5000 taps, one man

I'm thinking of taking the plunge on a 5000-tap piece of land. The land itself slopes down to the sugarhouse site, which has roadside power. The plan is to operate it mostly on my own, as my kids are still too young to help. I'll have the occasional helping hand, but probably only about one day per week. Reliable hired help is just too hard to find. The savings on labor cost would be invested in time-saving equipment.

To achieve this, I'm thinking of going the refrigerated bulk tank route to store concentrate and limit the actual boiling days. Oil-fired evaporator is a must. Perhaps a monitoring system in the woods. All of the production would be put into bulk barrels.

Any thoughts, suggestions?

Sounds like a plan,
Several things:
I can tap at a rate of 150 per hour, Some folks can do way more than that.
Also woods monitoring sounds great. Woods maintenance will be even better and that may take some time.
10000 gallons of sap on a great day. Thats a plie of sap. Most systems need some monitoring/work through the process. The right system may work for you. Good luck keep us posted with pictures!
Since I am old and only a small producer this is beyond what I want to do. I have enough to do to tap 650 road side maples and make 150 gallons of syrup per year!:) Yea I can do that and still have some fun too!
Regards,
Chris

I'm doing 4000 with only off season help, a day job, and hauling sap to SH, so its pretty doable. if i had monitoring and a bigger haul tank i could probably do 10,000 that way.

It is certainly possible. We have 2 people in our 5,000 tap sugaring operation, and my involvement is primarily in end-of-day RO operation (purge, wash, rinse) and boiling. Plus we do a LOT more record-keeping for data than the typical operation.

One guy does the vast majority of the tapping here...he typically starts mid-January.

Key thing with a refrigerated bulk tank is to concentrate as high as you can to get the volume down to a manageable level. We have a 650 gal bulk tank and a 300 gal insulated overflow tank. We'll concentrate until the bulk tank is full (and the concentrate is cold), then fill the overflow tank with cold concentrate...where it'll stay cold for a day or two. Makes for really long boils, but we have a lot of time in the intervening days to clean, prep barrels, check the woods (which we don't do a lot of since we have an extensive monitoring system). If you don't concentrate as high, your boils will also be longer or have to be more frequent.

Monitoring will be a must because you won't have a lot of spare time/energy to walk lines unless you can target your efforts on specific sections of the woods.

Tapping 5000 on your own will be a challenge. If you have heavy snowpack getting 800 taps done in a day can be tough because snowshoes suck!

To limit the amount of boiling you should consider a high brix RO or at least 3 towers on a standard RO. We are at close to the limit of what 2 towers can handle. If you are storing concentrate it must be refrigerated.

The biggest problem I see with the solo operation is the "unplanned" time you need to spend. What do you do in the middle of a boil when your vacuum pump breaks down? The releaser malfunctions? You need a $1 part that is a 20 minute drive away? Or you are simply exhausted and need someone to give you a break.

I know in Quebec you can only sell farm gate and that is significantly better profit than selling all in bulk. I would consider selling as much syrup in retail containers as possible given you are immediately adjacent to a road. Cash in your pocket at the end of a day's boiling is a good thing!

Good luck with your endeavor.

Two of us run our own 400 tap operation but we do the woods repairs and tap pulling for a 5400 tap operation. We have full time jobs so are mostly weekend warriors with some days off spent in the woods. There is another guy that does the tapping for the 5400 tap operation. This setup is mechanical vacuum, 5/16" tubing and a total of 24 mainlines of variable length.
Over the last 4 years we have averaged around 300 hours of time each season to do repairs, cut up trees, replace drops/taps, etc and tap pulling at the end of the season. The guy that taps spends about 60 hours tapping and 20 hours checking leaks at the start of the season to get the vacuum up to 24-25". This bush gets a lot of snow, there is still 3-4 feet in the woods still today so snowshoes are used at least 2/3 of the time and was 100% of the time this year as we got snow early. That make a huge difference in time. I feel like we would cut 30-40% in time off the repair work if we weren't battling snow but it is what it is so know what you're dealing with. 5,000 taps is alot for one guy when the sap rolls in. It may be hard to keep with any vacuum issues during the season so I would highly recommend a monitoring system. An RO is a must for that size operation. If you can dedicate 100% of your time to the operation during the season and keep up with maintenance before the season goes, I think you could do it but you will be a busy man. Good luck in whatever you decide!

Much of how many taps you can put in on any day will depend on the conditions, is the land flat or gently sloped? How much snow is on the ground? Another will be what other responsibilities do you have? What is your health condition too, at 72 I move far slower than I did at 40. It's not too much of an issue on my flat home bush, but on my lease there are parts that require something to hold onto just to get up the 45-60% slope. Think about all possibilities before you make the move. You might even be wise to line up a possible helper ahead if you can, just in case.

