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O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP!

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phil lowe

03-04-2007 10:18:48




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Hi guy's temperature in the Maritimes is looking good for the sap(Maple) to start running ,I've got a few suger ,and more red maples around my place ,want ot show my boy the fine art of making maple syrup..
I've got about 15 spouts and 10 or so buckets I picked up last fall,,So bring on the knowledge.
I have no idea what I'm doing ,,,(What's New!!!)
I've tapped a couple trees already and yup saps running around the spout ,,found out I' tapped to hard into the tree ..OOPS!!
Can you plug a tap and start new ?
Any pic's of homemade eveaporators would be great ,,gotta make some lids for my buckets ,etc,etc,
,I've got a big ol lobster pot bout 18"t diameter by 18 " high ,but read somewhere you need a flat shallow pan ,,,all suggestions, links,pictures gladlt accepted

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two mile

03-05-2007 05:56:22




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to phil lowe, 03-04-2007 10:18:48  
When I was a kid we did syrup for years. Several variations of backyard setups. Ended up building an evaporator with a stainless pan. It's a lot of boiling, but it's worth the effort. You'll need to figure out how much you can get done each day. If you end up keeping sap for several days it'll get cloudy and won't be fit anymore. A little syrup on vanilla ice cream is one of lifes' finer pleasures.

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John N Mi

03-04-2007 14:13:53




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to phil lowe, 03-04-2007 10:18:48  
third party image
A recycled Pepsi bag collecting sap.
John



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John N Mi

03-04-2007 14:09:25




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to phil lowe, 03-04-2007 10:18:48  
a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank">third party image
The pan is 36 inches by 74 inches by 8 inches.
John



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RGP

03-04-2007 14:07:10




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to phil lowe, 03-04-2007 10:18:48  
John Demaris: Which one of your dozers is the best to go gather the sap with... the Cletrac, Allis or Johns? Just curious?? I like your little HG with the Ford Tranny setup... Hope all is well with you.



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John N Mi

03-04-2007 13:56:30




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to phil lowe, 03-04-2007 10:18:48  


[insert your message here]
This is what I use to collect from 250 taps.
John

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John N Mi

03-04-2007 14:01:15




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to John N Mi, 03-04-2007 13:56:30  
a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank">third party image
A picture of what I use to collect sap from 250 taps.
John



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Brad W Wi

03-04-2007 12:24:33




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to phil lowe, 03-04-2007 10:18:48  
Try www.mapletrader.com it's full of help



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mike a. tenn.

03-04-2007 10:57:03




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to phil lowe, 03-04-2007 10:18:48  
hey!! i can help..... .you eat it. who's gonna make the flapjacks? Mmmmmm mmmmm m!

-mike



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bannered in boston

03-04-2007 12:14:36




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to mike a. tenn., 03-04-2007 10:57:03  
I met a man who lives in Tennesee and he was heading for Pennsylvania and some free pumpkin pie.



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jdemaris

03-04-2007 10:53:25




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to phil lowe, 03-04-2007 10:18:48  
Yeah, you can plug it - or just let it plug on its own. When you tap this early, most of them will heal up with bacteria and plug before the season is over anyway - if we get the usual, ofs and on, warm spells. I had to tap twice last year. In the old days, you stuck a formaldehyde pill in the hole - but that's not legal anymore.
I never like it anyway - but I worked in a Canadian sugarbush where it was standard procedure. The longer you boil, the darker the syrup will be. I kind of like it dark, but many don't. But, subsequently a deep pot or pan that takes a lot of boiing will make a darker syrup. In regard to sugar-content. Even though the Red Maple usually has a much lower sugar content than Hard Maple or Black Maple, I've had years - and also certain trees in certain parts of the woods - where the Reds ran almost as high as the Sugar Maples. Last year I sold only sap - i.e. I did not boil here. So, anything I sold was judged and paid for by exact sugar percentage. I has a lot to do with sunlight, tree-top size, snow-melt, etc. Last year I trucked eleven loads of sap - each around 1200 gallons. First load - Feb 24 - was 2.6% sugar. At that time, I tested some Red Maple sap and some was 2.2% which is pretty high. After my last - 11 th load -at end of season March 21 - sugar was down to 1.9%. If you've got a small "hobby" setup, you'll probably make out much better if you can tap some trees that are out in the open with big tops. They usually have higher-sugar than deep-woods trees and it's a maintained sapbush. Last year - I found some roadside that tested at 3.1% - when many of the deep-woods trees were only 2%. The more sugar, the less water you have to boil off.

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phil lowe

03-04-2007 11:02:27




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to jdemaris, 03-04-2007 10:53:25  
Hmm ,wonder where and how much a suger tester is ,,probalby not worth getting for my little project ,,
this is very back yard stuff ,maybe 12, 15 trees ,may hit up my neigbors trees as well ,,but so funny one tree that is 40 foot from the others and little darker ,ie: not getting the sun as much is not running at all.
thanks again for any words of wisdom ,,



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jdemaris

03-04-2007 11:10:13




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to phil lowe, 03-04-2007 11:02:27  
The tester is cheap - but I can't see buying it - unless you really want to know. All it is - is a sugar hydrometer works kind of like a battery electrolyte tester. Just stick it in the sap, and it will float to a certain level are give you a reading. New one is probably $20. The Red Maple syrup is almost as good as from the Hard Maple - but will be darker because you have to boil it longer - since it will usually have more water in it. And, it tends to be a little gritty - a sort of fine sand in it.

