Total Noob

[DarkEvilDead]

Hi guys I am Nick AKA DarkEvilDead or just call me DED. I am new here and I really want to start making some syrup just for a little hobby of my own. I live in illinois and I think I have a maple tree in the back I just need some help identifying the tree. I figured this was the best place to get some answers. The picture is one of my trees please help.
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[lakeview maple]

Yes thats a maple ,you have got step 1 done now onto step 2,what to do with it?

[DarkEvilDead]

Okay thanks for the reply. Any idea which kind of maple it is? Also I tried to measure the radius of the tree it was bigger than my measuring tape which is 60 inches. lol So I was thinking I could tap it three times. Which may be too much if I am just going to try for my first time I would like to make some for myself and some family.

[team40]

Try this web site http://www.tapmytrees.com/ it will help alot and i will tell you all you need to know and if you
need supplys i would go with used so you dont spend to much if you dont like it you are not in to deep if you have more
question just ask this site has helped me so much

[DrTimPerkins]

Also I tried to measure the radius of the tree it was bigger than my measuring tape which is 60 inches.

I'm assuming you meant that you measured the circumference of the tree (the distance AROUND the outside of the stem)? If that is the case, the diameter is about 19+ inches, which would mean you could put two taps in it.

[maple flats]

Using buckets you can have 2 taps. Using the old formula for buckets or gravity tubing, a 12" stem (about 36" around) gets 1, many tap 2 in a 18-20" stem, (about 55-61"). You should wait until the tree reaches about 80 or even 90" circumference before tapping 3. The issue is not as much the sap you take but rather the physical damage caused by the hole you drill. Use health spouts (5/16" hole) If you only wanted to tap the tree every 2 or 3 years you could go 3 but not if you tap every year. Beware, this is addictive, 2 taps eventually becomes a few hundred and then a few thousand.

[DarkEvilDead]

I'm assuming you meant that you measured the circumference of the tree (the distance AROUND the outside of the stem)? If that is the case, the diameter is about 19+ inches, which would mean you could put two taps in it.

Lol yeah sorry your right.. I am going to measure again with help I would say its close to 90".

[happy thoughts]

Okay thanks for the reply. Any idea which kind of maple it is? Also I tried to measure the radius of the tree it was bigger than my measuring tape which is 60 inches. lol So I was thinking I could tap it three times. Which may be too much if I am just going to try for my first time I would like to make some for myself and some family.

Hi Nick. Dark Evil Dead sounds like how some of us feel at the end of sugaring season :o so welcome to the group. You should fit right in.:) I'm just a backyard producer, too. Be prepared to become addicted. We'll have to make sure you meet Don. He got it bad last year:)

Hard to say what kind of maple yours is as there isn't enough detail in the leaf pic.About all I can say is it's not a silver maple. Look at the color and shape of the twig buds and also it's fruit- those little helicopter thingys. Are they on the tree and dropping now or do they do that in the spring? Are the leaf edges smooth or are there fine teeth?

Here are a couple of sites with pics of the parts to look at, for several of the more commonly used maples...

http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/kids/tree_index.htm

http://www.maple-trees.com/pages/maple-tree-identification.php

Make sure you are measuring right. Your tree doesn't look like it has a 60 inch radius. I have a feeling you measured circumference which is the distance all around the outside of the tree. What you want to measure is the diameter or thickness across it through the tree from one side to the next at about 4 feet off the ground. Look at the pic at the site team40 left.

Any more questions ask away.

[DarkEvilDead]

Figured I would add another pic. I did see some fruit still in the tree I will try to get some better pics of other stuff.

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[noreast maple]

Surgar maple!!

[happy thoughts]

I'd agree with sugar maple, too.

[Dennis H.]

Which ever kind it is tap that sucker!

Go get 2, 5 gal frosting buckets from a local bakery, clean them really good.
Set them on the ground next to tree, make 2 droplines long enough to reach the buckets and you are set..

