Did I run my taps too deep?

[Jwolverton03]

Pretty new to tapping still, only my second year. I ran some taps in last night and I drilled until I hit the mark on my maple tree drill bit. Then when I tapped my spiles in I tapped them all the way into the tree. Is this gonna cause issues with sap flow?

[berkshires]

how deep did you drill? What kind of taps did you use? How deep did you seat them? Do you have pictures you could load somewhere on the internet and link here (photo uploading on this site doesn't work)? Without knowing any of this, there's no way to answer your question.

Cheers,

GO

[Jwolverton03]

My drillbit is an inch and a half to 2 inches long, and the spile is about a quarter inch inch shy of that. I ran almost every tap completely into the tree.

[Brian]

I drill 2 inches, then push the tap in the drilled hole and tap it with a tapping hammer 2-3 taps then check it and make sure the tap is tight. The deeper you drive the spout/tap into the tree the less vains of wood are open to run sap. In other words if you over drive the spout it will plug off some of the sap wood.

[ScottT]

Did you use the right size drill for your spiles? If the hole was too large and the spile was smaller, it might go father in.

[82cabby]

The problem with burying the taps until the head of the tap touches the tree is A) they are challenging to remove after the season. B) the shaft of the tap can block the productive tissue of the tree because the open end of the tap is so deep.

Wait and see what the season brings. You’ll get sap regardless, don’t worry.

[johnallin]

Pretty new to tapping still, only my second year. I ran some taps in last night and I drilled until I hit the mark on my maple tree drill bit. Then when I tapped my spiles in I tapped them all the way into the tree. Is this gonna cause issues with sap flow?

If you tapped them "all the way in", it's possible you drove them in further than needed, not a big deal unless you're talking about 100's of taps on vacuum, and I don't think that's the case here.
If your on buckets, or bags, you're just trying to direct sap into the spout and then the pail. Worst thing with driving too deep is a small crack in the tree that, on gravity... not a big deal.

Best practice when driving taps is to: Have the correct sized bit for the spouts you have and learn to identify for the sound change when they're driven.
It's easy to drive them too far if you're using a heavy hammer, it doesn't mean that much if you're just getting started, but you'll develop those skills as you go .

If you want to make really good syrup, work on taking really good care of your sap and keep all of your equipment clean without soaps or anything that may contaminate your syrup.

There are no dumb questions, but there are a few dumb replies at times.

[Jwolverton03]

Thank everyone for the responses! I ran a few more taps / buckets last night and I tried using the method of hearing the different pitches when I hit it but i think it’s hard because they’re plastic. I’m gonna compare these to my original ones and see how they do, although I did notice some of the ones I tapped all the way into the tree were a bit leaky.. not sure how to fix that now. We shall see over the next few days!

[ennismaple]

Thank everyone for the responses! I ran a few more taps / buckets last night and I tried using the method of hearing the different pitches when I hit it but i think it’s hard because they’re plastic. I’m gonna compare these to my original ones and see how they do, although I did notice some of the ones I tapped all the way into the tree were a bit leaky.. not sure how to fix that now. We shall see over the next few days! Unfortunately you can't fix that now. If you over-drove the spouts you'll often get some leaking because you likely split the sapwood above and below the taphole. There's a reason tapping hammers are very light - a spout is seated, not driven like a 3.5" framing nail. Depending on the spout, most won't go more than about 3/4" into the taphole.

[Jwolverton03]

Would it be beneficial to pull the taps out slightly if it’s going to leak anyways? My taps are not quite as long as the holes I drilled, but I’m worried about what others said about getting into the hardwood and diminishing sap returns.

[DrTimPerkins]

Would it be beneficial to pull the taps out slightly if it’s going to leak anyways? My taps are not quite as long as the holes I drilled, but I’m worried about what others said about getting into the hardwood and diminishing sap returns.

No. The damage is done. Nothing you can do now will make those tapholes better, but you could make them worse. Leave them alone and treat this as a lesson learned for next year.

[berkshires]

Thought I'd show what can happen: Here are a couple photos of the one tap i over-drove. Look closely and you can see the crack radiating up from the tap-hole. Unfortunately, much of the sap has gone down the tree, rather than into the bucket. Never had this problem in sugar maples, this is the first time i tapped a Norway. Soft wood. I guess you have to be gentle with them LOL!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/SceiytkhF4TotAwi6

Gabe