A more Accurate Count

[ADKMAPLE]

Ok, well if your a regular on this board you have all heard me say many a time that I am planning my future sugaring operation out.

What I have said thus far is that I am probably looking at 50 taps and either a Leader 1/2 pint or WF Mason 2x3..That was until I just took a walk and got a better count.

My sugarbush of sorts has expanded to 80 taps at the moment. I counted only maples that were at least 12" and most are in the 15" range. I would only put in one tap per tree, and I only found two trees that I would actually put in 2 taps.
I also noticed that I have alot of lesser dia trees, in the 10" range that would be future trees. I would guess, although I did not count, that Iwould ahve easily 1/2 as many of those as I have 12"+ trees.
The makeup is 90% sugar maples and 10% reds.

So, upon this new information, I am thinking starting out with a WF MASON 2x4 now. I know that they are spec's for up to 100 taps, and I am within that, but also could expand in the future with my lesser trees growing. But I also would say that the sugarbush is not ideal by anymeans. 90% of the trees's crowns are touched by an adjacent tree's crown, usually not of a maple. Need to get on the thinning and I like the comments where I should only thin so that the crowns are not touched by adjacent trees and not worrying about thinning out everything but maples.

Anywyas, back to some more planning!

[Ausable]

Don't get me wrong now - Planning is a good thing - But I sure hope You and ADK1 are still in your twenties - cause by the time you ADK boys are finally out of the planning stage - You will both be to darned old to hobble out and tap a tree --- Planning can be fun ----but...........

[ADKMAPLE]

haha, yeah I hear yeah..Oh and BTW, we are one in the same. One is with my work account and one with my home, dont know why I did that but I did. Well I am not in my 20's but not to far past that either. But I understand you point and it is well taken. I am on the 2 year plan. Even ok'yd by the wife. haha. I will buy all of my taps this summer. probably the aluminum ones from Leader 5/16".

[Ausable]

Guess I'm just a little jealous - I'm an old fart now - so most of my planning is short term - One of my Sons and a Grand-daughters Husband are both starting to take an interest in it now - so - that is a good thing on this end -- best of luck to you - Mike

[sapsucker78]

Don't get me wrong now - Planning is a good thing - But I sure hope You and ADK1 are still in your twenties - cause by the time you ADK boys are finally out of the planning stage - You will both be to darned old to hobble out and tap a tree --- Planning can be fun ----but...........

Ok now don't be to hard on this guy he has done a LOT of planning in the last 2 weeks! At the rate he is going I expect next week to see him posting questions about paying a freind thats going to be bringing him sap next year! I think he is going to give those high priced eastern syrup makers a run for there money by next syrup season! I am not making fun just getting a chuckle out of watching sombody follow the footsteps many of the rest of us have taken! GO FOR IT ADK1!!:D

[ADKMAPLE]

haha, I can only imagine! Which makes me ask this question...How many of you all have basically been handed a full blown sugaring operation and how many of you have started from scratch? There is good in both I can see. For me, as you know, I am starting from scratch, with some experience helping out a family with a pretty well established operation. Lets hear it!

[Haynes Forest Products]

ADK First I dont think its a good idea to remove all trees but maples. I believe a healthy sugar bush has a few other species. Get together with Clan and you guys can plan on a way to keep track of your planning.

The only thing I was handed was the ability to take over a bush that was on the verge of collapse due to bandaids and old tubing. I have it back from the brink and it doesnt cost me anything but some sweat and equipment.

[adk1]

Planning is in my nature, its my profession..haha

[Ausable]

Planning is in my nature, its my profession..haha

Really --- Why shucks ---- I would never have guessed ----- Thought planning was something you had just discovered.......hahaha


When we moved (Up North) to our cabin - Our trees didn't appear to have been thinned out since the lumbering days - thick and all reaching for the Sun - So when we had to start cutting them for things like space for a garage - septic tank and field etc.... We discovered that in the mix we had sugar maples. We have some friends up here who got us started with an open flat pan and told us what we had to do and we went from there... Mike

[adk1]

wow, how many would you say you tapped to boil on that flat pan??

