3/16" line supports?

[Sinoed09]

I bought a farm last spring that has a beautiful old growth sugar bush of 50-60 trees planted probably 70 years ago. All of them are absolutely huge and I was eyeing them last summer to try tapping. I ordered all my tubing and planned on running my lines in the fall. Unfortunately, life happened and I wasn't able to get them up before the snow started to fly. The sugar bush is located on top of a ridge on my farm and the line has a grade of 10% so gravity feed is not a problem.

The tricky part is that I have a section about 300' long that crosses a field used as pasture for cattle during the summer where there are no trees to string it up. Yesterday, I put on an antique pair of snowshoes and hiked down the escarpment with my tubing and for now I just rolled this section out on the ground. I'd like to do maybe one more run to have two separate lines going along this path.

Since the ground is frozen and I don't have trees what is the risk of leaving it rolled out on the ground? Will it get chewed to bits by squirrels and rodents? Will it freeze solid and wreck my sap plans? Or do I have to figure out some system of tripods or something to support the line?

Any suggestions? :confused:

[DrTimPerkins]

Biggest issue is it getting covered by snow. Sap will flow out of the trees and down the line and freeze, blocking the line until the snow melts.

[Sinoed09]

Hmm. I was worried that might be the problem so I definitely need it lifted up. I might use some 1x2”S and build a bunch of tripods to support the line - it won’t take too much to get it up off the ground. Thank you!

[buckeye gold]

You won't need tripods. Just screw two together in an x and prop you line up. I have even cut a notch in a 2x2 and sharpened the end and stuck it in the ground best I could and then laid the line in the notch. I think you will still need to drive a few steel tee post and zip tie to them for firm support. Just don't drive them clear past the cross anchor and you'll be able to pull them up after season. Tee post aren't that expensive. I have one finish run of about 100 feet like yours and I have two tee post and then props on the rest where needed, been like that 3 years with no problems.

[Sinoed09]

After tossing around a couple ideas I finally settled on a couple 15pk’s of 3’ bamboo plant stakes from Canadian Tire for $4.29. I also picked up a couple rolls of rubber coated plant tie wire from Dollarama and I’ve been tying the sticks together in groups of 3 like mini tripods. They seem fairly secure and actually quite strong so I’m hoping this works okay. I don’t have a 4x4 or snowmobile so I’m using snowshoes to get to the back of the field and down the escarpment so I was looking for something light enough to carry in a bundle. Next year I will have to be more proactive and string this up properly with some metal t-stakes.