What's Fair?

[SDdave]

What is fair for dividing syrup?

A friend of mine wanted to make syrup with me for the first time this year. So I tapped my own trees and helped him tap his. He brings his sap to my shack every other day. He stays and watches me boil whenever he has a chance. All the equipment; taps, tubing, buckets, RO, pan, bottles, etc are mine. Sap collected has been about a 2:1 ratio, with mine being higher. So what is fair for division of syrup?

I am struggling with this, don't want to make him mad. But I've put in a lot of time on it as well. I don't want to be selfish either.

SDdave

[RileySugarbush]

That is one of the toughest questions! You probably now know you should have figured this out before starting. You need to figure what is fair to you. Would 50/50 on his portion work for you? If so, that seems generous too me and he should be happy. If not, what would you give someone if you tapped their trees? There have been many discussion on here about that. Since he is gathering, and a friend, somewhere between those seems reasonable.

[TRAILGUY]

I do 50 50 but they by their tubing and taps

[motowbrowne]

I do 50 50 but they by their tubing and taps

I'd do 50/50 on his sap. You get all of yours. He makes up for the buckets & tubing rental by helping out in the sugarbush, cutting wood or bottling maybe.

[RollinsOrchards]

Figure out how much his sap was worth if you had to buy it, pay him that amount in syrup.

This calculator is good to play with.

http://www.ohiomaple.org/sap-app.html

You can play with the proportions, brix level, and value of finished product, and get a value per gallon of sap, add in the gallons total and a final number comes up.

[BSD]

Figure out how much his sap was worth if you had to buy it, pay him that amount in syrup.

This calculator is good to play with.

http://www.ohiomaple.org/sap-app.html

You can play with the proportions, brix level, and value of finished product, and get a value per gallon of sap, add in the gallons total and a final number comes up.

This is what I would do as well, your much more invested in the process, you deserve more reward

[SDdave]

See the errors in my ways, as I should have had this discussion prior. I think to keep friends and a future mapler, I'll do the 2:1 split, with one less pint per gallon as a "rental fee".

SDdave

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I have a similar setup this year. A friend is bringing me sap to my house. All I do is help unload it into my tank that feeds the RO. They help out immensely and I don't mind the company. We have been keeping track of how much sap is brought to me and its sugar content. I am giving them all the syrup their sap will produce minus the cost of containers. I am also offering a deep discount on a small amount of extra syrup for them to buy from me because they have been so helpful. My stress level is a lot lower having the extra hands to watch the evaporator while I am inside working the RO.

[Michael Greer]

I had a similar arrangement when I started out. For every 100 gallons of sap I hauled to me friend's shack, I took home a gallon of syrup. I also worked his woods and sugarhouse every day.

[Islander]

I give back half.

I provide the supplies, tap the tree and they deliver the sap. After the last boil I determine on average how many bottles any given tap produced during the season and give them back half per each number of tap they had. I box it all up with a card listing all the stats: how many taps total, gallons of sap collected, cords of wood burned, hours spent boiling, volume of finished syrup. I've never had anyone suggest it wasn't a fair method, they get to feel like a part of the process without the 'work' part of it and my yield increases overall.

There is 1 exception, the friend that gives me the wood gets all the bottles his taps produced. He taps his own, and has been known to drop by and fire up the evaps too.

[maple flats]

I have my rates printed and give a copy to anyone who brings me sap. It tells what I will take and what I won't. I have a sliding scale for how much they get back in syrup which is related to the sugar %. The lower the sugar, the lower % of syrup they get. Yes, I have an RO, but 1.6% sap takes much more time and energy than 2.5% or 3.0% for example. I also specify that the sap must be clear and small fresh. In all cases they pay for the containers either in cash or by getting that amount less syrup.