OT - Maple Syrup Advice - Adirondack Case Guy?

FarmallCT

Member
Hi ACG, All


I hope this isn't too off topic, though having seen many threads on maple syrup in the past I am assuming it is allowable.

I am looking into getting into maple syrup production and am looking for some advice. I know ACG is the local expert on this topic and I think I have seen some others in the New England area posting about their operations on here. I will most likely be using the F series Farmalls for sap collection, to keep this at least somewhat relevant to tractors.

As a brief overview, I am familiar with the maple syrup making process. I have been making maple syrup for the past 6ish years at home on the stove with 1 tree and 3 taps, usually getting about 1 gallon a year. I was unable to do much more previously due our small farm having only about 5 acres which was mostly open field meaning not many trees. As a result of a recent move, we have now acquired about 70 acres of land, with about 55-60 acres of woods and 10-15 acres of field in northwest CT. I currently have been budgeting to purchase equipment to try to get setup for this spring. Including 5/16 tubing, taps, tanks, a new evaporator, firebrick, and a gravity filter I am looking at about $2,000-2,500 to purchase all the equipment I need to make syrup this spring. All equipment would be purchased new as most for sale locally is either much too big or asking almost new price for well worn equipment.



I have several main areas/questions I am looking to get information on.

1. Tree identification: I am familiar with tree identification techniques, and am fairly good when it comes to going by the leaves/leaf appearance/stems. This is fine for the trees around the field where leaves can easily be seen, and I have identified about 40 sugar maples so far this way. The problem I am having is that the majority of the property is woods which really only allows the bark on the trees to identify with. Any tips on this? I have been having a hard time identifying only based on the bark due to how variant sugar maple bark can be. I know many people are able to identify them in the winter with ease, so any tips would be appreciated.

2. Which trees to use: I know sugar maples are the clear first choice to use, though I have heard that many also have red maples, black maples, and silver maples as a part of their sugar bush. What are the thoughts on this? Is having red maples in the mix common? We seem to have a mix of both sugar maples and red maples. The only downsides I have heard about red maples is that they have lower sugar content so more sap is needed as well as that they bud about a month earlier than sugar maples. If using a tube system, does this mean sap collection has to stop sooner to prevent buddy tasting syrup from the red maple sap?

3. Equipment/size of equipment needed: Due to not being sure of how many sugar maple/other maple trees present, I am unsure of where to start as far as tank capacity and evaporator capacity go. I am hoping to start out with about 30-50 trees this spring if I can get everything together in time. With this said, I know I do not need anything too big, but also want to allow room to expand in the coming years. The 30-50 sugar maples I have identified so far are all from around the field, and in one area I got maybe 20 feet into the woods. The rest of the woods I have not been through yet and have no idea what I have to work with in the future, though from a quick walk a little further in I have been finding small sugar maples, and believe the tall trees are as well but cannot confirm. Evaporator prices seem to be between $1200-1600 for a decent sized, small evaporator with 1 pan and a preheater pan which should allow some degree of self feeding. I think dimensions are 2' x 3' or 2' x 4' for this price range, and estimates are that they boil 8-10 sap per hour. How much sap can I expect per tap/per season so I can get a better estimate on evaporator size? With 30-50 trees, or 50-70 taps, what size evaporator would be suggested?

4. Taps or tubes? The land has a slope to it in most places, though it is level, or at least gentle enough that a tractor can be driven mostly everywhere. As nice as buckets look they are more expensive so tubing would be my first choice, though with just starting out I am trying to keep expenses to a minimum and do not want to have to get a vacuum pump.

5. Useable materials for syrup handling: From what I have read, only stainless steel should be used for boiling pans, as aluminum or steel provides an off taste. I saw that no lead solder should be used, though some older setups I've seen for sale mention that they contain lead. Is this accurate? Also, what can be used for sap storage and transport? In many places I see food grade tanks only should be used. I found one of ACG's older posts on the subject and I believe it was mentioned old oil tanks were being used for the sap collection trailers. How would one properly clean this or other types of tanks for sap if used?

6. Rules and regulations: My final question is what are common rules and inspections? It might be a bit different in other states than here in CT, but how complicated is it to be able to sell syrup? Not sure yet how many gallons of syrup I would be getting from 30-50 trees, though I estimate at least 10 or so depending on how many I actually tap. I know I won't make any profit the first year, but I would like to know I will at least make a little to help pay for the equipment, and I would like to make sure I am doing so legally since it will be more syrup than just friends and family will be able to use.

