Length of drops for 3/16"

[Diesel Pro]

Getting started with my 3/16 setup. I have very minor slope where the trees are located and then at the end I drop off fast. I've seen some vids for 5/16 basic setup and would assume that 3/16 is about the same? The vid that I watched showed making 3' drops. Does this seem like a good standard length? In some ways it seems a bit long, but to reach around it sounds about right?

[bmbmkr]

This was my first year with tubing, made all my drops 3' (100 3/16, 100 5/16). Some were a bit long,but overall I believe it made tapping a whole lot easier for this rookie.

3/16 is the BOMB. I only got 125 taps in, 96 /16 and the rest 5/16. Some days the 5/16 just dribbled and the 3/16 ran like crazy. Net year I'm adding RO and another 200 taps, and replacing most of my 5/16 with 3/16- I am fortunate- (except for my knees and sore feet) to have 350' of elevation between my sugar shack and the top of my sugar bush. But my trees are in sparse clumps. I ran 2100 of 3/4 mainline, and only have 5 entries for the laterals. I have one 5/16 lateral up in a holler with 22 taps, branch lines coming into a 4 star adapter, 100' elevation on those lines from the main to the top trees- they are definitely getting 3/16 next year! Some days they didn't run, and the 3/16 taps 100 yds away were gushing.

[VTnewguy]

We made our 3/16 drops 30" to leave enough room for next year with a new spout.

[psparr]

3' is good. Just wrap the extra around the tree best you can to take up slack.

[Cedar Eater]

When I make a new 3/16" run, I make the drop so that it reaches about 2' above the tee on opposite side of the tree (the back side). That way next year I can shorten it a little if I replace the spile and move the tap 90* around the tree (the upstream side), then next year 180* to the downstream side, and finally, to the front side. After that, I plan to drop the spile 6" and rotate 45* for the next four years.

[Diesel Pro]

OK we prebuilt 59 of the 60 taps and tees into 3' drops in the comfort of the shop. I have vacuum gauges, but may end up cannibalizing a couple of the tees. I do see that Lapierre makes a nice end line drop line hook that would do this for me. I can always come back to these. My present stuff is all CDL and it doesn't seem that they offer these.

[Cedar Eater]

OK we prebuilt 59 of the 60 taps and tees into 3' drops in the comfort of the shop. I have vacuum gauges, but may end up cannibalizing a couple of the tees. I do see that Lapierre makes a nice end line drop line hook that would do this for me. I can always come back to these. My present stuff is all CDL and it doesn't seem that they offer these.

I'm not sure what you are getting at here. At the top of a line, you can get away with just a spile if you don't plan to install a vacuum guage. You just use the Chinese finger trap method on the cheap Chinese yellow woven 1/4" rope to attach the end to the tree.

[BSD]

OK we prebuilt 59 of the 60 taps and tees into 3' drops in the comfort of the shop. I have vacuum gauges, but may end up cannibalizing a couple of the tees. I do see that Lapierre makes a nice end line drop line hook that would do this for me. I can always come back to these. My present stuff is all CDL and it doesn't seem that they offer these.get the right 'end of line hooks'. it makes install easier and put a gauge on each line. its easier to troubleshoot and keep tabs on each line for day-to-da monitoring.

I made some 24" drops, some 30" drops and then i made a bunch in the field one day, and used an exact measurement of 'half a chevy pickup tailgate'. pretty sure it's close to 30", they seem to work well, they're long enough to wrap around the small trees, and big enough to put pretty much anywhere on a big-ole tree. the 24"s are a little tight on some trees and will get an inch shorter every year of their lifespan

[wurmdert]

I used 32in this and they worked well. Little long for smaller trees but thats not a problem really. I like to use the sliders for end of line. They make tension adjustments easier.

[Diesel Pro]

What I have: 15858









What I want: 15857

This one fitting will save me 2 Tees.

[325abn]

I find that hollow rope work best for keeping line taunt, one at the top and a few more cut in at tees as needed.

[BSD]

What I want: 15857

This one fitting will save me 2 Tees.

These are what i have, they work excellent for putting a gauge at the top of the line.

[Helicopter Seeds]

Confused about the 3/16 a little bit - If you only drop from the tap to a bucket on the ground, are they better than the 5/16 lines? All of my whopping 48 taps are 5/16, and about 3 to 5 feet in length. Anywhere from 2 to 4 taps per tree, right into my pails. I don't have enough trees in one spot that has any incline, to set up a long line. Would the slight height of a capillary of three feet high or so have any real improvement?

