Tubing Question

[Thiems sugarshack]

This is my first year going to tubing.I am using 1/2 mainline and was wondering 1. What is the line called that goes from the tap to the 1/2 mainline.The short piece.How long should it be.I was thinking 2 feet.And the second question is how many taps is a 1/2 main line rated for i was thinking of 100. Any info is greatly appretiated. Thanks

[Randy Brutkoski]

The 2 ft. piece from the tap is the drop line. Which goes into the lateral line which is also 5/16, which then goes into your 1/2 main. 100 taps should be fine 1/2 inch.

[danno]

If your trees have any size to them, you may want to lengthen your drops a bit. I like 36" min. 2' is fine the first year or two, but as you are trying to tap the tree above and on the opposite side of your lateral, 2' becomes pretty short, pretty quick.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Without vacuum, you can easily run 200 to 300 on a 1/2" mainline without any problems.

[markct]

i like using 3/4 mainline for most runs, even with few taps, because you can use saddles instead of needing to cut the line and install a tee and a star, saddles are fast and cheap. there is one place i use half inch line that is running about 300 ft across a field to get to a cluster of 20 taps, there is no places that need to have lateral lines coming into the mainline except right at the end so it works very well that way

[maple flats]

Of course Leader is selling tubing, but their catalog calls for 50 taps on a 1/2". This really depends on slope. With lots of slope some run almost 50 on a lateral, but no formal studies support that.
I'm with markct on this one, I use 3/4" because of the fitting available, cheaper and simpler fittings available for 3/4". If you use 1/2 every place where you need to connect a lateral you need to cut the main and insert a fitting, use clamps to hold the tubing to the fitting, wrestle the tubing onto the fitting, these all take more time or $, the various saddles available for 3/4 are real quick and easy to install and they do not leave an edge inside the tubing to hold a little pocket ofsap to spoil. You will find the 3/4 in the end will usually cost less when all is said and done. Another point to consider is lateral cost, when you use the 1/2" insert fittings you often get 4 take offs. It is natural to try to hook all or most of them up so you start routing lateral to the fitting rather than taking the shortest route to the main. The lateral tubing at more that $.10 or more per foot adds up fast. If you add 30 extra feet to run 3 or 4 to a common fitting you just added over $3.00 in lateral cost and made the runs more tangled in the process. With 3/4 and larger you decide the most efficient route for each lat and connect it where needed. This makes for a much neater and efficient design. Even though I used to use 3/4 I at one time used the fittings with 2 lats out each side. One day as I took not of my foolishness, I added up all of the EXTRA tubing on just one rather mish mash web of tubing and I had used over 70 extra feet of lateral (over $7) to not need to use 2 more fittings. The following year I reworked the section, replacing some damaged main and now each lat enters thru a record multi fitting right where it is most practical, cheaper and much neater.