madmapler
11-24-2012, 10:36 PM
Hi, My name is Sean and I started posting on this site about a month ago. I grew up around sugaring, living down the road from my Grandfathers Sugar shack. It was a small operation but a lot of fun just the same. I'm now about to turn 50(yikes!) and just starting my own operation. I actually came across my gramps old pan and at first thought it would be neat to use it again. However it did'nt take long to start obsessing about this business and before I new it I was buying an old 2.5x10 evaporator and building a 12'x24' sugar house around it. Hence the name Madmapler. My wife says the title is perfect for me. It looks as though I'll be tapping about 400 of my own trees this year and the farmer-friend across the valley is letting me tap a thousand or so on his land.(Starting with a few hundred this year). I'm trying to get them all on vacuum but I'm finding out that its more work(and cash) than I anticipated. Actually, I started with a simple plan and then it got a whole lot more complicated really fast. Thats typical of how I do most things especially things that I like. I find that the engineering side of building a sugaring operation is extremely addicting for me and I'm sure it will be rewarding as well once my first season actually begins. This site has been an unbelievable help to me already and I appreciate those who have already taken the time to help answer my questions. It seems as though theres an exceptional amount of decent folks in this industry and its certainly reflected here. I still hope to find a use for my grandfathers old pan but for now I'll just hang it on the wall of my sugarhouse along with a picture of him and my Dad at his old sugar shack. Thanks for all the help so far and thanks to Chris and Kim for providing this place. Its great!