who has the most taps on buckets only????

[maplefrank]

who has the most taps on buckets only???? and how many taps??? there a few around here with 6000 or more.......one producer used to have 12000.but they lost alot in he micro burst.and have put up more tubing,

[FameFlower]

Maple Frank, we need to talk!!!

In the past we worked 300 buckets on taps. I know have 650 on tubing. We have another sugarbush with approximately 4000 mature trees. We can not tube this sugarbush due to a lease restriction, but can tap it. I want to tap it, but would love to know the logistics of tapping 4000 trees on buckets. How many people do I need to help me? In the past, I just collected sap in the late afternoon, but on that many buckets am I collecting all day?

[Ed R]

we have 1400 taps all on buckets. On a typical run we start gathering around 3:00pm and are done appr 6-700pm with a four to five person crew. If we used a tender tank we might cut that time by a hour. You can extrapolate from there with additional taps. With a great run you willbe behind the 8 ball to finish during daylight with just one crew.

[FameFlower]

So doing the math outloud:

You're spending ave. 3.5hrs of labor person x 5 people = 17.5 man hours a day for collecting 1400 taps (variation in sugarbush excluded, your trees may be more or less spread out than mine).vb

So for me that would be about 50 man hours a day for 4000 taps. So say I wanted to finish in 3 hrs each day that's 17 laborers. There is a high school near by!!

Anyone else have a labor estimate?

[lastwoodsman]

50 man hrs a day at 12.00/hr (conservative figure) 12 x 50 is 600.00 per day. 7 day week is 4200 a week. Four week season is 16,800.00 a season.. Seems like vacuum would be a lot cheaper. Even if the labor is free it has to condsidered.

[FameFlower]

In my case the woods are also used as a summer camp for hundreds of children (most of the woods in my area were cleared for farming/house), so tubing is not feasible. There is topography on the site, so I could string a few trees togather for a seasonal gravity tubing system. Collect 5 trees in one shot. That might save time.

Outloud math:
4000 tree (15 gall sap tree) (50 gall sap per gall syrup) = 1200 gallon syrup. Wholesale $40/syrup = $48,000 revenue. 35% of revenue taken up by labor costs alone. Still there would be money left over for profit. Create jobs, make a little money (less than if on tubing). Maybe its worth it. Maybe not--- it's just hard for me to see all that food left in the woods!

[lastwoodsman]

I see what you are talking about. Talking with Stu Peterson they run many 5/16 lines tying trees together. At the end of the season they label them and take them down. He has a lot of experience in this. Look at the Minnesota maple syrup producers page and give him a call. He is full of good infomation on this subject.
http://www.mnmaple.org/contact.htm

[Ed R]

You are right on target with your estimates. I doubt you will be running through the woods 28 times during a season. The problem you will find is getting consistant help with a job that is not always consistant. Start at the local high school with a pool of workers five or six more than you might think you will need(someone always seems to have a practice or something that interfers with gathering sap). Family help is always a plus. Two-three gathering tanks and at least 1 1000-1500 gallon tender tank will speed things up. Our taps are on approx 28 acres, with the sugar shack in the woods we tap.

[Dave Y]

I have 2700 buckets and they are scattered around in different wood lots, It takes 5-6 people 4-6 hours per day to collect. However do not pay 12 dollars an hour. I pay 8 cash and have little problems finding help. I go to the local school for a work pool,and try to find kids that are good workers at 14 yrs of age that way they may stick with you for a few years. I try to have a couple of reliable adults work with them. you can find retired men or men who work seasonal jobs that are willing to help. Last year I had 12 workers and my cost where not that bad, but we did have a short season. my advice is to put together 3 crews of 4 people each and you will pe suprise how fast the sap will come in. Good luck.

[gmcooper]

A couple olderbucket operations inthe 2000 range used to plan on everyother day to empty. Onbig run days they would do them one group morning and rest in afternoon. The sap didnt run every day and not everyday that it ran was a good run. They both made mostly light syrup.

[ennismaple]

I see what you are talking about. Talking with Stu Peterson they run many 5/16 lines tying trees together. At the end of the season they label them and take them down. He has a lot of experience in this. Look at the Minnesota maple syrup producers page and give him a call. He is full of good infomation on this subject.
http://www.mnmaple.org/contact.htm

We used to take all our tubing down at the end of every season until a few years ago. It took us up to a week to put it all back up again in late winter. If that's your only option it may be worthwhile.

[Bruce L]

We have a neighbour that still uses two teams of horses,not sure about number of men to gather 5500 buckets everyday,about 5475 too many

[Ed R]

FameFlower, just thought I'd bump this older thread to see if youv'e decided how you're going to tackle that propective woods.

[FameFlower]

I decided to only tap 2000 trees in that woods this year. I am limited in the ability to create new paths in the woods, so with existing paths and topography I will do 1000 on the "Stu Peterson method of gravity tubing" and 1000 on buckets. I am still waffling on the labor issue: How many people do I need for 1000 taps if collection time is from 3-6pm? I have 4 people for sure. Trying to figure how many more I need.

[adk1]

yeah that would be tough to do right there, you might get lucky to find that many people to help..once..after that good luck! How is it that you can tap the trees but that you cant run tubing?

[Dave Y]

flame flower
5 good people can collect 1000 buckets in 3hr. thats 200 buckets each. if the bucket are spaced too far apart ot should be very doable.

[Ed R]

Dave Y is right on target for crew size, 5 total is optimal. Two on either side of the trail and one driving and picking up the ones close to the trail. It helps if the driver knows the woods, is older, and can keep track of things. If the 4 you have are dependable i'd get one more, if not a couple of subs wouldn't hurt. A larger crew in the woods gets chaotic and you tend to miss more buckets.

[Sunday Rock Maple]

We gathered 2,300 buckets in about 6 hours with 6 people --- a little more in deep snow, a little less on bare ground. Make sure your sap unloading set up doesn't slow you down.

[heus]

I would suggest a dedicated driver that does not have to get on and off. Also a real collection tank with a large opening which Im sure you have.

[adk1]

Wow I know that there is allot of tradition in using buckets and I am sure that there could be some pleasure in it too but it is a ton of work. I helped out a producer in Franklin vt that used horses that pulled a tank on a sled. Was really neat as the horses knew when to move and when to stop but the kinking of the bucket. A few spoken words too. But gathering every day for hours on end takes its toll. All of these guys that were doing it every day were the hird hands or family working on the farm

[wiam]

I think it was 6 years ago my family (wife and 3 kids 6, 8 and 10) put up 500 buckets and sold sap to a neighbor. We are both from sugaring families. About the second time through the woods my wife asked when we were putting up tubing?:)