Tree sap gathering and syrup making

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Holy crap am I sore. 3 of us spent 5 hrs on the Mt toady reparing lines and putting in 475 taps. By the time we got back down to the holding tanks, it was flowing like a garden hose and there was 50+ gal in the one tank. Unfortunately, the first 100 gals gets dumped on the ground as the lines need to be flushed to get rid of all the nasties.
Hopefully our first boil will be Sunday or Monday. Need 300-400 gals just to fire up.
 
Holy crap am I sore. 3 of us spent 5 hrs on the Mt toady reparing lines and putting in 475 taps. By the time we got back down to the holding tanks, it was flowing like a garden hose and there was 50+ gal in the one tank. Unfortunately, the first 100 gals gets dumped on the ground as the lines need to be flushed to get rid of all the nasties.
Hopefully our first boil will be Sunday or Monday. Need 300-400 gals just to fire up.
Do you use an RO system?
 
How old does a tree need to be before you tap it? I planted a sugar maple a few months ago. Figuring it will be 10 years before I can even think about syrup....
It has to to with diameter and not age. I have read 8-10 inches in diameter for one tap.

Here is what Minnesota suggests.
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https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/destinations/state_parks/maplesyrup_how.pdf

That looks old though. I go over 8”. But I use a 5/16th tap instead of the large ones they suggest.
 
No, too darn expensive. Arch has a steam hood with a preheater, but its nothing compared to a RO system.
I do no where near the quantity you do. My arch is not an arch and is home made and I use chaffing pans instead of a nice evaporator.

I planned to make one but poop happens.

I made an RO using household systems I found in an home store that had been returned for some reason.

It is 4 membranes. I had them parallel and could do 250 gallons or so over night. However, the sugar content was only around 4%.

I think by going in series I will get the sugar content to around 8%. However, I will have to run it 24 hours a day. To keep up on the sap.

I have around a hundred bucks in the system.
 
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Checked the gathering tanks this morning. About 85 gallons. Opened the valve to dump it out. Lots of nasties in that tank from the sap cleaning out the laterals and main line.

Came back around 4pm, and there's 125 gallons in the tank. Not getting below freezing tonight, but the snow pack should pull the sap back the roots. Well most likely have our first boil on late Sunday or Monday morning.

I'm leaving Tuesday for a 5 day ice fishing trip in Maine. Hopefully my buddy who bought this system can keep up without me.
 

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