Sap Meister stainless steel spouts

[wnybassman]

I had 60 new ones for this year. Overall I thought they were great, but also experienced the "drip on the hook" scenario. Started out just a few, but by years end I had a zip tie on every spout. I had to make sure the "nub" of the zip tie was turned down to keep the hook as far back as possible.

I already remedied the situation for next year. I bought a box of 7/16" stainless nuts that will be slipped on between the spout washer and the hook at the time the spout is set. That seems to be the perfect distance and the 7/16" nut slips on with very little slop.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I forgot to mention I squeezed the hooks to a smaller "U" shape with pliers so the tip of hook is more out of the way of the sap drops.

[Jal-Bear]

I forgot to mention I squeezed the hooks to a smaller "U" shape with pliers so the tip of hook is more out of the way of the sap drops.

I had the same problem, bent the hooks like you did to a smaller "U" shape and it fixed the problem.

[wnybassman]

I squeezed all my hooks also. Fixed some, but not others.

[jlemieux]

I bought a bag of hookless and I am losing a ton of sap on the ground. The sap runs back up the spout to washer and then goes out of bucket. Just a pain. I wanted something different after breaking a few leAder aluminum spouts but these are not the answer. I will carry around some wire ties next time I gather. These spouts will not go back out next yeAr. Not recommended at all. Junk

[Michael Greer]

Liquids don't run up-hill. Drill your holes at a proper 10 to 15 degree angle and all your problems will go away....and if you really don't like them, send them to me.

[jlemieux]

Thanks for the tip. I will get out my protractor next year because at 9 degrees these spouts work like crap. At least I am not the only one having this problem. Did you just move up from West Virginia?

[maple marc]

Michael, check out this video. Yes, liquids can run uphill--capillary action, siphoning. This tap was installed with at least a 10 degree angle. It's back-dripping right out of the bucket. I don't like to run anyone's product down, but this spout is a poor design. Yes, it has some good qualities: stainless steel, easily sanitized, holds a bucket well; good length; holds in tree well. You can "fix" the back-dripping problem by adding a wire tie or crimping the end in a vise, but why should I have to?

https://youtu.be/67UDsvBcvzw

You will note that the cast aluminum Leader spouts with the "shark fin" have a prominent "beard" on the end to promote dripping into the bucket. The Leader spout also has its issues: shark fin cuts through plastic buckets; doesn't hold in the tree as well as some spouts; short. I've tested some stainless Next Gen spouts and they seem to work well. They drip well even if installed almost level. I do wonder if over time the vertical tab that holds the bucket might cut through a plastic bucket.

I also wonder if these stainless spouts without much taper inside the tap hole might reduce the flow of sap. Comments, anyone?

Marc

[wnybassman]

https://youtu.be/67UDsvBcvzw

Wow, luckily I didn't have that problem. Out of 60 of those taps I used this year only one did that, and I drilled that one too close to level. My taps were the hooked version which has a longer shoulder, so maybe that was the difference?

I have a half dozen or so sharkfin style taps and out of the 80 aluminum buckets I have, it only fits about 4 or 5 of them. Most of my buckets are the smaller hole version. Even with the larger hole version buckets I have, the sharkfin only fits about half of those.

[Michael Greer]

Maple marc That's a great little video. The "bucket hook" spouts I'm using are a bit longer than that, and the company tells me they've made the new ones even a tad longer. As far as sap flow, I'm getting more sap than ever this year, I'll be replacing all my old galvanized 7/16 taps with these before next season.