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Thread: Need help from fellow md maplers

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Friendsville, MD
    Posts
    10

    Default Need help from fellow md maplers

    So glad to see sugar bushing going
    On in Md. My family has 100 acres In
    Friendsville. Wondering if it is to late
    To tap for this year. Starting out on turkey
    Fryer for this year. If we get enough sap
    I'll make an evaporator out of an oil tank
    For next year. Thanks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Steubenville,Ohio
    Posts
    378

    Default

    Youre not that far south of many of us in Ohio if your in Friendsville and we're just getting started. Some of the guys in Ky have been going for a week or two and your north of them. Its not too late as long as your Maples haven't budded out. , do a test hole when the weather is right and see what comes out. There's a large producer in Cumberland area and I bet he's getting ready or going. Forget his name. Another nice sugarhouse on the road to the lake down there. 42? 62?
    Also watch for posts from some of the southwest Pa guys, lots of them around Meyersdale area. If you have 100 acres and a turkey fryer your problem is not going overboard and drowning in sap. Get out there and try it and good luck.
    SevenCreeksSap
    About 80 taps and a sapsucker.
    A wife who doesn't shop and lets me buy Maple stuff

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    west virginia
    Posts
    966

    Default

    Western MD Mapler,
    You still have time the West Virginia producers near Mt. Storm have in the past waited until Valentines Day before tapping, your weather should be the same.

    Mark 220 Maple
    1100 taps on low vaccum, 900 on gravity.
    900 plus taps leased and on high vacuum
    35 cfm Indiana Liquid Ring Vacuum Pump
    80% Sugar, 20% Red MAPLES
    http://s247.photobucket.com/albums/g...Maple%20Syrup/

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Fulton Co PA
    Posts
    11

    Default

    You have still got time. Just keep an eye on the extended forecasts for your area for that freeze / thaw cycle that's needed for sap flow. And as SevenCreekSap said start slow with a few good trees until you get the hang of retrieval, storage, boiling off etc... I started off with a TF also and after my first long batch immediately went out and bought 2 stainless steel buffet pans, scrounged up some old cement block to make a small arch and reduced my boil time from about 1G per 1.5hr to 6-7 gals in an hour. Some folks have continued using their TFs year after year but if you've got a lot of sugar bush and decide to go "all in" you will quickly realize the need to upgrade to a level that meets you needs even if you just do it in increments. Good luck!

    Here's on of the guys near you:

    S & S Maple Camp‎
    10816 Sugar Camp Dr
    Corriganville, MD 21524
    (301) 724-1433

    Another just north is:

    Brenneman's Maple Syrup & Equipment company
    572 Oak Dale Road
    Salisbury, PA 15558
    (814) 941-8974 *Call first

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Landisburg, PA
    Posts
    249

    Default

    I started last year and boiled on my kitchen stove.This year I'm boiling on a 3 burner high propane stove with a custom made syrup pan with 3 dividers and a preheater pan sitting on top. I'm boiling 4 gph and only have the burners turned about a 1/4 open. Probably could get more gph if I opened the burners up more. Doesn't matter what you use, just tap some trees and go for it. Be fore warned though, this sugar making is addictive!!
    IMG_2135.jpg
    2011 - 6 buckets
    Stove Top
    2012 - 15 buckets
    2013 - 19 buckets
    Camper cook stove with 3 high propane burners
    Custom made 42x14x7 maple pan with dividers
    2015 - New 12x16 Sugar Shack
    2015 - New Lapierre Propane Evaporator
    2016 - 28 buckets
    2017 - 30 buckets
    2019 - 32 buckets
    2023 - 32 buckets - Good to be back

    .

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Maryland
    Posts
    11

    Default

    Definitely not too late. If anything, too early. I'm in central MD and most of the sugarers around here are just getting started. I drilled a test hole last week and not much has come out. Probably going to tap some this weekend and see what I get. Mid Feb is probably going to be about right.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Friendsville, MD
    Posts
    10

    Default

    This has to be one of the best forums not for maplers but in general. All the responses and recomendations are always positve and helpful. It seems like all other forums have select few that ruin a topic. Now that the brown nosing Is out of the way, thanks for all your input. I will be taping today. The weather looks absolutely perfect for sugarbushing. As for the evaporator, turkey fryer is on standby, and I will be using a 55 gallon drum with a stainless steel sink as a pan. Thanks to this website for the idea and a barn full of junk. Notched out a section on the side of the barrel so the sink can sit two inches into the fire. May rig some kinda preheater with old coffee cans on the the barrel. Gonna tap @ 20-25 trees. My grandad from quebec gave me some aluminum buckets and taps. Using a couple gatorade water coolers for transporting and storing. Sounds really redneck, but hey its a start right. Thanks again for all your input and encouragement. Hope to post pics of my setup soon.
    Last edited by Western MD Mapler; 02-04-2012 at 06:11 AM.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Maryland
    Posts
    11

    Default

    No such thing as too redneck when you're backyard sugaring. Whatever works. I tapped the other day, almost nothing coming out except for 1 tree that produced about a quart of sap on Saturday. We'll see what happens this week as nighttime temps will be getting closer to freezing.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Maryland
    Posts
    11

    Default

    Quick update -- Checked my buckets yesterday, about 1 gallon out of a medium sized maple and about a quart out of a smaller red maple. Other larger trees are still bone dry.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Friendsville, MD
    Posts
    10

    Default

    Well only tapped 10 trees and got ten gallons of sap. Boiled it Tuesday and got a little under a quart. Not bad for first time. Hope to post pics on next boil.

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