Lost my bush, looking for another in North Central CT

[Starting Small]

So I just got off the phone yesterday with the guy I was anticipating tapping 60 acres of Red Maples. He told me that he would like me to tap at 18 inches or lower on the trees so I do not stain the wood because he has plans of eventually selling the trees for timber. With a good chance of snow covering the lines I think I might look for another bush. I live in East Windsor and am looking for 200-300 tap bush on vac. If anyone knows of a landowner in a nearby town to me that would allow me to setup a vacuum system please let me know. Thank you all!
-Dave

[spud]

So I just got off the phone yesterday with the guy I was anticipating tapping 60 acres of Red Maples. He told me that he would like me to tap at 18 inches or lower on the trees so I do not stain the wood because he has plans of eventually selling the trees for timber. With a good chance of snow covering the lines I think I might look for another bush. I live in East Windsor and am looking for 200-300 tap bush on vac. If anyone knows of a landowner in a nearby town to me that would allow me to setup a vacuum system please let me know. Thank you all!
-Dave

My back hurts just reading your post.:lol:

Spud

[Thad Blaisdell]

Do Red maples even have that much value as timber? You might want to look into that

[tuckermtn]

would you be able to post a picture of some of the reds he wants to save as sawlog trees?

Are you looking to lease/pay on a per tap basis? If so, especially with red maples, there is a strong arguement to be made that he will make more $ off of a tap lease than with timber.

Also- another alternative might be to flag or mark only the trees with the highest potential to be "high" value sawlog trees and tap the rest.

[Starting Small]

I asked when he was planning on cutting the trees down and he did not know, I got the feeling it was not planned in the near future. All he wanted was a gallon of syrup as payment. As far as marking trees to be cut and not cut, I do not think he wanted to put that much effort in. Tomorrow starts my hunt for another sugarbush!
-Dave

[spud]

If this is 60 acres of red maples then how many taps do you think you could get on this land? Right now all you are giving the guy is a gallon of syrup for payment. Maybe if you offer him $1.00-2.00 per tap he will let you tap at the 4 foot mark and sign a lease. If all I was getting was a gallon of syrup for my woods I would make the person tap at the 18 foot mark and no lower.

Spud

[Starting Small]

If this is 60 acres of red maples then how many taps do you think you could get on this land? Right now all you are giving the guy is a gallon of syrup for payment. Maybe if you offer him $1.00-2.00 per tap he will let you tap at the 4 foot mark and sign a lease. If all I was getting was a gallon of syrup for my woods I would make the person tap at the 18 foot mark and no lower.

Spud

I am not sure exactly how many taps I could get. The red maples are in three clusters on the hill and I have not done a thorough walk through to count all the taps. I would guess maybe 500 taps total, but this could be low. I only have a 2X4 drop flue and this will be my first year on vac so I am hesitant to tap more than 200. My brother is building a small homemande RO for us this year to help with boil times. I know nothing about how much the value of the timber is reduced by staining. He put that objection out there in the beginning of the conversation. He seems open to having the land be used for something but on his terms (which I can totally understand). Would $1.00-$2.00/tap be enough to offset the lower value of the timber? One other thing is that a mutual friend of our told me that he was trying to sell the land to have it developed a year or so back and might try again in the future. The land would not make an easy development which is why it never sold. I might walk it a little more carefully this weekend and see if it is worth it.

[spud]

You could find yourself with a ton of sap to boil even with just 200 on vacuum. With a 2x4 rig the RO will help a bunch. If you look around you might find a better deal in your town.

Spud

[sugaringman85]

There is a very good chance that you could make the land owner more money leasing the land to make syrup vs the value in timber. If the red maple down there is anything like it is here in NH, it isn't very good for anything but hardwood pulp or firewood. Which in turn pays the landowner very little in stumpage. If you could afford to pay $1-$2 a tap then I believe even at 200 taps it would make more money in 10 years than the one cut that he could get in 50 years.

[Starting Small]

There is a very good chance that you could make the land owner more money leasing the land to make syrup vs the value in timber. If the red maple down there is anything like it is here in NH, it isn't very good for anything but hardwood pulp or firewood. Which in turn pays the landowner very little in stumpage. If you could afford to pay $1-$2 a tap then I believe even at 200 taps it would make more money in 10 years than the one cut that he could get in 50 years.

Good to know, maybe if I cannot find another bush somewhere I will make him that offer. What determined the difference between getting $1 and 2$?
-Dave

[wiam]

Good to know, maybe if I cannot find another bush somewhere I will make him that offer. What determined the difference between getting $1 and 2$?
-Dave

You need to determine what you want to pay and still make a comfortable profit