Annual Tubbing Take Down Practices

[Ghs57]

My tubbing lines must come down at the end of the season as per the wishes of the property owners. Today I finished the job for my main bush. This can be an ordeal, and I can't help but think there has to be a better way.

So, I wondering what others do with their take down tubing systems. How do install to make take down easier? Do you wrap tubing around the trees? How do you mark your layout? Do you work alone? How do you roll up the tubing? What do you do with the drop lines? Do you sanitize lines while still up? How do you store the lines?

I my case, I haven't done enough to make take down easier. Wrapping trees is a nightmare. Making changes can throw off the alinement. After several years, I remember how the line goes, but I did video each line this year. I have each line of tubing labeled pretty well, and there is usually more than one section per line. I cut off the tap and plug the drop. I roll up the line starting at the top, and use a roll of 4" plastic packing wrap to keep the roll organized as I go. I split the line when the roll becomes to large to easily manage. I sanitize after take down. I may re-roll the line on a home made spooler before storing in a drum. I'm a one man show, so I do not rely on assistance in either the install or take down process.

Next year I will not wrap any trees, and will try using bungee cords or something similar to the hold the tubing in place. I'm interested in any method which makes the process easier.

[DaveB]

I have one bush where I run several 1-150' lines. They all go to the same collection point and star out from there. I typically start at the end tree and then alternate sides of the next tree as I work my way down the hill towards the collection point. When I take them down I usually just form a coil and then tie the coil up and number them 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. based on the starting tree.

I put the lines back up in the fall and I will uncoil the coil to find the end and then wrap that around the end tree based on the line number. I take picture of the lines but since I am starting at the end tree and working my way towards the collection point and I know the distance between the end tree because of where the drop line is on that line, it's relatively easy to see what the next tree is. From there I just go tree to tree.

Also, if there is a smaller maple tree that I might tap before I replace the line I will go around that tree so I might have to factor that in as I'm going down the hill.

[Ghs57]

That scenario sounds similar. My 4 lines at this site end at the same collection point. I also start at the top end, and it's not too hard to find the next tree on some lines, but others meander a bit, so the video helps. For take down, I may start from both ends and work toward the middle. That way the coil doesn't get unwieldy too fast.

I doesn't help that this is a hillside (great for the 3/16 though), with an active stream bed running through it. Plus there is an electric fence. One line follows the stream, and another the fence.

[Super Sapper]

One thing that I have started doing is putting a piece of duct tape on the line with an arrow pointing which direction to go where the line makes a turn.

[Sugarmaker]

All my short run tubing systems are put up and taken down each season. Longest is maybe 100 yards. Shortest maybe 20 yard. I can and have done this myself, but have found it is so much eaiser with a helper holding the starting end. Each tubing system (32 of them) gets a tag at the low end with the name of the tree owner and location. The trees are spray painted with black paint the first time the line was set and the slope to the container was established. The paint marks are above and below the lines. This shows you the path the line took also. I go past the trees in the middle of the run but go around the trees on each end of the system to allow the line to be tightened and also unhooked for take down or repairs. I also rinse/ sanitize the tubing while its up on the trees, seems eaiser. I have tried it at the sugarhouse and it it not easy! I have used zip ties and or electrical tape to tie the foll of tubing together. The all 32 are hung in the sugarhouse rafters till next season.
Regards,
Chris

[SeanD]

Some get a water rinse, some just get drained depending on where they are. All get left to dry for a week or more. water or sap in the line is where you are going to get growth. Even trying to get it all out, I always find pockets of sap or water in parts as I'm rolling it up - especially on 3/16". Like Chris, I blaze the trees across the lines. I start at the top, coil it up, and use a bungee to hold it together. I label it with a Sharpie.

For mainlines, I disconnect the laterals and coil them the same way. The mainline gets disconnected at the top and rolled down hill with the wire still on it. That can get challenging in some places where the undergrowth is thick.

I had a bunch of vac gauges fail on me at the beginning of the season - too many to be a coincidence. I think what happened was water or sap ran into them while I was rolling up the lines. Then the following winter, while they were hanging in the rafters, they froze. So, this year, I took the vac gauges off before taking the lines down. Anyway, that's my theory. I'll see what happens next year.

[Dave Puhl]

Ya rolling up lines is a pain been doing it for 12 yrs or so back then I thought of the paint idea and used green color some is still there today but is getting wore off..then after a few years the organic police said it was not pure 0;..still haven't found a way to mark trees..like the duct tap idea..mine is all 5\16..take them down alone every year..trying black electric tape to hold down the drops flat and tight to the main while still up before rolling..would be nice to have some kind of reel to wrap it up...I store the lines in 55 gal barrels out of the sunlight....

[Ghs57]

I like a lot of the ideas I'm hearing.

All my lines are now down. Two got sanitized while up, two got flushed with water while up, and two need to be flushed. I found pumping my sanitizer through 3/16 lines uphill to be difficult and time consuming. I can vouch for the high friction inside 3/16 lines. I think the 5/16 lines were easer to flush. Also the two rinsed lines are full of water and heavy. So, here they sit waiting for me to do something with them. I may try using my compressor to blow out the lines, and then will have to sanitize the rest on the ground.

