silver maples

[maplefarmer]

i have a quite a few silver maple trees in our fenceline along the river, i was thinking of tapping them next year and putting them on tubing line. i know silvers are a lower brix sometimes, my questions are will they produce enough sap to push thru a tubing line, and what is the average amount of sap that silvers put out in a season? would this be worth it, trees are large and probably60 -75 trees.

[SilverLeaf]

go for it! Silvers are all I tap.

If they're big and have a good crown they'll give plenty of sap and will even have decent sugar content.

My "densely-packed" silvers only give me moderate amounts of sap, and the sap runs around 2%. But my yard trees with a thick trunk and full crown usually run like gushers and give me 3% or better sap.

[SilverLeaf]

I should mention though that the silver maples will bud out sooner so your season with them will be over a week or so ahead of sugar/black maples. I still find them worth the effort though.

[adk1]

so do you tap them earlier than you would the sugars and then pull the taps earlier as well?

[SilverLeaf]

so do you tap them earlier than you would the sugars and then pull the taps earlier as well?

The taps get pulled earlier, for sure.

As for when to put them in though, I've never tried to put the taps in "early" - I just wait until the conditions are right.

On average, I think the season for a Silver maple is about a week shorter than for a Sugar maple. That's not a scientific answer - just an educated guess based upon what I've seen myself (and read here on MapleTrader).

[TF Maple]

I have backyard trees at my place and my cousin's place across the road from me, that I tap. I think they are part silver maples that crossed with other maples so they don't have silvery undersides on the leaves.They do have a shaggy looking bark and seed shapes that make me think they have some silver heritage. Anyway, I tap them at the same time as the other maples. They don't run unless the weather is perfect for sap runs, with freezing nights and warm days. And they have always been the last trees to start running, which makes me think I tapped them in a bad spot until the sap starts running. With warmer nights when other maples are still running, they will slow down or quit running until perfect weather comes again. They run real well with that perfect weather and the sap is 3% for most of the season. They are the first trees to bud out but the sap has always been good until it stops flowing, never turned buddy in my 2 years of tapping trees.

[maplefarmer]

how much sap for a total season silver maples will average, assuming an average year

[SilverLeaf]

how much sap for a total season silver maples will average, assuming an average year

I haven't been doing this long enough to know with precision where "average" lies, but this year was without a doubt below average and I got 9.1 gallons of sap per tap this year.

[briduhunt]

I have about 50 silver maples taps each year, they are all yard trees close to the lake. I get between 11/2 and 2% sugar but the flow from the trees is higher than my red maples and even a little better than some of my sugar maples. All of my silvers are about 3-4' wide, real old trees. If I did not have the silvers this year I would not have made any syrup this year.

Just my 2 cents

[ADKMAPLE]

I found one silver maple next to my pond/house. First one I have seen on my property that I have identified. Staring me right in the face!:lol: