I am going to honest with any newbie, if you are doing to make lots of money you had better start with lots. Unless you have the land already, most any small scale operation will not " make" money.with evaporator, new 2x6, $5500-$6000,tanks, tapping supplies, cost to operate equipment, disposable yearly items, and other supplies, you will likely have 10k, now say you sell for$60 gallon, you will need to sell 135 or so gallons to break even, in some area maybe that's achievable for a beginner, but if you are like most and live in area saturated by producers, good luck. Then let's talk upgrades, like ro's,bigger evap, vac systems, bigger sugar house, candy machines etc, etc. look, I am small and sell maybe 15 gallons year to friends and family,and I have an easy $12-14k in it, easy. To me unless you can strike the retail sales rich, the only way make me eye is to start fairly large and expand quickly and sell bulk. I would love to sell 50-75 gallons a year retail, but where I live there are lot of producers that give their syrup away to people they know and then the Amish who gets tons of sales from "city" people because they love the novelty of buying from them. Not to mention a couple of pancakes houses and restaurants that sell tons of syrup. It is a tough row to hoe. It can be done, don't get me wrong but we should have started 20 years. I am expanding next year and hope to be at a few thousand taps in the next five years but under no pre-tense do I think I am going to make "lots of money" .maple syrup producing is one the fasted growing hobbies in the northeast, the New York conservationist magazine stated in the last 10 years New York states production has gone up 2 1/2 times. If you can start with 75-100k capital you have shot. If you want to make a few hundred to few thousand a year doing something you enjoy then you have the right hobby, if you want to do this as your main line of employment you should probably pick a different pastime. Not being a downer just putting it out there honestly.
2008 700 ranger xp sap hauler/45 hp 4x4 tractor/028 super stihl
2x4 mason hobby/blower/new for 2014 smoky lake hybrid pan
2014 300ish buckets and still need bigger evaporator/14 x 20 square log shack
2015 2x6 drop flue phaneuf approx. 325 buckets, 1 year older, not sure about the smarter part ?
gets expensive in a hurry!!