Gather Maple Tree Sap today

[560Dennis]

Should be a real good day to gather sap . Bags look full fro a distance .

 

[DanielW]

Hope the boiling's going well for you. How's it been running? Would love to see some picture of your setup.

It's been a pretty small-scale year for me. I don't have time to run a full-sized operation this year, so I only tapped about 50 trees on buckets along the edge of our bush - just for giggles. Because 50 taps won't yield nearly enough sap to run either of our larger evaporator, I bought a cheapo 2X4 flat pan and made a 2X6 natural gas arch to boil on (with a 2X2 cap up front and a removable trivet where I can drop a stock-pot on as a poor-man's finishing pan). That lets me collect in the truck on the way home from work and boil at the house in-town in the garage, rather than in the sugar-house in the bush on the farm.

It's kind of sad to have scaled back so much, and I feel a little amateur finishing such small batches, but at least I'm still into it in some way. And I confess it pretty convenient to be boiling right next to the power and water amenities of the house. If/when I get back into it in a larger way I figure I can convert this to propane and use this 2X4 pan as a finishing pan.

Picture links below are of this year. Video link is of my grandfather doing it:

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[560Dennis]

Hope the boiling's going well for you. How's it been running? Would love to see some picture of your setup.

It's been a pretty small-scale year for me. I don't have time to run a full-sized operation this year, so I only tapped about 50 trees on buckets along the edge of our bush - just for giggles. Because 50 taps won't yield nearly enough sap to run either of our larger evaporator, I bought a cheapo 2X4 flat pan and made a 2X6 natural gas arch to boil on (with a 2X2 cap up front and a removable trivet where I can drop a stock-pot on as a poor-man's finishing pan). That lets me collect in the truck on the way home from work and boil at the house in-town in the garage, rather than in the sugar-house in the bush on the farm.

It's kind of sad to have scaled back so much, and I feel a little amateur finishing such small batches, but at least I'm still into it in some way. And I confess it pretty convenient to be boiling right next to the power and water amenities of the house. If/when I get back into it in a larger way I figure I can convert this to propane and use this 2X4 pan as a finishing pan.

Picture links below are of this year. Video link is of my grandfather doing it:

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Blue bags on the trees ,collecting going into plastic containers.
Question , buds are coming out ,here ,when do you pull the taps ?

 

[560Dennis]

Excellent video ,

 

[560Dennis]

when I do it I only have 9 taps. I use a Turkey fryer to boil it down, finishing with half a pint, per batch. Can’t use much with small batch, nothing for measuring.,I watch the finish low heat boil ,looking at the bubbles , after first boil up ( 2 inches ) the fryer pan I stop and filter.
Small batches are very time consuming ,you have to be right on top of the finishing or you will waste a lot of time and propane.
I have made any myself since 2022 ,

 

[DanielW]

The small-scale production is the way to go if you're not trying to make a profit and just doing it for enjoyment. I have almost as much fun this year doing 50 taps as I did when we were doing 1500. And I'd probably have as much fun doing 15 taps as I would doing 50, and with minimal equipment cost and more time to spare.

When I pull my taps is usually dictated by work or other factors, not so much the buds or flavours. We used to boil right until it stopped running - when you could collect in a t-shirt and break a sweat around the evapourator. The syrup had a buddy flavor by then, but a large maple supplier would ship out stainless 30 gallon drums that we'd fill with the poorer-tasting syrup and they'd buy at discounted prices (to sell for food flavoring, etc). The last few year when I've had 300 or fewer taps, I just pull them when I get sick of it and want to move to other farm work. Some of the best runs, however, have been after it warms up and you think you're done for the year. A cold snap then comes along and the trees go back into dormancy mode, pouring out loads of crystal-clear sap that's a s good as a first run of the year.

 

[Non-farmer]

I'd love to try syrup, but sadly, almost all my maples (silver, not sugar, but I hear they work nearly as well) are on the flood plain, and I wouldn't want to do it with any that I've planted around the perimeter of my lawn. The flood plain is just too unpredictable. You could hang a bucket and then the next thing you know, you'd have to take a kayak to get back to it. I don't own a kayak.

 

[560Dennis]

I'd love to try syrup, but sadly, almost all my maples (silver, not sugar, but I hear they work nearly as well) are on the flood plain, and I wouldn't want to do it with any that I've planted around the perimeter of my lawn. The flood plain is just too unpredictable. You could hang a bucket and then the next thing you know, you'd have to take a kayak to get back to it. I don't own a kayak.

You can good syrup from any (silver) maple or box elder. Just take longer because of the sugar content . So ,there’s your dinner , give it a try in a pot and boil it down , carefully ,don’t burn the pan or the house.
I made it from silver maple + sugar maple ( what i had) . Even , competed with it in the maple festival. Judge s caught it just about every time , said it was budding ,which means the buds were coming out , once buds come out pull the taps if you’re a expert , if not and you like the taste ,put it on your pancakes or candy and enjoy . What I say.

 

[560Dennis]

Neighbor pulled his taps ,cleaning up tanks , must be done for 2025.