New to hobby starts off really bad

[c0ps]

So I been reading this forum and others for quite a while. I built an evaporator out of a drum, than I custom build a pan to fit the drum. While gathering sap from my maples I start to build a temporary shelter around the evaporator.
Than it happens! Ice storm hits my area (Caledon Ontario) and wipes out most my trees. So I decide to boil what Little I gathered 25 gallons of sap. My build works great at 10 gallons per hour. Syrup came out amazing.
Now I'm thinking of just selling my equipment since I have only a handful of maples and lost my big best producer. Unless I somehow turn my big pan into a small pan with preheated. Not sure.

But here are some pics. And thanks for everyone's information that made these couple of weeks a great experience!

[Hannah]

No trees on the neighbors or close enough by to tap, would hate to put that much into a new hobby and then abandon it.

[maple flats]

The most I've ever tapped on my property is 180, but I've totaled up to 1320 taps leased from others. Don't give up, just ask around and find more trees.

[grimmreaper]

i got you all beat.i tapped a total of around 800 taps and only 1 in my yard!!!!

[Russell Lampron]

Than it happens! Ice storm hits my area (Caledon Ontario) and wipes out most my trees.

By wiping out your trees do you mean they are uprooted or limb damage? If it is limb damage the trees will recover and live to give sap for years to come. You will want to give them a year off, maybe two and should be fine after that. Trees will survive limb damage better than they will a drought. If you have some good growing seasons after this your trees will recover.

[scottdevine]

i have a VERY familiar story and it was the way i started my first season as well...i too built an evap from a drum and a pallet shack around myself...never experienced the ice storm, but i would NEVER give up...you HAVE tasted the fruits of your labor, now go find trees. It IS worth it. You CAN do it!

[Cedar Eater]

That is one sad story. I hope you find some trees to tap.

[campus189]

I'm sorry to hear and see the damage from your post.
Don't give up, find a close neighbor, or friend and tell them what happened.
Or play the no more syrup card for people you give syrup to, unless you can find more trees.
From my personal experience and I know there are lots of others here on the forums that will tell you as well, Don't give up.
Look at all the effort, money & hard work you went through to get syrup.
Would be a shame to throw in the towel so to speak. :cry:

[c0ps]

By wiping out your trees do you mean they are uprooted or limb damage? If it is limb damage the trees will recover and live to give sap for years to come. You will want to give them a year off, maybe two and should be fine after that. Trees will survive limb damage better than they will a drought. If you have some good growing seasons after this your trees will recover.

Hi, no by wipe out I mean they are all on the ground. Most of my 10 acres are pines. I lost many many pines as you can tell in the picture. I have weeks of cleanup to do.

[c0ps]

Thanks for all the encouraging words...ill try asking some land owners in my area. If that doesn't work out I'll be reaching out to buy fresh syrup from one of you guys lol.

[Run Forest Run!]

Hi c0ps, your third photo looks like the one I posted the other day. Unbelievably terrible storm, and very localised. I strongly encourage you to continue on with sugaring. While I too have a limited number of maples on my property (and even fewer since Friday :mad: ) I also tap some sugar maples at my friends' property 5km down the street. I've had lots of people ask me if I want to tap some trees on their properties as well, but I'm totally maxed out with what I can handle on my own. Once people know that you make syrup, they seem to come out of the woodwork!!!

Don't let this get you down. There are so many trees here in Caledon, that I'd bet that you'd only have to look across the street to find some decent candidates for next year. Also, don't forget that you can tap ANY maple, not just sugar maples. I'd be surprised if there weren't a few Manitoba maples (box elders) on your property to tap. Their syrup is wonderful.

[madmapler]

If some of those trees still have roots in the ground then I'd tap the daylights out of them. I have 2 like that in my woods and I get sap from them. Why not? Their goners anyway. Bleed em out!

[Run Forest Run!]

If some of those trees still have roots in the ground then I'd tap the daylights out of them. I have 2 like that in my woods and I get sap from them. Why not? Their goners anyway. Bleed em out!

You could try that c0ps, but I drilled about 8 holes in each of mine that had been ripped out the ground because of the storm, and absolutely nothing happened. Drier than dry. You might want to experiment, just in case.

[c0ps]

You could try that c0ps, but I drilled about 8 holes in each of mine that had been ripped out the ground because of the storm, and absolutely nothing happened. Drier than dry. You might want to experiment, just in case.

I tried that last night. While the others were dripping. The fallen ones are dry as dirt.

[Sugarmaker]

Sorry to hear you lost your sugarbush. As other mentioned maybe some trees in the neighborhood you can rent. We rent all 600+ of our taps.
Regards,
Chris

[DuncanFTGC/SS]

Just another thought, if you can find someone selling sap to the bigger producers, you might be able to work out a deal to buy a couple hundred gallons of sap, and use that in the interim till you find more taps for yourself. Hang in there!

[maple flats]

i got you all beat.i tapped a total of around 800 taps and only 1 in my yard!!!!
Maybe not, the year I tapped 1320, none were my trees, I only went back to tapping my trees after I put vacuum there so I could bring all the sap right to the sugarhouse, with 4 sap ladders.

[TooManyIrons...]

This is really disappointing to read about. I know it may be a bit crushing to your morale right now so I suggest to take a step back, let some time pass, then evaluate and research all your options. You have a year to figure it out.

What I see is this: You have already done all the investment of money, time, and effort building the skill set and acquiring/building the necessary equipment. There is a lot of personal satisfaction and value in that. Now you have a new, unexpected challenge of finding a source of supply for sap. Take on this challenge, solve it, and you are back in business. If after looking at all options it turns out there simply is no viable, realistic solution to the challenge, then the decision is made for you and you can move on to other interests with your head held high. I hope next year we hear from you that you are back at it, though. :)

At the very least you have a good supply of firewood for future processing, if you can get it all cut up and protected. Nice looking syrup, by the way.

Wishing the best,
-Tom