3/16 tubing setup

[Biz]

Trying some 3/16 gravity tubing for the first time. I have a run of about 20 red maple taps on a slight grade, about 150-200' of tubing - zigzagged between trees, keeping a constant pitch - and about 12' of total drop. How important is it to keep the line tight, and what is the best way to do it? Should I wrap the tubing around trees and rely on friction to hold it off the ground? Or tie off to keep tension? What is the best way to hold tension at the ends? Thanks for any suggestions. Taps are going in this weekend.

Dave

[BlueberryHill]

You want it tight. I just pull mine nice and tight and it stays up on the trees no problem. Never had to tie off on anything. Sometimes you get lucky and you can use the crotch of a tree or a burl or something to help keep things from moving, but it's usually not necessary. You can yank pretty hard on the tubing, although it will stretch out (damage it) if you pull way too hard. I figured out what "too tight" was on my first day messing with the stuff. No big deal. Just cut out the 6" section that was overstretched and slapped in a straight connector.

Use and end-of-line "Y" connector at the top and bottom of the line. As you are cutting in your drop lines, I have found its easy to cut out an extra foot, or whatever you need to, in order to tighten things up if you need to. Then I just save those cutout sections for making more drop lines.

[wurmdert]

Alot of people are also using unions with the wire clip for the tank end of the line and the elbow with a hook for the upper end of line. both available from D&G

[Sandersyrup]

I use that bright yellow hollow plastic braided rope to hold mine at each end. Just make a clean cut and thread the tube into it about a foot and then thread it out the side of the rope then I use a zip tie to hold the fray together and prevent the rope from unweaving. It works like a charm and you can even continue to tighten the line during the season.


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[BlueberryHill]

Agree that the elbow with the hook is the way to go. I only have 6 runs set up and I had the "Y"s in stock so I just went with it. Next time I'm at a store that has the elbow hook things I will grab some cause it's gotta be easier to set up.

[Biz]

Thanks all - I have some 1/4" yellow nylon rope that will fit the 3/16 tubing. Also some black nylon rope, large size, for the 5/16". Will have to use a standard tee for the end and loop it back.