OMG this is killing me...

[morningstarfarm]

Started running tubing lines today...first 10 or so t's I tacked to trees started peeing all over me...tastes pretty sweet too.....I sooo need to tap but I need to build the arch for my pans first or with my luck I'll have 500 gals of sap and nothing to cook it on.....

[Russell Lampron]

Why are you tacking T's to trees? Normally tubing can be run without using any nails.

[morningstarfarm]

this is my first time running tubing...always used buckets. Some of them were pretty far apart or on sharp angles so the tubing was slipping down. they started dripping at 10am and are still doing it now.....its still killing me not having taps in

[gator330]

Pull the tube tight from tree to tree. Even go around a few other none maple if need be to keep it up and tight. Those nail holes will leak sap all season. pull them if not now when the season is over. You don't want them to grow into the tree. If you need to let the tape and drop hold up the line. But it can be pulled real tight. hook the end of the tube around a tree with a Y. T your drops into your lateral line from tree to tree. Then them into the main line or tank if your going to a tank with the 5/16. No nails in the maple trees!!! YOu can realy streach that 5/16 tight.

[Haynes Forest Products]

One reason to nail to the tree every so often is at the last tap near the mainline to keep the stress of the line. Another is if limbs come down on the line it wont transfer all the way to the ends pulling taps. It isolates the damage. I have plenty of healthy trees that have 40 years of barbed wire with insulators on them 4 rows

[gator330]

My thought was with the saw blade at the mill!!!

[morningstarfarm]

Sawblade???? cut down one of my maples???? BITE YOUR TONGUE

[smitty76]

your right on gator. I see it all the time at my mill.

[Sugarmaker]

Morning star,
With time you will find ways to run your tubing with out the nails but I did almost the same thing your are doing the first time. I found that the lines needed tightening and the "nails" were never in the right place:( So there are many posts on here about anchoring tubing so that is doesn't move during the season and still has slope. I developed my own method which works for me but there are many options that the dealers in fittings have come up with.
Good luck,
Yea I know when you see the sap run you want to go!

I hung tubing for 130 taps yesterday and no nails.

Regards,
Chris C.

[red maples]

I did that last year too. I didn't know any better. now I just stretch it and if it need a little support I pop a nail into a non-maple. no more nails in the maples they do leak just about all season.

my test taps I tapped last week were dripping yesterday. should be dripping pretty good today. Hard not to tap now with the weather being perfect for a good run. but winter will return by wed. /thursday. time for the count down to the perfect weather.

[mtcrumpit]

folks, a way to eliminate the use of nails is to use some of the cheap hollow woven nylon cord (the blue and white nylon rope used to hold well pumps) if you compress the rope length wise, slide your tubing in a bit and let it poke out the side it will act like a chinese finger. you can place these any where along your lines and tie off to a tree. You can use this technique at the saddles to your main line to take all the stress of the fittings and it is adjustable.

[wcproctor]

Ha Sugarmaker so what is your method on holding up the lines?:confused:

[Dill]

Yesterday killed me, the sap must have been running great, but looking at the extended this morning. The next 10 days look cold and not sappy.

[Mark-NH]

Dill, I don't think you missed a thing yesterday. With the temperatures we've had the last 3 weeks, it will take a lot to thaw things out.

[Amber Gold]

With vacuum though that may have been different. I have a south facing bush. With some of the warm days and stretches we've had, I wonder if I would've gotten some decent runs.

[Mark-NH]

Josh, down where you are I bet you run 2 weeks ahead of me up here.

[smitty76]

sugarmaker/wcproctor
I do not use nails, I make tripods for the mains and zigzag the rest through the trees. that does the trick. I preferr to leave no trace if I can.:)

[Amber Gold]

Mark, there's been some pretty warm days here and even when the temp is below 30, it sure feels warmer than that. Weather.com says it's 38F at my house now, with above freezing in the 10 day forccast. I wonder if I should tap...not quite ready yet, but probably could be after this weekend. Hmmm...

Last year I tapped in on 2/26 and it ran pretty good before the hard freeze, then I think things just opened up a few days later and it ran hard. I think last February was colder than this though, so tapping early wasn't a tempation.

[red maples]

I don't know that sun is pretty warm 53 degrees in the direct sun!!! I know some of the trees will run but they are not all in the sun. I am watching the weather closely might tap some next wed. or thursday we'll see on monday!!! you never know if there is a deep freeze coming that last week of feb!!!

[Dill]

Yup. I just drove my folks place. It was 45 next to the roadside trees. Which are always early running trees. I might tap them this weekend.

[morningstarfarm]

OK I surrender...the drill ambushed me today and held me down until I finally said uncle and started poking holes in stuff....Tapped the ceremonial telephone poll in front of the house first....pole sap runs no matter how cold it gets...gonna boil me some mrs buttersworth...then tapped around 30 taps on my trees that ring the south facing hay fields..ran like a bugger..time will tell if I got it right I guess but weather channel online says I'm gonna be alright..:rolleyes:

[morningstarfarm]

put in 30 taps on buckets today about 1:00pm....got right around 10 gals of sap...maybe i'm not as nuts as I thought

[red maples]

hey chris,

fitting welded on the pan will cost me 2 pints of syrup. sorry man no dolar figure. I guess it would cost about $20-25 or so.

I am still holding out won't tap til at least mext week!!!

just watching the weather

[Dill]

65 taps in this afternoon at my parent's place down in lee. One stretch of tubing was filling the tube. I wasn't planning on doing it, but daycare was closed and my father had the day off. It was a nice afternoon out there with him and my daughter, who still isn't sure what all this water is about.
And it was 66 holes for 65 taps. I always forget that section of tubing is 5/16 taps not the 7/16 I run must other spots.

[red maples]

a few trees tha got trimmed along the road small branches really high are leaking and by the time it gets to the ground its as sweet a syrup. I am still sticking to my plan tapping next wednesday or thursday. we'll see.

[morningstarfarm]

Put another 50 or so taps out on buckets today...Funny what we will find to bitch about....Now I have MUD....this is soo wrong. I was looking forward to collecting on a snowmobile even made a neat trailer for it

[maple sapper]

So you all got some taps in in my area (Nashua). Is it flowing?

[morningstarfarm]

It's spotty here still....full sun they ran nicely...further into the woods I got the slower they ran, but they did all run...looks like it'll be a pretty good week..

[The Butcher]

Seem to be running pretty good here. I got out about 100 today. Went back around 4 hours later to double check. Was surprised at some amounts with this wind. Weather is looking good!!!

[HudsonHawk]

I put in 9 taps on my 3 very big trees on Friday eve, today I had 6 gls of sap...just a slow steady drip. All 3 trees are roadside with full southern sunny exposure today. This is the earliest I've tapped in my limited experience, but hoping for much better runs from these trees when the ground actually is a little less frozen. These guys ran like crazy last year.