When can I install new drops and taps?

[pls009]

How late in the year do you need to wait until starting to install new drops and taps? I usually wait until the snow is so deep that I wished that I would of started earlier. Wondering if you have to wait until everything is froze.

[johnallin]

If you're just installing new drops and taps and not drilling/tapping your trees; you can put them in any time. Most T fittings have a cup to hold the tap.

I personally don't like working in the woods until it cools off, just too **** muggy in the summer. September is when it begins to get nice around here.

[unc23win]

We install tubing including drops whenever we can. I like the 3 stage T that the tubing fits over when you cut off the spout or if you put the drop on without the spout. I have heard of people waiting until its colder to put spouts on with the idea there is less chance of bacteria forming. We typically cut spouts off and put new ones on right before tapping. This year we cut spouts off when we pulled them except the drops with T cups, which we no longer install.