used 5/16 for drops

[sapman]

I know, this is a cardinal sin in the tubing world! But I'm trying to find a use for last year's lines that are being shortened because of running more mainlines. Obviously, the location of current drops never works out on a new run. And with the CV adapters, all the rules change, it would seem.

So is it as bad an idea as ever?

Tim

[danno]

Hi Tim -

If the CV taps work as advertised, you may be able to use that old lat for drops. For now, I use the old tubing around my side line trees that support the main.

[maple flats]

I am risking the contamination this year for the first time. All longer pieces of used 5/16 are being reused as long as they "look good" I am trusting the CV adapters will do as advertised. Sure hope they are right. Any that does not look good is used for tree protection for side ties and around my end trees where I have started using an approach where the loop around the tree is not carrying sap.

[DanE.]

I'm confused about this. isn't the lateral lines the same as the drop lines? are you replacing the drop lines every year with new tap and drops to prevent the bacteria from last year entering back into the tap hole? or are you worried about the cross contamination from one tree to an other? or is there a lot more bacteria in the lateral lines verse the drops.

Dane.

[PerryW]

DanE,

The drop line is the short piece of tubing between the spout and the TEE, usually 18" - 36" long.

The lateral lines are the 5/16" lines that connect all the drop lines together and connect into your mainline and are up to 100 feet (or more) long.

[DanE.]

DanE,

The drop line is the short piece of tubing between the spout and the TEE, usually 18" - 36" long.

The lateral lines are the 5/16" lines that connect all the drop lines together and connect into your mainline and are up to 100 feet (or more) long.

I know that, what are the reason for not reusing the lats as drops?

[danno]

Taps run on new tubing run best. The old drops and lats will have bacteria in them. At the end of a run, the tree will suck sap from the drops back into the tree, especially on vacuum system. The bacteria being sucked back into the tree will dry out the tap hole quicker than sap being pulled back from a new drop/lat.

[DanE.]

Taps run on new tubing run best. The old drops and lats will have bacteria in them. At the end of a run, the tree will suck sap from the drops back into the tree, especially on vacuum system. The bacteria being sucked back into the tree will dry out the tap hole quicker than sap being pulled back from a new drop/lat.

I'm making the assumption that the bacteria remains in the lines from year to year, even if you wash your tubing? If the lats and drop tubing is the same age won't they have the same amount of bacteria in them? so what would be the difference in the drops that are already in places vs the drops made from the lats. also if the above is the case, how often should the drops be replaced? how far can a tree suck the sap from? if it is more than the length of the drops won't you have to replace the lats also?

The reason for all of these questions is I used my lat lines from last year (1 year old) for my drops. I only have 30 or so drops out in the woods and I have a new roll of 5/16 sitting next to me. although I hate to throw 60 feet of tubing away, but if it significantly increase the amount of sap, i would. But, depending how far the tree sucks the sap back, I would also have the replace the lats. :confused: I think I'm talking in circles now.

Any insight will help.

Dane.

[sapman]

Dan, I hear what you're saying about the lats as the same age as the drops and all that. The consensus has been that certainly the most beneficial practice would be to replace the drops every year, and it may be cost effective. But I doubt it's that practical for most, so every 2nd or 3rd year is what I've heard some producers doing.

Even the new spout adapters every year have been shown to be quite effective, so CV adapters should be the cat's meow. In your case now, I would probably just buy some of the CV adapters if you really want to maximize production, though that seems overkill on a few gravity taps.

Tim

[Rhino]

Dane, Just do what you can afford or reuse. Thats just my opinion. What i seen last season just proved to me that even 15 year old taps/drop lines/lateral lines/ and mainlines will just gush IF YOU GET THE RIGHT WEATHER. I would reuse lateral lines for drop lines without hesitation. Last year all our "old stuff" ran so good we had to sell 10,000 gal. of sap to a larger producer cause we couldn't keep up. Bottom line.....Pray for the perfect sap running weather and reuse.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I used 250 of the Leader 15 cent spout adapters last year and I saw hardly any difference. One year is probably not an accurate measurement but after being in a few weeks, we had a really warm week and in the same bush, the trees quit running with or without the adapters while the ones on the north side I tapped a little later were still running after the warm snap.