Tap holes leaking after hard freeze

[tgormley358]

Just curious, is leaking from tap holes a common phenomenon after a hard freeze? In Eastern-central MA last Friday we had single digits F for a day. Then Sunday and yesterday we had sun and low 40s again and I thought the sap would run hard, but it was much slower than expected, slower than the prior week of similar weather. I have 130 taps on 5/16. As I looked at some of the trees I noticed many of them weeping around the tap holes, from 6” to 24” or so of sap on the bark, which wasn’t there before. Is this common after a freeze. And does it suggest I need to do anything such as pull taps and re-drill?

Thanks.

[berkshires]

It has never happened to me, but I understand that if you seat your taps too hard in the hole you can crack the tree. This leads to what you describe, where the sap flows as much around the tap than into it. Whether you can get a delayed crack after hammering them in a little too hard, and whether this might happen after a deep freeze, I do not know.

But if the tree is cracked, I think all you can do is try not to overdo it next time.

I assume you've checked that the tap is not loose in the hole?

GO

[tgormley358]

Right, I don’t see any sitting in my tap holes and after a few years now I’ve gotten pretty used to the telltale tap, tap, thud sounds and go pretty easy. Even purchased a tapping hammer this year rather than using my carpenters hammer which I have the past few years. I’ll know more in a few days if the trees start running well again.

[DrTimPerkins]

A couple of videos on this topic at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZP4fDl-nB9-4aZkQyDR070QpxcAr02q5

[tgormley358]

Thanks Dr Tim. I was just up in Burlington last weekend visiting my daughter. I should have stayed for another night but came back early expecting my trees in MA to run hard, oh well. Fun place to visit.