Buckets produce next to nothing

[BlueDevil1442]

Hi- New to this. I have about 180 taps up on the hill behind my house that are producing great on 3/16 taps and tubing with the "Natural Vacuum" 30 ft drop technique. I also have three 16" maples in my front yard that I tap and I hand one bucket on each. These are taps with traditional bucket spouts. While my trees on the 3/16th system are flowing great, I get next to nothing from the buckets. Not sure what I'm doing wrong with the buckets.

[Michael Greer]

So many variables. Are they Sugar Maples, or perhaps some other like Red or Silver Maples? Are they healthy trees? or, could you have tapped into an unhealthy, previously tapped spot? Do they stand in a perpetually shaded spot like next to a building or big pine tree? I have 500 buckets hung, which I like because I get visible feedback from every single tree. Out of 500 taps, I have one Oak tree. one tree that is just about dead, one that was tapped near an old tap hole, and three Norway Maples that aren't really worth my time. In past years I had a couple of huge Silver Maples that look perfectly healthy that didn't give a gallon of sap all season. I don't bother with them anymore.

[buck3m]

Hi- New to this. I have about 180 taps up on the hill behind my house that are producing great on 3/16 taps and tubing with the "Natural Vacuum" 30 ft drop technique. I also have three 16" maples in my front yard that I tap and I hand one bucket on each. These are taps with traditional bucket spouts. While my trees on the 3/16th system are flowing great, I get next to nothing from the buckets. Not sure what I'm doing wrong with the buckets.

You're likely doing nothing wrong. It probably has more to do with the individual trees and/or their location than tubing vs buckets.

[maple flats]

When did you tap the ones on buckets? Maybe you tapped too early, buckets do not ran as long as taps on vacuum, mechanical or natural vacuum makes no difference to the tree.

[Trapper2]

So many variables. Are they Sugar Maples, or perhaps some other like Red or Silver Maples? Are they healthy trees? or, could you have tapped into an unhealthy, previously tapped spot? Do they stand in a perpetually shaded spot like next to a building or big pine tree? I have 500 buckets hung, which I like because I get visible feedback from every single tree. Out of 500 taps, I have one Oak tree. one tree that is just about dead, one that was tapped near an old tap hole, and three Norway Maples that aren't really worth my time. In past years I had a couple of huge Silver Maples that look perfectly healthy that didn't give a gallon of sap all season. I don't bother with them anymore.

Michael, you made me laugh with 1 Oak. On April Fools day I went over to my neighbors Sugarbush when he wasn't around and tapped 2 Poplars and filled the buckets with sap to the top whereas his other buckets only had 3"-4' in them.

[sg5054]

Michael, you made me laugh with 1 Oak. On April Fools day I went over to my neighbors Sugarbush when he wasn't around and tapped 2 Poplars and filled the buckets with sap to the top whereas his other buckets only had 3"-4' in them.
That’s AWESOME!!

[Ultimatetreehugger]

This made me So happy!
Michael, you made me laugh with 1 Oak. On April Fools day I went over to my neighbors Sugarbush when he wasn't around and tapped 2 Poplars and filled the buckets with sap to the top whereas his other buckets only had 3"-4' in them.

[Russell Lampron]

When a tree runs on vacuum it will continue to run through a warm spell and you'll continue to get sap long after the buckets stop running. More than likely if you used good sanitation practices on your bucket taps you did nothing wrong. Like Dave said above, you may have tapped them too soon, but with sterile taps the tap holes should stay open for up to 6 weeks.