claystroup
03-18-2016, 02:23 PM
Well, I recently completed my first season as a sugarmaker and all I can say is WOW - that was a lot of fun! I collected 97 gallons of sap from 20 trees and boiled 3 times and made 16 pints of a beautiful light/medium amber syrup. Had my wife's whole family over for pancake/waffle dinner on the day of my last boil and got rave reviews. I am hooked and will be expanding next year. Some observations:
1) I cut and split way more firewood than I needed but already have next years supply done and ready.
2) I use 4 gallon food grade pails with lids. Next year I want to try about 20 sap bags/holders to see how they work in addition to my buckets as the buckets are a lot of work to clean and I can just throw the bags a way.
3) My 20" x 38" semi-professionally built evaporator worked good but only got about 5 to 5.5 gph. Also I lined the inside with 1/2" ceramic insulation and Durarock as the firebox was small. The ceramic insulation worked great but the Durarock fell apart. Did a mid season rush repair and put thin sheet steel over the Durarock and insulation.
4) My Smoky Lake Murphy cup worked great and made finishing easy for a beginner.
5) Ice is a great RO. I went snowmobiling for the 1st week of March and when I came back my buckets were all full and frozen. I got home on Saturday afternoon and went out and pulled all my buckets into my barn and turned the heat on to 50 degrees overnight. The next morning they were about 30-40% thawed and some of the thawed sap checked at 7% using my $25 Ebay Refractometer (great investment). I kept letting things thaw and when I got down to around 1% I dumped the rest of the ice. When I boiled that next day I had my best syrup output of the season.
6) I had fun boiling outside. The 3 times I boiled the weather was nice. I am retiring the end of this year so I will have more time to pick and choose when I boil instead of only on the weekends. I built a dolly to move my evaporator in and out of the garage and it worked fine.
7) The steam coming off the evaporator has a great fragrance that really grows on you.
8) Between reading this sight daily and YouTube videos, I figured everything out very easily.
9) The early warm up in SE Michigan cut my goals short. I had hoped to make 3 gallons this year but finished with 2. Oh well, can't change the weather.
10) I have met and talked to many helpful people. Richard Ogden in Capac, MI (Ogden's Sugar Bush) gave me lots of helpful ideas I have used that I wouldn't have thought of.
Changes for next year:
1) will tap 45-50 trees. 2 neighbors stopped when I was boiling and offered their trees up to me as they were intrigued by the process. Free syrup for them next year!
2) In process of getting prices on a bigger/better evaporator. Probably going with a 2 x 6 unit from Bill Mason(great guy to deal with) with (2) connected 3' flat batch pans that he says will do 18-20gph. Price is in my budget and if I need to expand in the future I can put flue pans on the same arch. That will be about a 300% improvement from my present evaporator.
3) My father in law has an older 6 wheel John Deere Gator. I am going to ask him if I can borrow it for the sugaring season to be my sap collection vehicle. Might cost me a couple pints of syrup! Will beat carrying buckets by hand.
4) If all goes well with next years expansion then I may consider building a sugar shack. I can build up to a 200 square foot shed in my township without a permit or any inspections. I have found an Amish lumber yard that sells rough sawn pine very reasonably that would be fun to use to get the rustic look.
Hooked on Maple Sugaring in Almont, MI.
Clay Stroup
Stroup's Sugar Bush
1) I cut and split way more firewood than I needed but already have next years supply done and ready.
2) I use 4 gallon food grade pails with lids. Next year I want to try about 20 sap bags/holders to see how they work in addition to my buckets as the buckets are a lot of work to clean and I can just throw the bags a way.
3) My 20" x 38" semi-professionally built evaporator worked good but only got about 5 to 5.5 gph. Also I lined the inside with 1/2" ceramic insulation and Durarock as the firebox was small. The ceramic insulation worked great but the Durarock fell apart. Did a mid season rush repair and put thin sheet steel over the Durarock and insulation.
4) My Smoky Lake Murphy cup worked great and made finishing easy for a beginner.
5) Ice is a great RO. I went snowmobiling for the 1st week of March and when I came back my buckets were all full and frozen. I got home on Saturday afternoon and went out and pulled all my buckets into my barn and turned the heat on to 50 degrees overnight. The next morning they were about 30-40% thawed and some of the thawed sap checked at 7% using my $25 Ebay Refractometer (great investment). I kept letting things thaw and when I got down to around 1% I dumped the rest of the ice. When I boiled that next day I had my best syrup output of the season.
6) I had fun boiling outside. The 3 times I boiled the weather was nice. I am retiring the end of this year so I will have more time to pick and choose when I boil instead of only on the weekends. I built a dolly to move my evaporator in and out of the garage and it worked fine.
7) The steam coming off the evaporator has a great fragrance that really grows on you.
8) Between reading this sight daily and YouTube videos, I figured everything out very easily.
9) The early warm up in SE Michigan cut my goals short. I had hoped to make 3 gallons this year but finished with 2. Oh well, can't change the weather.
10) I have met and talked to many helpful people. Richard Ogden in Capac, MI (Ogden's Sugar Bush) gave me lots of helpful ideas I have used that I wouldn't have thought of.
Changes for next year:
1) will tap 45-50 trees. 2 neighbors stopped when I was boiling and offered their trees up to me as they were intrigued by the process. Free syrup for them next year!
2) In process of getting prices on a bigger/better evaporator. Probably going with a 2 x 6 unit from Bill Mason(great guy to deal with) with (2) connected 3' flat batch pans that he says will do 18-20gph. Price is in my budget and if I need to expand in the future I can put flue pans on the same arch. That will be about a 300% improvement from my present evaporator.
3) My father in law has an older 6 wheel John Deere Gator. I am going to ask him if I can borrow it for the sugaring season to be my sap collection vehicle. Might cost me a couple pints of syrup! Will beat carrying buckets by hand.
4) If all goes well with next years expansion then I may consider building a sugar shack. I can build up to a 200 square foot shed in my township without a permit or any inspections. I have found an Amish lumber yard that sells rough sawn pine very reasonably that would be fun to use to get the rustic look.
Hooked on Maple Sugaring in Almont, MI.
Clay Stroup
Stroup's Sugar Bush