Leaving Taps in Year Round

[backyardsugarer]

Do any of you know the short/long term impact on tree health when taps are left in until the following year then pulled and put in the new tap hole? I am helping run a maple farm that does that this year and was wondering what the impact could be. Thanks
.
Chris

PS all tree saver spouts are used.

[Fred Henderson]

Well one thing for sure its going to hard for the tap hole to heal over. If you are not concerened about future generations using the trees then go for it. Over the long haul it leave more area the fungis and what not to creep in.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

What's the reasoning other than laziness?? It is just a great place for bacteria to multiply in the tubing and the spout. 8O

[Breezy Lane Sugarworks]

Diddo Brandon!!

[oldemaple]

Chris, I'd certainly have second thoughts about working for an outfit that had such a disregard for our maple industry. If they don't care about the health of the trees, I wonder how much care they put into their finished product.

[brookledge]

Chris
Short term I don't believe it will do anything to the tree. As for the pipe line there will be alot more bacteria present.
Do they just pull the tap in the spring when they are tapping and never wash it?
As for long term(75-100 years) who knows, pipe line has not been around that long. Worse case the hole would heal over the following year.
I'm not advocating it but I don't feel it is best practice at the very least.
I have seen a guy nearby me who does this ocasionally and his trees are fine.
I personally think it is an issue of pulling the taps so the lines can be cleaned. This is probably more important than the impact tto the tree,but it goes hand in hand so my vote is to pull the taps right after the season and clean all the lines.
Keith

[maplehound]

I was at the Vermont maple tour a couple years ago, when a fellow at an all organic farm told us he was studying doing this. He claimed that if he used new spiles and drops every year and left the tap in the tree he could get sap from the same hole without re drilling the tree. He also said that he relized that it wasn't going to be efficient but just wanted to prove he could do it. Needless to say there where alot of people who didn't like the idea and really gave him a hard time over it. I really felt bad for the guy since it seemed that every one who gave him a hard time didn't want to hear that he said it wouldn't be efficient. They just thought that he wanted everyone to do the same thing and to also change there drops and spiles every year.

[royalmaple]

I know that in the northern part of the state on the golden road, all huge sugarbushes up there on paper company land, typically they don't pull taps or wash tubing. I think it is just a logistical nightmare for them, right or wrong that is what they do. Taps stay in and when it is tapping season they drill the new hole, and pull the tap and put it in the new hole.

A small operation up there is 50,000 taps.

But you are not talking apples and apples, if you have 100 taps or 2000 taps, it would only take a couple of days to pull them. These guys would be pulling taps right up till the day it was time to redrill them.

They also just let the first day or so's sap run through the lines to wash them. They put more sap on the ground in a few hours then all of us combined would see in 10 years of gusher runs.

Just how they do it.

[Fred Henderson]

We got a guy around here that leases a lot of trees. He pulls his taps but never washs his tubing. He is a 25K tapper.

[powerdub]

I will admit it. I have'nt washed my tubing in at least 4 years. To be quite honest I have not seen any difference in the ammount or quality of the sap or syrup. Even when I washed my lines I had to let the sap run on the ground for a while. There was always a little something in the lines that needed to be flushed. However I have to add I am a big proponent of replacing or at least cleaning the spout every year. I have seen huge differences in a clean spout vs a dirty one. Nothing beats a new one but cleaning them before you put them in the tree makes a big improvement in how long your trees run at the end of the season. At least for me.

[backyardsugarer]

Here is the deal. They guy I am going to split product with is older and has been doing it for ever. He leases the woods and no he does not clean the lines (I will now that I am involved). There is a good possibility that I will buy him out and take over leasing the woods. I am trying to establish a rapport with the current land owner and want to let her know that I am very concerned with the long term health of the trees. With that said it sounds like short term no one knows for sure but it does bring up some concerns. Long term, who knows but why risk it.

I believe he leaves them in to keep the lines tight and he does not have an easy time getting around so it is one last thing he has to do in the woods. Thanks for the info.

Chris

[mapleman3]

it has been researched that the spouts/spiles hold alot of bacteria, if they are not clean they have a lot of impact on a new drilled hole, introducing that bacteria into the new hole and therefor starting the introduction of that bacteria into your sap right from the get go... and the hole starts to shut down or not produce the amount of sap you would like in the first place. it's not the tubing that determines how much sap you get it's the tree... if your tubing is not clean you will get a breakdown of the sap... if the hole is not clean you get a breakdown of sap production. I think if anything I would rather the tubing be a bit dirty at first and boil right away not to loose sugar content and sap clarity.... but still clean/change my spouts as best I could. thats why all the new style stainless or tap extenders....

just my .02 cents

[ennismaple]

I'm sure the trees would be more prone to becoming infected with fungus or other stressors that will negatively affect the health of the tree. I'd never do it in my bush. If you can get around to tap in the snow you can find the time and energy to at least pull the taps.

There's been the odd year we've had other committments and weren't able to wash all our lines immediately following the season but it doesn't take long to pull all 4,000 taps and get back to washing them later.

[davey]

Chris-
Are you going to working with the Gillis family?