Hello

[Acer]

Hello from New Hampshire!
Been lurking here a little while and wanted to check in. Great resource here and I've got a lot to learn
Made a cupful of syrup last year, and thinking of doing more. Maybe a lot more.

Have a stand of 12 acres of 100% red maple 10" or so 150 trees/acre according to the cruise. Mostly with wet feet. Stand is about 1500 feet from the house, and at the same elevation.
How do I evaluate this for syrup potential? Wet footed reds produce much?

This year think i'm going to do a hundred taps on tubing closer to the house.
only have 2 cords for boiling this year.

lots to figure out only 3 months till sugar season.

[PATheron]

Acer- Welome to maple syrup heaven. Youll love the site. Great bunch of guys that know a lot about syruping. Go through the past posts when your bored and you can get a lot of ideas. Those trees might run real good with lots of moisure there. To get started youll probly have to just run the tube to what you can get pitch to and it may be a bit of a struggle. From what some of the others have found down the road maybe you could consider a cheap dairy pump and put them on vac. The reds seem to run way better that way. With that many trees you could easily justify it. If you did that you solve a lot of pitch problems becouse you could just slope the mainline. Like put it head high at one end and real low on the other and the lats can actually run uphill into it on the one end and it would be fine. Good luck. happy tappin. Theron

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Acer,
Welcome to the trader. Like you say, lots of info here and, may I add, lots of good folks.
Sounds like you have some real potential. 1500 taps in 12 acres is a nice concentration of trees and will make setting up a tubing system cheaper and quicker than in many situations. Your Red maples will not run as sweet or as much as comparable Sugars but the concentration of trees would suggest you could still have a very efficient operation. It might even be profitable if you don't count incidentals like your labor and input costs.:-)
If you are going to put up some tube this year, try to plan what your final layout of the entire bush will be. Then set up a portion of it that can be used without changing it in the final complete setup. Good Luck! We're not all as crazy as Theron but give us a year or 2........
Doug

[Clan Delaney]

It's true. Theron is now coming up with a plan to get sap out of your trees. I hear he's got the vac to do it. :)

The great thing about tubing is that you can leave it up all year. Buckets... not so much. Better to start getting ready now than in, oh, January. How are you doing for an evaporator? A place to boil? Building a shack?

[Clan Delaney]

dang repost

[Acer]

No equipment, no shack, just a bunch o trees and a fool with too much free time.

Feel free to make suggestions.
I am cheap but try not to be stupid cheap if you know what I mean.

New tubing, used pan sort of guy I guess.

Don't want to go overboard on an evap because if I read this right I'll either use it occasionally or get the maple bug and need something bigger next year.

[Acer]

Oh and thanks for the welcome.
Seems friendly in here.

Dean

[Valley View Sugarhouse]

Acer where in NH are you?? There are alot of traders in NH and I am sure if there was one close they could spend a hour with you looking at tubing options..

[Acer]

I am in Northwood.

[Valley View Sugarhouse]

I know we have some traders down in Loudon, Canterbury area, they are not too far away..

[Amber Gold]

Where abouts...I live in Barrington and grew up in Northwood.

[Russell Lampron]

Acer,

Welcome to the site. I am in Loudon not too far from Northwood and easy to find. My set up is a small version of what the big guys have. We are having a Mapleholics meeting this coming Saturday at 8 am. I am hanging some new mainlines and some fellow Maple Traders coming over to help out. If it gets rained out we will be doing it Sunday. You are welcome to come over to check it out and see what hanging tubing is all about. I'm at 7064 Pleasant St Ext in Loudon NH.

[Acer]

Russell,

Thanks for the offer, I'll do my best to be there.

Dean

[Sugarmaker]

Dean,
NW PA welcomes you. Have fun with maple and all the good information is here to get you started.
Regards,
Chris