Finding Help?????????????????

[briduhunt]

I am a one man band operation. I have a 2x6 Leader drop flue with a new blower and I even have a few familys bringing me sap but I still do not have the help I need to make more syrup this year. I have 3 kids one in college and two in high school but the high schoolers are in sports and live 2 towns away. My girlfriend work a full time job as do I and she takes care of the household. I have been trying to find an older retired guy who would like to help but so far no luck. I am looking for idea's on how to find help that is reliable and cheap to pay. What are other people doing to get help and what are they paying them? Any ideas would be appreciated.
I am looking for some one who I can have boil starting in the AM untill I get home from work and finsihed emptying the sap buckets. If I can get a younger person capable of collecting sap I would like them to empys buckets in am and start boiling, then empty buckets again if neede in the PM. The only way I can see making more syrup is to have help or me quiting my job and only doing this. My X and girlfriend would not appreciate not getting my financial support, so this option is not going to happen. I do take off every Wensday in the month of March so I can boil all day Wens, Sat. and Sundays and boil late every night when possiable.

thanks

[maplwrks]

My answer would be RO!

[jdj]

Getting rid of those buckets and putting up a tubing system would help. I was in the same boat as you, only I had 2,000 buckets. This year I am all tubing, also got and RO, and converted the evaporator to oil fired. Hopefully all this "new" stuff will make my life much easier, time will tell!!!

[maplecrest]

contact your local vocational school and ask for the work study cordinator. and most schools have forestry students that are willing to work, and get credit in school for it

[Dave Y]

I get my help from the school where I work. I pick out some kids that I think will work well for me and hire them. If they dont work out the dont get asked back. The all can use money. I pay$5 Hr cash. they all like cash.

[Dill]

contact your local vocational school and ask for the work study cordinator. and most schools have forestry students that are willing to work, and get credit in school for it

I was going to reccomend this, and the FFA or 4H kids. Also try a local farm, they might know some kids that actually know how to work.

[Snow Hill Farm]

Keep an ample supply of beer in your sugarhouse and you will have more help than you need!:)

[briduhunt]

I tried the beer thing but that did not help other than after most of the hard work has been done and only boiling to do. Thanks for the other ideas I think I might try some local school kids from a FFA club.

[Dill]

Its an issue that I see quite a bit around here. Now that we have gone from an ag area to suburbia in the last 20 years, the farmers who are left have a real issue finding help. My youngest brother does pretty well going around and unloading hay, shoveling manure and running tractors for farmers. Sadly most teenagers have no interest or ability to do actual work anymore.

[backyardsugarer]

Brian,

Too bad I landed my woods or else I would have worked for beer. On a serious note I have learned to not get any bigger than what you can handle. I would suggest equipment upgrades (tubing, RO, pumps). Anytime I count on someone else in business I end up disappointed. People may think I am nuts but I am putting up 1,000 feet of mainline and 2 - 3 miles of tubing with no help. I guess I only want myself to blame at the end of the day. Good luck this year. I just heard from Chuck regarding Gene's big rig.

Chris

[Jim Brown]

Dill; You are so right most kids do not know what it is to work.They would rather sit at home and complain they don't have any money to go buy things!

For give me for venting!!

Jim

[smitty76]

Keep an ample supply of beer in your sugarhouse and you will have more help than you need!:)

I have found that this works if you do not let your help drink their payment until the days work is done and you are all hangout to boil.

[Sugarmaker]

Brian,
How much syrup do you want to make? 175 taps should make you about 40 gallons of syrup in a good year.
I would not expand so fast that you cannot handel it all by yourself, within your time constraints too. Two main areas are the first to address
1. Reducing Labor and hours

1.1 Improve the sap handeling system, example:
- Short run tubing on gravity
- Main lines on vacum
I cut my gathering time in half with short run gravity tubing compared to buckets. est $6.00 + per tap to convert from buckets.

1.2. Improving the boiling rate,:
- Improved pans $$$
- Steam Away $$$
- Larger evaporator $$$
- R.O. $$$

2. Increasing production

2.1. Get more trees to tap
2.2. tap only trees with higher sugar content 2% +

There is not one easy answer and each of us has there own situation. Try to have loads of fun making syrup!

Regards,
Chris

[KenWP]

I have she who has to be obeyed to help. She does fine with the evaporator but since she's 4 ft 11 she can't carry a pail unless it's small and the head tank is a problem for her. She keeps all the yard trees empty for me so that helps a lot as there is about 50 taps there to do. I do the forest trees.
I can tell you that trying to hire anybody to work at anything is hard anymore. I had 58 filipinos working for me as nobody else even answered the ads anymore.

[Bucket Head]

Dill and Jim B. hit the nail on the head. Its a shame. I was part of a conversation just last week at work about this. The few family farms left out there are just that, family. No hired help. There is no help that want to do that. Kids today can't even pay attention to you at the register and ring you out! You either get the deer in the headlights look or their too busy for you because their texting on the cell phones.

Steve

[jdj]

Everyone has pretty much hit the nail on the head here. Bottom line is the younger generations just do not want to work. Hiring help for sugaring season is hard because it is such a short season and people that really want to work have a full time job already, and the ones that are left.......well they just look for the free handouts!

[3rdgen.maple]

birduhunt man I just sent you a pm and then read this post. Im losing it I think but nephew goes to college there and has a few seasons under his belt. Owns a reliable vehicle and is a hard worker. Give me a shout I will try to hook you guys up.

[wolfram]

Brian,

How about a different angle? I bet there are a bunch of volunteers in your area that would love to help for the thrill of it (and a small amount of syrup). Could use the following mechanisms for an ad seeking volunteers:

Craigslist
Penny Saver
Messenger Post (get them to do a small article on you)
NY Forest Owners Assn (Western Finger Lakes Chapter)

Could also ask over to Cornell Cooperative Extension to see about volunteers.

My guess is that several middle-aged volunteers will be better than one (or more) low paid kid(s).