3 drops into one bucket, Y or Y not?

[Scm]

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[3GoatHill]

I would never put three taps in one tree, no matter how big the tree is. I use a five gallon bucket on the ground and just run two lines down to the bucket.

[psparr]

Fittings will be fine for a drop into a bucket. Also it is your tree. If you want three taps, go for it.

[Scm]

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[Scm]

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[Haynes Forest Products]

WAS that a PUN......I saw Y yes you can do it. I have a few trees that started out as clumps 50 years ago and now there massive trees 40" plus. They dont look any worse for ware. Now its the barb wire and insulators buried withing them that is the problem.

Its the really small trees that when the drill bit comes out the other side that causes me to put 2 taps in them just to stop the leaking.

[3GoatHill]

Too bad, your missing out.
Straight from an expert.
http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?31746-Thoughts-on-tapping-trees-with-multiple-trunks&p=340463#post340463

He's talking about trees with multiple trunks here. I could be wrong, but I believe the North American Maple Producers manual recommends no more than two taps.
three taps is the old school way and takes up real estate on the tree for the next season.

[psparr]

The Y issue comes into play with vacuum.

[Russell Lampron]

It would depend on how big the bucket is. If the tree is a good runner you will overflow a 5 gallon bucket with 3 lines going into it. I've had single taps overflow 16 qt sap buckets on a good run.

[SeanD]

The Y issue comes into play with vacuum.

Right. It's a non-issue in this case. I tee or Y two drops into one line going to a bucket for all my setups like that. Do they compete for the same exit? Yes, but it all gets where it's going by the end of the day. It's no different than two taps teed into the same lateral. During a good run, I'll see a few inches of sap backed up at the fitting and then lots and lots of empty space going to the tap.

[maple flats]

On a mini system, go for it. As long as the tree is 36" or more 3 taps are ok. Back when I had a similar set up with buckets I had a few with 3 taps on a 5 gal jug. They got emptied 2x a day if the sap was running good. To do it, I used the first tap drop to go into the jug, then I had one or 2 more Tee into it just like they do on a lateral. Once I got vacuum I no longer put 3 taps, 2 became my max then.