How much per tap?

[3fires]

I've heard that the average amount of syrup per tap is between 1/4 and 1/3 gallon. But, after looking at the # of taps some folks have and seeing how much syrup they've ended up with this year, I'm thinking that's not quite a good estimate, as some folks seem to only be getting a tenth of a gallon per tap, maybe even less.

I have 30 taps and have made 8.3 gallons in roughly 4 weeks time, so, that's roughly .28 gallons per tap, which falls right in line with the averages, but most of my trees are out in the open with huge crowns.

I'm just curious to know how much you all got per tap this year and if it measures up to the listed averages. If not, I'm curious to know why, was it the weather? do woodland trees produce much less? Did the ants and squirrels run off with it?

What is it that makes the difference between a tenth and a third of a gallon per tap?

[wnybassman]

33 buckets for a frog hair under 9 gallons. .27 gallons per tap, but I pulled my taps a couple weeks ago. Could have made much more, especially this week coming up. I had enough though.

[Jeff E]

Crown, therefore sugar content plays a big role in production.
You could have perfect conditions with 1.5 sap, and make less than a quart per tap on forest crowded trees, or you could have fence line, pasture or well managed trees that make 4.0 sap, and even on a bad year, make over a 1/3 gallon per tap.

[500592]

There is one guy with 180 taps and got 150 gallons of syrup

[Jeff E]

That is amazing production.
I would guess great trees, tubing done right with high vacuum.

I pulled 150 cords of wood off of my 40ac 3 years ago to get my maples some head room, with thoughts of big numbers for the next owner of this sugarbush.

[KenWP]

If I could get a 1/3 of a gallon of sap from my trees I would be happy.Just never seem to get much sap on the trees close to the house.If I tap way out in the bush they do better but that half mile carry kills me off quick.

[CBOYER]

Quotas deliver to producer in Qc are based on 2.25Lbs /tap,
around .2gal per tap.

[40to1]

I had 28 active taps and got just over 16 gallons. So I'm getting just over a half gallon per tap.
However, the trees I tap are all suburban specimens. Huge crowns, no competition, 26 hours of sunlight a day....

[3fires]

I was averaging a half gallon of sap per tree per day, but some trees just didn't produce enough to gather and others produced 2-4 gallons a day.

Do trees produce differently from year to year and do some trees just not produce?

I'm trying to decide if I should even bother tapping the trees that didn't put out. All the trees "appear" healthy.

[wnybassman]

I think it is somewhat a matter of hitting a good "vein" in the tree or not. I have had trees act differently from year to year and I think this is the case anyway.

[ca2devri]

My first year too. I have 45 taps in, with many of them forest trees (small crowns). I would say that only about 10 of my taps run well and they are the biggest trees and some at the forest edge. The rest run very slowly and I have 2-3 that have been almost dry.

I plan on marking the good ones and next year looking further for bigger trees and more edge trees. I am wondering if a forest thinning would help (for the long run).

Chris

[Sugarmaker]

We made approx 190 gal on 550 taps = .34 gal of syrup per tap on gravity tubing. Had lots of sap, about 8,000 gallons [14.5 gallons per tap] and was always 2% or greater.
Chris

[Kev]

I think it is somewhat a matter of hitting a good "vein" in the tree or not. I have had trees act differently from year to year and I think this is the case anyway.
any suggestions on improving the chances of hitting a "vein"?

[wnybassman]

any suggestions on improving the chances of hitting a "vein"?

I've always read placing a tap above a good tap root or below a good size branch, or cluster of branches, is a good idea. Said sap flow is best in these areas. I've always tried to do this anyway, as best as I can with staying away from previous years tap holes.

[PerryW]

I get between about a pint and a half of syrup from each taphole over a 20 year period. Course most of my trees are small and scraggly, perched on a steep ledge on a northeast slope with health spouts on about half of them (and no vacuum).

Also, I'm pretty much guessing how many taps I have. I've tried to count then but I can't seem to get past 60 or 70.