Thank you for any replies and for helping on this off topic post. I have read as many of ACG's maple syrup posts as I could find and have seen the wealth of information that ACG and many other members hold on not only tractor topics, but on side topics such as this. I would post on MapleTrader, not sure if any of you guys use that forum as well, though am still waiting for account approval. Email should be open if anyone would rather email or have me email them.



Thanks again for any and all help in advance,

~FarmallCT
 
To start with our family operation has evolved considerably throughout it's 100 years of operation. Equipment acceptable say 20 years ago is no longer allowed. An example would be buckets, especially galvanized. Recent sanitation concerns by health enforcers have banned the use of non-sealed buckets/collection devices hung from trees. As of last 2 years operators are required to use tubing plumbed direct to the storage system in the sap house, or to food grade totes in the woods where the sap can be transferred to a suitable transport tank. The gathering tanks that you saw in my posts were built 40 years back, and may not be acceptable today. Look into poly tanks that are designed to fit into PU truck for hauling water and adapt it to a trailer that you can tow behind your tractor if you ave to venture into the woods to bring the sap to the sap house. Also any equipment made from tin, galvanized metal etc. has been banned because of heavy metals, not taste issues. The county health board does not have guidelines for small producers (cottage industries) and they don't come out to inspect those operations, but licencing and inspections may well be in the future. Same applies to small cider mills, small fruit and vegetable producers, and small home canned goods producers.
With all the notoriety today about food safety, expect to endure much stricter enforcement of all forms of home grown foods that are for sale to the public at farmers markets and roadside stands. You may NOT be able to profitably produce syrup small scale, to sell to the general public in the future.
As for identifying maple trees, all I can tell you is you need years of experience, or get an older neighbor to teach you what all species in your area look like with no leaves.
As far as production per tap, our rule of thump was a Qt. of syrup per tap per season.
When tapping trees place the taps on the south side of the trees where the sun shines on them, and look at the limbs above the tap to be sure they are healthy. Trees over 20" in diameter you can put a 2nd tap into. Don't tap anything less than 14" South facing slops tend to produce more early season sweeter sap and lighter syrup, and north facing slopes produce later in the season and usually darker more robustly flavored syrup.
I have a question for you. What are you going to use to fuel your evaporator?? Nothing like wood to enhance the flavor of maple syrup.
I hope I have answered your questions. I hope you enjoy your endeavor and good luck with it.
Loren
PS pic of sugar maple bark.

cvphoto38079.jpg
 
There are some sugaring groups similar to this site , Google for suggestions . If you have a Facebook page there is also some groups there . Both are a great source of info . I'm a dabbler, make a few gallons for fun .
 
Hi Loren,

Thank you for the reply. I can certainly imagine how much things have changed in the past 100 years. Do the regulations you mentioned above only apply to large scale commercial operations that you are still able to use buckets and galvanized metal? If so, is this exemption what allows you to still sell your syrup to the public? I know CT passed some new regulations, last year I believe it was, so will have to review these further. If I read them correctly, to sell to the public I will need to apply for an exemption and/or license, as there are two methods/ways to do it.

I certainly plan on looking into/using the plastic poly tanks as you mentioned. I will also be using wood to fuel the evaporator as you mentioned. There is plenty of it around in the form of fallen trees and those that need to come down, so I might as well use it. For tree ID I have been starting to reach out to local maple producers for help with ID, regulations, and to try to find cheaper used equipment.

Thank you for answering my questions. The only other question I have is regarding if I should also tap red maples/other maples or not? Thank you for the quick reply and for sifting through my long paragraph of questions. Your advice regarding tree size and tap placement is also greatly appreciated. I have enjoyed what I have done so far making syrup so I hope to continue to do so.

Thanks again,

~FarmallCT
 
I have a question on the tubing used. Will it flow on it's own to a tank, or does it need some sort of a persuader like a pump?
I would like to use some tubing if it would flow to save on the gathering process during the season. I was going to let it run to a tank for a section of the woods then just either pump it over to the holding tank or switch tanks daily on it. This is a personal use set up so no government intrusion to it.
 
to bad you not my territory have friend tdoes it on my trees and around me and he likes to teach others, always have maple syrup and honey left at my door when each season arrives, he does bees also, I have 4 big hive on one of my farms
 
This depends largely on the angles involved and how involved you would like to get. Gravity fed tubing requires a slope to use gravity to pull the sap downhill through the lines into the tank. I am not sure what is considered sufficient slope wise, but I am sure someone can answer more specifically. The other option is tubing with a vacuum pump to create suction to pull sap through the lines. This can be used on ground not quite flat enough for sap flow from gravity, or on slopes as it can help increase productivity as well as to help improve the sap flow to the tank. I am not sure if this can be used on completely flat ground though someone else may be able to answer that.

