Rocket maple heater

[mannytheseacow]

I'm always trying to lower my bills and do things more efficiently. When the sap flow came on this year I dreaded the thought of having the stove on all day for days on end to boil down all the sap until it became syrup. Time for a rocket maple heater.

Next time I make a batch of home brew I might try it out too. I'm not sure if its got enough btus for that, though.

[matt walker]

That is way cool Manny. I tapped some trees for my first time this year, but I think even early February was too late for my region.

[mannytheseacow]

Hmmm... yeah I don't know if it gets cold enough in your area to really get a good sap flow. I know you've got a good supply of big leaf maples out there, but what they're syrup value might be is beyond me! Do you know if other people have had luck? If so, it could be possible that you drilled too far into the tree? You don't have to go very deep.

These winters up in northern Illinois can be brutal, but I have to admit that the maple syrup and backcountry snowboarding (the two times a year we get enough snow to go) make life pretty good. It's so nice to finally have some warm days though!

[matt walker]

Too deep, huh? I bet that's part of my problem. We had a warm winter to boot, which I'm sure didn't help. I've found some references to folks being successful with syrup production from the big leafs in my area, but it looks like I need more practice.

Love to ride the BC myself! Here's my favorite spot on the day I figured out how to get up there. This is only about ten miles from me as the crow flies. I have a great view of it from my place, which often torments me when I can't get away.

[mannytheseacow]

Wow! I'm super jealous of that! You live in a beautiful part of the world. I worked in N. Oregon/S. Washington for a while and it was pretty spectacular. Some of my fondest memories of traveling with my daughter was time we spent on the Makah res and a multi-day trek to point of arches, shin deep in mud and pouring down rain the whole time. Although it might not sound fabulous, it was.

It's great to know that you can tap the big leaf maples too. We can tap many things around here: birch, boxelder, sugar maple, etc... but the sugar maples have the highest sugar content, which means less boiling. I've been planting 25 s.m. saplings a year since I bought my place but they kind of get lost in the undergrowth. Hopefully someday some old s.m.s stand among the oaks and the hickories.

I've been searching for a reference but I can't seem to find it... it describes the method I use. I use 1/2 male-to-male barb hose fittings for the tap. They cost about $0.60 each, so pretty inexpensive, and I only sink them about 1.5 inches in. Then I put a hole in the handle of a milk jug and insert the other end of the barb, and tie the jug to the tree. The jugs are usually close to full every day.

My one complaint about the RMH for boiling is that I have to feed it about every 15 minutes. It doesn't use all that much wood but since it sometimes boils for 8+ hours that's a lot of babysitting. Not bad for free sugar though!

[pa_friendly_guy]

Planting 25 sugar maples per year is a Great idea. It takes a good while to grow a sugar bush though. But if you don't start now it will be that much longer, until you get one