modifying spiles?

[clydefrog]

this is our first year seriously tapping and im planning on using some 3/8 od poly fittings i have laying around for spiles. do i need to drill holes in them or cut a groove in them to allow the sap to enter from the bottom or sides?

[happy thoughts]

No, that shouldn't be necessary. Commercial spiles don't have them. I'd just try to leave a little space behind them in the tap hole so watch how deep you drive them in. Good luck and let us know how they work out. As I remember, someone else had success with something similar last year.

[mustanger]

I started tapping using the same thing. You don't have to do anything to them. Just drill your tree and tap them in part way. There is a better thing to do if you want to consider it, and that is using the new IPL smart spouts. They are only 17 cents apiece and are 5/16 diameter. Smaller hole means less damage to the tree and they will work better than the poly fittings. I don't know what I did wrong with the poly fittings, but they would leak around the sides of the hole sometimes. I put them in and attached a tube which I then ran down to a gallon milk jug. I soon switched to ss 5/16 spouts and they worked a lot better for me. The new plastic ones are cheap enough to through away at the end of the year. Reusing spouts can give you a sap yield loss due to bacterial contamination. Bascom sells the IPL smart spouts at .17 plus shipping. I bought and plan to use several of them this year. Either way you go, I hope it works well for you and you enjoy a good season.