tapping maples

I don't know much ...............OK, I don't know ANYTHING, but I remember going to a syrup farm in my childhood, and learning that the VAST amount of water is boiled away from the sap to make syrup. Something like 90% of the water needs to be boiled off, which means you would need 10 gallons of sap to make a single gallon of syrup. Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

Actualy it is 40 gallons of sap per gallon of syrup. And not all maples are tapped. Sugar maples and rock maple, but sugar is best. Eric Sloanes books are the only resource I can think of, though maybe if Mother Earth News has an online archive, you could search there.

Rock maple is just another name for sugar maple AFAIK. I seem to recall that sugar maple sap was about 2% sugar, and red maple sap was around 1%. I've had red maple syrup, and it tastes the same just takes twice the energy to boil it down.

A friend and I boiled this spring for the first time. I think we ended up with 1-1/2 gallons of heaven. We boiled over an open fire so it has a hint of smoke to it. We are going to upgrade out setup so we can boil more simultaneously and purchases a couple Rubbermaid trash barrels that will only be used to hold the maple sap.

Marmot

For detailed information, check out Cornell University's Maple website, which is helpful for kids aged 9 to 90:

Cornell University: Maples and Sugaring

There is also a forum called Maple Trader (it's mostly discussion groups with a small classified section). From backyard with homemade gear to production level. Good folks over there.

I boil the syrup off the 6 large silver maples in my yard. Got 5 1/2 gallons last year. I don't boil it all the way down, I like it a little more runny but still plenty sweet. I use a 55gal drum with steam table tray on top. I just it the verticle way and use the whole drum as the cooker. Works decently, but have to babysit it to keep the fire hot enough.

Yes, Maple Trader is a good resource w/ forum, otherwise just google "maple sugaring" and you'll find plenty of resources.

"Backyard Sugarin" by Rink Mann is a great source for a small operation.

“Backyard Sugarin” by Rink Mann is a great source for a small operation.

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ditto that! It's a great little book.
The less $ you spend on the enterprise, the better the syrup tastes, IMHO.

mapletrader.com is a pretty good online resource. regional sections, and plenty of research links, primarily to cornell and the vt maple research center.