Micro Spout

[WF MASON]

I was in Barnet , VT. yesterday and a customer of mine showed me how he was going to use the new micro spout , he took the old 7/16'' plastic spout and run a drill into the end of the spout a little way.Then he would put the micro spout into his bench vice to grip it , and push the 7/16''spout onto the micro, a nice tight fit, he did this becouse he didn't like the long sweeping bend of the tubing off the micro spout. Adding the plastic spout to it , gives him the 90 degree drop from the spout that he wanted. Thoes Yankees , always thinking !!!

[Salmoneye]

Thanks for the tip...I know a guy that is giving away all his 7/16 spouts (literally hundreds of em) so I now have a reason to take them for future use...

[DAVE]

May work but how many times will they go in and be pulled out and stay tight in the plastic tap. They need to go back to the sugar house and be sterilized each year, and how well will the drilled out tap fit into the plug on the tee so that the lines can be washed and the bugs wont get in?

[WF MASON]

Some good points Dave , I think the biggest question is , with only 75 micro spouts made and tested last year , now thousands have been sold this year ,how are they really going to work?? After this spring we'll all know.

[themapleking]

They also make a micro spout that slides into the plastic spout hole. So you don't have to mess around with drilling out the spouts or making 4 ft long drop lines.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Too many people getting rich at others expense in this industry. I agree that the spouts have not been proven yet, but to read the "spill" from the guy that sells, them a bunch of .................

[oldemaple]

Just for a test, I tried 3 of them without vacuum and got very little sap.

[mapleman3]

quick as I get the vac set up I will install 10 on their own little mainline to see how they do, I'll be able to watch through the releaser manifold. hope they do as good as they say they will.

[WF MASON]

I've spoken to several people this past week who have tryed the micro spout this season, all have reported the same sap yield as with the health spout. One of the selling points I remember from Maple Rama was they run sap 25% longer then the plastic spout. But as I've said early reports are favorable.

[Parker]

not that I have done this very long BUT it seems like the season ends when the trees bud out and the sap turns green and the syrup smells like dead fish when you boil it,,,,,,,,do they prevent that from happening?? Parker

[powerdub]

The whole idea behind them is that they are made out of stainless steel. They figure it can be sterilized after the season and when tapped the next year, not carry any bacteria into the new hole as bacteria is the trigger to start the healing process. No bacteria means a hole that stays open longer. As the tree starts to heal the hole the sap flow starts to slow down. If that process is slowed the ammount of sap is increased. I maintian that all new spouts, plastic or stainless run better than ones that have been used before. If you sterilize the spout, plastic or stainless, before you tap it in the tree you will get more sap longer until such time the "trees bud out and the sap turns green and the syrup smells like dead fish when you boil it." I also don't think the damage to the tree is much less than a health spout. I have cut trees open that have had nails in them and the damage was about the same a health spout. Can you tell I am not sold on them yet?

[Salmoneye]

In answer to Parkers question, the Micro-Spouts do NOT prevent the sap from getting buddy and ending the season...What they 'might' be able to do is allow the taps to remain open longer, so you can either tap earlier or sap 'may' flow later into the season...Some people seem to have a problem with the drilled holes either 'going dry' too early or the tap itself will seal up with bactirial growth or mildew which effectively stops the sapflow from that tap before the tree is actually done giving good sap...

I personally have no problems with taps slowing down or stopping before the season ends...

Some people do...