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Thread: What are you using for a tapping drill?

  1. #21
    Join Date
    May 2009
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    UVM Proctor Maple Research Center, Underhill Ctr, VT
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    Quote Originally Posted by SeanD View Post
    ...just upgraded from my 6-pound+ 18v DeWalt NiCad that struggled to get through 125 taps at times to the 20v DeWalt Lithium with a 5Ah battery weighing in at 3.4 lbs...
    You'll be quite happy with the upgrade. The lithium batteries last quite a lot longer than the Nicad batteries too. If you have other 18V DeWalt tools, there is an adapter to let you use the 20V lithium batteries with them.
    Dr. Tim Perkins
    UVM Proctor Maple Research Ctr
    http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc
    https://mapleresearch.org
    Timothy.Perkins@uvm.edu

  2. #22
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    Jan 2011
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    Southern Ohio
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    My batteries are finally giving up and getting weak. I tapped my early taps and only got 48 holes out of one battery. Used to get way more than that. Ready for a new battery set, all these tips help me in my choice. Thanks everyone
    125-150 taps
    Smokey Lakes Full pint Hybrid pan
    Modified half pint arch
    Air over fire
    All 3/16 tubing
    Southern Ohio

  3. #23
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    Lanark, ON
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    Quote Originally Posted by darkmachine View Post
    Previously used ni-cad dewalt. This will be my first season with m18 Milwaukee(5ah). If the battery lasts anything close to when I saw, or put in deck screws, I'll be pretty pleased.
    You might get close to your 500 taps on that single charge for a new battery. Your legs will probably wear out first. We put them on to charge at lunch to top them back up and can get the rest of the afternoon on a single battery. Factors like how cold it is, if the sap is running (causes the bits to bear down a bit) or how sharp the bit is all affect the number of taps you get per charge. You won't go back to the XRP batteries again!
    4,600 Taps on vacuum
    9,400 gallons storage
    3 tower CDL RO
    3.5'x14' Lapierre Force 5
    Twitter & Instagram: @ennismaple
    www.ennismaple.com

  4. #24
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    Jun 2009
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    Verona, NY
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    Quote Originally Posted by ennismaple View Post
    You might get close to your 500 taps on that single charge for a new battery. Your legs will probably wear out first. We put them on to charge at lunch to top them back up and can get the rest of the afternoon on a single battery. Factors like how cold it is, if the sap is running (causes the bits to bear down a bit) or how sharp the bit is all affect the number of taps you get per charge. You won't go back to the XRP batteries again!
    also, you will notice a big difference based on the trees you tap. i can tap 1000 sugar maples in a day and go through 2 batteries but if i do 1000 of my red maples, the softer wood seems to work the drill more ironically, i find myself going to at least a third battery maybe a fourth (i am running 2- 3 amp hr and 2- 2 amp hr since theyre light )
    7000 taps on vacuum, just trying to get a little better every year.

  5. #25
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Walpole, NH
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    1,363

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    Quote Originally Posted by buckeye gold View Post
    My batteries are finally giving up and getting weak. I tapped my early taps and only got 48 holes out of one battery. Used to get way more than that. Ready for a new battery set, all these tips help me in my choice. Thanks everyone
    If you are going to buy a new drill, consider a brushless one. They perform better and are generally lighter. That combined with lithium battery makes a great tapping drill.
    Sugaring for 45+ years
    New Sugarhouse 14'x32'
    New to Me Algier 2'x8' wood fired evaporator
    2022 added a used RB25 RO Bucket
    250 mostly Sugar Maples, 15% Soft Maples. Currently,(110on 3/16" and 125 on Shurflo 4008 vacuum, 15 gravity), (16,000 before being disabled)
    1947 Farmall H and Wagon with gathering tank
    2012 Kubota with forks to move wood around

  6. #26
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    Mar 2016
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    chester, ma
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    Just a quick note to thank everyone who participated in this thread.

    Based on this thread, I asked my wife for a 20V Dewalt Cordless for X-mas this year. I had been using a Makita 9.6V that I'd had for ages. Granted the batteries were getting old, but last year, drilling was a nightmare. I had two batteries I kept swapping and charging and barely getting a few holes out of. This year, 23 holes like drilling through soft butter, and the battery still showed full at the end of the day.

