stub spouts/"throw away" spout extensions

[dano2840]

i have a question on stub spouts and spout extensions, the maple supliers mags say they reduce micro organisms by changing the spout every year and making the trees yield more sap, i thought about going to this type of spout next year but wont these cause a massive loss in vacuum? as these just slide on and there is no O-ring or clamps to secure it tightly????

[jason grossman]

DanO, i have installed some of these, i have never actually used them but the looked pretty good. i use all stainless steel spouts in my woods. Bacteria and microorganisms is one concern but the other main one is that after several years a regular plastic spout will lose it's perfect roundness(start to oblong or take the shape of the hole drilled.) then you will get very very small vacuum leaks. which isn't a huge deal if you are not trying to get the absolute most vacuum you can. like i said they are small leaks, but 2000 thousand small leaks is alot!! so i use s.s. they are always round and clean.

[maplecrest]

i switched to spout adapters 4 seasons ago. and the sap at the end of the season is what pays for the adapters. i have been very happy with that move. and have made a higher quility product at the end of the season, teamed up with vacuum and not allowing sap to pool in the tap holes makes the difference between a quart per tap and 1/2 gallon per tap.well worth the money spent

[maplwrks]

Everything that Jeff stated is the reason to go with the throw away extensions. I think the the only thing better at this time is the new Lapierre disposable spouts. I will be putting them in on all new installations that I do. I'm not sure how they will work with different tubing types, but they work well with the semi-rigid tubing that I use for all of my droplines.
The stainles spouts certainly are king, as far as durability and the ability to use them year after year. They are a bit more labor intensive, you do need to wash them each year, but each year is like having a new spout in the tree. I think that the price of the stainless spouts is what keeps more folks from using them. I think if we looked at the price of these over the lifetime of them, we would find them much cheaper.

[maplecrest]

i looked at ss spouts. but i tend to tap in some very colder temps than i should tap. and the plastic gives where the ss does not. cracking tap holes.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I used some of the 5/16" stainless spiles a couple of years ago to give them a try as I thought I would convert everything over to them. Glad I only bought 25 and definitely wouldn't buy anymore.

[mapleack]

I've got throwaway reducers and stainless taps, both serve the same purpose. I'm hoping to have more stainless in the woods this year, the straight ones with no 90 deg bend or barbed fittings. I've bought the barbed ones, and the only way you're bringing them in to clean them is to cut the tubing off of them. A complete pain in the a**. I have 300 of the straight stainless ones that the drop just pushes on the end of and LOVE them. Hope that helps!

[dano2840]

I've got throwaway reducers and stainless taps, both serve the same purpose. I'm hoping to have more stainless in the woods this year, the straight ones with no 90 deg bend or barbed fittings. I've bought the barbed ones, and the only way you're bringing them in to clean them is to cut the tubing off of them. A complete pain in the a**. I have 300 of the straight stainless ones that the drop just pushes on the end of and LOVE them. Hope that helps!

ive looked at those straight ones in the catologes and i dont see how they go into the hole with out a 90 degree bend?
how does that work without kinking the pipe? or do you just have enough loose drop line that it just does a soft curv into the spout, and with out having barbs isnt there alot of vacuum loss?

[caseyssugarshack93]

Your drops will be long anough for the loop and it wont kink.but if there short drops then might but i make my drops pretty long so i have room to move around the tree.



nate

[maplwrks]

All I use are the straight adapters, with a 40" drop. I really like them,pound in the adapter and hook up the straight stubby. We tend to tap lower on the tree because of this also. The 40" drops allow me to reach around the tree to get fresh meat!

[brookledge]

Danno
I've used the first generation Leader and Lapiere. The leader ones would sometimes back out of the tree a little during a hard freeze. Then I added a bout 450 last year and went with the Lapierre. They seemed to work good with no vac loss. I will also note that I had been using 19/64 because I had IPL health spouts. Then I switched to 5/16 and both the leader and Lapierre worked good this year.
So to make a long story short I don't think you will have any more leaks with the extensions than without.
Keith

[markcasper]

I have used the Leader adaptors for several years now and will tell the following:

I have noticed during an extreme several day cold snap, I have had to go around and hammer some taps in further, (some of this may be due to hired help not hammering in properly the first time.)

The thing that showed up last spring told me not to reuse these adaptors year after year. I have been washing and boiling the Leader adaptors and reusing them. It seems to work ok for me as far as keeping the tapholes running right to the end. The problem I encountered was having about 40 adaptors leaking significant vacuum. This was due to the plastic getting wore down (out of round) when pulling them the end of each season. I use a half inch wrench and twist them off of the spiles. This twisting to get them out obviously breaks them down and results in vacuum losses if using them in subsequent years. Needless to say I will use all new ones this year.

[dano2840]

Your drops will be long anough for the loop and it wont kink.but if there short drops then might but i make my drops pretty long so i have room to move around the tree.



nate

making drops longer is a mistake i learned from last year, i made all my drops 18" last year, ive figured out thats way to short i think i will make them either 24" or 30" probably 30" cause its better to be on the safe side,

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Dano,
Like you. I started out making drops short. 24" was suggested but I was trying to save $, so I made them 18". I have been increasing the length every year since. I was just cutting tube a few minutes ago and it is all at 36". I think 40" would be better and in some cases a full 4 ft would be useful. For now I am still going with the 3 ft as a compromise between $ and convenience. My opinion anyhow
Doug

[caseyssugarshack93]

I cut mine around 30 to 36..


nate

[maple flats]

I cut mine at 28" and like it. Last year I used a few hundred Leader adapters and liked them, I bought 500 more for this year but for the new ones i am trying the stubby and adapter just because of length of assembly and the price difference. This does cost more the first year because you need both nbut is cheaper the following years because the price is lower for the stubby adapters. I do not have vacuum yet but had no leakage on the adapters even during washing when i put the pressure to the system, and that exceeds the 14.7 # of vacuum a perfect vacuum would be. The two parts are molded with the same taper and the fit is real good.