# Maple Syrup



## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Someone was asking how us in the frozen north make maple syrup. Here is how I started today. I think I am a little early here so I just put in six taps today. Hopefully it will start flowing this week. I don't sell any. I just hope to get enough to make it worth my time and a pint of this makes a great gift. Pictures show:

Find trees. Gather tools. Drill a hole. Insert tap and collect sap. Boiling down will happen later.

Hopefully next weekend enough snow goes down so I can put out the rest. My goal this year is 50-60 taps. Hopefully break 5 gallons of syrup. Sap flows as temps go through freeze thaw freeze thaw cycle.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

How far does that hole penetrate the tree?


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Third pic shows last years hole a few inches away from new one.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

somedevildawg said:


> How far does that hole penetrate the tree?


I drill about two inches.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Probably plenty things I could improve upon. I read a few old books on the topic to learn. Like farming I learn as I go.


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

So, how much sap does it take to make like a gallon of actual syrup? Looks like the taps are plastic? They make syrup up in Highland County here and have a maple Festival in April I think.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Books say average 40-1. I seem to be about 30-1.


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## Dill (Nov 5, 2010)

Opps sorry guys, I said was going to start a thread on syrup. Got wiped out by the flu and the weather.

Most of the basics have been covered. Maple syrup is an interesting ag product. Its only produced in North America and most of that production is in Quebec which produces around 80% of the worlds crop. Than down into the northern US. The highly producing regions are New England down thru PA, than NY west to WI, I know some in northern IN as well.

The 2 main components needed are maple trees (I know of some guys in western Canada using Box Elder), and weather.

We need a freeze thaw cycle. During a freeze a maple pulls the sap down in the roots, and during a thaw it pushes the sap back to the crown.

So by putting a hole in the tree we are able to tap into that sap cycle. Most of my taps are also under vacuum, the sap inside in the tree is under pressure which causes it to come out the tap hole, by lowering the outside pressure even more I'm able to increase sap production dramatically, and be able to pull sap when the temps are not ideal.

So far this season has been too cold for decent production. I've collected 250 gallons of sap in 3 weeks, during the same time period I've usually produce 50-60 gallons of syrup.

These pics are from a friend of mine's web page. I haven't built a new sugar house on our new farm, so I've been boiling my sap at his place last year and this year.

This is the collection tank and vac releaser










And the releaser dumping into the tank










His old evaporator









So once the wood's tank fill up, we pump into tanks in the back of a pickup and haul to the sugarhouse. Then the sap is run through a Reverse Osmosis machine. ROs as they are called where originally developed to desalinate seawater. But some genius frenchman figured out if we ran them to keep sugar and discard water we could increase efficiency in maple. Maple sap comes into the sugar house between 1.5-4% sugar depending on the trees, the 40-1 rule of sap to syrup, is figured on 4% sugar. By forcing the sap through the RO which is a set of very fine filters, we can boil sap at 10-12% sugar, so we are only boiling 8 gallons of concentrate to 1 gallon of syrup. Which not only saves hours of boiling but hours of cutting wood as well.

Once we get sap concentrated then its fed through the evaporator, the one we're running is 3feet wide and 10 feet long. The back of the rig has bends or flues in it, which give us more surface area to heat the sap. Up and running we can make 5-8 gallons of syrup an hour depending on how well we keep up filling it with wood.

I'll try and grab more pics of tubing or anything else you have questions on. Its been an odd year, and hopefully the season lasts much longer than usual, cause some years we are almost done at this point and this year its hasn't really started.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Quite the nice setup. I will post pics of my evaporator when it comes time to boil. Mine is much simpler. Just a steel pan and a makeshift firebox. Sure is nice looking setup. With the commercial unit are you drawing syrup right there or do you have to finish inside like me?


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## Dill (Nov 5, 2010)

Nope live draw based on temp, run through the filter press into kegs, and adjusted for final density when we bottle it.

Its amazing but NH maple weekend is in 2 weeks. Last year we sold 320 gallons in one weekend. Hopefully we can make enough, and I'll get more pics then.


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

I've never had real Maple syrup. I need to try some someday.


