New guy with some questions and a little info about me

[WestMINewbie]

First off I would like to say hello to all and thank everyone for all of the entertaining and informative posts I have read so far. I do not know if I should be excited or scared by how hard I seem to have been bitten by the maple bug. This posts has a few questions about evaporators so I elected to post in this section. Here is a little about me. I have never made maple syrup but was introduced to the idea by a great man I work with. I realized our property has tons of maple trees. From what I can tell we have Sugar, black, red, and silver. My first question is will my syrup suffer if I do not stick to just Sugar maples? From what I have been able to count so far I have a total of 50-100 maples that are large enough for two taps. Do you all think that will be enough to get a decent amount of syrup?

Now on to the evaporator questions. I purchased a barrel wood stove that I plan on cutting a whole in the top of and using a 6 inch deep hotel pan to place in it and use to evaporate.

I am a skilled tig welder and would like to know what you all think about this. I was thinking of welding up a large pan and placing it on fire bricks and using a chimney out the back. Could anyone offer any suggestions on thickness of the stainless steel? I would use 304 food grade of course. If anyone could point me in a good direction of plans or a video it would be much appreciated.

Thanks again in advance for any advice or tips that are given to me. As soon as I finish the barrel evaporator I will post some pictures.

[Big_Eddy]

Quick response. Once you get closer to building, we can provide more details.

You have more than enough trees. For your first year - tap 20-30 and see how it goes. You can add more taps during the season if you are keeping up. Only tap 1 per tree - its easier on the tree and you have plenty. Give preference to the sugar maples, but all will work. Pick the tightest clump of sugars and tap your 20-30 together to minimize travel distance. You will need about 50 gals storage - 5 gal camping water jugs work well.

For ideas - see the links in my signature. 2x3 is good for 30-50 and can be stretched to 100 taps. 20 gauge stainless is about right. Thinner is cheaper and transfers heat better, but is harder to weld. If you're experienced with sanitary welding of thin stainless go with 22g. Thicker is easier to weld, but harder to form and slightly less heat transfer. All thicknesses will work if you put a fire under them - go with what you can get and can weld.

Design your arch so there is a lip to support the edges of your pan and make to fit.

[kiteflyingeek]

Welcome aboard. I was bitten by the bug last year about this time. I have a 2x6 pan set on order for this coming year. Last year, I used 5 steam pans (8" deep) so you can see how much the bug bit me.

On the trees, as BigEddy has already said, I'd tap mostly the sugar & blacks but a few reds would work too. I tapped 19 sugars/blacks last year and made just under 3 gallons of syrup. I had a few boil overs that lost some quantity. Plus, I started a little late for my area and had to throw out some sap that went yellow on me. My evaporator was in the open and I just couldn't get outside in 29*F with wind for 2-4 hours of boiling every night like I needed so the sap sat and some turned.

Anyways, like I said, I'd tap 20-30 and see how your sap handling equipment handles it. When I tapped on Feb 5th, I had 2 gal / tap in about 16 hours. So, the 1 gal/tap/day is an average that is sometimes exceeded on some trees. Those were trees in my yard and others that were in the woods never produced that kind of volume.

As I've read somewhere, carefully think through how long you want to boil. It's VERY easy to say, "I can do a 6 hour boil every night after work" but actually doing it every night gets pretty hard -- especially if you are out in the open. But to share my plans, I've got 100 taps marked and plan to start with 50-60 and see how it goes. I have that 2x6 evap and I've got a few 55 gal drums that I'm working to make as sap collectors and a head tank. It just takes time and $$ to get setup to handle lots of sap ;-)

Well, I hope that helps.

--andrew

[WestMINewbie]

Thank you both much. Will have pictures up in next day or two of the stove I plan on transforming. I do have one other question I hope can be answered. I have looked up how to identify a sugar maple. Most articles say leaf of bark. Well...... It seems like every leaf and every bark looks different on every single maple tree on the farm. Any tips on how to differentiate them better??

[psparr]

Don't worry about the bark, too muck variation. Sugar maple leaves are pretty uniform. Reds on the other hand can vary in appearance qiute a bit. If your really ambitious, search drop tubes on here. Will greatly increase your boil rate.

Welcome to the madness!

[WestMINewbie]

I have attached some pictures of the wood stove I plan on converting. I found this on craigslist for $75! I feel I did alright on the price. I am going to use a 6 or 8 inch deep drop pan/hotel pan. Once agian thank you for all of the replies. I like the suggestion of drop tubes and did do some research. I have yet to figure out if I want to put one pan in length ways or try to squeeze in two or three width wise. Im afraid to much of the sides would be exposed width ways and the heat would not transfer nicely. The pans I am going to use are 304 SS. Like I said before I am very experienced Tig welding Stainless Steel. If I did drop tubes with this, it would be stainless with how well I can weld.

