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Thread: Jefferson County - My First Boil Ever

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Florissant Missouri
    Posts
    137

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    I added a photo album in the gallery section and uploaded two images of the block arch I made last year. This is my first album. Let me know if everyone can find and see the images.

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Wakeman, Ohio
    Posts
    100

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    Nice little setup you got there. Good luck and have fun!
    2014 16' x 24' sugarhouse, 2' x 6' Leader WSE converted to forced air with airtight front and Leader Revolution and Leader Max Flu Combo pans. Just tap a few yard trees for demonstration and buy my sap from a 400+ tap tubing operation.

    Stihl MS440, MS391, MS261, MS170, MS193T
    Stihl BT45 for tapping
    New Holland Boomer 50 4x4 with loader
    Cub Cadet 6x4 Big Country
    Honda 4x4 Rancher
    Very supportive and lovely wife
    https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wakem...3099580?ref=hl

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Missouri
    Posts
    92

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    Quote Originally Posted by RiverSap View Post
    On larger Sugar Maple trees the bark a little ways up the trunk starts to get these large flat scales or wings. Here is a link of a picture that shows it pretty well. http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/wp-cont...d_rsz_0168.jpg. In a woods like yours you should have lots of them. Sugar maple trees kind of take over in Missouri woods. They are kind of an invasive species in Missouri. The Missouri Conservation Department does not recommend planting them and even recommends removing many of them to promote the growth of Oak, Hickory and Walnut trees.
    That's probably one of the best pics I've seen of the sugar maple bark...most don't show it that well. Most of the large diameter trees in my woods are oaks. I have a lot of big hickories and a couple walnuts, but mostly oaks. I do have a ton of smaller sugar maples...probably in the 4-8 inch diameter range, but my understanding is those are too small to tap.

    Because the maple is considered a nuisance tree, I've been using them mostly for firewood over the last several years. When I need firewood, I go out and find a sugar maple that's crowding the nut-bearing trees. But now that I've discovered "sugaring," I'll leave more of the maples alone (especially the ones that are on the cusp of being tap-able).
    Last edited by Ray_Nagle; 01-27-2015 at 06:23 PM.

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Missouri
    Posts
    92

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    Quote Originally Posted by Goggleeye View Post
    Yep, you're done for. That's how I started out. Now, six years later, 460 taps, and an insatiable need to tap more trees! Eventually, you'll find yourself driving slowly by other people's woodlots and spying out dense maple stands, wonder struck with maple lust.
    To get to 460 taps, I'm gonna have to buy some more land. Or start tapping utility poles.

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Missouri
    Posts
    92

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    Quote Originally Posted by flhr10 View Post
    Nice little setup you got there. Good luck and have fun!
    Hey, thanks, I am having fun! I see you're in Ohio...our first exposure to making maple syrup actually was when we lived in Dayton. We went to a commercial syrup farm during a weekend when they were letting people come in and see their boil shacks. Ever since, the urge to do this has been lingering in the back of my mind.

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Sault Ontario
    Posts
    1,016

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    I love the video, great job and thanks for sharing it with all of us.

    Terry
    2011- 35 taps, ,,,milk juggs and buckets-propane turkey fryer !!
    2012 -75 taps,,,,, 40 on tubing into buckets, and 35 buckets - 3nd hand Homemade arch, brutal.
    2013- Just over 115 taps and still adding more.
    2014, new SS flat pan and new arch built, guessing 75-100 taps this year.
    2015, 50 taps on Shurflo pump.
    2016- Getting a line across my creek this year.
    2017-took a year off, Jamaica was fun !
    2018- 45 trees tapped, keeping it fun !

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    SE Missouri
    Posts
    289

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ray_Nagle View Post
    I do have a ton of smaller sugar maples...probably in the 4-8 inch diameter range, but my understanding is those are too small to tap.
    I've been tapping some 7-8 inch trees if they have a good crown. Maybe even a couple six inchers, did it with the thought of not caring if I lost them. Doesn't seem to hurt them a bit. Several years have gone by since I tapped some smaller trees, and they have grown just as rapidly as those I didn't tap. I think with our longer growing season here in MO they have time to catch up on their sugar production.
    Now I have an outdoor hobby for all 12 months. Like I need anything more to do
    About 1000 taps on gravity tubing, MicRO2 RO, 2.5 X 8 Leader King, and a 1953 Willys Jeep to run around the maple woods with.
    http://www.gihringfamilyfarm.com/

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Missouri
    Posts
    92

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    Quote Originally Posted by Goggleeye View Post
    I've been tapping some 7-8 inch trees if they have a good crown. Maybe even a couple six inchers, did it with the thought of not caring if I lost them. Doesn't seem to hurt them a bit. Several years have gone by since I tapped some smaller trees, and they have grown just as rapidly as those I didn't tap. I think with our longer growing season here in MO they have time to catch up on their sugar production.
    Great to know this, thanks.

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Missouri
    Posts
    92

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    Did my 2nd boil last night. Turned 11.3 gallons of sap into 42 ounces of syrup, for about a 34-to-1 ratio. The process took about 14 hours from start to finish.

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Missouri
    Posts
    92

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    Sap is flowing again this afternoon here in eastern Missouri after subzero temps shut the trees down for a couple days.

    Also, for anyone in this area, Rockwoods Reservation in Wildwood is having their annual Sugar Maple Festival tomorrow.

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