Thar's Gold in them thar trees

[jppierson]

Indeed this is a type of woodworking.  I used a 10 inch brace bit, and a #5 jennings to tap the trees.  

Weather turned yesterday, and we are to have about 5 days of above/below freezing weather, just the stuff to start the sap pump.  So hopefully will get a pint or two on this first run.  In the past my trees in the side yard produce at about 27-30:1.  So in my small little sugar bush of 4 trees, I produce enough liquid gold to get us through the year along with a few pints to maintain neighborly/family good will.

[attachment=8382]

[EricU]

I have a tree tap handle sitting on my table waiting for instructions on how to modify it.  Do you actually use a threaded tap for those taps? I might recommend they get a brace instead of me doing something that isn't guaranteed to work

[jppierson]

I have a tree tap handle sitting on my table waiting for instructions on how to modify it.  Do you actually use a threaded tap for those taps? I might recommend they get a brace instead of me doing something that isn't guaranteed to work

I use 5/16" plastic taps that attaches to 1/4" tubing. The holes are not threaded. You drill a 2 to 2-1/2" deep hole angled up a little at about 4ft from the ground. Stuff the tap into the hole, attach the tube and then drain the other end into a bucket. I like the 5 gal plastic buckets with the rubber gasket lid, because I'm somewhat of a tight wad. I drill a hole in the lid, stuff the tube through the hole to keep rain and critters out of the sap that is collected. I'm not familiar with the old school metal taps that had the integrated bucket hanger. Seems to me you have to drill a larger diameter hole or deeper into the tree. Supposedly these newer smaller diameter taps are easier on the health of the tree. The rule of thumb now is that no tree, regardless of diameter, should have more than two taps. When it comes time to collect the sap I just bring another bucket and swap it out, or pour into. Sometimes, when the temp drops below freezing, I just fish the ice out of the buckets since the water freezes first, and the remaining sap becomes a higher concentrate, this saves on fuel. When I boil, I only have a 3 gallon pot and a propane fish fryer (no timer that is often found on turkey fryer). I keep adding new sap as the whole thing boils down until I run out of sap to boil or the boiling temp gets to about 217*. I finish off the last bit inside where I have better temperature control. What you DONT do, is boil the sap inside the house. The steam is sticky and you're spouse will not be happy.

[Cecil]

[quote pid='7592972' dateline='1519148361']
  What you DONT do, is boil the sap inside the house.  The steam is sticky and you're spouse will not be happy.
[/quote]

Explain to us how you know that 


We always tried to get Dad to tap when we were kids.  He would just buy a gallon from the neighbors.  I enjoy the sticky solution, but I never did the work.

[jppierson]

[quote pid='7592972' dateline='1519148361']
  What you DONT do, is boil the sap inside the house.  The steam is sticky and you're spouse will not be happy.

Explain to us how you know that 


We always tried to get Dad to tap when we were kids.  He would just buy a gallon from the neighbors.  I enjoy the sticky solution, but I never did the work.
[/quote]

Much to everyone's chagrin..... This is one lesson I did not learn the hard way.

I did learn, that when you get real close to 219* not to leave the syrup unattended, it can foam/boil over and that hot sugar is not only dangerous but makes a SIGNIFICANT hard to clean mess. Mama was not pleased.

[wing nut]

[quote pid='7592972' dateline='1519148361']
  What you DONT do, is boil the sap inside the house.  The steam is sticky and you're spouse will not be happy.

Explain to us how you know that 


We always tried to get Dad to tap when we were kids.  He would just buy a gallon from the neighbors.  I enjoy the sticky solution, but I never did the work.
[/quote]

wall paper will peal, or come down, did that one year, next year outside over wood fire.