[maple flats]

I started from scratch. I jumped in during Feb 03 (after doing it some on the woodstove several times while the kids were growing up) I just went to a local dealer, asked some questions and bought enough to get hooked. I started with about 25-30 taps, some tubing to go from tap or taps to bucket on the ground and a Half Pint evaporator. That year I started with 27 taps and kept adding once I saw I could keep up with the sap. I ended up with about 70 taps and I was hooked. That same year I designed my sugarhouse, sawed some hemlock, hauled it to a sawmill and waited for the lumber. He took so long on the 5th load of logs (I could only haul about 8-900 BF in a load) that I bought my own mill to finish. I then grew every year until this when I stayed the same as last. My plans are to go from 575 to about 900+ taps, with 500-550 on vac for 2011.
No I didn't get a whole complete operation. The growing and learning is part of the fun.

[Ausable]

wow, how many would you say you tapped to boil on that flat pan??

Now look ADK1 - I realize You have a right to mess with me - But - by flat pan - I didn't mean cookie sheet or pizza pan - it was a 2' x 2' pan with 5" sides and tapped about 30 trees and would keep adding sap to the pan as we boiled - each boil would usually net about 6 quarts of syrup - but - it was slow....... Mike

[Ausable]

wow, how many would you say you tapped to boil on that flat pan??

You got me --- I made maple syrup in the open pan and my pancakes and flap jacks on the flat pan --- Mike

[ADKMAPLE]

Ausable, I know what you meant, I was refering to how long it takes to make syrup on a flat pan and trying to keep up with the amount of sap you get from "x" amount of taps.

[Ausable]

Ausable, I know what you meant, I was refering to how long it takes to make syrup on a flat pan and trying to keep up with the amount of sap you get from "x" amount of taps.

Ok - sorry - It is not an exact science for me - When I was using the 2' x 2' open pan I would usually start a boil when I had roughly 35 to 40 gallons of sap on hand - cause I wanted at least a gallon on syrup for the boil - but normally I would pickup another 20 gallons or so of sap before finishing so you boil that down too - it would take about 10 hours of boiling on my old 55 gallon barrel stove to boil down 30 gallons of sap so after about two days of this I would finish off and can what syrup I had and wait till I had another 30 gallons or so of sap to start again. As You know sap flow is a fickle beast - no matter how many trees You tap - unless of course You use a vacuum system - then maybe it is a little more predictable. Reading the different postings this year - it is apparent this was an off year for most - and many who increased the amount of trees tapped ended up with less sap then they had in 2009.....hope this helps.....

[ADKMAPLE]

yeah I agree, even though I will be tapping 80 trees, non of them are what I would consider as having great crowns...Will be interesting to see how it goes.

[SPILEDRIVER]

i started boiling @15 yrs ago with one of my brothers who was given a old grim 2x6 with tin pans from his father in law.we put in 200 taps a yr.few years back he decided to tear down the shack and rebuild it.long story short he never got around to rebuilding it so i bought my own taps and bucketts and boiled with a friend of mine on a oil tank arch with 2x3 flat pan.
2 yrs ago i struck up a conversation with my mothers neighbor and found out they had some old sugaring stuff they wanted to sell.for 80$ i bought a boat load of stuff and have been offically on my own sense.built a evap from scratch useing a old wood furnace for the fire box,and am in the process of building a second "deluxe"model now.

[ADKMAPLE]

Spiledriver, that is a good find you had. Well, I dont have the time to put into building my own that is for sure with two young kids and trying to keep the house from falling in and the lawn mowed. I will definatly buy an evap in a few years. I will get all my ducks in a row..I like the planning it out part even though Ausable laughs at me ;) Just kidding Ausable!
I will pull the trigger in 2 years.

[SPILEDRIVER]

i built my evap with my 11yr old son.......there isnt much i do that he isnt involved in ,fact of the matter is i cant even think about sugaring without him .

[ADKMAPLE]

I would agree with you there. my son is 5 and my daughter 3. Icant wait to start sugarin with them!

[Ausable]

Dang - ADK - You are just a Sprout - I have Great-Grandkids older then that -

[Ausable]

Just a little kidding -- Seems like yesterday my kids were that young:lol: