Recommendations for saddle fittings

[Bruce L]

I am going to be new to saddle fittings,Bruce from Leader told me I should be using them and eliminating 3,4,5,or 6 lines all coming to the same star.Are all saddle fittings pretty much the same other than price?

[spud]

I put in 1000 Super Saddles and love them. I can't say I tried all the rest but I will say I would never use anything other then the Super Saddle. I never had a leak all season. I also like the fact that they have a fixed head and do not turn( A turning saddle is a leaking saddle as far as I'm concerned). I also bought the slide fittings from Lapierre and they are great. They work great on the end of the lateral line as you loop around the end tree. They are also great on the start of your lateral line because they have a hook and you can take up the slack in a line if needed. I would never use a hooked connector in my woods because it is just one more possible leak.

Spud

[Randy Brutkoski]

I have tried them all and super saddles are the best. Never had 1 leak.

[Bruce L]

What about the new saddle manifold in Lapierre's catalogue,and do you need to use the $92.00 hole punch to make the holes in the mainline?

[Butcher]

Ive always used a standard drill bit in the same drill I tap with. Dont waste ur money

[sapman]

I did my whole woods with multi-fittings. I've had many leak, especially after hard freezes with sap in the lines. I used a drill. A friend tells me they use the expensive hand drill now, and haven't really had any more issues. But I did get 50 super saddles ( or something very similar from Lapierre) this year to start replacing leakers, when I have the time.

[tuckermtn]

another vote for the Lapierre super saddles. I have the hand drill bit and like the slowness of it.

[ennismaple]

We're used about 3 different versions of the Lapierre saddles and like them all. We use a 3/8" drill bit in a cordless drill rather than the specialty tool they sell.

[philkasza]

We bought the special tool last year for setting up a nearly 2000 tap woods with the strive for 5 rule in mind so we had quite a few holes to drill. We thought it would go very slow drilling by hand but. After that was set up we did a woods with about 125 taps and other saddles it required a smaller hole so we tried drilling with a drill. I hated using the drill, the top of the tubing was all messed up from the drill jumping around and I noticed that it was not drilled nearly as clean. So we ended up drilling with the hand tool and putting some silicone on as back up seal. I will never if at all possible use a drill for mainline because I am all about leak free systems. Just my 2 cents. Sam

[PerryFamily]

A large producer here in Westminster, VT (26K taps +/-) said at the Bellows falls conference he uses a "forstner" ( not sure on the spelling ) woodworking bit. He passed it around . It had electrical tape so not to drill so deep and the super sharp center point keeps it centered for a clean hole. He said it was much faster.

[ennismaple]

To keep the bit from walking around on the top of the pipe I push hard (with the bit not spinning) until it dimples the top of the pipe. The bit will then work its way into the plastic as you pull the trigger on the drill. Make sure to use the slowest speed setting.