Maple Tapping!

Guess must be getting close to time think about tapping maple trees. Local news had a guy on was working on his lines running threw woods.
Not sure if Im going to play with my little set up. I still have couple gallons syrup in reserve from 2019. Which was good year for me. It is funny thought.. I noticed the tree in my yard dripping back when had couple nice days. Right before this deep freeze spell.
Any one got started on their pre-tapping work.

Mac

no, but i got 4 silver maples in our yard. Any idea what or how much I might get out of those? never tried tapping, i could give it a try if it was somewhat worth it.

Sugar house, wood, and other equipment ready. Will put out approximately 200 buckets and buy sap from a neighbor. Historically we don’t tap until the end of Feb, first week of March.

Every tree is different, and they even vary year to year in my experience. I've had very large trees only give a gallon or so a day and medium trees over 5 gallons per day. Then the next year, the tree that gave so much barely puts out anything. Just have to try it and see. The temperatures affect it too.

Not yet.

This is the time to collect scions for grafting my fruit trees, and cottonwood buds for medicine.

The syrup stuff, is on a much lower priority, as I still have huge stashes from years past.

In other words: I love to make it; But, not so much on consuming it.

The tornado put me out of the business. I may have found more trees though.

The fellow that taps on our property started running tubing two weekends ago.

I was until my sugar shack burnt down a couple weeks ago. Just prior to the fire a windstorm dropped a large cherry tree on it…as it was a pretty beefy structure it “survived” the tree with minor damage to the mortar between my logs. I had a fire in the stove and didn’t realize that the stove piping outside had separated…a spark must have dropped on my plastic sap storage drums and caught fire. I lost about 75 metal sap buckets/lids, 50 food-grade 5-gallon buckets/lids, seven food-grade 55-gallon sap drums, my tools, etc. My pan and warming pans were in my garage. I’m trying to muster up the initiative to start replacing my losses. I look forward to this season every year…a family effort.

sorry your shack burned

very interesting to see the cord wood construction and how it burned

I have some cousins that do syrup , they lost all their buckets in a barn roof collapse about 5 years ago , don't recall the year but it was the same time the hotel roofs in Green bay were caving in over the swimming pools I looked it up April 2018.

they have gone to a lot more bags now and vacuum lines to a tank in a few places.

The cordwood walls would not have burned if the tree didn’t fall on it and cause gaps between the mortar and logs…that let oxygen in and that was all she wrote. The fire burned for about 5 days and kept burning through 18 inches of snow we got.

Sorry for your loss there , i hope you are able to rebuild in time.

We are planning to get buckets, tubs and barrels out the last 10 days of February or so and start tapping the last days of Feb or first week of March, depending upon weather. Just got our rats sold and too early to worry about sap yet for me.

Bryce

I’m fixing to make a little. Made about 5 gallons last year. We have an abundance of sugar maples. So much so that the next road over is named “sugarbush road.”

Wow dinorocks..
I could see how loosing your shack and gear take wind out of your sail.

I don't run only about 25-30 taps on my small trees. Is something I started doing after retired. Just because always wanted to but didn't want to add to my long list of hobbies while still working. I've been pretty much one man operation but have had freinds tag along help tap or dump a bucket. For me its more just tending the wood fired cookers and piddling around. Other than cutting wood or carrying few buckets. It more what I think of as busy work the way I do it. Can for sure see it being way more physical labor if ran the way bblwi or many others do.
Maybe this year you should just scale back and stay in the fight. Enjoy what you can do and not make full blown job of it. Regroup nail it next season.

Mac