leaving tubing up year round

[markct]

so im new to this whole thing, and had a few questions. when i bought my tubing i bought the blue "4 season" tubing from bascoms, i had assumed this meant it was ok to leave it up year round, which is great cause i doubt i would ever remember where all the tubes and taps went to which tree and realy dont have a good place to store a giant bundle of tubing. but now on here i have read a few posts where people talk about taking it down and storing it? so which is right? i remember seeing tons of tubing strung between trees on the road up to bascoms last fall so i assumed they left it up year round. mine is just attached to my trees in a few places with large fence staples lightly driven in so after a few years i may have to pull them out a little, but other than that i dont see it being a problem for the trees. i figured the purpose of the cups on the tees was to put the tap into and just leave it till next year.

[Yorkholomaple]

Out of everyone i know there are only a few that take there tubing down and that is because its on rented sugar bushes. I leave mine up year round just pull the taps so the tree can heal and the tubing will stretch so you wont have any problems with it growing in the trees. The only thing i would worry about is where you have the staples. I pull everything tight so i dont have staples. Also squirrels and other critters might cause some problems they like chewing little holes here and there:)

[gmcooper]

About 99.9% of all tubing is put up to be there year round. Most of the tubing that gets taken down is due to land owner needing access or not wanting it there year round. I have 75 taps on tubing in the door yard of friends that I take down. 6 runs total and a total pain every time. I keep all coils seperate and code the bundles as I take them down. Matching the same route around the trees is the real challange as I can't paint the trees to mark them. When possible leave it up.

[chipa]

most people leave their tubing up. I take some of mine down every year because some of it is right in the yard and some of it is on the neighbors property (they dont want it up year round) The rest of it stays up.

weather doesnt much effect the tubing but tree rats and deer will;they find it pretty tasty.

[Sugarmaker]

markct,
If you can leave it up, thats what it is designed for. I for one have the pain in the but rented roadside trees. ( I have to remind myself that this last run the averaged 2.2% sugar and about 1.5 gallons per tap) So I will have to remove and reinstall it each year. I will let you know how that goes in the future since this is only my second year with tubing. Yep looks like a big rats nest when you take it down!:(

Chris

[jemsklein]

Out of everyone i know there are only a few that take there tubing down and that is because its on rented sugar bushes. I leave mine up year round just pull the taps so the tree can heal and the tubing will stretch so you wont have any problems with it growing in the trees. The only thing i would worry about is where you have the staples. I pull everything tight so i dont have staples. Also squirrels and other critters might cause some problems they like chewing little holes here and there:)

i heard from a older sugar maker (older than me) if you clean your lines with bleach they will eat your lines it is a chemical in the bleach they like so they will do any thing to get it
i have never cleaned my lines with bleach only hot water and only had on peice of tubbing cuz it was laying on the ground for 8 months

[Yorkholomaple]

jemsklien, its hard to tell why they do it. The only place i have really had problems is where i have a line that runs through a bunch of hemlocks which are mixed in with the maples. It would be cool if someone new why for sure. I also hurd there is some kind of salt in the tubing that there going for. I think i read that here on the trader.

[ennismaple]

The residue left over from chlorine bleach is salty and the tree rats love it. Our tubing sees nothing but hot water to wash it. We're one of the guilty ones you may have read that takes their tubing down. About half of our 4000+ taps is the older style green tubing that isn't meant to be left up. Some people do but we don't. 4-seasons is supposed to stay on the tree. The first time you visit that tree in the spring is to tap it. Check for leaks a couple times a season, wash it when you're done and forget it! That`s why you pay a premium for the 10 or 15 year warranty tubing.

[802maple]

The 4 seasons name really comes from the idea that it can be put up in any weather conditions and when put up tight it will not sag. The orignal so called "stiff tubing"when put up in the winter would sag when it warmed up. The 4 seasons when put up correctly doesn't sag when it becomes warmer.

[markct]

ok thanks i had thought so but wasnt sure, i think next year i will tube further up my fenceline along the edge of the goat pen, it has alot of maples with a decent crown and a gradual slope towards the road, since it has been making a huge mess driving around the fields in this mud. i am going out today to move some of my bucket taps that are way out in the woods to trees withing walking distance of the paved road

[maple flats]

Make sure the goats can not reach the tubing or they will destroy it, then you will be putting tubing up all "4 seasons". Sorry about the pun, couldn't resist.

[peacemaker]

where i tapped last year i had to take it down every year what i did was string wire tie and electrical tape the lines to it and then at the end of the season i would was drop it roll it i saved milk jug lids and colr coded runs and named them so i would remeber where they went now the trick was bottom of run i made a strap loop and and beaner top was a dollar store rachet strap which so i would walk it out hook the starp and crank it tight ... ..

[barrelstove]

so im new to the tubing thing as well, how do you clean it. ive seen chemicals specifically for tubing, chlorine (and its associated salt issues), or just hot water. whatever you use, how do you get it there?!?!?
presure it from the bottom up? pour some in from each tap? ive wondered this for years and finnaly found the right forum to ask about it.

[ennismaple]

We suck hot water through each tap when we pull them. We don't use chlorine or the squirrels will chew your lines to pieces. If you're on gravity hook a pump up to the bottom end and push water through until it runs out each tap.

[barrelstove]

so how do you go about this if there is no applied vacuum, just gravity? a funnel and a jug of water?

[tyrod2]

Barrel Stove This is how I do it. I fill my 35GAL. hauling tank on my ATV with hot water. I have a 3/4 '' Garden hose hook up. I took a washing machine hose and cut one end off and reduced it down to a 5/16'' connector that fit into my sap line where line goes into tote. I hooked up a camper pump between my tank and line. Turn on pump when pump get's up to pressure it will shut off. Go to first tap and pull out tap ,line will lose pressure and pump will turn on and water will shoot out of the tap, Put plug in tap and line will build up pressure and shut off. Go on to next tap till I get to end of line. You get A little wet but then I have been wet this whole season .This works for me. Good Luck