WinnerCircle
04-06-2015, 11:21 AM
Hello. This is my first post been a big fan of the site so far. Figured I would finally get in here and introduce myself. I bought an old family farm back last year that my grandfather had sold away 30 years ago. It had past hands several times. The last own foreclosed and left it abandoned during the winter with no heat. So needless to say I ended up getting for a decent price but have had to put in a lot of work.
On to the maple side of things. My grandfather used to make upwards of 500 gallons of maple syrup many years ago (or so he says lol). I am looking to get back to this output. Last year we got in late never did maple syrup before so we started with 7 taps made around 6 gallons with a single pan. This year we decided to raise the bar quite a bit and managed to get 330 taps all with buckets and also my grandfather in law gave us his 200 lines somebody was using before. I purchased a 2X6 CDL raised flue wood evaporator. Needless to say we have been doing okay except that fact we got a late start on the wood.
Future plans I would like to get up to 5,000 taps within the next two years, but 2,500 back next year all with lines. What I am here for is advice on how to reach that goal not really when it comes to installing the lines but more so on the equipment to handle this amount of taps. I would like to sell our current evaporator and upgrade to something much bigger and more efficient. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. If somebody has a similar setup that handles 2,500 to 5,000 taps I would love to hear about it.
The main areas are:
Evaporator: type, cost, gph
R/O: needed? type, cost, etc
Pre-heating: most bigger evaporators come with hood
For now I will continue to look through the forums and soak up as much as I can. Have been reading books of course have the Maple Producers Manual. Just enjoying the season and this family adventure we have set out on. I basically look at this from two angles right now which is setting up and collecting sap then actually processing the sap and making maple syrup.
Best of luck to every one this season. We have reach 40 gallons so far have learned a lot, can't wait for next year already.
Tab Winner
On to the maple side of things. My grandfather used to make upwards of 500 gallons of maple syrup many years ago (or so he says lol). I am looking to get back to this output. Last year we got in late never did maple syrup before so we started with 7 taps made around 6 gallons with a single pan. This year we decided to raise the bar quite a bit and managed to get 330 taps all with buckets and also my grandfather in law gave us his 200 lines somebody was using before. I purchased a 2X6 CDL raised flue wood evaporator. Needless to say we have been doing okay except that fact we got a late start on the wood.
Future plans I would like to get up to 5,000 taps within the next two years, but 2,500 back next year all with lines. What I am here for is advice on how to reach that goal not really when it comes to installing the lines but more so on the equipment to handle this amount of taps. I would like to sell our current evaporator and upgrade to something much bigger and more efficient. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. If somebody has a similar setup that handles 2,500 to 5,000 taps I would love to hear about it.
The main areas are:
Evaporator: type, cost, gph
R/O: needed? type, cost, etc
Pre-heating: most bigger evaporators come with hood
For now I will continue to look through the forums and soak up as much as I can. Have been reading books of course have the Maple Producers Manual. Just enjoying the season and this family adventure we have set out on. I basically look at this from two angles right now which is setting up and collecting sap then actually processing the sap and making maple syrup.
Best of luck to every one this season. We have reach 40 gallons so far have learned a lot, can't wait for next year already.
Tab Winner