Made my first maple syrup today!

[Pdiamond]

Another one bites the dust, and becomes a new maple syrup addict. Congrats on your progress and keep enjoying the sugar making.

[Spikeman]

Thanks for all the replies and encouragement!

Have my own evaporator now (ooooh, fancy.....!), made by a friend who has a welding business. Looks like, and about the same size, as a Leader 1/2 pint. I had hoped to have a shed or a shack up by now but that looks like next year project. I do have a trailer for the evaporator so i can take it outside to use. I'll be tapping close to 20 trees this season, i have them all marked so unlike last year i wont have to guess which trees to tap.

For some i will stay with buckets and for others i will tap and have a 3/16 tube down and into a bucket - these trees are inside the tree line which at the edge, has some large boulders that i don't want to climb over in the snow and ice. Set a tap up high enough to get gravity flow down to a bucket set in the field the safe side of the rocks and boulders. This will make collection easier, i think.

I've also been clearing the ground at the access points to the trees as i don't want to be tripping over things that are covered in snow.

Couple of questions:

To get a good flow and down angle on the trees i tap and use tubing to a bucket that might be 6 feet in front of the tree is it ok to tap up at about 6 feet on the tree?
Should i use, and will it be ok, to use a 5/16 tap to 3/16 tubing - or should i use 5/16 tubing? Want to make sure 1) - the tubing will fit to the tap and 2) make sure the tubing is good for flow from the tap to the bucket.

I retired from work this past July so I am spending plenty time at the farm (horses and Sheep) so i will be able to check/collect for sap just about every day. Got plenty of wood on hand - old seasoned wood and as the electric company had the tree trimmer and tree removal company come down our road I asked the to leave me all the branches up to about 8 inches - which they did and even trimmed for me. So, for future years I think I have a good supply of wood - i'll cut and split this fall.

That's all for now - hope everyone is getting ahead of there planning and chores for the season - i think its coming on fast!

Any answers to my question above would be a big help!

Steve

[therealtreehugger]

Hi Steve - welcome! Tapping up high on the tree is not necessary. As long as the tubing goes downhill, from the tap into the bucket, you are fine. About half my taps are 5 gal buckets w snug fitting holes in the lids that the tubing goes through. Make sure the tubing does not go too far down in your bucket, as sometimes, the tree will literally suck the sap back out of your bucket and back into the tree. Not good for your sap collection, and not good for the tap in the tree to introduce bacteria (shortening the life of the viable tap hole).

If close access to a tree is an issue, then by all means have a longer piece of tubing. If not, then drill your taps at a height that is comfortable to drill at, (don’t bother getting a ladder, or crawling on the ground) without using too much excess tubing. As long as it goes downhill.

5/16 taps fit 5/16 tubing, which is what I use to go into my buckets. Works just fine.

Good luck! Keep us updated!

[Super Sapper]

I am a big proponent of using 3/16 tubing in the right situations. From the tap to a bucket or lateral line, I would use 5/16 as when the tree freezes it will pull back sap and will pull more from the 3/16 than the 5/16. If you can string together several taps on a single line with an elevation drop of at least 10 feet, the 3/16 tubing with 5/16 drops will give you more sap. Most of all have fun with it.

[30AcreWoods]

Steve, it sounds like you are all over it! Tons of good advice here, but in my opinion, the best is to keep having fun! We've all made mistakes...and that is the best way to learn. I have tons of gradient, so I use 3/16 tubing everywhere and pull over 27inMg. Many don't have the luxury, but don't sweat it. Using tubes - even short ones to your buckets on the ground will be helpful for you as your taps will stay open a bit longer than using open, metal spiles. Experiment with it all and learn what works best on your little slice of heaven. And let us know how it all goes!

[Spikeman]

Guys,
Thanks for all the great advice!

Here is where I am at:

bought about 25 5/16" CV taps and 100 foot of 5/16" tubing (plus a few other bits and bobs at Bascom Maple the other day). I also purchased some 3 way 5/16" connectors as I'm going to join drops from a couple of trees into one line into a bucket (see how this is creeping elegance? pretty soon I'm probably gonna have blue tubing all over the place - including some trees at my neighbors yard (permission has already been granted), but that will probably be next season - I think!)

Now, I'm not sure I have enough tubing, might need another roll, might as well get a 100 foot 'cause I think I'm gonna end up needing it and don't want to wait too close to the season and find they are all sold out!!.

I'm going to be using an evaporator that my wife had a friend make (he has a welding business and welding school) for me as a Christmas present. The pan is 3 foot by 2 foot - pretty much the size of a Leader 1/2 pint. The only thing is he made the main pan and warming pan out of heavy duty stainless steel - the pan is fairly heavy compared to pans I've looked at in stores. Going to do a test firing up and boil some time this week - I have a horse farm and we also run some sheep - so I'll take it out to the outdoor arena away from our buildings for the test run - don't want to burn down the 100 foot by 200 foot main barn building . ( I have a tow cart for it - re-purposed manure spreader) which I will use this season - next year I hope to have a sugar shack where it can all be inside. Anyway, that should be some fun - want to see if I can get a good boil with the heavy duty pans that he made. Anyway, pan dimensions are 2 foot by 3 foot so i can always buy another pan if this one is too thick to give me a hearty boil!

Wish me luck with the test boil! If you don't hear from me again it all blew up and too me with it!!

Steve

[Spikeman]

Update:

Did the test run with the evaporator today and it went well, it did not blow up, it boiled the water i put in it very well, had a pretty good boil going.

Observations and learning lessons:

I need to cut/split my wood into lengths bout 14 to 15 inches and split them much more than the kind of thick pieces i have now. The thick wood takes a while to get going and might be good for a wood stove but not for an evaporator. I guess I need to go back and split the wood I have into thinner pieces.

The wagon I have the evaporator mounted on works great, for this season I will be able to use my tractor to bring it into my riding arena for storage and use it outside for boiling.

All in all a good day of learning and testing.

Steve

[30AcreWoods]

Great news! Somewhere along the way I was told to split wood so that is no larger than the diameter of my fist when clenched. Who knows what happens if you have a massive hand! But, I try and do that, and it seems to work really well for maintaining a good boil without huge temperature swings when loading (more surface area = better burn). Keep experimenting, having fun, and let us know how it goes.

[Pdiamond]

I start out with wrist size pieces of wood and once the pans get rolling, I will mix in some larger pieces. Mixing in the larger wood just saves using all the small stuff and keeps the fire burning longer, especially with the blower. I just don't like to have to open the firebox door every 5 minutes when I use the wrist size stuff.