Main line brand

[western mainer]

Ok with the difference brands out there is there really a big difference between them? Other than cost is there anything ?
Thanks Brian

[lakeview maple]

Depends what your looking for, I use 126 psi 3/4 inch black water line. I have about 5000 ft of it ran and I can get it for $91 for a 500 ft roll.

[western mainer]

I'm not looking at black water line as it gets to warm here in April.
Thanks Brian

[morningstarfarm]

Any brand will work just fine...that being said...I like the leader 30p...

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

CDL blue 3/4 is $100 for 500' and $145 for 500' of 1".

[GeneralStark]

CDL (IPL) mainline, and likely other maple specific pipe, is manufactured with higher grade plastics and is considered "food grade". FW Webb aka Charter Plastics "Maple Pipe" is manufactured to NSF 61 "Potable Water" standard.

Direct from IPL:

"The difference between "potable water" and "food grade" is quite subtle. Potable water pipes are generally meeting the NSF 14/61 standards while the food grade pipes are meeting the Food&Drugs Administration standards. The common printline on a tube in the maple sap market is food grade, but the lack of certifications in this industry makes the claim quite large. Even if polyethylene is naturally non-toxic, you could still have bad odors and contamination problems with some pipe. The best practice would be to use only virgin material or controlled source regrinded plastic with UV additives and colors that meet the FDA standards. The CDL HD Mainline is meeting all the standards."

I have CDL HD Blue and Black, FW Webb grey and black "maplepipe" (Charter Plastics), and black Charter Plastics pipe in my woods. I won't use Charter Plastics black again as it is tough to work with but the FW Webb pipe I like as well as the CDL blue and black.

The nice thing about the Grey maplepipe is you can't see the crap that grows in the lines. Otherwise, price seems to be the main factor and in my case CDL pipe is cheapest.

[GeneralStark]

CDL blue 3/4 is $100 for 500' and $145 for 500' of 1".

Unless you buy a bunch of equipment from CDL in which case it will be less...:)

[maple maniac65]

I bought a 500' roll of 30 p and one of CDL blue. I found the 30p to be heavier to work with and less prone to kink. Price wise the CDL is $100 less per roll. In ten years when I replace them with new line I do expect both to be equal to each other. The porcupine likes 30p though.

[WESTMAPLES]

most any maple industry tubing should do... i like leader P30 ML and have used it for few years i like the bright blue easy to spot downed lateral lines from a distance (from deer running thru) and the p30 is decent to put up in the cold. black pipe works but can be a bitch to work with in the cold cold i use it for my dry lines and thats it

[western mainer]

Thanks for the info here. I was thinking it was a Ford-Chevy thing.
Brian

[jimsudz]

CDL bluemainline

[BreezyHill]

IMO it is a Ford Chevy thing....I have own several different brands of tubing and the only one that will be used on our farm is CDL. The purple kind stretched and stretched and had a hard time keeping saddles on and tight, The light blue 3op have had issues with connection failures.

Older and wiser and only run ford trucks now as the big trailers kept killing the chevys and the mechanics loved seeing me. When you haul heavy loads like log skidders, 12 ton of cattle to Pa several times a week, 10tons of hay 4-8 hours away you need reliable haulers.
When you are reliinng on tubing to get the sap to the sugar house and don't have time to check the lines every day you go with the tried and true product.

'83 F350 6.9lD 285K mi
'91 F350 7.3l D 495K mi
'06 F350 Crew 6.0 currently 184K
The chevys never made it past 74K; for what I demand from them there is no option.
The Big trailers: 30' 22K GVW Flatbed
24' double deckable livestock trailer for small live stock or fits 10 ton of finished steers or around9-10 big Angus show cows.

I have only 1000' of tubing to replace that was new since 2012 but another 10000' of tubing to go to get all the bushes retubed and back in production. I like to do it once and done for a long time on mains and laterals.

Good Luck!
Ben

[WESTMAPLES]

LOL it stinks in here........ im taking a break till sugaring season

[unc23win]

I am sure some will disagree but in my opinion when it comes to mainline there is not as much difference as some would like to believe. It is worth noting that not all saddles (mainline entrances) work with all mainline. So I think it is worth choosing a brand by the relationship with a dealer who is willing to dicker with you and save you some money and also be helpful and informative. Some areas just don't have as many dealers so your choice might be limited. Usually there are early order sales in May and June, but a good dealer will make a deal anytime of the the year even if the savings isn't as good as early order price. I never pay full price for anything with my dealer and I don't even both to shop around anymore.

[lakeview maple]

I use 3/4 black water line for my mains, small budget sugarhouse . If I am going to drink water out of it for 50 years as a water line it should meet standards to move sap. Not trying to stir a hornets nest , just some of us are a lot smaller and don't have big budgets as we try to grow.

[markcasper]

A non CDL dealer once told me that the CDL tubing is not made from virgin plastics. It is made from recycled used tubing. I have no idea if that is the case and I cannot verify if that is actually true or not. As I mentioned, a prominent dealer once told me this explaining why CDL is lower priced.

[BreezyHill]

CDL owns their own tubing plant...this is one reason it is cheaper, another is the dealers don't make as much as many other brands.

I know our CDL saddles fit every other mainline as I have used them on all.

I totally agree that having a dealer that is knowledgeable is a huge plus. I get a lot of calls and text during season to brainstorm problems and have helped many other producers while at the warehouse. When you have done it for nearly 45 seasons you do see a lot and it is great to help others out of jams and prevent the mistakes we have made over the years.

Learn by doing is great but learning from others mistakes is cheaper! LOL

Ben

[unc23win]

In most cases Maple does not follow the normal whole sale retail mark up like other products where dealers buy something for .50 and sell for a $1.00. This makes the dealers less $ yet helps keep prices down and save the producer $. Also dealers often have to honor sales yet pay the company the same price which in turn urges producers to buy more.

[Moser's Maple]

I had the opportunity this past weekend to see DSD's new mainlineat LEME. Really got me thinking. Stephan said it was rated at 500 psi, so it made me question him if this could be set up wireless. He said he'll be looking into that, But at the .44/ft for 1 inch he quoted me that's less than half of what I can purchase rapitube. Kind of really hoping wireless works with it. Oh did it mention it's blue too!!!