refractometer

[michael marrs]

Next year, I am considering getting one, but am curious if any of you do a test on a tree. pre season, to see if you will tap that particular tree? also if you would suggest a unit for me that is simple to use and dependable. I have been checking on sugarbush in Mi. and roth and it seems I can get one around the $100 mark also an additional question, does the sugar content stay the same throughout the season? Thanks and hope you all had a good year

[Michael Greer]

I don't test pre season because my feeling is that if the tree is convenient, I drill a hole in it. I have used the refractometer to make thinning decisions however. There are places in my woods where 3" to 5" maples are growing three feet apart, and some are going to become firewood. One would hate to be the guy who cut down the sapling that yielded 4% sugar.

[Russell Lampron]

Refractometers can be purchased for around $30 on amazon and ebay. They come in different ranges so you can get one that will read in the range that you are testing. I bought one that will test to 32% because I concentrate my sap into the teens.

I don't test my trees before the season but have checked individual ones when I tapped buckets. The sugar content will change as the season progresses generally getting weaker toward the end. Sometimes it changes from one run to the next too depending on the freeze thaw cycles etc.

[michael marrs]

I guess my purpose of tis is I have about 300 trees or so I could tap, and want to narrow it down a bit

[mol1jb]

If I was narrowing down trees it would be using any on slope first and tap ones on flat land later. Or tapping ones that were the most convenient to bring to the main tank and branch out from there. Tell us more about your land and setup.

[Russell Lampron]

I guess my purpose of tis is I have about 300 trees or so I could tap, and want to narrow it down a bit

You can test each tree pre season with a refractometer to see which ones are the sweetest if you want. Bring some water and paper towels to clean the refractometer after each test.

[michael marrs]

the property I am on is an archery club I belong to. it is all flat. 40 acres in all probably 12-15 wooded with trails everywhere for access to a 4 wheeler . we have shooting courses all over so all of it is fairly accessible. My thoughts were to pre season tap and measure the trees for the best harvest

[mspina14]

I use one of these for sap and syrup:

16452

Measures from 0-85 brix so it can be used to measure sugar content in both sap and syrup. I think it cost about $120.

You need to bring a little water to wipe it off the sample window between uses.

I measure sap from a sample of trees at the beginning of the season, just to see what the sugar content is.

If I'm going to bother to tap a tree to test the sap, you might was well leave the tap in the tree for the season, even if the sugar content is on the low side.

Mark

[BreezyHill]

we have shooting courses all over so all of it is fairly accessible. My thoughts were to pre season tap and measure the trees for the best harvest

We already have a bunch of ladders, around a dozen. We will be adding four more this summer to get the main lines over two trail so that my wife can ride horses in the woods year round, get tractor access year round and in the future we will be using a team of drafts to pull a tour sleigh thru the bush.

Most of our current ladders are used to vacuum all the sap into the sugar house and eliminate the need to haul sap to the sugar house by truck. Our lowest tank was about 87 feet below the sugar house. It takes 7 ladders to get the sap up from that low point.

Flat land is not a problem as long as you have a vacuum pump.

I wouldn't bother sampling trees just tap those in the area you can get to the easiest and as you desire to expand branch out further in to the woods. there is more to a good producing tree than just its sugar content. Sun exposer, wind exposer, size, and proximity to a heavily traveled trail will all impact a trees production in ways that can make its sugar content unimportant.

Our highest sugar trees are on the state line on our farm. Problem is if there is a breeze, and there most always is, these trees can be slowed or stopped and sometimes never get running good. They benefit from the annual fertilizer the adjacent hay field gets and after mid day they are in full sun. Now the trees just 100' further in the bush are lower sugar % but produce much more on breezy days.

Good Luck!

[Wanabe1972]

I have a tree that i have tested with my refractometer and found the sugar content anywhere from 1 to 3 percent depending on the weather and year and somtimes just the freeze/thaw cycle. Im more inclined to pick trees due to there health. If the tree has 4 leaves on it in the summer or hollow trunk or physical damage then i skip it. If your going to test the trees maybe just test the questionable ones. Your going to have to drill them to check them anyway so you might as well drive a spile in.

[DrTimPerkins]

To test trees properly for comparison with one another, you should do it:
1. During the sap flow season,
2. All about the same time, at least for trees you're considering keeping/thinning in one group.
Tree sap sugar content will change within a few hours, day-to-day, within a season, and from year-to-year. You either need to check them all about the same time, or test them repeatedly to get an idea of how good their sap sugar is over several years. Realistically though, for thinning, you don't ever need to compare a tree in one bush versus trees in a totally different area.