Best practice for sap yield with buckets over several seasons

[ebliese]

Throwing out a question here on the best practice for sap yield utilizing 5/16 drops into 5 gallon buckets over several seasons. Is it best after year one to replace spouts with CV spouts? I've read about the CV spouts for vacuum operations but not on buckets. I have also read if your drop line in the bucket goes into the sap, then there is the chance for back flow. This is what I have done in the past. Year one (2018)-new spouts and drops (cleaned and sanitized at end of season). Year two (2021)-utilized spouts and drops from year one (cleaned and sanitized them before tapping) plus added a few new spouts and drops. I will clean and sanitize these at the end of the season. The first year I had 29 taps. The second (this year) I had 50. We are looking at going to 100 next year (still with buckets). I should add that we will be reusing the drops for next season and I like to leave the drops at 3-4 foot lengths so I have some flexibility when tapping.

[Pdiamond]

Unless the tubing was really funky I never replaced it, just rinsed and sanitized in the sink. As for the spouts, I usually used the clear spouts and replaced them each year. they weren't worth the hassle of trying to clean for re-use.

[DrTimPerkins]

Preferably, spouts and droplines should be sanitized with a mild bleach solution after every season, then rinsed and dried for storage. According to the research done at Cornell (Steve Childs), CV spouts can help, but the economics are not as favorable as with vacuum systems due to the lower yields on gravity. CV can be economic in gravity systems, but the calculation is a lot closer to par.

[Trapper2]

Preferably, spouts and droplines should be sanitized with a mild bleach solution after every season, then rinsed and dried for storage. According to the research done at Cornell (Steve Childs), CV spouts can help, but the economics are not as favorable as with vacuum systems due to the lower yields on gravity. CV can be economic in gravity systems, but the calculation is a lot closer to par.

With drops going into buckets, is it still preferable to replace taps and drops opposed to trying to sanitize? I'm only doing a couple 100 buckets but still want optimal flow.

[DrTimPerkins]

With drops going into buckets, is it still preferable to replace taps and drops opposed to trying to sanitize? I'm only doing a couple 100 buckets but still want optimal flow.

Bring the drops/spouts in. Sanitize with chlorine solution (400ppm, no additives...brighteners, scents) for 5-10 minutes minimum. Rinse well. That'll get you pretty close to new in terms of sanitation.

The economics of replacing on a 3-yr rotation were developed for vacuum. Since sap yields are so much lower with gravity, it is not worth it economically to replace as often. Sanitizing with chlorine is easy if you're able to bring the drops in.

[Trapper2]

Bring the drops/spouts in. Sanitize with chlorine solution (400ppm, no additives...brighteners, scents) for 5-10 minutes minimum. Rinse well. That'll get you pretty close to new in terms of sanitation.

The economics of replacing on a 3-yr rotation were developed for vacuum. Since sap yields are so much lower with gravity, it is not worth it economically to replace as often. Sanitizing with chlorine is easy if you're able to bring the drops in.

Thanks Tim,
That's what I will do then with my drops and taps for buckets. But how about my 5/16 gravity lines, no vacuum. Replace taps yearly? Drops biannual? Thanks.

[ebliese]

Bring the drops/spouts in. Sanitize with chlorine solution (400ppm, no additives...brighteners, scents) for 5-10 minutes minimum. Rinse well. That'll get you pretty close to new in terms of sanitation.

The economics of replacing on a 3-yr rotation were developed for vacuum. Since sap yields are so much lower with gravity, it is not worth it economically to replace as often. Sanitizing with chlorine is easy if you're able to bring the drops in.

Hmm, interesting. Not being a chemist, does a calcium hypochlorite solution have to be at 400ppm? I noticed the North American Maple Syrup Producer's Manual talks about a sodium hypochlorite solution of 500 to 600ppm for sanitation. Last year we opted to use a calcium hypochlorite of 500ppm and were planning on using the same but we can drop it to 400ppm if that is better.

