Looking for Ideas

[Grallert]

This is our first year sugaring. I started out with a simple pan with a draw off. Firing with a propane burner. We collected about 150 gallons of sap from ten trees in buckets. all went well but I messed up a gallon trying to filter it to clear no sediment. It's good but cloudy. Live and learn. Here's the reason in doing this in the first place. I work at a small private high school for girls here in the Berkshires. Miss Hall's School. As is the case with most folks who work at a place like this you start off in one position and find that there are other positions you fit into as well. I started as the plumber. Our student body comes from 24 different countries. One of my interests is being outside, another is explaining our relationship with the outside and where things like our food comes from. We are on about 80 acres. One thing I've noticed especially during and since covid is that these kids are really interested in exploring the outside world. Sure they take their phones LOL but they're outside asking questions and taking pictures.
All this to say I started this mini operation with another like minded colleague because the kids are interested and we end up with a product that might sustain itself and the operation. To that end I'd like to see other small operations out there in my area. Folks tapping 100 or less trees firing with wood. I'd like to get shack ideas and evaporator ideas etc. I'd would like to take pictures and present this to the leadership of MHS and get support for a proper little set up we could operate over our spring break.
Message me if you're in the Berkshires and you'd be willing to give me the nickel tour.
I'll try and post images of our
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vbQs425CFlKxBjk_adUMwqU0i0fm8pbl/view?usp=drive_link janky set up.
Matthew
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10cLZpgYxUnRsirUGohkEHz_Yo3NHGSbw/view?usp=drive_link

[BAP]

This is our first year sugaring. I started out with a simple pan with a draw off. Firing with a propane burner. We collected about 150 gallons of sap from ten trees in buckets. all went well but I messed up a gallon trying to filter it to clear no sediment. It's good but cloudy. Live and learn. Here's the reason in doing this in the first place. I work at a small private high school for girls here in the Berkshires. Miss Hall's School. As is the case with most folks who work at a place like this you start off in one position and find that there are other positions you fit into as well. I started as the plumber. Our student body comes from 24 different countries. One of my interests is being outside, another is explaining our relationship with the outside and where things like our food comes from. We are on about 80 acres. One thing I've noticed especially during and since covid is that these kids are really interested in exploring the outside world. Sure they take their phones LOL but they're outside asking questions and taking pictures.
All this to say I started this mini operation with another like minded colleague because the kids are interested and we end up with a product that might sustain itself and the operation. To that end I'd like to see other small operations out there in my area. Folks tapping 100 or less trees firing with wood. I'd like to get shack ideas and evaporator ideas etc. I'd would like to take pictures and present this to the leadership of MHS and get support for a proper little set up we could operate over our spring break.
Message me if you're in the Berkshires and you'd be willing to give me the nickel tour.
I'll try and post images of our
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vbQs425CFlKxBjk_adUMwqU0i0fm8pbl/view?usp=drive_link janky set up.
Matthew
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10cLZpgYxUnRsirUGohkEHz_Yo3NHGSbw/view?usp=drive_link
Your links to your pictures don’t work because it comes up saying that “you don’t have access”

[Grallert]

I was worried that would happen. I'll try again. I'm unable to share pictures for some reason. Likely my poor relationship with my computer.
Picture an old stone fireplace in the woods used for cookouts back in the day. Now picture a stainless pan 2x2 where the grill would be with a big round propane burner under that. It's a rig! no shelter but that ok for now.

[berkshires]

Sounds like a great idea!

Happy to help as I can, but despite my moniker, I'm not actually based in the Berkshires. My sugaring operation is in the Eastern Foothills of the Berkshires - not far at all from you as the crow flies, but a slow drive over the Berkshires on Rt 20. But that's on my family's summer cabin land, and I live a two hour drive away. So a visit would be tricky. All that being said, I'm happy to answer any questions, send you photos of my setup, etc.

