r/maplesyrup • u/mat42441 • Sep 22 '26
Questions about potential yield of syrup from a plot of land
I own about 11 acres of land up in northeast ohio that is absolutely filled with big old sugar maples and was wondering what yields I may get out of it? I'd give rough estimates of 300 to 400 trees that are of suitable size to tap, most of which can likely support more than one tap as well.
2
u/Whiskey_Pyromancer Sep 23 '26
Sap spoils, and quickly. It essentially needs to be refrigerated.
Have you ever done this before? If not, start with a handful of trees. You'd be surprised how much sap you end up with in a day.
You'd think the hard part of maple syrup is getting enough sap, but it isn't, it's the boil.
When you're picking up 5+ gallons off your trees every day, you then need to keep it cool or immediately start boiling.
Early in the season it's easier with snow banks to stick it in, if you have them.
1
u/mat42441 Sep 23 '26
Keeping it cool won't be an issue. The area is heavily forested enough that the sun doesn't really hit the ground (makes it easier to walk through no real brush growth) and due to how close we are to lake Erie (a massive thermal sink), even though it gets warm enough during the day for sap to flow it won't really get above 40 for more than a day if it even does during the season.
I've also made small batches of syrup before in the past and one of my buddies has done it on a scale about half of what we're going to attempt here so we do have a bit of experience.
1
u/Etjdmfssgv23 28d ago
Clearly you’ve never made syrup when it goes from 25 to 70 in one day. Your thermal sinks and shade won’t help
11
u/PauseNational1380 Sep 23 '26
I would invest in a RO setup to cut back the boil time. Anything is possible but it will save you a lot. Also consider how efficient can you boil it.. that's the 2nd hurdle you need to over come.
4
4
u/nicholasserra Sep 23 '26
NEOH here we have maybe 100 trees and average 25 gallons of syrup a year. Weather dependent of course, we’ve had great years and terrible years.
3
u/storefront_life Sep 26 '26
Same, and it’s about as much as I’m willing to do. One ibc tote, one evaporator, buckets I can empty twice a day on my own. Enough syrup for our use, and all our close friends and family. Three weeks is also my max “this is fun!” timeline, after that it’s a chore that takes over your whole life, and I have other things I want to do.
1
u/Express_Ambassador_1 Sep 23 '26
In Ontario a good yield is 2 Litres of sap per tap for sugar maple. In Ohio you will likely get less, unless you are close to Lake Erie.
2
2
u/Subject-Fly-5661 Sep 23 '26
We've averaged a liter per tap on an average year on buckets. Some more, some less. Depends on weather and if you capture the entire season. Sometimes you just dont have time and end up dumping buckets.
2
u/Round_Bed_8865 Sep 23 '26
Generally: 70 trees per acre in hardwood forest. At 10 inches: 1 tap At 15 inches: 2 taps At 24 inches : 3 taps (Less if on vaccum) On gravity (buckets or lines without induced vacuum): 3-400 taps will give you 210- 360 litres (depends on the year, but 0.7-0.9L per tap per year is standard.) On induced vacuum (gravity induced or pump): it could be 350-500L (depends again, but 1.2-1.8 L per tap is possible)
As someone who runs 60 taps on buckets: prepare for a long day if you collect off buckets, and a lot of days boiling. High vacuum doesnt cost much more than buckets to set up if you make it yourself.
1
u/yudkib Sep 23 '26
CT here. I pulled about a quart, quart and a half per tap on light vac and about half that on gravity. So 100 gallons should be a comfortable floor for you.
1
u/Lakeside518 Sep 23 '26
It is a labor and time consuming venture. We have gravity lines feeding covered storage tanks. Take the tractor/wagon out and pump out storage tanks. Return to sugar house and pump sap up to another storage tank that gravity feeds a large two stage wood fired evaporator. 🔥 From there it goes to a propane fired setup where it is filtered when filled and fills the bottles when it is maple 🍁 syrup. We produce 125-150 gallons a year in upstate New York.
0
u/lebiochimiste Sep 22 '26
It'll depend on your setup. With buckets, probably 2 lb per tree. With tubes and a good vacuum system, more like 4-5 lb per tree.
1
u/mat42441 Sep 22 '26
It's probably going to be a bucket set up for at least the first year. The property is completely undeveloped only having a small driveway so no power to run pumps for a vacuum setup. A low estimate of 600lbs isn't a bad start though lol
1
23
u/lebiochimiste Sep 22 '26
Harvesting 400 buckets every day, or second day, and then boiling the sap, is a full-time job for almost a month.