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maple sapper
02-24-2009, 08:00 PM
I put most my taps in about 2 weeks ago when temps were looking promising. It now seems like eternity but, waiting for a run. I guess I may have been a bit to excited. Will I pay the price now with the tap holes drying up early? or the fact that its been so cold will have little affect due the the freezing of the wood in the trees? I am thinking if things slow down ealy I can ream them out with a quick pass of the bit once again. input would be appreciated.
Sugarmaker
02-24-2009, 08:07 PM
Maple Sapper,
I also tapped several weeks ago, and had several small runs then the cold weather hit. Always a gamble if the taps will stay open later. last year they were still going strong and I tapped early then too.
I don't thing cold weather is a bad for the taps as warm weather.

Chris
maplescott
02-25-2009, 07:59 PM
We experimented with retapping on some of our trees. We tapped early and kept the bit shallow. Three weeks later we would retap to full depth. If you only have a few hundred taps and aren't busy, you will probably gain a bit of sap depending on the year. We had mixed results and now wait a bit til we are sure of good running and rush like heck to tap everything.
HHM-07
02-25-2009, 08:50 PM
if you have tubing you will be ok if you are on buckets you may have jumped the gun by tapping early , when i was young and had all buckets mwe never taped until sap was running
Revi
02-25-2009, 09:02 PM
I have a friend who has thousands of taps and he started tapping in January. I don't think it matters as much when it's cold. The trees don't start to run until it gets warm anyway.

We tap them when we're ready to start the season, because we can do all of ours in a day, no problem.
Haynes Forest Products
02-25-2009, 11:23 PM
Drying out and bacteria growth are two differant evils. Cold frozen taps can still dry out but less with tubing. We cant stop bacteria. I think reaming with the same size bit helps slightly. Because it smears the cut wood just like a dull bit does closing the capilaries. You need to get fresh wood just like recutting a Cristmas tree to expose clear open capilaries.