Tapping Soft/Red Maples

[sapman]

I know this has been discussed before. I'm looking to add taps this year, and one woods where I have tapped was logged a couple years ago. Of course, they took mostly sugar maples. There are still a fair number of taps, but if I added reds I could probably double my taps in that woods. So, would the consensus be to bother with them or not. I know they are usually lower in suger content, but I'm hoping to have an RO next season, so that isn't as much of an issue. I also understand they will bud sooner.

I remember Glenn Goodrich saying they tubed a many thousand tap woods for a guy once, and it was all soft maple. They were apprehensive, but I guess he makes hundreds or thousands of gallons of good syrup.

Thanks,
Tim

[mountainvan]

I don't pass a red maple in the woods. If it's big enough to tap go for it.

[PATheron]

Mountainvan- Ive got a few nice reds in a stand of mostly sugar and I decided to tap them. I was worried about them budding out and messing up good sap later in the season. Will that happen or will they go dry first. I figured I could just pull those taps if I want. They looked to good too walk by. Theron

[softmaple]

i tap almost all softmaples cause thats all i got. at 2 percent im not picky. i got time and enough wood. and its taste is dang good too. for the people that think sugar maples are the only ones to tap they're missing out. it's like steak with no seasoning - blending the types of maples gives your syrup more character

[cncaboose]

I have tested sugar content on several reds in my bush and most are in the 2-3% range, though a couple came in at less than 1%. That puts them high on the firewood list. I also tap a 36" diameter silver maple in my front yard that tests 3% and ran as well as most of the sugars, though it starts early and ends early. I tapped a 24" diameter boxelder here at the house last spring and while it tested OK at 2+%, its sap production was below average and it dried off early. The bottom line, if you are walking by the tree anyway and it's in the maple family, tap it. Has anyone out there tapped any of the Norway maples that are becoming so popular as planted trees?

[maplehound]

Now for the opposing view
I Don't tap the reds. In my area they are often in bud before the season even starts. If they arn't then they will soon be. I do however live more south than most who make in Ohio. I will ussually see temps in the mid 60's in the first couple weeks of the season here our season almost never goes into April. Those that live in our snow belt ( up around Lake Erie) ussually get 2 or more weeks later into the season than I do and they are more apt to tap the soft maples.

[VA maple guy]

Ian, I have about 10 Norways Maples that I tap. The sugar% in them
runs somewhere between my reds and sugars. The amount of
sap I get from them also falls between my reds and sugars.
If you have access to some of them I would tap all of them.
Gerry

[sapman]

Thanks for the quick feedback, guys!

I always see the reds with the flowery buds early in the season, or preseason often. But does this mean they are buddy, or would that be a typical "prebud, or prebuddy sap" state? If so, how would you know when they do go buddy, short of taste testing?

Thanks again,
Tim

[VA maple guy]

Tim, I have mostly reds down here in Virginia. The buds on them will usully swell quite big during the season, but the sap never has got buddy.
Theye will just shut off.
Gerry

[rschoo]

If you already have the buckets lying around tap the best looking Reds. I have more reds than sugars on buckets and they do just fine. The reds are peculiar though. I have a few that are 2' in diameter that don't flow well or even at all and some 4 to 5 multi stem clusters that the biggest stem is a foot across has upper branches only on 1/4 of trunk and give 2 gals a day of 2% or better per tap during runs. If you don't mind moving your taps around to find the good trees it's definitely worth it. Pull the ones that don't flow at least a half gallon a day during runs as I find they put out a lot of sugar sand.

[royalmaple]

I tap a bunch of reds, mostly all tubing and vacuum. As far as buckets go, I haven't had tremendous luck with sap volume on buckets and reds, but the past few years have not been record breakers for any bucket/gravity operation around either. If you are running tubing and certainly if you have vacuum pump I wouldn't hesitate tapping the reds, especially if they are clumped up and you can get a bunch of taps without going broke on tubing.

And if you are thinking about getting an RO, throw all the sap content out the window. That's the big equalizer, now all you want is sap you can get the sugar content up to where you want it with the RO.

As for buds, I had many of those reds that were really puffy with buds early on but they still kept giving sap till mid april last year, and it wasn't until the very very end that I got any off flavor. I do get a bunch of sugar sand. And boiling the raw sap with lower sugar content is going to mean more work and less syrup per gallon of sap boiled off and more than likely darker syrup but it's what most customers I have want anyway. And the bulk prices aren't that much less.

I'm adding on a bunch of nice trees to my existing tubing down the road which will end up being close to 800-1000 more taps by the time I'm done before this season and 99% reds.

You can't sell any syrup from trees you don't tap. You'll be walking by alot of potential drips if you pass them up.

[802maple]

Well put Matt

[sapman]

Great posts, guys! I appreciate your comments!

I always have sugar maples that don't seem to run much, either. Hopefully, I remember from year to year not to hang buckets on them, but sometimes I do and pull them later. It would save allot of work if I was only tapping good trees. On tubing, who cares!

Thanks,
Tim