swamp/ red maple- I tapped!!!!!!

[stixin2002]

Am I crazy for tapping these trees? I boiled 35 gallons of sap today on my 2X3 pan over a homemage steel drum- (wood fired) and I have 1/2 gallon of syrup. I don't sell it but if i can make a couple gallons that would be great!How is this possible? everyone says you will not get enough syrup or sap from these trees. I am getting from 14-18 gallons of sap a day from 26 taps. do any of you guys tap these? I don't have any sugar maples here,so I tried this last year on 1 tree and boiled it on my kitchen stove. Now I am addicted!!
The cheesy evaporator my welder freind made actually works unbelievable! A$5 -55 gallon drum and 20bucks for other material and wow.
One other question- How long can I store sap in 55gallon water drums if the temp. is 20-40 degrees each day? TY for your input.

[wnybassman]

I am getting from 14-18 gallons of sap a day from 26 taps.

Wait until they really start running!

[wcproctor]

Sounds to me you are only getting 1% of sugar and yes a lot of us tap reds including my self. You just have to work a little harder at it. And storing the sap the longer you let it sit the less sugar will stay. Bacteria will grow and it eats the sugar. So try to keep the sap as cold as you can. Put snow around the 55 that will help rather than it sitting in the sun.Good luck

[NedL]

I freeze blocks of sap every night and throw a couple of blocks into each barrel in the morning. Works pretty well. I only boil once a week.

[BarrelBoiler]

i have tapped reds when ever i have made syrup i don't get the weak tea colored syrup but med amber is good enough for my tastes

if red/swamp/soft/white (allthesame i understand) is all you have tap'em
you can't get maple syrup from an ash tree:D

ice,snow,and out of the sun works best for keeping sap
if your temps are getting down enough to freeze water solid than your storage will start to ice up by itself. i used rubbermaid trash cans the freezing action would make its own donut of ice

good luck and have fun

[In_Maine]

I regularly tap only red maples...there are a lot of factors to how much sap it will take to get a gallon of syrup. Some years it has averaged 45-50 gallons of sap to one gallon syrup...one year I got a gallon from just under 40...and yes, these are definitely red maples/swamp maples. The most notable difference I have seen between rock and red is that there is more sugar sand from reds.

[maple sapper]

a note about the barrel stove, I have used one for two seasons not and this past week made a change. I first had it and lined it with the 1/2 fire bricks due to not wanting to fill it in to much. Then bought two grates at tractor supply and modified them with a grinder and put them on the bottom. I also installed a smoke shelf so it forces the heat to the front and across the entire bottom of the pan, rather then straight for the flue pipe. Then, cored a 4" hole down low, 1/2 above and 1/2 below the grates. Piped a tube with elbows and straights to get a blower tube down on floor so its away from the heat a bit. Then took a old hair dryer and removed the heating element. Now I got a blower. Also, this week lined the whole inside under the bricks with 1" Koawool or aka cermamic blanket. This is what put my barrel stove to the next level. There is so much more heat hitting the bottom of the pan and It saves alot of wood. The boils I have now are more like what others have. I did the fastest boil I've done last night with my RO and the pan working at capacity.

[red maples]

I tap about 90% reds and 50% of those are in the swamp. vacuum works best on those reds once you hook on the vacuum they run as good as sugars. but the sugar is lower. mine started higher about 1.75% but dropped to 1.25 to 1.50 so we'll see we need a good cold shot here.