Tap depth

[325abn]

Is there a consensus as to the best depth to drill the tap hole?

2.5 - 3 inches is what I do is this the norm?

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I usually try to got 1.5 to 2 inches, some go more, others go less. I think that 2.5 to 3 might be a little too far, but that is my opinion. It will make for a good discussion.

[Dave Y]

I believe the Maple producers manual says no deeper than 2". I drill my holes 1.5" and 1/64" smaller than the spile so I can ream the hole if needed. then I dril to a depth of 2".

[mountainvan]

I tap 3/4-1". Then another 1/2" in when I ream.

[maplecrest]

one mistake that alot of producers make and happened here is not deep enough. told my son 3/4 inch after bark and he went 3/4 ,leaving 1/2 after bark, they all split due to not enough hole to absorb the tapping in of the spout. then when i went thru to tighten up ,found loose i struck them and split the tree not knowing that the hole were not deep enough, now i have some ugly looking trees. when the forester walked thru with me and asked what happened i broke off a stick put it in on of the old non healed holes and showed him. been 5 years now. the following year i switched to health spouts. hind sight 20/20 got to move on and hope they heal over

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I shoot for 1.5 inches, but a lot of the trees I tap are 3+ feet in diamater and the bark is very thick in a lot of places to say the least, but it is hard to estimate exactly how deep I go a lot of the times. I do tap with a 19/64" bit and use a 5/16" spout and I have only seen one leaking just a touch this year out of 350 and I think it is a place on the tree just above the spout and not the spout itself.

[jemsklein]

well i go about 1.5 - 2 inches

[TapME]

I have one of those 16'' bits and when I am setting 2 taps I drill all the way through and put in 2 taps.( takes an awful long time to drill the hole but it's well lubed)lol.

[Mac_Muz]

I know a little bit about trees and how they grow. To my way of thinking the sap is in the outter most cells, the most. That would be the cambium back which will be this years next wood cells. I do understand deeper wood cells move sap, but the most of the sap is moving up in this next to the outter bark the most.

So the hole is more a resevoir than anything else, and dosn't need to be all that deep from that cambium layer.

If there is such a thing as a maple tree in the way and it is more sapling than not, say 6" across and you cut it right off clean at this time of year the sap will flow the most at the edges and after time passes the sap will also rise closer to the center.

If this tree in the way of a driveway, or home lot is bigger, and older with a heart wood, that heart wood for all practical purpose is dead wood. SO there isn't any sap there to get.

I tend to fill my tap holes with a dead maple limb, to keep out insects. I am not so sure that works, but it seems better than leaving a nasty ugly hole.

[DS Maple]

I think it has a lot to do with the specific tree being tapped. I find that younger trees, say from 12"-20" in diameter, don't really require a hole much deeper than 1"-1.5". On the other hand, I often find that on larger trees, 3/4" is just barely enough to get through the bark and softer wood on the outside, so the total depth probably ranges from 2"-2.5".

[SBClorite]

If you use vacuum, you probably don't need to tap as deep.
The sap gets sucked out fast enough that you don't need the resevoir of sap provided by a deeper hole.
Any sap flowing in the deeper sap wood will be drawn to the edge.
Even without vacuum the inner sap will flow toward the edge via capillary action through the cells.
I drill deep enough to set the tap and an extra bit. I try to pick a spot on the older trees between chuncks of thick bark, but I do tap deeper on the older trees.

[Mac_Muz]

I should have said I don't count drilling bark. When the first wood chips show on a drill bit is when I begin to count depth. I can pull the bit easy then to make sure.

[mountainvan]

Up the xylem down the phloem, that's the way the sap is flowin!