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Thread: Annual tap hole placement

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Location
    St. Johns, Michigan
    Posts
    101

    Default Annual tap hole placement

    Does anyone have distances to place the next years tap from the previous years? For instance over 4" up or down 6". I wonder what Dr. Tim's opinion is? Thanks
    2022 - 157 taps, 40 gallons of syrup
    2021 - 171 taps buckets and tubing, 41 gallons of syrup
    2020 - 225 taps bags and tubing, 45 gallons of syrup
    2019 - 180 taps buckets and bags, 50 gallons of syrup
    Lapierre 2x8 Vision with reverse flow, hood & preheater
    Leader Micro2 RO
    Lapierre 10" short bank press

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Location
    Upper Valley, NH
    Posts
    146

    Default

    Dave Klish has a system that's pretty straightforward - I just looked quickly but couldn't locate his post, so hopefully he will chime in! It depends on whether you are on high vacuum or not. Looks like you are on buckets/no vac., so it is a bit less of an issue from year-to-year.
    2023: Award Winning Maple Syrup and Honey!
    2023: 200 Taps on 3/16" "natural vac"
    2022: 150 Taps on 3/16" "natural vac"
    2022: Lapierre Vision 2x6 with Preheater & Marcland Autodraw
    2022: Brand new post and beam sugar house
    2022: 4"x40" RO
    Kubota L4701, Kubota BX2380
    2 Black Rescue Dogs, 2 Livestock Guardian Dogs, Many Bee Hives, A Flock of Icelandic Chickens
    30 Acres of Wooded Bliss
    vikingmadeforge: Artist Blacksmithing & Bladesmithing
    https://blackdogbeesandmapletrees.com

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    MA
    Posts
    588

    Default

    I seem to recall that for buckets it is 2” over and 6” up or down from previous tap hole.
    60ish taps on buckets
    D&G Sportsman 18x63
    Turbo RB15 RO Bucket

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Frankford, Ontario
    Posts
    1,045

    Default

    The stain column is tall and narrow. For a 5/16" spile the column can be as narrow as an inch total, but often 24" tall. Bigger hole, wider stain column.
    Excellent photos at this link. https://onmaplesyrup.wordpress.com/2...-march-8-2019/
    There was a more detailed article on the same site a few years earlier.
    FOUND IT https://onmaplesyrup.wordpress.com/2...owing-briefly/

    The idea is that by the time you get around the tree, the previous tap hole is deep enough within the tree that you don't hit a stain column with the new hole.
    For a 12" dia tree, diameter is 36". If you move 2" each year, then it will take 18 years to get all the way around the tree.
    A young healthy tree growing vigorously can have growth rings of up to 1/8". After 18 years, there is 2 1/4" of new wood over the original hole.

    For a 24" tree, if you move over 3" each year, it will take 24 years to go around the tree. Even if the tree is only adding 1/8" diameter annually (1/16" growth rings) you will still have 1 1/2" new wood over the old hole.

    We typically go 3" on larger trees, 2" on smaller, always to the right and anywhere vertically.

    (Posted the same on the tap too close thread)
    Last edited by Big_Eddy; 02-24-2020 at 08:07 AM. Reason: add second link
    Big_Eddy
    Eastern Ontario (Quinte)
    20+ years on a 2x3 block arch,
    Homemade 20"x64" drop flue since 2011

    Build a Block Arch
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