[Revi]

It may be a variety of a sugar maple called a Black Maple, which fits with your theme DED. You should start to figure out a concrete block evaporator with sheet pans for an evaporator. If you use 3 or 4 of them you can dip from one to the other and fill the back pan with fresh sap. It will go faster and the stuff at the end will get thicker and thicker. Finish it in the house. It's fun and a great activity in the spring. Enjoy!

[DarkEvilDead]

It may be a variety of a sugar maple called a Black Maple, which fits with your theme DED. You should start to figure out a concrete block evaporator with sheet pans for an evaporator. If you use 3 or 4 of them you can dip from one to the other and fill the back pan with fresh sap. It will go faster and the stuff at the end will get thicker and thicker. Finish it in the house. It's fun and a great activity in the spring. Enjoy!

I was thinking of it being a black Maple but I just am one of those people who need to know for sure. lol
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[GeneralStark]

I was thinking of it being a black Maple but I just am one of those people who need to know for sure. lol
596359645965

Judging by the photos of the leaves, I think that Black Maple acer nigrum is what you have. The pointed lobes are quite different than the Sugar Maple. That said, there is variation in all maple leaves so it could be a sugar, but not likely. It can be tapped for syrup production, and some references suggest that it is a subspecies of Sugar Maple so it may produce a respectable quantity of sap. I have no experience with tapping Black Maple, but perhaps others here do.

[DrTimPerkins]

Judging by the photos of the leaves, I think that Black Maple acer nigrum is what you have.

I agree. Looks like black maple to me.

[220 maple]

The leaf looks correct for a Black Maple, however all of my Black Maples actually have Black Bark, The one fact that I know for sure about the Black Maples in this area they tend to produce much sweeter sap than a Sugar Maple. I have a fellow syrup maker near me who tested the sap directly from the Black Maples in his bush, he said most all of them was near four percent or over. He has a Pal digital tester.

Mark 220 Maple

[lastwoodsman]

The doc's correct. It is a black maple.
Woodsman

[DarkEvilDead]

Thanks everyone with the input...now I just have to figure out my best way to do all this. I have limited resources at the moment wife went back to school and we have a 1 year old.

[happy thoughts]

Thanks everyone with the input...now I just have to figure out my best way to do all this. I have limited resources at the moment wife went back to school and we have a 1 year old.

The collection supplies won't cost much if you go with bakery buckets and tubing like someone else suggested. You'll only need to pay for tubing and a couple of taps. Do not buy buckets unless you are sure they are food grade. Besides being free, that's the beauty of getting them from the bakery. Most bakeries just toss or recycle them. Though the ones sold at hardware stores may look the same as the bakery ones, there is no guarantee they are food safe.

The first thing I'd think about is how you plan to evaporate. That's what's going to cost you. This is not an indoor operation if you collect any amount of sap. Even with a sweet tree as yours is likely to be because it's a hard maple species, you're looking at boiling off at least 35-40 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup.

Many backyard producers use a turkey fryer and propane. Propane can get expensive. If you have access to plenty of wood then you might consider a concrete block arch and some flat stainless steel hotel pans, or build a small evaporator out of a steel drum and the barrel stove kits places like Home Depot or Lowes sells. But judging from your pics it looks like you have neighbors so you might want to look into your town laws about outdoor burning and consider how your neighbors will feel about lots of smoke coming their way. You could always bribe the neighbors with syrup.

I've never gone the turkey fryer route but think boiling off about 1-2 gallons an hour is ballpark average so that boiling off 10 gallons might take 5-10 hours.

Once you have that out of the way, figure out how much sap you can handle. One tap should get you 10 gallons of sap over the season but it could also be 2 or 3 times that if it's a really good year. Some days you'll get no sap at all and the next you might get 3 gallons or more from each tap. Sap should be handled like milk so make sure you have someplace to keep collected sap really cold in a food safe container until you can boil it.

My suggestion would be to start small.