This is really bothering me!

[Starting Small]

Has anyone else noticed this....I have about 50 taps on gravity lines. A whopping 13 gallons in 2 days when everyone else is getting over a gallon per tap per day. So I decided to experiment with 3 buckets in my yard. From 9:30 in the morning to 9:00 at night today I got close to a gallon per tap from them. Is this normal to get lower sap production on gravity lines? Thanks,
-Dave

[325abn]

Are you using 7/16 taps on the buckets? I think it is common to get less from gravity tubing.

[Starting Small]

Both the buckets and the gravity lines are 5/16. I kept it the same to attempt to limit variables.

[shane hickey]

Buckets always out yield tubing but alot more work

[Starting Small]

I feel better knowing that it is not just me! I will be going to vacuum next year anyway but if I wasn't I would have rethought my decision to go to tubing. I figure I am getting around a quarter of the sap I would have gotten from buckets. Even though there would be more work involved it would be worth getting the extra sap. We are scrounging to get enough to boil on my little 2X3. Next year I will go to vacuum and then be overrun with sap for my 2X3! Feast of famine I guess. I appreciate the help,
-Dave

[Cake O' Maple]

Buckets always out yield tubing but alot more work

Haven't heard this. Why?! Understanding that we're talking gravity tubing here...I would think it would be the same as buckets.

Does it matter if the buckets are hanging on spiles or have drop tubes into them?

Inquiring (and sap-greedy) minds want to know!

[TunbridgeDave]

Also remember that the trees in your yard are probably in a more open area so their canopy is bigger and gets more sun, have less competition from other trees in the woods, thaw earlier than the others, and are healthier in general. Roadside trees almost always beat woods trees for that very reason.

[wildlifewarrior]

Starting small is my co-tapper. I am wondering if venting the tubing would cause it to act like buckets. Putting a T in upside down on the anchor line. I just don't understand how tubing for some people can get 30 gallons/day on 50 taps and we get 6-8. Would haveing it flow into a .5inch mainline increase flow instead of the 5/16 we have? The 5/16 is full of sap but dripping into our barrel at a rate which gets us around 1 gal every 8-11 hours if I did my math correct for all of our taps combine.

Thanks
Mike

[maple flats]

Do not vent. You will just introduce air containing micro organisims and get less. A vent initially gives a surge of sap, but only until the lateral drains, then you get less. For gravity tubing try to get as tight as possible and as much slope as you can on the laterals. Once you enter a mainline you can go as low as 1'/100 drop, but 2' is better. Your biggest issue is generally dips. Any dip in the line creats a blockage that makes the sap flow have to push sap over the rise downstream of the dip, thus losing any natural vacuum you might get from overall slope.

[Starting Small]

Our land is flat so the only drop that we get is from tapping trees high. Is tubing not worth it on flat land? Why is venting tubing (from a bacteria standpoint) any different than having buckets exposed to air?
-Dave

[82cabby]

I run about 30 buckets and 50-60 taps on tubing with a drop ranging from 1 in 50 to 1 in 20. I have noticed that the buckets out perform the tubing on days where sap is frozen in the lines and it takes a long time to thaw. The lines out perform the buckets on days when the 'gravity vaccum' can give an assist. Ie long stretches of 40 degree weather.

As a result I run buckets where I can easily get the tractor to them for collection and tubing on the hills where I can not. Seems like a decent compromise.

I also run buckets on the trees near the evaporator. As they fill I can just grab them and dump them in.

[DonMcJr]

I've got 16 Gallons from 10 buckets and about 12 Gallons from 15 taps on tube. Gravity with maybe a 10 foot slope.

1st year so we'll see what happens when it warms up so far only one day it hit 40 but not much sun and it flowed pretty good from the tube line....

[adk1]

Properly installed tubing will always produce more sap than buckets especially if there is good grade..Once the lateral line becomes full of sap, it will start to create a vacume at the taphole thereby pulling more sap out of the tree. Of course, the more grade the better.

[Starting Small]

Properly installed tubing will always produce more sap than buckets especially if there is good grade..Once the lateral line becomes full of sap, it will start to create a vacume at the taphole thereby pulling more sap out of the tree. Of course, the more grade the better.

That is what I always thought too, I just do not know why the production has been so low. Tubes are tight, everything is downhill at about a 8% grade. I cant wait to go on vacuum next year. I hate scrimping to try and get enough sap to boil. I thought on a 2X3 I would be having difficulty keeping up with the sap from 50 taps. I have another10 taps I can put on buckets or tubing down the road from me. I am going to do those on buckets and see if the results hold up.

[adk1]

How deep RU tapping and what are you using for a spout

[Starting Small]

How deep RU tapping and what are you using for a spout

About 2-2.5 in deep and we are using the clear seasonal spouts.

-Dave

[Starting Small]

So we are moving into the second phase of the experiment. We are going to replace the 5/16 line with 3/4 inch water pipe. We will have 5-10 taps per lateral going into the tubing and see if this helps with volume of sap. We will lose natural vacuum but I am hoping to get closer to what I would have gotten if we did all buckets. I will keep you updated with the results. Thanks for everyones help!
-Dave

[adk1]

you still might get natural vac..it all depends on the amt of sap in the lines, if it is a good run and they fill the lines then you will get natural vac. probably unlikely with that number of taps but you never know