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phil lowe

03-04-2007 12:44:50




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to jdemaris, 03-04-2007 11:10:13  
I've used hydrometers before when I used to work in a petroeum lab,,but I think the Visc. is little different .I may pick up some gear ,,like I said it's all bout the fun and I think it would be cool to know what the trees are doing,as for the dark syrup ,,sounds good to me I like the dark stuff just fine..But I also eat the lobster BODIES.
"you know your a redneck when !!!"



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jdemaris

03-04-2007 13:46:44




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to phil lowe, 03-04-2007 12:44:50  
I just checked my catalog and the "hydrometer" style sap-sugar checkers are only $9. There are, of course - more expensive contraptions for checking sap and/or syrup. When making syrup for resale - we use a light refractometer to tell us when boiling is done and it's "syrup." The refractometers work great, but cost close to $100. When I worked in a Vermont sap-woods mid 70s - many Vermont people I met were real picky about syrup quality (I was an interloper from New York). The guy I worked for would only drum-up the fanciest Grade A clear for sale to his normal supplier, and all the B syrup, and darker - went to a hippy-style organic health food store. Personally, I like cheaper-darker stuff better. Much stronger maple flavor. But, what do I know? I'm from New York, not Vermont.

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D17 man

03-04-2007 10:31:53




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to phil lowe, 03-04-2007 10:18:48  
i put out about 56 buckets yesterday, gonna run some tubing today. where are you located? i might just have a few old evaporator pans that i need to get rid of. yes, the lobster pot will work but will probably take a while longer and i wouldnt cook it on your kitchen stove as all the steam makes the wall paper peel off. when i first started 5 years ago i had a big pot like you and cooked it on a propane burner in the garage. a couple tips would be:
the south side of the tree produces the most sap because it gets the most sunlight.
when the syrup reaches 219 degrees farenheight, it is done.
try not to pound the taps in too far as the hole will crack causing sap to leak. i would look for information on google. thats what i did and then kept learning and getting advice from the other sugarers here.
fors supplys try bascommaple.com

let me know how your operation turns out

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`Bernie in MA

03-04-2007 16:01:02




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to D17 man, 03-04-2007 10:31:53  
The drawoff temp is 7* above the boiling point. However, the boiling point changes with differences in atmospheric pressure so you should always check the boiling point of sap (water) in order to draw off at the right temp. It changes with the elevation too. The higher you are the lower the boiling point. HTH



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Tom in Central Pa

03-04-2007 15:21:01




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to D17 man, 03-04-2007 10:31:53  
There is a main highway in our area, along side it is a lot of tubing runs. A driver asked on the CB about the tubing, so I told him about the maple sap collecting. His reply? That"s really neat, just put your pancakes under the end of the tube, and you are ready to eat!



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phil lowe

03-04-2007 10:42:52




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to D17 man, 03-04-2007 10:31:53  
where you located d17?
I did go in too far on a couple ,,,but soon learned ,,anyone know best way to fix that?or is that tap screwed for the year.Also ,most my trees a reds ,guess they make bunch more water,but will the maple eventually be same ??
this is my first attempt..Been wanting to do it for years .I've got a tarped shed ,was gonna gear up the propane burner with my lobster pot,but also lookingat building a pit with bricks and do it with wood...
Wife says I'm just looking for other things to keep me from cleaning the garage !!
She's probalby right ,but it's pretty fun so far ,,I keep going out to check the buckets ..got about 2 gallons in 2 days ...on 7 trees ,gotta find more buckets ,,may try and find some tubing and see how that works

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D17 man

03-04-2007 11:01:32




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to phil lowe, 03-04-2007 10:42:52  
im in western MA, i have 2 pans that are 2x3 ft and i just build a firepit out of cinder blocks under it. i outgrew that setup so i got 2 good pans just sitting in the attic. one is and ole soldered one and the other is homemade but its tig welded stainless steel.



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jdemaris

03-04-2007 10:56:27




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to phil lowe, 03-04-2007 10:42:52  
What size taps are you using? All of mine are the old standard 7/16" - both the metal bucket-hangers and also the plastic pipeline taps. But I know a lot of people are changing over to 1/4" to do less tree damage. If you've got the newer smaller taps, and want to repair, just use the older and larger tap instead.



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phil lowe

03-04-2007 11:10:29




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to jdemaris, 03-04-2007 10:56:27  
mine are 7/16th as well,,most of my trees are borderline ,8/10 inchers ,,couple 15, 20 inchers ,only 1 tap per tree ,using couple real buckets and some 1 gallon plastic for now .hope I can pick up some tubing to run few trees that are side,by side together.
I guess I'll get the sap running and collecting than figure out the boiling thing ,,,Having fun though ,,gotta go check the buckets again!!nice n sunny here today.

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jdedmaris

03-04-2007 11:23:49




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 Re: O.T. SAPS A RUNNING,NEED HELP! in reply to phil lowe, 03-04-2007 11:10:29  
It's a lot more fun doing it the way you are - then on a large scale. All my first four kids are grown and gone with kids of their own - but now I've got new one 3 1/2 years old. Pretty soon, maybe next year with him a a few of my grandchildren (same age as my kid) I want to boil on a small rig - wood fire only, no osmosis, - just wood smoke, buckets, and a long boil. Maybe it's all in my head, but I think the wood-smoke helps flavor the syrup. Most of the commercial rigs now are all oil fired and all sap sterilized with ultra-violet and then run through a revserse-osmosis machine. That all kind of takes the fun out of it.

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