Surrendering to the fur covered demons

[buckeye gold]

I went to 3/16 tubing about ten years ago and it's served me well, until this year. This year, I could not keep up with the squirrel damage and I finally gave up and sacrificed some vacuum. No doubt it hurt my production, but runs were so sporadic I doubt it mattered a lot. I am trying to formulate a plan for the future and would like some thoughts on an idea.

First strategy is: kill all the furry little B**tards as possible.

Second, I was wondering if maybe I should just go to all 5/16 and forget about getting maximum natural vacuum. My question is; will the chew leaks and impact on 5/16 be less than on 3/16th laterals? If I can tolerate a few minor leaks and not lose significant sap production. it may be worth the change over. As you know a lot of chews are small nips on top of the tubing that don't really lose much sap, but will lose a lot of vacuum. I need some experienced wisdom here. All I ever had is 3/16 into one mainline.

[DRoseum]

Have you ever considered taking down your lines and putting them back up every year?

I do this, using a spool / yoke that I made out of 5 gallons buckets and PVC pipe. One spool per line. I have 8 lines, 112 taps, totaling over 5000 feet of 3/16 tubing and significant elevation change to navigate (over 100 feet of drop)...and I can get all lines up and spouts changed in a single day (I cut them off in off season on the spool) and all lines taken down and coiled up in a single day.

To me, this time is well spent to avoid the frustration you are having and it's probably less time than what's spent chasing and repairing leaks. Not to mention it keeps your lines in far better condition. I have had only 2 squirrel chews in 4 years (happened at end of season after cleaning before I took them down).

Here's some videos on what I made and how I use it:
https://youtu.be/I9ZoGFDqLqE?si=oeRdlVWrM2Dl0iiB
https://youtu.be/bmco0vR-Cck?si=rXZhqx_HDJ2MrXEC
https://youtu.be/jYkZl7bb8jY?si=VOf_N3qU4hGy2lZ_

As well as how I clean the lines before taking them down:
https://youtu.be/FUrzZQOcyb4?si=8tt7ro6fOP93aBFe

[buckeye gold]

D Roseum, They were chewing it everyday. IN late December I went through and had everything fixed and new drops installed and the day I tapped I had to replace 40 % of my drops. I was averaging 6-8 new chews every day during season. I had 140+ taps out and 4-5,000 feet of tubing. I never seen it so bad. There are days I can count 8-10 squirrels just looking out my house windows.

[berkshires]

What do you use to clean your lines? I know Dr Tim has mentioned that some cleaners really make the squirrels want to chew your lines. He made a distinction between different types of bleach, where one is not a problem and the other is.

GO

[Darrel Wright]

Right, I clean our 3/16 with the pool shock stuff. It breaks down to bitter rather than salty, squirrels are completely uninterested in my lines, alsolutely 0 chews since switching.
Of course I don't know, once a population of squirrels has learned to chew, to the degree buckeye gold is talking about, maybe it's hopeless.

[DRoseum]

D Roseum, They were chewing it everyday. IN late December I went through and had everything fixed and new drops installed and the day I tapped I had to replace 40 % of my drops. I was averaging 6-8 new chews every day during season. I had 140+ taps out and 4-5,000 feet of tubing. I never seen it so bad. There are days I can count 8-10 squirrels just looking out my house windows.

That's really rough and I feel really bad for you ...has to be maddening!

[hogisland42]

lead poisoning!

[buckeye gold]

I use pool shock to clean with and I put hot sauce on the trees, if it's been suggested I have probably tried it. I always had a few chews but the last two years has been the worse. One of my problems is I have a mixed woods of Maple,beech and hickory. IN other words squirrel heaven.

[Pdiamond]

I never had a problem until this year. Now its game on with the 22lr. Time for some good old fashion squirrel stew. and lots of it. I have the same kind of woods Buckeye maple, beech, and hickory, with a few walnut trees thrown in for good measure.

[maple flats]

Find a hunter who likes to eat squirrel and has enough time to be effective. I've seen no difference between 3/16 and 5/16 in regards to squirrels, my grandson likes squirrel and he's an excellent shot, but you can't have him!