Slide fittings

[ClarkFarmMapleSyrup]

Hey guys, I took your advice and bought some end slide fittings. They work great. I ran a few laterals this morning to try them out, and they work good. Thanks for the tip!:)

[ClarkFarmMapleSyrup]

Hey guys. Got somemore tubing up, but my lines are sagging. The lateral is going down in the middle. I have a few going to one collection point. When I tap, can I let the taps help hold up the lines so they gravity drain down alittle more? Can I put wire up to hold them up to make sure they drain? Oh, and the trees are on the edge of a creek bed, and I'll have to tap up alittle higher than normall due to the drop off. I think it'll be okay to tap about 4 or 5 feet high on the top of the laterals, because the trees are red maples, and they are big, tall and straight without to many branchs so let me know if i'm wrong. Oh by the way the tubing is Semi-Ridgid, and I don't have a tubing tool,. and don't want to buy one for 150 Bucks!

[adk1]

You say that it is sagging in the middle? Are you running the lats to either side of the tree?

[ClarkFarmMapleSyrup]

I start my lateral at one tree at the end of the tree line. Then I ran it to the tree where I'll be placing a collection tank. I try to get the line going down hill, which it it alitttle, but the lateral is sagging before it reaches the collection point. Should I crank it up tight, and try some wire in the middle where it seems ot sag? the only thing I would worry about, then, is that the lateral will be to far up, and be harder to tap, due to the drop off by the creek bank.:confused:

[Greenwich Maple Man]

Hey guys. Got somemore tubing up, but my lines are sagging. The lateral is going down in the middle. I have a few going to one collection point. When I tap, can I let the taps help hold up the lines so they gravity drain down alittle more? Can I put wire up to hold them up to make sure they drain? Oh, and the trees are on the edge of a creek bed, and I'll have to tap up alittle higher than normall due to the drop off. I think it'll be okay to tap about 4 or 5 feet high on the top of the laterals, because the trees are red maples, and they are big, tall and straight without to many branchs so let me know if i'm wrong. Oh by the way the tubing is Semi-Ridgid, and I don't have a tubing tool,. and don't want to buy one for 150 Bucks!

I'm sure it is hard to get them tight without a tool. However if you try to zig zag it slightly through the trees it should help to tighten them . You want to keep your line as straight as possible but you also need to have it tight. I would try to get your line tight enought so that you don't have to worry about using your tap for to much ssuport. If you do that then yuo will have alot of ups and downs wherever the tee at the end of your drop hooks in. Having them tight is realy the best answer.

[adk1]

You should post a pic of this. I can see it would sag if you are not going on either side of the tree as you run the line.

[ClarkFarmMapleSyrup]

I'm sure it is hard to get them tight without a tool. However if you try to zig zag it slightly through the trees it should help to tighten them . You want to keep your line as straight as possible but you also need to have it tight. I would try to get your line tight enought so that you don't have to worry about using your tap for to much ssuport. If you do that then yuo will have alot of ups and downs wherever the tee at the end of your drop hooks in. Having them tight is realy the best answer.

I did the zig zag in a smaller bush of laterals, and it worked fabulous, no dip of drops, but theese trees are like in a straight line through the woods on the side of a cricks bank. I am pretty limited on mobility as far as tapping because if I go on the down side of the tree, the side facing the creek, I;d have to tap about 5 or more feet up to keep my lines going down to the collection point at the right angle.

[adk1]

Well, maybe you will need to add some support posts or something here and there

[Greenwich Maple Man]

I did the zig zag in a smaller bush of laterals, and it worked fabulous, no dip of drops, but theese trees are like in a straight line through the woods on the side of a cricks bank. I am pretty limited on mobility as far as tapping because if I go on the down side of the tree, the side facing the creek, I;d have to tap about 5 or more feet up to keep my lines going down to the collection point at the right angle.

Just thinking. Could you do the zig zag deal and then the trees that would be to high on one side make a longer drop so that you can pull it around to the other side and tap it on that side. May not be ideal but would solve both problems. Droopy lines just don't work very well.

[ClarkFarmMapleSyrup]

Probably, or some wire clips to my Lines. I'll try to get a few pics up and uploaded tomarrow night/evening. I'll try my best, but I wont make any garantee I'll work on a particular section until late winter. It seems a swarm of honey bees have moved into a tree (Ash) not but 2 feet from where my lateral comes around a small corner. Today I fled, with tubing and fittings in hand, when they seemed to get stirred up when I noticed them. Came back an hour later only to find them sitting on my drop lines and sitting on my lateral!!!!!

[ClarkFarmMapleSyrup]

Just thinking. Could you do the zig zag deal and then the trees that would be to high on one side make a longer drop so that you can pull it around to the other side and tap it on that side. May not be ideal but would solve both problems. Droopy lines just don't work very well.

That could work, and I should be able to pull it off. I don;t know, but I'm sure I'll bet it figured out by sap season!

[3rdgen.maple]

Okay Im jumping in. The very first question that I have is how long are the laterals? I have lats 100 feet long without any zigs or zags and no sags lol. A tubing tool is a great thing but you do not need one to get tight laterals if your using the slide fittings. Make your connections install slide fitting and pull that lateral as tight as you can get it. Now also remember the warmer the weather the more the stretch and you may find that they will tighten up even more when colder weather hits. Personally I think either your runs are to long and therefore you will need to do the zig zag deal or your not stretching them far enough and also you might not want to get overly concerned with this until winter sets in and tighten them when there is less stretch from the softer tubing. You can get to the point where your lats are so tight in the summer to get the sag out that when they shrink in the cold your going to pull it off the fittings. Same deal with tubing you put out in the winter and then in the summer you notice a sag and go out and stretch the living crap out of it and then come spring you notice a huge drop in vac levels only to find out that the lat you tightened in the summer popped a fitting. You should not have to run any wire to hold your laterals unless you have extremely long runs at which I say you should start considering mainline tubing to run your lats to and then the mainline into your tank.

[ClarkFarmMapleSyrup]

ok, i planned on posting pics of my lines today, but the rain held that idea up!