Taps per tree

[brikel]

What is the rule of thumb for taps per tree. I looked on here for older posts but I am not having any luck! thanks

[optionguru]

If your arms touch when hugging the tree, one tap. If they don't touch two taps. That's what we do anyway.

[Marvel26]

I am a noob, but I have been using the 10" min diameter for one tap, one more tap for every 6" in dia after that to a max of 4. I allow exceptions as I have a "clump-o-tree" with 6 independent trunks each being 18+" in dia.....I have one tap in each trunk.

10" = 31.40" circumference
16" = 50.24"
24" = 75.36"

Practically, I have a 72" wingspan so if I can hug it and my fingers touch the middle of my fore arm its a 2 tapper if I can hug the tree and my fingers don't touch at all its a 3 tapper.

[Marvel26]

oops, I was typing as optionguru posted. I use the old school method which is less conservative...

[Sugarmaker]

At least one:)!
Regards,
Chris

[Oddmott]

We've got a young bush with lots of smaller trees and only a few matures. So we're pretty conservative in what we tap, and how many taps we put in each.

12-14" diameter for 1 tap
18-22" diameter for 2 taps
24" diameter for 3 taps and we never do more than 3 on a single trunk

On our 12-14" trees we're also only tapping them once every other year. Otherwise they'll fill up with holes long before the rest of our trees mature to tappable sizes.

[Michael Greer]

The fellow I learned from years ago tapped every 18 inches as he went arounf the trunk. This was too much, and though he was a greedy horses-***, he never killed any trees. The larger problem seems to be in finding a clear spot to tap after a few years. You have to visualize that scar in the wood and tap somewhere else. Too many scars and you end up tapping seven feet off the ground just to find healthy wood.

[n8hutch]

I agree with the guys that said no more than three regardless of how big the tree is, or one tap per trunk on cluster trees. But if you have a maple that is 5-6 ft in diameter some big old roadside monster I have seen guys put 5-6 buckets on trees like that near me. Its probably not going to hurt them. I think the tapping guidelines put out by UVM are a good place to start but occasionally you might have exceptions to the rule. We have a guy near us that puts 2- 7/16 spiles side by side in each bucket. Needless to say not too many people let him tap there trees anymore. When in doubt put the tree first.good luck this season.

[crazyjackcsa]

All my trees are in my yard. All are healthy, huge crowns, no competition. I've been a little aggressive on my tapping for going on five years now with no I'll effects to the trees.

I tap on a couple that are about 8 inches across.Single tap

On a tree with 18" Three taps.

24" is four taps.

[MustardSeedMum]

There is a person a few streets away from me who has those blue hanging buckets all around his trees. I think I counted at least 5 just on the side of 1 tree facing the road. No idea if there are any on the other side of the tree. I'd say the diameter of those trees are around 2-2 1/2'?? He probably has 20 just on 4 trees at least. :o

I always mutter "poor trees" everytime I pass them.

[Big_Eddy]

I only ever put 1 tap in a tree. I have more trees than I will ever tap so if I want more sap I tap another tree, rather than putting more holes in the same ones. Depends on your situation.

[bcarpenter]

I am also a subscriber to the one tap per tree philosophy as well. No real reason just feel like one tap is enough.

Bill C.