New Line Installs - Brand New Woods

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Originally Posted by DocsMapleSyrup

I just listened to Dr. Tim Perkins and Stephen Childs today at the technical sessions at the International Maple Syrup Convention. There were questions abouit 3/16" tubing and the benefits and problems after a few years. The best practice seems to be a 5/16 drop to a 3/16 line and approximately 25 taps. There was a variety of data presented and it appears that after the first year, the production starts to decrease secondary to buildup in the "T"s where the drop ties into the lateral line and where splices happen in the line. A combination of non-sodium bleach for cleaning and new spouts with drops and "T"s every 2-3 years, seems to be the way to go in order to maximize yield. They both said there was a lot of information about the 3/16 lines at UVM and Cornell.

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Doc great info! I guess after hearing it many times and then you talking about their findings this will be my go to method


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question. if you are running a 5/16 drop into a 3/16 lateral is there a tee made specifically for this or do you just force the 3/16 over the barb designed for the 5/16 tubing?

There are T's made for it

I just got back from CDL and decided to go with 3/16 line with 5/16 drops. Went with signature spouts for this year being new line. Thanks to the folks at the Morrisville store for treating me well and helping with additional advice and to everyone on here. Could not even begin to delve down this road without the help of my great neighbor (who seems to have deer in his mind) and Maple Trader.


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Originally Posted by Super Sapper

I would use the 5/16 drop as it gives you more options and will not hinder the vacuum with the elevation drop you have. It will also lesson the pull back into the hole. Use an inexpensive spout the first year and then go to the CV the next year. I would plan on changing the drops every 2 to 3 years also.

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I used 3/16 drops on 3/16 laterals when I started 3 years ago. in 2018 I replaced them all with 5/16 drops and used cv spouts. This year I used economy spouts since I never did see sap pull more than 10-12 inches back up the drop lines at night. I DID have cv spouts plug up here & there, but that's not why I stopped using them. My decision is based solely on price. All of my drops started at 36". I'm also in southernmost Ohio and our season is shorter anyway due to latitude (38ish) and altitude (600 ish).