You may wish to consider just selling sap for the first season in order to work the bugs out.

Sit down with a piece of paper and do some math on return on your investment (r.o.i).....seriously,,how much you will spend on buying what you need and what you know you can sell your syrup for..not what you think you can sell it for...if you make it past that point have a chat with your wife and kids and see if you not being around at all during the season and not much when its not the season is going to work for her and the kids...
I have visited with a few one man shows that have well over 10000 taps...but..thats all they do all year..

Now say you have some bad luck and break your leg the day sap starts to run...did you morgatage your house to get going?

If that's your full time job, it shouldn't be a problem. I'm gone 10+ hours a day at my day job and still run a 3100 tap operation. As others have said, tapping will be a challenge if you're in an area with steep ground and a lot of snow like we get here. I'm in good shape and can only do 300 or so a day in deep snow on snowshoes and this year, not even that many. If you don't have a day job though, you can keep trails packed along mainlines and do repairs throughout the winter. I don't have that luxury as I'm not home in daylight hours all winter.

I am very fit, so tapping all day, day after day, on a hillside is not an issue. Also, I don't see tapping as being an issue, as it is not a time-sensitive task. It can be done over several weeks. Sap and boiling, however, is time-critical, so that's where I'd invest.

Selling sap the first year is a great idea.

Sugaring would be my full-time job for 6 months per year, from November to May. This should allow plenty of time for forest management, tubing repair, tapping, and all the rest.

I am lucky that I would not have to mortgage the house should I dive in on this project.

Sit down with a whole stack of paper and include everything. What it will actually take to put up a sugarhouse, including driveway construction, electrical service, drilling a well and all the labor that will go in before you tap the first tree. Don't forget the banker and his cut, and for that matter the tax man. You can easily find a salesman who will show you how it's impossible to lose on an operation like this...just sign here. While you're tallying costs, don't forget that salesman because he gets his long before you get yours, and whoever fronts this project makes their percentages too.
Figure your labor costs too. How many hours will it actually take to get it all set up, and how many hours each season...at a real rate of pay.
When you get to the projected income page, base it on an average year and not a pie-in-the-sky, fantasy year because while it's possible, it's not probable. Base all your calculations on $20 per gallon, 'cause that's all they'll be giving you at this point, and even less if everyone else jumps aboard too.
Compare your numbers and decide whether you can hold your breath for five to ten years, and don't forget to buy all new plastic every three years. Figure in the dump fees for the old plastic too.
Maybe instead of sugaring, you could spend far less and build some nice hiking trails.

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Originally Posted by Sunday Rock Maple

You may wish to consider just selling sap for the first season in order to work the bugs out.

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That is an excellent idea and a suggestion I frequently make. It requires far less capitalization (cash or loans) to start up an operation, and frees up a lot of time that would otherwise be spent processing sap to syrup and will help ensure your sap yields are as good as possible before you take the next step (if you decide to do that).

A couple thoughts, one, why that size operation? I assume because the revenue is a good amount, or has the potential to be. My question though, is if you already have the capital to set up that operation, why not invest it in something less risky? Though, perhaps I misinterpreted your post about not needing to mortgage your house to get established.

Second, just some food for thought for you. After the 2016 season I bought a bigger cooker and added tubing and vacuum to my woods. Used cooker, and the tubing is a 3/16& shurflo setup, so not a huge investment, but it was a lot for me. Then, right before the season started, on February 17th I fell on the ice and broke my ankle. Farming, which this is, is risky business, especially if you need to service debt or if you rely on the income. What happens if you get hurt or get sick at the wrong time?

I think we're getting off-track a bit here with the economics of such an operation, might be a good subject for another post. I do welcome the comments however. I do have another stable source of income, so I can live with the occasional off-year. This project is more of a lifestyle choice, as I am unable to sit still.

I say go for it. You only live once. I would hate to look back in a few years and say if only i had... I run 2000 taps by myself and work fulltime on top of it. It can be easily done in my opinion. It will require alot of preparation before you start, which im sure you have started already. My advice is to not skimp on anything. Buy good pumps. New ones. When they are down your not making any money or syrup. Simplify things as much as possible. Ive been doing this at this scale for 4 yrs now. I love it with alot of passion. If you have the work ethic and can forgo many things in your life during syrup season, then go for it. Who cares if you fail. We all fail from time to time. You wont have any regrets. Sorry if this got off your topic but I will always support people who want to go for it. I hope all the best for your goal.

