"Right sized" backyard operation?

[ADK_XJ]

I've been giving some thought to the ideal size for our setup here and curious what others may have landed on. This is our second year in a row doing 100 taps - half buckets and half tubing - and it's been pretty manageable for me with a full-time (+) job, two kids, etc.

Part of that may be the ho-hum season last year and sort of looking like the same for this year, but I've got the process down pretty well between collecting in the evenings with my neighbor, concentrating down the night before a boil with my homemade RO and a going to "near'up" on a 2x4 divided pan on an oil tank. We have some enjoyable weekends in the spring and yield 10G~

Anyone ever expand their backyard operation to the point where it felt too big? Especially in the context of family and work.

My immediate plans for next year are focused more on a permanent location to boil than a huge increase in taps but I will probably kick things up a notch now that I've had success with small runs of tubing a few years in a row...

[voluntucky tapper]

hi i'm in the same boat 150 tap ,dropline to 5 gal bucket ........ i center a 100 gallon collection container that ,that area's buckets gets dumped into .that gets pumped to shack sap container ,then R.O.'d to container ,stored for weekend boiles, pump line is up in trees 3/4 blue mainline pitched high in center to drain ......... it has to drain both ways ,,think i'm done for the year ,,,,cleanup this week

[bigschuss]

I am at about 90 taps on a Mason 2x4 evaporator. No RO for now, but I think that's something I'll be doing in the future.

I am in the same situation...full time job, wife, 2 kids, 2 insane labs, etc. I have no desire to expand. I am actually a teacher and am home every day by 2:20 or so and even still I feel like I don't have enough time. As my kids get older, afternoons and weekends are now busy with soccer and track practice. There are days when this HOBBY begins to feel like a CHORE. And that's what lets me know I am at the very limit of where I want to be as far as the size of my operation.

[ADK_XJ]

I am at about 90 taps on a Mason 2x4 evaporator. No RO for now, but I think that's something I'll be doing in the future.

I am in the same situation...full time job, wife, 2 kids, 2 insane labs, etc. I have no desire to expand. I am actually a teacher and am home every day by 2:20 or so and even still I feel like I don't have enough time. As my kids get older, afternoons and weekends are now busy with soccer and track practice. There are days when this HOBBY begins to feel like a CHORE. And that's what lets me know I am at the very limit of where I want to be as far as the size of my operation.

Ha, being home by 2:20 sounds great but I'm sure you're in obscenely early...I work at a private secondary school and most of the teaching faculty are in the door by 7:30.

Yeah, I love every part of the process but I would hate for it to ever reach a point where it felt like an obligation vs. something I look forward to. Now, my wife may have a different song to sing when I'm out on my 2nd or 3rd run of the night at 10pm in the side-by-side but she does love our maple syrup...

[MRFNY]

ADK - if you ever want to come down to Charlton to take a look at my set up you are more than welcome. I do 90 taps all on buckets and boil on a Leader 2X4. No RO at the moment but I plan on getting the RO bucket after this season. Last season and obviously this season hasn't been overwhelming, but my first season I made 24 gallons and could have kept going but it reached that point where it was more like work than fun. And toward the end I kept looking at the dwindling wood supply and thinking how much cutting and splitting I had to do all summer, lol.

You might get some ideas of what to do/what not to do from my sugar house which was on the property when I bought the house. Let me know if you have any interest!

[berkshires]

My first year I started really small. My second year I tripled the number of taps, and put a lot of time into improvements. Then my wife and I had a baby. We had some very frank discussions about time commitment! My third and fourth year I kept at it, but did scale things back quite a bit, and wound up having a lot of crazy days. I would work my regular job, take care of the baby, do chores in the evening, and then when my wife was going to bed, I'd hop in the car, drive two hours to the sugarbush, start collecting and boiling, and then drive home sometime in the wee hours. Also had a bunch of days when I worked "from home" on my computer while I boiled. That sorta worked, but both my work and my boiling were pretty suboptimal.

Now my daughter is a bit older, and I've got a bigger evaporator, things have settled down a bit and I can scale up. But I'm still cognizant of other time commitments, and I don't want to create too much friction with my wife and daughter. So I'm probably not getting any bigger for a while.

Gabe O

[KiO]

I am in similar situation myself. Coaching hockey and trying to manage other things only leaves so much time. Boiling for three or four weeknights in a row takes a toll. I am a teacher as well so getting home earlier in the day helps somewhat. I have considered a more efficient set-up to save some time but then trying to justify the costs is hard to do. I am at my max capacity for now anyways and still have fun doing it but did have a few days this season where I asked myself if this is a fun hobby or a not... We all do the best we can in a way that works for us and our family and hopefully have fun doing it!

