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Thread: Antique Cast Iron Spile

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Location
    Mapleton Twp, SW Ontario
    Posts
    361

    Default Antique Cast Iron Spile

    Buddy of mine ran across a handful of these somewhere and gave me one...
    Curious about a couple things..
    1. I wonder how old it is... When did they stop making cast "iron" spiles?
    2. I'm having a hard time understanding how this would tighten into the hole very well. No round tapered section that we typically see. Anybody used this style before?

    Kind of cool though... Makes me think I should start a little collection to hang on the wall of the Sugar Shack.. (if I ever build a shack)antique sap spile.jpg

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Corinth, New York, United States
    Posts
    557

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    A friend of mine got a 5 gallon pail full of these when he bought out a sugar House. He never tried them and said he gave them away. I wish I had saved a few for my sugar House.
    2021 230 Taps on vacuum
    Smokylake 2X6 pan set with auto drawoff
    Homebuilt 2 4x40 membrane RO
    Homebuilt filter press
    Rebuilt arch with under and over the fire air we have named V 2.0
    Smokylake steam bottler
    Hoods and preheater
    500 gallon vertical polytank to store sap for RO
    Adding a laser eye to my bottler for autofill/stop

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    Sugarhill NH
    Posts
    723

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    Quote Originally Posted by wmick View Post
    Buddy of mine ran across a handful of these somewhere and gave me one...
    Curious about a couple things..
    1. I wonder how old it is... When did they stop making cast "iron" spiles?
    2. I'm having a hard time understanding how this would tighten into the hole very well. No round tapered section that we typically see. Anybody used this style before?

    Kind of cool though... Makes me think I should start a little collection to hang on the wall of the Sugar Shack.. (if I ever build a shack)Attachment 16498
    There is a book written by Hale Mattoon called Maple Spouts Stiles Taps and Tools

    Has everything in it
    30x8 Leader revolution, wood fired blower, steamaway/hood. 903 taps all but 54 on pipeline and 3 vacuum systems. Hauling sap this year with a 99 F350 7.3 diesel dump and of course back up is the Honda 450 and trailer.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Central Wisconsin
    Posts
    125

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by wmick View Post
    . Anybody used this style before?
    )Attachment 16498
    Yep and also used some of these yet this year https://www.worthpoint.com/worthoped...-tap-119071107

    The ones I have don't seem to leak any more or less than the 'newer' style taps (just one here and there).

    Lots of people still using them and know of people still looking to buy more to put to use.
    Last edited by Wannabe; 05-16-2017 at 08:06 PM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Central New York
    Posts
    74

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    We have a few. I used a couple when I was a kid. Always seemed to leak. They had a square shape to them and a square shaped hole for the hook that goes with it.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Cuba, NY
    Posts
    379

    Default

    I use to use these before going to tubing. They stuck pretty well in the tree, but leaked a lot. Mine had a date on them in the late 1800's. Sold them, along with the buckets. I hung onto a few in hopes of setting up a little display as well in the sapshack too. Some day...
    220 Taps
    2x6 Home made
    Sap Shack 20x20
    5 Shurflo diaphragm pumps
    250 GPH Deer run RO

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Cornwall, CT
    Posts
    356

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    I have a bunch of old ones I hammered into my sugarhouse wall for coat hooks.
    1980 - 6 taps, stone fire pit, drain pan evaporator, 1 pint of syrup
    2016 - 55 taps on 3/16 and gravity, new sugar shack, 2x3 Mason XL, 16 gallons of syrup
    2017 - 170 taps on 3/16, 2x4 Mason XL, NextGen RO. 50 gallons of syrup
    2018 - 250+ taps on gravity and buckets, 2x5 Smokey Lake arch and Beaverland pan.
    2019 - 250+ taps on gravity. A few buckets. 35 gallons of syrup.
    2020 - 300+ taps on gravity. 50 gallons of syrup.
    2021 - 280 taps on gravity and 40 buckets. 35 gallons of syrup.

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