Post your results - Syrup statistics and setups

[mol1jb]

Fun exercise. Gallons of sap per gallons of syrup is not a great stat by itself as it needs Sugar % of sap collected to give context. I added a few more items below.

Number of taps:210
Vacuum (Y/N):3/16 on Shurflo
RO (Y/N/type)Deer Run 250
Arch size:2x6
Pan Type:Raised flue
Fuel Type / amount used:2 face cords
Sap collected in gallons:6550
Syrup produced in gallons:123
Gallons of sap per gallons of syrup: 53

Other stats I collect in a year:
Average sugar % in sap collected: 1.8%
Total water removed by RO: 5300
Total kitchen time (this includes RO running, setup, boiling, filtering, bottling, and cleanup): 109 hours (typically myself plus 2 other helpers)

[MRFNY]

Number of taps: 100
Vacuum (Y/N): N
RO (Y/N/type) N
Arch size: 2X4
Pan Type: drop flue
Fuel Type / amount used: wood, approximately 1 3/4 cord
Sap collected in gallons: 1487
Syrup produced in gallons: 35
Gallons of sap per gallons of syrup: 42

This was our 6th year making syrup and by far our best year. We have been averaging 19 gallons per season and this year we had 19 gallons of syrup made in February! I'll be honest, I don't think I ever want to make 35 gallons again unless I add an RO. It was a lot of work and a lot of firewood, but also a lot of fun too!

[DrTimPerkins]

Gallons of sap per gallons of syrup is not a great stat by itself as it needs Sugar % of sap collected to give context.
...
...
Average sugar % in sap collected: 1.8%

This can be a tricky one. SSC% alone is not always terribly informative. Volume weighted SSC is much better.

Example...3 runs to keep it simple.

Run 1 2% 100 gal
Run 2 1.5% 10 gal
Run 3 1.0% 10 gal

A regular average would give you an "average" SSC of 1.5%. However, clearly you had much more sap closer to 2%. In order to get the "average" SSC of ALL of the sap, with each amount of sap represented equally, you need to first multiply the SSC by the volume of sap collected that day. Then you add up each of the totals of SSC x sap volume per day, then divide that by the total sap volume collected over the season.

__________________________DAY 1______DAY 2____DAY 3_____SEASON___________
So the math comes out to be (2.0 x 100)+(1.5 x 10)+(1.0 x 10) = 225 / 120 gal = 1.875%.

Basically, you're doing the same math in a much simpler way by dividing the number of gallons of sap collected over the season by the number of gallons of syrup made over the season (but that also has its own problems noted below). Then you can back calculate the SSC by using the Revised Jones Rule of 88.2. In your case, you'd divide 6550 (gallons of sap) by 53 (gallons of syrup) to get the 53 gal sap/gal syrup, then divide 88.2 (assuming you're finishing at 66.9 Brix) by 53 to get your weighted avg SSC of 1.7 Brix. Of course, this also disregards any losses of syrup (shrinkage, spillage, etc.) you had during the season, which might be small or might be large depending upon how your season went.

Sorry to muck things up and make them more complicated than perhaps everyone wanted to think about, but the bottom line is that a VOLUME WEIGHTED average is a far better indicator of SSC over the season than a simple straight mathematical average. In general however, the larger the sample size (the more SSC measurements you have during a season), the closer those two values tend to become.

Another couple of really useful things for people to report (if they have it) is the average tree size and/or the average density (# taps/acre). Tree size has a rather sizeable influence on sap yield. I'd also toss in avg vacuum and spout/drop sanitation approach due to their strong impacts on production, but that's probably asking too much.

Now back to your regular MapleTrader.com programming....

[mol1jb]

Thanks Dr. Perkins. That is quite interesting and I had not thought about it that way. I usually just do the average of 10-12 samples throughout the season, taken at the collection tank before boiling the sap, then average them. Your way would be much more accurate.

[NhShaun]

Number of taps: 210
Vacuum (Y/N):Guzzler(56)Shurflo(132) Buckets(22)
RO (Y/N/type)CDL hobby 250
Arch size:2x6
Pan Type:Flat
Fuel Type / amount used: Dry pine/hemlock - 2.5 cord
Sap collected in gallons:2650
Syrup produced in gallons:45
Gallons of sap per gallons of syrup:59

[mdm1]

Number of taps:30
Vacuum (Y/N)N
RO (Y/N/type)N
Arch size:2x4
Pan Type:flat
Fuel Type / amount used:
Sap collected in gallons:404
Syrup produced in gallons:10.125
Gallons of sap per gallons of syrup:40:1

[Silver Water]

Number of taps:165
Vacuum (Y/N)N
RO (Y/N/type) yes - CDL Nano 3 membrane
Arch size:18 x 36 Thor hobby evaporator
Pan Type:drop flue
Fuel Type / amount used: wood - 1 1/2 face cord
Sap collected in gallons: 3840 Litres / 1014.5 US Gallons
Syrup produced in gallons: 101 Litres / 26.7 US Gallons
Gallons of sap per gallons of syrup:38:1

[Mavitec]

Number of taps: 190
Vacuum (Y/N): Y
RO (Y/N/type) Y Lapierre 250 GPH
Arch size: 24" x 48"
Pan Type: Flue pan 30" & flat pan 18"
Fuel Type / amount used: stove oil / 107 usGall
Sap collected in gallons: 2750 usGal
Syrup produced in gallons: 74 usGal
Gallons of sap per gallons of syrup: 37 usGal

[bmbmkr]

Number of taps: 495, mostly 3/16 on steep hills
Vacuum (Y/N):gas powered guzzler and a couple of shurflo's
RO (Y/N/type) Home made 4x4x40 3 Hp Procon 660
Arch size: 2x6
Pan Type: Raised flue AOF/AUF
Fuel Type / Amount used: wood, not very much, only fire about 12-15 min with AOF - stack 850-900F
Sap collected in gallons: 3600 gal
Syrup produced in gallons: 37.5
Gallons of sap per gallons of syrup: 95

This was out shortest season, virtually no winter, sap started out at 1% and there wasn't much of it. Tapped 22 Jan, last boil 14 Feb. Sugarin in the south is TOUGH. 38.5N

[82cabby]

For 2024:

Number of taps: 118
Vacuum (Y/N): 5/16 on gravity, measured 21 psi vacuum at peak flow on the best day of the season. Most other good days were 10-12.
RO (Y/N/type) homemade 5x400gpd and a 4x100gpd
Arch Size: 2x4
Pan Type: flat divided
Fuel Type / amount used: wood 2 face cords
Sap collected in gallons: 1725
Syrup produced in gallons: 25
Gallons of sap per gallons of syrup:69
Taps: polycarbonate arch-barb spout from maple valley