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michiganfarmer
02-10-2009, 03:04 PM
58 degrees here in TC. Snow is going away fast! I had 1100 taps on tubing last year, but squirrels or something ruined all of it. Im gonna hang a couple hundred buckets on road trees, and I found a little tubing stashed away that I forgot about in my sap house so I guess this weekend im gonna get it strung out to as many trees as I can in the woods.

I wanna be ready by the 7th of March
Jeff E
02-10-2009, 03:08 PM
Critter ruined it beyond repair?!? In one year!!???

I hope whatever it was can't swim over to Wisconsin. Haynes, you let me know if you see a big wake from these things coming across the bay!

Seriously, that is unbelievably bad luck. What kind of damage?
michiganfarmer
02-10-2009, 03:26 PM
It was FULL of chew holes. I left it out all year. I wont ever do that again!
Jeff E
02-10-2009, 03:32 PM
Did you use a cleaning solution in the tubes? There is a trend away from using anything other than water and air to clean, as the chemicals can leave a 'salty' residue the critters like.
Were the holes little, 1/4" size, teeth marks?
michiganfarmer
02-10-2009, 03:46 PM
Did you use a cleaning solution in the tubes? There is a trend away from using anything other than water and air to clean, as the chemicals can leave a 'salty' residue the critters like.
Were the holes little, 1/4" size, teeth marks?

I just rinse with plain water. I had never used anything but plain water.

Yes they were tiney double teeth marks, about 1/4". Most of them were just one bite...not even a hole...just one bite, and they were able to make a leak, and there were HUNDREDS of those little bitten spots. In a lotta places there would be 2,3, or 4 feet of tubing full of those tiney bites. I went through 300 straight connectors, and 10 rolls of electrical tape, and finally gave up, and pulled it all out, cut the tees, straight connectors, spiles, and manifolds out, the threw all the tubing away
Tweegs
02-10-2009, 04:01 PM
**** the luck, thats gotta hurt.

Home depot was just running a sale on 5 gal buckets. $2.50 ea if memory serves. The lids were another $1.98. We bought the place down here out.
firetech
02-11-2009, 07:23 PM
Just finished putting the sugar shack together,all the tanks are washed the evapoartor's put together,woods stack in front The buckets are 1/2 full here we go should be boiling this weekend for sure.