Hilltop Maple, LLC.
by Terry Coleman
Member Profile Editor

In the northwest corner of Michigan's mitt is a beautiful section of our state that is worth the visit. Although this area is not a heavy syrup production area, it does have some very nice maple stands. Tony and Beth Mulac decided to make this area, near Central Lake, their home in 1983. They had purchased the 122-acre farm a few years earlier, while living in New Mexico, with the plan to run a cattle operation. Tony had been an engineer for several years with a Masters Degree and a Ph.D. to his credit.

After establishing their feeder cattle operation and settling in, they noticed that they had a twenty-acre woodlot of pure maples. The previous owners who had also tapped the woods for their own use many years earlier had cut out all other species to avoid Dutch Elm disease. Although the Mulacs had never made syrup, they had read about it and decided to try it. In 1984, they hung 50 taps on tubing and cooked it down in a small stock tank.

With the promise of extra income, a used 3x 10 Small Brothers raised flue evaporator was put into use on the farm the next year. Taps on tubing were increased to 300 and a vacuum pump was added. Mules pulled the gathering tank to the collection tank in the woods, where it was transferred and pulled back to the sugarhouse. The 24'x18' sugarhouse, with extra covered wood storage outside, was built next to the farm buildings. Production was around 60 gallons of syrup. In 1988, taps were increased to 500 and the vacuum system was changed to all gravity flow. The extra 200 taps ran to several tanks in the woods. A tractor replaced the mules. Current tap count for the Hilltop Maple operation is still at 500 and production is around 100 gallons of syrup. Although 2000 taps are available, Tony feels they have all they want to handle without hiring help.

Tony and Beth run the whole operation themselves. Their son and daughter helped while at home but have grown up and moved away now. Cattle operations were ended about four years ago, but Tony still does engineering consulting. The Mulacs’ syrup is sold at the farm and through local gift shops. The only change Tony wants to make is to add a separate finishing unit instead of drawing the finished product off the evaporator. Besides loving sugaring, as the rest of us do, the Mulac's keep going because they don't want the farm to be completely idle. To visit the farm, leave Central Lake going east on County Road 624 for seven miles. Look for a sign and large red barns on your right.