Advice needed on mainline purchase

[Bruce L]

Need to purchase more mainline for next spring,last new mainline I put up was Leader's 30p.I really like this mainline,but know other companies have similar.Any experience with the other "blues" good or bad,and price wise compared to 30p?
Thanks

[Greenwich Maple Man]

Cost way to much and not needed. Nothing wrong with black. Works just as well. This talk of the sap heating up is sales pitch. If the sap is sitting in your lines that long you have alot bigger problems.

[PerryW]

My black plastic 3/4" mainlines are on their 24th year and I can't figure out a reason to replace them.

[Moser's Maple]

Bruce
we also use the Lapierre blue/purple main line. can't think of the name right now but feel it is pretty well the same as the leader line. I think the price is similar to leaders also. as for your other post.......... if the saddle is leaking try replacing the gasket, or for the price just the whole saddle. have also have heard of others using some silicone between the gasket and pipe line to seal it. as for black pipe......well buy what you want, but we use black for dryline, not wet line. just our personal belief thinking we get a better quality sap.
Jake

[spud]

Cost way to much and not needed. Nothing wrong with black. Works just as well. This talk of the sap heating up is sales pitch. If the sap is sitting in your lines that long you have alot bigger problems.

I agree 100% with Greenwich Maple Man. Once you had black you will never go back (Mainline that is).:)

Spud

[Thad Blaisdell]

crazy to use anything but black..... I am with Spud and greenwich on this one. For the cost black is the only way for me.

[unc23win]

I agree black is the way to go with the savings you can either go bigger diameter or get more length.

[mapleack]

I've got mostly lapierre blue mainline out and like it. Yes black is much cheaper, but I've got a lot of very low grade mains, 1% or less. Having translucent tubing lets you see where the low spots are to tweak it for flow. I'll put black up in steep areas, but not where its flat.

[ennismaple]

Like Maplemack, we have a lot of flat mainlines. Black may be fine for those of you tapping the side of steep hillsides because the sap is doing 25 MPH! Our sap quality has improved since we got rid of our black mainlines. Our best woods is all Lapierre translucent blue and we like working with it.

[JoeJ]

I got a flyer in the mail from CDL for a mainline special until April 30. 1" black is $.198 and 1" blue is $.214. I like the blue and for $.016, I would but the blue.

[Scribner's Mountain Maple]

I just spoke with FW Webb in Barre, VT. They are having a show May 2nd from 12-5 at the BOR and will have prices reduced by 20-30% on tubing.

[Burnt sap]

1000' of black mainline 500 taps going on season # 4 no problems so far. I like the fact that the black line blends in with the woods to. My 2$ used to be cents but inflation ya know.

[markct]

Myself i like the blue mainline, its a little more money but stays straight and is easier to work with, and also keeps sap alot cooler. I had an area with black line that i added onto and used blue, and replaced the last 200ft going to the tank with blue, that season i never saw sap temps more than 5 deg higher than the air temp, this was going by the tank thermometer on my zero tank. The year before i had many sunny days with sap that was 15 to 20 degrees warmer than air temp. Many larger operations like Bascoms etc dont use the blue, altho in my opinion they dont have to worry about sap spoilage like use smaller guys, they generaly boil sap pretty fast, whereas i may have a day i cant boil due to low sap volume, work or other commitments and sap will sit for 48 hours or more. When that happens i like knowing it is as cool as possible and thus will keep better! Well worth the little bit more money in my operation, but everyones is different.

[Bruce L]

Is the blue CDL as good as 30p?,or any problems with it?

[JoeJ]

I have had my original Leader 30p mainline in my woods for 10 seasons now with absolutely no problems. As I have added mainline on the past couple years, I have used both Lapierre and CDL mainline and have
had no problems with either one. I am now exclusively using CDL due to the great pricing

[220 maple]

The best things about black main line, 1. Can't see how filthy the inside walls are, therefore do not require extra cleaning. 2. Black plastic shrinks more during very cold weather, therefore lines come apart at fittings, and absolute savings on boiling time when it warms up, far better to run the sap on the ground in the woods than be stressed with it in the sugarhouse!

Mark 220 Maple

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I only use 30p mainline and I made about 90% light and medium syrup this year and last year and that was after getting rid of all the black mainline. Spend the extra money for it, sap stays much cooler and doesn't grow bacteria nearly as bad as it doesn't heat up. My syrup quality is a ton better than it used to be and this is not the only factor, but one of the biggest. Doesn't have to be Leader brand, but go with something light colored and translucent. I don't like 30p tubing, but love the mainline.

[PerryW]

I hope they have the formulation of the non-black plastic mainlines improved from what it was 20 years ago. I do a lot of land surveying and I used to see a lot of the old blue mainline which got so brittle that it broke into a million pieces. Trouble it, you can't tell how long the new plasitcs will actually last until you wait a decade or two. Though the transulent mainline sure sounds like a good idea, the proven reliability of Black makes me skeptical to change anything.

I think it depends on your sugarbush. My mainlines run though woods on a NE facing slope with lots of softwoods so they don't get a lot of sun. Almost all of my mainlines are 20-24 years old and my grade has been steadily improoving over the years. This year, I made 85 gallons of Fancy before switching to Medium. I have only made 5 gallons of B and 2 gallons of C; all with 20+ mainline and lots old 5/16" that should be in a museum. Also, I have never had black plastic pull apart at the fitting.

[Bruce L]

Brandon,what do you not like about the 30p tubing?
I am considering the max flo grip for this bush,as my brother hunts in there and doesn't want to be doing hurdles when he is chasing Bambi with a gun

[PerryW]

Brandon,what do you not like about the 30p tubing?
I am considering the max flo grip for this bush,as my brother hunts in there and doesn't want to be doing hurdles when he is chasing Bambi with a gun

After pulling taps and washing tubing, I push my laterals as far up the trees as I can reach so the deer, moose and the bambi chasers can walk right under it without having to do the Limbo.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Bruce,

My squirrels seem to have a fetish for the 30p and tear it up but don't bother the other too much. Tell you something that will help everyone on here. When you get into the woods before you touch any tubing, pick up couple handfuls of leaves and rub all over your hands really good. This gets all the salts off your hands and as you work throughout the day do it as it will make a difference in the amount of squirrel damage. The 30p is really easy to work with and going to try some of the memory flex this year.

[Bruce L]

Found a stray cat living in the sugarhouse today,hopefully he will take care of some of my problems with squirrels as long as he doesn't decide to swim in the snotty sap in the pans

[maple flats]

I have black, Lappierre and Leader 30P mains and wet/dry conductors. I like the 30P best. I don't like not being able to see what is happening in the black and the Lappierre needs tightening more often. I have not tried other brands. All of my tubing will be 30P by Leader in the future except possibly a transfer line through a cold ravine that freezes and takes too long to thaw. That may be Black.

[Homestead Maple]

I agree on the tightening problems with tubing other than 30p. I tried a few rolls of tubing that wasn't 30p about 4 years a go and I'm still tightening that stuff. Once 30p is put up I never have touched it again. It's the best tubing to see sap flow in too. The other kinds just aren't light enough in color to see the flow, other than maybe the clear and that's more expensive. The CDL 4 seasons is good tubing but for seeing sap flow quickly, it just doesn't compare.