am I in the wrong?

[bobie]

basically wondering if i'm in the wrong
the conversations were civil, no arguing. But he seemed stuck on his number, and slightly confrontational when i didnt agree to his terms


The property i had to tap trees is owned by an older gentleman who is over the moon about someone tapping his trees(doesnt live on the property). ive been dealing through his granddaughter's husband(also a co worker of mine) who happens to live on the property. I was under the impression he was only interested in helping out, so i asked today what he was expecting out of this.(thinking a few bottles of syrup) he came back with he wants half of the finished syrup, and he collects all the sap. this to me seemed pretty steep considering all equipment/fuel/supplies are mine. so i came back with ill do everything and he gets a quarter of the finished syrup. still steep, but considering the convenience of the location i was ok with that.
he declined insisting on 50%, i told him id think about it(give him time to realize hes asking a little too much)
next thing i know he's backed out completely and i'm no longer able to tap that property.
now I am left wondering what happened!

[ecolbeck]

Makes me wonder if they understand the amount of work that goes into your end of the operation. How many taps were under discussion?

[bobie]

i was aiming for 100+/-
i feel like i was pretty generous with my offer, even if he was emptying buckets.
im just at a loss right now.

[Michael Greer]

Nope. He wants too much. Go find other trees. I have 200 taps in a friend's woods and he's extremely pleased with ten gallons of syrup.

[bobie]

Ok thank I was trying to be fair. I had been tapping trees at another place but it wasn’t convenient to tap there it was a bit further from home. He never really wanted anything in return. But I’d throw him a couple bottles anyways.. So I got talking to this guy everything seemed good until this. It just went to the other extreme. Kind of blew me away

[maple flats]

If he does all of the work and supplies all of the collection equipment, then delivers the sap to you, maybe. Otherwise no deal, you will be losing money. I fact I only give half of the syrup if the sugar % in the sap is 3%. To get that much they install their taps, collect the sap and deliver it as good clear fresh sap.

[Sugarmaker]

We rent all our trees. Basically 1 gallon of finished jugged syrup for every 100 taps. All my equipment labor and gathering. If they dont like that I move to different trees. I have about 10-12 folks I deal with most are fine with it. Once in a while I get someone that has issue. I will do the dance for maybe 1 year or two but if it remains a hassle I dont tap their trees and they can get there syrup somewhere else. I do have a friend that gets about 50% but he has paid for the lines and the containers and also helps gather it. When I was a kid we hung buckets gathered and delivered the sap to a neighbor and they boiled it. We did get 50% in that scenario. Maybe if he delivers it to your sugarhouse it might be worth it??
You didnt do any thing wrong. I think the owner may have been getting a little greedy. Good luck!
Regards,
Chris

[johnallin]

...next thing i know he's backed out completely and i'm no longer able to tap that property.
now I am left wondering what happened!

Don't think you meant to, but I think you pissed the old guy off.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

That’s unfortunate but I would move on for sure.

[Wanabe1972]

Wow I sure am happy with my deal. I have 100 plus taps down the road on a farm. I supply all equipment and labor and a gallon of syrup and a couple of pounds of cream. He does ask for a couple of fancy bottles at Christmas time for his kids. He gives me space in the barn for my vacuum pump and also pays for the power to run it. If he wanted 50 percent I would move on also.