Advice needed!

[krismast]

Hello everyone! I'm excited as this is my first year tapping the 4 maple trees in our yard. However I do have some concerns. For starters I tapped my trees last weekend. In this time I haven't had more than a few drips in the buckets, and I thought it would be better given the warmer daytime temps this week. I'm using 5/16 inch taps. I'm also worried that maybe I didn't drill at enough of an angle. If the taps are too level will sap not flow? I drilled to a depth of around 1.5 inches, is that deep enough? Maybe I'm just not being patient enough. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Kristopher

[G0J0]

prob still too cold, need more consistent warming. last year was my first year and I tapped on a day that really warmed up and they were dripping right away. on the best days I had about a gallon from one tap (one day a gallon and half). that's from a really large silver maple in an open yard with loads of sun, south facing tap - first to warm up and run the best. this year I tapped a week ago too, but realistically that was too early so I'm waiting for the good thaw to begin to see the buckets fill. so just wait it out a bit more.

[DrTimPerkins]

I'm using 5/16 inch taps. I'm also worried that maybe I didn't drill at enough of an angle. If the taps are too level will sap not flow? I drilled to a depth of around 1.5 inches, is that deep enough? Maybe I'm just not being patient enough. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Welcome Kristopher. Everything you've done so far is fine. Even though the air may be fairly warm, at the beginning of the season it takes a good amount of warm weather to thaw out all that frozen wood and get the trees running. Just be patient and things will be just fine.

[krismast]

Thank you very much! This morning my sugar maple is dripping better than yesterday. Looking forward to to the coming weeks!

Kristopher

[Stilrz]

I tapped three trees last year... Spent huge amounts on boiling with propane... RO on order and expect to do about 100 taps this year. Stop now before the addiction takes hold. :-)

Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk

[krismast]

Haha thanks. Over the weekend I was able to get about 1/2 cup of a beautifully sweet light syrup! I do have more maples on my property not sure how many though. At least 8-10 more that I know of. That will be my project for this summer, taking a stroll and doing some tagging for next year. I'm going to do this year on a propane burner but I quickly realized this won't be efficient in the long run, so I'm already thinking about some type of wood fired evaporator for next year. I do have one question, as I'm doing more reading here I see the word 'arch' a lot. I assume this refers to whatever structure holds the sap above the fire? Am I correct?

Kristopher

[happy thoughts]

I assume this refers to whatever structure holds the sap above the fire? Am I correct?

Kristopher

Yes. It can be something as simple as a bunch of stacked cinder blocks and a chimney or as elaborate as you can build or afford.

Good luck and happy addiction :)