tuolumne
03-19-2014, 06:48 PM
I have been quite impressed with 3/16" vacuum flow. We have one line with 20 taps at the homestead, and two lines at another location; one with 7 taps, and one with 26. All have attained "maximum theoretical" vacuum levels for the elevation change at some point. I began to wonder just how few taps could fill a line. Today we tapped two trees. Each has 6" of 5/16 from the tap and transitions to 3/16" for about 5' vertically into a 5 gallon pail.
Watching things start up was very interesting. The first drop of sap ran down the side of the 5/16 and through the connector. When it hit the 3/16 it actually filled the tube from wall to wall and formed a slug of sap about 1/4" tall that slowly began its descent. Meanwhile a few more drips had gathered and the next slug was about 1" long. This must have been creating a very small vacuum already, because the sap began to drip a bit faster. At this point, sap was falling fast enought that a continuous column began to form. After several minutes, the entire 5' of 3/16 was full and dripping into the bucket.
We will be measuring our yield on these trees and comparing to the rest of the buckets. I know that 2 data points is not much, but this has intriguing possibilities. The few inches of vacuum created could make a significant difference. I thought I would share this idea to see if anyone else wants to try it.
Should we try one from a ladder? It would be interesting to see the yields on a single tree with a 20' drop of 3/16. After all, if we tap all our trees at this height we can preserve a nice un-tapped veneer log on each tree for the future generation!
Watching things start up was very interesting. The first drop of sap ran down the side of the 5/16 and through the connector. When it hit the 3/16 it actually filled the tube from wall to wall and formed a slug of sap about 1/4" tall that slowly began its descent. Meanwhile a few more drips had gathered and the next slug was about 1" long. This must have been creating a very small vacuum already, because the sap began to drip a bit faster. At this point, sap was falling fast enought that a continuous column began to form. After several minutes, the entire 5' of 3/16 was full and dripping into the bucket.
We will be measuring our yield on these trees and comparing to the rest of the buckets. I know that 2 data points is not much, but this has intriguing possibilities. The few inches of vacuum created could make a significant difference. I thought I would share this idea to see if anyone else wants to try it.
Should we try one from a ladder? It would be interesting to see the yields on a single tree with a 20' drop of 3/16. After all, if we tap all our trees at this height we can preserve a nice un-tapped veneer log on each tree for the future generation!