So apart from advice on what way and how many pans to have, I have a few questions about the drop tubes. If the sap goes into them and they are that close the the fire wouldn't the sap burn?? Or is this setup not really good for drop tubes? I would also just weld caps on.

[psparr]

The sap is always in a state of agitation and won't burn.

[rayi]

Welcome to the mapletrader I'm in southwestern MI Boiled on a 2 by 2 pan on one of those barrel stoves for years. Not any more. You will never have time to boil sap from that many trees unless your retired and don't sleep. In an ideal world they say thatr you can boil of 1 gal of water per square foot of pan.

[Ausable]

Hey! Another Michigan Guy - Welcome aboard. I used a barrel stove with a flat pan and batch boiled for years. It will be slower than a continuous flow evaporator - but - it will make maple syrup. You need to get some sugar (syrup) making experience under your belt so go with this rig to start. With the number of trees You have and your ability to weld - You will probably upgrade to a continuous flow evaporator in the next few years. Go with the Sugar and Black Maples to start as they have the highest sugar content. When you really get into it - You will probably be tapping them all. I still make myself look up - prior to tapping a new tree - dang Hemlock bark likes to fool with me. lol. Invest in a Syrup Hydrometer right off the bat and buy or make a test cup to go with it. That way - You know when You are making good maple syrup right from the start. Large shiny bubbles and laddering lets You know you are getting close to maple syrup - but - the syrup hydrometer lets You know when You are there. Hey Buddy - have FUN - that is important too......

[Dennis H.]

Number of pans? The more surface area that touches the fire the higher the evap rate.
So I would arrange them so that I could get the most pans possible.

I made a barrel evap for my 1st evap and had a blast with it for a few years. They will not last very long even with bricking so expect only a few years out of this setup before either building a new one or buying one.

[WestMINewbie]

I looked at pans today and I think I can easily fit three. Some of the sides wont be exposed to the heat but from what I have been reading I should more than make up for this with the drop tubes on all the pans. When I get the pans I will post pictures of potential placement and the number of drop tubes for each pan.

I also just scored 90 free cinder block bricks from craigslist. I have to pick them up tomorrow. That happening has already got me excited about a brick arch. We are currently looking for quotes from metal stampers about some SS 304 2x4 pans. They would pre-shape it and we would just have to weld it up. Less than $100 bucks not including drop tubes seems easier to chew just starting out compared to 300-500 for a pan. All in all I am getting more excited by the day.

[red maples]

Welcome... We all started somewhere. I had 25 taps and I boiled on a block arch with a roasting pan in the mud my first year then went up to 250 taps on vacuum tubing and a 2x6 drop flue for my second year. it was a big bug I guess!! :) Now getting into my fifth year and will be above 500 taps and buying an RO and a bunch of stuff!!! Sooooo welcome to the crazy maple club!!! :evil:

Anyhow. as for trees if your using strictly buckets shoot for the sugar maples they will give you the best yield, the reds can be finicky sometimes they run sometimes they don't not sure why. and one red might run as good as a sugar other might not run at all. hook them up to Vacuum they run like crazy!!! you can still put a bucket on them if you have them as you will get some sap from them but if there are sugars like I said hit them first. if your trees are 18"+ in diameter or if you hug the tree and you can't touch your hands on the other side I would put 2 taps. to each his or her own on that one. just my opinion.

you probably already thought of this but, as for the arch if your sticking with the barrel then make sure you weld a sturdy angle iron frame to the top to sit your pans on. I wouldn't worry about the sides as much as the bottom that's where your heat is going to come from. You say your an experienced welder so go 20g 304 stainless. as you know its much lighter and will be easier to handle and then you need to figure out if you wanna connect the pans together sorta like a flow through instead of a batch evaporator of you can just transfer the sap from pan to pan. for smaller rigs like that you might want to have some sort of preheater. I tried all sorts of things. like a pot over the pans with a constant drip to running a pot on the side on a burner and adding sap as needed it just goes quicker.

In anycase Good luck and have fun!!!! you already sound pretty crazy about it. So I am sure your having fun already!!!

[WestMINewbie]

Chopped wood all day. What a great feeling!!! Have a great weekend everyone!!

[red maples]

chopped wood all summer... sick of chopping wood!!! :)

[whalems]

I to cut and split all summer! I now have 17 full cord in the shed:) Now to finish the house wood