2nd tap

[bairdswift]

What do you think of putting a 2nd pipe line tap into a hanging bucket? Trying to add more taps.

[Ausable]

Hi Bairdswift - Not quite sure what you mean - But - I can tell You what I did this year. Picked up some 4 and 5 gallon buckets with lids and where i have a few maples close together - I bought some plastic tubing spiles and plastic drop line - tapped the trees and run the tubing from the spiles to the plastic buckets thru holes I drilled in the lids - so the wind wouldn't cause problems - put a chunk of slab wood on the lid to hold things in place. the buckets are sitting on the ground of course. So far it has been working pretty good. If You have metal spiles and hooks - you can hang anything on them to collect sap --Ice cream buckets, milk jugs, coffee cans - whatever ya have. ---Mike---

[mapleman3]

Depends on the tree....some taps may run good some not much....I have had some fill a galvanized sap bucket to the top daily...one tap...so you could end up wasting sap onto the ground

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[happy thoughts]

I'm not quite sure what you mean either but I also run taps joined with short pieces of tubing into a common collection jug. In my case I use 5 gallon water jugs that sit on the ground. Food grade buckets with lids will also work.

I probably wouldn't collect 2 taps into a hanging bucket. A full bucket is a lot of weight to suspend off a tap that's only s short distance into the tree. At about eight pounds a gallon, and with a bucket that holds like 3.5 gallons, that's almost 30 lbs hanging there on a short piece of metal. I'd think you'd eventually end up with a leaky tap if not ending up pulling the whole thing out. Also, you could easily fill that bucket on a good day. Last year I even had some 5 gallon jugs overflow and I collect twice daily whenever possible. If you're going to join taps you're going to want something that holds more volume.

re plastic buckets- I have some set aside for sap collection and if I ever use them for that, I was thinking of drilling them at the side top. That way the lids would work better to keep rain out.

[RileySugarbush]

I do exactly that, only with sap sacks. On big and health trees, I add a tap a bit higher and to the side and run a drop into the the sap sack holder. Not low enough to siphon back at night, which apparently can happen. All taps 5/16. Aluminum for the sap sack and plastic for the drop.

Since I live right at the bush, I can keep track of what might run over, but honestly that would be a great problem to have and I have never had it!

[Ausable]

I do exactly that, only with sap sacks. On big and health trees, I add a tap a bit higher and to the side and run a drop into the the sap sack holder. Not low enough to siphon back at night, which apparently can happen. All taps 5/16. Aluminum for the sap sack and plastic for the drop.

Since I live right at the bush, I can keep track of what might run over, but honestly that would be a great problem to have and I have never had it!

John - I think You figured out exactly what he meant - What You do with Your sap sacks has never occurred to me. So in Bairds case - If he has a pail hanging from a spile hook on a large maple - he could place a tubing spile higher on the tree and run a length of tube from his tubing spile and into the pail. Ha - learn something every day. Thanks Baird for the question and thanks John for the answer.........Mike

[bairdswift]

That was my question. Any info on homemade sap sacks?

[getting started]

I do the same thing by running a drop into my buckets, seems to work out great,I think that the tubing spout and drop line seem to run longer than the metal spile !