Originally Posted by
FarmallCT
Hi All,
I am currently stuck between expanding my use of 5/16 tubing, or trying out 3/16 tubing while I do not have much 5/16 up yet. I have heard some pretty solid reviews of 3/16 tubing on this site, but I have a few concerns.
Matt
I have no experience with 3/16 but have pondered using it for the vacuum benefits. But regarding your few concerns, one of the things that I have heard from some on this site as well as from Bruce Bascom in person, is that some 3/16 tapers have quite a bit of trouble with 3/16 clogging after the first year or two. Especially at the T connections. That has turned me away from it, but I am small scale so I may do a experiment with it anyway. I should probably do that this year along with my list of 4739 other things to try.
If I were in your situation I would do a side by side comparison with the 3/16 leaving most of my taps as the 5/16 and see how the 3/16 performs in comparison over a period of at least 2 years preferably 3 or 4 years. As Dr. Tim would say you could probably overcome this problem with super sanitation and extra avoidance of wood chips from your tap holes into your 3/16 lines.
If you think it's easy to make good money in maple syrup .... then your obviously good at stealing somebody's Maple Syrup.
Favorite Tree: Sugar Maple
Most Hated Animal: Sap Sucker
Most Loved Animal: Devon Rex Cat
Favorite Kingpin: Bruce Bascom
40 Sugar Maple Taps ... 23 in CT and 17 in NY .... 29 on gravity tubing and 11 on 5G buckets ... 2019 Totals 508 gallons of sap, 7 boils, 11.4 gallons of syrup.
1 Girlfriend that gives away all my syrup to her friends.