Mainline without wire

[Maplewalnut]

Any tricks to running mainline without wire. I may tap a section of neighbors woods but he wants tubing taken down each year. Putting up that much wire each year would be a pain. I'm thinking I can trunk a 3/4 main off my main connector and just tighten it up off using a tension grip and rachet. Take all laterals to a close tree put them into an end fork to relieve tension on the saddle and it should be ok?

[jrthe3]

i friend of mine use about six feet of wire on the ends clamped down to last fitting with two clamps and use the ratchets that useon the wrie to tighten it he been useing for years

[DrTimPerkins]

Any tricks to running mainline without wire.

CDL sells a mainline that doesn't require wire. It's called Rapi-Tube. It is costly, but eliminates the need for wire altogether. You need to tension it according to their directions. Sounds like it'd be perfect for this application.

[Hop Kiln Road]

Maplewalnut - I run several 2 to 400 foot 1/2" lines without wire that I take down every year. I use clamped mainline tees to start the laterals and wire the two clamps together so when I tension the mainline the stress isn't on tees' barbs. I wire the mainline to a support tree every 20 feet or so but loosely enough so the mainline will slide. Then I use racket cargo straps to tension the line on either end and tension the laterals with end rings. Keep the laterals as short as possible and no more than 6 taps each. Wash it in place with the sap pump before I roll it up. I have good slope and get excellent results. Bruce

[caseyssugarshack93]

if i were you id put two pipe grips on both end of the lines, Pull it as tight as u can with a com a long or rachets, then put wire around the pipe/ or rope for the side ties, Not sure if it would work but im sure you can get the pipe pretty tight,

[caseyssugarshack93]

and for the saddel's Use rope to take the tention of the saddle,= thats what id do, Just a thought

[Beans Maple]

I have some lines in use that don't have wire on them at all. It works, but it can be a pain in the but depending on grade. Do yourself a favor and use good mainline....the cheap stuff sags on warms days and that causes a big problem when it freezes. Keep laterals tight with the ropes and use ratchet straps as needed throughout the season to tighten by finding side trees. It is more maintenance than wire though. Guess that is why I just put up wire on much of mine.

[maplwrks]

You could also use the rubber straps that CDL sells to hold tension at the mainline.

[farmall h]

Instead of purchasing the expensive Rapitube tubing just buy the black strap material offered by Rapitube and a couple rolls of 1/2" black plastic or 3/4". Go to your local hardware store and buy the tubing coupling with female pipe thread. Order the leader threaded tubing manifolds when you order your 5/16 tubing, get some tees, spouts,and end rings and hooked unions. Cheapest and most effective if you plan to take it down year after year. Run you mainlines short @ 100 ft. Easier to roll up and I'm sure the land owner wouldn't mind if you rolled up your tubing and hung it from your end tree. Just my thoughts on keeping costs down.

[nymapleguy607]

I just put up a stretch of 1/2" main and I didn't use wire
I used a pipe grip on each end and anchored one end to my tree and the other end I put in my ratchet strainer I used my side tyes on three trees and it tensioned up very nicely

[Maplewalnut]

Thanks guys, I was thinking along the lines of nymapleguy. Mostly an experiment this year to see how it will work. Won't break the bank if I have to cap it mid way through the season if maintenance becomes too much.Ive decided only to put about 30-40 taps for now

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Jim Desjardins(mapleman3) does his entire leased woods like that and I think he has 1600' of 1/2 mainline he puts up and takes down every year. He is administrator of this sight, send him a pm as he told me it worked great.

[jason grossman]

just remember that the rapitube is a totally different composition than any other tubing on the market. it was desgined to be used without wire. other lines will go up without wire but you will not get as good of a result.

[hard maple]

my set up is wire free too.
I can post more pics if interested. there's one on my page.
It works well and my set up is permanent.

[SV Sugarer]

This will be my first year setting up a short 3/4 main line. I'm also looking at removing from the woods each year. I have the wire, but would rather go with the easiest method for installation / removal of the system each year. Hard Maple - could you post some pics for us to see? I'd like to avoid using the wire if possible.

Thanks.

Dave

[DrTimPerkins]

just remember that the rapitube is a totally different composition than any other tubing on the market. it was desgined to be used without wire. other lines will go up without wire but you will not get as good of a result.

Correct....it was designed just for that purpose. There are also some specifics for installation to be followed.

We had some Rapitube and black water pipe installed right next to each other this fall for comparison purposes. Will know a lot more next spring. We're thinking about dropping a tree across both of them to see what happens.

[KenWP]

Correct....it was designed just for that purpose. There are also some specifics for installation to be followed.

We had some Rapitube and black water pipe installed right next to each other this fall for comparison purposes. Will know a lot more next spring. We're thinking about dropping a tree across both of them to see what happens.

We have a saying up here. Quebec de faire which means only a frenchman would think of actually dropping a tree on purpose to test tubeing. Ouch.

[hard maple]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQGp-jMKQt0

[hard maple]

I've designed and made a mainline punch tool
Adjustable 1/2 and up (depending on design)
uses your cordless drill and required drill size for saddle
works just as good as the other ones.

[PerryW]

We're thinking about dropping a tree across both of them to see what happens.

As long is it's not a Maple Tree, you are forgiven.

[GeneralStark]

Would Leader's 30P Mainline work better in a wireless installation than black plastic? I have not worked with it but it is said to be more flexible and should therefore stretch more easily.

Has anyone done a wireless installation with 30P mainline?

[Moshers Maples]

Has anyone used the rapi-tube? What were your results?

[farmall h]

I bought 2 rolls of rapitube strapping and have installed it on 150# rated black pvc using Leader double saddles. It goes up easy once you have stretched your pipe and anchored it with the mesh grip tensioners. Don't tighten too much...just enough to get it off the ground. Then alternate your rapitube strapping from tree to pipe an that will tighten it sufficiently. Watch the rapitube video a couple times and you will get the hang of it.:)