Asking for a friend.

[Trapper2]

Is there such a thing as the maximum length for a 3/16 run? He's at 700 feet already and would like to run another 200 feet to end up at his Sugarhouse plus he will pickup another 40 foot of drop.
Thanks

[maple flats]

As long as he has the drop in elevation, there is no specified max length. I had one that was 1500' or a little more, it ran very well (I no longer tap that lease).

[Cjadamec]

I have over a 1000 feet on two of my runs and they flow great.

[Trapper2]

On those 1000 and 1500 foot runs, how many taps are you running< I'm guessing my Buddy has over 100 feet of drop or more.

[Cjadamec]

All of my runs have 20-30 taps per run. 1 with close to 100 feet of elevation change the other 2 about 50 ft of change.

[Northbound1]

Now that im finally a member here after a few attempts at creating a account with various emails I figured id chime in. Thanks trapper for posting this question for me orginally.

My overall elevation drop is 120 feet. My sugar Bush is pretty flat on top and then a steep drop down to the lake where my sugar shack is. From my lowest elevation taps to sugar shack is 50 to 60 feet. I didn't tap any trees on the cliff thinking that was ideal for maintaining max vac. My shortest run is 900 feet, longest is 1300 feet. All lines flow great i think anyways since I've never seen a tube line besides my own. On the high end of the Bush I am pulling from some trees uphill slightly then flat, then down hill and then to the steep drop off. Installed gauges at end trees and my lines read 7, 10, and 15. Far cry from 27 inches I expected. Is this because im just maxed out on how much sap can fit in the line? Perhaps since im pulling uphill some from those end trees? I've walked lines over and over and can't find any leaks. I did tap a few extra trees than the 25 most seem to go with as it just played out that way. 32, 33 and 35 on my 3 lines. I did read a few things about someone testing with up to thirty some trees and not seeing any problems.

[maple flats]

On my longest one I actually had 42 taps but I think that was too many when the sap is really flowing good. After I discovered I'd put that many on a few days later I split it into 2 lines about half and half. In general, with good drop in elevation you can run up to about 35 taps, 30 might be safer. One thing on 3/16 is that you don't want too few if you are trying to get natural vacuum, I think you want at least 15 minimum.

[Mead Maple]

Mine are between 20-30 but I avoid going more. Would probably be fine but I get max vac even with 20


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[30AcreWoods]

Interesting. I've got 30 taps max. on my lines, and don't drop as much as you, but regularly see 27+ in mercury. Pulling uphill will hurt a bit, but you should be seeing a lot more vac. More taps in the lower part of your run will help set up your vac if they still have sufficient drop below them to achieve the max. because you want that fluid "pulling" the uphill taps over any rises. Have you thought about placing a few gages at different points along your lines to see when/where your vac. changes? You could also do that when you split a line as Dave suggested, and see what benefits you get.

[Northbound1]

Yes I've been thinking I should add some gauges mid way on the lines prior to pulling those uphill lines just to see where im at. Watching the tubes run into tank I have a hard time believing that more flow is even possible without a pump but again I've never seen anyone else's set up so I don't have much to compare it to. The day I tapped I had about 80 gallons in 7 hours before it froze up for the night. Vac gauges have been the same readings a week later. Haven't paid attention to barometric pressure so unsure what it was or if that even matters.

[Super Sapper]

I would check for leaks, even the smallest can have an impact on your vac. Partial plugging with small wood chips can also drop your vac as it reduces the capacity of the line.

[Northbound1]

So one of my lines now reads 22 inches. The others are still 7 and 15. All 3 lines flow about the same into tank. Checked for leaks and tapped on the taps to make sure all where good. Nothing changed. No idea how the one line suddenly increased vac. Should I just leave well enough alone? Bubbles move on whole lines so it'd be hard to guess what T could possibly have a wood shaving in it.