trees less than 10" in diameter

[tomslusher]

I have a buddy who wants to tap his trees in his yard. Most are around 8" or so in diameter. I know about the 10" rule, but can someone tell me what will happen if you tap a small tree? Will it not produce? Will it kill the tree?

thanks,

tomslusher

[sapman]

Could hurt the tree. But with 5/16 spouts, there's a LOT less damage.

[KenWP]

Won't kill the tree but it's hard to find new wood on it next year to tap as you have half the tree taken up with one tap hole.

[Russell Lampron]

8" is where I start. They will give a lot of sap and they heal fast. Don't tap them deeper than 1.5" and use 5/16" spouts.

[PerryW]

I stab an occasional 8" sugar maple out in my sugarbush (w/ a 5/16' spout) but I'd avoid tapping trees less than 10" in someone's yard.

[mapleman3]

The forester in our area has a gauge he uses when marking trees to be tapped on leased land, I was surprised that it allows tapping of trees that we would say are less than 10" I want to get hold of one of those gauges.

[TF Maple]

I tap some trees that are smaller than 10" but they are trees I plan to remove in the future because they are crowded and need some room.

[Big_Eddy]

I use the bucket as a gauge. If the tree is bigger in diameter than the top of the bucket, it's good to tap. If it's just slightly larger - then I might tap it every second year. If it's smaller then it doesn't get tapped. I have a few damaged trees that I used to avoid tapping, but the last few years I've been tapping them too. If they die out, that's fine, if they survive then I might as well get sap from them, rather than having to go further afield.