[littleTapper]

I've settled on a nice setup that isn't too demanding, even with 32 taps being a 15-minute drive away. The RO changed things dramatically. nearly 100 taps on a 2x4 got to be a lot of boiling and there were a lot of nights stumbling back into the house very late at night and ruining wife/kid's sleep. Once I got the RO, I haven't adjusted what I have; feels right. Even weeknight boiling I can get through what was a lot of raw sap and get to bed at normal times. Made 28 gallons a couple years ago and last year and this year being worse; but still making plenty. Everything is paid for now and in the black on the setup; so that makes life easier too. Mostly tubing too; just 21 taps on buckets at the neighbor's.

Working from home the last two years really makes it easy too :) At least once we're back in the office, it'll only be 2 days/week.

[LMP Maple]

When I first started up I bought my rig at the Maples Guys in Wilton. A guy that was there that day said don't go over 100 taps or you will be buried and it won't be fun anymore. I kind of scoffed at that at the time. That year I did close to 50 on buckets and it was manageable but I quickly saw his point. The nights of boiling till 1 am and trying to get to work for 5:30 took their toll. I have added taps over the years and the R/O is the only thing that lets me get above 50 taps. It's just too hard to work and make good stuff boiling raw sap. I don't let the sap sit till the weekends and the nights get long. For me it's not pushing it too much toward the end of the season. I set a realistic goal when I hit it if I still want to push I do if I am mentally out or work is starting to pick up I call it. No pressure and that has worked for me. When I start to say I hope it doesn't run too hard today I know I am ready to be done for the year. I love it and will do it as long as the powers that be let me but I know my limits.
It sounds like you have a good setup, especially with the help from the neighbor and your schedule. Both of those help a lot. I often say if I could come home and the sap was there waiting for me I would be in a better place but the kids are not there yet and the neighbors think it's great until they realize all the work that goes into making this stuff. My advice is to get it to a comfortable level whatever that is and stick to that number. When you retire you can really blow it up!

[ADK_XJ]

ADK - if you ever want to come down to Charlton to take a look at my set up you are more than welcome. I do 90 taps all on buckets and boil on a Leader 2X4. No RO at the moment but I plan on getting the RO bucket after this season. Last season and obviously this season hasn't been overwhelming, but my first season I made 24 gallons and could have kept going but it reached that point where it was more like work than fun. And toward the end I kept looking at the dwindling wood supply and thinking how much cutting and splitting I had to do all summer, lol.

You might get some ideas of what to do/what not to do from my sugar house which was on the property when I bought the house. Let me know if you have any interest!

Hey, thanks for the invitation - I may take you up on that at some point in the off-season here. Sounds like you have a good setup, I would love to be making 20-30 gallons but right now a good year for us is 10.

Having a dedicated place to boil would make a huge difference, my experience is weather dependent so I basically have to hope for rain-free weekend days. I'm also not firing the evaporator on a set schedule like I should, there's just too much management of little hands. I do have the RO working in my favor, whih was a game changer. I also should do a better job of insulating my oil tank "arch"...right now I basically have some old hardened brick fashioned into a firebox and then two ceramic blankets propped up along the sides to avoid overheating the sides of the tank and having them bow out (ask me how I know that).

[ADK_XJ]

My first year I started really small. My second year I tripled the number of taps, and put a lot of time into improvements. Then my wife and I had a baby. We had some very frank discussions about time commitment! My third and fourth year I kept at it, but did scale things back quite a bit, and wound up having a lot of crazy days. I would work my regular job, take care of the baby, do chores in the evening, and then when my wife was going to bed, I'd hop in the car, drive two hours to the sugarbush, start collecting and boiling, and then drive home sometime in the wee hours. Also had a bunch of days when I worked "from home" on my computer while I boiled. That sorta worked, but both my work and my boiling were pretty suboptimal.

Now my daughter is a bit older, and I've got a bigger evaporator, things have settled down a bit and I can scale up. But I'm still cognizant of other time commitments, and I don't want to create too much friction with my wife and daughter. So I'm probably not getting any bigger for a while.

Gabe O

Wow, I'm impressed / horrified that you even were able to balance that and a sugar bush 2 hours away...the only thing that has made this manageable for me is our trees have always been right on our property and I can slip out to collect (usually with a kid or two in tow) before dinner.

