markcasper
04-07-2006, 12:58 AM
I have an interesting phenomonom that happened on Wenesday. I had boiled all night and into Wed. morning getting done at 4 a.m. I shut the pump off in the 600 tap, gas engine woods due to sap that sometimes gets sucked down the air lines in the morning before the discharge lines thaw.
Anyway, it was shut off Tuesday night as there was a hard freeze going to take place. I figured that if it froze good and hard, there'd be no need and little sap loss if I'd just get up there in the early afternoon to get the pump running. I got to the tanks around 3 p.m. (remember time change) and only had gathered 250 gallons and the trees appeared to be running like crap, even though it had gotten to 23 the night before. I turned the pump on and by the time i had left, the releasers were tripping as good and as often as any good day.
I went to collect at my other woods a mile to the south (same elevation). There the pump was left running all night, so the trees had vacuum immedialtely upon any sap starting to flow. I was SHOCKED!! There was at least 275 gallons from 250-260 taps. I could not believe what i was seeing.
My question is this: Do trees on vacuum all season tend to get "addicted" to vacuum and reguardless if theres ideal natural conditions for the sap to run or not??? I fogot to mention that I had 15 taps on bags next to the 600 tap pump and I got 3 - 5 gallon pail fulls of sap that were full to the brim. Thats exactly 1 gallon per tap under natural conditions. Why did the 600 taps NOT perform under natural conditions? All of my north taps had the best run ever this year on April 5th. Why when turning the pump on, there was sap flow like any other ordinary good day? It baffles me to this point of coming on here and asking.
I personally believe that these trees had grown addicted to the vacuum and were being greedy b/c they were not getting it. Maybe you all think I am nuts, but this whole thing and what I saw was nuts! You know how people and animals get addicted to things, is this the same for trees and vacuum. Being that there was another woods that was getting vacuum, does that help give an idea?. All of the woods on vacuum are vitually the same south slanting posistion and all were tapped in the same week. MARK
Anyway, it was shut off Tuesday night as there was a hard freeze going to take place. I figured that if it froze good and hard, there'd be no need and little sap loss if I'd just get up there in the early afternoon to get the pump running. I got to the tanks around 3 p.m. (remember time change) and only had gathered 250 gallons and the trees appeared to be running like crap, even though it had gotten to 23 the night before. I turned the pump on and by the time i had left, the releasers were tripping as good and as often as any good day.
I went to collect at my other woods a mile to the south (same elevation). There the pump was left running all night, so the trees had vacuum immedialtely upon any sap starting to flow. I was SHOCKED!! There was at least 275 gallons from 250-260 taps. I could not believe what i was seeing.
My question is this: Do trees on vacuum all season tend to get "addicted" to vacuum and reguardless if theres ideal natural conditions for the sap to run or not??? I fogot to mention that I had 15 taps on bags next to the 600 tap pump and I got 3 - 5 gallon pail fulls of sap that were full to the brim. Thats exactly 1 gallon per tap under natural conditions. Why did the 600 taps NOT perform under natural conditions? All of my north taps had the best run ever this year on April 5th. Why when turning the pump on, there was sap flow like any other ordinary good day? It baffles me to this point of coming on here and asking.
I personally believe that these trees had grown addicted to the vacuum and were being greedy b/c they were not getting it. Maybe you all think I am nuts, but this whole thing and what I saw was nuts! You know how people and animals get addicted to things, is this the same for trees and vacuum. Being that there was another woods that was getting vacuum, does that help give an idea?. All of the woods on vacuum are vitually the same south slanting posistion and all were tapped in the same week. MARK