The True Cost of Making Maple Syrup

[BBTom]

Thought that those who are contemplating a move into the maple syrup business should see this...

The True Cost of Syrup Making

We've just received an updated calculation of the true cost of making Maple Syrup, with wood as a fuel source.  While the actual cost of items will vary from region to region, we believe that the overall figures should be accurate.

Evaporator 2 x 4                               2,100
Pipe, installation                                    212
Chain saw                                            249
Gas, maintenance for saw                    144
4-wheel drive pickup                       12,379
Maintenance for pickup                        656
Insurance for pickup                            879
Replace rear window of pickup (twice) 100
Fine for cutting in conservation area     500
Fourteen cases Lablatt's Blue               350
Littering  fine                                         56
Tow charge from wreck                       175
Overbilling from doctor re:splinter in eye 50
Safety glasses                                       29
Overbilling from doctor re: crushed toes 75
Safety shoes                                         80
New living room carpet                     1,200
Chimney brush and rods                        75
Log splitting maul                                  80
Chiropractor fees re: back                   250
Log splitter                                       1,750
Fifteen acre woodlot                       15,000
Taxes on woodlot                                900
Buckets and spiles                                  50
Containers with labels                               5
Divorce settlement                          33,698

Total first year's costs                     71,042
Value of Maple Syrup sales - first year   632

Net Cost of first year's Maple syrup  70,410

From the December, 1995 issue of  Maple Syrup Digest

[SwampDonkey]

 ;D :D :D

[pasbuild]

Only fourteen case's of beer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you must be workin alone.

[semologger]

i think i will stay logging a lot easier

[Ed_K]

 What, you only bought 10 buckets,spiles and covers  ;D .
Cost of line system $1400. for 400 taps.
Profit, NEVER  :D .

[WDH]

It sure tastes good, though...........I am glad that you guys are doing it for the betterment of society.........

[Daconant]

How about :
2 metal spiles                                $5
1 spile home made from wood      $0
3 drywall buckets                          $0
boil on the kitchen stove             not much since it just replaces furnace heat
total production .5 - 1 gal/year     priceless  ;D

I have tapped my one backyard tree as early as Feb 1 depending on the weather. This year the taps went in March 3. The latest ever. I have only had two days of flow so far and only 1pt of syrup finished. What I get starts lighter than any syrup you can buy. By the end of the season, it looks like grade A dark. I could probably go further, but I get tired of it after several weeks. I am now producing wooden spiles for some of my kids friends so they can tap trees in their yards too. Soon we will have a little community of urban sap boilers.

[SwampDonkey]

 smiley_clapping

Can remember them after school chores.  8)

Was a lot of fun going with grand father to his lot on the ski doo. Lean-to , boiling barrel and lots of wood smoke directed toward the lean-to.  ;D :D

[BBTom]

just remember, When boiling maple sap in the home, to be careful of all the steam released into the air.  More than one urban maple maker has had to rewallpaper the entire kitchen.     Some of my best customers have told me so!!    :D

[breederman]

I remember that happining when I was a kid! :D  I think mom wanted to get rid of that ugly wall paper anyway.

[slowzuki]

Did anyone else think that was the cheapest divorce settlement ever? :D

[olyman]

im with bbtom--friend that does large scale maply syrup--been in family for generations--said go ahead and do it in your kitchen--and tell me how much new wallpaper you will need!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he gets 38.00 a gal---gooooooooooodd stuff----

[Murf]

Divorce?   ???

I'm still tryin' ta figger out where da lucky sod found a sugar bush fer $1,000 an acre.  :

Ders a soggy peice up da road a bit from here, da owner wants $475,000 fer a 100 acres of skeeters an half-dead Aspens with a few swamp cedars fer colour.  :-\

[SwampDonkey]

Nobody would pay anywhere near that for prime farmland here. You could get 100 acres of prime hardwood here for $75,000-150,000 on private. But most large scale sugaries here are crown leases, the government puts blocks on tender bids.

[Mooseherder]

There is a complete Maple Sugar operation for Sale just north of Van Buren Maine with top of the line Equipment, Processing facility and home on a thousand acres. They have over 10,000 taps. Priced just under a million.

[SwampDonkey]

Sounds reasonable enough to me. Looks like opportunity for someone with the $$. You coming north Mooseherder?  ;D ;)

[Mooseherder]

Trust me Swampdonkey. The thought has crossed my mind. I would love to buy it and live there.(must be something wrong with me...brrrr)
We got da 50 acres and the little cabin waitin' on us already. We gotta hook up this summer. I'll cook ya some Tom Steaks. :D

[Daconant]

When you are tapping only one tree, you end up making your syrup a pint at a time. I take it easy and don't try to boil it down as fast as possible, so the steam gets spread out over several hours. In ten years, I've never had any wallpaper removal problems.

[sawdust]

Living out west I have never seen a sugar maple.
I have heard that you can tap a Birch. How do you know when it is time? How deep a hole and how do you plug it afterwards to keep bugs out?

sawdust

[TexasTimbers]

Maple Syrup Harvesters are America's unsung heroes. ;)

[SwampDonkey]

Living out west I have never seen a sugar maple.
I have heard that you can tap a Birch. How do you know when it is time? How deep a hole and how do you plug it afterwards to keep bugs out?

sawdust

-5 C nights and +5 in day time, freeze thaw cycles. Sugar maple wood fibres apparently are unique as the flow of sap for syrup production is a different process than that during the growing season, since there are no leaves and the ground is frozen for the most part.

[Captain]

I'm about to experience that one first hand.  Mrs. Captain is demanding an arch purchase THIS WEEK.  20 taps produced over 15 gallons today....

Captain

[Mrs.Captain]

What Captain forgot to mention is that after trying to boil all day on a gas grill propane burner the sap failed to get up to 200 deg. F.   As I type this at 8:00 I am trying to finish it off. 

Does anyone know if you can stop the boiling and start again the next day.....

Our son was hoping for fresh maple syrup on his pancakes tomorrow morning   ;D  Guess again.....

[SwampDonkey]

I don't foresee any trouble in doing that. It's not like making fudge. ;D At least if it has boiled it's been sterilized and won't sour.

[wiam]

There will be some grade loss from reheating, but it will be minimal.  If you are boiling in a pot you are probably not making fancy anyway. ;)

Will