Post spacing for wired 3/4 mainline?

[cadocter]

I am redoing our mainline this year and I am curious to know how far apart the posts need to be. The mainline is 3/4 and is wired. Right now the posts are around 100 yards apart, give or take. I figured I would check with the experts before I screwed it up. Haha. Thanks!

[spud]

I am redoing our mainline this year and I am curious to know how far apart the posts need to be. The mainline is 3/4 and is wired. Right now the posts are around 100 yards apart, give or take. I figured I would check with the experts before I screwed it up. Haha. Thanks!

My wet/dry lines have post every 12-16 feet. My one inch mainlines have post anywhere from 20 to 75 feet or so.

Spud

[cadocter]

Spud, do you have a separate wire tensioner/ratcheter at every other post?

[maple flats]

That will vary according to the slope, the flatter the section the more important a post will be.

[spud]

Spud, do you have a separate wire tensioner/ratcheter at every other post?

I have a ratchet on one end and a gripple on the other. My wire runs the length of the mainline with no ratchets in between. The post are only where needed depending on slope.

Spud

[red maples]

its kinda unique to the landscape. If you see dips you need a side tie. I don't think there is a perfect distance. if you have a steep slope less side ties pretty flat you need more to keep out those dips in the mainline.

[Buffalo Creek Sugar Camp]

If there are a lot of trees where you are running the line, you can side tie to them and eliminate the ratchet. Even with a moderate slope, with a few extra side ties, you may not even need posts if you side tie tight enough.

[cadocter]

Thanks guys for all the info! Well the slope is pretty flat and the mainline goes down a creek bed so some of the nearest trees are 15 to 20 feet if I'm lucky. I was kind of thinking of trying to put a post every 100 feet or so and put a new ratcheter. I was hoping this would keep the line from sagging and me from close-lining myself on side-ties. Haha. Do you think this would work?

[ennismaple]

We have a lot of flat mainlines because someone didn't have maple syrup production in mind when they created the landscape on our farm! We have steel fence posts every 20ft in some areas to keep the sags out of the mainline.

[maple flats]

If you are fairly flat I doubt every 100' is enough. Consider this, the line will be 3/4", thus a sag of only 3/4" creates a blockage, but without vacuum the issue is not the blockage, just the pool held in the sag. That is where sap could set for extended periods of time, spoiling some sap by allowing micro organisims to multiply (bacteria). You will get darker syrup and since the bacteria feed on sugar you will get less syrup. This however might just be academic, the real amount of lost syrup potential might be quite small. When you get vacuum (if ever) the sag will mean more because of lost vacuum transfer. At that time you might consider a sap ladder but for now just go for it and have fun. You are young, you have time on your side. Learn as you go.

[cadocter]

Thanks again guys! Dave, would you think like every 75 feet then with a separate wire and ratcheter between each post? I have a few high-tensile treated fence posts and a few telephone poles that I can cut into posts. I was planning on using the telephone posts at the end and halfway between the ends. Then, use the treated fence posts in between the telephone posts, if that makes sense?

[mapleack]

Thanks again guys! Dave, would you think like every 75 feet then with a separate wire and ratcheter between each post? I have a few high-tensile treated fence posts and a few telephone poles that I can cut into posts. I was planning on using the telephone posts at the end and halfway between the ends. Then, use the treated fence posts in between the telephone posts, if that makes sense?
If it's pretty flat you may need a post to side tie every 20ft, I've got some thats about 2% grade and I've got a post or tree every 20 ft. You only need one ratchet for every 1,000 feet or more, get it up close, get all the side ties done, then tighten the ratchet. Ratchets are expensive, don't use extra when you don't need to. If you have to many ratchets and the pipe goes under the ratchet you'll have dip that will freeze. The telephone poles you put at the ends need to be braced with other posts just like the corners in a high tensile fence pasture. If you dont the wire tension will slowly pull the posts over and you'll have to keep tightening your mainline.