[ADK_XJ]

I am in similar situation myself. Coaching hockey and trying to manage other things only leaves so much time. Boiling for three or four weeknights in a row takes a toll. I am a teacher as well so getting home earlier in the day helps somewhat. I have considered a more efficient set-up to save some time but then trying to justify the costs is hard to do. I am at my max capacity for now anyways and still have fun doing it but did have a few days this season where I asked myself if this is a fun hobby or a not... We all do the best we can in a way that works for us and our family and hopefully have fun doing it!

Yeah, that is a good point...I have a certain amount into the hobby but making a big jump would also include a huge increase in spending on it. I've been able to snag deals along the way and for everything specific to mapl'ing (pans, RO, collection tanks, tubing...not including the Honda Pioneer side-by-side ha) I've been able to keep my investment under $1000 so far and really enjoy the experience.

What is getting me is the siren song of all those trees able to be tapped out in our 30 acre woods...

[ADK_XJ]

I've settled on a nice setup that isn't too demanding, even with 32 taps being a 15-minute drive away. The RO changed things dramatically. nearly 100 taps on a 2x4 got to be a lot of boiling and there were a lot of nights stumbling back into the house very late at night and ruining wife/kid's sleep. Once I got the RO, I haven't adjusted what I have; feels right. Even weeknight boiling I can get through what was a lot of raw sap and get to bed at normal times. Made 28 gallons a couple years ago and last year and this year being worse; but still making plenty. Everything is paid for now and in the black on the setup; so that makes life easier too. Mostly tubing too; just 21 taps on buckets at the neighbor's.

Working from home the last two years really makes it easy too :) At least once we're back in the office, it'll only be 2 days/week.

Even 15 minutes away is a big commitment, because then you're also factoring in the collection and transport effort. We are doing 100 taps on a 2x4 right now with a homemade (poorly insulated) arch and it is just on the line of manageable. I bet if I tightened up my setup and had a better location to boil it would make a huge difference. Maybe a little bit larger of an RO, like the RB20 or 25 from Carl at ROBucket.

[ADK_XJ]

When I first started up I bought my rig at the Maples Guys in Wilton. A guy that was there that day said don't go over 100 taps or you will be buried and it won't be fun anymore. I kind of scoffed at that at the time. That year I did close to 50 on buckets and it was manageable but I quickly saw his point. The nights of boiling till 1 am and trying to get to work for 5:30 took their toll. I have added taps over the years and the R/O is the only thing that lets me get above 50 taps. It's just too hard to work and make good stuff boiling raw sap. I don't let the sap sit till the weekends and the nights get long. For me it's not pushing it too much toward the end of the season. I set a realistic goal when I hit it if I still want to push I do if I am mentally out or work is starting to pick up I call it. No pressure and that has worked for me. When I start to say I hope it doesn't run too hard today I know I am ready to be done for the year. I love it and will do it as long as the powers that be let me but I know my limits.
It sounds like you have a good setup, especially with the help from the neighbor and your schedule. Both of those help a lot. I often say if I could come home and the sap was there waiting for me I would be in a better place but the kids are not there yet and the neighbors think it's great until they realize all the work that goes into making this stuff. My advice is to get it to a comfortable level whatever that is and stick to that number. When you retire you can really blow it up!

It does seem like the 100 tap marker is the loose tipping point between hobby and semi-hobby operation. We did 100 taps these last two seasons and it was still fun, still manageable. If I double that (like I've thought about) it will probably require an additional investment in RO, collection tanks, etc. to keep it from becoming an all-night thing on the weekends (which I'm not looking for at this point).

Totally agree about retirement...my wife has plans of moving down South at that point but I said she won't be seeing me February-April in that case.

[Swingpure]

I have no idea how people that have a full time job and do 50 to 100 taps, keep up. I have 111 and I spend almost the entire day, every day doing something.

Now I only boiled once past supper and although I have bottled in the evening, most of my evenings are free. Your operations must be far more efficient than mine.

My credit to you all.

[MRFNY]

Hey, thanks for the invitation - I may take you up on that at some point in the off-season here. Sounds like you have a good setup, I would love to be making 20-30 gallons but right now a good year for us is 10.

Having a dedicated place to boil would make a huge difference, my experience is weather dependent so I basically have to hope for rain-free weekend days. I'm also not firing the evaporator on a set schedule like I should, there's just too much management of little hands. I do have the RO working in my favor, whih was a game changer. I also should do a better job of insulating my oil tank "arch"...right now I basically have some old hardened brick fashioned into a firebox and then two ceramic blankets propped up along the sides to avoid overheating the sides of the tank and having them bow out (ask me how I know that).

