drilling

[walkerpa]

i used an electric drill to drill my holes and my sap was running slow. i redrilled some holes with a hand crank and those holes are dripping better. Do you guys use electric drills or hand crank? What did i do wrong?

[mapleack]

i used an electric drill to drill my holes and my sap was running slow. i redrilled some holes with a hand crank and those holes are dripping better. Do you guys use electric drills or hand crank? What did i do wrong?

Did you do the re-drilling when it was warmer out? Did you make the holes bigger? Both of those couldve made them run more. I use battery drills with 5/16 bits made for maple. Most of the other producers use battery drills now too.

[walkerpa]

yes i redrilled them when it was wormer out. Now i am redrilling any holes that are not dripping well. So the heat from the drill does not messup the hole. Thats great i did not want to redrill 50 holes by hand. thank you

[innoxen]

Remembering it's my first time, I used an electric drill... And yes the extension cord was real long... I drilled on 2-19 and the sap was flowing... tapped 10 trees and now have more then 30 gallons of sap... Used a 5/16 new bit and pulled shaving out with bit... Taps fit tight and were dripping in seconds... Hope to boil on Sat...

[TF Maple]

A sharp drill bit is important to cut clean holes so the wood cells are not messed up, which could hinder sap flow. The actual tool makes little difference, the bit making the cut is important.

[walkerpa]

can i use any sharp bit or should i spend the money and buy a maple bit? I went out today and did not see a differance from the old holes to the redrilled ones. I am getting maybe 10 gal a day from all 50 trees, does that sound right?

[Turtlecreek]

I have used both a brace and cordless drill, both worked fine. Remember, drill at a slight upward angle and 1 1/2 to 2 inches deep.

It has to be freezing at night and above during the day, if you aren't seeing swings like that the trees may not be running yet. Some bushes take a while to thaw out too, be patient we are just getting started.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Redrilling with a brace type bit is going to lead to a bigger hole because the center screw on the bit is made to pull the bit into the wood and also to keep it centerd. I would stick to only one type of bit.

[gbilek]

Sounds like the tap holes are fine. It is most likely just the weather. When and if it warms up, you will see some big flows. Not all tap holes will have the same amount of flow at any one time, or even from day to day.

[Sugarmaker]

Hey Gary B,
Welcome back:) I heard you were all tapped? We may tap this weekend.
Still getting stuff out of the sugar house.

As far as the sap running slow? I have seen some trees take off and others never produce much. So tap consistently and let the trees tell you how they produce. They are not all going to run the same.

Regards,
Chris