Low producing trees?

[Mille705]

So my dad tapped some road side trees about 15 years ago and said they did not produce very well. No one has tapped them since to my knowledge and I told my dad I was going to tap them this year again. He said they did not produce 15 years ago, what makes you think they will now? Um I guess I am not sure. My question to you, do you think anything has changed in the last 15 years? Would you try and tap again? Thanks.

[mspina14]

So my dad tapped some road side trees about 15 years ago and said they did not produce very well. No one has tapped them since to my knowledge and I told my dad I was going to tap them this year again. He said they did not produce 15 years ago, what makes you think they will now? Um I guess I am not sure. My question to you, do you think anything has changed in the last 15 years? Would you try and tap again? Thanks.

Are they Red Maples or Sugar Maples?

Mark

[Mille705]

They are Sugar Maples, most of them 36" diameter

[325abn]

Tap them and the sap will flow, that is if Mother permit's it.

[Waynehere]

I had the same problem with a row of big trees a few years ago. I was using buckets and the really old style of spouts that I didn't have to drill very deep. I found that when I switched to tubing and drilled them deeper, they produced very well. I believe that the older large diameter trees have tougher skin and just need deeper holes. You should be fine if you go at least 2+ inches.

[Michael Greer]

Almost all of my trees are massive, old, street-side trees. I don't agree that drilling deeper is the solution. lots of my giant trees start dripping when the drill is only a half inch into the wood. The more likely problem is that those trees aren't quite as healthy as you think. very old trees can have substantial amounts of essentially dead wood that you might not notice. Take a close look at the bark. A vigorous tree will show a bit of orange deep in the fissures...this is new growth exposed by the expansion of the old bark. Find a healthy spot to drill and don't over-tax those old trees. It's sad to see them come down.

[DrTimPerkins]

Trees add new growth on the stem through annual growth rings. Mature trees with good exposure and a certain quantity of leaves will put on a certain AREA of wood each year. When you think about the geometry for a little while, you realize that a smaller (say 20") that puts on a certain AREA of wood will have a growth ring of a certain size. Now a larger tree (36") isn't going to have a lot more leaves than a 20" tree, and thus will capture about the same amount of energy and put on about the same AREA of wood each year, however that new wood has to be spread out a lot more since the tree is so much larger. Therefore the growth rings are naturally WAY smaller in a huge tree than in a mature smaller tree. Thus large trees of that sort will have a couple of things going on that accompanies the life stage referred to as senescence:
1. Small, tight rings, so when you tap you are cutting through more rings.
2. Lower hydraulic conductivity since the rate at which water can move through a ring decreases over time and you're tapping into older rings.
3. Sometimes lower sugar content since the older rings can have reduced amount of carbohydrate storage.
4. Areas with little or no growth due to slow growth occurring in some areas, but none in others.
5. Coalesced stained columns due to reduced ability to compartmentalize effectively.
6. Overtapping occurs more frequently since people thing they can put 4-5+ buckets on those big trees, which only cuts back on finding good wood next year.

So all that to say....give them a try, but try to tap in an area that hasn't seen much tapping in the past (high or low) and only put 1-2 buckets on the tree. If they produce well, use them in the future. If they don't produce, retire them and tell your dad he was right and thank him for his wisdom.

[n8hutch]

I have some road side trees that I tried 2 years in a row and didn't get a drop, I suspect that it's because the treed are so close to the road that the frost is driven right down through the root system. Try tapping the side that doesn't face the streetc if possible.