Introduce yourselves....

[Pete33Vt]

Welcome, you have come to the right place. There are alot of knowledgeable people on here and are willing to help out in anyway.If you are not sure on something just ask. You will find that you get more than one answer to your question. Then its a matter of using the answer that fits your needs.
Again welcome Pete

[forester1]

Welcome Bonnie. Nice to see a fellow Yooper on the board. I don't know of a used evaporator but I have a bunch of used tubing and 7/16" plastic spouts you can have if you ever get near Gwinn, which is 100 miles away from you. Good luck.

[Cardigan99]

Hi Bonnie, Welcome. It's a great site. You'll spend hours going through the posts. So much to learn.

Michigan is beautiful state. I use to spend my summers down in Tawas. I miss it often.

[Sugarmaker]

Bonnie,
Welcome. Wow 10 acres of sugar bush should allow you many options. How many hard maple taps do you think you could put in there? careful about the size rig you start with. The hobby's is very addicting and your could end up trading up several times. New rigs are not cheap!
Find some local sugar makers and visit them. Also selling your sap to them and helping them is a excellent way to learn the ropes. Getting the sap to a sugar house is over half of the battle!
I have just the opposite problem, sugar house on 4 acres and no maples! We rent all of ours.
Good luck,
Chris

[maplehound]

I agree chris,
Bonnie you won't be happy till you have every tap possible out of your woods. So plan to build and buy acordingly. I have a small sugar house ( wish it was bigger) on 1 acre of land and rent my taps. I still have about 200 taps that I haven't yet tapped and am near my capacity unless I spend 6,000 - 15,000 on an R.O.
Dream big.
Ron

[blackstrapking]

Hi everybody, My name is Jason King, I live in Henderson Ny which is south of Watertown and north of Syracuse, next to Lake Ontario. I have been boiling sap for several years on a very small scale. In the past couple years I have been getting more serious to a point where two years ago I boiled in a large bulk tank skin. Built a stainless pan last year. I've been scavenging bits and pieces for this year. I am currently building a sugar shack to keep the neighbors warmer this year! I stumbled across your folk's web site and have been enjoying it ever since. It has become part of my daily ritual.

I just can't figure out why this is all so addictive?

[maplehound]

Welcome blackstrapking,
This site is a daily ritual for most of us. And for some (like myself) it is checked several times a day. To the point of obsecion. At least my wife thinks so.
Ron

[HanginAround]

Welcome Blackstrap, always good to see new faces.

Feel free to jump in and post lots.

[Fred Henderson]

Welcome and even if my name is the same as you town I am not related. My mother was born in Clayton but she past a few ago. Henderson is some place that I always wanted to spend some time there but just never got around to it. I got a brother that will some be living at 3 Mile Bay when he retires at the end ot this month. He has spent all his free time for the last 4 years remodeling a summer home there into a year around home.

[Pete33Vt]

Welcome Blackstrapking, I take it from your name you make some good blackstrap syrup. Not alot of people like it, but I like to have a few gallons on hand for baking. As far as this addiction goes, there are alot of things that are really unhealthy for your to be addictied to. So it one you can enjoy and not get in (legal) trouble. (Wife) trouble is a whole other thing.
Again welcome aboard and feel free to jump in and post.


Pete[/quote]