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.

[akcrawler]

Rusty,

I was wondering about that. I was born and raised here, but I still like maple better than birch and we live in birch country. Birch syrup is more expensive too.

We kinda got off topic here. A guy could definitely use his Max to work the syrup trade. I think a trailer with a bulk tank pulled behind the Max would work the best. The guys who work birch syrup carry a 100 gallon bulk tank (probably about 800lbs full) in the bed of their rangers. They empty the collection buckets into the bulk tank. IMO that wouldn't be a good idea in a Max. It takes you pretty close to the maximum load rating and would be very hard on bearings and axles. However, a good trailer with a walking beam axle and rated for 1600 lbs should have no problem with that kind of load.

If you are just working a small personal syrup operation where you don't have to haul those kind of volumes, perhaps you could get by with a 50gal or 30gal bulk tank. That would probably be alright in the back seat of a Max IV or the bed of a Buffalo. I think there is weight limit on the cargo area of a Max II though. The trailer idea would work well for any machine.

[fixer2]

Hi I have a 1997 buffalo that I used for maple syrup gathering It works ok but needs wider tracks I right now have 12 inch wide plastic tracks that I got for a cheap price not knowing better that the rubber tracks are the right ones .But I have used a max 2 with a trailer behind it to haul in sap but I first made a trail with a snow machine.The max is a very old 1970 max with th 3 lug wheels and hollow axles so I don't put tracks on that one.I would like to get a new max2 set up for there 15inch wide rubber tracks 23hp motor and I think it would work great. How many taps do you do?

[fixer2]

Hi I have a 1997 buffalo that I use for sap collecting I have the plastic tracks on it and wished I got the 15 inch wide rubber tracks than 12inch wide plastic.It goes good when the path is been open up and the snow is that march snow ,not fluffy feb.snow.Wider tracks are better.I have taken out my old max out near the end of the season in mid to late March,with just tires because it is a 1970 max with hollow axles etc.I would like to try a new max 850 with the rubber tracks,too.

[akbgdg]

I'm making my own Max II 20" wide tracks for birch sap collection. They gonna be nice cause I'm custom building them and I know what I"m doin! Making custom 1.5" channel" dies which allow the 20' wide with 10' steel and 10" web.

[akcrawler]

Those sound really interesting. How about some pics during the build and after so we can see (and drool over) the specifics?