Health spout T fitting

[PATheron]

Question for you guys. T fitting for health spouts. If a guy wanted to split up some taps and wanted to put part of them out on an early run but didnt want to risk all of them on a short early run would the spiles leak vac if they were parked on the t fitting if vac was applied to that line? Im not sure if that would come into play becouse a guy could just use certain mains and leave others off, I just wondered if they would leake vac parked. Seems like in our area every year theres this awesome early weather and you try to decide weather to risk it or not. I know its best to put everything out to once when its time but around here sometimes a guy kind of wonders with the weather the way its been. Theron

[brookledge]

No they won't leak or atleast mine don't. I look at the trees as I tap and if it looks like it is under stress I will reduce a tap here and there. And I leave the tap on the tee. It doesn't mean that it can't fall off though so you still need to check your lines regularly.
Keith

[markcasper]

pathern, they should not leak as brookledge said. I have some trees that have 2 or 3 drops, but have reduced some for fear of overtapping. Since putting them on vacuum, I figure the lost tap is more than made up. I always try to make sure that they are looped up so no sap can enter the unused drops, which would lead to a bacteria breeding ground. I have never had them leak at that spot, its usually ends leking everywhere else though.

[PATheron]

Keith and Mark- In the book they didnt mention about that but I figured you guys would know from experiance. Thats a good thought about keeping the loops up. Im thinking that with the amount of taps im putting out I might split them up a little depending on the season untill I get an ro down the road. Another question, with you guys running vac when you want to clean your lines do you just turn on the pump and walk around with a pail of water and stick each drop in for a sec and let the vac pull some through? Seems to me a real easy way to flush lines. If a guy could do that every year I bet the lines would stay great for a long time. Theron

[royalmaple]

I think you'll find that doing your washing the way you described will be more of a flushing or rinsing. You really need the air in the mix to get some turbulance and get the agitation going with the water or water and a very slight bleech mixture. Kevin- Maplehillsugarhouse, makes a great little homemade gadget for a few hundred bucks and it will regulate the air and water mixture. Simple design, but works very well. I got one from him and we used it this spring on my tubing and you can shoot 20-30 foot rooster tails out of the spouts when you are cleaning. If you have valves on your main lines you can wash one, shut it off and move on.

I'm not saying what you want to do won't work, but if you ever get a chance to wash your lines with air as well you'll see a heck of a difference. And you don't have to lug around a bucket or jugs of water or water and bleech solution up and down the hill. Cause I guarentee you will run out with one lateral left to wash and you have to go back down the hill to get more water.

[maplecrest]

when i build my woods systems i do it with washing in mind. lots of valves. i use 80 lbs air to a gallon of water per minute blown back up main lines. i have one wet dry system that is 11/2 miles long. the very end has some very steep lats running into it. this year i blew out the main line real clean, then used the vac trick for that area for it took far too long to wait for the air water to get there. i would start the air then add the water and wait 2 hours for it to reach that last 200 taps. i was pleased with the time saving. but if you put valves on the ends of your main lines and blow the snot out of the mains first. the vac trick goes fast and you dont need as much water as you think. i hauled 10 gallons up there on my 4 wheeler and did not use 5 on 200 taps.

[markcasper]

pathern, I carry a solution up and down the hill using the vacuum to pull it through each spout. It works well getting the air in there. It is alot of work though dragging a full pail around up and down.

Its not convienent at this time to use and air compressor, as I'd have to have an electrical source at each tank. That I don't have, but am looking at different options in the future.

[brookledge]

For me I've always used my vacuum system to clean my lines. Only one tap is pulled at a time so all of your vacuum is at that tap. I will say that it works better now that I have no long 5/16 laterals. When you put the tap into the bucket of solution put it in and out allowing air to get in with the liquid and it works good.
Maybe this method won't work good on real long mainlines but it has worked good for me
Keith