Couple of questions/mistakes as a newbie

[teedo757]

On my way to work yesterday I had an urge to try and make maple syrup, I have never done it or seen anyone else do it. On the way home I noticed a home with taps all down his driveway on maple trees and thought it must be a sign. I did a little research (obviously not enough) and went to the hardware store to look for taps. Well they didn't have any so I decided to improvise based on a couple of websites I saw. I bought a 1/2" thread adapter (something you would use for underground sprinkling), clear plastic hose, clamps and a plastic bucket with a top. I went to my parents house and tapped their sugar maple.....sap did start pouring out and the setup seems ok but here are some of my concerns and my lack of knowledge I am hope someone can help me with.

I drilled a 3/4" hole for the tap(which fit) however I now know this is way to big. I have read not to plug the hole but should I treat it with tar or something?

I am using plastic (not food grade) is this ok for the sap or is it a bad idea?

The tree is the minimum needed to tap (about 30 years old and almost exactly 10" in diameter) will the hole I made hurt the tree? It is in good shape and gets full sun but I am just nervous because of the hole size I put in it.

I only tapped one tree and I realize I will not get much syrup but is there a good resource on how to boil down the sap?

I should have come here first but for some reason I got excited and took my son out that day to start a tap. I do want to start tapping but I have decided to get some good advise before I move forward. Thanks for the help

Travis

[Ausable]

Travis - You are doing Good. You broke the Ice and started tapping. I still make a 7/16 inch diameter hole on an upward angle - about 1 1/2 inches deep. The newer - spiles or taps are smaller and 5/16 inch in diameter. An example would be - You collect 40 gallons of maple sap and you test it for sugar content and find that it is 2 1/2 % sugar in solution - when boiled down - you would have a gallon of maple syrup. You are making a small amount of syrup for yourself so if you would feel safe drinking water out of your containers they are probably ok to collect sap in. Don't let anyone scare You off from making maple syrup - it ain't rocket science. You collect sap - put it in a pot over a fire - boil and boil and add more sap and boil some more and towards the end it will darken some and ladder on a spoon and make large shiny bubbles at this point it will taste like maple syrup. To get it right on - You will probably need a syrup making hydrometer and a test cup - bot good tools for syrup makers - but you can make a so - so syrup without them. Another way is temperature - If water boils at your house at 212F at about 219f You will have syrup. ----So hey --- keep learning and experimenting and picking up spiles etc and You will soon be making syrup. At the end of the season when the buds get large and red and you sap starts running yellow the season is over as the sugar is no longer in the sap. Pull your spiles - the trees will bleed for awhile and then gum up and scar over and be just fine. Do not plug them or put anything on them - trust old Ma Nature to heal her children. Welcome Aboard ---Mike---

[Oddmott]

Your makeshift tap won't "hurt" the tree... but just don't do any more like that. lol Leave it alone and it'll heal up on it's own.

There are TONS of suppliers online that can ship you the proper equipment, supplies and tools in just days. If you've got mostly smaller trees to tap, best to go with the 5/16th health spiles as they have a reduced impact on your bush.
Beyond that it's your choice if you want to collect by buckets, tubes or bags. To each their own.

Boiling down is super easy and there's only about 2000 threads here already covering the topic so i won't bother rehashing it.

[Zamkev]

There are also some videos on youtube that you could watch with your son. After watching a few...you'll get the hang of who knows what they're talking about and who doesn't. Watch, learn, and then confirm by reading the appropriate threads on this site. Ask questions, and ask for pics. There are lots of hobby producers here that benefit from collective knowledge and sharing.

Have fun.

[wnybassman]

............and you've come to the right place. :cool:

[Shawn]

Ahh your hooked:cool:

[happy thoughts]

Hi Travis. Welcome to the forum and maple sugaring :). Here's a really basic online resource in pdf format for the beginner hobbyist from Cornell and Penn State that should answer some of your questions.

http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/pubs/maple_syrup_production.pdf

Another good basic resource is here:
http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/PDFpubs/7038.pdf

There are many more online resources. Many Ag depts of states in maple producing areas have something. One very thorough guide comes from Ontario in a couple of downloadable files that can be reached from here:

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/food/inspection/maple/maple_prod_food_safety.htm

Looking through youtube as someone else suggested is also a good idea to help you visualize the process.

Good luck and enjoy the fruits of your labor :) Hope we'll be hearing from you!