Cheers,

Gabe O

[4Walls]

My only advice is to be careful. Sugarin' is a gateway hobby. Sure, it seems safe enough. 15 pails and a little set up. What't the harm. All your friends are doing it right? Plus, its for the kids. Then it goes to 30 pails, 40, 100 in the blink of an eye. Of course everyone loves maple syrup so you don't have a problem yet. Now with over 150 taps, you NEED a bigger evaporator. Of course a shack would be handy too. An holy cow, this maple syrup takes a lot of wood and propane, so the obvious answer is to get a small RO, strictly to save money. Now that you've spent a bit of money for some new gear, it only makes sense to tap some more trees to try to down average the cost of your investment. What's the harm? It's for the kids right? Still just for the kids??? The kids have an idea. Maybe you can sell some of your syrup to earn money for the upcoming class trip. Now that seems like a great idea, so away you go to get proper bottles and you NEED custom labels to make your product unique. That's easy. Just tap another 100 trees and all that is paid for. What's the harm?
Just be careful. It starts with 15 pails and good intentions. Becomes full maple addiction in the blink of an eye.

[Grallert]

Sounds like a great idea!

Happy to help as I can, but despite my moniker, I'm not actually based in the Berkshires. My sugaring operation is in the Eastern Foothills of the Berkshires - not far at all from you as the crow flies, but a slow drive over the Berkshires on Rt 20. But that's on my family's summer cabin land, and I live a two hour drive away. So a visit would be tricky. All that being said, I'm happy to answer any questions, send you photos of my setup, etc.

Cheers,

Gabe OThank you for the reply! I know Chester. I actually live in Cummington. I will likely take you up on you offer to answer questions. Thanks again.

[Grallert]

My only advice is to be careful. Sugarin' is a gateway hobby. Sure, it seems safe enough. 15 pails and a little set up. What't the harm. All your friends are doing it right? Plus, its for the kids. Then it goes to 30 pails, 40, 100 in the blink of an eye. Of course everyone loves maple syrup so you don't have a problem yet. Now with over 150 taps, you NEED a bigger evaporator. Of course a shack would be handy too. An holy cow, this maple syrup takes a lot of wood and propane, so the obvious answer is to get a small RO, strictly to save money. Now that you've spent a bit of money for some new gear, it only makes sense to tap some more trees to try to down average the cost of your investment. What's the harm? It's for the kids right? Still just for the kids??? The kids have an idea. Maybe you can sell some of your syrup to earn money for the upcoming class trip. Now that seems like a great idea, so away you go to get proper bottles and you NEED custom labels to make your product unique. That's easy. Just tap another 100 trees and all that is paid for. What's the harm?
Just be careful. It starts with 15 pails and good intentions. Becomes full maple addiction in the blink of an eye.A mush appreciated heads up. As to the creeping growth, I'll Let the next generation figure that out. I'll explain to them that it's "all about the kids" :D I have one of our talented student artists designing a label for the fancy bottles the advancement department got for me. Like boiling getting new ideas through is often a slow process.

[maple flats]

I suggest you look at the website for your states's maple producers association. On there they should have the names of all producers who are members of the association. Also, contact the director or office worker in their main office and explain what you just told us. maybe they can help.
One problem might end up being that you are looking for producers who have 100 taps or less and boil using wood. I fear that those producers, and there are plenty, they however may not feel a need to join an association. If that fails, I suggest you go on Facebook, look up "Back Yard Maple Producers" ,on that site you will likely find a lot of smaller producers, also, maybe you can find other forums that are for mostly smaller producers and try to find producers within a resonable distance from you.
Good luck and happy boiling! You are doing the students a huge favor, especially since they are from so many other countries. Historically only a portion of the U.S. and part of Canada made maple syrup, they were the only ones with the resource and the favorable weather, now a few other places have begun making maple syrup, I recently read that in Japan they now make it using sap from some of their local maples, years ago, I read that china had planted a lot of sugar maples, I never heard if that has started to pan out. Because in general a maple tree is about 40 yrs old when it gets large enough to tap, that artical wasn't quite half that long ago, maybe in another 20-25 years they may also begin maple syrup production.