Also, I wonder if it makes much difference on how high you tap the hole? I have been trying to stagger the trees that I have tapped before, but maybe next year I change all to 3/16 and tap 6 feet up?

[psparr]

5/16 is better for gravity drops. The lower the better with taps, but a convenient height will get you plenty of sap.

[BSD]

Confused about the 3/16 a little bit - If you only drop from the tap to a bucket on the ground, are they better than the 5/16 lines? All of my whopping 48 taps are 5/16, and about 3 to 5 feet in length. Anywhere from 2 to 4 taps per tree, right into my pails. I don't have enough trees in one spot that has any incline, to set up a long line. Would the slight height of a capillary of three feet high or so have any real improvement?

Also, I wonder if it makes much difference on how high you tap the hole? I have been trying to stagger the trees that I have tapped before, but maybe next year I change all to 3/16 and tap 6 feet up?technically you'll gain .88" per ft of 3/16 drop into your bucket. tapping high up and having a long drop would be negated by the pressure loss by the tree to push the sap up.

there are less options for 3/16 than 5/16 taps, so i'd just stick with 5/16 if you already have them.

[DrTimPerkins]

technically you'll gain .88" per ft of 3/16 drop into your bucket. tapping high up and having a long drop would be negated by the pressure loss by the tree to push the sap up.

Very close, but some very small difference in details.

1. Theoretically you'd gain 0.88" Hg per 1 ft drop in a FULL 3/16" diameter line. In reality, given air bubbles, microleaks, and frictional effects (which vary a lot), the realized gain is closer to 0.75-0.8" Hg per 1 ft of drop.

2. The pressure loss from tapping high is not due to the tree having to push the sap UP higher, it is due to the reduced head pressure in the tree (height) from the weight of the sap column standing above the taphole. If you have a 75' tall tree, and you tap 6' high to try to get 5' of drop on 3/16" into a bucket (hoping to get that 0.8" Hg x 5 ft of drop = 4" Hg), then you lose a corresponding 5' of tree head pressure (tapping 6' up rather than 1' up), which essentially nulls out any gains you would get. With the frictional effects, you most likely end up losing a very small amount rather than gaining. The laws of physics giveth and the laws of physics taketh away. :D

[Diesel Pro]

Very close, but some very small difference in details.

1. Theoretically you'd gain 0.88" Hg per 1 ft drop in a FULL 3/16" diameter line. In reality, given air bubbles, microleaks, and frictional effects (which vary a lot), the realized gain is closer to 0.75-0.8" Hg per 1 ft of drop.



So is the vacuum/peak flow dependent on the end of the tube being open I'd assume? I have a 4' tall tank and my lines are right at the top. I could easily extend them to hang lower and gain some draw, but I would think that once the level gets up to the ends of the tubes it would slow the flow?

I guess I could set up to pump more frequently, or set up the ends so that they are adjustable. That or live with my 16" as is and not sweat it...

[DrTimPerkins]

Not sure I full understand your answer, but the 3/16" has to terminate somewhere. It can terminate in the open air (a tank or mainline NOT under vacuum), where the vacuum in the line at any one tap is proportional to the height (in feet) from the termination to the height of that particular tap x ~0.75" Hg (basically 0.75" Hg/ft), OR terminate in a mainline under vacuum in which case the vacuum is the same as before PLUS whatever vacuum you have in the mainline (up to the maximum achievable given the tightness of your system (leaks) and the elevation.

If you're terminating the 3/16" in a tank, put the end of the 3/16" at the top of the tank. Putting it below will only add head pressure as the tank fills up with sap and reduce effective vacuum in the line.

If you have 30 ft of drop on a 3/16" tubing, and no flat section on the bottom (to cause pressure), and the 3/16" terminates in a tank, you should get 30 ft x 0.75" Hg/ft = 22.5" Hg or slightly better at the very top of the line. If you're only getting 16" of vacuum at the top of the line when the sap is flowing, you have leaks. You can use these relationships to help determine the approximate location of leaks. If you take 16" Hg/0.75" Hg = ~ 21 ft, then I'd look someone around 9-10 ft ABOVE (in height, not laterally) where the line terminates for the leak.