New sugar addict from NH/MA

[NhShaun]

Hello all, after my first season of tapping and collecting sap i found this site. A little late, but this will give me much more to think about before next season. My older sister recently(winter of 2012) purchased 40 wooded acres in central Massachusetts.. I went over to visit and check the place out... all i could see...Maple trees.. everywhere!! No one understood why i was so excited to see maple trees, but i am sure some of you can relate. I have always wanted to get into it and i believe that was my calling. So this past season was my first.. i heard it was a rough one, but i still ended up with about 2 gallons of delicious syrup so i was more than thrilled of the outcome. 2 gallons of syrup isn't much, but when you are hauling 85+/_ gallons of sap out of the woods in 5 gallon jugs on your shoulder, it makes that 2 gallons of sap seem like so much more haha. I had just over 100 taps and roughly 500 feet of 5/16 lines installed within the first two days(3/21,3/22). It's a lot of work walking around in 3 feet of snow, but i enjoyed every minute of it. Overall i think it was a great experience and i can hardly wait for the season to come. I purchased about 200 more taps with hopes to purchase some more materials before winter. I would estimate that there are well over 500 maple trees on this property.. which is pretty exciting to think about. I also have some Land in central NH with about 30 good size maples.

Hope i didn't bore you too much. I look forward to learning more and more about this and maybe connecting with some local people in the near future. I would personally rather invest in lines and buckets than a sugar shack... Maybe there is someone from the area with a shack that can take on some more sap to boil when the time comes.. just a suggestion.

Take care, and thanks for reading.

[Drew Pond Maple]

I was in the same situation you are in 3 years ago making about 2 gallons of syrup, and this year I made 25 gallons. It's defently an addiction. Everywhere I go I see maple trees and wonder if I could or someone could tap them. My wife even says I'm f'd in the head cuz all I think about is maple. I've even been transplanting sugar maples from the woods all around the yard.

Where are you located in NH? If your way south Red Maples on this site I believe is in Kingston NH or Morningstar farm in Plaistow is in southern NH.
Where are your taps in central NH? I'm from just south of Plymouth NH and alway welcome people to stop by for a cold one, and watch sap boil
There is a lot of great people with alot of info on this this site
I have learned so much from this site and hope you can too.

[handtapper]

Welcome to the trader and sugaring. Lots of kind informative people on here. I'm from Hollis nh you won't have any issues finding someone to buy/barter your sap

[jrgagne99]

Welcome to Maple Trader Shaun! I'm sure you'll have lot's of fun with this hobby...

Just 2 gallons of syrup made with 100 taps this year? Really? It sounds like you had either a really rough season or some serious sap leaks. In a "decent" year (and by most accounts, this year was better than average) you would expect to make about 25 gallons of syrup on 100 taps.

[morningstarfarm]

Tap away bud...any extra sap you get I will gladly buy from you..any questions or help with maple stuff please feel free to call we will gladly share a beer and help you out in any way we can...And all of here will gladly share.

2 gals for this year starting the last week of march doesn't sound too bad to me...be prepared though...next year on a whole season you should do between 20-25 gals...

[NhShaun]

Welcome to Maple Trader Shaun! I'm sure you'll have lot's of fun with this hobby...

Just 2 gallons of syrup made with 100 taps this year? Really? It sounds like you had either a really rough season or some serious sap leaks. In a "decent" year (and by most accounts, this year was better than average) you would expect to make about 25 gallons of syrup on 100 taps.

I only had enough time off work to tap/collect for a week starting 3/21. I am excited to hear that ill get around 25 gallons with that amount of taps next year though, Thanks!

[Shawn]

I would tap that! your addicted, enjoy

[NhShaun]

Tap away bud...any extra sap you get I will gladly buy from you..any questions or help with maple stuff please feel free to call we will gladly share a beer and help you out in any way we can...And all of here will gladly share.

2 gals for this year starting the last week of march doesn't sound too bad to me...be prepared though...next year on a whole season you should do between 20-25 gals... Thank you, i would love to come check out your set up when the time comes back around. What kind of pricing would be normal for purchasing sap? just a rough idea, I'm sure it depends on several variables.

