How many taps per day?

[Haynes Forest Products]

I know a guy that was proud of himself on how many trees he could tap. Yea running thru the woods punching holes then moving on to the next tree. Then were expected to come behind and find the **** hole. Yea I know just look for the chips on the snow or the dripping hole. If the average time it takes to walk to a tree, drill hole insert ta, cut off old one, seat tap attach drop is less than 30 seconds I get really impatient looking for a tap hole.

[maple flats]

If I have all repairs done ahead and have the new tap or new drop with new tap already done I get between 30-45/hr on fairly flat or gently sloping ground, then I have some that if I get 15 an hour I feel lucky. Those numbers are if I can work without snowshoes, if snowshoes are needed, it gets slower. Then again, 15 years ago I did more per hour too, age has slowed me.
My main concern is not the number/hr but making sure every one is done right. When I used to have helpers, I checked often to be sure they were taking time to analyze where to drill. If they had not taken time to go all of the way around the tree, their choice of where to drill was highly in question.

[unc23win]

I like to go threw the woods and change spouts and make some repairs that I see and remove limbs ahead of tapping. I tapped about 100 per hour but my woods averages close to 100 taps per acre which helps. We installed some new mainlines this summer and one of the ideas was to make them one sided (or as close as possible) so that the space in the middle provides access a bonus I noticed when tapping was you can go from tree to tree up the outside of the laterals pretty easy and not have to cross the mainline.

[eagle lake sugar]

We typically tap on 3' of snow, on snowshoes on steep ground. My woods averages 50-60 trees per acre, I'm exhausted after 300 a day. Last season we had a heavy snowstorm that took down limbs everywhere and most of my lines were at the bottom of the snowpack at tapping time, it took twice as long.

[BAP]

Number of taps per day means nothing, unless a good, thorough job is done. Slamming taps in, racing to get done, doing a poor job because you are in a rush will cost you more money in the long run, than if you miss part of the first run doing a proper tapping job.

[Walling's Maple Syrup]

Number of taps per day means nothing, unless a good, thorough job is done. Slamming taps in, racing to get done, doing a poor job because you are in a rush will cost you more money in the long run, than if you miss part of the first run doing a proper tapping job.

Truth! This is why we start tapping in Dec. You are way farther ahead to start early and do it right, rather than rush through it. The money is made in the woods. It's all about tapping right and maintaining those taps throughout the season.
Neil

[WestfordSugarworks]

I think I average around 70 an hour, including stopping to remove any droplines that need to be taken off the lateral if the tree is dead or has bad wood. I push myself to go as fast as I can while still maintaining quality work. I tap slow in our woods that have been tapped for 30 years, really have to look hard for a good spot to drill. I always hope to average 500 a day and if i'm working with someone it's nice when we can do 1,000 in a day. I find that having to stop to remove a drop and put in a connector really slows down your rhythm, but nothing you can do about that. We've been blessed the last three seasons with very little snow on average, makes tapping way faster

[Tweegs]

I’m very near 60 and it takes me a full day to get my 300 (vac) taps in. The buckets have a lower priority.
There’s only been 1 year I had to tap on snowshoes (don’t know how you guys do it), usually there’s less than 6” on the ground.
My land is also pretty flat.

For me, it’s all about the pre-season prep.
In early Jan I start fixing the most obvious damage.
During the January thaw I’ll run water through the lines. This clears most of the tube snot plus it helps identify smaller leaks which I flag for repair at a later time.
I can also identify/eliminate any sags in the mains.

Come early Feb I repair anything flagged, replace the spiles and make sure all of the laterals are graded.
I try to get the taps in a couple of days ahead of the first suspected run to make sure I’ve got good vac throughout the woods (meaning no major leaks).

In this way I can start the season with relatively snot free tubing and something close to 25” of vac.
It usually takes about a half day once the runs start to get the rest of the leaks found/fixed and to my normal 27”.

[ennismaple]

I can do around 600 per day if tapping alone, 800-1000 per day with a hammer man working behind me. If we have a lot of lines down under the snow or a lot of droplines that have been chewed and need to be replaced it really slows things down. Deep fluffy snow can cut that rate in half!

[blissville maples]

Number of taps per day means nothing, unless a good, thorough job is done. Slamming taps in, racing to get done, doing a poor job because you are in a rush will cost you more money in the long run, than if you miss part of the first run doing a proper tapping job.

I realize age and sugarbush layout has alot to do with it. However what constitutes a poor tap job and how does this happen? Ive drilled over 15,000 holes and I think one time I slipped as I started to push and oblonged a hole and actually broke a bit as I tried to hold the drill(best thing is to let go and take the fall).....I think after 15,000 holes drilled one should have the knack by then. You go to the tree look it over briefly set the drill bit against it squarely and drill for a few seconds. Unless one has EXTREMELY poor judgement of what level and square is I can't even comprehend how you do a poor tap job. I check lines for leaks daily, I run 26-28 inches, and I can say personally at 100-120 taps per hour I do a flawless job, which entails 1.solid fresh wood 2 . Leak free hole......I guess I'm interested in what a poor tap job is??? I had help one time and I noticed the helper was tapping 3-4" directly above last year's- this is why I do everything myself now.