[Grallert]

I'll be spending some time this off season checking in with the folks here in the hill towns. There are plenty of small scale operations. Or there used to be.
The kids here really like to be busy so there is real interest in this activity. Plus some have never seen this or have any idea where syrup come from. They are all for the most part smart curious kids.

[bigschuss]

Hey Matt....I am a Biology teacher at HVHS in Cheshire. I also teach a timber frame class where we build 10x12 and 12x16 timber frames and then sell them for the price of the wood. I have my own 12x16 (pictured in my avatar) timber frame sugar house in Savoy where I live and boil on a small 2x4 Mason evaporator....about 70 to 90 taps depending on the season.

I am on spring break next Friday and will be around if you want to swing by my place and check out my 12x16 and my evaporator. I am always looking for future customers too for my timber frame class. If you think you'd like a 10x12 or a 12x16 timber frame at MHS maybe we can work something out. You will not find a nicer looking and well-built sugar house at the price point I am selling them at. Better yet, if you work with your administration at Miss Halls maybe they could find the money to hire me for a few weeks or a weekend and I could teach the class right at your school and your girls can build and raise their own frame. You are also welcome to come by HVHS and check out my students at work if you can free yourself up during the day. A lot of options.


Give me a shout.

Blair

[DrTimPerkins]

...I recently read that in Japan they now make it using sap from some of their local maples...

While there may be a small amount of maple syrup made in Asia, the vast majority of maple sap collected in Korea and Japan (and probably China) is consumed directly as a spring tonic, called gorosoe. The Korean and Japanese maples tend to be more like shrubs, and don't achieve the same height or diameter as North American maple trees. They're more akin to our striped maple or mountain maple species. By Korean law at least, gorosoe can only be derived from their native maple species.

[Grallert]

Interesting. Isn't it also so for birch trees sap?
The local fancy pants grocery here sell bottles maple sap, As a tonic? dunno but folks buys it.

[Wannabe]

Hey Matt....I am a Biology teacher at HVHS in Cheshire. I also teach a timber frame class where we build 10x12 and 12x16 timber frames and then sell them for the price of the wood. I have my own 12x16 (pictured in my avatar) timber frame sugar house in Savoy where I live and boil on a small 2x4 Mason evaporator....about 70 to 90 taps depending on the season.

I am on spring break next Friday and will be around if you want to swing by my place and check out my 12x16 and my evaporator. I am always looking for future customers too for my timber frame class. If you think you'd like a 10x12 or a 12x16 timber frame at MHS maybe we can work something out. You will not find a nicer looking and well-built sugar house at the price point I am selling them at. Better yet, if you work with your administration at Miss Halls maybe they could find the money to hire me for a few weeks or a weekend and I could teach the class right at your school and your girls can build and raise their own frame. You are also welcome to come by HVHS and check out my students at work if you can free yourself up during the day. A lot of options.


Give me a shout.

Blair

Very nice offer Blair.

[Grallert]

Oh boy How did I miss this? I'll give a shout.
I live in Cummington you right over the hill.

[bigschuss]

Very nice offer Blair.

Yeah...thanks. Could be a nice collaboration between our students and our schools.

[bigschuss]

Oh boy How did I miss this? I'll give a shout.
I live in Cummington you right over the hill.

Got your PM and sent you an e-mail. Yes...I'm quite close to you.

[Grallert]

OK here is our final product for this year complete with a label designed by one of our senior students.
A little back story. We are a small private school and this year I thought it would be a fun project to make some syrup with the kids. It was! We'll see what next year brings but I have high hopes.

[Grallert]

Rats!! Forgot to upload a picture.I still haven't figured the picture part out.

