Just a few questions on tapping technique

[MJFlores]

Hi all, I'll try to keep this short with as few questions as possible. Hopefully others have the same questions I have and can learn from this post. I'm new to making syrup, and am looking forward to my 3rd season beginning next month. My location is south/ central NH (Deerfield NH). I began as something to do with my young son who was 5 at the time in 2012. That was a tough year around here from what I was reading on here but we had about 8 taps and made around 12 ounces of syrup. We were hooked! Last year we increased to 15 taps (all buckets) and managed to make almost a gallon and half! That was pretty good for us. My questions are, I dont think I'm getting as much sap from my trees and am looking for the experts to help me "tweak" my tapping technique to get more sap, if that's even possible. I have 42 acres here of woods, with a mix of hardwood and softwood. I don't think I have any Sugar Maples, so I'm tapping Red maples. There could be a few Silver Maples also, but all the leaves I'm sound really look like reds. Anyway, one thing I plan to do is purchase a real tapping bit...the last 2 years I've used a regular 7/16th bit from the hardware store. My taps are the metal ones with the hook attached (aluminum). End of season I washed them in bleach and water to help reduce any bacteria on them. What I've done is, I drill the hole at a slight angle to a depth I think is good and then hang the bucket. My questions come from the low sap amount I get. I've never had a bucket over flow like I've read, and don't think I've ever collected more than 5 gallons from 15 taps in one day. usually it's just a gallon or two. If I get 3 gallons in a day I'm happy but sometimes I get just a half gallon. The few trees along the driveway in the most sun seem to be my best trees regardless of size, the ones in thick woods dont seem to yeild much sap at all. Is this normal? What I'm wondering is, once I get a real tapping bit should I dril at a slight angle still or not? How deep should I drill the hole (maybe I'm not drilling deep enough or too deep). Lastly, the trees in the woods, should they run the same as all the others? Maybe I need to wait until later in the year on those? I try to pull taps at the end of March when mine really slow down but maybe they're just sealing back up and need t be re-drilled? I guess I need a tapping 101 refresher! I learned everything I know from this site so we've done pretty good so far. I'm just looking to start out the upcoming season the best way I can so we can experience that big sap run everyone keeps talking about. Looking forward to the expert advice, and hope everyone's season is a great one!

[shane hickey]

See if can answer some of theses questions from Michigan lol. 1 Dont drill in a angle it makes the hole oval not round which sap will run around the spoke in stead of through it. 2 sugar maples is all I tap not sure what the sugar content nor yield will be on other trees like red maples I'm sure someone else can answer that. 3 the trees in the middle of our woods yield a little less then the road side and sugar content is lower. It also may depend on when your tapping to early to late makes a difference. A regular tapping bit will defiantly help the hole must be clean and straight take your time do it rite remember its a one shot deal unless you want your tree full of holes. I've never redrilled or reamed out holes. But I guess a guy could.hope this helps shane

[maple flats]

Yes, tap on a slight uphill angle, but never wobble the drill, that is what makes the oval holes. Once started the bit must go in perfectly straight, regardless of the angle. You should get about 1 qt of syrup on each bucket in a typical season. The bit is very critical. A maple bit leaves a perfect hole, most others don't leave a clean hole on the inside sides of the hole, that then costs production. Drill the holes about 2" deep. Locate last years hole and move about 2-3" to the side and go up or down about 6-8". Drill there, hole with slight up angle (so sap does not freeze in the hole and loosen the tap.) Being so few and being on buckets, wait until a nice warm day (40's) and tap. I'd suggest you get new taps, for buckets that are 5/16" taps (hole size), they heal faster and are better for the tree.
Trees vary, I've had (back when I had 100 buckets) taps that filled the bucket, but most gave 1/3-2/3 on a good day (with 4 gal buckets). Reds run almost as well as sugars, but the sugar % is slightly less. The sugar on any given tree is directly related to the canopy size and the amount of sun it got last growing season. For sure, a roadside Red is better than a deep woods sugar in sugar% usually.
Keep the bit clean, I even sterilize my bits each day and don't touch the bit with my hands (or mouth), these things contaminate the bit which makes a hole that will start healing faster. You should get on average 1-1.5 gal of sap on most good days from each tap. Another thing, use the tapping bit and run the drill on high speed, it cleans and cuts better on fast. Don't over tap, on 12-17" diameter trees at tapping height, 1 tap, 18-25" 2 taps and over 26" 3, never more. When tapping don't favor one side, be at random directions, not all south or such.

