maple syrup

[snappy]

Does anyone use there max for any type of work. Looking for ideas on using a max if during syrup season.

[tbone9]

I haven't collected sap however made trails through the snow for guys to get the taps in when we still have lots of snow in March. If you take the back seat out and put plywood down you can have lots of room for buckets and stuff.

[Nubs]

Yummm

[akcrawler]

We collect birch sap for syrup in Alaska. The folks who do a lot of it use a snowmobile to break trail and then 6x6 Polaris Rangers with tracks on the back axles to haul the sap. As Tbone says, you could do a quick mod to your Max to do the same thing. You could also pull a sled or trailer on skis for hauling duties. I see no reason the Max cannot be used in this way. Usually, the snow is very soft and wet during syrup time, so you would probably want some tracks for your machine.

[Nubs]

birch sap for syrup? Do tell more. What's it taste like

[akcrawler]

Birch sap produces a stronger, almost metallic tasting syrup and I don't like it as much as maple. Tourists from all over the world like to buy it and take it home.

I think it takes about 3-4 times as much sap to make the same amount of syrup. It is a good thing we have a lot of birch trees that produce a prodigious amount of sap.

[tbone9]

When I was in Alaska there was a guy selling birch syrup. All I did is pick up the bottle looked at it and said " birch syrup huh" and he told me to put it back I wouldn't like it he could tell by my accent I was from Wisconsin where we had Maple. I couldn't believe he guessed that.

[akcrawler]

Yeah, we have such a geographic melting pot in Alaska, that we can hear accents pretty easily. We also hear almost every one out there every summer. It gets pretty easy to pick out a region, if not a State, of origin for most folks. The store owner you describe could well have been from Wisconsin or had family from there. Most of Alaska's population is from somewhere else. Very few of us over 50, besides the Alaska Natives, were actually born here.

He was right, though. If you are used to pure maple syrup, you will not like birch syrup. I think it tastes okay on pancakes, but I still prefer maple.

[Rusty-Gunn]

I'm Inupiaq Eskimo and never tried birch syrup. I'll stick to maple, thank you kindly.

We don' use the Max "Turtle" for work. Just out for the ride.

[tbone9]

Yeah, we have such a geographic melting pot in Alaska, that we can hear accents pretty easily. We also hear almost every one out there every summer. It gets pretty easy to pick out a region, if not a State, of origin for most folks. The store owner you describe could well have been from Wisconsin or had family from there. Most of Alaska's population is from somewhere else. Very few of us over 50, besides the Alaska Natives, were actually born here.

He was right, though. If you are used to pure maple syrup, you will not like birch syrup. I think it tastes okay on pancakes, but I still prefer maple.

Well that explainers it. Alaska is awesome with friendly people too. I hope to go back someday.