If you can do it I say go for it! I see from your address you are in Quebec - will that mean you need to get quota from the Federation?

I too have considered doing maple full time but it just won't work for me right now. We'll see what another 5 or 10 years can bring.

If I was you I'd try to find some young legs to help check lines periodically through the season. The extra sap you get from the higher vacuum will pay for the labour and frees you up to do other things. I know doing it solo and not having labour costs is your goal but IMO there is a definite ROI from paying for someone to do certain things for you.

Another suggestion if you have the time would be to try and work for someone for a few seasons. We learned that 5400 taps would be too much for us with full time jobs, got paid for the hours we worked and learned A LOT on someone else’s dime about how to manage a woods. We improved our woods greatly with the experience gained.
If you need to make a move soon it sounds like time won’t be an issue for you. While the economics of it may not be your deciding factor, it is well worth the time to put it on paper.

I've been sugaring my small sugarbush at home for years (300 taps), so I have a good idea what I'm getting into. I'm big into forest management. Tubing and RO will be new to me however. The lot I'm considering is nearby in beautiful Franklin County, VT.

Of course the economics is a factor. But it is not the only factor. If economics were everyone's no.1 focus, we would have no independent restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops, mom&pop stores, general stores...

Our 1st year we took the plunge and I ran 3,000 trees by myself... We went from cooking on a flat pan to building a 30x45 sugarhouse (which we built not a contractor) and installed 80,000 feet of line all within a matter of 1 year. My suggestion is engineer your processes to eliminate all wasted steps...

If you can get sap directly from the woods to the sugarhouse without transporting it do it!!!

Remote monitoring will save you on average 10,000 steps a day...

If you can oversize your equipment do it!!! (you'll thank me when something doesn't go as planning)

Don't skimp on sap storage... (this gives you the flexibility to scheduling cooking because sapping by yourself is like jumping into P90x when you're 50lbs overweight)

Reliable equipment/replacement part availability (get equipment locally so you know replacement parts are available)

Expect to be tired/expect to work hard/budget for all the small things that nickel and dime the operation...

Expect to feel the satisfaction of a hard days work and the best of luck to you... "the harder I work the luckier I get" I expect this will be true for you as well!

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Originally Posted by Maple Man 85

My suggestion is engineer your processes to eliminate all wasted steps...

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This post is EXCELLENT advice in its entirety. Every little extra thing adds up over the season.

Though I understand that the economics is not a primary consideration for you, I must comment that with the uncertainty in future bulk pricing, high cost of investment, and inevitably higher costs of production compared to the numerous very large producers in Vermont and throughout the region, I would take a close look at the money side before getting right into it. I bet that sugarwoods cost more per acre in Franklin County than in any other maple producing region of the U.S., except for those areas where development value drives up land value. I don't keep up a lot with projections for future pricing, but my understanding/feeling is that the market is maturing and the bulk price in the U.S. is going to stay relatively low as more large scale producers invest in the industry and existing producers expand. Those boiling from only 5,000 taps may struggle. Mark Canella and others have done some work on this at UVM Extension. Establishing a non-bulk market for your syrup will be difficult in Franklin County unless you are a creative marketer, or have existing connections that would allow you to move syrup outside of Vermont.

Looking past this, if you were to go ahead with it, I would reiterate what others have said.

Sell sap for a few years. You will get competitive payment for your sap due to the very strong demand for raw sap in Franklin County. This will allow you time to figure out your system and also wait a bit to see what the bulk market does. I feel like the next few years will show us where the market is headed, after that time hopefully we will know what to expect and have some certainty.

If you do boil right off, I'd go with a high brix system and bulk concentrate storage. Having flexibility when to boil is huge, as others have said. Especially if it's a one person show, building in flexibility and resilience to your system will save you lots of time, money, and frustation.

Be prepared to expand, so oversize your evaporator and make sure the sugarhouse can easily be expanded upon or is oversized to begin with. Overbuild your RO room and be prepared to add a second RO or most posts. Adding sap tanks in the future may be nice, but if you have enough RO, you can get away with less raw storage, especially if you choose the high brix route.

It seems like producers run into issues with barrel storage and are constantly having to move clean barrels into the sugarhouse and full barrels up to the bulk buyer every few weeks. If you can, design a way whereby barrels could be filled in place and never really have to move until the end of the season. Or not have to be moved far. I envision a big pole-barn just outside the sugarhouse. You could leave all your barrels right there and fill them in place with a long hose from your filter press. This would really help to reduce labor during boiling- all you would need is a few barrel overflow fittings and lots of hose and you may not even need to worry about moving barrels until the end of the boil.

