What are the Best Spouts?

[bussell]

Is it just a matter of personal preference, or are some brands objectively better than others?

I've noticed that Grimm taps are much more expensive than others. Are they that much better?

[Farmboy]

I just have buckets but I hate all cast spiles. I have never come across one I like. I like the standard ones with the hooks that you always loose but they work great. If they get bent a hammer can unbend them. The cast ones break so easily.

[3rdgen.maple]

Iam the opposite of Farmboy I too am a bucket guy and I prefer the soule cast spouts. Only had one break in many years of using them and not to mention they don't rust. If you are breaking them you are putting them in the tree to hard.

[KenWP]

I would say the cast spouts work better also. I fought every one of the rolled spouts to un hook the bucket off of them. The cast just lift off. I also bought some rolled aluminum spouts that suck trying to get them in even. I would like to try some others but supply is limited here for most spiles except D&G stuff.

[Stevieray]

Last year I bought some 5/16 plastic ones .. I previously had the larger aluminum ones and wanted to reduce the size of my tap hole ...they worked fine and cleaned easily .

[The Birdman]

The price you can buy 5 or 6 plastic spouts for the price of 1 metal spout.

[bussell]

What about "vintage" taps you find on ebay? Do certain types contain lead? What ones should I avoid?

[Dave Y]

Avoid the ones that look like crap. They are too hard to clean. As a bucket spile goes I like the cast in 5/16, but have over 1500 in 7/16. the rolled tin are junk.The leader 5/16 plastic adapter with the square end will also work as a bucket spout.

[maplwrks]

I think most anything will break if you hit it hard enough.....I don't own a bucket, but if I did, I would use all cast spouts, nothing wrong with the grimm style, just my preference.

[Brent]

I prefer the rolled stailess or blue plastic one. The cast ones oxodize when you clean them and get a whitish oxide powder on. I don't like the idea of zinc oxide in the sap. You can spend hours with a pipe cleaner trying to get it out of the hole. For reasons I can't explain the white plastic ones seem to keep coming out.

If you're hitting any spout hard enough to damage it, you driving them into the tree too hard and likely spliting the wood around the spout.

That said, this year I'm going to put my buckets up with drop lines. One permanent bucket hanger per tree and drop lines long enough to work around the trees with stubbies and check valves.

[syrupkid]

the cast ones are nice but they crack too easy the rolled tin ones are crap for some reason i dont like the plastic and my faveroite ones are the (i think stamped) stainless ones from cdl-maplepro that cost 1.25

[dschultz]

I use 5/16 tubing health spouts,they have enough strength to hold a 5 gallon pail of sap

[PARKER MAPLE]

hey syrupkid could you get me the info on these type of spouts you are using, im looking for some and the cheapest i found last year was around 2.50ea. thanks, any info would be greatly app. maple rookie

[sapman]

Syrupkid, are you talking about the ones with the big ends on them? I like them, but the tap must be horizontal to keep the drips in the pail.

Tim

[Frank Ivy]

I know they have a tool to drive in rolled spiles.

But what is the technique for driving in cast aluminum? Do you use a block of wood between hammer and spile? Or just strike the spile directly?

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I tap the cast aluminum spouts squarely on the end and tap them lightly. I have only broke one in using them for quite a few years and I probably wasn't paying attention then.

[Frank Ivy]

I tap the cast aluminum spouts squarely on the end and tap them lightly. I have only broke one in using them for quite a few years and I probably wasn't paying attention then.

Thank you for your response. To be clear - you tap directly on them with a hammer? Lightly? And that seats them and they don't leak?

Thanks.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I tap them directly/squarely on the end with a 16 ounce claw hammer and this seats them good and shouldn't break them unless you have one that has a bad casting or weak spot and they don't leak.

[Frank Ivy]

I tap them directly/squarely on the end with a 16 ounce claw hammer and this seats them good and shouldn't break them unless you have one that has a bad casting or weak spot and they don't leak.

Awesome! Thanks. Do they deform over time with the yearly tap tap tapping?

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I haven't seen any deformation in mine. Remember, they are cast and not extruded, so they should break before they would distort or bend any.