Leaks around taps

[Gary in NH]

I have a few trees that seem to leak and bleed sap from around the tap when they start running after a freeze. Could this be caused by frozen sap in the tap causing enough backpressure for the sap to leak around the tap? Or could it be due to something I may have done wrong. I use stainless steel spouts with the bucket hook and hand drill them with a 7/16" auger bit. Does anyone else see this or was I a little too heavy with the hammer?

Thanks,

Gary

[H. Walker]

The freezing of the sap left in the hole will sometimes push the spile out. I would gently try to tap the spile back in.
If the spile is still in solid then the hole maybe drilled out of round or the bark was split by setting the spile to hard, in which case there is nothing you can do but learn from your experience.

[techno-amish]

I experience the same thing with the newer Leader 7/16 S/S spouts. IMO, these chinese spouts are junk. They deform easily and are very diificult to get get tapped just right. I am switching to 100% Soule spouts next year. I tried 50 of the hookless this year and like them. During a recent trip to Leader, they led me to believe they would not be carrying the chinese spouts in the future.