Vacuum?

[DRod2]

I just started map ling about 3 years ago and started with lines. First year did great because trees had never been taped. I do have some bucks up but I use tubing for the buckets also because I felt the more taps I got in the trees the more I would get in the bucket. So depending on the tree I might tap it 3 to 4 times with one bucket use half in lines.
The second year was an awful year in Ohio but even on the good days I felt like the lines just had sap in them but they would not move. I just use gravity right now to get sap to the two collection points but I feel that I am missing out on alot of Sap. I am sure I vacuum could help but how much would it help?

[nymapleguy607]

Usually vaccum will double your sap yield, but there are a lot of factors that can influence this such as vacuum level, number of taps per lateral line, improperly sized main lines lines. Vacuum tubing systems take a little more skill to setup than gravity in my opinion, but if done right they can really make a big difference.

[Monster Maples]

I would re consider how many taps you are putting in your tees. 3 to 4 in one tree is too many. More taps are really going to stress your trees out. I only put a max of two in a tree myself. If I can wrap my arms around the tree 1 tap, if I wrap around the tree and my hands don't touch it gets 2. I have some that I may be able to put 3 in based on the guidelines, but I don't. Because these trees are older trees and I would like them to stay healthy and heal so they stay alive to continue tapping them.