Anyone tapping trees yet?

[Yeah]

Have you tapped any trees and, if so, seen any sap?

I have 40 taps sitting in front on me that I'm thinking I might as well get in today.

 

[canamscott]

I'm up in the northeast corner. Our big sap flows normally do not come until the first week of March, so we will not be tapping until mid February.

 

[Sailor]

Same here in Allen Co. Mid Feb.

 

[nate1865]

I'm itching to give this a shot for the first time this year on a handful of trees. Can anyone recommend a good starter kit or setup?

 

[Want2ShootMore]

It is a little pricey from what I remember, but Big R has kits to get you started. If you have a bunch of trees to tap though, I would just buy the supplies online.

Also check out MapleTrader.com for some good discussions and inspiration for your future sugar shack.

 

[Sailor]

If you are starting you better start collecting buckets or barrels now. All you need is the taps and buckets. Remember it takes about 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup.

We use chafing dishes for the primary boil.

See the set up here. https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/survival_and_disaster_preparedness/138336-maple_tree_tapping_for_sap_for_syrup_lots_of_pictures.html

 

[hooky]

I'm itching to give this a shot for the first time this year on a handful of trees. Can anyone recommend a good starter kit or setup?

I used to do this when the kids were younger. We had our own little sugar camp on the back patio. 5 or 6 spiles in 2 trees gave us more syrup than we could use. And quite frankly, after the first year, I tapped at the end of the season. It was a lot of work and I was travelling a couple of nights/weeek. Mama wasn't happy.

I used a turkey fryer and couple of chafing dishes to do the first boil and finished it on the stove.

 

[nate1865]

Thanks, all - that helps a lot.

I'm looking to get into it for the hobby of it and do something with the family. I own plenty of maple trees.

 

[ruger1800]

does anyone just buy the sap? doesnt seem like it would be economically feasable to evaporate 40 gallons of sap into a gallon of syrup.

 

[singlestacksig]

does anyone just buy the sap? doesnt seem like it would be economically feasable to evaporate 40 gallons of sap into a gallon of syrup.

this is why real maple syrup costs so much..

 

[Yeah]

I boil mine on a wood fired stove, which makes it free but for my time cutting up the fuel.

The sap is running here, but not heavy. Sweet though. A couple of red maples I looked at are running 2.4 and the sugars are 2.8ish.

 

[nate1865]

I took a minor plunge and bought 3 taps and 6 bags. That should be enough to dip the ol' toe in the water.

I looked at a lot of "beginner kits" and they all look like overkill. Anybody with a kitchen is going to have enough for a hobby setup I'd think - thermometer, pans, etc.

 

[GREEN607]

HA, HA! Well, it is 2:22AM...... and so, I thought I read this thread title-

"Is anyone trapping trees yet?"

My bad!

Wouldn't be too hard tho.......they do move kinda' slow.

 

[Dead Duck]

Yea - I'm not that desperate yet.

Although, There is this cute Blonde Knotty Pine down the road that I've had my eye on. She's one sturdy gal with an enormous trunk and as dumb as a board. I don't think I'd get past her boyfriend though. He's built like an Oak.

And besides...Splinters Hurt.

 

[GREEN607]

Yea - I'm not that desperate yet.

Although, There is this cute Blonde Knotty Pine down the road that I've had my eye on. She's one sturdy gal with an enormous trunk and as dumb as a board. I don't think I'd get past her boyfriend though. He's built like an Oak.

And besides...Splinters Hurt.

Now that right there is hilarious!

rep incoming..........

 

[clarky51]

Put in 24 taps this afternoon...had an inch in a couple bags before we left the bush.

 

[clarky51]

Put in 24 taps this afternoon...had an inch in a couple bags before we left the bush.

~ 20 gallons of sap in last two days

 

[spencer rifle]

Put out 12 taps on Friday, and have collected 25 gallons of sap already.

 

[clarky51]

Spencer - have you tested sugar content in sap? Started your evaporator?

 

[Digital_photog]

Over the weekend we cooked 17 gallons of syrup. Have about 250 taps out. Has been running pretty good the last few days with the freezing nights and warm days. Sugar content isn't real high this year. Taking about 42 gallons of sap to get a gallon of syrup.