather isn't cooperating at all! Other than that soft maple the trees just don't wanna run much!

ill start to worry if they dont run tommorrow!forcast says we should get a good run of 5 days threw sunday,ill be bummed if there isnt anymore boiling this year!

[John c]

ill start to worry if they dont run tommorrow!forcast says we should get a good run of 5 days threw sunday,ill be bummed if there isnt anymore boiling this year!

You and me both! I have a good feeling we'll be boiling again soon. I know I will cuz I do have enough sap collected for close to a gallon, but I WANT MORE!

[Starting Small]

I have tapped a tree in my yard this year. Not sure what kind of maple it is, definitely not a sugar...anyway, the sap has tasted "woody" all year, yet the sap from my sugar maples has a nice sweet taste. I think I am going to pull the tap. I am pretty sure it is a red maple, would that make sense? Thanks,

[markct]

i tap about 80 percent red maple, they run like crap on gravity, put them on vac and they realy run!

[sugar ED]

I think what you guys will find out after a few years tapping soft maples is that they are unpredictable from year to year. The Hard maples seem to be pretty darn consitant from year to year. What seem to happen is you get a great running tree one year and then the darn thing wont put out a drop the following and vice versa. Weird but I see it happen every year and so have alot of other guys. Atleast I know when I tap a hard maple Im going to get sap from it unless it is a jack maple and I dont tap them. It takes a couple season to figure out which hard maple is actually a jack maple. Okay so you guys are saying to yourselves " What the heck is a jack maple" well it is a maple tree that doesnt give you jack sh!t for sap. lol

Ok do u all, hug your tree before and after tapping ? are u drilling deep enought ? some like it deeper than others! the weather here has'nt been verry nice to us temp wise, but today(35*as a high) I got about a gallon a tap-/+ and with the forcast we better be ready! my bush is on the south side of the hill and most of the northeren sides tap only 3/4 gal. so the sun helped today :} p.s don't stand beside those jack trees to long or your neighbors ???

[sugar ED]

I have tapped a tree in my yard this year. Not sure what kind of maple it is, definitely not a sugar...anyway, the sap has tasted "woody" all year, yet the sap from my sugar maples has a nice sweet taste. I think I am going to pull the tap. I am pretty sure it is a red maple, would that make sense? Thanks,

1st are u sure it's a maple? 2nd is the wood u drilled out light colored ?(maybe a dead/rotten spot in the tree? if dark color) I've seen a few that have no center(rotted)and if u tap into that ?? not so sweet winter frost! just don't put it into ur pans

[jimsudz]

Sawed a mix of soft maple and beech today and the soft maples were dripping like crazy. On the log deck 5 softs were dripping and one was bone try I don't know why. I ment to put a bucket on the floor over night to see how much I could gather over night but I forgot. I was in too much of a hurry to go and see if sap was running in the bush.

[3rdgen.maple]

Ok do u all, hug your tree before and after tapping ? are u drilling deep enought ? some like it deeper than others! the weather here has'nt been verry nice to us temp wise, but today(35*as a high) I got about a gallon a tap-/+ and with the forcast we better be ready! my bush is on the south side of the hill and most of the northeren sides tap only 3/4 gal. so the sun helped today :} p.s don't stand beside those jack trees to long or your neighbors ???

Hug my trees??? Heck no I threaten the heck out of them. lol Did I miss the joke about my neighbors or do you know them too? One thing is for sure Vac is the way to go and the softs will give up the sap. I dont have alot of them on vac but the ones that I had on buckets last year that didnt produce seem to be doing rather well on vac. Im pretty excited about getting atleast a few hundred more on vac. As soon as I can get csught up at work I will start running more lines for next year. I cant decide whats more fun running the evaporator or hanging tubing. Its getting so I walk right past my buckets to check the vac tank first.

[SPILEDRIVER]

You and me both! I have a good feeling we'll be boiling again soon. I know I will cuz I do have enough sap collected for close to a gallon, but I WANT MORE!

big sap!no more worries!sap is running like mad!just checked the sugar % and im still running over 2%!one of the tress i tapped 2 days ago came in at 3.5%!!!its a good thing i went and picked up my 300 gallon tote cause all my drums will be full by tommorrow,it will be a short visit to the maple fest cause ill be boiling all day saturday (friday to)!!!!forcast still looks good threw monday! go baby go!