Automate wherever you can, though I really don't know how quickly some of these investments pay back. Ideally you could have an automated RO and vacuum monitoring, the ability to turn your pump on and off remotely, etc.

Your main focus should be maintaining high vacuum, so having a system that minimizes sugarhouse time and maxamizes woods time will be very important to increasing yield. What I take most pride in and enjoy the most in my operation is maintaining high vacuum and that has worked out well for me.

Lastly, but maybe most importanty, is having tubing installed by a knowledgeable person/crew. Luckily there are many such good crews here in northern Vermont, but many are booked out well into the future. Send me a message if you'd like the name of some installers.

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by DrTimPerkins

This post is EXCELLENT advice in its entirety. Every little extra thing adds up over the season.

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Thanks Dr. Tim, it's just a few things I learned along the way that are worth their weight in gold. As we continue to grow there will certainly be more challenges however if you've build a solid operating platform and have standard operating procedures in place everything as a whole will run smoothly. We've run into problems of our own but we've not repeated the same mistake twice. Become a student, evaluate information sources, experiment and enjoy the journey.

There is some pretty good advice here from others for you for sure. There is some very good people on here who are willing to help answer all sorts of questions.

I say go for it! I will share my personal story a little. I started by hauling sap and used 3 seasons to get my tubing system installed expanding each year and going to vacuum for year 3.That year I hauled A LOT. So I decided to build a sugar house. I built at the bottom of the hill didn't worry much about the driveway etc...I have everything set up on wet dry system and every drop flows right to my sugar house either by vacuum or an automated pump. We install more mainlines and less 5/16. No more than 3 taps per saddle. We use valves gauges and booster manifolds to help us isolate leaks and maintain 26" all season.

When building the sugar house I only had limited help building paid an excavator and paid my uncle a contractor to help with the concrete trusses and roof he also helped with electrical. The sugar house is set up so one person can boil and run the ro and keep an eye sap coming in.

I bought a used oil fired evaporator much bigger than needed and a used 600 gph ro. My first year boiling on my own I was engaged with no children now #3 is on the way. This was season 5 on my own we added a piggy back and a 1200 gph ro with an Equip grant through NRCS something you might look into but you have to be already making syrup to apply. It is a pretty cool program. Love both of them I must say the piggy back is unbelievable. I have plans for a monitoring system and security cameras so I can see everything while I'm at the evaporator.

This summer we are looking to add on to the sugar house some and we are looking into making it more convenient for the family. My goal is simply to have as many taps as possible every year until I get all of them. I have 400 acres.

I always have tubing and supplies on hand for expansion for whenever I get time. I would say unless money isn't an issue either build your sugar house yourself or install your tubing yourself you could do both but time will be more of a factor.

I always say if you want something you can't be cheap and lazy both!

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Originally Posted by Stanbridge

I've been sugaring my small sugarbush at home for years (300 taps), so I have a good idea what I'm getting into. I'm big into forest management. Tubing and RO will be new to me however. The lot I'm considering is nearby in beautiful Franklin County, VT.

Of course the economics is a factor. But it is not the only factor. If economics were everyone's no.1 focus, we would have no independent restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops, mom&pop stores, general stores...

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Hate to say it but, I would assume you are Canadian then? You will need US work authorization to start a company in the US. Food for thought.

I say start looking for dairy farm bankruptcy sales and find a good working bulk tank for your concentrat.
Keep us dreamers posted on how it goes . Mabe do a series on YouTube to help generate interest and possibly revenue. Marketing online will be key to good sales.
Good luck

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Originally Posted by shamrock

Hate to say it but, I would assume you are Canadian then? You will need US work authorization to start a company in the US. Food for thought.

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Luckily, I am as american as most of you. I was lucky enough to get US citizenship through my mother.

All this advice has been great, many valid suggestions. I will keep you posted on my progress. Like WestfordSugarworks mentioned, land in Franklin County does come at a premium, so I hope that the seller and I can agree on a fair price.

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Originally Posted by Stanbridge

Luckily, I am as american as most of you. I was lucky enough to get US citizenship through my mother.

All this advice has been great, many valid suggestions. I will keep you posted on my progress. Like WestfordSugarworks mentioned, land in Franklin County does come at a premium, so I hope that the seller and I can agree on a fair price.

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Great then, good luck!

Well, it was not to be for this specific piece of land. We're 10k apart on the price, and I'm not willing to budge as I've already been quite generous with my offer.

The search goes on for that special piece of Franklin County to call my own. Feel free to PM me if you know of anything that might be of interest.

Keep an eye out in the classified section. There is a subfolder for land sales.