My trees are a mess!

[Starting Small]

So I tapped a group of trees last week. I nailed in the tees into the tree to secure the line tight. Then I retightened and renailed and again and again. Now the trees look lotally wet from where all of the nails went in. Does this effect overall tree health and production?

[cpmaple]

Tree health i would say yes and you should have put a wire around tree with tubing on it for protection then through the hole in the tee that would have been good. but what you did is make more wounds for the tree to heal.

[Starting Small]

That makes sense, I had not heard about the wire in the tube I just assumed that with the hole in the tee that a nail went in it. Then afterwards I saw what happened and figured that I did something wrong. So each tree needs to have a wire and tube around it, is that correct?

[adk1]

Do yourself a favor and buy the North American Maple PRoducers Manual. IT is the bible of sugarin

[SevenCreeksSap]

At least you know your trees are running. If they are big enough maybe use those nail holes as your tap hole when you drill.

Look through posts in this section, you'll see lots of ideas on running tubing. I'm just learning it myself but very basically run the wire around your end tree farthest from your bucket/tank and just pull the tubing tight, not attached to the trees except by your drop/tap. Pin it tight at your collection tank somehow. There are end rings and other pieces but you can make do without those if you dont have. this way you can tighten if you get sags, just tighten the whole line. Make sure you have some drop tree to tree for flow.

Some of the manufacturers have youtube vids too. google lapierre on youtube and watch some video for ideas. probably some of the other big names too. More holes can definitely open the tree up to environmental or bug problems down the road.

[Starting Small]

So am I understanding this correctly that you run the wire exactly along where you want the tube to go. Then you somehow attach thewire and tubing together. Is that the general idea? Right now my tubing has no wire it is just strung tightly from tree to tree.

[Brent]

One lesson that is not widely know I learned from a local producer. He had a chunk of aluminum machined to have a taper like a spile, a hole drilled through it and the other end threaded to accept a vacuum / pressure gauge. He had it in a maple tree right outside his shop door.

On the best days the pressure ran up to 22 psi !!!!
and and night it dropped to 8" of vacuum.

Trees are incredible hyydraulic pumps. The strenght of bark is amazing.

You've discovered what happens when you damage the tree's natural pressure vessel .... the bark.

[SevenCreeksSap]

So am I understanding this correctly that you run the wire exactly along where you want the tube to go. Then you somehow attach thewire and tubing together. Is that the general idea? Right now my tubing has no wire it is just strung tightly from tree to tree.

If its 5/16tubing you souldnt need wire to hold it up. just stretch it tight enough not to sag. use wire through an old piece of tubing or garden hose to wrap around and protect your end tree. attach your drop tee to that wire. Thats your anchor for that end of your tubing. run your tubing weaving back and forth on opposite sides of your trees to help hold tension to your tank. at the last tree by your tank/bucket, pin it somehow so you dont lose tension, but not a nail or anything permanent so if you get a sag you can retighten. wrap it around the tree or end rings are good here. Maybe pin it right to your collection vessel. I have some run right into a 55 gal barrel and just drilled a slghtly undersized hole and crammed it in. stays tight enough but I had to pin the barrel down. youll figure something out.

[Russell Lampron]

So am I understanding this correctly that you run the wire exactly along where you want the tube to go. Then you somehow attach thewire and tubing together. Is that the general idea? Right now my tubing has no wire it is just strung tightly from tree to tree.

If there is a producer near you with tubing go introduce yourself to him and take a walk in his woods to see what he has done. Most sugarmakers are glad to show a newbie how to do it. I show my woods off a lot. You have a standing invite if you are ever in Loudon NH.

[maple flats]

If you are talking about the 5/16" tubing (the lateral) use no nails nor wire. Just start at the highest tree, loop around it using either an end ring fitting or other fitting designed for this and then run the tubing to the lowest and last tree, going serpentine, one side then the other for maple and non maple to support the line. Pull it tight and connect it to your mainline or collection vessel. On gravity with little to medium slope run maybe 10-15 taps / lateral and make it up to 100 or 125' long max. On gravity with steep slope (over 8-10% (8-10' drop per 100'). With the steep slope you can run much longer and put as many as 35-40 taps/lateral, but don't tap in the last 20' drop to the tank. If you have trees to tap there use another lateral. The weight of the sap in the filled lateral on the steep slope will create a natural vacuum, if you tap in the lower 20' drop those taps can actually be putting pressure on that tree and send some of the sap in the line into those trees. To tighten as the season progesses just slide the end ring to take up some slack on the end tree. Properly installed laterals generally don't need much if any tightening until the second year and beyond. Another way to tighten is to use something to protect the line and then pull sideways to another tree. This is common practice for mainlines but can also be used for laterals if needed.
Have fun!

[northwoods_forestry]

Hey Maple Flats - Your paragraph on how to run a gravity lateral has got to be the best, most concise description I have yet read. Very nice!