Sap Collecting Job Description
Sap collecting is typically performed 10-14 days within the 4-6 week season
At Primal Woods we make our syrup the old fashioned way, specifically, Steps 1 through 5 involve the people who will collect the sap:
We hang buckets on the Maple trees, between one and three buckets depending on the size of the tree, each bucket holds about two gallons of sap if completely full.
We have a 275 gallon tote mounted on an old hay wagon frame; this Sap Wagon is pulled through the woods to collect the sap in bulk. Helpers using 5 gallon buckets collect the sap from the individual buckets hanging on the trees, carry those 5 gallon buckets to the Sap Wagon, and pour the contents into the 275 gallon tote.
The tote was being pulled by horses through the woods, now (2025) it is being pulled by Oxen, Elmer and Boris. When the tote is full-ish, it is pulled to the Sugar House.
At the Sugar House the contents of the tote are pumped off and into a 787 gallon stainless steel storage tank.
Repeated trips to the woods are usually necessary, but all sap is usually collected with a maximum of three trips, completed within 4 hours.
The sap is then evaporated over a wood fire in an evaporator made by Leader Evaporator of Vermont; syrup comes off at the rate of about 3/4 to 1 gallon per hour, depending on the sugar content of the sap.
The syrup is then filtered, bottled and dressed for sale.
For more information please see two videos below:
