New guy in Maine

[Rinkus]

Hello, I live in central Maine and am just getting started with syrup. I live on a sizable wooded homestead with abundant maples. I have a few hundred feet of elevation above my home facing south that seems it would suit itself well for a gravity feed system.

I have two young kids who show an interest in making syrup. I think the only thing I am missing is knowledge and equipment. Some time ago my son asked me about making syrup and I said we would give it a try when the time was right. Last week I drove past a business advertising syrup supplies so I stopped in and bought a handful of taps, tube and connectors. I had a couple buckets around the house and tapped two large trees. The conditions must have been poor because I had a very low yield the first day. The next day I went back and bought more taps and buckets to tap three more large trees with three taps per tree.

Well the following day must have been ideal for sap production because all five of the five gallon buckets were near full. It was then that I realized the limitations of my propane turkey cooker. I truly regret tapping the last three trees. At this point the turkey cooker is running 16 hours a day and I am out of storage capacity to keep sap. My wife has been tending the cooker while I am at work and is growing more unimpressed by the day. Can I untap some of the trees without harming them?

I have a plentiful supply of dry firewood and would be interested in spending a modest amount money on a used hobby evaporator, but haven’t been able to find anything affordable and local. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

I look forward to learning from and getting to know some of you. This looks like a great site.

[slammer3364]

Yes, you can pull taps the trees will still run but will heal up

[TerryEspo]

Welcome aboard Rinkus !!

Great to hear your floating in sap, better than wanting for it.

Maybe a quick fix for you in a basic cement block arch with buffet pans, much better than the turkey cooker. Three or four pans will keep you ahead of the game.

I say this cause you say you have a good supply of dry firewood.

There is many pictures here of the block arch you could whip up in a day I think.

Get away from propane if you can.

Good luck.

Terry

[Revi]

We are doing a talk about Backyard Maple Sugaring in Skowhegan on Wednesday night at 7pm if you are interested. We are going to be at the Cooperative Extension, which is on Norridgewock Avenue, which runs up the north side of the river. It's about a mile out of town on the right if coming from Skowhegan. Or you can call me at 474-7370.

[PerryW]

Teyy's idea of the block arch is better, but here's another idea...

Borrow a couple of Coleman Stoves that will run on a gas grill tank, grab a bunch of stainless steel pans from the kitchen and line them them up in a row next to your turkey fryer. Dipper the sap into the left hand pan, and keep dippering from left to right and the syrup will develop in the right-hand pan.

Get as many burners going as you can, and you will greatly increase your evaporation rate. You can even use the kitchen stove too, just watch the peeling wallpaper and the messy boil-overs when you get close.

Also a Turkey Fryer Shaped pan is really the opposite of what you want for boiling sap. You want a large surface area shallow pans for more efficiency.

[Rangdale]

I have a 26x38 SS pan that I made and we use propane burners that we got from Northern Tool. We have experimented with a bunch of different ideas and now have the evaporation rate up to 6+ gallons an hour and pretty effecient on the propane. We can make just about 2.5 gallons of syrup on a pair of 20lb propane grill tanks. We get them filled at BJ's for $11 so it's costing us roughly $8 to produce a gallon of syrup. Not as cheap as wood but we only make it for ourselves and to give away as gifts to friends and family. Nothing compared to a lot of these guys on here but the kids really enjoy it and for the amount we make it's pretty affordable. One thing that's nice, you can get 5 gallons to a rolling boil in under 6 minutes so it's quick to start up and shut down. It takes my buddy up the street almost 30 minutes to get his 5 gallon boiling with his cement block arch.

[smokeyamber]

Block arch, awesome designs on this site and it is super easy to setup and get going, just need some restaraunt pans ( deep ones ) and a some stove pipe, something to make a door/cover on the front and you are good to go. Way cheaper than propane and with enough pans you can get them boiling through a ton of sap. I useed one for the first 3 years and did upwards of 15 taps easy. Not saying you won't be spending some time outside... but it is a easy starting point.

Next step after you are hooked... and you will be :lol:

Is to count all the tappable trees you have and then size you evaporator to handle them , oh and figure on a sugar shack too :D

Welcome to the fun ! ;)

[Rinkus]

I appreciate all the helpful responses from everyone. To be truthful I am a little scared at this point. I am literally sitting on the possibility of hundreds of up hill tappable trees in my back yard. I have never tried it to be sure, but I imaging that first taste of your own maple syrup is comparable to a junkies first high. I have always been a maple fanatic, but nothing to date even comes close what I have made in my own backyard.


We are doing a talk about Backyard Maple Sugaring in Skowhegan on Wednesday night at 7pm if you are interested. We are going to be at the Cooperative Extension, which is on Norridgewock Avenue, which runs up the north side of the river. It's about a mile out of town on the right if coming from Skowhegan. Or you can call me at 474-7370.

Revi, I think this may be exactly what I need to answer some of my questions and insure I am on the right track for what I think I know. Skowhegan is less than an hour away. If I can get my chores done in time I will plan on attending.