How long can a taphole last?

[hholt]

My first tap holes are a little over a month old and still seem to be flowing fine. I drilled with a sharp tapping bit and immediatly flushed each hole with vodka. I also sprayed the bit between trees.

So now I'm curious, what causes a tap hole to go bad? Is it just bacteria?

[mountainvan]

Bacteria is the main culprit in causing the sapflow to cease, and really warm days that the little suckers can multiply fast.. I tapped 800 trees in january, still flowing well. I also used alcohol. I expect for my trees to go through march.

[hholt]

Two days ago it almost hit 70 here and I had something that looked like mayflys in a couple of my buckets. I was doing chores in a tshirt. Some buds are starting to swell noticably as well.

In the middle of a blizzard right now though :^)

Thanks Mountainvan. How do you tell if a hole is going bad? is it just decreased flow or can you tell from looking at it?

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

The tree is still high from the vodka and is still loving you and rewarding you.

[powerdub]

I know in my trees before I started replacing my spouts every year you could pull a tap out and see the slime in the hole after about three weeks. Production really suffered after four weeks and then shut down. Now, I don't get any slime in my holes and the sap turns to crap before it shuts down.

[Russell Lampron]

Welcome back Scott. I was beginning to wonder if you were going to on the site this year. I am trying some of the 2 piece spouts this year. If the season is as long this year as it was last year they should make a difference.

Russ

[hholt]

Hi Scott, are you saying that you throw away your spouts every year?

Maybe a dumb question Russ, but what is a 2-piece spout? I have been using black plastic "tree saver" spouts and hookless aluminum spouts, both in 5/16, but I have never seen a 2-piece. I reused them this year after boiling them clean at the end of last season, and soaked them in vodka for a few hours this year before I tapped.

I read somewhere last year that you spray the tree a couple of times then spray your mouth once......or was it one for the tree and two for your mouth? Either way I'm happy and the trees are happy so everone is having a good time :^)

[powerdub]

Hi Russ, I have been so busy getting on the computer was less important than sleep if you can believe it.

hholt,

I use lappierre stubby spouts with the health spout adapters. After the season I throw the adapters away and buy new the following sping. The stubby spout stays with the drop in the woods. So far it costs me an extra $300.00 or so a year but I more than make up for it with the extra sap I get on the back end of the season. I know there are others that make the stubbies and adapters as well. I get mine from the maple guys and they are always happy to ship them right out every year. (shameless plug for Chris)

[royalmaple]

Hey scott, welcome back.

For those interested, I was talking to Matt Williams at lapierre a few weeks ago at a local open house. I mentioned the whole new plastic thing and he said that Don Lapierre (notice the name)uses the two piece taps, but does not throw them out each season. He takes them in, washes them in a concrete mixer with water then reuses them each year for 4 years. then he throws them out.

Kinda made me wonder. If the guy that has access to all the reducers a guy could want, and you know he's not paying the same price we are. Why doesn't he throw them out. I'm not doubting new fresh plastic is better, I know the deal but just thought I'd point that out.

[Valley View Sugarhouse]

makes you wonder if a clothes washing machine and some bleach would do even better?? or maybe a boil the day before you use them...

[powerdub]

For me it is more of a time thing. I make more syrup with the fresh taps and I don't have to fool with the old ones. I am sure if I washed them it would be fine but time is my problem. I am pretty sure the reason Lapierre replaces them is because they get deformed after a few years and don't seal in the tree anymore. Since royal brought it up I almost remember Don saying that when we were at his place a few years back. The other thing is, I only have 1500 taps. If I had 40,000 plus like Donald I think I would not buy new every year either.

[maplecrest]

I have been trying to stay out of this one but cant.,, last year my neighbor who boils and bleaches his adapters came by and asked where i got my sap. i told him new adapters every year. it makes the difference at the end of the season. that and keep vac on them as much as possible to stop sap from pooling in the holes

[hholt]

...........I only have 1500 taps. If I had 40,000 plus like Donald I think I would not buy new every year either.



40,000 TAPS???? HOLY SMOKES!!!!!

And I thought my 43 taps was plenty of work but that probably because I haven't figured out how to invent a horse to haul sap for me and I lug it all by hand about 1/2 mile......I gotta get me one of these and start working my way up the technology ladder :^)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130202587258&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=003

[Russell Lampron]

The actual number of taps that Donald Lapierre hs is 140,000. He is the largest producer in the world.

Russ


40,000 TAPS???? HOLY SMOKES!!!!!

And I thought my 43 taps was plenty of work but that probably because I haven't figured out how to invent a horse to haul sap for me and I lug it all by hand about 1/2 mile......I gotta get me one of these and start working my way up the technology ladder :^)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130202587258&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=003

[powerdub]

thanks Russ, I didn't realize my typo. I proof read the darn thing twice too. Sheeeeesh!

When I was up there a few years back he had five large evaporators lined up in the main room. Each one had its own RO feeding it. All the syrup was drawn off and pumped through pipes in the floor the filter presses. The guys who worked it stayed there through the season. I think they said there was even a cook to feed them all. Pretty big set up.

[Gary in NH]

I only have 35 taps and they are stainless and aluminum for buckets. This year I boiled them for about a 1/2 hour before tapping and then put them in a bucket of hydrogen peroxide and took them out as I tapped. Also wore nitrile gloves and dipped the drill bit in a different container of peroxide before every hole. Sterile seems like a logical way to go and I am hoping it helps. I am assuming bucket taps are at a disadvantage compared to tubing due to how open they are to the atmosphere. Any thoughts on this one?

[powerdub]

I have always found buckets to out-perform pipe on gravity both in quantity and sugar content, however pipe under vacuum will win hands down for quantitiy over buckets. The sugar content in buckets is usually higher than either vacuum or gravity systems. As far as hole longevity is concerned, I believe new or very clean pipe spouts will outlast buckets. I could go into all kinds of variables but I think my typing skills will shut me off here.

[hholt]

Back when I was at CU Boulder 1/4 century ago, my landlady hired a tree trimmer to prune the apple tree in her backyard. It was a HUGE standard tree that I'd guess was started from seed, that was probably 45' tall. One of the bigger apple trees I've ever seen. Anyway, this guy washed his pruning saw with alcohol between every cut, and was convinced that disease could be spread not only from tree to tree, but from one part of a tree to another. As he was doing this I got my first lesson in pruning fruit trees. The year AFTER he pruned, we put up about 12 gallons of sauce from that one tree. At the time I was living on bisquick, powdered milk, and noodles, so the apple sauce was very welcome.

To this day when ever I prune a tree, I sterilize my equipment first, and between cuts. Seems to make sense to apply the same principles to tapping.

[Quadmom]

I'm asking the same question in several forums so if you've seen the same question elsewhere I am sorry! Can I use the same tap hole I used last year if I redrill it? Sandy

[Brent]

watch out if you feed that tree too much vodka it will get real buddy buddy:rolleyes: