silver maples

[maplefarmer]

i am going to try sugaring this year, after only dabbling in making syrup on a kitchen stove, to trying 75-100 taps. what size of evap. would be recommended, and i also have some silver maple trees, is it ok to tap them and mix in the sap, or should that not be done.

[C.Wilcox]

maplefarmer-

The size of your evaporator will depend on several things, but mainly how many hours you want to boil sap. In my limited knowledge I would say you're beyond the capabilities of a 2X4 flat pan and should probably be looking at a 2X4 with a flue pan or a 2X6 (especially if you plan to expand). Keep in mind that you might get 2 gallons of sap a day from each tap and with 100 taps that's 200 gallons to boil. Unless you really like to tinker and update your equipment you should probably go bigger than you expect you need as it seems that everyone's tap counts are constantly increasing.

As for the silver maples, tap them all. Many, many people on this site tap silvers and any other type of maple they can find.

[SilverLeaf]

maplefarmer - all i've got are silvers. If I didn't tap them, I'd be sitting around twiddling my thumbs each spring. Go for 'em!

Only thing to watch is that they break bud earlier than sugar maples. Once the buds start to form, watch the sap real close and as soon as it goes buddy pull that tap or you'll make the whole batch bad. Your silvers will probably go buddy a week or two before the rest of your trees are done.

[KenWP]

Silver's make good syrup. I have 6 of them and they did well enough in a couple of days to produce a gallon of syrup by them selves. I have one that fills small buckets so fast I fianlly put a 5 gallon jug on it instead.

[brookledge]

maplefarmer
Like was said you need to decide how many hours aday you want to boil and then go from there. Plan on 1-2 gal of sap per day for a real good run and 1/2to 1 on the average.
here are some rough estimates for a few evaporator sizes. Keep in mind the size of the flues and the configuration of pan sizes will increase or decrease boiling capacity as will other things like hood with preheater etc.
Anyways
2X4= 15 gal/hr
2X6= 25
2X8= 35
3X8= 50
These #s were taken from the North American Maple syrup producers manual and are estimates
Keith

[Maple Hugger]

I've heard wonderful things about Silver Maples. ie. Supposedly they produce more and more year after year of tapping because of the way the bark heals.

Heck, We tapped a couple bass wood our first year. Never hurt anything. Didn't even figure out that they were bass wood until the leaves appeared. Ha! From what I understand the big difference between the saps of different trees is the proportion of sugar to water. Maples have the highest sugar content and therefore that is why they are the ones that are tapped. One of the veteran maple enthusiasts can correct me if I'm wrong.

The most important thing to keep out of good sap would be urine. Beware of hoodlum neighbor kids and yellow sap.

Happy sugaring!
Angela

[3rdgen.maple]

MapleHugger there is no other tree that will produce the flavor that a maple tree will. You can tap others but you will not get the same results. Check out some of the other post on tapping birch and such and most explain it as bitter tasting syrup. I have never heard anything about the way a silvers bark heals produces more sap. As the tree gets larger it has the potential to produce more sap because it holds more sap in it which is the same for all maples.

Maplefarmer tap those silvers. In my neck of the woods sugars are called Hard maple and the reds and silvers are called soft maple. Don't ask me why cause I don't like it either. As far as the size evaporator as Wilcox put it. Alot depends on the amount of time you have. And I agree 100 percent look a little into the future and decide if you are planning on expanding. If the evaporator is too big this year just hold sap till you get enough for a good boil. If you are serious about getting your feet wet with this addiction I would start with a 2x6 with a flue pan. 100 taps is a bit on the low side but if you jump up to 200 plus next year anything else will be to small. ANd if you decide you are over your head and want to downsize you will get your money back on that 2x6 if you made a good perchase. If No expanding then get a 2x4 with a flue pan. Of course money is a factor as well for most of us. How much are you willing to spend will determine your setup as well. Good luck and welcome to the madness cause it is just starting for you.

[Brent]

One other thing to consider is that a 2 x 4 flat pan rig will burn about the same amount of wood per hour that a 2 x 6 rig. I've used both. The difference is that all the extra surface area of the flues on a 2 x 6 will boil 30 or so gallons an hour while the 2 x 4 flat pan will be in the 6 - 8 GPH. If you've got 100 gallons to go through on a day with a good run ... you'll be up past midnight.

Check out the classifieds on this site. Members are constantly changing rig sizes and there are several 2 x 6 sets you could find attractive.

[40to1]

OK, here's a dumb question:

In describing pans (2x4, 2x6, etc.....) what does the gallon/hour rate describe?
Pan capacity and burn-off rate?
So a 2x4 at 15 gal/hr would take 15 gallons of sap down to (roughly) 1.5 quarts of syrup in 1 hour? ...(not that one would necessarily do that)

[Dave Y]

40to1,
the gallons per hour, is how much sap you can evaporate in one hour. How much syrup you get depends on the sugar content of the sap.