low quality trees

[Maplemonkey]

Hello,
We are tapping just for fun and family. Needless to say the "sugarbush" we have is far from perfect. We only have access to about 8 sugar maples. Our other maples are kind of junky reds and what I always called swamp maples. I would like to supplement with a few of them.
1. If we have a maple that has 3 or 4 small trunks shooting off the main trunk close to the ground, is it ok to cut those off and try to get just the biggest main trunk to grow?
2. What time of year should those other trunks be cut off and what time of year is it best to prune the maples?
3. Is burning maple wood under the syrup pan kind of like cannibalism?:mrgreen:

Thanks!

[jmayerl]

Interesting you say "junky" red maples. I tap 1000 soft maples and make tons of award winning syrup. Tap them!

[WESTMAPLES]

theres nothing wrong with tapping "junky " red maples I tap lots of them in my sugarbushes the only thing different is reds are more finicky when it comes time to run and the sugar content usually is abit lower but they will still make great syrup and for the multi-trunk tree id just tap each trunk without cutting anything

[happy thoughts]

How big are the small trunks? Are they tappable? If they're of any size I'd just leave them. Unlike other trees, you don't want to prune maples when they're dormant or the trees will "bleed" lots of sap. For general maple pruning, early spring when leafing begins is usually the time recommended. The cuts should heal quickly and the tree will have time to put energy into new growth.

For cutting out small trunks I'm not so sure. The tree probably developed all those trunks because the main stem was cut during the active growing season. You might be taking out one trunk but be left to deal with 10 more in a year or two. Late summer or early fall might be better imho because cutting is going to stimulate growth at the cut. A late cut will leave less time for new shoots to form and be viable over the winter. I'd probably just leave them be and just tap them as is if the extra stems look large enough.

[markct]

I tap hundreds of red maples and many that are 3 or 4 trunks i often tap them alternatly, like one trunk one year and a dif one the next

[Maplemonkey]

Thanks!
It seems like all of those smaller sucker type trunks are keeping the main trunk from growing.

[Big_Eddy]

I have some trees that are as you described. Regrowth around a single point with 5-6 smaller shoots. I will select 1 or 2 stems and cut the rest. Depending on the size at time of cutting, in 1-5 yrs there is a huge difference in progress between those pruned and similar ones left alone. I have a few in a prime tapping area where I started with 5-6 stems@~4-6" and now have have 12" trunks on the remaining stem, perhaps 3 years later. Just down the trail, I have one I left alone, and it still has 5-6 stems@4-6".

If the individual stems are tappable already, I leave them alone and trim the surrounding ash, oak and beech instead.

[Russell Lampron]

Somewhere close to 650 of my 800 taps are red maples. A lot them are clumps of trees growing out of the same root ball. I put a tap in each tree and turn on the vacuum. I also have some larger trees in the 24 to 30" range that have smaller 2" or so saplings growing out of the base. So far I haven't had the time to trim all them but the ones that have been trimmed are doing good and look better than the ones that haven't been trimmed. When time allows I will trim the rest of them.

If you are tapping with buckets you will find that the reds are finicky. Some will run good, some will run a little bit and some not at all. I have some at the edge of a field that run like sugar maples and another similar stand of trees just a few feet away that will barely cover the bottom of a bucket.

[elderblack]

Oh yeah. Got a "swamp" in between two creeks on the back '10. Red, swamp red, black?, Norway?......
Tap 'm all.
I've even tapped a few black walnuts. Different but totally good.

[Maplemonkey]

how about this? i have a few big elms and ash in the middle of my nice maples. the non tappers are crowding out the crowns of the good trees. the problem is that if i cut them they are likely to fall into and take branches off the good maples. Is the risk of damaging a nice maple worth the benefit of removing those unwanted trees that are hogging light?

[Thad Blaisdell]

Just cut a ring around them (girdle) and they will slowly die. Then what will happen is all the limbs will fall off over the next few years..... even still there will be no leaves to shade.

[MN Jake]

Just cut a ring around them (girdle) and they will slowly die. Then what will happen is all the limbs will fall off over the next few years..... even still there will be no leaves to shade.
The roots will definitely let go at some point with a lot of wood left up top. Not to mention deadheads coming down.