I have been making my own maple syrup for two years now. Go on ebay and look for spiles...... the now obsolete device to tap the trees. There are numerous on line sources of how to info. Real syrup makers use taps connected to plastic hose nowdays.
I use my camping stove running on propane to boil the sap down. I do the boiling an an $8.00 Walmart turkey roasting pan. I collect the sap in 2.5 gallon white food grade icing pails obtained from the local supermarket bakery.
The results are a very good and delicious syrup.
Rule of thumb...... 10 gallons of sap yield 1 quart of syrup. When the sap is flowing, 10 gallons is not much of a problem
I just looked and they are readily available. Thanks.