Oh believe me I understand exactly where your coming from, Dr Tim. In my career I had statutory authority over a certain agricultural group (no I'm not saying who) and part of that was doing compliance and licensing inspections. I would see "Jerry rigged" systems all the time and know they weren't efficient or functioning properly. Not all where compliance issues, but I always gave recommendations on how to improve their set ups. There was a certain time of year that problems always showed up and you can imagine who would be rigging my phone off the hook and pleading for me to come tell them what was wrong. My answer was always, pull out your inspection report the answer is right there!


Now you might find the same efficiency issues in my Maple bush, but I am quite satisfied with my mediocre efficiency. However; with that said I do agree with you, don't complain if you take short cuts when you know better and are just trying to be cheap. All I was saying is I think there is a fair number of us who are just fine with less than optimum. Actually, I do set up my lines with the best practices in my installs. Where I fudge is on the slope. I can't get optimum slope and distance and still get all my taps, so instead of doing two different set ups, one is good enough. If I ever get to the place I want maximized sap I will certainly change my approach. Right now I have more sap than I need.

Have you or anyone ever done a survey on how many producers are serious business, making a substantial part of their income from Maple and how many are doing it as a hobby or side interest secondary business? when I look at the profiles here a whole lot are less than 300 taps.