[teedo757]

Well thank you everyone I feel a lot better about tapping my first tree. I started talking to some of my friends and they said I am welcome to tap their trees in their yards if I want. I know my basic trees but at this point in the year I am going by the bark, shape and twig pattern of the tree to find a maple. Are there any trees that are similar to a maple that would had adverse effects on the taste of the syrup if I tapped them? I will take your advise and buy a beginner kit this time :)

[happy thoughts]

Well thank you everyone I feel a lot better about tapping my first tree. I started talking to some of my friends and they said I am welcome to tap their trees in their yards if I want. I know my basic trees but at this point in the year I am going by the bark, shape and twig pattern of the tree to find a maple. Are there any trees that are similar to a maple that would had adverse effects on the taste of the syrup if I tapped them? I will take your advise and buy a beginner kit this time :)

There's only a few trees with opposite branching which is the first key to ID'ing maples this time of year. The mnemonic is Mad Horse- maple, ash. dogwood and horse chestnut. Out of those only maple and ash might be confused but only maples will give sap when tapped. If you tap something mistakenly, you won't be the first and you'll do better with more experience.

[peckfarm]

Go tap go!

[teedo757]

Hi Travis. Welcome to the forum and maple sugaring :). Here's a really basic online resource in pdf format for the beginner hobbyist from Cornell and Penn State that should answer some of your questions.

http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/pubs/maple_syrup_production.pdf

Another good basic resource is here:
http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/PDFpubs/7038.pdf



So after looking through some of this material is sounds like you want to pull your pales everyday and get the sap out so it doesn't deteriorate. I am wondering what a good rule of thumb is for when to empty my pale.

[happy thoughts]

I check a few every day in the AM. Some (rare) days sap flow can be heavy and sap may flow during the night. In that case, I empty them in the morning and check again at night. On most days I empty them at least once daily toward evening then store it where it will stay cold until I can boil it. If that doesn't fit your schedule just do the best you can.

The object is to keep the sap as cold as possible and process it as soon as possible. Handle it like milk. You don't want full buckets sitting in the sun all day because warm sap will grow all kinds of goodies that can not only eat your sugar but give you off flavors.

There are a couple of ways to keep sap cold. Freeze it if you only have a little and the freezer space, keep it refrigerated, again if you have the room, store it in food safe containers packed in snow in a shaded place and/or float clean frozen bottles of frozen water or sap in it. If it's cold enough it may freeze outside on it's own. I have several buckets nicely filled with ice waiting for boiling tomorrow. Some people toss the sap ice but I generally keep it for cooling.

There are as many individual styles and routines for making syrup as there are people making it. and it all turns into tasty stuff in the end. Just jump in and get your feet wet. Experience is always the best teacher. If you have questions there are always people on this forum willing to help out. Have fun and enjoy your new hobby. I'd almost guarantee you'll be doing this for a lot more years to come :)

[teedo757]

Well i started my first batch and I think I am going to need a deep fryer to boil the water off. I only have a few gallons so I put it on the stove top but I think my house is going to fog up :).

[teedo757]

Hey I was looking online and I see plastic taps called leaders. Are these only for a vacuum system or can I use these with a bucket system?

[Ausable]

Hey I was looking online and I see plastic taps called leaders. Are these only for a vacuum system or can I use these with a bucket system?

Thats what I'm using the most of. Mine are 7/16 they also come in 5/16. They are cheaper then the metal ones. Yes - they are for tubes. However as a Backyarder I don't run lines. I have four and five gallon pails with lids. Say in a group of three maples - I will tap each tree set the spile in each tree with a small rubber mallet (spiles are plastic). measure from the spile spout to the pail and lid and add 6 to 8 inches drill a hole in the lid a couple of inches in from the rim - cut a length of tubing to the length you need and attach to the spile spout and push the other end into the hole in the lid. I weight my lids with a chunk of slab wood so the wind dosen't bother them. The OD of the tubing is the same size as the drill you bore your tree spile holes with so simple. At the end of the season - just give the plastic spile a little twist and out it comes. The Downside is - The tubing does not come off the spiles ---so--- on the spiles I use a marker and write their length in inches on them - wash and air dry the spiles and tubes and hang them a large cotton cloth bag my wife made me from a garage rafter. So - next year - when you repeat the process - lol - nothing is ever quite the same - but when you measure between your hole and pail just grab one of the spile and tubes closest to the length you need and reuse it. LOL - Yes it can be done - takes a little planning - but works for me.----Mike----

[DonMcJr]

Check out http://www.sugarbushsupplies.com/ they are in Mason, Michigan and it can't be too far from you and their shipping to Michigan is fast, almost like the next day unless you are ordering Labels with your Name on it for the 1st time then it takes a little longer...