How many trees are you looking to do? If small scale with only a few trees and a tank for every 2-3 trees, it should be fine as just gravity fed tubing even if it is on relatively flat ground. You will just need to make sure there are no uphill sections of tubing between the tree and the tanks.

Hope this helps.

~FarmallCT
 
I am by no means an expert on the topic but I do manage to produce 3-4 gallons of syrup on a good year.

A few things I do that may or may not work in your situation.

-Buckets I pick up at a local store bakery, they get various ingredients supplied in them so they always have plenty on hand.
Food grade app 2 1/2 gallon with lid cost me 50 cents each.
Drill a hole in the lid, stick your hose in and you are good to go.

On an exceptional day 1 tree can fill a bucket but typically if I collect sap every other day they are about the right size.

A gallon a day per tree would be a real good day.

Collection system consists of a couple of plastic totes in the back of the yard truck to transport the sap to the cooker, lids help cut down on how much splashes out on the ride.

Evaporation I believe they say 1 gallon per square foot of surface area so a 2 x 4 cooker would do about 8 gallons per hour if everything is working perfectly.

I built my own evaporator out of an old livestock water bowl
2 foot by 4 foot stainless steel pan on it, below that I gutted out all but the shell and lined it with brick.
A heavy steel plate on top of the bricks protect the stainless pan from the fire getting it too hot.
A door on one end to load wood and 6 feet of chimney on the other end.
This whole contraption I have mounted on a heavy old steel wagon so I can tow it to the yard in the spring and get it out of my way when I am done with it.
Often if I have a bunch of scrap trees around I will leave the door open once the fire is burning and just push long wood into it, as it burns and falls I put it in again, saves a bunch of time cutting wood to size.

If I get off to a late start I do not bother scrambling into the wee hours to finish a batch, just let the fire burn out on it's own and start it back up in the morning.

My pan holds about 40 gallons, I cook it down until about 2 gallon remain (any less and it starts to burn on the sides) then transfer it into a 3 gallon stainless stock pot and finish it on a propane burner.

Don't know exactly how true it is but I have heard it said that if you are going to do syrup with anything other than free wood your fuel will end up costing you more than the sap is worth.

Only other advise I can think of is scout out your trail system and trim any branches in your way long before tapping time, one year I got ambitious with a chain saw just before the sap started to run and the sap from every tree I trimmed flowed out onto the ground instead of into my buckets from wherever there was a fresh cut.

Probably a few things in here that will make the pro's roll there eyes but it's what I have and it works for us.
 
Everyone who sells syrup to the public was required to stop using open buckets.and any galvanized equipment. The reasoning was open or loosely covered buckets allowed insects and rodents to enter the buckets, causing contamination. You supposedly can use 5gal. plastic buckets with tight fitting covers. Just run tubing into a small hole in cover. We are using totes out in the woods, and string tubing from about 50 taps to each tote.Lines have to be strung so sap gravity flows to the totes, and has no sags to stop flow.
Loren
 
A young coworker of mine took over for his in-laws last season due to a health issue. They have a deal with a larger producer about 20 miles away to have their sap processed through his Reverse Osmosis system, then finished in their equipment, for a share of the processed stock. This reduced the time my coworker had to spend cooking, but required him to load barrels onto a trailer and haul them the 20 miles, returning with nearly complete stock, that just needed finishing. It was still more work than he was prepared for, but with him, that doesn't take much. I got a bottle of the syrup, good taste, a little thin, and there was a grey, sooty looking layer that would develop on the syrup. It tasted fine, just polished the bottle off this morning. They were a bit skeptical of the other producer giving them their fair share of the stock, but only he knows the truth.
 
Our family farm in Dutchess County New York has about 120-130 taps and counting each year. We run tubing into plastic drums and
use a pump to pump into container on the back of the tractor. Then we have a tank that the sap gets pumped into which gravity
feeds it into a float controlled evaporator. we have a small reverse osmosis unit which runs out the the gravity fed tank which
cycles through and back to said tank to take out some of the water= less boiling. Then boil and boil and boil and boil some
more.... and after lots and lots of boiling we get syrup which gets filtered, stored and then re heated to bottle. We label the
jars, grade them and then sell the syrup at our farm stand here on the farm for the general public to purchase,
 

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