3/16"? Maybe not.

[SeanD]

I just mapped out the new spot I just picked up and was thinking of trying 3/16". The good news is I thought there were around 25 taps there and it's really 40. The bad news is, it's only 5% slope over 270'. It also starts to level out at the collection point end.

Should I just stick with 5/16" then?

Sean

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Some vacuum is better than none

[wiam]

Goodrich came to our county meeting last week. He is pushing 3/16 with vacuum hooked to it.

[SeanD]

This will be gravity only.

[wiam]

This will be gravity only.
Try it. I believe the tubing is cheaper than 5/16. Heard good things about the 3/16 30P

[jimsudz]

I would definitely go 3/16 if you are planning a non vacuum system.Even though you don't have the perfect situation you will out produce a 5/16 gravity setup.If i'm doing the math right you'll have 13.5 ' of drop x .88"=11-12" of vac at the top taps.I believe thats 5% more sap. From all the seminars that I've been to by Steve Childs and Dr. Tim Perkins 3/16 seems to be the way to go.

[Paul VT]

No question. Use the 3/16. You won't be disappointed.

[DrTimPerkins]

I (Tim Perkins = Dr. Tim) have not done any presentations on 3/16". You're probably thinking of Tim Wilmot, who recently retired. He was the one who came up with and did all the research on 3/16" tubing.

You'd probably fine with 3/16" on a 5% slope. When you get down to 1-2%, it starts to not work well though. How far is the level portion at the end and what kind of slope are we looking at there?

[maplefrank]

I just mapped out the new spot I just picked up and was thinking of trying 3/16". The good news is I thought there were around 25 taps there and it's really 40. The bad news is, it's only 5% slope over 270'. It also starts to level out at the collection point end.

Should I just stick with 5/16" then?

Sean
I would still go with 3/16.... You would be gaining vaccum...you could also add a pump if you wanted more vaccumm

[SeanD]

You'd probably fine with 3/16" on a 5% slope. When you get down to 1-2%, it starts to not work well though. How far is the level portion at the end and what kind of slope are we looking at there?

I'd say it's the last 30' depending on where I put my collection barrel and it's level. I'll put a little slope onto it coming from the last tap down to the barrel. The lines will slope down to the end of a dead end road. The plows push into that area and make some pretty big walls of snow. I may have to extend the line through the level section to get to an end tree beyond the wall of snow.

I'm surprised to get these responses from everyone here. Maybe I should flip the question around. Where is it recommended to still use 5/16"?

Sean

[DrTimPerkins]

I'd say it's the last 30' depending on where I put my collection barrel and it's level. I'll put a little slope onto it coming from the last tap down to the barrel.

If it's only 30' and you can put a little slope on it then you'll likely be OK. You don't want to use 3/16" in long areas of real low slope at the end. At the beginning of the lateral it is fine (flat land at top followed by steep slope to the tank), but the other way around is not as good, or just flat land altogether is not an area to put 3/16" tubing in.

If you do have a slope with a section of flat land at the bottom, put your tank at the bottom of the slope if you can. If you need to run it across flat land, then you should try to keep at least a little slope on the lateral line if possible. If you can't get much, then you might convert from 3/16" to 5/16" or a mainline at the bottom of the hill and across the flat area, but still keep at least a little bit of slope so the 5/16" will drain.

[Locust Farms]

Some data on sugar maples 5/16 gravity and 3/16 gravity both have approx same vertical drop.
Note the volume of sap per tap.12493

Dwight

[optionguru]

Good chart, thanks. I should probably take the time and keep track better. I can say that there were a few days last season where my 3/16 far outperformed my 5/16. My 3/16 set-up was not the ideal 30' after last tap, I tend to have steep slope with 5 to 10 taps per line with a total elevation change of about 40 feet over a 200 foot run with the taps pretty evenly spread from top to bottom. There were a number of times that the 3/16 kept running/ dripping for a couple hours after the 5/16 froze up.

[West Mountain Maple]

lots of 3/16 discussion this season, guess i'll have to try some. opinions on full 3/16 setup vs 5/16 drops and spouts into 3/16 lats, i see they have the tee to do it, and it seems the slightly larger taphole would yield a little more. I realize the trouble of two tools, but you could make your drops up, then tape up the tool, i was thinking of putting a rubber band around the jaw. Besides cost effectiveness, are there any limits to the length of run after last tap, does friction come into play? And, so theoretically without leaks, and 30' drop after last tap, all the taps on the run should be getting about max vac?

[psparr]

The taps for 3/16 still use a 5/16 bit, so no difference there. There is some friction loss, but for free vac you can't complain. http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/16/01/20/73d4d03b5c0eeb66b7cf7e22ed36eb9c.jpg