    So thanks!

    Gabe
    2016: Homemade arch from old wood stove; 2 steam tray pans; 6 taps; 1.1 gal
    2017: Same setup. 15 taps; 4.5 gal
    2018: Same setup. Limited time. 12 taps and short season; 2.2 gal
    2019: Very limited time. 7 taps and a short season; 1.8 gals
    2020: New Mason 2x3 XL halfway through season; 9 taps 2 gals
    2021: Same 2x3, 18 taps, 4.5 gals
    2022: 23 taps, 5.9 gals
    2023: 23 taps. Added AUF, 13.2 gals
    2024: 17 taps
    All on buckets

  7. #27
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    Lanark, ON
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    2,387

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    Quote Originally Posted by berkshires View Post
    Just a quick note to thank everyone who participated in this thread.

    Based on this thread, I asked my wife for a 20V Dewalt Cordless for X-mas this year. I had been using a Makita 9.6V that I'd had for ages. Granted the batteries were getting old, but last year, drilling was a nightmare. I had two batteries I kept swapping and charging and barely getting a few holes out of. This year, 23 holes like drilling through soft butter, and the battery still showed full at the end of the day.

    So thanks!

    Gabe
    Congrats on the new toy! Be careful though... it's a slippery slope. Next thing you know you "need" a 20V reciprocating saw, an impact drill, then a mitre saw, then a leaf blower, then an ice fishing auger that works off your drill, etc...
    4,600 Taps on vacuum
    9,400 gallons storage
    3 tower CDL RO
    3.5'x14' Lapierre Force 5
    Twitter & Instagram: @ennismaple
    www.ennismaple.com

  8. #28
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    Apr 2019
    Location
    Nashville, MI
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    I think you forgot the chainsaw.
    2004 - 2012 2x3 flat pan 25 to 60 taps
    2012 2x3 new divided pan w/draw off 55 taps
    2018 - didn't boil surgery - bought new evaporator
    2019 new SML 2x4 raised flue high output evap. 65 taps
    made 17 gal. syrup
    2020 - only put out 53 taps - made 16.25 ga.l syrup
    2021 - Didn't work out
    2022 - 25 taps on bags / 8 taps on 3/16's line - late start

  9. #29
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    Williston, VT
    Posts
    615

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    Not to mention that you'll want to keep tapping. 23 isn't enough. You need to seriously expand now that you got the right tool.
    Ken
    Ken & Sherry
    Williston, VT
    16x34 Sugarhouse
    1,500 taps on high vacuum, Electric Releaser & CDL Sap Lifter
    Wood-Fired Leader 30"x10' Vortex Arch & Max Raised Flue with Rev Syrup Pan & CDL1200 RO
    https://www.facebook.com/pumpkinhillmaple/

  10. #30
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    Mar 2016
    Location
    chester, ma
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    Oh, you are both so right. My chainsaw must be 30 years old. I just got a new bar and chain for it (first new one since I bought it!) so the improvement still feels great, but I still sometimes want a bigger one. And yeah, Ken, I have more buckets I'm not using, a ton of (lower producing) trees, and a very itchy trigger finger! But I know that every additional tap I put in means one more bucket and set of tubes to wash, more time boiling, more time everything. And I still have nearly two gallons left from last season.

    In fact I'm starting to wonder what I'll do if I wind up with a big surplus. If this season winds up being a bust for some reason, I'll be happy to have that two gallons to get me through to next year, but if I have a great season, that two extra gallons turns to four or six. Then what? I have never sold any, I just give to friends and family. Not sure how I'd even go about it.

    Sorry for the thread drift! I can start a new thread if we want to keep this one on topic.

    GO
    2016: Homemade arch from old wood stove; 2 steam tray pans; 6 taps; 1.1 gal
    2017: Same setup. 15 taps; 4.5 gal
    2018: Same setup. Limited time. 12 taps and short season; 2.2 gal
    2019: Very limited time. 7 taps and a short season; 1.8 gals
    2020: New Mason 2x3 XL halfway through season; 9 taps 2 gals
    2021: Same 2x3, 18 taps, 4.5 gals
    2022: 23 taps, 5.9 gals
    2023: 23 taps. Added AUF, 13.2 gals
    2024: 17 taps
    All on buckets

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