Introduce yourselves....

[tgormley358]

This is Tom in Harvard, MA (not the university). I've been on MT for a year or so and posted several times, but not in this Intro forum, so here i go. A few years ago a friend who's been sugaring 45 years came by and told me I have a few sugar maples and asked if i'd be interested in trying sugaring - he could loan me a small evaporator. Two years later i have a fun new hobby -- I don't like saying "i'm hooked" but it wouldn't be far from the truth if i did. My so-called "friend" Ron ramped up the addictive ingredients last year by loaning a new Lapierre 19x48. I made a makeshift sugar shed for it, added another neighbors' taps, and had a blast. Closest experience I've had to being in a manufacturing environment, as my career is in the services sector. So now i'm all in, especially as another neighbor agreed to let me tap his 35 trees with tubing, doubling my taps to 80-85, which will keep my new Lapierre Jr. 2x5 busy enough. My wife and I both work full time, and I don't want to be boiling all night during the work week, so I added a blower to increase evaporation and hoping to keep up with the flow in spring. I bought a 210 gallon pickup tank, but still need a few things. A head tank for the evaporator in my shed - maybe Ron's nice 110 gallon SS tank except it's pricey. I don't want to see another cone filter in my lifetime if i can help it, so I'm moving either to a small filter press (MapleJet) or a flat filtering bottler. But my next project up is a real sugar shed with a concrete floor. I'm planning only 9x11 -- but i think it'll fit everything i need including storage off season. I've learned alot from this forum and appreciate all the information and responses i've had. Have fun!

[misterclassic]

Hello everyone! This is Jim in Nebraska, that's not a typo -Nebraska. My wife & I live on an acreage about 2 miles from a small town of 750 people in northeast Nebraska. It's not the end of the earth but I can see it from here. Anyway, on our 6.5 acre slice of real estate we have windbreaks on the west and north sides consisting of around 125 silver maples. I'm guessing the age of the trees to be around 85 years old. All of them are over 2 feet in diameter with some 3 feet and a couple that are 4 feet across. We've lived here for over 33 years and up until a few years ago I had no idea that they could be tapped for syrup. I have a friend who spent around 5 years in Wisconsin on business and when he returned he began tapping some silver maple trees around town and boiling the sap on a turkey fryer. He gave me a baby food jar of the syrup he'd made and after just one spoonful I was hooked! It was the nectar of the gods! I don't know how this syrup compares to what you folks produce but I love what we make here!

I put in around a dozen taps in the spring of 2015, 50 taps in 2016 and 185 taps this past spring. All the sap was evaporated on propane burners but we are only doing 4-5 GPH. This year we ended up pulling most of the bags and letting the sap run because we just couldn't keep up. It was heartbreaking to say the least to see that sap just running down the bark, but I wanted to see what the trees were capable of producing and some taps were doing over 2 gallons on good days. The sugar was running 2 1/2 -3% but dropped off to around 2% towards the end of the season. It has been quite a learning experience but I am hopelessly addicted!

I want to get a better evaporator setup but due to other commitments we will keep the propane setup for next spring and tap enough trees to get 8-10 gallons of syrup again. I'm looking to get a wood burning 2x6 drop flue setup for the spring of 2019. I think we have the potential for 250 taps and from what I've gleaned from you great folks a 2x6 would match what we would have for taps. Any comments and help from you would be greatly appreciated! I'm the rank amateur and you guys are the seasoned veterans so please be patient with my dumb questions, and there will be plenty! I've already learned quite a bit from the members here and learn more each time I log in. I'll try to post about our season next year so you have some idea what the climate is like here compared to what you have back east. It's been said that if you don't like the weather here, wait for a few minutes and it will change. And after spending my life here I can say that it is true!

Have a Merry Christmas and a Sappy New Year!

Jim in Nebraska

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Welcome Jim, that's awesome you're making syrup in Nebraska. It sounds like you have some really good trees. A 2x6 sounds perfect for your setup. Lots of experience in here so ask all the questions you want.

[kingOFgEEEks]

Good morning all. I'm new here, so I'll start slow.

I'm Chris. I live in north-central PA on a 200 acre former dairy farm with my wife and 3 girls (3, 5, and 7). 2 years ago, I got the crazy idea to try making syrup, so I bought 10 5/16 taps off of Amazon, which collected in gallon milk jugs. I boiled over an open fire with 2 small steam trays, and made about 3 quarts. Last year, I had great sap runs, and the steam trays wouldn't keep up, so I found a deal on someone else's 30" x 6' homemade evaporator, but found that it wasn't even worth firing up with the production of my 10 taps.

This year, I will be tapping 40 trees, running 3/16 tubing to collect multiple trees at the same point, and I'm building a 9x12 sugar shack. It's under roof and almost ready to park the evaporator, which is good, since I'm running out of time! I don't sell syrup, so I definitely like to keep costs as low as possible. My current budget for the sugar shack is $20 for a box of screws. Everything else was scrounged from scrap piles and leftovers on the farm.

Hopefully this year, I'll be able to make enough syrup to be able to do some Christmas gifts, and make some maple sugar. I'm learning more every day, and enjoying every minute.

[maple flats]

king, welcome aboard. It's great fun to get the kids involved, do as much as you can with them, they will grow up before you know it. It will seem like no time and you'll be paying for a wedding or 3. Maybe then you can get the new family involved too.
Warning, this is addictive, with no treatment programs available to kick the habit.

[greenmtn91]

Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum and to the maple syrup industry. I would like to see whether anyone here takes on part-time or full-time help in the spring during maple season. I am very interested in joining a maple syrup operation in New England.

I am hoping someone can provide me some guidance here, or point me to where I can look for work on this site. I would appreciate any help. Thanks!

[maple flats]

Most take on help during the season, especially the bigger operations. It would help a lot more if you told us where you live, rather than just in the US. I might guess in the Green Mountains, but even that's too general, the community would be better. You will notice on here that most have their city and state in their location. Once we get your location we might be able to connect you with some producers looking to hire. Some even hire full time, year round.

[greenmtn91]

Most take on help during the season, especially the bigger operations. It would help a lot more if you told us where you live, rather than just in the US. I might guess in the Green Mountains, but even that's too general, the community would be better. You will notice on here that most have their city and state in their location. Once we get your location we might be able to connect you with some producers looking to hire. Some even hire full time, year round.

I live in Iowa, but I would be more than willing to relocate to a region where syrup production is more prevalent. The reason I referenced Green Mountain in my screen name is because I would love to go back to Vermont again.

[HondoLane]

Hello,

My name is Matt and I am new to the maple syrup scene. I am considering giving the art of maple sugaring a try! We just moved to NE Pennsylvania. A really good friend of mine is a novice at it and has got me hooked on the idea. Ive been studying along on this site and I hope that I can tap your knowledge and make this a fun adventure for our family.

[Winslow]

Hello,
new to the forum as a member, but been reading posts for a while. Lots of very good information and appreciate the opportunity to learn more.
Ed
Winslow,Me.