[heus]

113 gallons on 331 taps= .35, however I hope to get to 120 by this weekend. That would be .36+ gal per tap. Mostly forest trees with small crowns. 317 sugars and 14 reds all on buckets
Last year I was 36 gallons on 200 taps (.18) mostly on gravity tubing stations

[802maple]

Tapping has alot to do with it also, Always be aware of the health of the tree above and below the tap and as mentioned before do not tap to close to a old tap hole. Some old tap holes are hard to find, but if you look at the tree carefully you can see where a tap hole 15 years old is in a tree by the change in what I call the texture of the bark. I know a lot of sugarmakers just worry about how many holes they can drill in a tree per day and not worry about placement. In the end that will cut down on there quality and quantity. I was watching our local tv news the other night and they had a picture of a bucket on tree that was less then 2 inches from a huge scar, where the bark was missing just over it and it wasn't running, go figure

[Southtowns27]

We have always been right around .10 gal/tap. Not great at all, but that's the way it is. We are at one of the highest local elevations right smack in the middle of a lake effect snow belt and it's always windy up here. I think those things just make our trees run less and slower when they do. This year, which has been a remarkable season for us anyway, we're up to .17 gal/tap.

[smokeyamber]

On the original question, I have trees that did nothing early on and now are going like crazy, so don't pull taps until the season is over, cause there is nothing more sad than seeing a tree gushing from the taphole with no tap in there ! :(

[brookledge]

I'm over .5 gal per tap and still going. syrup is getting dark but the flavor is still decent
Keith

[3fires]

On the original question, I have trees that did nothing early on and now are going like crazy, so don't pull taps until the season is over, cause there is nothing more sad than seeing a tree gushing from the taphole with no tap in there ! :(

I know that's right now, because I was gonna pull mine, but now they are all gushing, and it's really good clear sap, even from my reds which have had the little "whiskers" just poking out of the buds for about two weeks now.

[maple marc]

I did 47 gallons on 93 taps this year, all buckets. That's .5 gal/tap. I agree with 40to1 that the crown and location of the tree make a big difference in your yield. My best trees are in yards, 39 taps. Then I have 30 in a fence row. With buckets, I know who's putting out and who's not. I ignore the trees that don't put out. I don't feel like walking over to a tree that's only going to give me a gallon of sap whenever I collect. I want to see 4 gallons of 2% in that bucket!

The guy that got 1 gallon per tap....that's amazing. I'd call that the holy grail of maple! It's hard to imagine taps staying open for that long. It's something to shoot for.

[michiganfarmer2]

I didnt get a quart per tap. Close though. I bought a little concentrate, and a lot of sap. I might have done better if I hadnt had so much generator, and vacuum pump motor trouble

[michigansugarman]

We made 17 gallons syrup with 50 taps on buckets = .34 gal. per tap.

All sugar and black maples. A pretty typical year for us.

[DrTimPerkins]

any suggestions on improving the chances of hitting a "vein"?

All "white" wood in a maple tree is good for sap production. No such things as "veins." Tapping over a root or under a branch, or just on the north side or just the south is also not good as it encourages cluster-tapping. Utilize the full tapping band for good sap production and good tree health.

[PerryW]

All "white" wood in a maple tree is good for sap production. No such things as "veins." Tapping over a root or under a branch, or just on the north side or just the south is also not good as it encourages cluster-tapping. Utilize the full tapping band for good sap production and good tree health.

In a high snow year like this, I utilize the extreme upper end of this tapping band. I just need to hire an out of work 7 foot basketball player to pull the taps.

[3fires]

Final numbers for my 30 taps, for what it's worth:

I tapped half on the 28th of Feb. and the rest on the 1st of March. My final usable collection was on April 4. I collected another 30 gallons of sap when I pulled my taps on the 5th, but ended up pitching it due to cloudiness.

491 gallons of sap / 30 = 16.37 per tap / 35 days = .47 gallons of sap per tap per day

491 / 11.68 gallons of maple = 42 gallons of sap per gallon of syrup

11.68 / 30 = .39 gallons of syrup per tap, same as 16.37 / 42 = .39

Although, some sap was spilled, some ice was pitched, bottles were all filled to rim, and some was lost in filters.

8 batches * 4-8 oz. per filtering = 32-64 oz. lost in filtering alone.

1-2 oz. * 125 bottles = 125 to 250 oz. lost in extra syrup per bottle, if bottles are as oversized as some folks are saying.

Plus, all that burned sugar on my steam table pans??

And another 16 oz. in pots from finishing and bottling; 8 batches * 2 pots * 1 oz. = 16.

That's 173 - 330 oz. lost in process, 1.35 – 2.58 gallons lost!!!, not counting spilled sap, ice, and burned sugar on pans. So, it could have been 35.9 to 1 instead of 42 to 1.

It didn't seem like much until I added it up, but, that's easily 10 -20% or more lost in process. Considering I only made one quart of syrup last year that seems like an awful lot to me. I'll be working on fixing that for next year, but don't plan on tallying up the numbers like I did this go round. Next year i'll just be making maple, leaving the #'s to the weatherman, and hoping for as good a season as this one. :D