tubing on twig, redrilling holes?

[emu742]

Some very newby questions here. I know I don't see any producers hooking up tubes to cut twigs, but I ran across an article about snipping a twig at 3/8" thick and sticking a tube on it...(http://www.gardengrapevine.com/EasyMapleSyrup.html) and wondering if it has an validity? I guess I am most curious the production output compared to the trunk drill, since it seems to be less damaging perhaps.

Also... can one RE-drill a hole? For instance if you drill to early and it dries up, can you drill a bit to freshen it again? I noticed leader sells an adjustable spile that starts as 5/16 and then converts to 7/16 to 'prolong' the season. Another quick questions - is it considered ill practice to drill a completely new hole on diff part of the tree the same season?

[ennismaple]

Never heard of tapping a branch, nor would I want to. Since sap flows downwards through the trunk during the day I can't see the yield being anywhere near as good as it is by tapping the trunk.

Lots of threads on here about reaming tapholes - do a search and all your questions will be answered.

[Wardner in Tewksbury]

Twigs will run. That would be interesting to take a "weed" tree and attach 50 twig lines to it. Seems like it might outperform a single trunk tap. A side benefit might be a better tree in several years from the pruning.

I was testing trees last week with my new digital refractometer. I broke twigs and let them drip into the refractometer well. With the exception of one 2.9% reading, the other nine trees came in between 3.2 and 4.5. These are open grown trees. Just wondering if the twigs have more sugar than the trunks.

If conditions are right, the cut twigs will produce icicles. I had one that was 10" long. Another tree with low hanging branches suffered significant damage from nearby snow removal efforts. It had about 15 icicles.

[emu742]

Never heard of tapping a branch, nor would I want to. Since sap flows downwards through the trunk during the day I can't see the yield being anywhere near as good as it is by tapping the trunk.

Lots of threads on here about reaming tapholes - do a search and all your questions will be answered.

ah ok reaming, thats the word I needed to pull stuff up, couldn't find much on google. Thanks.

[NH Maplemaker]

emu742, Search didn't mean google, Go to the top of the page and click search,Then type in the box hole reaming! All past post will come up JimL.

[emu742]

sorry shoulda clarified - I just meant when I was previously trying to research before posting the question. I'll give this forum and google another round now that I know the correct term. Thanks for the help!

Curious any other input on the twig tapping article? Thoughts?

[Groves]

I was testing trees last week with my new digital refractometer.

How do you like it? Brand/Cost?

[Wardner in Tewksbury]

How do you like it? Brand/Cost?
It's a Hanna 96801 bought on eBay for $162.49. You get a battery too. I think shipping was about $10.00. Reads 0% to 85% brix. Search on "maple refractometers".

I calibrated it with rain water but it is suggested that distilled water be used. It is accurate to one tenth. It will repeat with the same value when the test-well is dried with a paper towel and a new drop from the same source is tested. One drop or ten makes no difference. I tested the high end with boiled cane sugar/water. It was very sticky and came in at 76 brix. There is a good chance it will be effective with maple syrup if cooled to the temperature of the device. The meter is temperature compensated and has a range from 32 to 176 degrees. That means it can be used indoors/outdoors but don't let the sun shine on the well. You will get an error msg until you shade it with your hand or body.

This unit is alot cheaper than other digital refractometers on eBay. I recommend it. There is another forum member that uses the Hanna but I can't remember who it is.

Ebay also has visual meters but I didn't like the scale gradations. I think one would always be guessing at what tenth the sample was. Plus , in my case, I would have to use reading glasses.

[TF Maple]

Also... can one RE-drill a hole? For instance if you drill to early and it dries up, can you drill a bit to freshen it again? I noticed leader sells an adjustable spile that starts as 5/16 and then converts to 7/16 to 'prolong' the season. Another quick questions - is it considered ill practice to drill a completely new hole on diff part of the tree the same season?

If re-drilling or reaming a hole worked, everyone would be doing it and not very many people do it. Also if we could ream out a hole to get it flowing again, we wouldn't be so concerned about how early we tap. We would just tap early and re-drill, but since it doesn't work, we try to wait as long as we can before we start tapping.

You could drill a second hole in a tree if it is large enough for two taps. Don't exceed the recommended number of taps for a tree because you will run out of good wood to tap into in later years.

[adk1]

What if you dril into a tree and find rotten wood, but it is still running out of the hole. You dont want to put a tap into it so should you drill a new hole in a different location and then add the tap..Technically tapping the tree twice?

[emu742]

If re-drilling or reaming a hole worked, everyone would be doing it and not very many people do it. Also if we could ream out a hole to get it flowing again, we wouldn't be so concerned about how early we tap. We would just tap early and re-drill, but since it doesn't work, we try to wait as long as we can before we start tapping.

You could drill a second hole in a tree if it is large enough for two taps. Don't exceed the recommended number of taps for a tree because you will run out of good wood to tap into in later years.

Right makes perfect sense. I was reading this morning on bacteria being spread across the hole when reaming. Saw a post on flushing with alcohol when reaming to help - extends the season maybe 2 weeks at most. But then wouldn't everyone do the alcohol flush if it worked better?

My tree is about 150+yrs and 32 in diameter, so not too worried size wise but I just want to keep to 1 tap if I can even though I could *technically* do 4 I wouldn't, it's my only maple. So far I've gotten 2 1/2 cups finished syrup since I drilled on the 15th.