Locating new sugarhouse

[Budie]

After years of make shift sugar shacks I am finally retiring and would like some advice on a permanent sugar house location. I have two choices, on the high side of my property with good road access but pumping everything or the low side with poor road access where I could collect 50+% of my 200 taps with tubing and gravity. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[maple maniac65]

Could you build where there is good access and haul sap back up. We all want the sap to come right in but there is such a thing as sales and visitors who need great access. As we get older especially me I don't want a roof I have to shovel off. But that is design problems.

[maple flats]

I'd pick which ever has the best exposure and parking potential for customers. Then work out either pumping the sap up if needed or haul it. I prefer pumping when feasible.
Making it the best for visitors trumps all else in my book.
For the sugarhouse, decide how big you need, then make it 2-4x that size. Had I done that back 14 years ago, I wouldn't be so crowded. I kept drawing plans for an addition but other things kept interrupting them. Now as I have scaled back in my retirement an addition may never happen. But, hopefully not!

[unc23win]

For me the question would be how many more potential taps can you have at the lower location? My sugarhouse is at the bottom of the hill within 100 yards of the lowest point (swamp) on my 400 acres. I don't haul a drop and don't pump any either. My road was nothing more than scratched out with a dozer year one. We have been working on it a little every year. For me the potential taps to my sugarhouse is worth being at the bottom of the hill.

[minehart gap]

Budie , I believe that you may have a lot to think about. For example, is there electricity available where you have good access? If yes, you can pump somewhat easily and have good access for you and your customers, that’s assuming that you are having sales at your sugar shack. Or, would it be more economical to improve the access to the lower portion of your property and have electricity there? Don’t underestimate the access to electricity. I don’t have it and I can tell you that life would be a lot easier with it.

[Budie]

Thank you all, excellent feedback. To elaborate, I will have good access to electricity at both sites but access to water only at the lower site. I have some pondering to do. Further comments welcome.

Budie

[johnallin]

Seems to me no water at the upper site, and the need to pump or haul all of your sap up there...makes the lower site favored with electric, water and all sap running directly into the sugar house. If you can get a roadway put in for customers later, so much the better.

[maple flats]

I still think customer accessibility trumps all, but that might just be me. Which will cost you more, making a road and parking area for customers at the low site or pumping your sap to the high site?
Take this case, back in 2008 as I was setting up a new tubing system roadside at a lease, a reporter stopped and asked if I would mine her doing a piece about my operation. I said OK. She wrote an article and a photographer took some pictures. Then an article appeared in the biggest Syracuse, NY paper on a Thursday, along with interviews of about 4-5 other producers. The article said we were participating in the NY Maple Weekend, 2 weeks away. Then on Saturday, 9 days later there I was again, this time I filled half of the front page and it continued to another page for almost as much, several pictures were included. Then a day later, Sunday, 6 days before Maple Weekend, there I was, the whole cover of the magazine section dedicated to our county, and 2 more pages inside that section. When Maple Weekend arrived, I had lines of 15-25 people outside the sugarhouse all 4 days from about 9:45 AM until almost 5PM. I could only get 15-18 into my sugarhouse at a time. On those 4 days (Sat-Sun, 2 weeks in a row) I had between 2000 and 2500 visitors. I was in no way prepared for all of the traffic I got from that "free advertising". I only had parking for 8 cars, and the rest had to park on the narrow county road which had essentially no shoulders.
I now have parking for only about 14 cars. I should have built where I could make a parking lot for at least 50 cars. My site has no such option.
Just because you are small now, does not mean you will not get far more customers than you can handle, at that time I had 525 taps, no RO and I ran out of syrup about half way thru the second day. The next weekend I had filled my shelves again, but ran out by early afternoon on Saturday and I just took names to call when I had more. I think only about 8-10% came back to buy when called.
Don't underestimate how much traffic you might get.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

I agree that access is important but that is also something that you can work at over time. Setting up a shack and determining how your operation is set up is permanent......at least for most. At 200 taps, I don't believe customer access for sales is the driving force behind this decision.
Assuming you could eventually make a road or improve access, the lower site seems like the best choice to me. Pumping isn't a big deal but hauling sap sucks......PERIOD! If you can plan on pumping to the upper site I wouldn't rule it out. If you can have to haul sap to the upper site but not the lower site then it's a no brainer for me. On the lower site you say 50% of the taps can come in gravity.........what about the other 50%- pumping, hauling??

[bill m]

Most times poor road access can be fixed but pumping and trucking sap is forever. I would build on the lower site.