Would you tap this?

[Cedar Eater]

This is the only tree that I have that looks like this.

[MidMichMaple]

Heck yeah I would. I bet that would be a productive tree.

[Galena]

Hellya. Just one word of advice: try to not tap below a burl if possible. My best tree is similar to that one, and it's a machine. Scroll through my gallery (not the link below) and look for #6.

[adk1]

For sure I would. I agree maybe stay away from the burl

[Cedar Eater]

I checked out your #6 tree, Galena and it eased my mind. I'll have to get a pic of where I tapped my tree. I got good white/yellow wood when I drilled it. My wife took one look at it and said, "That doesn't look like a maple and even if it is, are you sure it's safe?" I had to admit that it didn't look like any of our other maples or any of our other trees. I don't know what caused it to grow like that. It must have been in a clearing when it was little.

[BlueberryHill]

Cut the pine or whatever it is right next to it! That'll get you better sap next year.

[MaxJ]

Sure I'd tap it in a heart beat. What side (direction) are the pines sitting? It'd be a shame to have to cut the left one down if it was shading the maple too much.

[Cedar Eater]

I'm looking at the tree from pretty much directly south of it, so the left evergreen is SSW and the right is SE. I think they are both balsam firs and I have a bazillion of those, so no big sacrifice if I take them out. This is the first year that I'm tapping any trees in that section. I hadn't really considered steps to promote the maple yet, but I think cutting them out is likely to happen.

[Cedar Eater]

Here's a pic of where I tapped it. It's more than a meter below an old healed-over lost branch. It was good white wood on the drill bit and it seems to be running clear.

13636

It looks like I'm going to have to be careful where I tap in future years. There are burls everywhere.

[DuncanFTGC/SS]

I do not see any reason to not tap a tree like that. How does the sap measure out for sugar and volume? I would be curious to keep track of that tree, just due to it being different.

[Cedar Eater]

How does the sap measure out for sugar and volume?

I wouldn't know how to measure either of those for a tree that's included in a sapline. I wouldn't want to not include it because reds are so finicky on gravity alone and this run might be getting some natural vacuum.