[ihuntbear]

welcome from Canada...with a little vacuum you will get a lot more then 25 gal

[maple flats]

Is the land flat or do you have a slope? If a good slope read about 3/16 line and taps on this forum. If a real good slope and layout 5/16 line and taps do well giving natural vacuum. Vacuum increases sap flow, the amount depends on the vacuum level. If you just started with gal gal of syrup, you may not be ready to buy or run a vacuum pump, but proper layout , with a good slope can do wonders creating natural vacuum. If you have that option, consider this, natural vacuum runs 24/7, no fuel cost and it never breaks. All you need to do is repair any leaks, and never consider venting the high end of the line. The weight of the sap in the lines give you the vacuum if you have the slope.
As far as selling sap, if you have any producers nearby, that should be no issue. Some pay cash, based on the sugar %, many boil on shares, if the buyer has an RO the share % can run from about 1/4 up to maybe 60%, I buy on 50% if the sap is 2% or better.

[Chicopee Sap Shack]

From what I listened to today from Glenn goodritch is to use 3/16 on every line even on high vacuum it will help on every system. A little 3/16 natural vacuum plus high vacuum will bring you closer to maximum vacuum


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[NhShaun]

Is the land flat or do you have a slope? If a good slope read about 3/16 line and taps on this forum. If a real good slope and layout 5/16 line and taps do well giving natural vacuum. Vacuum increases sap flow, the amount depends on the vacuum level. If you just started with gal gal of syrup, you may not be ready to buy or run a vacuum pump, but proper layout , with a good slope can do wonders creating natural vacuum. If you have that option, consider this, natural vacuum runs 24/7, no fuel cost and it never breaks. All you need to do is repair any leaks, and never consider venting the high end of the line. The weight of the sap in the lines give you the vacuum if you have the slope.
As far as selling sap, if you have any producers nearby, that should be no issue. Some pay cash, based on the sugar %, many boil on shares, if the buyer has an RO the share % can run from about 1/4 up to maybe 60%, I buy on 50% if the sap is 2% or better.

Most of the property with the dense maple trees have a very good slope which is lucky I'd say. The idea of a natural vacuum sounds like it will work great for me with the 5/16 lines. I've read to put anywhere from 3-15 taps on one 5/16 line and keep it under 50-100 ft. Everyone has there own opinions, personal success or problems so forums can be difficult. Because the sloped sections of woods are well over 100 ft i think ill need to run some sort of main lines and tie in with the 5/16.. Not sure if that will effect the natural vacuum with the larger mainline. So much planning and so little time. Thanks for your input it is greatly appreciated.

[maple flats]

If you have the slope for natural vacuum, the taps can and should be more than that and the length more too. I have a friend who has over 40 taps on a single 5/16 and it is several hundred feet long. He says the sap shoots out with good pressure when the flow gets going. The main point is to have enough drop after the lowest tap, if you don't the pressure generated by gravity on the sap in the tubing from the upper trees generates a pressure into the lower trees. If you have tapable trees with little drop in elevation from there, make it separate line. From the lowest tree tap to the collection tank should be at least 20 and even better 30' drop in elevation. On gravity, do not run into main lines unless you will have too many feet in length. Many on gravity natural vacuum run up to 50+ taps and up to maybe 500' length. The 100' max. you read about applies to vacuum pump vacuum lateral lines and somewhat the gravity lines with too little slope to generate natural vacuum.

[NhShaun]

Thanks again for the info! It will be much easier if i can get over 40 taps on one line Several hundred feet long, that is great news! The 30' drop in elevation might be a little tricky in some places, but 20' shouldn't be as difficult to achieve. I plan on going to check out the property this week and starting to get a rough idea of what i might be able to do with this new info fresh in my brain.

The search still continues for a local Maple addict with a good sized evaporator who might be interested in doing some sort of share deal this season. Offering my labor and assistance for the whole season as well. I called one local place and they generally pay $.30 per gallon of sap(Depending on sugar content of course) But don't do any type of shares. That isn't too bad of a deal, but if that's the going rate, i might have to just start making my own evaporator and do it all on my own.