Oh my aching back - must be the buckets of sap

[Tom F]

I haven't been on here much this week because the sap is now flowing big time and I'm making Maple Syrup and I built the cooker about 12 years ago, I did the wood burning part out of 3/16 plate and my brother-in-law built the top out of stainless. It works great for a small operation, about a quart of finished syrup in an hour.

The process: tap the trees, put the taps on, hang the buckets, gather the sap, cook, strain, bottle, pull the taps, wash the buckets and taps, and put everything away. If I'd sell the syrup at the going rate of $32.00 a gallon I'd make about 25 cents and hour, oh ya I forgot to say that I have to drive 25 miles to the site each day so maybe I only make 15 cents an hour.

Attached are some pictures of the cooker. If I can remember to take my camera along I'll get some more pictures.

[jyardgirl]

nice looking cooker. just thinking about how good your syrup must taste makes me want pancakes.

[HemiTCoupe]

Sounds just like when we use to build R/C planes for people, about .015 at best! But I enjoy building anything R/C, So I quess I really didn't loose
Besides, how many people do you know that goes out play's with sap?

Hey! Your T is looking good! Dave is doing a heck of job on it!, But it's a good thing I stop him from chopping the top! I told him you didn't want a sun roof for your head. , He told me he decided to not use the polka dot primer on your T . Whew!!!
(Sorry to throw you to the wolf's Dave, But I want some of his syrup )

JK

Hey, got to go clean some stuff, getting ready for another showing today!!!
Got to sell!

Pat

[Dave Severson]

Hey! Your T is looking good! Dave is doing a heck of job on it!, But it's a good thing I stop him from chopping the top! I told him you didn't want a sun roof for your head. , He told me he decided to not use the polka dot primer on your T . Whew!!!

Pat

Oh no!!!! I must have missed the memo on the no polka dots..... Hate it when that happens.....

[HemiTCoupe]

Cool I mean What, O NO not again, I didn't send you the e-mail! What color are the dots? Purple I hope! We still want to get our sap,.....I mean syrup

Hey Tom, How do you get that sap off your hands? seems like every time I get it on me, It has to almost has to wear off.

Pat

[brianrupnow]

Tom---Way back when I was a kid---about 1956 or so, my dad had 50 acres of land where the "homestead" was, but it was all white pine and scrub---no good hardwood. And if ya heat with wood, ya need good maple and oak. My uncle Jack Anderson had a beautifull maple woodlot, about 5 acres, just down the road from us. Every spring, dad would tap that woodlot, and half the maple syrup went to uncle Jack, and every fall dad would cut enough hardwood to heat our house and uncle Jacks house for the winter. Talk about the barter system----anyways, I can remember every spring, wading snow up to my short little ass, after school and on the weekends, emptying sap buckets into a 45 gallon drum on a stoneboat, pulled behind one of my uncles horses.---Nice memories, but if I had to wade thru snow like that now, they'd be calling in the air ambulance to rescue an old fat man with a heart attack!!!

[HemiTCoupe]

Brian, I grew up in the woods, but never tap for sap, done everything else in the woods, but not that. Have you seen how they do it how days, they run a tube to each tree to a building. sure takes away from memories like the ones your dad you made.
But thats the way to make money I guess.

Pat

[Tom F]

Just got home a half hour ago after a long day of cooking. Brought home a little over a gallon that's all done, haven't tasted it yet though.

Sap from maple trees is just like water, not sticky until boiled down into syrup.

I have a quart of my Blue Ribbon Maple Syrup (I got a blue ribbon at our county fair for my syrup) reserved for both Pat & Dave. These two guys have REALLY befriended me. But what's all this talk about poka dots, chopped, upside down, sun roof, welded on rear fenders?

Took my camera out to take more pictures and the batteries were dead, I'll try tomorrow.

I forgot to add cutting down trees, splitting and stacking it up in my cost of making the syrup, sooooooooooo it might just cost more to produce than what's it worth.

[techinspector1]

"Hey Tom, How do you get that sap off your hands? seems like every time I get it on me, It has to almost has to wear off."

HUH? You don't have a dog?

[jerry clayton]

I've got only 1 qt left from last year and am anxious to resupply

i think its aa dark amber???

Do you ship yours? We have been getting it from up around NH from some friends we made racing karts with

Last year also bought quite a bit at Sam's

[brianrupnow]

When we made syrup, Uncle Jack got to keep half, and the rest my dad would sell, except what he kept for us for the winter. This worked fine as long as he made all the syrup BEFORE he sold any. One time my Uncle Fred (I had a plethora of uncles) was helping my dad "boil down". They had one batch left to boil down, (the one for us), but for some reason they decided to take a trip into town and sell the rest before they boiled down the last batch.---And while they were in town they went to the bootlegger) (it was a dry township) and picked up a quart of rye whiskey. They proceeded to sample it on the way home, and then they boiled down the last batch. They let the fire get too high and burned the last batch (which of course was the batch we got to keep for the winter!!!)---Did ya ever taste burned maple syrup???? If somebody boiled down a 1000 pair of dirty socks and dirty underwear, then strained it thru a roadkill, ------well, you get the idea. We never let Uncle Fred or Dad forget that one---

[Tom F]

Have you seen how they do it how days, they run a tube to each tree to a building. Pat

Guys I make Maple Syrup the "Traditional Way"

Anyway just got back home this morning at 1:00 am, got 10 gallons made and bottled. Another guy - Paul- showed up and started helping us Sunday afternoon about 2:00 pm and is still there, we each are putting in 12 hour days.

Pictures show me skimming the cooked sap, Paul feeding the fire, Mark driving the tractor with Paul on the back holding a barrel of sap, Mark and Diana bottling and then the finished product.

[Tom F]

Cooked down and bottled another 6 gallons so now we have 16 gallons of Maple Syrup. We have enough sap for 4 more gallons before we have to go out and collect more. Some more pictures, our Sugar Bush (maple trees) and the Sugar Shack (grain bin).

[HemiTCoupe]

Tom,
About how much do you get from 1 tree each day, per bucket?

Are you up to your eye balls in snow today? sunday we had no snow on the ground & 52 degs out, monday it snowed all day & night, BIG snow flakes, & 32 degs, we must have 8-10" again. Who it heck ordered this crap! I hope I can get out to go to work, our last 2 snows, I could'nt get up the street, and missed work , and others on the block. I had it with the worthless guy that in charge of the streets here, after I called him to ask if he could plow our street, so we can get up the hill, he told me were his brain was(up his A##), He told me to get someone on the block to plow it! Then we called the mayor at home 7:30 am (She was actually glade we called). gee, it was plowed and sanded. My mail was stopped once till I removed the snow from in front of the mail box. I called the city and told them they had to get the snow plowed closer than 3-4 feet from the curb, I don't do streets. (since getting rid of the Bobcat) Jerks!

Pat

[Tom F]

Tom,
About how much do you get from 1 tree each day, per bucket?

Are you up to your eye balls in snow today? Pat

On a good warm windy day preceded by a hard freeze the night before, I've got 3 gallons of sap in a day, but most of the time about half of that.

We have about an inch of snow which came last night. I would rather have snow than rain because snow won't go in the buckets.

I'm coming up your way tomorrow to visit my son and eat supper with them. I'd like to bring a bottle of Maple Syrup along for you, will you be home some time in the early afternoon?