newby intro......

[michael_obrien]

Hey maple guys and gals. My wife is a teacher here in central mn and had last week off for spring break so we went to her folks place in WI. Low and behold my father in law had a bunch of trees on his land tapped. having never really been around it before it really got me thinking.

Today I spoke with the county land mgr and will have a permit in hand tomorrow, and will have my very first taps in on Friday if everything works out. im still not 100% sure how I will cook it down but as a last resort ill run it on a turkey cooker, but im hoping to come up with something better in the time it takes to get running. only going to run 24 taps this season to see if I have it in me, but if it works out maybe grow next season.

there is a local guy who has taps or spiles on craigslist and fleet has the bags. im going to make up some pvc bag holders just to get something going this year.

anyway, just got my acct approved and wanted to say hey.

michael

[mrnorthshore]

Welcome to the trader Michael, I was in you spot about 4 years ago with 25 taps, then 50 then 100, then 800 now this year we are up to 1300 and about $60,000 later here I am. My first year I used some stainless steel buffet pans that I got used on ebay cheap, and used some cheap block from menards and just put a smoke stack out the back. Worked ok for the first couple years. However you cook it down have lots of FUN!! Its a great time of the year.

[Run Forest Run!]

Welcome Michael. 24 taps is a lot of taps for someone just wanting to try out sugaring. You could end up with 24-50 gallons a day during a big run and you'd need an army of turkey fryers to cook that much down!:o

If you just want to gradually get your feet wet and do some experimenting this year, maybe 10 taps would be enough? I can almost guarantee you'll LOVE sugaring and you can plan to hit those trees hard next year with a year's experience under your belt.

I know the guys on here will tell you to go big or go home, but that's no big surprise. :lol: Have fun!!

[chad]

one thing you will want to get is a hydrometer and cup that way you know you have syrup, you could order that from andersons maple syrup in WI or other suppliers on maple trader. One of the most important thing is ask as many questions as possible either on here or go to someones sugar bush and watch how they do it, seeing it cooked down is very helpful. Best of luck and enjoy

[TreeTapper2]

Welcome Micheal,
This is my first year. For me sugaring has been a piece of cake. I have made enough syrup to cover my expenses and am planning on doubling taps next year.
One does learn alot by jumping into it. Plus you have this great site that is jammed pack full of wisdom and experience. Use it to your gain!
Many blessing to you on your new adventure.

PS Get the whole family involved somehow. They will love it and you will have lots of memories.

[highlandcattle]

The idea of boiling off sap is to do it quickly and efficiently. this means a large surface area, hotel type steel pan uesed over the warmers. they are cheap and we've had ours for years, we now use them as finishing pans. you guy use too much propane otherwise. Those things scare me to death anyway. Good luck .

[TreeTapper2]

I have an endless supply of wood so it's no money out of my pocket. Next year I'm going with a 2x4 divided flat pan and a warmer from Smokey Lake.

[MapleMan1]

Welcome Michael! I am too a newbie this year and have been researching countless hours. Most questions end up being answered here through threads which has been a great help to my wife and me. Heads up on the 24 taps, I have half that and am having a difficult time keeping up with the runs that are going on now(missing some hours of sleep). My wife and I work full time so it can deffinately be challenging. On a turkey frier it takes about an hour to burn down one gallon which is my current set up. Anyways be sure to enjoy!

[Leinie]

I have 13 taps and plan to collect over 300 gallons of sap ( nature willing ) You have 25 taps so you need to figure out storage and cooking method because a turkey fryer isn't going to cut it. You will burn through a lot of propane cylinders and they are not cheap. Obviously, you can pull your taps any time if you are overwhelmed and just cook enough to get your feet wet.
I have 2- 55 gallon plastic barrels for storage. I keep them as cold as possible with packed snow at first and frozen gallons of sap later when the weather gets warmer.
For boiling- wood was not a good option for me, so I tried rigging an old grill with natural gas hooked up to the house supply. This worked OK and way cheaper than propane. I tried a handful of electric broilers but they wouldn't produce a good boil at outside temps. Two years ago I had a pan made and fabed a frame for it to sit over 4 burners from an old stove. This has been working pretty well. Whatever you do, Don't try using the stove in the house- just don't is all I will say ! Good Luck

I do finish batches in the turkey fryer after cooking down 50 -60 gallons in my pan.

[foxtail]

Well there goes the neighborhood.:lol: