Greetings Charlie and welcome. We in Missouri have a pretty active forum here and I have learned a lot in the last two years from the good and crazy sap heads on here. I am probably as crazy as any. Check out other posts for this year from the Missouri folks. I have quite a few pics I have posted of my setup on the driveway. Check out my gallery. This is my third year and I tapped 35 trees and had moderate luck this season. I have ended up with about three gallons of syrup from about 170 gallons of sap I collected. I was hoping for twice that much. Yes I am a greedy sap head. Hopefully from the posts you read you get some good ideas for your operation next year.
Definitely stop collecting sap now. The buds on the maple trees have formed and that means that any farther sap you collect will not have any sugar content. It will be mostly starch which does not make syrup. Enjoy.
Crazy River Sap
55 sugar maple, 15 walnut taps on plastic buckets and tubing
Block arch on driveway