sanitising splies right in the woods

[michiganfarmer]

I thought about taking a piture, or some container with a bleach solution to the woods, and dipping each spile in it when I pull them.

I wonder if that would make any difference for the next season

[PerryW]

I put about half of my gravity bush on 5/16" taps using the health spout adapters that fit right into the 7/16" taps. At the end of the season, I remove all the adapters and I can sanitize them in my kitchen sink prior to tapping.

[maplecrest]

if you dip them in the woods with bleach you are inviteing every tubing chewing rodent out there to a free salt lunch. they will take every spout and run. i tryed that and 100 spouts were gone never to be seen again

[DS Maple]

I just pump a heavily diluted bleach solution through the lines and make sure it sprays out each spout. It's not the same as actually dipping and washing each spout, but they get plenty wet in the process. Haven't had any excessive squirrel damage either. There are little chew marks here and there, but nothing I wouldn't expect with or without bleach in the water.

[brookledge]

michigan farmer
Your signature says you have vacuum, Why not use it?
I use calcium hypoclorite instead of bleach. as you pull each tap dip the tap into the pail and suck some in. Repeat a few times which also adds air in the mix and it cleans very well. Plug the tap and move to the next. I know many that use vacuum for cleaning.
Keith

[danno]

In past years there have been posts on the trader about sanitizing taps in the woods during tapping by dipping each tap in an alcohol solution.

[NH Maplemaker]

This year we did the same as brookledge. We let the vacuum do the work! It went very fast and seemed to do a good job! At the end of each main line we just let it have a nice big drink to flush everything down to the releaser.Jim L.

[ennismaple]

We don't use anything to sterilize our taps, just hot water sucked through every one and give the outside a quick scrub with an abrasive pad before plugging it. We have very little rodent damage but the deer and bears do their share!

[Dave Y]

I was at D&G last Friday and Stephen Childs from Cornell was there. He was talking about different things. Tap sanitation came up, he said the the only way you can sterilize anything is with heat. I also think I remember that from Biology class. but that was almost 40 yrs ago.

[brookledge]

I agree the best thing is heat. I use sanitary adapters that I clean and then boil for atleast 10 min. This has worked for me, but I still use a liquid sanitizer to do the best possible in the laterals and mains.
Keith

[Daren]

For those who have used a bleach/water solution....what was your dilution. I mixed up approx. 60:1 and it smelled pretty strong. I went from tap to tap with suction on and it seemed to work very well. I am now just a little worried about residue tainting the sap next year. I am planning on sucking through some fresh water at tapping time next spring....will that be sufficient? What are folks thoughts on that?

[michiganfarmer]

if you dip them in the woods with bleach you are inviteing every tubing chewing rodent out there to a free salt lunch. they will take every spout and run. i tryed that and 100 spouts were gone never to be seen again

thanks for the tip

[michiganfarmer]

michigan farmer
Your signature says you have vacuum, Why not use it?
I use calcium hypoclorite instead of bleach. as you pull each tap dip the tap into the pail and suck some in. Repeat a few times which also adds air in the mix and it cleans very well. Plug the tap and move to the next. I know many that use vacuum for cleaning.
Keith

Im gonna do that next year. thanks

[michiganfarmer]

I am going to look into replaceable spiles. A lot of different options to consider