[jppierson]

Explain to us how you know that 


We always tried to get Dad to tap when we were kids.  He would just buy a gallon from the neighbors.  I enjoy the sticky solution, but I never did the work.

wall paper will peal, or come down, did that one year, next year outside over wood fire.
[/quote]

Boiling down that much sap creates a lot of water. Typically the tree sap will produce syrup at a ratio of approximately 30:1. So to get a pint of syrup you have to boil off 30 pints of water or almost 4 gallons. If you are into Birch syrup the ratio is 100:1. That is quite a bit of humidity you are introducing into your house. This is why most sugar houses have large open cupola's to let the steam out. Some commercial facilities will collect the steam, recondense it and use the distilled water for cleaning. Others will use reverse osmosis reduce the water by keeping what would otherwise be the crud (syrup) but there are those who claim it impacts taste and definately color. I suppose you could do some serious steam bending while making syrup, but then I would have to be much more organized.

[peter-m]

I use 5/16" plastic taps that attaches to 1/4" tubing.  The holes are not threaded.  You drill a 2 to 2-1/2" deep hole angled up a little at about 4ft from the ground.  Stuff the tap into the hole, attach the tube and then drain the other end into a bucket.  I like the 5 gal plastic buckets with the rubber gasket lid, because I'm somewhat of a tight wad.  I drill a hole in the lid, stuff the tube through the hole to keep rain and critters out of the sap that is collected.  I'm not familiar with the old school metal taps that had the integrated bucket hanger.  Seems to me you have to drill a larger diameter hole or deeper into the tree.  Supposedly these newer smaller diameter taps are easier on the health of the tree.  The rule of thumb now is that no tree, regardless of diameter, should have more than two taps. When it comes time to collect the sap I just bring another bucket and swap it out, or pour into.  Sometimes, when the temp drops below freezing, I just fish the ice out of the buckets since the water freezes first, and the remaining sap becomes a higher concentrate, this saves on fuel.  When I boil, I only have a 3 gallon pot and a propane fish fryer (no timer that is often found on turkey fryer).  I keep adding new sap as the whole thing boils down until I run out of sap to boil or the boiling temp gets to about 217*.  I finish off the last bit inside where I have better temperature control.  What you DONT do, is boil the sap inside the house.  The steam is sticky and you're spouse will not be happy.

Been there done that.  I was doing mine in the attached garage (15 X 25) late one night.  Fell asleep on a pot cooking on my grill which was within an hour before finial cook down.  I opened the door turned on the light and couldn’t see the other 15 foot side of the garage wall.  All I have left was burnt sap in the kettle.  I would have had about 1 gallon syrup.  that was the first year 3 years ago.  I started tapping two days ago.  I am getting about a 1/2 gallon a day only on one of my trees.  The other 3 have not started yet.  Live in mid Michigan

[oakey]

the old school taps are 7/16 when i was a kid dad and i tapped 300 trees or so
dad used a brace and bit drilled them all buy hand while i tapped in the spiles and hung buckets
i did the same when i started doing maple syrup 40 years or so back then one day my son showed up and he brought a stick battery makita cordless drill that ended the taping buy arm power
i went out and bought the same type drill a few days later
it worked for a few years but i was always having to go to the house and charge it so i bought a newer drill and and ran two permanent wires to the makita drill and ran it off my quad bike battery
i did it that way for years the 9 volt drill ran fine off the quad bike battery
drilling 7/16 holes out in the cold really used the battery's fast but with the wires i could just go all day
three or four years back i switched over to 5/16 taps and the Bosch drill i have will drill about 40 taps on one battery so i just carry a couple battery's and that pretty much drills all the tap holes with only going home once to charge a battery

[Phil Thien]

When I was growing up, mom always put warm syrup on the table with pancakes or waffles, and I've never found anything that quite matches it.  It was thinner consistency and had a wonderful maple flavor.  I've tried numerous real maple syrups over the years, never found one I really liked.

I finally spoke to her about it a few weeks ago, it was sugar she heated in a pan, and she added a few drops of maple flavoring.

What a thrifty depression and WWII-surviving farm-girl, that one.