Tap hight

[325abn]

I am thinking its ok to put taps up high enough to get a good slope on a 5/16 line going into a tote that would otherwise be flat.

Do you agree?

Is there such thing as to high to tap?

[3% Solution]

I have some taps that are as high as I can reach (I'm 6'). This gives them a good slope to the mainline.
Most of our taps are about waist high (for buckets) up to shoulder high for line taps.
I would say if you need a step ladder or climbing spikes you may be a little too high.

Dave

[maple flats]

On one section of my lines I have some taps that are up about 15' high to get enough slope. They still work but tapping is surely slower.

[troes30]

i dont think it matters as far as sap production. keep in mind if you ever log off the woods, that part of the tree is just firewood. of course us sugarmakers would never log off a woods right?

[hard maple]

How does the saying go??
The higher you tap the sweeter the sap
The lower you tap the more sap

[gmcooper]

I used to have some in one section that I had to use step ladder to tap. On the road to Bascoms there had been a few taps that looked 20' in the air. Didn't notice them the last few trips in there but I wasn't looking for them either.
Everything from the roots up till you run out of trunk is tappable.

[super sappy]

I am pretty sure that in one of the proctor research seminars either Bellows Falls or Bascoms open house.They showed a data slide showing sap yield in relation to tap ht. The lower tapping hts produced more sap but you have to do what you got to do. At Massey Jacks bush behind his house I need stilts to reach taps. I cannot reach the taps only from the north side of the trees.Even before Vac those taps ran good with good sap yield. Last year we put a bucket on a old wolf roadside tree that had alot of exposed roots on a steep bank. I had one bucket in the traditional location and then we put one in where ground level should be. It was like we got another 1/3 bucket in the lower tap on each run. We taped this way just to experiment. We will do it again this year on the same tree only with the upper tap at 6-0 and I was thinking of tapping a root. The tree is over 4-0 in diameter. Any thoughts on tapping a exposed root. The root in question has been exposed and open for probabally 20 years and is over 12" in diameter itself.-ss

[peacemaker]

ss i would try it as long as it that big why not ...how was your trip yesterday find anything good ?i had a expensive day got my gathering tank a new thermo and a hydrometer and cup ... plus fittings ... happy bday to me lol
uncle scammy paid up just in time ..lol

[maple flats]

As for logging, my taps that are elevated leave an 8' butt log below tapping height, but some stain may be there. I do my own logging and have my own sawmill. I can saw the logs and determin after if the lumber is good, decorative, or usefull only as shed lumber etc. My main concern is maple syrup and the only logging in my bush is for thinning or to clean up a windfall.

[twigbender]

In theory, there is sap in the tree from the roots to the twigs. If you can drill a hole and put a spile in it, it'll flow sap. While there may be a better flow where the diameter of the trunk is the greatest, i.e., more transport tissue available to flow sap through, you should get sap at any location. I think it's less a function of tap height and more a function of bole diameter that will affect sap flow.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it -- at least until someone comes up with a more convincing idea!

[super sappy]

Peace maker - Everything got screwed up. I got up at 4 am. Ready to go at 4:30 Had to wait until 10:00 to teach a 4-h lesson ( no one told me ) that was over at noon then had to drop off kids etc................ Said screw it Ill do trip on sunday >>>>>>>>>>>>> Well the road to Bascoms was going about 20 mph .over 1 hour between cambridge and Arlington VT. So to heck with that we will head South and go to lunch in bennington for Valentines Day with the Wife. BUT>>>>>>>>>>> wile I was out I found a secret abandoned sugarhouse that I stopped to take a picture of. When I got out of the car ,A german shepard bounded over and bit me right on the balls.Thank Heaven for a half blind dog and a cold south wind , Everything escaped intact and safe. ( man talk about pucker factor) Well when I got inside the old sugarhouse I found a 3 X 12 Arch with $ $ cast into the doors. Who knows what kind of evaporator this is? -SS

[Brent]

tap height ... ??

In my first year I read that a tree should be tapped near the base because that gave the best flow.

An engineer ( not me ) might look at the tree and say

if 25 gallons an hour start up the trunk where its 3 feet in diameter and before the tree starts to branch out, it reduces to 18" in diameter, and the same 25 gallons goes past this point, then the flow per square inch of cross section has to be greater where it's 18" in diameter and the amount of sap that one tap hole could yield should be higher.

But

does it work that way in the real world

or was that original "tap at the base" a theory propogated by a saw mill ??

[peacemaker]

ss remind me to never go on a road trip with u and maybe u ought to think about wearing a cup ... lol ... they selling the evap ..lol
i offered wolrum 800 for his i wants 1500 i told 800 cash is all i will give u needs new stack new grates and a new float ... and a days worth of cleaning last years syrup out of it ... he said no lol

[hard maple]

AHHHH the two dollar signs on the doors....
I believe those were found on the leader and vermont archs
It stands for all the money they make, and you lose, when you buy one.

[twigbender]

Brent: You make two assumptions that flaw your otherwise sound reasoning. Yes, the engineer's assumption that there would be more flow at the smaller diameter is correct for free-flow situations, e.g., in a venturi, and if you were measuring speed as opposed to volume, but this is more complex and involves flow coming from the top and bottom as well as the sides.
The vascular system for liquid transport in the tree is under pressure. Greater pressure than the atomspheric pressure outside the tree, so the sap will flow out when a hole is created in the xylem/phloem layer. And because there is sap contained in all parts of the tree (roots, bole, branches and twigs), it will flow in all directions toward that point of lesser pressure, i.e., your tap. That means it flows up, down, and sideways within the living tissues in the outer portion of the tree.
If that makes everything just a bit more confusing, just remember that this is a Midwesterner trying to explain something -- it's bound to get muddled before it gets clearer!

[Brent]

Sam

your explanation is in sync (not muddled ) with that given in the North American MS Producers manual, which in fact suggests that most flow is going down when you get it to come out of the tap. As the small twigs in the crown thaw the pressure builds more up there and down it comes.

Given that, it still seems that a hole up just below where the crown starts to branch out, would let more pressure escape per square inch of tap hole, than near the trunk. After all the roots are much more stable in temp and don't go through the freeze / thaw cycle that makes the magic happen.

Maybe in a couple weeks I'll take a ladder to the woods and see if anything makes any sense.

[twigbender]

Brent: Let me know how it works out for you. Count yourself lucky to be able to tap in a couple of weeks. We'll have a high temp of about -6 F today. Won't get much above 0 degrees for most of the week. I've gotta find a sugarbush further south! I won't tap for five weeks yet unless we get an early spring -- which I'm not counting on but would love to see.

Regards,

[Brent]

I know that feeling. It was -20C here this morning, about -4 F. For the first time this winter the wood stove let the temp fall below 72 and the gas kicked in. Our season normally starts about March 15.... but HE says that is subject to change.

[nhmaple48]

SUPERSAPPY:$$ means it's a King.