My property owners will not let me mark the trees, unless I can find a subtle way to do it, which would go unnoticed by a passerby.

[mol1jb]

I like a lot of the ideas I'm hearing.

All my lines are now down. Two got sanitized while up, two got flushed with water while up, and two need to be flushed. I found pumping my sanitizer through 3/16 lines uphill to be difficult and time consuming. I can vouch for the high friction inside 3/16 lines. I think the 5/16 lines were easer to flush. Also the two rinsed lines are full of water and heavy. So, here they sit waiting for me to do something with them. I may try using my compressor to blow out the lines, and then will have to sanitize the rest on the ground.

My property owners will not let me mark the trees, unless I can find a subtle way to do it, which would go unnoticed by a passerby.

I have used the compressor before with good success. The trick is to let a small amount of air out when doing 3/16 as there is not much volume in the line and the air moves rather slow through to the other end. But it works well when the lines are down as the air will push out any liquid regardless if the lines are straight or wound up.

[Greensprings sugar]

Wrapping 3/16 is not to bad. We revamped a garden hose reel to wrap up rolls of 1000'. After a few, your a pro. We found running drops In a loop across reel works good. Then next wrap holds drop tight! Even put taps to all one side then cut off one by one as tubing washes with water and air mixture.

[SeanD]

I have a spinning Jenny that I have thought about using, but I opted against, thinking that the line hooks, drops, etc, would all get hung up on the stone walls, bark, branches, etc. that they do even when I'm doing it by hand. I figure I'd spend my time running back and forth from snag to reel, snag to reel. How are you able to get around that?

3/16" is way easier to manage than the 5/16", but it does retain more pockets of sap than the 5/16". Sometimes with 5/16" I can give the line a shake and it will get the liquid moving down or out of the drop, but not so much with the 3/16". I can't get a compressor out to any of my lines, but as I was taking it down this year, I wondered if a bicycle pump would be strong enough to push the liquid out - if I could figure out a way to put a fitting on it.

[Greensprings sugar]

You do have an occasional snag, and definitely don't want to wrap around trees for tension. In most part once line is on ground, it slides right past and around trees, even with drops still attached. We cut end of reel off and used all thread to be able to remove end of reel once finished, slide a piece of 4" pipe over all thread to keep rolls from knotting up. When finished run zip ties thru pipe and around tubing. Makes great rolls! Label each run and lots of pictures for next seasons setup

[Sugarbush Ridge]

I wondered if a bicycle pump would be strong enough to push the liquid out - if I could figure out a way to put a fitting on it.

I have used new garden sprayers both for water-air mix to clean and blow out and then peroxide mix to sanitize. I take off the wand and connect both sprayers to a"Y" with 5/16 and then 5/16 to spout. I have only tried this in 5/16 but not on 3/16,, so would it work with 'maybe' a wood chip in line at a "T"????

[Sugarmaker]

Well I got started with the take down and have a mess this year. I had sanitized the lines and did not drain them after. The spouts are pluged into the cups. So most of the drops have liquid in them. My plan is to remove the drops and replace with new drops and new fresh spouts. I am going to do this back at he sugarhouse not in the bush. Also I reconfigured several systems to bring a pair to the same gathering point. This will reduce gathering time/ stops and be a little more efficient. Will probably use next larger 50 gallon containers at these spots.
Neighbor and CDL dealer Gary B showed me his method of removing old drops with a small butane torch. soften and pull the tubing off. And using boiling water to soften and install new drops. Will take some time but maybe we will get some more sap too?:)

Regards,
Chris

[Ghs57]

Well I got started with the take down and have a mess this year. I had sanitized the lines and did not drain them after. The spouts are pluged into the cups. So most of the drops have liquid in them. My plan is to remove the drops and replace with new drops and new fresh spouts. I am going to do this back at he sugarhouse not in the bush. Also I reconfigured several systems to bring a pair to the same gathering point. This will reduce gathering time/ stops and be a little more efficient. Will probably use next larger 50 gallon containers at these spots.
Neighbor and CDL dealer Gary B showed me his method of removing old drops with a small butane torch. soften and pull the tubing off. And using boiling water to soften and install new drops. Will take some time but maybe we will get some more sap too?:)

Regards,
Chris

I'm sure I am going to reconfigure a few lines next year, which could make next year difficult. I'll have to move the location of some drops, and I won't be able to do that ahead of time. So it will be done in the field when reinstalled. That's ok when it's 60 like it was this year, but not so when it's 30.

I replaced all my drops this year, and I assembled them ahead of time indoors using my old rice cooker to boil water and soften the tubing. It worked great. Just had to deal with the line connections in the field. If I go ahead with some reconfiguring, I may just make up another big batch of drops and install those as I go instead of trying to move the current ones around. Once I reestablish the lines, I hopefully will not keep changing them.

I like the torch idea too.

[Ghs57]

Also, the air compressor worked great to blow out the lines. I then used my Sureflo to pump the sanitizer through. We have not had good weather since, so the lines have not been stored. I still need to pressure wash my drums and IBCs. The pan is full of sour sap, and will remain so for the next few moths. Funny though, it's been so cold that the sap has not turned yet. It's a little cloudy, but still smells OK.