[DrTimPerkins]

Hmm, interesting. Not being a chemist, does a calcium hypochlorite solution have to be at 400ppm?

Again, read the label for the recommended concentration for the particular sanitizer you are using. 400-500-600 is in the ballpark. If your lines have a lot of liquid in them, go to the higher range. If you pull taps with vacuum on (so no liquid left in them), OK to use the lower range.

[DrTimPerkins]

...But how about my 5/16 gravity lines, no vacuum. Replace taps yearly? Drops biannual? Thanks.

https://mapleresearch.org/pub/1019sanitation-2/

Your choice. Depends upon several things: your expected yield, vacuum or gravity, how much your time is worth, etc. Best approach for maximum yield would be to replace your entire system each year, but you'd go broke (poor net economic return) doing it.

Top tier (no particular order, all yield close to the same result) are:
Chlorine (sodium or calcium) bleach with rinsing or let first sap run on the ground.
New spouts each yr, drops replaced every 3 yrs.
CV spouts or adapters
These produce the highest yields and highest net profits (compared to doing nothing).


Mid-tier:
IPA (if you're in Canada, illegal in U.S.).
Zap-Bac spouts (replaced every 3 yrs)
Mid-level yields and mid-level net profits.

Low tier:
New spouts each year
Other sanitizers
Low net yields and low net profits.

Little or no sanitizing effect:
Dry clean (sucking sap out under vacuum when pulling spouts), letting spouts dangle
Air/water clean
Sour sap (vinegar)
Sanitizers pulled in under vacuum (inadequate contact time).
No cleaning

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Thanks Tim,
That's what I will do then with my drops and taps for buckets. But how about my 5/16 gravity lines, no vacuum. Replace taps yearly? Drops biannual? Thanks.

We have some lines with gravity and some on Shurflo vac. Eventually, we will have regular vacuum on some of the lines. We're doing the same rotation whether gravity or vacuum. We have 3 small bushes and just completed totally redoing our last one this year. New mainline, laterals, saddles....everything to set them up the way they should be. Our rotation is:

Year 1:
New drops/CDL smart flow taps

Year 2:
New Zap Bac spouts/replace any damaged drops

Year 3:
2nd year of Zap Bac spouts/replace any damaged drops

Year 4:
Start over..........New drop/CDL smartflow taps. At this point, we will take a close look at the laterals and replace anything questionable or anything that has been taped.

In regards to the Zap Bacs, I am no expert on them but I have spoken with mountainvan a few times, who I believe is the most experienced one on here with them. He is a large producer with around 5400 taps on vacuum. He said yield wise, years 1 and 2 he felt there was no noticeable yield differences. Year 3 he did feel that it dropped off some. It is not a scientific study, lots of variables could affect that analysis but based on that we use the Zap bacs for 2 years and I believe he does now too. It doesn't really save any money vs. a new spout every year, they cost $0.50 vs. $0.27 but it does save time of not having to replace taps in the 3rd year. Not really a big savings for us but for a large operation like his, it could be very beneficial.

[DrTimPerkins]

... but it does save time of not having to replace taps in the 3rd year. Not really a big savings for us but for a large operation like his, it could be very beneficial.

Exactly...every operation is different in many ways. For some, the time spent making and changing drops (and bringing the old drops out of the woods) is minimal, for others it is huge. Same with costs of materials and cost of time and cost of sanitizing lines and rinsing or letting sap run on the ground to flush. All those have different costs and different benefits and net profits. Gets complicated really fast.

In order to factor those in, we constructed a spreadsheet tool producers can use to calculate various options for their own operation. https://mapleresearch.org/pub/spouteconomics/ The results are based upon a bunch of research studies (mostly UVM and Cornell) over many years.

A description of average results can be found at: https://mapleresearch.org/pub/1018sanitation-2/ , but it is worth checking out the spreadsheet if you like to play around with different scenarios.