Quick Question... Can I use a cordless drill to install saddles ????

[wmick]

So - I just decided to install some 3/4" mainline for the first time... Till now, I've done everything in 3/16"... Went out and picked up 500ft of 3/4" tubing and 50 saddle manifold fittings.... Says on the package to drill a 31/64" hole..... (These are the older style ones that have the large rubber seal that inserts through the hole and covers the tube. The plastic saddle, has a little spigot that inserts through the rubber hole.)

It wasn't till I got home and googled how to install them, that I find out there's a special drilling tool... Question!!!! May I use a cordless drill and regular drill bit? I'm not terribly concerned about a few shavings staying in the pipe... They will get screened out downstream...

Thanks in Advance.....

[Wolfcreek Maple]

yes you can use a cordless drill ,just make sure you put a stop on your drill bit so as not to drill all the way through

[wmick]

yes you can use a cordless drill ,just make sure you put a stop on your drill bit so as not to drill all the way through

Thanks - and I hear ya... A stop could have prevented a few holes in my hands from over the years....

[Amber Gold]

Drilling through both sides of the mainline has been my experience too. A saddle tool does a quick job and smaller/lighter than a drill.

[wiam]

I use a cordless. (Already owned it). Tool is expensive. Put a short piece of plastic pipe over the drill bit for a stop.

[Maplewalnut]

No need for a mainline tool. Wrap electrical tape around the drill bit over and over 1/2 inch or so from the tip for a stop.

[wmick]

So -- Just a bit of an update, for those that are interested.... I've been doing everything in 3/16" tubing (about 100 taps) in previous years... It's been working OK, but with little to no natural fall in my bush, I've been thinking that maybe my 3/16" lines are more of a hindrance (restriction) than a help (gravity)... Trying something new.
--- I strung my 1st little 3/4" mainline yesterday.... Its about 285 ft long... Because I need to take this down each year, and may decide to move it to a different location, I chose to just put the saddles at equal 10 ft increments, and can plug off any that I don't use... (3/4" tubing is about 16 time bigger than a 3/16" in terms of volume.)
---I am really crossing my fingers that they don't leak... My drill left a burr on each hole which I carefully removed with a utility knife.. Maybe the "drilling tool" would have prevented this?? or a different style of drill bit??? I used a regular HSS drill - All I could find in 31/64" ....
---We installed the saddles in a warm shop... My dad and I had a pretty good assembly line going... Coil layed up on a large workbench.... Uncoiling, drill, trim, warm soapy water to lubricate the rubbers and saddles, insert, and secure with re-bar wire-ties and re-coil... Once we were set up, this took about an hour or so... 2 or 3 hours to roll it out and hang it from my wire in the bush, which I installed the day before. I will still need to do some tying up, leveling and fine tuning...
--Very flat bush... This section has a natural grade in elevation of about 5 ft... I started it 9ft off the ground and ended it 2ft off the ground... So in total I have about 12ft of fall over 285ft... (4.2%) It has about 80 trees (150ish taps) within tapping distance.. Which I will run 3/16 tubing from.
--- This mainline will be bringing sap to a couple small 12v diaphragm pumps, which were fed from several runs of 3/16" in previous years... I am thinking I may plumb one pump into the bottom to pump sap, and the other into the top, to maintain some vacuum in the airspace.... Really don't know what to expect with this new setup... Could take some experimenting... Hoping for the best.

Thanks for the help.

[maple flats]

In the my early years I made a wooden jig out of a piece of 2x6. I cut a V notch in it leaving the necessary amount left so a hold drilled thru the center of the 2x6 into the V, held the drill bit where it needed to be, and so I didn't drill too deep, and go out the opposite side. That worked OK but it was another thing to carry. I now use DSD stubby bits for a 5/16" hole. I don't know if they offer a stubby the size you need.
My thought was always, KISMIF (keep it simple, make it fun), I figured those costly tools to make the hole were made for those with far more taps than I ever had.

[ennismaple]

wmick - The slope on the mainline isn't what generates the natural vacuum but rather the slope on the 3/16" tubing. The mainline won't be flowing full so there's no column of sap to "pull" vacuum above it.

For 285 feet of mainline you can probably use 3 feet of fall from top to bottom, which is 1% slope.

[wmick]

wmick - The slope on the mainline isn't what generates the natural vacuum but rather the slope on the 3/16" tubing. The mainline won't be flowing full so there's no column of sap to "pull" vacuum above it.

For 285 feet of mainline you can probably use 3 feet of fall from top to bottom, which is 1% slope.

Understood...
In switching from 3/16" mainlines to a 3/4", I'm aware that I will not be creating any vacuum through gravity.... but with such a flat grade in this bush, I really don't have much opportunity for gravity vacuum anyway... So my hope is that the 3/4" mainline will stay 1/2 empty... allowing my diaphragm pump to provide some vacuum up the entire run.(overcoming some of the atmospheric pressure, anyway)... Essentially, I'll be counting on the pressure from the trees to do most of the work (with a little bit of vacuum assist), getting the sap over to the main, where it will flow downhill on its own...
Crossing my fingers... that it will work at least as good as my previous attempts...

Thanks for the advice...

[ennismaple]

Gotcha - didn't realize you were using vacuum as well. How many taps do you have on that mainline? At 1" slope we'll put up mainlines with up to 300 taps on 3/4" pipe. It never flows full but if there's a sag somewhere you will get some slugging of the sap coming into the releaser. However, the vacuum does make its way out into the woods - even with a few sags. Good luck!

[wmick]

Just a bit of an update... After tromping through a foot of new snow on Sunday to tap trees and run laterals, I managed to get everything finished up for collecting last night... 165 taps on 3/16 laterals to a 3/4 in mainline... 2x40W solar panels on a truck battery.. 12VDC diaphram pump and temperature control, . and an IBC tote.
Sap was flowing quite well onto the ground when I got there.. I started off by plugging the top and bottom end of my mainline, to help find leaks as I checked saddles and plugged off some un-used ones...
I had one saddle to install yet at the very top end.... As I punctured the mainline with my drill bit, ("PSHHHH") A considerable amount of pressure purged air out of the pipe.. This was neat.... Confirmed a couple things for me... I don't have any major leaks....(1st time using saddles... and I wasn't very confident) and the trees do create lots of pressure....