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## Bgriffin856 (Nov 13, 2013)

The fake store bought stuff doesn't even compare to it. Nice setups wish i had more time i would play around with making syrup some. We get ours from a neighbor he has a gravity and tubing setup makes quite a bit a year. I think its gonna be a good spring for it


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## cornshucker (Aug 22, 2011)

Grateful I had never had what you call pure maple until a friend brought some back from upstate NY. He picked it up off of the farm pretty much straight from the Vat. A little taste of heaven, store bought can't compare.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Grateful11 said:


> I've never had real Maple syrup. I need to try some someday.


We buy ours from a Amishman I sell hay to once in awhile. Store bought can't compare to the real stuff.


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

Gonna have to try and get some of the real stuff someday.


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## Dill (Nov 5, 2010)

Usually I'd pick on you about never trying the maple syrup (I'm not going to give table syrup the pass and call it fake), but I'm surprised every time we do an open sugarhouse how many people who have lived in the northeast their entire life and never tried maple.

On the other hand you have people like my parents who have a 2 qt a month habit for just the 2 of them. Pancakes, biscuits, waffles, cornbread, oatmeal, maple milk, it goes in everything. And if you ever find yourself in VT go to Mcdonalds and order a maple oatmeal, make sure to tell them to put maple syrup in it, they lost a lawsuit to the state maple assoc and have to provide actual maple for no extra charge.


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## hickey farms (Mar 8, 2014)

That's a nice little set up deadmoose. We should finish drilling holes friday. There has been a lot of snow which makes it hard to get around. What's the bulk prices been where your at? Ours are down rite now because if the abundance of syrup last year. All mine is contracted out in a year advance. Sell a little out of the house but most of the barrels go to Chicago to make granola bars.we made 6800 gallons last year on 18000+ taps


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

No clue on bulk price. I just make enough for me and some family and friends.

18000. That's a lot of taps! How much ground does that cover?


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## hickey farms (Mar 8, 2014)

Well over 150 acres I think there's 22 woods I run mostly vacuum pumps hang 1400 buckets. I have a 4000 gph to and a 6' x20' evaporator. We use natural gas because Iccan't or the crew can't cut enough wood for it. Make roughly 60 of syrup an hour.


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## Dill (Nov 5, 2010)

Wow, how big a crew do you have for 1400 buckets? Let alone all those miles of tubing?


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## hickey farms (Mar 8, 2014)

1 full timer and 5 part timers and 4 high school kids we use two tractors and 4 tanks for the woods on buckets and a 8000 tanker truck to haul the rest. From tgevwoids to the shanty.


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

Wow 1400 buckets! I'm good with 130. Ofcourse I'm by myself. I'm running a little over 300 total right now with a planned 600 tap expansion this fall,Lord willing. Have a wedding to go to in VT in October. Plan to swing by Rutland and bring home a new 3x10. I'm thinking Revolution Max flue.


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## hickey farms (Mar 8, 2014)

Max flue is defintently the way to go I just have drop flues.


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

I have a 2x6 raised flue set of Grimms. They are pretty old but still boil a lot of sap. Now just waiting on the weather.


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

Took down the backyard tree today. She was pretty big. I was raised under that tree. That was the safe zone for us kids while my Dad and older brothers were running silage and high moisture. Lol my little brother encountered a puff adder under there and was so traumatized he couldn't speak for three weeks! Well, she started dying out in the top and rot got almost half the base sooo... time to go. Called up my cousin who takes down trees in tight spaces for a living and dropped her in a pile smaller than the crown. Amazing. I'll post pictures of it when I can. I didn't take any myself as I was manning the ropes. Almost 14' around the stump. Sap was just flowing like crazy off that stump.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

hillside hay said:


> Lol my little brother encountered a puff adder under there and was so traumatized he couldn't speak for three weeks!


I don't blame him....

What was a african viper doing under your tree in NY?

Regards, Mike


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

I had to look a puff adder, never heard of one before.


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

oops sorry Spotted adder! Big difference! Harmless little thing. Thanks for the correction


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Weather finally seems to be cooperating here. I put out the rest of my taps today. I think about 63 total. Most new holes today were drip...drip..drip!

