Leader Vs. CDL 3/16 Line ?

[Gallinipper]

I am planning on installing 3/16 line this year. Any preferences on Leader Vs. CDL line? I am leaning towards Leader due to price and their unique formula for stability as a lateral line. I would like to get opinions from anyone that may have used one or both. Thanks!

[BlueberryHill]

I have used a bunch of CDL but I have not handled any of the Leader yet. I like working with the CDL. I have noticed that if you pull REALLY hard, it will stretch to the point where it shrinks/weakens in spots. Once you figure out where that point is, it's not hard to just ease up a bit on your stretching. I don't think that is an indicator of product quality, just the properties of the smaller tubing being obviously a bit weaker than 5/16. But I am interested in how the Leader compares and I plan to grab a roll the next time I am somewhere that has it.

[mountainvan]

Cdl & dg were both good last year. Leader is much stiffer and harder to work with, i.e. Need a tubing tool not just push on by hand. I used the cdl for drops and leader for lats in my expansion this year.

[dbeitz1891]

Started my woods with CDL and when putting drops in noticed that it stretched in quite a few spots, which I was highly disappointed in. Made the switch about halfway through my woods to leader line and was much more pleased with it. Still kept the CDL line to make drops as it is more pliable but I'm going with leader here on out. Only downside is leader doesn't have fittings for it yet so I used CDL fittings and they worked just fine.

[WI Sugarpop]

I went on Leader's website and didn't see any 3/16 listed so where do you get it?

[jimsudz]

I installed D&G, CDL and Leader last month and prefer leader for lats and D&G for drops. I don't really care for a ridged tubing but in a 3/16 situation I liked it extremely well. I am working on a pretty steep slope and found that leader can be stretched slightly and not deform. And the price is also a major factor. I used all CDL fittings and they seemed to work well. I did have to add a flaring tool to my home built two handed tool to make it easier to get the fittings on.

[n8hutch]

I went on Leader's website and didn't see any 3/16 listed so where do you get it?call your local dealer. I thought I saw in the Maple Digest that leader just opened a big factory store out there.

[StayinLowTech]

D&G is very soft, CDL is semi rigid and Leader is more rigid. Found that D&G is so pliable that it is hard to get on the fittings with my homemade tool (my fault that the tool does not push the tubing on always exactly straight, any deviation and the tubing folds, again my fault.) CDL is perfect for drops and Leader for laterals , in my opinion, but also need to evaluate over time.

[dbeitz1891]

Hey sudzy what did you use for the flaring tool?

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I have up over 20,000' of CDL and haven't had any stretching issues but I don't pull it like a buffalo either, just enough to keep it from sagging. Key with 3/16 is to go around as many trees as possible to support it and try to advoid long runs without any trees. The semi rigid this year from CDL has slightly thicker walls and is more rigid than last year but I had 7500' of last years up with no issues.

[jimsudz]

Hey sudzy what did you use for the flaring tool?i just took piece of 3/16 Rod and ground both ends to look like double ended bullet and used it to expand end of tubing.

[Gallinipper]

Thank you for the feedback. The discussion seems to follow my original plan. Leader has the 3/16 x800' role for $45 and I plan to use that for my main line. I had a conversation with CDL and they now have flexible 3/16 $45.95 500' role and semi-rigid 3/16 line $43.95 500' or 63.25 1000'. From what I am gathering, it sounds like they first came out with flexible? I am planning on using flexible CDL for the drops and CDL fittings. One comment that I saw on the forum suggested that the 3/16 end of line hook fitting by CDL had a issue. They said that the barb was for 3/16 but the hook was set up for 5/16 and slid on the line when attached. It was then difficult to get the line tight. Anyone have any knowledge on the end of line hooks or experience? FYI Leader only has the 3/16 line in the catalogue and you have to call to order. It is not on the website yet. Leader is suppose to get 3/16 fittings in by the end of January.

[dbeitz1891]

I used all CDL fittings, including the end hooks, and they've all worked fine with both the CDL and Leader line.

[lakeview maple]

Ive used 7 500 ft rolls of D&G and all there fittings , I am happy with all of them except there saddles. Ive never used saddles that were twist tied to the mainline , they seem to work ok just a little awkward to apply. There end line hooks snapped on tight and there other fittings all were nice and tight. Just my 2 cents, Allen

[maple flats]

I've only used CDL line and it required a learning curve (for me). On my 5/16 I use Leader 30P but when I tried to get some a few months ago I was told Leader did not make 3/16. Then I bought the CDL and about 2 months later I saw an ad where Leader had started making 3/16. Anyways, I always hung my spooler on the mainline, grabbed the lateral tubing and walked when I ran 30P, but that proved not to be the way for CDL 3/16 because the CDL did not slide easily on trees, it seemed to cling enough that I had to walk down (steep slope), feed more, climb back up, pull, and repeat a few times. Once I finished that first lateral (with about 28 taps) I switched. I then attached the tag end to the main and carried the spooler. That worked well. When I got to the top I attached it to the end tree. Since I had sort of pulled the line somewhat tight but not tight enough, I followed the lateral down the hill. As I got to each tapable tree, I pulled snug and cut the lateral. If I had enough slack to cut a drop of about 36" from the lateral I did and made then attached the drop, if I didn't have enough slack I cut 36" from the spooler and attached the drop. I continued this method to the bottom. I think maybe 30-40% got the drop cut from the lateral. The CDL seems to have what seems like a nice elasticity, if that stays elastic it looks like it may help prevent sags. Time will tell.
I have put up 2000' of CDL and at Verona I just picked up another 2000'. I got 500" rolls but I just saw in an ad that CDL was now offering 1000' 3/16 rolls at $65. I pd $39 for 500 I think.

[sweetscotty]

431608221 TUBING 3/16 S-RIGID BLUE 8 YEAR 1000'
$63.25RL

just thought I would share the cost of CDL 3/16 1000' rolls

[tuolumne]

We bought a pallet of 800 foot leader 3/16" rolls and put out new laterals in December (30,000' so far). It is called 30P but definitely does not behave like 5/16" 30P in the woods. It has a nice stretch, but takes more pull than CDL line before it begins to neck down. There is no way that a fitting (we used all CDL) can get pulled off before the line stretches. It is very difficult to do even with boiling water. We used CDL 3/16" line for the drops. This makes them a bit more flexible. For use the extreme cost difference made leader the only option, but I was very pleased with their tubing.