Pull & Rinse

[325abn]

So its time to pull the taps.

I am looking for a way to pull each tap squirt some water / bleach soulution into the tap and plug the tap into the "T" .

I am thinking of a bottle with a 5/16 hole drilled into it containing the solution, pull tap, inset tap into hole give it a squirt and plug and move onto the next one.

Then dump a few gallons of the solution into the end of the 1" main line and let it run the full 1100 ft out the end.

Then seal up both ends of main line till next year?

Sound like a good plan? Will it do any good? How do you do it?

[happy thoughts]

I don't do tubing but seem to remember reading here that squirrels love to chew tubing washed with bleach.

[Shawn]

What I have done in the past and still do and it seems to work is to use a pump sprayer. I carry water on a trailer and do each tap like you do and plug the end line that goes into our holding tanks. Has worked since we started doing it and I gotten no mold etc in lines.

[325abn]

Ya know now that you mention it I do recall reading something along those lines with regards to squirrels. I am sure others will chime in.

What do you do with your taps and tubing, just pull and plug?

[unc23win]

If you read the research by Proctor Maple Research Center you will find out that right now there is no way of cleaning lines that is any better than just letting them go. All I do is pull the taps and hook them to the T or T Cup and let the laterals down so they are not under tension all summer.

http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/tubing_cleaning.pdf

[325abn]

I like the sprayer idea! Don't know why I didn't think of it

Thanks for link I am going to read that now. Its hard to believe that just pull and plug is better than pull, rinse and plug but the research is the research.

[PerryW]

I use a 4 gallon plastic sprayer with a hand pump (available at any hardware store). I put it in a backpack to make it easier to carry. Pull the tap , squirt and plug. I leave the end tree of the lateral unplugged and put a twig in the hole (so it will still vent, but keep the mudwasps from making a nest in the spout). Then walk back up and drain any water from the droplines.

[Russell Lampron]

I turn on my vacuum pump and carry a 5 gallon syrup jug of water from tree to tree. I put a spout adapter into a piece of 5/16" tubing and use that to suck water into the drops. Pull the tap, connect to spout adapter on piece of tubing and insert in jug.

[briansickler]

I also use the vacuum to suck water through each drop. I start at the highest lateral and at the end tree and work my way to the main. Then, after all laterals are done, I go to each mainline end and send 5 gallons down each main. I should note that I use hot water.

Brian

[325abn]

Just H2O Russell no bleach?