Let me know whenever you might be able to come down!

[Sugarmaker]

I am a little bigger than most in this thread but way smaller than a lot of producers too.
My suggestions:
When Maple season its just that maple season, not much else or it will over whelm you.
Keep improving your material handling systems. sap/ wood....
Have things ready before the season
Balance your operation size with your hours available. Do the math. 1 tap gravity = 1 quart syrup on a good year. 1 quart syrup = 10+ gallons of sap. A good run 1 gallon of sap per tap. An evaporator that will boil all your sap for that day in about 4 hrs. 100 taps= 100 gal /4 = evaporator boiling at 25 GPH.
Try to have your boiling operation close to home. Haul the sap but be close to home with the sugarhouse if possible.
Have fun!
Keep boiling!
Regards,
Chris

[ADK_XJ]

I have no idea how people that have a full time job and do 50 to 100 taps, keep up. I have 111 and I spend almost the entire day, every day doing something.

Now I only boiled once past supper and although I have bottled in the evening, most of my evenings are free. Your operations must be far more efficient than mine.

My credit to you all.

Do you have any kind of RO? That was the game-changer for me...I started with two membranes, went to three and then finally 4. Each year I've had it I've added 25 taps from my original 25, which brought me over 100.

[Swingpure]

Do you have any kind of RO? That was the game-changer for me...I started with two membranes, went to three and then finally 4. Each year I've had it I've added 25 taps from my original 25, which brought me over 100.

I built myself an RO, but the brand new aquatec pump never worked, so I am waiting for a replacement. That would definitely cut the boil time in half.

[ADK_XJ]

I am a little bigger than most in this thread but way smaller than a lot of producers too.
My suggestions:
When Maple season its just that maple season, not much else or it will over whelm you.
Keep improving your material handling systems. sap/ wood....
Have things ready before the season
Balance your operation size with your hours available. Do the math. 1 tap gravity = 1 quart syrup on a good year. 1 quart syrup = 10+ gallons of sap. A good run 1 gallon of sap per tap. An evaporator that will boil all your sap for that day in about 4 hrs. 100 taps= 100 gal /4 = evaporator boiling at 25 GPH.
Try to have your boiling operation close to home. Haul the sap but be close to home with the sugarhouse if possible.
Have fun!
Keep boiling!
Regards,
Chris

All good points...one of the things I've thought of doing is either increasing my RO or upgrading to a Smoky Lake 2x5 hybrid, which would still fit my oil tank arch but would do 25gph easy.

[kstevens]

This is by far the most honest and helpful thread I've come across on these forums. Not that the other threads aren't honest! Quite the opposite, I've never come across another industry that is so helpful and welcoming. But I can't help but notice that so much of the forums, equipment, and resources available to us are only focused on making MORE. Even down to our forum signatures (I'm as guilty as anyone), how many have you come across that show fewer taps every year? There's this subtle pressure everywhere you look that says expanding is the only option. I'm only in my third year of this and I love it, but with three young kids I really have to balance my resources carefully and avoid overextending myself. With 30 buckets I'll probably end up with 5-7 gals this year, and as I stare at the maples a little further down the road I find myself asking whether another 2-3 gals would really make a difference in the quality of the experience. Lately I've been trying to think about it like I approached teaching the kids how to ski: always go out on a high note and leave them wanting more. It's helped me have some perspective and maintain reasonable expectations. I'm really happy with the amount of time I spend on this right now, and my goal is to avoid adding anything that will increase that obligation and take away from the fun.

[Sugarmaker]

Kstevens,
FOR Sure two or three more gals would always help the situation! Wait, maybe you mean gallons of syrup?:) Anyway the act of watching water boil goes way back to the cave man days. Staying up late, playing with fire, and tasting very sweet syrup seem to keep drawing folks to the production of pure maple syrup and beyond. Then the Guy gene kicks in, and what if we did just a little more? Look more maples in bills yard next door........ ! And away we go!
Keep boiling!
Regards,
Chris

[fisheatingbagel]

I think part of it is human nature, or at least the nature of people who make syrup. Maybe a combination of:

1) tinkering
2) improve on what we already have
3) the notion that with just a little more effort we can make even more lol
4) want something new to look forward to

Since I'm in a suburban area I'm limited as to how much I can expand; all my trees are on other property. But I'm happy with the size of my operation and now just look forward each year to slight improvements.

[kstevens]

@sugarmaker I know what you mean! I gaze into that evaporator pan like it can tell the future. Something so magnetic about it.