taps in trees

[PATheron]

Im helping my friend tap in an old bush. It was tapped last maybe 25 years ago and unfortunately the taps were never pulled. They were 7/16 plastic tubing spiles. Many can still be pulled out believe it or not but it leaves a big hole as you can imagine. Is it better to pull them if I can without hurting the tree or is it better to leave them alone at this point? Thanks Theron

[DrTimPerkins]

...unfortunately the taps were never pulled. They were 7/16 plastic tubing spiles. Many can still be pulled out believe it or not but it leaves a big hole as you can imagine. Is it better to pull them if I can without hurting the tree or is it better to leave them alone at this point? Thanks Theron

If they can be pulled without causing further damage, pull them. If you can't pull them out without damaging the new growth around them, then snip them off as close to the tree as you can...as long as you don't cause any further injury. Otherwise leave them in place.

[PATheron]

Thats what I was kind of thinking Id do. I just wasnt sure. Pretty big hole after all those years. Some of them have 5/16 coming right out of solid tree without any sign of the spile. We'll get them tuned up best we can. Thanks Theron

[Haynes Forest Products]

On the ones with just the 5/16 sticking out could you add compressed air to help the vacuum:lol: ............:rolleyes: ......SHUT UP CHUCK

[Acer]

Terrion,

Seen your CDL hat lately?

D

[mapleack]

Is the bush near East Smithfield by chance? I ran across a bunch of trees like that in the spring near East Smithfield. **** shame.

[Thad Blaisdell]

On the ones with just the 5/16 sticking out could you add compressed air to help the vacuum

Instead add pressurized CO2 and you could have carbonated sap.....

[brookledge]

Then if you boil that sap you would get maple soda.
Keith

[Haynes Forest Products]

On to the serious side of this post I have heard of a big operation that doesnt pull the taps till the next year. They pull, drill and hammer.

[Thad Blaisdell]

That is just plain lazy. This would also mean that they do nothing to wash the system. All I know is that my tap holes are almost completely closed and that way you would be a whole year behind.

[PATheron]

Acer- I thought I left that behind. Thats my favorite hat too. It does stink that the taps were left in but what can you do. This bush isnt over by Smithfield but its not to far from there. Think about this with pulling the taps as you tap the next year. How many laterals get missed becouse it already looks like they are tapped in for the year? That would be easy to do? That would stink if you found whole lines that hadnt been tapped in for a bunch of years. Theron

[brookledge]

First few runs of the yr would make commercial and then good syrup. I have never asked but at Bascom's on the wall where the evaporator is the chart shows they make commercial first then after a few runs they make Light Amber. I'm sure it has good color but taste bad due to old sap left in the lines.
Keith

[PATheron]

Keith- I pull my taps every year but Ive never washed my lines. Last year we had an early run in late January. I think I got 3 or 4 thousand gallons. Anyway Matt was coming down to help me work on an RO I bought and I ended up have to save it a while. I believe I held it three weeks in my tanker trailer. It got real cold again of course but didnt freeze up solid in the trailer. When that sap ran it came in looking like it had dirt in it. It was brownish. I let it pump out on the ground first few dumps but it wasnt clearing up so I shot it in the trailer figuring it would make commercial. The whole batch of sap looked dirty becouse of the initial sap that was bad. That sap made darn near the only fancy syrup I made all year. I had it checked for light transfer and it was fancy and it had great flavor. I did everything you could do wrong to that sap and thats what it made. Go figure. The year before I did the same thing and that did make commercial untill the lines cleared up I think. Theron