They look like red maples to me. Generally a lower sugar content and not as much sap as sugar maples but still produce.
They look like red maples to me. Generally a lower sugar content and not as much sap as sugar maples but still produce.
Dominion and grimm 3 x 8
MemPROtec 600SS
24'x32' sugar house
Two brothers and a best friend
2015- setting up operations
2016- 680 taps on 3/16
215 buckets
2017- 1280 taps on 3/16
2018- 2000 taps on 3/16
Dealer for DSD Stars and MemProTec R.O.s
Bark pictures look like red maple. Look up at the buds. If you can see the big red buds, they are definitely red maples. When I used to tap trees around my house, I had some red maples that would easily fill a bucket on a days run, and a few other reds that would put out one cup of sap all season. After 2 seasons, stop taping the trees that don't donate. Under vacuum, they produce fine. My lease woods is 48% red maples and those woods produced 28 gallons of sap per tap in 2016. The woods at my sugar house is 15% red maple and the surprising thing is that the sugar content of the sap from both woods in very similar on a daily basis.
2004- 470 taps on gravity and buckets
2006- 590 taps on gravity and buckets 300 gph RO
2009- 845 taps on vacuum no buckets, 600 gph RO
2010- 925 taps on vacuum new 2 stage vacuum pump
2014- 3045 taps on vacuum, new 1200 gph RO
2015- 3104 taps on vacuum
2017- 3213 taps on vacuum
3' x 10' oil fired evaporator with steamaway
Theres also a great book for identifying trees called "BARK" It shows pictures of trees from young to old mostly all pictures goodluck
55 gal drum w/ custom made pan fueled by wood
homemade 24x36 electrical pull box w/ custom pan for standby evap
RB-5 RO-Bucket
Started 2011 with 17 taps
2018 72 taps Drop lines in 5 gal water Jugs
The picture showing a multi-trunked tree reminds me of silver maple. All the rest look like maples, as well.
They look good to me, I'd tap them!
It's all in the buds. Reds will have darker, big, obvious bulbous buds. Sugars will not...lighter in color and thin. Silvers I have no idea?
Good luck!
16x24 Timber Frame Sugar House
Mason 2x4 Evaporator
90 trees on buckets
I think the first is a sugar maple, because there are horizontal scars from the sugar maple borer. Also, do the leaves on the ground all have rounded crotches between each finger or is there a mix of round/angled leaves? You cannot identify a single tree this way, but if all the leaves around are rounded then you've got all sugars...
Jamie Jones
2017 - 120 taps, 68G syrup - automated pumping from collection to head tank
2016 - 118 taps (about half on 3/16"), 60G syrup
2015 - 115 taps, 58G syrup - new wireless blower switch and remote pump switch from tank to shack
2014 - 120 taps, 53G syrup - hobby vac
2013 - 120 taps, 40G syrup - Sunrise Metal 2x6, 12x14 sugarhouse
2012 - 44 taps, 6G syrup -gravity tube, 4 steam pans on block arch, plastic greenhouse shack - (I'm hooked!)
I just realized that the trees I am planning on tapping are silver maple. has anyone used these for syrup before? Should I even bother with them? I do not have any sugar maple as I previously thought!
Silver Maples are almost the only type of maple I have access to. I hear the sugar content might be lower than sugar maples but I haven't seen that to be true for my trees. I think the syrup is very good, and judging from sales, others must think so too. Tap away! Ted