Kind of hard to see but here is probably 20 minutes of flow after tapping.


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## Dill (Nov 5, 2010)

We are still dealing with being froze up and getting 1-2 runs a week.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

OI collected my first sap today. I got about 35 gallons I am hoping for maybe a gallon and a half of syrup tomorrow boiling it. It was still cold enough this morning I was able to remove a lot of ice. Less water to boil off for me. Sap was a-flowing today.


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

So far have made about 9 gallons. Trees have been running good when the weather is right but that ain't often this year. I decided to not tap everything this year. Save a hole I suppose. I have about 90 taps out all buckets.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Here is my project for today: boiling sap. I collected another 20 gallons today so I am in the process of boiling down about 55 gallons. Pics are of my makeshift equipment. To those of you with real evaporators- how quick is it to boil down? I will pull off of here and finish indlside.


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## Dill (Nov 5, 2010)

Smaller wood would help a lot. You want hot quick, the exact opposite of wood stove. Grab some pine, split it down to wrist size and keep tossing it in.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

How do you know when to stop taking sap from the tree....or does it stop giving on its own? Can you take too much sap from the tree?

Do you plug the spout hole when finished?....with wood?

Regards, Mike


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Boil it down most of the way over wood. Then move it inside. Here is 55 gallons of sap. A lot of it was removed as ice as well before boiling so it may be closer to 80 as it ran into the bucket. My least favorite part with my makeshift setup is removing from the wood heat. Thankfully no spill today. I have about four gallons in the turkey fryer cooling in the snowbank. Over the next couple days I will turn that into syrup on the stove top after work.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Vol said:


> How do you know when to stop taking sap from the tree....or does it stop giving on its own? Can you take too much sap from the tree?
> 
> Do you plug the spout hole when finished?....with wood?
> 
> Regards, Mike


It stops flowing after the weather warms up and quits freezing. Pull the tap and tree heals itself. That's what I do. This is about my fourth season I think. My parents did it when I was too young to help. They quit not long after my dad built this pan. I sandblasted it after many years of sitting in the barn. I vaguely remember their method. Hand drill, PVC pipe with a notch on it to hold the bucket. The first time I tapped at my mom's I found one of the old PVC taps grown into one of the trees.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Mike- look at the third pic in first post. The upper left is last years hole. About 2" down and right is this years.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I have 4 sugar maples around my house....2 of them are very large and 2 are medium(average size). Could I tap them next spring and get enough to make a pint or two? We never freeze up very long....maybe 2-4 days at most usually. But most of the time in Jan. and Feb. the temps rise above freezing during the day.

Regards, Mike


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Good question! One way to find out for sure.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Freeze thaw is what drives the sap runs. A 7/16" drill bit and a few taps and buckets would tell you.


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## Bgriffin856 (Nov 13, 2013)

I don't think maple guys here have had it good. Went from froze up to above freezing for a week yesterday it froze as well as this morning. Not supposed to get below freezing this week either


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## Dill (Nov 5, 2010)

You might be able to get some sap after the freeze. But a week long freeze/dormant period might be too short.

I'm hoping we get a hard freeze tomorrow, we haven't in 4 days. Its an odd year, we still have frost in the ground and snow in the woods. Normally its all done by now. If we do get the freeze we might be able to keep chugging along another week.


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

Sap came on strong the last week or so. I have less than 25% of my taps out this year but I've still been pulling some long hours in the sugar house. I definitely have made enough for my family and a landlord that takes rent in syrup!


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

Off to thewoods to expand some old runs and two new sugar bushes! I informed my wife she would be pulling some boiler duty. She's a little nervous about that but there is no one I'd trust more to keep up with all the quirks of that old evaporator.


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

Thanks for all the memories. Miss the good old days when we made it, now I just help friends and family when I can. Remember going down after school and boiling til after dark. Would drink a soup ladle of syrup about every half hour, Straight out of the front pan, just enough time to let it cool. Boy did it make you thirsty after awhile, after the water ran out you would drink sap. That there is a natural sugar high. We ran about 2500 taps. 1500-2000 were buckets. Boiled on a 5 x 14 evaporator.


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