[BAP]

Rats!! Forgot to upload a picture.I still haven't figured the picture part out.
This website is outdated and something wrong with it so that you can’t upload pictures. The best way is to post it on a picture hosting site and attach the link to it in your post.

[DMF]

My only advice is to be careful. Sugarin' is a gateway hobby. Sure, it seems safe enough. 15 pails and a little set up. What't the harm. All your friends are doing it right? Plus, its for the kids. Then it goes to 30 pails, 40, 100 in the blink of an eye. Of course everyone loves maple syrup so you don't have a problem yet. Now with over 150 taps, you NEED a bigger evaporator. Of course a shack would be handy too. An holy cow, this maple syrup takes a lot of wood and propane, so the obvious answer is to get a small RO, strictly to save money. Now that you've spent a bit of money for some new gear, it only makes sense to tap some more trees to try to down average the cost of your investment. What's the harm? It's for the kids right? Still just for the kids??? The kids have an idea. Maybe you can sell some of your syrup to earn money for the upcoming class trip. Now that seems like a great idea, so away you go to get proper bottles and you NEED custom labels to make your product unique. That's easy. Just tap another 100 trees and all that is paid for. What's the harm?
Just be careful. It starts with 15 pails and good intentions. Becomes full maple addiction in the blink of an eye.

Best warning ever! :lol:

[maple flats]

Growing out of control for sure. I started in earnest back in 2003 (however when the kids were young, back in the 80's we did tap 7-9 taps 3 different years) I started with 27 taps in late Jan, 2003, then as the sap flowed I kept saying I can do more, so I added more taps. Until about late Feb the sap really flowed, and I had 79 taps by that point, boiling on a 2x3 flat pan, wood fired. I had plenty of wood, but should have gotten a small RO, but no, I ran the evaporator 24 hrs, when it was time to sleep I fired it, then brought the sap up to about 5" deep, sat a homemade hood on and slept for 60-90 minutes. Then my times went off and I repeated, except the next time my wife refilled the sap, filled the firebox and set the timer for another hour. We decided 1 hr at a time was best. The final time firing for me was when I got up to go drive school bus, I had retired somewhat at that time and drove school bus for another 20 years. I did end up losing some sap to spoilage, maybe 10-15%, but I was hooked.
For the next year I built a 16x24 sugarhouse using hemlock logs I cut, and a neighbor sawed into lumber. I got a second hand 2x6 evaporator, a drop flue, with a 3' syrup pan and a 3' sap pan. With that and boiling in a sugarhouse I was able to get 25-27 gph evaporation, way better than the 5-6 gph I got that first year. I then got up to almost 200 taps and it all got boiled. In my next few years I grew to where at one time I had 1320 taps, all on 2 leases. I wasn't even tapping my own trees because I had no vacuum there and it took too long to collect from 7 different collection points. At that time I had 3 college age helpers, 2 grandsons and a buddy of there's, also in college. They worked as much as they could while keeping their grades up.
Then as they all graduated the same year I tried hiring 2 brothers, still in high school. They didn't pan out very well and I ended up selling my bigger lease , I couldn't do it with the help I had.
Then with 1 lease and my brother in law we tried doing it, with about 600 tap lease and 140 taps around my sugarhouse, all on sugars. We got it done, thanks to my 250 RO and by then I had a 3x8 evaporator and custom built pans, I had them make the raised flues 10" tall and add 4 extra inches of sides on the pans. Along the line I also added high pressure AOF/AUF which increased my evaporation rate significantly. But being we were getting old ( I was in my early 70's and my BIL was 9 yrs younger but he was on medical dissability after a very bad accident where a big truck had hit him head on as he crossed the median heading straight for my BIL). I cut back to just around my sugarhouse and increased that to almost 400 taps.
Over those 20+ seasons I grew too fast and then had to cut way back.
Try to plan your growth better than I did