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LuckySap
Calculator · ≈ 1 qt / tap

Maple syrup yield calculator

How many taps, and how do you collect? Here's what an average, slow, and great season looks like in syrup.
How you collect

About a quart of syrup per tap in an average season.

Units
Typical season
1.4gal of syrup
From about 60 gal of sap at 43.2 : 1
Slow year
0.7gal
Great year
2.1gal

Seasons swing a lot with the weather. Open-grown trees with big crowns often beat these numbers; crowded forest trees and warm springs fall short.

How it works

The math behind it

A bucket tap on a sugar maple gives about 10 gallons of sap in an average season — roughly a quart of syrup — with 5–15 gallons the usual range. Open-grown trees with big crowns can double that.

Tubing changes the picture. Cornell trials measured 5.8–11.25 gallons per tap on gravity 5/16″ tubing and 10.3–18.2 on 3/16″ tubing laid on a slope, which pulls its own natural vacuum. Top producing states, mostly on vacuum, average 0.35–0.46 gallons of syrup per tap (USDA NASS).

Syrup is worked out from sap with the revised Rule of 86 at the sugar content you enter.

FAQ

Common questions

How much syrup do you get per tap?
About a quart per tap on buckets in an average season. The top producing states — where most taps are on vacuum tubing — average about a third to nearly half a gallon per tap.
How much syrup will 10 taps make?
On buckets with 2% sap, about 2–3 gallons in a typical season — less in a short, warm season, more in a long cold one.

LuckySap · free on iPhone & Android

Your whole season, logged

LuckySap keeps every collection and boil in one place: sap totals, sugar readings, sap-to-syrup ratios, and a season you can compare next year. Free on iPhone and Android.

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