Jealous of your syrup wood! I'm on the same program starting this weekend. Last year was supposed to be 10 trees tapped just to teach my kids how to make a gallon of syrup. Had just enough wood earmarked for that. Turned into 75-100 trees tapped after my parents realized I had bought a small arch. Only thing that saved us was some sub 20% moisture long dead standing fir.
Sounds great. Its definitely a happy that will grow and grow if you want it to ! We started with 75 taps...then went to 200 taps...plus and RO . We burn the same wood now..as we did doing 75 taps. Game changed!
Getting that wood pile split and stacked. The weather is turning into rain ..which means mud...so we are finishing up outside..working our way indoor! Next year...we will be setting the logs next to the woodshed...and processing them right there. Now that I put that driveway in..makes it way more convenient.
When my Mom heard that I was going to tap a few trees, she insisted we tap some trees at my Grandmother's place 30 miles away as well. My kids are now the 5th generation to make Syrup off what once was the core trees of a 1,500 gallon a year operation. Then my Dad decided he wanted to tap some trees at his place. When the sap started to really run we were drowning in it, as I only have a Leader Half Pint. RO is a game changer. 90% of the year I refused to set it up, nah kids we gotta do it the way of your ancestors blah blah blah. Then I put together a unit like the one on the mattatuck website and cut my wood usage in half. I'll never do it without an RO again lol.
I love that ! The ro bucket is so easy. Keep the membranes clean...replace the prefilter after every use..make sure it doesnt freeze..good to go. We got into the bringing sap from another family farm for nostalgia ...but now we are focused on just getting it from our property. That took alot more effort... now we can sit in one spot ! Sounds like your family had a big operation at one time ! We boil on a leader half pint as well..but with the extension kit added on...and air blower. So we are about a 2x5 ish. I bought an Ro bucket kit 3-4 years ago. Turning our 2 percent into 4 percent in one pass...and boiling the concentrate. This season...ive added a 5th membrane....and more precise metering....gonna do 6 percent in one pass. So my thinking is...we will reduce our boiling time this year . But in reality..we will probably add 50 more taps the next season lol. It's addicting !!