[Ahnohta2]

One thing you could do instead of redrilling hole is drill some of em 1 week after first set. These later ones will not dry out at same time as first set. I would rec. in future to drop to 5/16" taps. I have found tree heals faster. Yes ones in woods will usually produce less sap then your ones along driveway. Each year, for ones in woods, you could cut a few non-maple nearby and give room for the maple canopy to grow.

[happy thoughts]

Your yields do seem low but that said, from my own limited experience, reds can be stingy producers. If that's all you have to tap and you're only looking to make enough for home use, keep the reliable producing trees/taps and try new trees over the past season's low yielding ones if you have enough trees. Or consider vacuum. Or tap some silvers.

You also don't say how large the trees are you're tapping. Larger trees give more sap. You also don't say when you usually tap. With the limited number of taps you have, you can afford to wait until the weather is just right. Pulling taps in late March seems a little early to me since here in PA where the weather is warmer, it's usually early April*before the sap is done here. Maybe your taps are drying out as you suspect.You're only going to get so many weeks out of a tap on gravity and tapping too soon may limit your yields on buckets. 4-5 weeks on a gravity tap is about what you can expect assuming the weather doesn't get too warm.

An inch to an inch and a half deep hole should be deep enough. The deeper the hole the more internal injury to the tree which affects over all tree health and future tapping sites. How close to previous taps are you placing new taps? Putting them too close to old sites may also be part of the problem.

Trees that get open sun will be more productive than trees growing in crowded woods. That's the most likely reason your driveway trees are better producers. Thinning the woods around trees you will be tapping improves yields so that may be something else to consider in the future.

Whatever you get I know you'll enjoy it. Your son will also have happy memories for the rest of his life. When all is said and done, I suppose that's the only yield that really counts :).

Best wishes for a great season!

[Drew Pond Maple]

I also tap red maples and don't get great volume. I learned the hard way when I set out to put up my tubing system 2 years ago thinking I would get a gallon per tap and was disappointed to get only 65 gallons on my best day. The reason was small woods trees.
Being from about 40 miles north of you I think that the first couple of weeks of April would be the end of our season.
I also used an old tapping bit that someone gave me (probably dull), so could've made a poor hole. I will be buying a new one this year. As far as depth, 1.5"-2" I'd guess.
One other thing, some of the bark split fairly high after I tapped and the holes were wet all season, maybe keeping volume down.
I can't comment on the drill angle cuz I'm not real sure, although Maple Flats makes a real good point. I never thought of the sap freezing and pushing the tap out.

Good luck

[MJFlores]

Thanks for the responses everyone. To answer some questions, the trees I tap are roughly "basket ball" thickness and up but none are the huge trees some get to tap. The two smallest trees are ones right along the driveway in sun all day so they are my best ones (at least the two years I've been doing it). I have a sort of a trail through the woods where my son and I go after I get home from work, with our head lamps and 5 gallon bucket to collect the sap. It really is a lot of fun. We only boil on weekends but last year a few times I boiled mid week just to reduce several gallons of sap into one gallon. We keep it all in the fridge and it really can start to take up some room! Most of the tree are in the deep woods unfortunately so it sounds like I may be getting what these trees are going to give. I like the idea of clearing around some of the maples in the woods to get them more sun. As for tapping since I've only been at it two years now the ones I tapped twice I was sure to stay away from where it was tapped the year before so I'll be sure to do that again this year. Looks like a really need to invest in a good real tapping bit. Can anyone recommend one?...and where to order from? I think I'll mark it with tape so I stay at the 1.5 inch depth. Thanks again everyone.